Denying the Bad Boy:Tattooed and Pierced, 2(37)

"I can't even tell you the rage I felt when I saw you on the ground with  him right behind you." She didn't answer, just kept running her fingers  through his hair. "I wanted to kill him, Mary." His voice was soft, but  deadly. "I would have killed him, too." He lifted his head, and the  anguish on his face was tangible. "I also felt hopeless."

"Alex." She didn't know what to say. The situation was fucked up. Lance  gone, and she wanted to move forward. She didn't want him running her  life any more than he had, and she didn't want him getting between her  and Alex. He swallowed loudly.

They didn't need to sit down and talk about their relationship. She  wanted him. He wanted her. Nothing else mattered. He stood and wrapped  his arms around her and pushed her gently down to the bed. She knew he  meant to comfort her with his presence, but she wanted him to help her  erase Lance's touch.

"Help me forget, Alex." He lifted his head and stared down at her. He  was going to deny her, because she knew any decent man would think they  were taking advantage of the situation, but she needed him to touch her,  needed his smell all over her, and wanted his voice filling her ears.  "I need you, only you. Please, help me get rid of the way he made me  feel."

"Baby." He didn't move for a few seconds, but then lowered his face to  hers and kissed her softly. The rest, as they say, fell right into  place.





Epilogue



Two years later



"Baby, where do you want me to put this one?" Alex stopped in the  entryway of their new home, a big box in his arms, and sweat and dirt  covering his face and bared arms. He had taken off his shirt an hour  ago, and the way his muscles glistened from how hard he was working, and  the fact his biceps looked like mountains of muscles, had every part of  her warming. Never would she get tired of the sight of him. In fact,  she felt the same butterflies in her belly around him as she had when  she first saw him all those years ago. She was just as sweaty and dirty  as he was, but had decided to take a small break on the sofa and stare  out the bay window. The sight wasn't all that gorgeous, just a row of  small houses across the street and a few trees, but it was theirs.  Saying that never got old.

"You mean the one that says ‘Kitchen'? I'm going to take a wild guess  and say in the kitchen." She smirked when he glowered. "I mean, I wrote  where I wanted the boxes to go when I packed them up." She started  laughing at the blank look he gave her.                       
       
           



       

"You're a smartass, and not funny might I add. I thought these were just  old ass boxes with random writing on them. Shit." He finally lost the  sour look and grinned. He turned and disappeared, presumably into the  kitchen. She rested her head back on the couch and watched as a squirrel  ran across the telephone wires across the street. Their small, two  bedroom house wasn't anything spectacular, but it was perfect for them.  After the whole situation with Lance, Alex had become so protective Mary  had to sit down and talk with him, and explain that he couldn't be  there at all times, and that yes, she would be all right. It had taken a  long time to convince him of that, and even that was only after he made  her promise to take self-defense classes, and then proceeded to watch  her do said classes. How could she be upset over the fact he just wanted  to make sure she was okay? She had graduated last year with her  Bachelor's degree, but decided to go back for her Master's. After Alex  passed his Human Sexuality course, and thus passed his mid-terms two  years ago, he finished out the football seasons and graduated with a  degree in sports medicine. Now he worked in a rehab facility as a  therapist for sports related injuries. She was so damn proud of him, and  so proud of herself for rising above everything and moving forward with  her life.

After the incident with Lance, it had opened her parents' eyes. They had  changed so much over the past couple of years, and she never thought it  would happen, but they actually stated acting like human beings. They  realized everything didn't have to revolve around status and money.  Margo was still Margo, but her sister called more often to just talk.  Mary thought it had to do with her sister's eyes being opened to the  fact not everyone was who they seemed, and life really was too short to  worry about the petty stuff. She hadn't talked to Lance since the  incident, but she had heard he served some jail time, which caused him a  lot of problems with the university he attended, and this was a problem  his father just couldn't make go away like she was sure he had done for  Lance in the past. Aside from that she hadn't heard anything else about  him, and didn't care.

Alex came back into the living room and sat beside her on the couch. She  wrinkled her nose. "You stink." He nudged her shoulder with his.

"You think you smell like roses, buttercup?" He rested his head on the  back of the couch and turned to look at her, grinning. "But I'd still do  you, all day long." He let his eyes dip to her breasts, ones that were  barely restrained by her tank. He had scowled when she first put it on,  but it was damn hot, and hell no was she going to move into their home  covered from neck to ankle in clothes, which is probably what he would  have preferred. "Did I tell you how hot you look?" She smacked him on  the chest but grinned. "You do, even all sweaty. I have a major hard-on  right now."

"You're such a pig." He chuckled and leaned in, but she moved out of the way before he could touch her. "No way, you stink."

"Aww, come here, baby. We can stink together." He made a move to grab  her, but she jumped off the couch and ran to the other side of it.  "We're both sweaty, so let's get dirty together, Mary." She squealed  when he hopped over the back of the couch in one move and had her in his  arms before she could make a getaway. "Gotcha." He started kissing her  throat, and she laughed harder. "Mmm, salty, yet strangely still sweet."  She turned so she faced him, wrapped her arms around his neck, and  kissed him.

"I love you." She felt him grin against her mouth.

"I know." She broke the kiss and smacked him in the chest again. "I'm  just teasing." He kissed her forehead, on the tip of the nose, and  finally reached her mouth. "I love you, too, Mary." He lifted her off  her feet and started carrying her through the house. "Time to christen  the bedroom." He walked into their room and shut the door behind him,  and that was exactly what they did, over and over again.



The End