In the past half hour, as I’d gone from having one of the best orgasms in my life to hearing him tell me he wouldn’t take what I so desperately wanted to give him—that my virginity was for my future husband—I’d let my anger overwhelm me and I’d lost my temper with him for only the second time in my life. All because I’d wanted him to say he wanted to be my husband.

And for the first time in all the years that I’d known and loved Wroth Niall, he had lost his temper with me. I’d never heard him speak louder than a soft roar in my vicinity but just now he had yelled so loud I was surprised that the glass in the windows hadn’t shattered. It was what I needed though, his angry words shouted at me as he admitted what had really happened that night was all the proof I needed that what he was saying was the truth.

I suddenly felt very, very stupid, however. I should have known that Wroth wouldn’t do something like that to me. I should have had more trust in his feelings for me, even though he hadn’t said the words to me then. Wroth wasn’t like other guys out there who would jump at any chance to get between some girl’s thighs. He loved me and respected me far too much to ever do that.

“Marissa?” Wroth’s voice was calmer now, but rougher than I’d ever heard it. “Please, sweetheart. Say something.” His voice cracked.

I scrubbed the last of my tears away and slowly turned to face him. “I believe you.”

He seemed to relax a little as he held out his hands to me. “You do? If you don’t I can get Emmie to find that chick somehow and make her tell you the truth. Or Pock will tell you. He was there.”

I shook my head. “No, no I don’t need her or Pock to tell me anything. I believe you, Wroth. I think deep down I knew that you wouldn’t do something like that to me. You loved me then too, didn’t you?”

He wrapped his arms around my waist and buried his face in my hair. “Yes, sweetheart. I’ve loved you for most of my life. You have no idea how much, could never understand how deep my love for you goes.”

A small smile lifted the corners of my mouth as I held onto him even tighter. “Oh, I’m pretty sure I can understand it better than you think.” I turned my head and kissed the side of his face. “I love you, Wroth,” I whispered.

The big man in my arms went completely still. I heard his inhale and when it wasn’t automatically exhaled, I pulled back, concerned. When I saw the glint in his espresso eyes, my own breath caught in my chest. “S-say it again, Mari.”

“I love you, Wroth. More than you will ever know.” Strong arms lifted me up until I was at his eye level.

His gaze ate up the sight of me before he shook his head and pulled me forcefully against his hard body. “I love you too, Marissa. You are my world, girl. Nothing matters to me except for you. Do you understand that? Only you.”

“I—”

The door of the bus opened so suddenly that the door made a squeaking protest as it swung back and slammed into the outside of the bus. Wroth’s hold on me tightened painfully as Liam rushed into the living room. His eyes were wild, his breathing coming in sharp pants as his eyes raked over me. “Are you okay? One of the roadies was walking by and heard you screaming and crying.” His gaze went to Wroth. “He said that you were shouting at her. What the fuck have you done this time, motherfucker?”

“Don’t talk like that in front of your sister,” Wroth gritted out.

“You make my sister cry and the first words out of your fu…freakin’ mouth is for me not to cuss in front of her?” Liam’s nostrils flared. “I will kill you if you hurt her again, Wroth. I don’t care if I did give you permiss—”

“I’m not going to hurt her, damn it,” Wroth roared, cutting whatever my brother had been about to say off. “And if you would get the hell out of here, we could get back to making up like we should have done last spring.”

Liam’s mouth snapped closed and he glanced from his cousin to me, taking in how I was dressed. Blushing, I wrapped the sheet closer around me and bit my bottom lip. “Will you please stop biting that damned lip, Rissa? It’s annoying as hell.”

I released my bottom lip with a laugh and was happy to see that Liam’s anger was fading away. He looked back at Wroth, a small smile tilting his lips upward. “So everything’s okay in here? You didn’t break my sister’s heart again?”

“Everything is great in here at the moment,” I told my brother before Wroth could open his mouth. “And no, Wroth didn’t break my heart again, Li. If anything he just put it back together again.”

Liam let out a relieved sigh. “Good. Good.” Slowly he backed away. “Well, then. I’ll just go so that you two can get back to… whatever it was… I really don’t want to see the images that’re already forming in my head of how you two are going to make up…” He grimaced. “I’m glad you’re okay, Ris. I love you.”

“I love you too, Li,” I called after him as the door slammed shut behind him.

As soon as my brother was gone, Wroth was pulling me back into his arms. Espresso eyes were glittering down at me with a mixture of amusement, love, and need. “I love you, Marissa. Then, now, forever.”

I soaked in those words. Right then, in that very moment, I had never been happier. “I love you more.”

Wroth growled low in his throat and lifted me off my feet. Instinctively I wrapped my legs around his waist, gasping when I felt his hardened flesh flex against my core through the sheet. “Sweetheart, that just isn’t possible.”

“Oh yeah?” I teased as I brushed my lips over his. “Prove it.”

With a deep, rumbly laugh, he walked with me still in his arms back toward the sleeping compartments. The sounds coming from the roost across from ours was still hot and passionate and I rolled my eyes up at Wroth. “Animals,” he said with disgust, making me giggle. “Get ready to scream for me, Mari.”

My sex flooded with liquid heat and I scooted across our bed, holding my arms open for him as he climbed in and closed the curtain. “Does this mean you’re going to really make love to me?” I asked shyly.

“It means I’m going to lick your pussy until you come all over my face and then you’re going to use this gorgeous mouth on me.” He rubbed his thumb over my bottom lip. “The love making will come soon, sweetheart. Very, very soon.”