Romeo Prince had snapped.

“Stand up,” he ordered forcefully.

I immediately stood and watched as he ripped off his open shirt and came before me, naked, excited, and emitting pure power. Gripping my shoulders, Rome spun me around and in one swift movement, tugged the zipper of my dress down to my lower back, the garment loosening and dropping to the floor in a wrinkled heap.

One of his hands snapped my bra, as the other untied the ribbons on the side of my black panties. All of the silky material covering my modesty floated to the floor along with all the hurt and pain of the night.

On a throaty groan, Romeo propelled me back onto the couch, his hot palm pushing on my chest as he moved between my legs. “I didn’t tell you to suck me, Shakespeare. You know you need to ask permission first.” His eyes tightened and I knew what he needed. He needed to take back control after his parents so brutally stripped him of his pride.

“Now it’s my turn,” he announced and latched his mouth hungrily onto my core, his tongue lapping in relentless circles, sucking me hard into his mouth. The instant pleasure made me lurch uncontrollably off the sofa.

“Grip my hair.”

I did as he ordered as flutters of ecstasy danced along my skin.

“Pull it! Mean it!”

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 br**sts and he rolled the buds of my ni**les 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 f**ked 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.”