"Please don't do this!" she cried, trying to shove his hands away as she used her feet to push away from him, but he simply ignored her struggles, grabbed onto her hips and pulled her back where he wanted her.

"I'm sorry, but you've left me no other choice," he said gravely even as he licked his lips in anticipation while his hungry gaze locked on the patch of golden skin that the rucked up tee shirt had exposed.

He hated himself for what he was about to do, but she'd given him no other choice. The pigheaded woman wouldn't listen to reason, he told himself as an excuse to finally give in and do what he'd been dreaming about for the last month. He pulled her closer, ignoring her demands that he release her and her sad little attempts to escape as he reminded himself that he had no other choice.

He had to do this and he had to do it now.

"Please don't do this, Darrin!"

"I'm sorry, Marybeth," he said with a long-suffering sigh as he leaned over her and did what he had to do.

"You..," uncontrollable giggle, "son of," another giggle, "a bitch!"

"You can make this stop anytime you want," the large bastard tickling her calmly explained as he moved onto an especially sensitive spot below her ribs.

"S-stop!"

"Are you going to drop this bullshit about getting a divorce?" he asked, pausing in his tickling attack to give her a chance to catch her breath and answer him.

Panting, she shook her head. "It's for the-bastard!" she finished on a gasp as he commenced with his tickling attack, causing her to giggle uncontrollably as she struggled to get away, but he refused to grant her quarter.

"This is how I see this working out," he easily continued as she giggled and gasped, desperate for escape and making promises to herself that this time she was definitely going for his balls, "you're going to agree to stay married to me, you're going to stop trying to turn yourself into a martyr, and you're going to stop this bullshit about children."

"It's not bull-eeeh!" she started to argue, not appreciating the martyr comment one bit, only to end up screeching a bit there at the end as the bastard reached down and focused his attention on the bottom of her foot.

"So, this is what's going to happen," he calmly explained as she giggled so hard that she could hardly breathe, "you're going to promise never to even mention the word divorce again."

"Dar-" she ended on a gasp as he suddenly shifted his attention away from her foot, grabbed her by her hips and flipped her over onto her back. Before she could take her next breath he was sitting on legs, pinning her down on the bed and tickling the shit out of her.

"We're staying married, right, sweetheart?" he asked offhandedly as he went for all the weak spots that he'd mapped out over the years.

She opened her mouth only to giggle uncontrollably as he doubled his efforts. "All you have to do is promise that we're going to stay married and I'll stop," he promised, going for that ticklish spot on her side that he'd learned about when they were fifteen and his hand accidentally brushed against her side when he went to reach for something next to her.

"S-stop!" she cried, laughing so hard that she was crying.

"Are you giving in?"

"N-no!"

"Then I have no choice but to continue," he explained, sounding amused as he continued his crazed attack as she tried to squirm free, but the bastard outweighed her.

"Y-you'll p-pay f-for t-this!" she swore, laughing so hard that her sides hurt.

"Aw, is little Marybeth getting mad?"

"Yes!"

"Do you want me to stop?" he asked in a syrupy sweet voice that had her eyes narrowing even as she continued to giggle and gasp uncontrollably.

"Y-yes!" she managed to gasp as she grabbed hold of the bedspread and pulled, desperate to escape this torture so when he abruptly stopped, she was understandably frightened.

She lay there, gasping for air as the last of her giggles died away and common sense demanded that she get off the bed and run away before he could- "Let me make it easy for you," he whispered in her ear. "We're not getting a divorce, sweetheart. I'm not going to lie and tell you that it doesn't feel like my heart is breaking when I think about never having children with you, because it does, but it would never have stopped me from wanting you. That's why you never told me, isn't it?"

She closed her eyes in defeat as she said, "Yes."

He was quiet for a minute before he asked, "Are you out of your fucking mind?"

"Darrin?"

"I'm not speaking to you. Go away," he said, shifting to snuggle his pillow tighter when he spotted a lovely collection of snacks on the nightstand by the bed.

Now, he could have grabbed any of the other lovely snacks she'd bought, but he didn't. He grabbed the small bag of Hershey Kisses and ripped into them all while shooting her a glare that dared her to bitch about it.

"Are you going to tell me what has your panties in a twist?" she asked, sitting on the bed beside him and looking oddly amused when she should be begging for his forgiveness.

Not that he would give it.

At least, not unless she found some inventive and rather satisfying way of making it up to him, that is.

"You know damn well what has my panties in a twist," he said, unwrapping one of the delicious foiled covered treats and popped it in his mouth as he glanced around the room, looking for something to wash down the delectable chocolaty treat that he refused to share.

Sighing heavily in a manner that he didn't much appreciate, she climbed off the bed, walked over to the entertainment console. He watched as she opened the bottom cabinet, revealing a mini-fridge, and bent over, giving him one hell of a view. Although he preferred it when she went to bed without panties, he had to admit that he really loved it when she wore a pair of his boxers, mostly because they were too big for her and had the tendency of falling down and giving him the view that he was currently enjoying at the moment.

Before he had a chance to fully appreciate the view or reminisce about good times, she was standing up and walking back over to join him on the bed with a bottle of orange juice in her hand. Without a word, she handed him the bottle of juice and sat down next to him. Although it wasn't enough to buy his forgiveness, he decided that it was enough to earn a Hershey Kiss or two.

Grudgingly, he handed over the chocolate and took a sip of juice, wondering how a woman as intelligent as Marybeth could do something so fucking stupid. Apparently she was wondering the same thing, because she asked, "So?"

"So, what?" he asked, handing her the bottle of juice.

"I thought we weren't playing games anymore," she reminded him as she took a sip of juice and handed it back to him.

Nodding, he decided that she had a point so he decided to get straight to his. "You've known for the past six years that you were going to marry me and instead of cutting out the bullshit and letting me make you the happiest woman alive, you wasted six fucking years!" he snapped, glaring accusingly down at her as he unwrapped a tasty treat and shoved it in his mouth, needing the chocolaty distraction to stop him from spanking her the way that she deserved.

When she blinked up at him slowly with a slightly bemused frown, he decided that he no longer had to share his juice or chocolates with the aggravating woman. So when she reached over to take the juice from him, he glared at her until she got the hint and pulled her hand away.

"I had no plans on marrying you or anyone for that matter," she explained, sounding tired as she climbed off the bed and walked over to the television console where she once again opened the cabinet, bent over and gave him something to sigh about.

God, he loved her ass.

As she walked back over to the bed he finished off his juice and tossed the bottle aside. Before her beautiful ass had a chance to sit back down, he snatched the ice-cold bottle of juice out of her hand, cracked it open and finished it off in three swallows before she could bitch about it or try to snatch it back. Shaking her head and muttering some rather hostile words about his poor neglected cock, she stormed back over to the cabinet, grabbed another drink and earned a little more of his forgiveness when she bent over again.

"You're pathetic," she muttered, shaking her head in disgust as she walked back to the bed, this time making sure to take a sip of her drink before she sat back down beside him and offered him the small bottle of juice.

"And you love me," he said, accepting the bottle with a nod of thanks as he prepared himself for the denial that she'd been using for the last six years to push him away.

"More than anything," she admitted as she reached over and took the bottle of juice from him.

"Then I was right," he murmured, returning his attention to the remaining Kisses at the bottom of the small bag.

"About what?" she asked, reaching into the bag and helping herself to a piece of chocolate.

"Everything."

Chapter 28.

"Everything?" she repeated back with a sad shake of her head as she reached for the bag only to find it suddenly out of reach and the big baby next to her glaring down at her in typical Bradford fashion.

God, they really were a bunch of babies, she decided as got on her knees and leaned over him to- "Mine!" Darrin snarled as he placed his hand protectively in front of the pile of junk food that she'd spent a small fortune on.

"Fine," she said, shaking her head with a heavy sigh as she climbed under the covers and curled up on her side, facing away from him, deciding that she'd rather sleep than have to deal with typical Bradford bullshit this morning, "be a big baby."

She closed her eyes, snuggled closer to her pillow and nearly cried in frustration when she felt the big jerk shift behind her seconds before she felt his large warm body curl up behind her. "We need to finish this conversation," he said, wrapping his arm around her waist and pulled her closer.

"Then you need to get to the point," she grumbled, not bothering to open her eyes.

"I already did," he said, pressing a kiss against her neck.

"No, you really didn't."

"Everything didn't clear it up for you?" he asked with a warm chuckle that had her toes curling.

God, she'd missed him...

"No, not really," she mumbled sleepily as she shifted back so that she could settle more firmly in his arms.

"Then why don't I clear everything up for you? Hmm?" he asked as he shifted back away from her, pulling her with him until she found herself lying on her back and looking up at him.

"I would probably appreciate that," she said with a teasing smile as she reached up and ran her fingers through his short black locks, unable to help herself.

"You knew that I would never let you go," he said, reaching up to gently push a strand of long hair aside so that he could brush the back of his knuckles down along her jaw. "You knew that I loved you and wanted to marry you, which is why you didn't tell me, sweetheart, because you knew that once I found out, nothing would stop me from making you mine."

She didn't bother denying it, because he was right. Instead, she got right to the point, the reason why she'd never allowed herself to have more with him and the reason why she was going to have to ask for the one thing that was going to kill her.

"Because you deserve so much better than me, Darrin."

"I deserve you," he said, leaning down so that he could brush his lips gently against hers.

"You want children," she reminded him.

"I want you," he said firmly as he kissed the corner of her mouth, "and sooner or later you're going to realize that."

"I......," she started to say only to pause so that she could lick her lips and bite back a moan as Darrin suddenly shifted over her and settled between legs. "What are you doing?"

"Taking a different approach," he said, kissing his way down to her neck right around the time that he shifted his hips and let her know exactly what he had in mind.

"I thought that you wanted to discuss this," she said, biting back a moan as she turned her head, giving him better access.

"That was taking too long," he explained, gently sucking on her neck and driving her crazy as he reached between them and palmed her breast.

"And having sex is supposed to settle this?" she asked, wrapping her arms around him with a gasp as he gave her breast a squeeze.

"It couldn't hurt," he said, kissing his way down as he shifted his hand away from her breast. He reached down and grabbed the hem of her shirt and pulled it up slowly.

"We can't stay married," she argued weakly, tilting her head back and swallowed hard, trying to find the willpower to stop this before she did something foolish.

"I think we can," he whispered, groaning softly as he rolled his hips, grinding his large erection between her legs.

"Oh, God," she gasped, squeezing her eyes shut as she struggled to think of something else, anything else, to distract herself away from how good it felt to be in his arms and how desperately she wanted him.

She had to stay strong!

She needed to stay focused!

She needed....she needed...she......

"Do you want me to stop?" he asked as his hand returned to her breast and held it higher as he traced her nipple with the tip of his tongue.

"Maybe?" she groaned as her breaths came faster and she tried to remember why they shouldn't be doing this.

"Maybe?" he asked, chuckling against her breast like the insensitive bastard that he was as she struggled to think things through.

"I'm thinking!" she snapped, opening her eyes to glare at the crisp white ceiling as she gasped and panted a bit.

"I tell you what, sweetheart," he said, sounding thoughtful, pausing just long enough to gently pull her nipple between his lips before he allowed it to slip free with a soft groan, "if you really want a divorce, then I'll stop. I'll go get a room of my own. We can figure things out, talk to Garrett and have the whole matter cleared up quickly."

She opened her mouth, determined to do the right thing and set him free when he reached down and slid his hand under the waistband of the boxers that she'd stolen from him. He ran the tip of his middle finger over her wet slit as he moved his hand over her until he was cupping her in his hand. He groaned with pleasure while she lay there, panting and licking her lips hungrily, weakening by the second.

He pulled his back as he leaned over her, placing his mouth near her ear as he pushed his hand back, sliding one indescribably long finger inside her. "Or," he whispered, slowly pulling out that thick finger and sliding it back inside her as her eyes fluttered shut and a choked moan escaped her, "I could fuck you."

"Darrin," she groaned, chuckling weakly until he pressed his thumb down on her clit and gently rubbed it.

"Let me fuck you, sweetheart," he whispered, continuing to rub her clit.

"I...."

"I've missed you so much, Marybeth," he whispered, kissing her neck as he slowly thrust his finger inside her. "I missed talking to you, holding you, kissing you and the way that you feel first thing in the morning when I slide inside you, hot, wet and so fucking tight."

She moaned, unable to do anything else as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders.