“What?” I whispered back, enjoying the smell of whatever perfume she was wearing just under her left ear. Fuck, her skin was soft and smelled so delicious. I licked my dry lips and growled in pure pleasure as the tip skimmed over her delicate skin. That one tiny taste sent my body even harder and my hand tightened on her head as I attempted to gain some semblance of control over my wayward body.
The voice in my head, the one that constantly told me that I was no good for this girl, that I would only bring her heartache and taint her with the evilness that I had seen and performed while in the marines was quieter than usual. The voice of my heart, the one that always seemed so faint, was suddenly screaming to take what was mine. Love her, cherish her.
“Kiss me, Wroth,” Marissa said just a fraction louder, but I heard her.
“Will that make you happy?” I found myself asking, like an idiot. Only a complete and total idiot would ask that stupid question. Of course it would make her happy. It would sure as fuck make me happy.
Her hands lifted to hold onto my shoulders. Her head lowering until her lips were just a few inches away from my own. “It would make me the happiest person in the world right now. I’ve wanted you to kiss me again since I was sixteen years old. Remember the night before that last chemo treatment and that kiss you gave me before the nurse tossed you out of my room that night?”
I closed my eyes as the memory of that innocent, sweet kiss rushed into my mind. That kiss had been nothing more than a kiss between friends. I’d been so scared that I would never see her again, hold her again, or make her laugh again. Marissa’s plea for a kiss, her first kiss, had torn me apart and I’d readily obliged. That kiss didn’t count as our first kiss though. I’d felt none of the desire that now boiled my blood to the point that I was about to combust on that leather couch.
“I’ve been dying for a real kiss from you, Wroth. If you say that I can have anything I ask for, then I’m asking for that. Kiss me.” Her long nails bit into the muscles of my shoulder through my T-shirt. “Please..?”
If I’d been standing, that hesitantly murmured ‘please’ would have buckled my knees. A curse lifted to my lips, but died just as quickly as I pulled her those last few inches separating our lips. Her mouth opened in surprise and I took advantage, diving deep with my tongue to steal her taste like a thief. A thief that had been dying for a sip of her sweet, sweet taste. I invaded, stole every drop she had to give and then demanded more as I stroked my tongue with hers, tangling them together in the hopes that they tied into a knot and we would have to stay like that for the rest of our lives.
Marissa’s whimper forced me to pull back, scared that I might have hurt her in my eagerness to finally—FINALLY—taste her. “Okay?”
“Yes. Don’t stop.” Her hands lifted from my shoulders only for her fingers to stab through my hair. Our teeth snapped together as she fused her mouth back to mine but I felt no pain as I got another taste of her intoxicating essence.
The longer we kissed, the harder my body seemed to throb, but I refused to go further. Not yet. Not tonight. This kiss was too good, too fucking perfect for me to dare destroy this memory with seducing her on the damn couch in some freaking club that we weren’t likely to return to anytime soon. The hand wrapped around her hair stayed in place while my free one caressed up and down her spine. The feel of her trembling with each passing moment, the sound of her panting mingled with my own as we kissed, nipped at each other’s lips with sharp teeth only to lick away any stings, was better than any sexual experience I’d ever had up until that point in my life.
The waiter returned and I opened my eyes to watch long enough as he put the drinks on the table and left again, not daring to break the kiss the entire time. Marissa hadn’t heard the man, and I wasn’t going to stop my little slice of heaven for his fucking ass.
The kiss continued until Marissa finally pulled back and rested her forehead against my own. Tomorrow her mouth was going to be raw and sore, but right then those luscious lips were plump and damp from my kisses. There had never been a sexier sight…
The memory of that first kiss haunted me repeatedly, replaying over and over again, taunting me with how earth shaking it had been. Still was.
The toddler in my arms suddenly protested and I forced my attention back onto the little guy in my arms. “Sorry, little dude.” I placed a glaring Luca on his feet where his brother now was, their father having moved on since I’d been lost in my own thoughts. The two hugged like they hadn’t seen each other in days rather than mere minutes and then rushed in the direction where their mother was still talking with Emmie, Marissa and the short-haired chick.
When the twins reached the four women, the short-haired chick crouched down and I realized that she was Natalie. My eyes widened, because I’d thought she was just as hung up on her hair as Marissa had always been on her own. I wouldn’t say that this haircut looked bad on the chick, but it wasn’t anything to be desired, either. At least not by me.
Natalie grabbed hold of Lyric and lifted him, kissing his cheek with loud smacking kisses that I heard all the way across the room. Wanting some new attention for himself, Luca grabbed hold of Marissa’s dress and tugged until she bent to lift him into her arms. She gave the kid a kiss then rubbed her nose against his, making him giggle.
A reluctant smile lifted my lips at the sight of them together like that. Marissa was a natural with kids, and I knew she was going to make a great mother one day. All though it had been controversial at the time, Marissa had had eggs harvested and frozen so that she could have a chance at being a mother later in life if she ever decided that it was something that she wanted to do. She was lucky, because there were women out there who hadn’t had that option before facing a round of chemo that would kill any chances of ever having a child of their own.
Layla said something that caught Marissa’s attention and she lifted her head to reply. And just when I thought I liked Luca, he goes and pulls on the top of Marissa’s dress exposing her beautiful, bra-covered tits to the entire room.
Chapter 3
Marissa
Another giggle bubbled up at the same time I felt my face turning blood red. I quickly tried to pry my dress from Luca’s beefy little fingers without much success.
“Oh my gods!” Layla sputtered embarrassedly. “Luca, that’s naughty. Marissa, I’m so sorry.”
I shook my head at her as I continued to try to cover my exposed chest and my new—very sheer—bra. “It’s okay,” I said and laughed. “I should have known better with this little man. Especially after last time.” Last time it had been less embarrassing, because I’d had on a simple cotton bra that did not display my breasts in a way that I might as well not have even been wearing a bra.
Luca did not like me disrupting his fun. He grunted and whined as I carefully pulled his hands free and his mother quickly pulled him into her arms and started quietly scolding the tot. Natalie and Emmie had moved to stand in front of me to offer me some privacy as I righted my dress top, but both were laughing so hard they were shaking. “Nice, you two. Real nice. I’m pretty sure that everyone in the room knows what color my nipples are right now, and all you two can do is giggle like pubescent juveniles.”
“I saw that happening from a mile away,” Emmie snorted through her laughter. “Luca really likes nice tits, Rissa. And they don’t get any nicer than your rack, babe.”
“Boys got some great taste,” a new voice spoke up and my head snapped up from making sure that my top was covering everything that it needed to. When I saw Rhett Tomlinson standing behind Emmie I couldn’t help but smile at the lead singer of Trance. The sexy as sin rocker had been a regular at our apartment lately and we’d become fast friends over the last several months.
“You’re just biased.” I pushed through my two friends to wrap my arms around Rhett’s neck. “Where have you been hiding? I haven’t seen you in over a week.” I glanced at Natalie over my shoulder. “Have you been mean again, Nat? Stop scaring the guy awa
y.”
Natalie rolled her blue-gray eyes. “Yeah, it’s my fault. Couldn’t be anyone else that runs their mouth and pushes him out the door more often than not.”
Turning back to the leanly muscled, sweat worthy hottie, I leaned up on the tip of my toes and kissed his cheek. “Ignore her. She doesn’t know what she’s talking about. It’s the haircut, it did something to her brain when all that hair came off.”
Rhett turned his head and brushed his lips across mine before shooting a mock glare at Natalie. “What the fuck were you thinking cutting off all that hair? Damn it, woman. I was half in love with you because of that hair alone.”
“You’re lucky I still have any hair.” Natalie wiggled her brow at him, making him flash that sexy grin that would have affected a ninety-year-old woman. “I wanted to shave it, but Marissa talked me out of it. This was my compromise.”
Rhett smacked his long fingered hand against my hip playfully, making me squeal in surprise. “Rissa, you should have called me. I would have come over and tied her to the bed so she couldn’t leave the apartment.” Dark chocolate eyes met mine and he winked before his gaze was attracted by my new facial accessory. “Holy shit, that’s hot.”
Delight filled me and I hugged him again. “Really? You like it?”
“Fuck yeah, I like it. You definitely should have called me when you decided to get that little baby. Would have loved to have seen that happen. When are you going to get your first tat? We’re stopping in Miami in August. Tell me what you want and I’ll talk to the guy that does all my ink there. We can set you up an appointment, make a date out of it.”
Excitement made me giddy and I jumped up and down. I’d been thinking of getting a tattoo for a while now, but I wanted to be absolutely sure I was in love with whatever I decided on before getting it permanently inked into my skin. “That sounds like fun. Let me think about what I want first and I’ll let you know.”
“Let him know what?” Liam asked as he and Linc joined our group. His eyes narrowed on Rhett before pulling me into his arms and kissing my temple. “That piercing is adorable, Rissa.”
“Adorable?” I glared up at him. “Adorable wasn’t what I was going for, Li.”
“Sure it is.” Liam winked down at me. “Now, what do you need to let him know?”
“What tattoo I want.”
“Marissa.” Liam shook his head, then turned a cold glare on Rhett. “No. She doesn’t need any ink.”
“I want a tattoo, Liam.” I pulled away from him and stepped back into Rhett’s arms. “And it’s not up to you whether I get one or not. My body, my choice.”
“Rissa…” My brother let out a long sigh, but then perked up. “So does this mean you’ll be going with me on tour?”
It was my turn to sigh. I’d been thinking about it hard all day, but hadn’t made up my mind until Rhett had mentioned tattoos and Miami. “Looks like it.”
Liam pulled me away from Rhett once more and swung me around and around, making me giggle and cling to his shoulders. My heart warmed at the happiness I saw in his eyes. Liam deserved happiness. When he put me on my feet again he surprised us all by shaking Rhett’s hand. “Guess I have to thank you for getting her to come. Even if it was with bribery of ink and debauchery.”
Rhett put his hand in Liam’s, grinning… until Liam’s grip on his hand tightened painfully. Rhett’s grin disappeared and his eyes widened ever so slightly. “There will be no debauchery, understand?”
“Liam!” I pushed his shoulder, making him drop Rhett’s hand. Didn’t Liam understand that Rhett and I were just friends? Rhett was fun to be around, great to talk to and I trusted him enough to confide in him. But he wasn’t into me and I definitely wasn’t into him. Not that I would ever explain that to my brother if he didn’t already know that. I wasn’t likely to explain it to anyone.
Emmie clapped her hands together. “I was hoping you would come with us. I love you to pieces, girl, but I also have ulterior motives. With all the kids with us on this tour, I was hoping to add you to my payroll as a helper for my nanny, Felicity.”
“You don’t have to pay me, Em,” I assured her. “I love to help out.”
“Hell yeah, I have to pay you. Have you ever been around all of these brats without their parents to run interference? Trust me, Ris. You will be begging me for double pay by the end of the tour.”
“Okay, then.” I hugged her. “Just let me know what I need to do and I’ll take care of it.”
“I’ll email Natalie with all the paperwork to add you to the payroll. I’ll have to get back to you on what bus you will be on. We still haven’t worked out all the sleeping arrangements. Alchemy and Trance have one bus to share, but we’re going to call that the party bus. As long as no one kills each other and there is no drug use I don’t really care what goes on.” Emmie shrugged. “Then there are the OtherWorld buses. One was turned into a private bus for Axton and Dallas. We revamped it. But the other one is the same as it was…” Her eyes drifted to someone behind me, but I didn’t pay attention. With the room full of so many people it was hard to tell who she was focused on right then anyway. “Although I’m sure that isn’t really an option for you. Still, the Demon’s all have their own private buses so I’m sure we can fit you in somewhere.”
“Seven buses? I’m sure that I’ll find somewhere to call home for the next few months.” I glanced up at Rhett, giving him a teasing look from under my lashes. “Wanna share a roost?”
“Oh, fuck,” Natalie muttered under her breath, but she was standing so close I was able to catch it. I glanced at her, curious as to what had made her sound so stressed all of a sudden. She was looking at something past my shoulder too, and inquisitively I followed her gaze.
My heart completely stopped at the sight of the man standing just a few feet behind me. Damn it, why did he have to look so good? His jeans hung off his narrow waist, his shirt molded across a hard chest and sculpted abdomen. His hair was a little messy, as if he had been running his fingers through it… But it was his eyes, those espresso dark eyes that made me jerk back.
They were blazing with a rage that left me breathless. His gaze was locked onto Rhett as if he wanted to break every bone in his body. I had little hope that that wasn’t the case. Jealously, pure and simple, was radiating through his rage, and I had two thoughts.
One, that I needed to save my friend from a date with death. And two…? That I wanted to kick Wroth Niall’s ass because he had no right to be jealous of anyone I was or wasn’t having a relationship with because he had lost all privileges to me and my life when he had cheated on me.
A growl came from Wroth and he took a step closer to me and Rhett. I started to get in between the two men when Linc and Natalie each took a hold of Rhett’s arms. “I’m hungry, Rhett.” Natalie told him with a beaming smile that almost hid her trepidation. “How about coming and eating with me? The buffet looks delicious.”
Rhett pulled his arm free from Natalie only to wrap it around her shoulders as they walked off, Linc standing behind the two as the three of them walked off. I breathed a sigh of relief as they got out of harm’s way, knowing that Wroth wouldn’t have thought twice about killing someone when it came to me…
It was just too bad he hadn’t thought about that when he broke my heart last year.
Wroth
I’d been glued to my seat when Luca had pulled Marissa’s top down, exposing those perfect tits to my eyes. Of course it had been to the eyes of every other fucker in the room as well. But I hadn’t really thought too hard about that as I’d watched her work her clothes free of the little dude and pull her top up. I had even had a small grin on my face as Layla had walked by me, still gently scolding her son for being naughty.
That grin had completely disappeared as the lead singer for Trance, one of the two bands that were opening for us this summer, joined Marissa’s small group. The way Marissa’s blue eyes had lit up at the sight of the guy had been like a kick to my chest, knocking all the breath
from my lungs as a mixture of emotions had started to simmer in my gut. But I’d locked my jaw and tried to get control of myself, thinking that I had no reason to feel the way I currently was from just a look in Marissa’s eyes.
And then she had walked right into that douchebag’s arms and kissed his cheek. Still nothing to worry about, I’d told myself as I’d taken a swallow of my iced tea making sure that I got a few ice cubes in the process. It was when that creep had turned his head and kissed My. Fucking. Girl. That wasn’t when the rage had boiled over and I’d gotten to my feet. No, that had come when he had slapped her on the ass. That was when I’d seen red.
I’d taken slow steps toward the growing group, afraid I might destroy the entire room if I didn’t walk slowly. With each step, my hands clenched into fists and then relaxed. My voice of reason was trying to calm me down, tell me that it had looked like an innocent enough kiss. There had been no lingering touches, their lips had been closed. Marissa hadn’t clung to the guy. All of those things were in Rhett’s favor.
By the time I got to Marissa’s group she’d been joined by her brother and Linc. I liked Linc. It had made me sleep just a little easier at night knowing that that big muscle-headed fucker was watching over my Marissa. I was actually seeing a little more clearly by the time I stopped just a few feet behind Marissa…
“Wanna share a roost?” Marissa asked Rhett as she looked seductively up at the motherfucker.
My rage went from a low simmer to boiling over and catching fire. My voice of reason had been replaced with a voice that was shouting at me to kill. Kill. Kill that fucking bastard. Marissa was not one to openly flirt with a man. She did not tease or play sexual games with people. She was sweet, innocent. Pure. That she was doing the exact opposite with Rhett told me that Marissa was either sleeping with that dickhead or wasn’t far from doing so.
And. I. Was. Going. To. Fucking. Destroy. Him.
“Back up, Wroth.” Liam’s voice broke through the white noise that was like static in my brain, torturing me until I destroyed Trance’s lead singer. There was something dangerous in my cousin’s voice and I turned my head so I could focus on the man.