I yanked it hard, earning a satisfied grunt. It didn't take long to make me come, and I pulled on his hair as I fell apart against his mouth.

Warm hands ran up my overheated body to my waist and Romeo used his incredible strength to flip me on my stomach. Turning me so my chest was flush against the backrest, Rome's wide frame now looming behind me. He clutched my hair and guided my lips sideways to his awaiting mouth, kissing me thoroughly, letting me taste myself on his tongue.

Romeo's thigh moved between my legs, wrenching them apart, and in one hard thrust, he filled me. I flattened against the soft material, my body immobilised as he drummed himself within me, each drag of his length extracting a loud moan. Romeo orchestrated our frantic lovemaking exactly how he saw fit-rough, hard, but filled with pure love.

"Tell me you love me," he thundered.

My eyes rolled as I bit my lip. "I love you. I love you so, so much."

He moaned loudly and took me even harder. I wasn't going to last.

"Tell me you'll never leave me."

I couldn't speak through the heady storm of desire and my hands fisted the old cream throw that now lay beside me.

He stopped dead, and I tried to move to feel the addictive pleasure once again. Romeo held me trapped in a solid vise.

Minty breath whirled past my ear as Romeo's hands pressed on the headrest, his chest weighing down on my back. "Do as I say or I won't give you what you want, what I know you need from me."

"Romeo! Stop it!" I protested in desperation.

His taunting laugh caused my skin to prick. "Do it. You get me?" he hissed through grinding teeth, yanking on my hair.

"Argh!" I snapped, thoroughly frustrated, my body screaming at the interruption. I flashed a glimpse over my shoulder and his jaw clenched at my bad attitude.

He wasn't going to relent.

My forehead hit the cushion in defeat. "Yes, I friggin' get you!"

Without warning, he slammed into me and murmured, "You do get me, baby. You're the only one to ever understand. You're the only one to ever know." He didn't stop, his pace faster and rougher than ever before, the closeness of his skin causing friction along my back.

"Tell me you'll never leave me."

"I'll never leave you!"

Exhaling a guttural grunt, his hands palmed my breasts and he rolled the buds of my nipples between his fingers. "You'll never run."

"I'll never run!"

"Promise me."

"I promise!" I shrilled as his hand dropped between my legs, massaging my sex.

"Romeo... I... ah!" My orgasm slapped through me like a bolt of lightning, shattering me into a million pieces, leaving me feeling weightless and weak.

Romeo's mouth sucked on the skin of my shoulder, marking me as his, before he thrust into me twice more, filling me with his warmth.

I lay slumped over the soft cushion as his nose dragged lazily up and down my neck.

"I love you, baby," he whispered and hauled me tightly into the protection of his chest while we caught our lost breath.

Romeo Prince was a human kaleidoscope. He fucked me like he hated me, but his adoration and love was never too far from the surface-and I couldn't imagine him in any other way.

We stayed sated and still for several minutes before I shivered at the evening chill blowing in through the cracks in the aged timber walls.

"You cold?" he asked softly.

"A little."

With a final kiss to my temple, Romeo pulled out of me and lit the fire with a box of matches left on the fireplace. I lay back on the sofa, thoroughly exhausted, and watched as his beautifully tanned body gleamed with the after-effects of our tryst. I marvelled at the way his hard muscles bunched and flexed with every movement he made.

Romeo turned in my direction and caught my blatant staring. Holding out his hands, he twirled a full circle, adopting a cocky smirk. "Take in the temple, baby. Worship at my feet."

I giggled and launched a musty red cushion at his head, which he quickly dodged, pretending to be pissed off.

As he stalked towards me, he shook his head. "Little Molly Shakespeare, don't you know better than to poke at a wild animal?"

"I take it you're the wild animal in this scenario?"

He pursed his lips, the small, angry welt from his mother's backhand standing proud on the tender flesh. "Oh, you have no idea... I'm legitimately feral."

Towering over me, Romeo moved to lay above my limp body, losing his veil of darkness and letting in the light.

I brought him to my lips with gentle hand on his nape, and his body heat instantly warmed me. Freeing his hand from our embrace, Romeo reached up and took the cream patchwork throw quilt from the back cushion, laying it over us both, bundling me in his arms as I traced his Alabama tattoo with my fingernail.

"Are you okay, baby?" I asked quietly.

Hard muscles tensed for a fleeting moment before he croaked, "I will be. I have you."

I rested my chin on his chest, meeting his dark eyes, noticing the sadness leaking through. "You chose me."

The sadness melted into happiness, a contented smile on his lips. "And I'd do it again in a heartbeat."

I blushed. "Have your parents ever been nice to you?"

He shook his head and tipped his chin to stare at the ceiling, fighting the difficult memories, I was sure. I reached up and took his hand in mine. It always worked when he did it to me. He rolled his head to the side and cast a broken grin my way.

"Were you ever happy?"

Shaking his head, he whispered, "No."

"Are you now?"

"Completely. I finally know what it is to love and to be loved. But I'm scared as all hell that it'll end. My folks won't give up that easy."

"I'm staying with you."

"Do you swear that to me?"

"I swear. I love you. I'm yours."

Romeo brought my hand to his mouth and kissed every digit.

"So what now? Football? Greatness? World domination?"

He shrugged. "I guess so."

"What do you want, Romeo? What do you desire most from life?"

"You."

"No really, baby, what do you want? It's there for you to take."

He sighed, lowering his gaze. "Just you, baby. You feel like home to me."

I crawled on his waist, tucking my head against his neck. "You have me. All of me, for as long as you want."

"Really? I've got you forever? 'Cause I pretty much just cut myself off from the only family I have."

"Romeo, you're my family. You're it. You and my crazy friends are my entire reason for being. How can you not know that?"

"'Cause I can't believe it's true."

"It's you and me, Romeo."

Tensing, he asked, "But what'll happen when I get drafted? What if you go to a college across the country? Or even outside the States? You never talk about your future with me and I worry about it all the damn time. Now I have you, I can't imagine lettin' you go."

I kissed his lips, running my tongue through the small gap to meet his. "We'll figure it out as we go."

Truth was, I hadn't thought that far ahead myself.

Rome's hips lifted, his hardness towing languorously between my legs. "Mmm... Okay, we'll make things work no matter what."

"Romeo."

"You're stayin' with me in here tonight, in front of the fire."

"What is this place anyway?"

"The old slave house."

My eyes widened. "The what???"

He huffed out a laugh. "Relax, baby. It's been refurbished since then, or at least cleaned up some. I stayed out here a lot when things got bad back home. My parents never came by. It's kinda my real home in a way."

Romeo's hips rocked harder and my stomach muscles tightened. "Then yes, I'll stay the night." I pressed his arms flat onto the couch. "Can I lead? Just this once?"

He shook his head slowly, controlling Romeo coming back out to play. "No. But nice try, Shakespeare."

Suddenly I was rolled over, Romeo's heavy weight pressing down on my naked body, causing me to yelp. With a playful bite on my ear, I was braced on my knees. "Don't worry, baby, I'll take care of you."

19.

Three months later...

"So we leave for Oxford on the Friday and you have the option to stay for either one week or two. We present on the Tuesday and then we need to edit, draft, and finish all that fun stuff before we submit it for publishing, if it's approved-fingers crossed!

"I'll be in the UK a few weeks, but you have your studies here and..." A huge grin lit up Suzy's crinkly face. "You have your young gentleman friend to get back to. His sporting good luck charm, I hear?"

I blushed and dipped my head. "Yeah, I'll probably be there only a week if that's okay? The Tide is set to make the SEC Championship in a few weeks' time, and if they win, there's the BCS in... in..."

I shot off my chair and ran to the waste basket and vomited in gut-wrenching heaves. Suzy came behind me, rubbing my back in soft circular motions. I took her offered tissue and wiped my mouth, rolling onto my backside and pressing my hand to my head. "Ugh, I feel rough."

Suzy eyed me worriedly. "Are you coming down with something? You seem to have been off for the last couple of weeks."

"I think so. I've been vomiting for the past few days. It must be a stomach bug or something I've eaten. I thought the chicken I ate a couple of days ago tasted funny. It's probably that."

"You work too hard, Molly. You're burning yourself out. Take the rest of the day to sleep and feel better. Yes? Come back fighting fit and we'll tie up the loose strands of this sodding paper tomorrow."

"I'm not going to argue with that. Thank you."

Suzy helped me stand and I instantly felt queasy again, swaying on my feet.

"Is there anyone I can call? Your roommates? Perhaps your young man?"

I shook my head and leaned on her desk for support. "No, I'll-" A wave of nausea crashed through my stomach again and I practically dived on the floor and gripped the rubbish bin just in time.

"Dear me, Molly," Suzy said with her hand on her chest.

I reached into my pocket retrieved my phone, holding it out without lifting my head from the bin. "Can you call Cass? I know she has classes near this building. She'll come and get me."

"Absolutely. I'm worried about you. You look very pale."

I took an exaggerated breath through my nose and leaned back against the cold wall for support, closing my eyes.

Bloody great.

"Woo, girl. You look like Grouch from Sesame Street." I cracked open my closed eyes. "Eww, I take that back. You just look like shit!"

I forced a smile. "Hey, Cass."