Ricco tested the water, making certain it wasn’t going to be too hot, but he needed it hot enough to soothe her body. When he returned to the room, she was sound asleep, curled up on her side by the edge of the bed. His rings were on the nightstand, still in the jewelry box. He took the engagement ring out and slipped it on her finger.

She stirred, her lashes fluttering, and then she was looking at him. As it always did when their eyes met, his stomach performed a strange flip. She was magic. He knew he was the only one responsible for his happiness, but finding Mariko certainly went a long way toward helping.

“Come on, cara, bath time.”

“You take a bath,” she murmured sleepily. “I’m going to sleep.”

She looked sexy lying on the silk sheets, her hair spilling everywhere, her naked body curled up like a sleepy kitten. He reached down and picked her up easily, cradling her against his chest. Had she been more awake he would have slung her over his shoulder and carried her off like a pirate hoisting treasure just to hear her laugh again. He loved the sound of her laughter.

“Bath, then sleep,” he said decisively.

“Oh no.” She gripped his shoulder looking alarmed. “I’m full of you. Of us. And it’s leaking everywhere.”

“I like you full of me and us.” He stepped into the bath and lowered his body until he was sitting, legs stretched out, Mariko on his lap.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and turned her face into his shoulder. “This is nice. I don’t mind this at all. But I’m going to sleep.”

“Are we good, Mariko? Is my past going to haunt us?” He knew uncertainty was in his voice. He certainly needed her far more than the other way around, which put him at a disadvantage. He didn’t care if she knew. He wanted her to be happy. “Is there anything else we need to put to rest?”

She tipped her head back to meet his gaze. “I choose to believe you, Ricco. That you love me and that you’re certain I am the one for you. I choose to believe you will always feel that way. Love doesn’t seem to work out for so many people, and I’m scared. I’m not going to pretend I’m not, but I don’t know what’s good or bad in a relationship. I’m going on faith and you’re the person I choose to have faith in.”

Her sincerity humbled him. Every moment in her company only made him love her more. “I can only promise you that I’ll try every single day to be a man you can be proud of.”

She reached up and traced his lips with her fingertip. “I love being with you, Ricco.”

“Why?” He couldn’t imagine why a woman like Mariko would choose him, with his past and his failures.

“Aside from the fact that you’re very, very good at what you do” – she swept her hand down to encompass her body – “you’re the best man I know.”

“You can’t have known very many,” he protested.

“Not in the biblical sense,” she agreed, teasing him. “But I’m a rider. I’ve seen things.”

He liked the teasing note in her voice. “What countries did you travel to when you were training?” He’d been curious about that from the beginning, as had Stefano. The investigators found few riders able to give any information on Mariko outside of Japan, which was unusual.

“I wasn’t allowed to travel to other countries. The council followed Osamu’s advice. She believed I’d dishonor the riders of our country and they took her word that I was… difficult.”

“Difficult?” he prompted, trying to hold at bay the building rage on her behalf.

She squirmed. “I don’t like talking about Osamu’s opinion of me.”

“It is only her opinion,” he pointed out. “The council should have done an investigation if they were worried. That’s their responsibility.” Every muscle in his body wanted to tighten up, but he forced himself to stay relaxed.

“Dai was the adviser, along with Isamu. Isamu is Osamu’s brother. They both backed up her opinion and the council dropped it. They refused to send me for training outside the country due to the fact that I might bring disgrace and dishonor down on our riders.”

There was no bitterness in her voice, but he could taste it in his own mouth. “I should have followed up, Mariko. I believed them when they told me a family had taken the two of you in because, of course, there was truth in their voices. Still, I should have asked who the family was and insisted on seeing you.”

She shook her head, the silky strands of her hair tickling his skin and sending shock waves through him. He’d always had a strong sex drive, but now it seemed doubly so. More, he was utterly aware of her at all times. The way the water lapped at her breasts. How they floated, the pink areolas framing her nipples, drawing his attention. The thatch of curls at the apex of her legs, the curve of her body, so feminine. All of her. Every inch of her.

“How silly, Ricco. You always try to take on too much. What fourteen-year-old boy would ask beyond if we were safe? Especially when he was being threatened. You saved us. What happened after that is not on you. It wasn’t all bad. I had a roof over my head and food to eat. I was allowed to train as a rider and I excelled at it – enough that Osamu couldn’t stop me or interfere. I had a space that was mine and I could read of faraway places. And I had Ryuu.”

Her brother. He kept his worries to himself. “Kiss me.”

Her head came up. “What?”

“Kiss me. I need you to kiss me.” He ached for her taste.

“If I kiss you, that might lead to other things, and I’m so tired I’d fall asleep and miss it all,” she teased.

His eyebrow shot up. “Fall asleep? When I’m making love to you?”

“It could happen.”

“It could never happen.” He growled and bit her neck.

Laughing, she caught his head between her hands and brought it up. Leaning into him, she brushed kisses over his eyes. “I haven’t told you yet…” She kissed his nose and along his rough jaw. “Thank you for my beautiful ring.” She kissed the corners of his mouth and then brushed her lips back and forth over his.

It was tantalizing. Sexy. His overactive cock stirred to life. Just at her touch. Her teeth nipped at his lower lips and she shifted position, still in his arms, straddling him, pressing her breasts against his chest as her teeth bit down and drew his lip out and then let go so she could use her tongue over the small sting.

Groaning, he reached between them to grasp his cock in his fist, right at the base, with one hand. With the other, he guided her hips so that he could lodge the broad head in her. With both hands, he gripped her hips and pushed her down while he surged up. There it was… home. He drove through those tight muscles, slick with the two of them, hot as hell, an inferno he welcomed, more, he needed.