Placing a warm kiss on my head, Romeo took my hand firmly in his and led me into the large complex.

"Just tilt your head back and open wide... Yes, like that... and... Are they in?" the ophthalmologist asked as I blinked at a furious rate to expel the excess solution.

The world seemed to correct itself. "Yeah, I think that's it. How do they look?"

I walked to the mirror and for the first time in years, saw myself clearly without large frames blocking the view.

"You look very pretty, honey," she gushed sweetly.

"My eyes..." I whispered as I registered every detailed colour in my irises, bright brown with flecks of gold, just like my dad always said. I'd never seen them look like that-so vibrant, no barriers in my way-and I reached out to my reflection, running my hand down the glass.

Rome had told the ophthalmologist on our arrival to give me only the best and smacked his gold card on the counter, much to my ignored protest. We'd decided on contacts, and I couldn't believe the difference they made to my appearance.

"So you have a month's supply of lenses and a pair of tortoiseshell Chanel glasses for when you don't want to stick them suckers on your eyeballs. Everything's paid for Miss Shakespeare, so you're good to go."

I took the offered bag from the doctor and felt my face. I smiled and walked into the foyer. Rome sat on a cushioned seat, slouched down, watching some mundane daytime TV show. When he saw movement to the side, he looked over and turned back to the TV before whipping his head back on a double take. The floored expression on his face said it all.

He slowly rose from his chair, his throat moving up and down as he swallowed on his approach. I fiddled with the handles on the white bag and lowered my head. His scuffed brown boots came to a stop before me, and his finger lifted my chin to face him. I glanced up and his full lips parted slightly on a gasp, and he smiled. "You look beautiful, Mol."

I blushed and lowered my eyes.

His finger lifted it again. "No. Don't hide from me. You have the most stunnin' eyes. You're kinda blowing me away right now."

"Thank you," I said softly, heat rising to my cheeks.

Reaching down, he took my hand. "Let's go."

"Where are we going now?" I asked on a laugh as he hastily pulled me from the store, dragging me behind.

"I want to show you somewhere... and we need to get there quick.

10.

We drove for about thirty minutes-I had no idea where. I'd never been good with directions so I settled back and enjoyed the scenery. Fields and fields of vibrant greens and yellows whizzed by, corn and wheat fields dominating the view. Blue skies stretched for miles and white fluffy clouds roamed lazily in the late afternoon sun. It was breathtaking.

Rome had placed his hand on my knee when we entered the truck and had yet to remove it. I felt his gaze fall on me from time to time and wondered what he was thinking. I hoped only good things.

He clicked the blinker on and we turned onto a long driveway. "Almost there," he announced.

"Where's there?"

"Just somewhere I like to go to be alone."

Rome took a sharp left halfway down the drive and pulled onto a bumpy gravel road. We'd travelled about two miles when a huge crystal-blue-watered creek surrounded by high trees and brightly coloured flowers came into view. It was simply beautiful.

"My God, Rome, it's amazing," I stated, infatuated by the scene before me.

Patting my leg, he pulled the truck to a stop behind a large oak tree, opened the driver's door, and walked around to let me out. I hopped down and took his offered hand as we strolled to the sound of flowing water. At the water's edge, he pulled me down to sit beside him on a soft grassy verge.

Birds were singing high up in the treetops, crickets were chirping, and the air was warm and still. I don't think I'd ever felt more at peace. Rome was watching me admire my surroundings with a satisfied expression.

"Okay, now you seriously have to tell me where we are. It's possibly the prettiest place on Earth."

He hesitated. "It's the creek at the back of my parents' place."

"You're parents' place?"

He nodded curtly, tensing his jaw.

I whipped my head around, noticing acres and acres of lush land. Turning back to Rome, I asked, "They own all of this?"

He laid flat to the floor and ran his hands over his face, murmuring, "It's a plantation, Mol."

I stilled. "Plantation? Your parents own an entire plantation?" I roved my eyes around in search of the house. It was well out of sight.

He propped himself up on one elbow, rolling a strand of dried grass between his fingers. "Relax, they won't know we're even here. I come here all the time, Mol. It's where I get away from it all."

I relaxed some and sighed, shaking my head.

"What?" Rome asked with a frown.

"This. You. A plantation. We're from completely different worlds." I gestured towards the rolling fields of pinky-white cotton, comparing it in my head to the narrow cobbled streets of my childhood home.

Romeo reached for my outstretched hand and brought it to his warm lips. "This isn't me, believe me. If only you knew... All this belongs to my parents, not me. I'm just the same me and you're just you, Romeo and Molly Juliet." He cocked his head to the side. "C'mere." He tugged on my arm.

I leaned on my front, supporting my upper body on my forearms. Rome stared up at me. "I can't believe how beautiful you look with those lenses in. Your eyes are the strangest golden colour... I'm havin' to try real hard to stop myself from touchin' you the way I want to."

I flushed red and brought my thumbnail to my lip. He watched every movement.

"You can touch me if you want to," I said nervously.

His dark eyes sparkled with lust and his lids lowered. "Don't play with fire, Shakespeare. It's too much for a pretty little English girl to cope with."

"What can I say...? I'm a risk taker."

"Mol..." he threatened on a hiss.

I crawled slowly to his laid-out body, hands and knees crunching against the dried grass.

His eyes grew wild as I edged closer. "Mol..." His threat was harder this time. It didn't stop me, though. He made me feel bold.

I reached his side and looked right down into the pools of his dark eyes, my rigid bonds of self-control snapping loose as I freefell into Rome's dark and dangerous well.

Deft hands moved and smoothed along my bare thighs, up to the hemline of my green dress, inching to just below my panties. Rome's calloused palms ran up and down my legs, gaining height with every stroke, and I leaned down, tentatively brushing my lips against his. Rome let me set the pace as I nipped at his mouth, running the tip of my tongue along his bottom lip.

I knew I was testing his boundaries, seeing how far Romeo would let me go. He groaned and pulled on the flesh of my thighs, widening them just a fraction, moving ever closer to my core. I pressed my mouth farther against his, but still not how he wanted it, torturing him in slow caresses. He let me play, tease, and seduce.

Feeling braver, I placed my flat palm on his chest and Rome jerked at the contact. My hands began their wander, at first in slow circles. Then I allowed my fingertips to creep down his thin shirt, over his tightening abs, stopping at the waistband of his jeans, my finger slipping just underneath, brushing against the tender skin.

In a flash of a second, Romeo's hands bolted up to the tops of my thighs, gripping the inner muscles, and with a vicious growl, he wrenched my legs apart to straddle him, his hardness lying perfectly against my scolding centre.

My mouth broke from his and I struggled to catch my breath. Rome's eyes were wild, his black irises melting to eradicate the chocolate brown, and I instantly knew I'd untapped some inner desire, snapped his self-restraint.

Warm hands snaked around my neck, and Rome's soft mouth crushed to mine. His tongue plundered through the barrier of my lips, filling my mouth with his minty taste, and I let him. I utterly surrendered myself. I was completely taken, and at that moment, I wouldn't have had it any other way.

His hands moved from my hair, travelling to my throat and down to my bra-less breasts. Next, Rome's palm ran across my sensitive nipple and massaged the hard flesh, my hips rocking back and forth in reaction. His tongue wrapped around mine, and his groans of want grew more desperate.

With a final rough caress, Rome's hand left my breast and landed at the bottom of my short dress, slipping under to the edge of my black cotton panties. I was almost crazy with need, and he smirked as he drew back and studied my lust-filled golden eyes.

"Romeo..." I moaned and closed my eyes in frustration. I needed him so much.

"Mol... I... I..."

My eyes snapped opened and pierced his. "Please..." I begged, desperate to feel him touch me, really touch me.

"Mol... God... you're making me fuckin' crazy..." I could tell he was trying to control himself.

"Rome... now!" I practically screamed.

His fingers wrenched the material of my panties aside, ran along my seam, and as he smashed his lips back to mine, he immediately pushed his long middle finger inside me, stroking gently, my breath stuttering with every advance.

"Don't ever tell me what to do." Romeo bent his fingers, tugging forward, causing me to convulse. "Do you hear me?"

"Yes. Yes," I said quickly. I loved the way he controlled me, and my body hummed with satisfaction at every order.

Romeo moved to get into a better position, my head rolling back at the indescribable sensations currently shattering all my defences. I hooked my left arm around his neck as he branded me his with his eager and pulsing hand. I needed to please him too. I wanted to, so I reached down to snap the button on his jeans, trailing the tab of the zipper down with a suggestive bite of my lip.

Romeo froze. "Mol, no, you don't-"

"Let me take care of you. Let me give you what you need. Please..."

Rome's cocoa eyes clenched shut as I took his large warmth in my hand and stroked him softly. He expelled harsh breaths with every pump. Our movements increased as we both searched for release, and I shifted on his lap as delicious tension began to build within me. Unable to focus, I pressed my forehead against his and moaned as he added another finger.

"Ah, Romeo... I..." I had no words.

Rome's toned hips thrust furiously into my hand. "Let go, Mol... fuckin' let go," he growled, and with a final stroke, I broke apart, his mouth clashing against mine to consume my moans. His hand didn't stop its rhythm and drained every ounce of pleasure from my flustered body writhing on top of his.

I continued to stroke him and with a guttural grunt, he tilted his hips to the side and came in long, hard bursts, spilling himself onto the grass.

As we both gradually slowed our movements to a stop, I wrapped both arms around his neck, and our combined breaths mingled in the small space, Rome's hand still pressed intimately against me.

Romeo's fingers stroked leisurely along my sex and I mewled against his cheek as he nibbled the skin in the crook of my neck. I lifted my head and leaned back so I could look into his deep-brown eyes.

"Hey, Mol," he croaked, his chest still erratic from his release.

I blushed. "Hey, you."

"You okay?" he asked, searching my eyes for something. I wasn't sure what.

I lowered my gaze and nodded. "More than okay."

"Look at me," he instructed sternly.

I complied eagerly.

"You liked that? You liked how I spoke to you, how I ordered you?" He seemed nervous, out of sorts, as though he expected me to be angry.

I did like it. I had little experience with sex, but the way he commanded me stirred something within me. It made me feel liberated on some unknown level.

"Mol, you did like it... didn't you?" Vulnerability affected the usual hardness of his voice.

"I did, Romeo. I-I didn't know that I'd like it... like that... but... I think we both know I did."

A small smile transformed his normally hardened features and he took my hand and ran it across his ribs. "Are they all there?"

I frowned. "What?"

"My ribs. Is there one missin'?"

My hand smoothed up and down his sides. "Okay, I think you've lost it. You think you're missing a rib?"

He exhaled a quiet laugh. "Just thought God took one of mine when he made you."

Although he was playing, his words made me melt inside. "Romeo. At times you're really sweet, you know that?"

He winked. "Only for you."

I kissed the palm of his hand, reflecting on what just happened. It confused me how right it felt-his orders, demands, instructions-but I didn't want more than that. I could relinquish control to Romeo, but not delve into darker territories.

"What you thinkin'?" Rome cupped my cheeks.

I chewed on my thumbnail. "When you say you like to order, just how far does that need to dominate go?"

He chuckled. "I'm not a sadist, so you can take that look off your pretty face. I just like to be in control... I don't know... It's how I am. There are some pretty shitty things in my life that I can't have power over so I need it with the things I'm good at. I just need the assurance that I'm in charge. I'm a good QB 'cause I like to lead, run the show. It's the same with sex."

It made sense; he needed control. Not in a sordid way, but as a necessity for his sanity.

"I liked how you took control. I'm so used to having to be independent and self-sufficient, always making the decisions, and I hate it. That felt... freeing to give myself over to you, to hand over the reins."