A/N Here's another bit of sweet sexy Rick to warm your cold winter nights. Reviews are extremely appreciated so please let me know what you think.

Enjoy...

Chapter Twenty-two

"Hey Erin, you gonna keep Rick up there all night or are you gonna take that man to bed?"

Erin rolls her eyes at the sound of Shane's voice rising up from the ground beside the RV. Scratching her wrist below the cuff of her long sleeve tee shirt, she squeezes Rick's hand as the moonlight glows softly on the white teeth grinning from the chair next to hers on top of the camper.

"I guess it's midnight already," Rick says, squeezing her hand back. "Take me to bed, woman."

Chuckling at the endearingly hopeful expression on his face, Erin rises from her seat and looks down from the roof to see Shane's dark figure standing in the shadows with Glenn at his side.

For the past two days, her Asian friend has been studying the old phone book and searching for places that may be safer than their vulnerable refugee camp at the quarry. Despite Shane's feelings on the matter, the rest of the group had agreed that it was time to look for a more permanent home.

"Glenn, I thought Daryl was on the late shift since you were running around all day," Erin asks, carefully stepping around the small red cooler and moving to the ladder as a light breeze caresses the still night around them.

"I'm not tired so I said I'd do it since he did a double last night. Besides, it's not like I used a lot of energy just driving around all afternoon," Glenn replies. "I just feel bad that I keep striking out with these schools."

"You're still bringing back supplies so I wouldn't say that's striking out," Erin tells him as she steps down from the ladder and gains her footing in the dirt above the sleeping quarry.

"And we will find someplace safe for us," Rick says when he comes to stand next to her. "It's out there somewhere."

Erin feels the warmth of his palm against her lower back and takes comfort in that as much as she does from his spoken words.

"Tomorrow, you and T-Dog go north, Daryl and I will go east. If we strike out again, we'll just have to explore further out the next day," Rick says and Erin's heart sinks as she thinks of him out on another run with Daryl.

"Still think it's a waste of time and gas," Shane says dryly as he settles into the chair that she had just vacated on the roof.

When Rick turns to face her, Erin quickly averts her eyes, looking down to the darkness at her feet to keep him from seeing the concern etched on her face. She bids Glenn goodnight and follows the fading beam of her flashlight down the slope toward their tent, feeling like the light is slowly seeping out of her in the same way that the batteries are losing their energy to shine. Hearing Rick's heavy footsteps trailing closely behind her, she quickens her pace while desperately trying to rearrange her features. Please let him think that my swiftness is due to the dying flashlight and not my terrified heart.

Stepping into the tent, she lays the flashlight on a chair in the corner and crouches down to remove her hiking boots as she hears Rick behind her, struggling to get his own boots off with a sore shoulder. She slips off her socks and turns to help him. Kneeling in front of the cot where he is seated and fighting with his left boot, she brushes his hands away to finish the job, still not meeting his eyes.

"Thanks," he says softly in the dim light.

"Mhmm," she murmurs in answer before moving toward her old mattress to retrieve the tee shirt that she sleeps in.

"Hey. Come here, Red," he says directly behind her.

His arms come around her waist, curling across her belly before she can bend down to grab her shirt. Folding her arms over his, she rests her head back against his shoulder, swallowing the misery that is trying to lodge in her throat.

"I know you're worried about tomorrow. Don't be."

"I didn't say anything," she replies, trying to keep her voice light and even.

"You didn't have to. I know you and I know what you're thinking. I'll be fine, honey."

She feels the touch of his lips on the back of her head and blinks hard to clear the emotion from her eyes. Taking a deep breath, she turns in his arms to meet his gaze. She lifts her chin and relaxes her shoulders to pull off what she hopes would be an academy award winning performance. "I know you'll be fine," she says with a smile that falls just short of her eyes as she wraps her arms around his neck.

"Yeah?" he asks sounding highly suspicious of her response.

"Yes," she answers with what she hopes sounds like absolute conviction as she grips the dark hair curling at his nape, desperately trying to believe it herself.

Needing him to concentrate on his job, staying safe and coming home, she refuses to let him walk out of this camp worrying about her and her feelings, no matter how much she really hates the thought of him out there again. And since there isn't a damn thing she can do to keep him glued to her hip twenty-four hours a day, she takes the pragmatic approach and decides not to waste a single precious moment that he is at her side.

"I don't know if you'll find a fence for us tomorrow, but I do know that you will come back to me." She lifts her chin to press a soft kiss to his lips, a benevolent promise that seals the statement. Taking a deep breath with a fierce challenge to defy fate, she feels a calmness spreading warmth throughout her entire body as a reminder of Carl's dream surfaces in her mind. Oh yeah! She pulls back slightly with a mischievous grin that finally reaches her eyes in the pale of the fading flashlight. "You're going to marry me under a big old tree, remember?"

He returns her smile and frames her face with his hands. "Yeah," he says softly. "I remember."

When his lips meet hers, tenderness simmers softly for several heartbeats until passion takes over to burn hot and heavy. When he angles his head, she parts her lips and welcomes him home.

Savoring the taste of his tongue as he probes her mouth, she grips his shoulders as he kisses her breathless, stealing every lingering ounce of concern she may have had with his skillful tongue and beautiful hands that are pulling her hips into an erection that promises to make everything better.

She presses her midsection against him, needing him more than the air in her lungs and the blood in her veins. He alone gives life to her heart and meaning to her very existence.

The pressure of his palm over her breast sends a bolt of desire straight to her core. She moans into his mouth and he breaks the kiss to nibble on her neck as his hands move to her back for the clasp of her bra.

"God, I love you, Erin." The words spoken soft and sweet against her throat caress her skin with a carnal ruggedness from the whiskers shading his jaw, fueling her voracious hunger as he lifts her shirt over her head and slips her bra from her shoulders.

"I love you ba-," her words are absorbed into the texture of his lips and tongue as she kisses him fervently. She lowers her hands to the buttons of his dark plaid shirt. "Let me love you," she murmurs against the cleft denting his stubbled chin before gliding soft kisses down his neck to his collarbone.

His hands glide lovingly along her naked back as she works to free each button down the length of his shirt. Spreading the fabric apart to reveal the hard plane of his chest, her breath catches at the sight of the white bandage that embellishes his skin like a surrendering flag. She swallows hard and focuses on the strong muscles beneath the light dusting of hair lying soft across his chest. She drinks in the sight of him; solid and sound, hale and hardy. She places her hand above his heart, taking strength and comfort from the steady pulse beating sweet against her palm.

She dips her lips to his body, pressing a gentle, reverent, kiss to the bandage as the flashlight finally gives out, leaving them in moonlit shadows.

Lowering her chin, she licks a wet circle around his nipple as he shrugs the garment from his shoulders. Her hands glide down his ribcage and she slips two fingertips inside the waistband of his jeans as her other hand covers his arousal, stroking him through the worn denim. "Tell me what you like," she asks softly, almost shyly, as she continues to work her hand slowly over him.

"You. Right there."

She flicks the tip of her tongue over his nipple until it hardens to a point. "Here?" she asks softly, still caressing him.

"Yeah, that's nice," he whispers in the darkness, his voice warm and thick like honey to her senses.

Sinking to her knees, she places a wet kiss into the shallow indent of his navel.

"Here?" she asks against the salty skin of his belly as she unfastens his belt and lowers his zipper.

"Oh yeah."

She feels gentle fingers at the back of her head as she pushes his jeans down to his thighs. Placing a tender kiss against the soft fabric of his boxer briefs, she asks again, "Here?"

"Oh God, yeah," he breathes, getting even harder inside her palm.

She grips him firmly, breathing in his scent and filling her lungs with all that is him.

Slowing her hand she squeezes him gently, eliciting a loader groan from his chest. Looking up at the beautiful sound, she meets his gaze and smiles at the desire darkening his hooded eyes. Relishing the effect she has on him, she grins sweetly and tilts her head playfully, running her tongue along the edge of her lips that promises all kinds of decadence as she rubs her thumb over the tip of his cock.

"You're killing me here, Red." He pushes his briefs down to his thighs, freeing his straining erection and causing a band of heat to pool in her lower belly.

Wrapping her hand around the base of his cock, she takes him into her mouth. A deep groan escapes his chest as she moves along his shaft, her hand following the path of her lips in steady pursuit.

She feels his hands gently cradling her head as he fills her mouth completely. "Baby, that feels so damn good."

Encouraged with his response she increases her pace, moving faster over his flesh as her free hand reaches under to cup his scrotum. She rolls the sensitive marbles against her fingers as she continues to love him fervently with her mouth.

"Slow down, honey, or this is gonna be over real quick. Too quick," he murmurs, breathing heavily with his fists tangled in her curly hair.

"Mmm…," she moans around his thickness in reply. She slows her rhythm to a sensuous crawl, gliding tightly along his length and giving special attention to the sensitive tip. She swirls her tongue around the ridge and strokes the little hole with love, getting a tiny taste of what he gives her when he loses himself to their passion.

When she takes him inside again, she moves leisurely up and down, savoring the flavor of his skin and the fullness of his desire. She slowly builds her momentum to an eager and ardent pace, until he mutters a curse beneath a ragged breath.

When he pulls away suddenly, she sits back on her heels as he shoves his clothes down his legs, kicking them off of his feet in a frustrated rush. "Get out of those pants, Red, before I rip the damn things off of you."

Enraptured by his words and the fierceness in which he spoke them, she numbly watches him as he lies down on the mattress, gloriously naked and completely hers. She rises to her feet and reaches for the button securing her jeans. After unsnapping it quickly, she notices his gaze leveled at her hands and she stills her fingers. Gripping the small metal tab, she lowers the zipper ever… so… slowly.

"Jesus," he breathes as a warm breeze wafts into the tent through the mesh window.

She shimmies out of her pants and panties in a slow, sultry dance that drops his chin and leaves his mouth slack with lust.

Stepping over to the mattress, she straddles his hips and lowers herself down to his waist, trembling with a need so intense she nearly comes as soon as he touches a thumb to her opening. Closing her eyes, she rolls her head back and gets lost in the fire heating her body as he fits two fingers deep into her center, divinely caressing her slick folds. "Mmmm…"

"You're all ready for me, aren't you, baby?"

"Oh yes."

"Come here, sweetheart." He grips her hips and pulls her forward slightly, lining her up with his erection. "Bring me home, Erin."

Lowering herself onto his length until he is completely sheathed inside of her, she clenches around him and leans forward to find his lips. She gives her mouth to him as she had given her body; willing and eager and ready to be ravished. He captures her mouth as his penis claims her center, thrusting his tongue in rhythm with his cock as he guides her up and down to take him in again and again and again.

She breaks the kiss to catch her breath and straightens her back to sit upright. Leaning her hands against his chest, she rocks back and forth slowly, deliberately, closing her eyes to everything but the exquisite feeling of holding him deep inside of her.

Two large hands cover her breasts, massaging the soft mounds and then honing in on her sensitive nipples. She arches her back and nearly whimpers when his mouth covers one peak, working the bud gently between his teeth.

Held in place by a strong arm wrapped tightly around her waist, she cradles his head as he feasts on her flesh, threading her fingers through his dark wavy hair as he moves from one bosom to the other and back again. When he relaxes his hold on her, she presses her lips to his crown and begins to move her hips again. "I love you so much."

"I love you too, baby." He lies flat and she braces herself against his chest to increase her tempo. "Take me home now." She moves over him, with him, sleek and steady. "Ah, that's it."

When his thumb finds her clit, her world explodes in a fusion of heat and color. She throws her head back with a hearty moan as every nerve ending dances through a rainbow of flames. He continues to thrust up into her for several moments until one powerful lunge has him squeezing her hips painfully hard but wonderfully satisfying as he loses himself inside her. With her nails digging into his forearms and her heart pounding in rhythm with his, she cherishes his love and brings him home.

Collapsing onto his chest in a mass of quivering limbs, she floats down from the heavens leaving a silent prayer that he always find his way home.