I remembered his words and tremors danced along my skin. He excited me. His verbal foreplay successfully reeled me into his line.

“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.”

For a fleeting moment, I thought he was going to just take me right there against the wall, when he ordered, “Go and get your purse. I’ll be waitin’ for you outside. And don’t be long.” He disappeared in the crowd and I could see his hands clenching into frustrated fists as he aggressively pushed his way to the exit.

I made my way to the booth in an almost dreamlike state, collected our things, made our excuses to our friends, and went to join him outside.

As soon as walked through the exit, lusty eyes immediately locked onto my excited face and Romeo stalked me like a predator stalks its targeted prey. He flicked his chin, telling me without words to get myself closer.

I drifted on heavy feet and stopped before him. Leaning forward, he pressed a smooth kiss on the side of my neck, grasped my hand without saying a word, and signalled for a cab.

We jumped in the back seat, our thighs flush against one another, and the tension between us was palpable. Even the middle-aged, grey-haired driver shifted in his seat and looked at us repeatedly in his rearview mirror, probably worrying we were about to lose control on the leather upholstery.

I couldn’t sit still in anticipation and Rome’s hand gripped my bouncing knee. “Stop.”

I risked a side-glance and a large bulge pushed against the fly of his jeans. I tried to edge closer, to steal a kiss, a touch, just something to appease my starving body for a little while longer.

Romeo saw me go to move and leaned over to my ear. “Decide now if you want to be arrested for public indecency, because if you move even a millimetre closer, I’ll f**k you right here, right now, with no pleasantries. Your choice, Shakespeare.”

I cowered to the door, rolling down the window to let in some air, and tried to refocus my wayward mind, wondering what the hell I’d signed myself up for.

As we finally pulled to a stop in front of my sorority house, after what seemed like an eternity, we got out onto the quiet street and Romeo said, “You go in the front alone; I’ll come in from the balcony. And be quick, baby. I mean it. Don’t test me right now.”

15

As soon as I entered the room, Romeo was against me, his breath blowing on my tempered skin—a mix of mint and beer—cooling my flushed complexion. “Walk toward the bed and take off the boots.” His voice was tight and stern.

My legs moved forward as if they were perfectly attuned to his commands. I reached the bed and shucked off my boots.

“Turn around and face me.”

I did as he said, trembling in a heady cocktail of apprehension and excitement. Romeo stood against the wall, the glow of the moonlight showcasing his handsome face, watching my silhouette as I complied eagerly with his instructions.

“Take off your dress… slowly.”

I lifted the hem smoothly over my head, dropping it to the floor, standing only in my new black strapless bra and silk panties. Romeo strode determinedly before me and commenced circling around my scantily clad form, absorbing the view of my nearly naked body with a knowing smile. He stopped his assessing eyes at my upper hip and ran a finger across the lines of my small tattoo.

His stunned gaze met mine. “A tattoo, Shakespeare? You surprise me. You’ve never let me see this before.” He immediately dropped to his knees and studied the writing, his face level with my stomach, warm breath breezing between my legs, eliciting a strangled moan from the back of my throat.

Romeo stroked the tattoo with his finger and the anxiety began at the memory of its source, and I stumbled and sucked in a telltale hollow breath.

Romeo lifted his hand without looking up and took mine securely in his. The panic immediately filtered away, his touch healing me.

“So are you to my thoughts as food to life, or as sweet seasoned showers are to the ground,” he murmured as he read the quote out loud, pressing a kiss to my jutting hipbone. He peered up and asked, “What’s this, baby? Why do these words take pride of place on this beautiful body?” Feather-light fingertips continued to trace the intricate loops and dips of the script.

I raked my hands through his hair and he held my bottom firmly within the hold of his free arm, keeping me close. “It’s William Shakespeare, from one of his love sonnets, number seventy-five,” I confessed as I struggled to suppress a whimper as his fingers dipped along the juncture of my thighs.

His eyes cracked open. “But why is it important, enough for you to brand yourself with it forever?”

My eyes filled with water and I chewed on my lip to keep from breaking down.

The strong grip on my hips tightened in warning and he licked along my lower stomach. “Tell me, Mol. I won’t ask twice. I’ve got you; I won’t let you be destroyed.”

“I-it’s just a quote that I like. That’s all,” I answered evasively.

Romeo’s dark eyes narrowed. “I know that’s not the full story, baby, but you can tell me later.” I released a pent-up breath that I didn’t even know I was holding.

Romeo got to his feet. I forcibly swallowed as his hands slowly fell over my shoulders and down to the sharp blades on my back. My heart pounded as he stopped on the clasp of my bra. I instinctively reached out and gripped his plaid shirt to right my unsteady feet.

I felt the slackening of my bra and it fell from my chest, revealing my round br**sts to his heated scrutiny. My eyes lowered to my hands on his waist, unable to cope with the pressure of the exposure. Rome’s hands pressed flat against the bare skin of my back and moved north to grip my hair in his fist, tilting up my chin.

My eyes were closed, but I could still feel his razor stare through my paper-thin lids.

“Open.”

I shook my head, unsure if I could cope with the intensity of the tension radiating between us—the air almost crackled with sexual static.

His fist tightened and the pressure built at the crown of my scalp. “Open. I won’t ask again.”

I took a calming breath and lifted my heavy lids. Romeo leaned in, pressing a hard kiss on my lips, and his fingers ghosted along my collarbone, cupping my left breast in his hand. I expelled a moan into his mouth and his tongue slid against mine in circuitous movements as his palm brushed over my nipple, over and over, shooting an electrical need to my sex.