"Harder, babe. It feels so good," I begged him. "Don't hold back. I can take it. I promise."

That was all it took. He began to pound into me, and it was paradise. It was so intense yet so sublime, all at once. Phil pounded an orgasm through me, and I couldn't stop myself from screaming my head off. The second one followed swiftly after, and then when a third hit me, I shoved my face deep into the bedspread and unleashed a litany of bellows.

I was sobbing with it as he thrust hard, holding me into him, and he let out the most wonderfully hellish roar. It was so loud, so raw that I felt it shake me to my foundation. Phil yanked me up into his arms and crushed me in his embrace, straining into me, trying to get deeper. Grunting, he sank his teeth into my shoulder to muffle another scream as his cock erupted with violence.

I drew in a shaky breath. "You all right?"

He kissed my shoulder, the spot where he'd bit me. I liked that he'd lost his shit like that. I liked the sweet pain of his teeth in me.

"No. You?" he said, panting.

"Too fuckin' right I am. That was awesome."

He burst out laughing. "You're too cute."

Lying side by side on our backs with our hands clasped, we simply basked in the afterglow of our off-the-chain sex.

"You need to get over this fear you have that you're going to hurt me, okay? I'm not very experienced, but I know what I like and what I can handle," I told him after a few minutes.

He sighed, "I'm workin' on it."

"I know you are."

"So...what do you like?"

"Well, I know I like it rough. I like a bit of hair-pulling and ass-smacking."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Mmhmm."

He was quiet for a moment and then said, "I do, too."

"Well then, I'll be sure to pull your hair and smack your bare ass often."

He giggled, and it was the funniest shit I thought I'd ever heard. I busted out laughing.

"Hush, Baby Girl," he admonished, but he ruined it by snorting.

"Dude, you giggled!"

"Dude?" he half-roared. "Did you just call me dude?"

"I did! Augh!"

Rolling on top of me and wiggling his hips, he settled between my thighs.

"Call me fuckin' dude," he grunted. Then, he hotly kissed me. "This is my favorite though. I love to see your face, feel you under me, holding me. I like feeling your heart beating next to mine."

"Damn, Phil."

He smiled down at me. "Don't you?"

"Yes."

"Phil, I'm heading out to do yoga."

"Uh-huh."

"I'm leaving," I whispered.

He woke up with a loud snuffling sound. "What?"

"I'm heading home to do yoga and have coffee with Alys and Lili. I'll come back after, okay?"

Pulling me into his arms, he settled back into the pillows, taking me with him.

"Phil!" I shouted since he had me in a vise-like grip. "Let me up!"

"Don't wanna."

"Hey, I respected your wishes and woke you up to say good-bye before I left. Now, respect mine and let me go!" I laughed.

"Never lettin' you go, Baby Girl," he replied sleepily.

"Whatever. Let me up, so I can do what I have to do, yeah?"

With a huge sigh, he dropped a kiss on the top of my head and released me. "I'll miss you."

That made me smile. "I'll miss you, too."

It was a little past seven in the morning, and that gave me enough time to get in about an hour of sun salutations and poses before my besties woke up and joined me for coffee. However, as I was rolling out Mom's bamboo mat, I spotted Lili moving around the house. Glancing out the back door, she saw me, too.

"Hey, I got called in early," she told me quietly. "I'll catch up with you later?"

"Sure," I replied.

When Alys came down an hour later, she made two lattes, and I joined her at the table.

"You seem to be in a good mood this morning," she remarked.

She had a positive glow going on herself.

"Yeah. You seem to have an air of smugness to you, too. What's that all about?"

Clearing her throat, her eyes sparkled. "X asked for my number last night-and a date. He called me about an hour after you guys left."

"What did you guys talk about?"

"Nothing too in-depth. He said he thought the sight of me punching Jason in the 'nads was the hottest thing he'd ever seen."

"It was pretty spectacular," I confirmed.

"What about you? How did you two get the matter resolved?"

"He held me down and shoved his dick in."

She blinked. "Come again?"

"He did that, too." I ended up telling her pretty much everything and how indescribably hot and bizarrely sweet it was.

"God, the pair of you," she laughed.

"What do you mean?"

"He's extremely dominant, Kenna. He's not just physically massive. His personality is enormous, too. The man has the ability to captivate thousands of people. His voice, his body, his face-he's pure alpha. I don't suspect he gets challenged very often, and then you walk back into his life, and you're just as much an alpha as he is."

"You think I'm an alpha?" I asked, a bit incredulous.

Alys cracked up. "Uh, yeah. You live by your own rules and answer to no one. You've been like that practically your whole life. You've worked your ass off to get to where you are, and you have complete control of your own space, your own corner of the universe. I think you force him into a very uncomfortable place. You test his control, and in retaliation, he has to prove to be the more dominant one. And...I think you like it."

I exhaled slowly. "I think you're probably right."

"He's the only man strong enough to take you on. You won't be able to walk all over him. Poor Brian never really stood a chance. You had that guy eating out of the palm of your hand."

"I did not," I huffed.

"Okay, let me put it this way. Brian would walk to the ends of the earth for you, if you asked him to. Phil would do so simply because you're his."

I had no clue as to how to respond to that.

"Well, I'm heading out. Will we be having dinner tonight?" she asked, getting to her feet.

"I have no idea. I'll call you later and let you know what's up."

Dropping a kiss on the top of my head, she said, "Sounds good. Love you, Sweet Pea."

"Love you, too."

After debating whether or not I should head back to Phil's to shower, I decided that since all my crap was here, I'd just take the inferior experience and save me the hassle of lugging my stuff over to his place. I should probably buy the things I used and keep a set over there.

It was nice to have the alone time though. I cranked up Led Zeppelin IV and sang my heart out with Robert Plant in the shower. I wouldn't have dared to do such a thing in front of Phil. He'd dump me for butchering Zeppelin, if for nothing else.

I took my time getting dressed, selecting a baggy pair of jeans and a white tank top-my uniform of choice. I had to wear a bra with it, so I dug out a lacy nude-colored one with matching boy-cut underwear. Styling my hair a bit around my face, I piled it all up into a knot on top of my head.

Sheri and Jason should be coming back from the hospital. I was nervous about being over there, knowing I had been the cause of this problem. It didn't matter that no one else blamed me. I did. And the thought of Phil's guilt when he would see one of his best friends busted up by his own hand was weighing heavily on my mind.

I never should have run last night. I was acting like the coward. Phil didn't deserve that, especially not when he ran out of the house, chasing after me. I should have stayed and confronted him. I should've pulled him aside.

Nothing would feel right with me until I apologized for it. Last night, I'd only explained to him why I felt the need to run away. I never said I was sorry. He deserved an apology and more.

Speak of the devil, my phone beeped with a text message.

Your Phil: I need you, Baby Girl. Please come home.

Please come home.

Phil was just as much my home as I was his. Fresh hell could possibly break loose at any minute over there, and he needed me by his side. Unlike last night, I was not going to be a coward. Phil deserved a woman who could face this kind of shit even if she was scared and guilt-ridden.

Me: I'm on my way.

Slipping through the side gate, walking along the brown-multihued tiled pathway that wound its way around, I hoped to calm my nerves a bit. I wished I had taken the time to meditate this morning but whatever.

Phil was waiting for me on the patio, his face unreadable.

"Hey, babe," I said quietly as I approached.

Without a word, he simply opened up his arms, and I moved into his embrace, hoping to give him the comfort he was seeking.

"Phil?"

"Yeah, Baby Girl," he murmured.

"I wanted to tell you...I'm sorry about last night. You were right. I was a coward. I never should have run off like that. I should have had the balls to confront you. If I had, maybe none of this would've happened. So...I'm very, very sorry. I'll never make that mistake again."

His arms tightened around me, and he rocked us from side to side.

"Thank you," he said softly. "But I probably would've knocked his teeth out anyway."

Sliding open the back door, X poked his head out. "Jace wants to talk to you, man. Heads-up though. Motherfucker is pretty doped up."

"All right."

I gave Phil a quick hug, and he kissed my Third Eye, filling me with his pain and trepidation. He was scared he'd done too much damage and not just to Jason's face. The band could very well be at stake.

Looking over at X, Phil asked him in a vulnerable-sounding voice, "Will you come with me?"

X nodded. "Yeah, man. Of course."

With my legs shaking slightly, I took a seat as they headed inside.

A few minutes later, Sheri came out and sat next to me. Her eyes were puffy and red-rimmed, a telling sign of heavy weeping throughout a long and sleepless night.

"Kenna? Is it okay if I talk to you?" She sounded as lost and scared and tired as she looked.

"Of course you can," I replied.

Staring at the ground, she worried her bottom lip with her teeth. I could see she was trying to figure out what she wanted to say-or how to say it.