Disclaimer: Some pretty heavy stuff going on in this chapter. It's pushing the T rating to the very max. Proceed with caution. For those of you who live for steamy interactions, read on ( and leave me comments!). A modern take on the staircase scene is ahead….and it's not the falling down them part.

So, here it is , the continuation of the last chapter. I can't begin to express just how much I love your comments( especially the long ones). Based on these awesome comments, I wanted to address a couple of questions that have come up.

Scarlett is the one who really understands Cat. If you go back a bunch of chapters you'll see that she is the one who wants her out of her current school. She was the one who accepted her diagnosis of autism and worked hard to make the world a less scary place for her daughter. Rhett is the one who refuses to listen to the doctors and believes that Cat's behavior is the result of an overindulgent Scarlett. As far as her political views, I'm not really sure if she has any. If anything, she's a business woman who only cares about her bottom line. If I had to place a bet on her voting history, I'm pretty sure she would be for less taxes and more favorable business legislation.

Scarlett is a complicated woman?ᅡᅠ

So, without further ado….

STW

"Ella!" Bonnie squealed. "Did you see my new car?" She threw her arms around her older sister and planted a big smacking kiss on her cheek as she walked into the parlor.

"How could I miss it ? That things so pink you'd probably be able to see it from space. Merry Christmas, you spoiled little priss." Ella fiercely hugged her sister back. " Where's Mama?"

"I'm right here. Merry Christmas, darling. How are you feeling?" Scarlett noticed the pallor in her daughter's face. The first trimester was always the hardest. Between the unrelenting fatigue and constant nausea, daily life was a struggle for the first three months.

"Merry Christmas, Mama. I feel okay. Just a little queasy."

"Are the ginger candies helping?" Scarlett asked as she walked with her daughters to the family room to join the others. "A little", Ella said as she leaned her head against her mother's shoulder.

The family room was a disaster of crumpled wrapping paper and empty boxes. Toys and clothes were strewn everywhere. Hugs and kisses of gratitude were given as the sounds of Christmas merriment drowned out the voice of Michael Bublé's Christmas album playing over the sound system.

"Merci, Katie!" Phillipe said as he held the bottle of Courvoisier XO Impérial cognac in his hands. Archie eyed the onion shaped bottle and compared them to his gift. "He gets booze and I get compression socks? What the hell, girl ?"

Scarlett laughed and instructed Cat to hand Archie his other present: a black and white houndstooth fedora. Sadly, Archie was an Alabama fan.

More presents were opened, vividly displaying the excessive wealth of the Butlers. It made Scarlett cringe a little to see the way her kids admired each expensive present for a short while before tossing to the ground and grabbing the next one. When she and her sisters were growing up they each got one present for Christmas and they treasured it. Maybe her mother in law had a point about her kids being spoiled. The fact that the turquoise boxes from Tiffany's were strewn in the same regard as wrapping paper was reason enough to address it with them...tomorrow.

STW

Satisfied and a little bit sleepy, the after dinner talk at the table turned to Ella's wedding. They were pushing up the wedding by more than a few months. Ella wanted the ceremony to take place before the baby arrived and now, what time they once thought they had to plan was gone. Within weeks, the Butler mansion would be transformed into a palatial venue that was perfect for a wedded bliss celebration. Almost the entire ground floor would be renovated to accommodate two hundred plus guests for four hours. A dance floor was going to be put in along with two full bars, fifty round tables, two hundred and fifty chairs, a huge archway draped in white linen, and a stage for the band. Both bands: the traditional band and the second line band from New Orleans. Not to mention the explosion of flowers that were coming! Calla lilies, white and red roses, peonies in various colors, light purple hydrangeas, massive magnolias and even whole trees coved in fairy lights would soon fill the house. European china, beveled and bone white, was being expressly sent from overseas. New Orleans' own Emeril Lagasse would be working with his team to serve up dishes of crawfish etouffee , jambalaya, oysters Rockefeller, seafood gumbo, shrimp and grits, bread pudding with rum sauce and king cake. On top of that was the cost of the wedding planner, the hairdressers, the makeup artist, the photographer, servers, dressers, limousine drivers, and the videographer. Scarlett's cousin from Ireland was flying in to perform the ceremony and would need accommodation along with the influx of people from Taz's side of the family that were coming in from Louisiana. The entire wedding was going to cost a fortune. Rhett had asked Scarlett to give him a round-about figure of how much money he was spending. She shook her head at him and told him that he didn't want to know. Frank's contribution was paying for Ella's dress. At least he could be grateful for that.

She was right. He didn't want to know. He was certain the total dollar mount would be close to a million…maybe two. And this was for Ella, their daughter with the simple tastes! He couldn't even fathom what Bonnie would want for her wedding day. Knowing her, she'd want to wear the hope diamond around her neck and have the reception in Buckingham palace.

"Who am I walking with?" Bonnie asked her sister. What she really wanted to know was who it was that Beau would walk down the aisle. As the maid of honor, she knew she was paired with the best man; it was Taz's best friend Adrian - whom she had never even seen a picture of. She knew Ella would have to go through the procession of the bridal party. She did it every time someone asked her a question about the processional.

Ella pulled her bottom lip between her teeth as she ran through the pairs in her head.

"Let's see…. First it's Uncle Rhett and Mama, then Miss Belle and Uncle Ashley, Uncle Henry and India, Phebs and Wade, Gracie and Beau, Taz's cousin Stella and his friend Tank, then you with Dre, Cat….if she'll walk, Gerry and Preston, and then my dad and me."

Bonnie drug the tines of her fork through her left over dessert. " You should have Gracie walk with Wade. She's taller than Phoebe. It'll make more sense."

"You know why I can't have Gracie walk with Wade. I'm not sure she could control herself", Ella laughed.

"So, let's her just walk with my boyfriend. No big deal, right?" Bonnie threw up her hands in frustration. "Gracie's a slut, Ella."

The clang of multiple pieces of cutlery hitting plates and saucers could be heard.

"Whoa!" Rhett chastised Bonnie following her mother's high pitched gasp of astonishment.

"Bonnie! Seriously? Your brother is right here." she said as she held her hands over Gerry's little ears as he yawned sleepily in her lap.

Bonnie flopped back in her chair and crossed her arms defensively over her chest. " I'm sure he's heard much worse coming out of your mouth, Mom. Like that time when he wouldn't let Mammy leave for Tara one weekend because he heard you yelling that you were coming and he made her wait for you ? Yeah, he'll be in therapy for that for sure."

Scarlett's cheeks were turning a blushing pink. "I have no idea what you are talking about, Eugenie. I suggest you lay off the drugs." Rhett couldn't help but smile. He remembered that day too. He had laughed so hard at the raised voices of his wife and his mother in law arguing about Mammy having to wait and getting to Tara later than she had wanted.

Scarlett must have remembered too. She caught Rhett's eye and winked at him.

"Just remember, Ella, payback's a bitch", Bonnie said with a saucy shake of her head.

"And so are you, little sister", said Ella with a smile. She could see anger forming in her sister's eyes and was grateful for Gerry's interrupting questions. If she were forced to have a drawn out verbal battle she knew she would most certainly hurl. She wondered why they called it morning sickness if it lasted all day and was caused by anything and everything.

"Was I at your wedding, Mommy?" He spun his mother's black curl around his pudgy little finger as he spoke.

"No, Precious. You weren't born yet."

"Ah, je parie que tu étais si belle le jour de ton mariage, Katie", said Phillipe wistfully. Like so many other events in his daughter's life, he was not present on her wedding day.

Rhett knew enough conversational French to ask for directions and order wine. The fluidity and speed at which Phillipe and Scarlett spoke the language was lost on him. "What'd he say?" he asked his wife.

"He said that I must have looked beautiful on our wedding day", she answered.

Rhett remembered everything about that day. His brother and a few close friends were trying to get him to down shots of tequila saying, "It's your wedding day, man !" Yes, it was his wedding day, he thought. All the more reason to stay sober. He didn't want to miss a single moment.

He remembered how his breath caught in his throat the moment the wide oak doors opened and he saw her. He was certain that there were no words ever invented to describe how beautiful she looked. The white lace overlay of her satin gown illuminated her fair skin and made her green eyes even more vivid. It reminded him of the part in the movie, The Wizard of Oz where Dorothy opens the door to the Technicolor world. She didn't wear a veil and had her hair swept up in a mass of shiny, black curls that left her bare shoulders and collarbone on display. He was so full of emotion as he watched her walk towards him that he wanted to laugh, cry, and shout for joy all at the same time. She gave him a shy smile, the same one she still gave him when she was up to something, when Gerald placed her hand in his and declared that he, her mother, and her Mammy gave this woman to be wed.

And that's when his world stopped turning. Everything he had ever known before, everything he had ever experienced, it no longer mattered. Everything from then on was… her….for her…because of her….. She became his sun, moon, and stars. She was the reason he lived. Every heartbeat, every single breath, every part of him now belonged to her. Seventeen years ago, he placed his heart in her hands and vowed to love her and keep her all the days of his life.

She had asked him, years and years later, if he loved her on their wedding day. He remembered wrapping her in his arms and saying," Scarlett, I've loved you from the moment I laid eyes on you."

How could have put all of this in jeopardy? How could he go the rest of his life without her? And as much as he loved her, he knew that she loved him just as much. "What in the hell are we doing? he asked himself. "We don't work without the other one. We're two pieces of the same whole". He reached for her hand across the table and brought it to his lips.

"The best day my whole life. She was unbelievably beautiful, Phillipe."

Forest picked up his bulbous head and looked towards the doorway to the dining room. "Is someone knocking?" Taz asked. Scarlett shook her head. "I don't hear anything but would you mind going to check, though? If it's Frank or India, don't answer it."

"Mom…." Ella chided.

Bonnie's face lit up when she saw Taz walk back in with Beau. "Merry Christmas, everybody", he said. He shook hands with the men around the table. He kissed his aunt and Ella and gave Bonnie to lightest and quickest peck ever recorded in the history of kissing.

Scarlett saw that Rhett clenched his jaw at this. She and Rhett were in agreement in the way they handled their daughter's first real relationship. Rhett was less than eager to allow it to continue but he knew Scarlett was right. The only thing they would accomplish by forbidding Bonnie to see Beau would be to drive her further into his arms. Scarlett was convinced that Beau would do the right thing and Rhett really wanted to trust her.

"You're walking down the aisle with Gracie for the wedding. Lucky you", she said as he sat down beside her. "Be sure to remind her to keep her panties on."

"Oh my gosh, Bonnie! You act like they're required to hook up as part of it. They walk down the aisle together…. and it's not even the whole aisle! They meet half way! Will you quit being such a whiney baby about it ? God forbid something not go your way. You're such a fucking brat!" Ella threw her napkin on the table and rushed to the nearest bathroom. Taz looked apologetically at the table as they sat in stunned silence at Ella's reaction to her sister. " Hormones..", he said." It's been…. rough…"

Scarlett understood her poor son-in-law all too well. There were more than a couple of times during her pregnancies that she believed she was going crazy. She handed Gerry over to Rhett and went to her daughter's aid. "When she comes back, you need to apologize", she said to Bonnie.

"Apologize for what?! She's the one who called me an 'effing brat! You always do this, you know!? You're always on her side, Mom!"

Scarlett caught Beau's eyes as she walked out and sighed. "I'm on no one's side. You have a lot of growing up to do, little girl."

When Ella came back, she did so in tears, clinging to her mother and begging her sister's forgiveness. Bonnie gave her own , half-hearted apology and embraced her sister. "You know I love you, Ella-Bella. You're my bestest friend." That sent Ella into a fresh round of tears and another trip to the bathroom.

After that, Taz said their goodbyes and carefully ushered his wife to the door.

"Make sure she gets plenty of fluids, Taz", Scarlett said as she kissed them both goodbye. " Go home and rest, darling. I'll call you later."

STW

"Mama, would it be okay if I drive Papa Archie home? Please!" Bonnie pleaded. "Please say yes. Please, please, please."

Scarlett was trying to peel off Gerry's clothes and put him in some clean pajamas. Bonnie was on her heels as she carried him to his bed. She untangled her mother's hair from her little brother's vice-like grasp and helped pull down the Scooby- Doo top over his cute, little belly. Scarlett knew she was asking more than to drive Archie home. She was asking for time to spend alone with Beau after they dropped him off at his apartment. She knew how her daughter's mind worked and would always be two steps ahead.

"Your birth control won't fully kick in for another week or so, Bonnie. Don't do anything stupid."

Bonnie's face flushed with embarrassment. "Mom!" she whispered , looking around the room.

Her mother had quietly taken her to the gynecologist to receive the first of what would be monthly contraceptive shots. The last thing Scarlett needed was two pregnant daughters. Rhett would view this as giving Bonnie "permission" to have sex, so she simply neglected to tell him.

"Ask your father first and see what he says. If he says yes, then it's okay with me."

Bonnie face fell. She didn't want to ask her father. She knew he'd say no; that's why she asked her mother. Playing them off of each other was getting more difficult by the day.

STW

Rhett eyed Beau suspiciously. This was the first time they had been left alone since the day he found Bonnie with him. Beau tried to make small talk with him and asked him questions about business, football…even the weather. Rhett answered him in one or two word sentences. He held his gaze on Beau the whole time. Beau didn't even see him blink. It was unsettling. He waited until he was sure his wife and daughter were out of earshot.

"Do I have to remind you to keep it in your pants, son?" he finally said after a long gulp of whiskey. "Because if I find out you didn't, they'll never find your body. You understand?"

Beau nodded nervously. "Yes, sir".

Both men looked up as Scarlett and Bonnie reentered the room. Scarlett walked up to Rhett and tilted his glass towards her and took a sip. She licked her lips as she wrinkled her nose." Ugh, whiskey."

Bonnie's heart swelled with love for her mother. She knew that her mother's small act just now was for her benefit. She saw how her father watched as her mother ran her tongue along her bottom lip. He'd assuredly relent just to be able to be alone with her. She caught a glimpse of them making out this morning before Gerry loudly announced their presence. For the first time, she was thankful for her parents' massive libidos.

"Daddy, is it okay if I drive Papa Archie home and then go to a movie with Beau? Please? I'll answer my phone the second you call it and text you when the movie starts and when it's over."

Phillipe walked down the stairs smelling like cologne and fastening the Channel cuff links onto the French cuffs of his shirt. " I can drop Arch at home on my way, Empress. Enjoy your evening , mon chérie."

Bonnie beamed at her grandfather. She loved how he called her Empress. She knew countless girls named Elizabeth, Victoria, Catherine…all of them, the names of queens. She, however, was named after an Empress. Empress Eugenie of France was her namesake. Empresses trumped queens any day.

"On you way where?" Scarlett asked him. He raised his eyebrow and gave his daughter a devilish grin that she knew meant that he was meeting up with a woman…. or women. Her father was what Ella would call a man-whore. "Do you really want to know, Katie?"

"Nope. Forget I asked." She walked toward Archie and gave him a kiss on the cheek and turned to Philippe and did the same. "Either way, I'm going to usher this young lady upstairs to bed." She turned toward Cat. "Time for bath and then bed. Say goodnight to everyone, kitty Cat. And Bonnie", she said as she glanced back towards them. " Just in case Daddy says yes, your curfew is 11:30. Don't be late. "

STW

"You're welcome to stay until she comes home", Scarlett said to Rhett. The house was eerily quiet with Bonnie and Phillipe out and Gerry and Cat fast asleep. He flopped back on the sofa next to her and kicked off his shoes. "I planned on it", he said as he lifted his socked feet next to hers onto the huge leather ottoman. "What are we watching?" he asked, indicating to the large flat screen perched on the wall opposite them.

"Let's watch Die Hard. You know it isn't Christmas until we've seen Hans Gruber fall from Nakatomi tower", she said with a smile.

She inched toward him and ran her foot up his pant leg. She touched her cold, bare toes to the skin on his shin. He pulled his leg away from her in a dramatic gesture.

"Are they cold?" she giggled.

"Yes!" he answered. "You're not human. You have the feet of a corpse. Keep those things over there."

A few seconds passed and he could see her slowly moving her toes toward him again. She stilled them for a bit, raising the level of anticipation between them. She was quicker than he was and swung both her feet up his lap and under his shirt. She used her cold toes to tickle his stomach, rendering him immobile with laughter.

"SSSSS….TTTOP! …..IM MMMMM… I'M GONNA….BRRRRRRREAK…YYYYOUUUUR… TTTTOOOOOESSSSS!" He said between laughs.

"You're going to what?" She said as she moved her feet around to the sensitive skin on his sides. " You're going to break my what?" Rhett could feel her grip on his sides weaken as she laughed with him. He grabbed her inner thigh with his hand and began tickling her back. "Rhett, No ! Ahhh! Stopppppp!" she squealed.

"You'll never win the tickle game, Scarlett. I'm the master."

Her feet were no longer on him and were pushing against him as she tried to get away. "Stop, Rhett. Please!" she laughed.

"Say that I'm the master and I'll stop."

"NNNNNEEEVVVVVVERRRR!" She said as tears of laughter spilled out of her eyes.

Rhett began tickling the other thigh and was met with the silliest, high pitched wail that he had ever heard come out of her mouth. "Then, I'll never stop. I'll tickle you until you pee yourself."

They were on the floor now. She was on her back pushing against his shoulders as he hoovered over her. He gave a moments reprieve between resuming the task at hand. It was right at the moment that he was about to commence the tickles that she placed her palm against his cheek and lifted her head to meet his and brushed her lips against his. There was no trace of brandy this time. She slowly lowered her head back to the floor and looked up at him. He ran the pad of his thumb against the outer edges of her lips, gasping a little as she gently bit at his skin.

"I love you." Her words were so soft they almost sounded like a whisper. Her breathing was deep and labored but it wasn't because of pent up passion or residues of laughter. Instead, she was trying desperately not to cry. "Do you still choose me, Rhett?" she asked as tears glistened in her eyes.

Rhett stilled, his upper body held up by his forearms. "How could you ask me that question, Scarlett? I love you so much that it could kill me…so much that it is killing me. Of course I choose you, my darling. I always have."

He stared down into those tempting green eyes that were now wide and pleading; showing the fear and vulnerability that lie beneath her tough exterior. Her tears were falling along the curves of her cheekbones and into her ears. "No more", she said. She took her hand and ran the back of her hand against his face.

"No more?" he asked.

"No more women."

"Scarlett…."

"Say it. Swear it to me. Tell me you choose me and only me."

He thought back to the time when he told her the same thing. It was during the early morning hours after Ashley's fortieth surprise birthday party.

The talk of the town was that Ashely's sister had caught Scarlett and Ashley "embracing" at their office. Scarlett swore her innocence, saying that it was nothing more than a comforting hug, blaming India's jealously for making it seem like something is wasn't. Rhett, however, was well aware of his wife's feelings toward Ashley and did not believe her. The fight that ensued between them before the party had Bonnie and Ella crying and Mammy banging on their bedroom door saying that they either settle down or she was going to call the police.

They rode to the party in silence, both of them seething in fury at the other one. "Don't fucking touch me", she said as he put his hand on the small of her back as she slid into the car.

"You should be so lucky. Trust me, my pet, I have zero desire to touch anything on you."

That was a complete lie. All Rhett wanted to do was touch her, to run his hands all over her body, to touch her in the places he knew she liked. To revel watching her throw her head back in ecstasy as she climaxed.

Rhett knew she wore her most revealing and tightest red dress tonight on purpose. Rhett had dubbed her " a walking wet-dream" when she wore it: that is ,the one and only time that she wore it. Unfortunately for Rhett he wasn't the only man to feel that way and the red dress had been regulated to the back of her closet, never to be worn again ever since. Rhett cursed the desire he felt as he watched her with her jaw clenched and her breasts pushed up and high. So she wanted to play this game, did she? Well, he could play it just as well as she could.

At the party Rhett wasted no time engulfing every woman there with his charms. He was as smooth and debonair as ever; making sure to rush to the aid of any fair maiden with delectable treats and glasses of champagne. He played to their heartstrings by gushing about his two year old baby girl. He pulled out pictures of her out of his wallet and told stories about the cute little things she did. He talked about how much he loved his mother and sister and played up his career in the Navy. He commented on their beauty and said that their husbands didn't deserve them, vowing that he would certainly tempt them away from their worthless spouses if he too were single.

"How brave you are, Captain Butler!" and " I wish my [insert significant other's name] would do that for me." and the worst of all , "Scarlett's so very lucky to have you!" could be heard coming from their flustered mouths.

Rhett made sure Scarlett heard them too and gave her an unsettling smile when he caught her listening. She, in turn, narrowed her eyes at him; meeting his challenge.

Where Rhett was obvious, she was subtle. She delicately sipped her champagne, tilting her head in a way that made her eyes sparkle and dimples deepen when she smiled. She gently placed her hand on the arm of the man she spoke to just long enough to be tempting but not long enough to be considered improper. She tugged in the corner of her bottom lip as though she were deep in thought at what they said and then ran her tongue along the little indentations her teeth caused afterwards. Rhett was on fire as he watched her. They were drawn to her like moths to a flame. She didn't have to work the room like he did, they came to her…..just as he had done…. willingly. She caught his eye and raised her eyebrow at him in triumph before walking toward Melanie and Ashley to deliver the final blow. She made sure Rhett had adequate time to see how good her ass looked hugged by the burgundy velvet of her dress as she placed a chaste little kiss on Ashley's cheek and softly wished him a happy birthday.

As if drawn by some unseen force, Rhett was next to her in an instant and tightly grasped her forearm tightly.

"Darling, I'm afraid we will have to go. Mammy just called and said that Bonnie has a temperature."

Melanie gasped. "Oh no! My poor Bonnie. I know all too well about that. It's horrible when their sick. I bet all she wants is Mommy, right?"

"You know how they are when they're sick, Melly. Mammy said nothing will soothe her. She keeps crying for Scarlett. I'm sorry but we'll have to duck out early. Happy birthday, Ashley", Rhett said as he shook Ashley's hand and kissed Melanie goodbye.

"Of course! Make sure you give her a big kiss from aunt Melly."

The ride home was even more tense than the ride there. They were both even angrier than before and this time they were soused with alcohol. As soon as they entered the house the fight resumed.

"Well, where is she? Our poor, little baby who only wants Mommy? Seems pretty quiet to me, you lying asshole." She stormed past him and straight into the kitchen where she grabbed a bottle of brandy and a glass tumbler. " And if you ever grab me like that again I'm going to…."

"You're going to what, Scarlett? As if you'd even care if she was sick. You're the worst fucking mother I've ever seen." he mocked.

"Fuck you. I'm going to bed."

She stumbled a little as she walked across their polished marble floors and grabbed a chair near the parlor for support.

"Drunk, my Pet? Amazing how you were able to hold your liquor at the party. You're such a slut, Scarlett. You should have seen yourself tonight. I almost felt sorry for you."

She tried to swing at him but he caught her arm midair and pinned it behind her. It hurt. She could feel the sharp tingles of pain that ran down her arm and for some reason it excited her. She felt the longing that she refused to let surface, come up and this time she was too drunk to suppress it , letting a little moan escape her lips. Damn it, she wanted him. Unlike him, she hadn't had sex in almost two years and her vibrator paled in comparison to the real thing.

She didn't want Ashley. Their hug was nothing more than what she said it was. She was upset and he hugged her. That was all.

She wanted to make things work with Rhett but he always made things so difficult. It was almost as if he wanted her to fight with him. Their relationship was one continual mind-fuck; with them always trying to out-hurt each other. This sick game of theirs was evenly stacked too. Rhett was just as stubborn as she was and would call her bluff almost every time. They were left in stagnant at an impasse that was unbreachable. The worst stalemate being when they decided to sleep in separate bedrooms. She never dreamed that he would just relent when she refused him the comfort of her body as if it didn't matter to him. He reacted by throwing a glass filled with whiskey at her portrait in his office and said that there were plenty woman in the world to fuck.

The desperation she felt afterwards was maddening. She wanted nothing more than to rush across the hall and tell him that she made a terrible mistake and to please come back to their bed. She'd do it too….if she weren't hell bent on winning. But what did her pride get her? Him having the worst kept secret mistress of all time….that he flaunted in her face.

"If I'm a slut what does that make you? At least I didn't have to resort to showing pictures of my baby to get a response from the opposite sex. All I had to do was stand there. Tell me, Rhett, how does it feel to know that every man in that room tonight wanted to fuck your wife? That all those men will be seeing my face as they jerk off in the shower or screw their wives?"

He forcefully pushed her up against the wall. Her back slammed against the textured concrete. It caused her body to betray her further. She narrowed her eyes as she tilted her head back and bit her lip. Her breasts rose and fell as her breathing became heavier.

"Stop it, Scarlett. Shut up. I'm warning you."

"Warning me? Ha! You won't do shit. You're a coward, Rhett Butler. I wonder though, do you ever think of me when your locked away in your own bedroom across the hall from mine, safe behind closed doors? Do you picture me in my bed, thinking of Ashley and touching myself? Imagining that he's on top of me, making me come?"

Rhett towered over her now. "Do you want me to hurt you?" he growled.

She taunted him with a small laugh. "Please. We both know that you don't have it in you to lay a finger on me. You aren't even man enough to walk a few paces to take what you want. You'd rather fuck that willing whore than to take what is already yours and right in front of you. Is Belle's flabby, rancid cunt as nice and tight as mine? Do you remember how I would clench down on your dick right before you came? ….. I know Ashley does."

The sound of glass crashing echoed across the room. They could both feel the splash of the liquor as the bottle broke at their feet. He kissed her with dominance and force, tearing the dress from her upper body and roughly grabbed at her exposed breasts. She bit his shoulder and his bottom lip, moaning into his mouth and pulling him against her as hard as she could. Their kisses were so frantic that their teeth crashed against each other as their tongues fought for dominance.

"Do you know what you do to me?" he breathed against her mouth as he reached under her dress and slid his fingers into her panties.

"Yes." She panted back. She arched her back to give him better access to her body and gasped as she felt him push two fingers inside her.

"Rhett?" The way she said it sounded like a whimper. Rhett made a Mmmm sound as he kissed her breast and licked down toward her nipple.

"Fuck me. Take me upstairs and fuck me."

They made love twice that night and once in the early morning of the next day. As they lay together, naked and exhausted, he asked her if she choose him over Ashley. She turned in his arms and faced him. She placed her hand on his cheek and softly whispered yes.

STW

"Watch this." Bonnie said to Beau as she drove them down Peachtree Street. She reached to push a button next to her ignition and pink, purple, and lime green lights flooded the interior of the jeep. "Isn't that cool ?!" she asked him.

"Very. Hey, let's pull into Centennial Park for a minute so we can talk. We've got time before the movie starts."

Giddy with anticipation, Bonnie made her way through downtown and into the lush greenspace nested within the bustling city of Atlanta. In her mind, "talk" meant "make out". She found a spot where they could be alone, slightly secluded from the other park patrons on this Christmas night. As soon as she put her car into park she unbuckled her seatbelt and lunged toward Beau, immediately seeking out his lips. " I've been wanting to do that all day", she said.

She pulled back as she noticed the expression on Beau's face. It was one of anguish and not delight. "Something's wrong. What is it ? Did my Dad say something to you?"

Beau took both her hands in his and brought them to his mouth. He kisses the soft flesh of her fingertips and took a deep breath. "Sit back. We need to talk."

Bonnie adjusted herself to sit in her seat and faced him. "You're scaring me, Beau."

He pulled a black box out of his pocket and opened it, presenting it to her. Inside was silver ring with tiny diamonds surrounding a princess cut sapphire. "Oh my gosh ! He's proposing !", she thought. Excitement poured through her. "Beau", she breathed. "Is this…"

"It's not an engagement ring." He said. He faltered a bit as he said it. More than anything, he wished it were. He would marry her in a second.

She felt a pang of disappointment as he said it, but it was a short lived because as soon as he slid the ring onto her left ring finger, she was elated. The ring was inappropriate for an engagement ring anyway. Any diamond under five carrots would be unacceptable.

"It's a promise ring. A ring with a promise to one day replace it with a wedding ring."

"It's beautiful! I love it, Beau", she said before she kissed him. "almost as much as I love you."

Before she could kiss him again, he held out his palms to her and said, "Wait. There's something I need to tell you."

"I've been accepted into Columbia for the Spring semester and I'm going."

"Columbia? "she asked.

"Columbia University… in New York…..I decided to finish my bachelor's in business. I start in early February so I'm leaving the day after Ella's wedding to go up there." Bonnie sat speechless as he continued. "I already have a lot of college credits completed so I should graduate in about two years."

"Beau, I'm confused. Why do this? Why now? What about us? You're leaving to move to New York and leaving me here in Atlanta? So we're supposed to have a long distance relationship for two years? That's a long time to be away from each other, Beau."

Beau's sad eyes looked down at the floorboard of her car. In his silence, she understood. They weren't going to have a long distance relationship for two years, that wasn't what he meant. They weren't going to have a relationship at all. He was breaking up with her.

"Don't do this , Beau. Please. I love you."

"Bonnie, I love you too. But you're so very young and you have so much life in front of you. I'm afraid that if I stay here I'll prevent you from living out your dreams and you'll end up resenting me for it. In two years, I'll graduate and so will you, and then if you feel the same about me, we'll pick up right where we left off and move forward."

"No", she cried, "Don't go. Don't leave me. I'll die without you, Beau. You know you don't want this. You don't want to leave me. "

He wiped the tears from her eyes. "Of course I don't want to leave you but I have to. For us, I have to. Me staying here isn't fair to you."

"Fair to me? What the hell does that even mean?" she asked. "You sound like my mother...fair to me….. This is her idea isn't it? She's a tyrant, Beau! She's manipulating the situation to get her way; can't you see that?!"

"This wasn't her idea."

"Then it was yours?!"

The hurt in her face killed him. This was the hardest thing he'd ever had to do in his life. "Yes. It was my idea."

"So let me get this straight. You're breaking up with me for two years so that I can be free to" she curled her fingers into air quotes, "live out my dreams?"

"Bonnie…. it's not breaking up, it's more like pressing pause."

The tears in her eyes were now gone; evaporated by the steam of her anger. "Say what you really mean, Beau. You want to free from your teenaged little girlfriend so you can screw a bunch of college whores for two years."

He reached for her hand only to have her jerk it back in revulsion. " Bonnie, you know that I don't think that."

"Then you're nothing but a wimp. You let all that crap that my parents are saying get to you. You're not man enough to fight for me, or for us. Well I have news for you, Beau. In two years' time, I won't be here waiting for you. You walk away from me now and it's over for good."

"Bonnie, your upset, but eventually you'll see that this is the best thing for us both."

She shook her head in defeat, licked her lips, and squared her shoulders back. The blood of her mother ran furiously through her veins. Her eyes narrowed to shards of ice blue glass. "Here", she said as she slid the ring off her finger and threw it back at him. " I don't want your fucking ring. We're done. Get the fuck out of my car."

STW

Scarlett stepped out of her shower and dried off using one of plush peach colored towels. She wrapped the luxurious cotton around her body and tucked a corner into the tight folds of the fabric. She stood in the doorway of the master bath and watched as her husband slept. His bronzed upper body lay uncovered on their bed. He looked so relaxed with his arms folded behind his head. Scarlett smiled thinking how right it felt to have him back in their bed. She fingered through her hair and felt a thrilling chill run down her spine as she remembered what they did on that bed not even fifteen minutes ago. This is the second time they had made love after being separated. Actually, it was the second AND third time they had made love. She was sure they were probably the worst separated couple ever. If there was a manual for separated couples it would certainly discourage intimate rendezvous between the couple.

Quietly, she searched through her boudoir for panties and a nightgown. The cool silk felt like heaven as it slid down her smooth skin. She crawled back in her bad and wrapped her arms around Rhett and sighed deeply with contentment. They were going to be okay. She was willing to start over again with him; be damned what anyone would say. "Screw them", she thought as she placed a soft kiss on his shoulder and tasted the saltiness of his skin. "I love you", she whispered.

Just as she was about to fall asleep, his phone dinged with an alert to a new text message, rousing her. Seconds later, her phone did the same. It wasn't from Bonnie, she'd come home hours ago. Slowly, it came to her. She had set that particular alert for the carbon copy on his phone when there was any communication from the infamous M.S. It was her. The other woman. Scarlett reached to her bedside table and reached for her phone, praying that she were wrong.

I need to see you. Soon. Meetup sometime this week? – M.S.

She placed the phone face down back on the table and curled herself into a little ball on her side of the bed. She hid her face in the hollow between her knees and arms and cried as the dream of them getting back together crumbled before her. There was no hope for them. They were over. There was no use in trying to work it out. He would continue to do this to her. Over and over again, he would be unfaithful.

She was now resolute. They would get through Ella's wedding and then she would file for divorce.