I still loved him.

Hence the problem I was facing with the bet I’d made with Natalie. I’d never make another one while angry again, that was for sure. I wanted to let Wroth back in, but did I really want to walk away when it came time to make him bleed? I wasn’t sure…

I must have drifted off, because a noise—or lack of noise woke me. Sighing, I opened my eyes and met the espresso gaze of the man who haunted my dreams. Gasping in surprise, I started to pull away, but his hands tightened on my waist and kept me trapped against his side. His head lowered quickly and captured my lips in a kiss that stole my breath along with my common sense.

He tasted like the coffee I’d become so addicted to lately and that made me greedy for more. My hands climbed up his chest, over the hard muscles of his neck and into his short hair, pulling his head down harder. My tongue dueled with his for entrance inside his hot mouth where I devoured the taste of coffee and something far richer. My taste buds exploded while my heart was beating against my chest as if it were trying to claw its way out of me and into him.

That groan that was more growl escaped him and his right hand drifted down my left side before cupping my rear hard enough to leave bruises, but I didn’t care. I would savor the soreness later, I silently promised myself as I continued to kiss him like my life depended on it. Wroth’s hand drifted lower on my hip, skimming over the seam of my rear through the yoga pants I was wearing, and then lower. Without thinking, I instinctively spread my legs a little and he dipped his fingers between them, cupping my sex.

My panties, already wet from our kiss, became drenched instantly and he made another growling sound in approval. Wroth thrust his hips forward, fitting his hardness against my sweet spot through his boxers and the rough material of his jeans and my thin layers of yoga pants and cotton panties. I couldn’t continue to kiss him while he was doing that or I would end up passing out from lack of oxygen to my poor brain. I pulled away from his lips, and his head followed but not to kiss my mouth. Instead he buried his face in my neck and started nibbling, sucking, tasting me as if I were his favorite flavor of candy.

His teeth sunk into the tender spot where my shoulder met my neck and I was helpless to keep in a moan that was a mixture of pain and pleasure. More pleasure than pain, though. Much, much more pleasure. “Wroth!” I gasped his name as he withdrew his teeth only to sink them in again before pulling the flesh into his mouth and sucking. My eyes rolled back into my head and my nails sunk into his back as I held on through the almost orgasmic feeling of him sucking on my flesh like that.

“You’re mine, Mari,” he growled against my ear when he finally released my skin.

I closed my eyes, savoring those words and at the same time fearing them. I wanted to be his, but what if he broke my heart again? How could I have a relationship with him when I’d be constantly terrified that he was cheating on me?

Swallowing around the lump that suddenly filled my throat at the memory of the last time he’d done just that, I found the strength to open my eyes and met his desire-glazed eyes. “I am yours, Wroth. I probably always will be. But are you mine? Were you ever?” He opened his mouth but I didn’t give him the chance to speak before I was pushing at his chest. My body was screaming at me to let him stay, at least until it was satisfied, but I ignored it. “Until I know that you are mine and only mine, I can’t do this with you.”

His eyes darkened with pain, but he left my bed without a fight. When he stood up he bent back down and leaned into my roost to brush a kiss over my forehead. “I’ll prove that I’m yours, sweetheart. That you always have been and always will be. If that’s what you need, then I’ll give it to you, and keep giving it to you for as long as you’ll let me.”

Wroth

When I left the bus it was to more than fifteen thousand screaming fans chanting our name. It was exhilarating but it didn’t hold my attention for longer than half an hour. My mind and body were still on the bus, in Marissa’s bed with her curled around me and my mouth tasting her flesh. I was still hard as a rock, something that hadn’t changed even a little since I’d climbed into her bed while she’d been sleeping.

I’d been unable to resist the sight of her curled up on her side with her hand tucked under her cheek like some fairytale angel. All I’d meant to do was lie down and hold her for a few minutes, but once I’d had her in my arms, and then seen those sleep-filled blue eyes, the temptation to kiss those luscious lips had been too hard to fight and before I knew it things had gotten out of control.

Marissa pushing me away had not been the best feeling in the world, but in a way I was glad she had. Now I knew what was keeping us apart—her fear that I would cheat again. I could have told her then and there that that wasn’t ever going to happen again. I could have explained about the last time it had happened and told her that what she had seen wasn’t really what she thought—at least not as bad as she thought it was. In the end I hadn’t because they were just words and Marissa didn’t need the words. She needed action and proof and I was going to give it to her.

Walking back to the buses after our set, I passed two of Trance’s members and nodded at them in greeting. The band had opened for us, getting the fans going with their kickass performance tonight, and I wondered briefly if they knew their lead singer was gay and sleeping with Liam’s personal trainer. When Linc had confessed that it was him sleeping with Rhett Tomlinson and not Marissa—or even Natalie for that matter—I’d been too relieved finding out that he wasn’t trying to get into my girl’s panties to actually realize what that meant. It didn’t bother me that the dude was gay, not even a little. Seriously, how many gay rockers or rockers that were at least bisexual do you think there have been in the history of rock? I knew plenty and there had been just as many over the decades upon decades of rock-n-roll.

All I wanted to do was get back to the bus and hoped that Marissa would be back. Since most of the Demon’s Wings guys were back at their own buses with their kids, she wouldn’t be needed. I had to pass Shane and Harper’s bus to get to OtherWorld’s and as I passed I heard a snarling like growl from inside the dimly lit bus. I knew that Harper had brought her German Shepard, Ranger, and figured it was just the dog growling at people as they passed the bus. But as I drifted closer to let a few of the roadies pass I heard it let out a whimper so pitiful my stomach turned. Instinct told me the dog was in trouble, and I’d passed both Harper and Shane eating pizza with Shane’s youngest sister, Jenna, along with Harris who was staying on Jesse’s bus, as well as Lucy not five minutes ago.