Their first time started with the rain.

The rain had come down so hard the streets were nearly flooded, the water roaring up and around the tires as he'd driven to the store. It was that one month of the year where the rain was ruthless, soaking an already saturated city in more water everyday. But that night it had come out of nowhere, ruining their bi-weekly shopping trip.

Although, he didn't really know why he insisted on going; he always spent the entire time waiting inside the car. That was all he could do for now. People may have forgotten about him, but walking around in a grocery store full of cameras wasn't a grand idea. Neither was sitting in a parked car, but at least at night no one would notice him, alone in the dark. He just sat back in the shadows, waiting for Mary to appear from behind those automatic doors.

When she had wheeled the cart out that night, he leapt into that rain to help her shove all those bags into the trunk. It was only fair. He was the reason she had to make these trips in the middle of the night, all by herself. He was the reason they had to make so many trips to the store too. He was eating more, now that his body was on the mend and he was given the go-ahead to start using it again. And what a goddamn relief, on both fronts. No more soup and toast; Billy was back to full protein, pumping his body full of calories as he lifted to gain back his strength.

And Mary kept him stocked, that's for sure. He funded his needs, but she kept a healthy inventory. Loading the last bag into the trunk, he shook his head at the massive haul. It looked like they were filling a bomb shelter, not feeding him for a few days. Grinning, he wondered what the cashiers thought every night she showed up alone. You work in a grocery, you start to notice things…like a slender blonde buying enough food to drop an army.

As he closed the trunk, Billy looked up, watching Mary jog the cart back to a corral. Okay, so maybe stared was more the word. It had been a good week since he'd confessed his feelings for her. And boy had that night been an odd one. At first she'd laughed with relief, then cried with happiness, telling him she loved him too.

And then they'd made out like teenagers on the couch. Unfortunately, that was all he'd been able to do. Despite his cock's best intentions, he'd been exhausted from leaving the house, and he really hadn't wanted to disappoint. After a night of too many emotional proclamations —for his taste anyway— he didn't mind that it had ended with a Godfather marathon on TNT.

They hadn't exchanged those three big words since, but that didn't really matter with them. Unlike every other woman he'd ever known, Mary didn't search out a reaffirmation every time they parted. It was simple. He knew, and she knew.

Watching her run back to the car in the rain, those feelings filled his chest, warming him despite the damp hoodie on his skin.

It was one of those things that he'd always thought only happened in movies. One of those moments that didn't really happen in life. But there she was, his Marianne, water dripping from her long blonde hair, off the tip of her nose. No dramatic music, no slow motion. Just merciless rain and the splash of her feet meeting the ground as she ran.

He was walking around the car before he knew what he was doing, his feet conducting his brain. There was a moment of confusion on Mary's face as he advanced on her, then his hands were in her hair and the small of her back. From there, she melted into his touch, letting out a happy sigh when he kissed her. A little sound as he softly pressed his lips to hers.

Her mouth was sweet and cold and he took his time on her bottom lip before he teased with the tip of his tongue. Before long, water was running down the back of his shirt, giving him chills from two ends of the spectrum. Mary was holding onto his neck, accepting him and taking a little more. And somehow, her back ended up against the passenger-side window, his hips nestled against hers, their breath in sync, the impulses coursing between them.

All those weeks of restraint fell apart on him, right there. All those daydreams he'd secretly had while Mary was walking around in her work clothes, or when she was checking his wounds, bringing him soup when he'd been too weak to move. The old part of him thundered back into his veins, his hold consuming, his mouth wandering down Mary's throat.

"Billy." She had her fingers in his shaggy hair, tugging in a way that sent a delicious shiver through him. Looking up at her, both of them blinking back the rain, Billy knew he'd never love anyone like he loved her. "Take me home."

There's never just one first time. Everyone knows this. When feelings are involved, it doesn't matter if you've slept with a hundred women, or none at all, that first time with the woman you love is going to bring you to your knees.

It wasn't common for Billy to ever feel nervous. It wasn't unheard of, now that he knew the humbling effect of fatal injury and slow recovery; but he'd never felt that unease because of a woman.

Picking up women had been a game in his earlier days. Even though those days weren't far behind him at all, Billy felt like it had been ages since he'd casually slid his hands up a girl's skirt or teased the tips of his fingers over the hill of a woman's breast. Those days had been jaded with sex. He'd had so much of it nothing seemed to stick out in his mind. He didn't remember faces or skin color or cup size. It had all been mindless fucking without a single thought in his head. Despite the fact that he'd been very naked with women he'd barely known, he'd never been open.

As Mary stared up at him, their arms wrapped around each other, Billy felt more exposed than he had with the dozens he'd taken to bed. Fully clothed, he felt stripped to the bone with her. She'd seen him at his weakest; she'd shared his pain. For the first time in his life, Billy was afraid of something as simple as sex. Sleeping with Mary would change everything.

"Do you remember how we met?" Billy nodded his head as he held her close, kissing her lips, her neck, any part of her. As she spoke, Mary's fingers were playing in his hair, messing it as if she were lost in thought. But her eyes were closed, savoring each brush of his mouth.

"Ya needed a jump." He murmured. And he'd given it to her, along with a healthy dose of his bad boy charm, taking her number with a smile that promised more than just a trusty pair of jumper cables. Mary grinned and wrapped her arms a little tighter around his head, coming up onto her tiptoes to face him nose to nose.

"No, that was the second time." Billy stopped. Staring into her green eyes, he saw that she wasn't playing with him. Wracking his memory, his brow folded in a confused frown.

"What?" Mary bit her bottom lip and laughed, her eyes darting away.

"I figured you wouldn't remember."

"Wait." Releasing his lock around her body, Billy freed a hand to touch her face and bring her eyes to his again. "Tell me." She shrugged, rubbing her cheek in his palm.

"You were drunk." He could feel her smiling and it brought a grin to his own lips.

"I was drunk once or twice." She cocked an eyebrow and he chuckled evilly, making her giggle in his arms.

"You were drunk and laughing about something, smoking like a chimney down the hallway." Shaking his head, Billy lifted her face and kissed her once, another time…the seconds clicked by as his mouth lingered. When she leaned away, he kept his eyes closed. "You nearly knocked me over but you caught my wrist…" Her slender fingers circled his wrist and she gripped it gently. "And when you caught me, the way you looked at me…it took my breath away."

He stole her mouth again, this time with added heat. Hands found their way to skin and words became gasps. Billy wondered how he'd managed to keep himself off Mary as long as he had. Their chemistry was electric, sending jolts from his fingertips all over his body. His skin was alive, his stomach and thighs shivering with sensation.

"God, like that." Mary's moan made him smile against her lips. "You're incredible, Billy Darley."

Grasping her head between his palms, Billy pulled away to stare into her eyes. She was a simple girl, beautiful, but not like the painted, easy girls he'd chased after for most of his life. He didn't remember her in that hallway, because he hadn't seen her. Really seen her. Now, she was all he saw. She was beyond compare in his eyes.

"Not yet, I'm not." Mary blinked in confusion and Billy grinned. Then he moved so quickly she didn't have a moment to react. Ducking down, he wrapped his arms around her back and knees, sweeping her off the floor. She let out a squeak of surprise as he carried her down the hallway; and before they reached his bedroom, she was giggling like a schoolgirl. When he sat her gently on the bed, Billy felt the pull of his old habits.

He imagined stripping off her pants, parting her legs with his thighs as his jeans were barely unzipped to free his cock. He imagined their frantic moaning, the sounds of the mattress squeaking beneath them as they rocked senselessly until there wasn't a pace fast enough. He saw those things clear as day. Saw Mary biting her lip, tossing her head back onto his pillows as he thrust over and over again. Felt the sweat on his chest, the burn in his arms, the tingle in his shaft.

Shaking his head, Billy shattered those images and bent down, taking Mary's shoes off with soft tugs. Next came her socks, which made her giggle again when they were tossed over his shoulder. When her feet were bare, he slid a hand up her ankle, reaching under the legs of her jeans.

"I love watching you put on those heels ya wear." He murmured, his fingertips tickling her calves. "They make your legs flex…" Mary pointed her toes to mimic the position and her jeans didn't last much longer after that. With a lift of her hips and a few rough yanks, Billy threw them aside with the rest and smoothed his palms up the length of her legs. "And those skirts." He kissed her knees while his hands roamed north, following the graceful curve up the sides of her thighs. She was strong but soft, supple flesh married with toned muscle. His lips tasted a trail from her right knee to her inner thigh, his skin shuddering when she let out a soft gasp.

"I'd get hard, seeing ya in that outfit." Billy continued, fanning his hands out over her hips, his fingertips teasing the waistline of her panties. Mary's cheeks had started to turn a little pink, her mouth opened slightly as she watched him. "I wanted to undress ya like this, when ya got back."

"Undress me, huh?" She opened her legs a little and Billy had to grind his teeth to keep from letting out a grunt. Her underwear was classic, bikini cut, and black. Simple and yet his cock gave an undeniable kick against his jeans.

"Yeah." He murmured, his chest parting her knees now as he leaned on the mattress. Mary played with his hair, shrugging her shoulders.

"Nothing else?"

The guttural growl from his throat was the only response he could manage before his lips snagged hers in a rough, sinful kiss. And as he licked his way into her mouth, his hands lifted the shirt from her stomach.

In seconds, that shirt and the bra beneath were tossed away, leaving only her panties as he kissed a trail from her lips to her throat from one breast to the other, Mary letting out little sounds the whole way. He memorized every inch of her, licked and nibbled until she was writhing under his touch. Then he slipped the panties from her legs. When they snapped free of her feet, Billy stood up from the floor, lifting her naked hips back on the mattress until he was on his belly between her knees.

There he paused. Arms locked around her legs, hands stroking the satin-like plane of her stomach, Billy stopped and just looked. He watched his three-fingered hand on the miles of her flawless skin. His disfigured body worshiping hers.

Her hand tapped his chin, snapping him out of his stare.

"Quit."

Billy blinked, catching her slender hand in his battered one. And for a moment, he wondered if he deserved to touch her at all.

"Billy." Mary brought him back a second time, her voice softer, knowing. Then she lowered their hands and he let out a groan. "Touch me."

His fingers explored the warm, silky core of her, drawing moans from both their mouths until Billy busied his on her lower stomach. Mary moved for him, rocked into his stroking and kissing as he trailed down her hip. He entered her slowly, his finger gripped tight by the white-hot heat of her body, swirling his tongue in rhythm with the thrusts of his hand. And when she came, he held her tight to his mouth, relishing the cries of bliss that filled his ears.

He did that twice before she'd had enough and rolled him over onto his back. Panting, she pulled his shirt over his head and yanked the pants off his legs. Her urgency made him smile. Then laugh. And when she glanced up at him, Mary cocked an eyebrow.

"What's so funny?" She murmured, stroking the hard bulge under his boxers. Letting out a groan, he thrust his hips up into her touch, his laughing temporarily forgotten.

"Ya want me almost as bad as I want you." He purred. Mary smiled, freeing him from his boxers with a gentle hand. Swinging a leg over his hips, she straddled him and leaned down to kiss his mouth.

"Almost."

She took him slow the first time. The pleasure built gradually, growing from a steady buzz to a roaring lust. They kissed, they whispered, they moaned, moving gently beneath the sheets. Billy shuddered with pleasure when he came, and Mary held his head to her chest, cradling him as he groaned.

The second time was a race. A race that started with Billy flipping Mary onto her back, thrusting between her legs with a depth that made her gasp. That second time, he grunted with exertion, his arms flexed and shaking from the weight of his body. But none of that stopped him. Swinging his hips, he found the rhythm that brought Mary apart two times, making her incoherent as she scratched at his back and butt. He drove until they were both sweaty and gasping for air, shaking in each other's arms. Billy snarled when he came that second time, hissing through his teeth as the climax cranked through his body, seizing his thighs and balls.

When he rolled onto his back, collapsing at Mary's side, she crawled closer to rest on his chest. Breathing, quiet, content. They simply held each other in the aftermath, their hearts slowing to a calm beat. After a while, Billy whispered into Mary's ear, wondering if she was still awake or fast asleep.

"I've never slept with anyone before." Her head lifted slowly, a sleepy frown on her brow. He gave her a crooked grin and clarified. "Afterwards. Ya know, slept with anyone." With a grin, Mary rolled her eyes.

"You kicked them all out?"

"Yeah." Billy watched her smile fade as he stared up at her. "Sex was always about getting off. They'd finish, I'd finish. Then they'd leave."

Mary nodded slowly, looking away.

"I can go—"

Billy tugged her back down for a kiss to cut off the sentence. And he kept her there for quite some time, tasting and teasing, before he broke the contact. Her big smile told him his point had been achieved.

"I might not remember that first meeting in the hallway, but I remember what ya said to me when I was dying." Mary tucked into the space between his collarbone and jaw, stretching an arm over his chest.

"What did I say?"

Hugging her close, Billy looked up at the ceiling, recalling her frantic voice in the darkness.

"'Just stay with me.'" Tilting his face to kiss her forehead, Billy closed his eyes. "Just stay with me, Marianne."

AN: First, I just want to thank everyone who's left me love on this or any of my stories. I know I've been really absent lately, but I promise you I'm not going anywhere. Your patience is greatly appreciated! And I can't tell you how grateful I am for the support. BILLY WILL RETURN.

To my soulmate: rub you gurlll ;)