Brian laughed and touched her cheek. “Never?”
“Never. I want only you. Need only you. Always.”
She turned to look at Trey, who looked more than a little nauseated. She wasn’t sure if the nausea was due to his head trauma or the fact that she was so openly committing to Brian.
“Ring?” She extended her hand in Trey’s direction. He dropped Brian’s thick platinum band in her hand. Myrna took Brian’s left hand and slid the ring onto his ring finger. “With this ring, you’re stuck with me, because I refuse to ever let you go.”
He grinned, his eyes turning skyward with a look of elation. How could any woman resist a man who was so overjoyed by her expressions of love? Brian should have been married years ago. She silently sent a word of thanks to Sed for being such a jackass and destroying Brian’s previous relationships. In a strange way, she owed Sed one. Or twenty. Hopefully, one day she’d be able to return the favor and help him find a woman who truly made him happy—as happy as she was with Brian. Boy, would that be a tall order to fill.
Waiting for the words he would say to her, Myrna suppressed the urge to hug Brian. She didn’t want to distract him. She needed to hear what was in his heart.
Brian cleared his throat and stared at Myrna’s chin. “Trey was right: I should have written this down.”
“You wish you would have listened to me now, don’t you?” Trey said.
“Just tell me how you feel, baby,” Myrna encouraged, stroking Brian’s hair behind one ear until he looked up at her again.
“I think I’m better at showing.”
She lowered her eyes to hide her disappointment. It probably didn’t help that his four band mates were witness to the verbalization of his feelings. She knew he loved her; that was good enough for her. He could tell her when they were alone.
Brian tucked a finger under her chin, and she lifted her gaze to meet his.
“I thought I knew what love was, that I understood its depth, its importance, its beauty and the happiness and the heartache it brings.” He huffed—a small sound of amusement. “I wasn’t even close. When I look at you, I see radiance. I know pure happiness. Everything else pales in comparison. The thought of living a single moment without you tears me apart inside. Just when I think I love you as much as possible, you open your heart to me a little more, and my love expands—grows—wanting to fill every emptiness inside you.”
“You have,” she whispered. And that was just it—the reason she could love him forever. This moment wasn’t the ultimate expression of their love; it was just the beginning. As long as they continued to nurture what existed between them, their affections would burn brighter, lift them higher, bring them closer. Grow.
“I love you, Myrna.”
He snatched her ring from Trey’s palm. She slipped her hours-old engagement ring off so he could slide her wedding ring onto her finger.
“With this ring, I claim you as mine and give my heart to you. Forever.”
He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed the ring he’d just slid in place. She didn’t need the material possession. Didn’t need the piece of paper that legally bound them. Didn’t even need the ceremony before witnesses. The only thing she needed—to know this union was sacred and forever—was the look of love on Brian’s handsome face. She carefully slipped her engagement ring back on her finger—keeping her wedding ring nearer her heart—so she didn’t drop the expensive thing with her trembling hands.
“I now pronounce you husband and uh-wife,” the Elvis justice of the peace said. “I say-uh you may kiss your beautiful bride.”
Myrna wrapped both arms around Brian’s neck and met his lips with tenderness that quickly burgeoned into insatiable need. There was more to this kiss than a mutual sharing of pleasure. It was a physical expression of their love. She let the emotions take her, holding nothing back, knowing this man was incapable of intentionally destroying her. He could destroy her, but he wouldn’t. She trusted him completely. As her last defenses crumbled, she wondered why she felt victorious instead of defeated. She’d lost. She’d given in to him, yet she’d won so much for herself in return.
Oh God, she loved him so much, she could just go on kissing him forever.
The guys offered their congratulations. Sed pounded Brian on the back. Eric cheered. Myrna continued to kiss her husband until everyone but Brian was complaining. Even the Elvis impersonator was trying to hurry them along. The kiss consumed her, not with lust, though that physical spark between her and Brian was still strong and true, but with love. This was what she’d been fighting? What she’d been afraid of? What a fool she’d been. She pulled Brian closer, wishing that she could dissolve into his body and truly become one with him.
When they drew apart at last, she stared into her husband’s eyes and knew he was counting on her to be his rock. His life on the road was not an easy one. That stability he craved in his life? She could be that for him. She could. And he could be everything she’d been denying herself for far too long.
Chapter Six
Brian gazed down at his wife—his wife—spread across the bed in the tour bus’s bedroom. The wide skirt of her white gown concealed all but the three-inch heels on her feet and one trim ankle. She had the tip of her index finger trapped between her teeth and a seductive smile on her lips that said, I’m all yours. Damn, she was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. She deserved better than a wedding night on a tour bus.
“We could go to a hotel right now,” he said. “A penthouse suite.”
“You have a concert in three hours.”
“So?”
She chuckled in a way that made his balls tighten with need. “Once I get started with you, husband of mine, I’m not going to stop. Which is bound to start a fifteen-thousand-fan riot on the streets of Las Vegas when you miss your gig.”
“What if I’m ready to start with you now, wife? Fuck the consequences.”
“Come lie beside me,” she said and patted the mattress next to her curvy hip.
Damn, that dress was as sexy as it was beautiful. It was as if it had been made specifically for her.
He kicked off his shoes and crawled up onto the bed beside her. She deftly flipped him onto his back and pressed her luscious breasts against his chest as she kissed him.
She drew away and stared down into his eyes. He lifted a hand to trace the contour of her cheek with his thumb. She smiled and then cuddled up against his side, her head resting on his shoulder, her hand splayed over his belly.
“Where are we going to live?” she asked.
The idea that they would be separated for even an hour made his chest ache. “You’re finishing out the summer on tour with us, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, but that’s only six more weeks. How long will you be on tour after that?”
“Until almost Thanksgiving.”
Her hand curled into the fabric of his crisp dress shirt. “I don’t want to live a day without you, but I’m not ready to give up my career either.”
“I wouldn’t ask you to. I know you love your work.”
“Some of it,” she said, her voice wavering with uncertainty. “I’m not sure if my unconventional ways of thinking will ever be embraced by my peers.”
“I’ve always wondered why you specialized in human sexuality.”
She laughed. “Seriously?”
“Just curious.” He knew she didn’t like to talk about herself. She was very guarded about certain aspects of her life. Especially her past.
“Because I love sex. The way it feels. How much it influences people. Its wondrous variety. I’m sure you already know that.”
Oh yeah, he definitely knew she loved sex and all its variations. He’d never met a woman who appreciated sex more than Myrna Evans. Erm, Myrna Sinclair. Sinclair! His hand moved to the back of her head to press her closer to his chest. He could scarcely believe she was his wife now. His.
“But there’s more to the subject than just hands-on experimentation. I like to
study how it affects people—physically, emotionally, spiritually. It’s biology. Psychology. Sociology. I never told you this, but I use guitar riffs in one of my classes and have my students discuss the sexual nature of rock music.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, and do you know whose riffs evoke the strongest sensual response?”
He lifted his head to look at her.
“Yours. The way you play is like sex on strings.”
He chuckled. “Especially since you came into my life.”
“You’ll have to play for my class sometime.”
“Sure. I’d love to see where you work.”
“I’m probably being selfish, but do you think it’s possible for you to live with me in Kansas City when you’re not on tour?”
“I have this album to—”