She'd fucking hit me! Molly, my timid little Mol, had cracked me right across the fucking face. Guess I'd found her breaking point.

"Did that feel good? Have you got it out of your system now?" I said coldly.

Molly instantly cried out, covering her mouth with shaky hands as tears fell down her cheeks. She was disgusted with herself. I could see that much.

Seeing her so sad had me backing away to the other wall, croaking, "They fucked Bullet. They only ever fucked Bullet..."

Sniffing and wiping frantically at her eyes, she whispered, "Nice, Rome. Real nice. Is that what you'll do to me? Let me fuck the great Bullet Prince, give me what I want, and move on?"

God! What else did I have to do to prove she was different? We'd done plenty in bed but hadn't gone all the way. I respected her and didn't want her to feel used. I could see the conflict on her face, that look urging me to power forward and say, "Not at all, Shakespeare, but hear this. I'm going to fuck you, but I'm also going to make love to you. I'm going to own every goddamn piece of your soul, and I'm never going to let you go. You're going to scream my name over and over until it's permanently lodged in your friggin' throat. You're not going to be just a fuck to me, Mol-you're going to be my fuckin' salvation!"

She already was. She was making my life better day by day. How could she not know that?

Molly couldn't meet my eyes, and the way she'd closed herself off was making me nervous as all hell. "Baby," I said almost inaudibly as she closed her eyes in anguish. "You'll make love to me-Romeo-not some pathetic fucking football alter ego. You'll get the real me, all of me, forever and ever. Is that clear enough for you?" She still didn't say anything, and a foreboding lump blocked my throat.

Pressing her forehead to mine, I tried to keep my voice low and calm. "Christ, Mol! I've never done this before. If I'd known you were out there waiting for me, I wouldn't have fucked all those chicks. But I can't take it back."

She sagged against my chest and looked up, completely defeated, running a finger down my cheek. "It's all too much, isn't it? Your family obviously hates me, Shelly won't back off, you turn on anyone who even looks at me, and these... girls you've had in the past seem not to be able to let go. I have my own issues, Rome-you know this-and piled with yours... it's just too much. How can we possibly work under all this stress?"

No, no, no, no...

"Don't. Don't do that!" I begged her in panic.

"Do what?" she said, unfeeling, numb even, as she focused on the floor, dejected, unable to even meet my eyes.

"Write us off. Don't run away when it gets tough." I needed her to look at me, dammit, so I forced her head up, gripping her chin. "You fight your past problems. I'll learn to control my anger. We fight back against my family. We ignore all the others. We get through this! Don't you dare quit on me now, Shakespeare. Don't you fuckin' dare!"

"Rome-" she whispered, sounding completely heartbroken.

For the first time in years, I actually thought I was going to break down. The fierceness of how much I needed my girl was surprising even me. "No! I won't let you go. I know I'm all kinds of wrong for you, but you've changed me. You've fucking changed me! Can't you see that? You're going to face this with me. Say it! Please, baby, say it to me!"

She wasn't running. I wouldn't let her. She'd promised me. Looking her dead in the eye, I insisted frantically, "Say you get me, Mol?"

"Rome, I-" Her choked cry cut her words.

I was so confused by her rejection. I knew she wanted me, maybe even close to loving me, but she wasn't fighting for us and it pissed me off so fucking bad, causing me to slam my fist against the metal rack behind her, the tall contraption swinging as I shouted, "You're not running. YOU GET ME?"

"YES! YES, I FUCKING GET YOU!" she yelled back, her palms hitting my chest before gripping onto my plaid shirt and pulling me back in close, the heavy sound of our breath like friggin' thunder.

My hands drifted to hold her neck as I asked carefully, "You're still in?"

Golden eyes dilated and, wrapping a leg around my hip, she began to grind against my cock. "I'm still in."

Feeling the building heat between her legs, lust assaulted my body, instantly forgetting all the angry tension, and I croaked, "Fuck, I want you so bad. You doing everything I say makes me hard as fuck."

Dipping my hand lower, I pushed her panties aside and felt along her soaking center. "Mol... Christ. You're killing me." She was so wet and ready.

Her teeth and tongue licked and bit along my neck, ear, and jaw, only stopping to admit, "I like it when you lead, when you assert your authority. It turns me on."

She was really fucking killing me. My cock felt like it would explode any minute if I didn't get inside her once and for all.

"Fuck... I can tell, and I like that you submit. It... calms me. You're what I need. Damn, you're perfect for me. Beautiful, sexy as all hell, with a body that makes painters weep."

Her head rolled back as I pushed two fingers inside her. "There'll be no one else. For the first time ever, you're giving me what I want, what I need. You give me full control, and I love it. You do too, don't you? You fucking love it...?" Her pussy began to clench, over and over, and her breathy moans increased in pace against my neck.

Snapping her eyes back on mine, she lowered her hands and began to tear at the fly of my jeans. Fuck that, I wanted my full attention on her face as she came. If she touched me, I'd explode. "Off! Let go. Now. This is not about me. You won't touch me unless I say so."

I worked her until she stiffened and ground against my hand, screaming in release. I held her as her body jerked and her breathing returned to normal. Then I asked her if we were okay and confessed how much I wanted her... needed her.

"I want you, Romeo. You give me something I didn't even know I needed too." And just like that, I had my girl back.

After a few silent seconds, she bit her lip, then asked if I thought we were wrong. I knew the way I controlled during sex could be seen as fucked up, but it was just some drive I had and, Christ, my girl told me she loved it. I couldn't believe that someone so right had been made for me, that we'd found each other in such an unlikely way. She was my equal in every sense.

Fixing her dress, Molly held out her hand, wanting to go and dance. Personally, I just wanted to go home and fuck her into the mattress, but we needed to stay. My girl needed to get back to her first real night out.

I was about to follow her to the dance floor, when she said, "I want to dance, show all your past conquests that you're mine." With that, I lost all the control I'd been fighting so hard to keep.

Slamming her back against my chest, I gripped her ass and wrapped those long legs around my waist, demanding she say it again.

With her shocked face now breaking into a sweet smile, she said, "You are mine now, just you for you."

I thrust her against the wall. The time for waiting was done. Lowering my hand, I pulled out my cock and began guiding it between her legs, inches away from finally possessing my girl completely. And that's when a jumped-up little shit of a manager began pounding on the door, demanding that we leave.

I was murdering mad and so damn desperate to finally take Mol that I was almost blind with need.

Groaning in frustration, I dropped my head onto her shoulder, the scent of her calming me down, as it always did. Molly giggled lightly, reaching down to tuck my hard dick back into my jeans, stroking it teasingly, and whispered, "Let's go, baby. Let's actually have our date."

Finding some inner friggin' chi I didn't know I had, I instructed, "You go out there and fuckin' show everyone we're together. You own this... us. Time to be bold, baby. Bring the fuckin' rain."

And she did, she never let go of my hand, dismissing the stupid blond bitch from earlier, and led me to the dance floor, completely proud to be on my arm.

I'd never been so damn happy as I was watching her relax and let loose.

A few hours later, Molly stopped dancing, her hands creeping up my torso, and stared up at me with a strange expression on her face.

"You okay?" I asked, cupping her cheeks.

She shook her head. Panic swelled once more, and I asked, "Why? What's wrong?"

"I want to go home."

"Are you sick? Is something wrong?" Her eyes had glazed and she was red hot to the touch. I worried it was a fever; she was acting so weird.

"What is it? Tell me," I demanded, my patience quickly fading.

She took a shaky breath and replied, "I want you to take me home and put me to bed."

"Okay, are you tired? It's still pretty early."

A small smile curved her lips and, rubbing up against my crotch, she leaned into my ear. "I want you to put me to bed... get in beside me... and make love to me."

Spinning her around and pressing her against the wall, I asked, "Are you serious?"

Golden eyes fixed on mine with determination. "Deadly."

Was she drunk? She'd had a hell of a lot of tequila. Sanity broke through for a second, urging me to declare, "I don't want you to do anything you ain't ready for. You've been drinking. I don't want you to regret us in the morning."

"I'm not so drunk that my feelings are untrue. I want you, Romeo, no regrets."

Thank. Fuck.

"Then beg me," I ordered, all my inhibitions gone. She knew me; she got me. I didn't have to be afraid to be myself.

I could see that I had thrown her. "I told you I'd take you only when you begged me, when you wanted me like no other. If you're at that point, Mol, you have to prove it to me. You have to beg." Her eyes widened with lust. This was us, how we should be-me in control, her giving in to my instructions.

"Romeo Prince, I want you to take me to bed, I want you to undress me slowly, and I want you to make me completely yours. Please, Romeo, make love to me... tonight."

Exactly fifteen minutes later, Molly stood before me in her room, breathless with anticipation, and I knew that after tonight, taking this last step, we would never be the same.

19.

"Walk toward the bed and take off the boots." Turning, Mol did exactly as I ordered, rewarding me with a view of her full ass in her tight black dress as she bent down, shucking off her boots.

"Turn around and face me."

Christ, she was beautiful, meeting my eyes with hungry excitement, a small smile spreading over her lips.

"Take off your dress... slowly."

Inch by inch, the black strapless dress revealed a toned, soft, tanned body, her lacy black underwear almost causing me to have a damn seizure. Then my gaze zeroed in on some tiny black script at the very top of her left hip. A tattoo?

I had to touch her; my fingers were itching to feel that silky skin again. Moving to where she stood, I waited for her to meet my eyes, and she looked up shyly through those long black lashes, her long brown hair hanging low over her breasts. She was fucking... just... beyond.

Dropping to my knees, I rubbed along the fine inking and remarked, "A tattoo, Shakespeare? You surprise me. You've never let me see this before." I watched her swallow and her breath began to stutter, her anxiety taking hold. Grasping her hand tightly to stop the panic, I read, "So are you to my thoughts as food to life, or as sweet seasoned showers are to the ground," and kissed along her soft skin.

"What's this, baby? Why do these words take pride of place on this beautiful body?"

Wrapping her fingers in my long hair, tears filling her eyes, she whispered, "It's William Shakespeare, from one of his love sonnets, number seventy-five."

She wouldn't tell me any more, no matter how hard I pushed, but I knew there was a deeper meaning to that story.

After I had stripped her bare, Mol couldn't open her eyes. I had no idea if it was nerves or fear. She was perfect to me, and there was absolutely no need for embarrassment, and it wasn't something I would tolerate, not from her. She was too perfect to be insecure.

Gripping her hair, I ordered, "Open." I had to see those big golden eyes.

But she couldn't. Tugging on her hair even tighter, I said sternly, "Open. I won't ask again."

She did, and all I saw was desperate need shining back at me.

Crushing my lips to hers, I took her full breast in my hand, pinching at the nipple, fucking dying at the noises slipping from my girl's throat. Picking her up, unable to wait anymore, I threw her on the bed and practically ripped off my clothes down to my boxers, my throbbing cock now completely controlling my mind.

I pressed my skin to hers, rubbing, grinding, and loving every damn minute. This feeling was so different than ever before; it meant everything to me. My hands were frantic as I gorged on her tits, sucked on her nipples, and fingered her wet pussy until she arched off the bed, screaming.

It was too much. I needed to be inside her, deep inside her-I'd never wanted anything more in my entire life.

Staring at Molly, in a moment of pure friggin' love, I pressed my head to hers. "I'm going to take you now. I'm going to show you what you mean to me, how much I want you, and show you that you're mine. You get me, baby?"

"I get you, Romeo," she replied with that sweet damn smile that she reserved just for me.

My smile, my girl... my fucking life.

Standing, I stripped naked, watching as Molly's eyes took me in, running her hands over her breasts, her thighs contracting in need. Moving over her once again, I locked her head within my arms, kissing her slowly, my cock twitching against her warmth. I stood to get a rubber when a small hand landed on my arm. "Romeo, what-"

"Condom." I pointed to my jeans on the floor.

"I'm on the pill," she said nervously.

Fuck. She wanted me raw, skin on skin. She wanted me to come inside her and make her completely mine.

"Baby..." I could barely speak, feeling halfway to insane, needing to have her moaning beneath me, clawing at the skin of my back, out of her mind with pleasure. I'd never ridden bareback before, but damn if it didn't crazy turn me on at the thought of taking my girl that way.

"Please..." she croaked, meeting my eyes. "Romeo," she whispered, "I just want you, nothing in the way."

I was so done.

In a second, I smothered Molly with my body, my dick seeking out her entrance.

Almost shaking with nerves, I leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to her full lips. Taking advantage of the distraction of our kiss, I pushed forward, slamming into her pussy to the hilt, throwing my head back, neck bulging with the strain of being wrapped inside her tight center.

Expelling a long moan, Mol wrapped her legs around my waist, shifting as I pounded into her furiously, biting, scratching, and hissing, "Romeo... God... I can't take it... It's too much..."

"Yes, you can, baby. You'll love it. This is us; this is how we should always be." Her eyes rolled back as I switched the angle of my thrusts and hit the spot that had her groaning, gripping my ass, and raking the fuck out of my back.

She wasn't coming yet. I wanted more.

Taking back control, I pulled out, catching the shocked disappointment on her face. Smiling at her despairing frustration, I said, "Now I'm going to make you scream my name."

Pounding forward as hard as possible, we both screamed at the sensation and, closing my eyes, I murmured, "Fuck, you feel amazing."

My breathing was labored and I reached up with my free hand, gripping the headboard.

"Grip my arms," I growled into her neck.