With that, she cried harder, and he tightened his grip on her. “Let it out,” he murmured. “Let it all out.”
“You were all I ever wanted,” he heard her say a few minutes later. Dutch bent his neck and looked up at the ceiling. He’d suffer every second of regret, knowing he deserved it. Whatever she had to say, he’d listen and remember, knowing he’d earned every bit of the castigation she meted out.
“I know saying I’m sorry will never be enough.”
She buried her face in the crook of his neck, dampening his shirt with her tears.
“I’ll say it to you every day, for as many days as you’ll let me, and hope that one day you can forgive me.”
Malin pulled back so he could see her tear-stained face and look into her sad eyes.
Dare he? Should he? Whatever the answer, he couldn’t stop himself. When she look
ed at his mouth, he brought it to hers. His kiss was tentative; his lips simply touching hers. It was Malin who pushed against his lips with her tongue until they opened to her.
Dutch grabbed the back of her head and held her close, thrusting his tongue in her mouth, grazing her teeth with his, nipping at her lip until he tasted the faint metallic flavor of blood. He pulled back, not wanting to hurt her, but she wouldn’t let him. She came back at him, fusing their mouths together as she pulled his tucked-in shirt out of his pants.
“Wait,” he said, catching her hands with his. “Are you sure about this?”
Malin’s fingers tightened their grip. “If you reject me now, Dutch, I’ll walk out the door, and you’ll never see me again.”
“Baby,” he said, stroking her face with his fingers. “I want you so bad, I just want you to be sure.”
“Let’s just pretend,” she whispered, pulling his shirt up and over his stomach. Dutch helped, taking it over his head and tossing it on the floor.
When he saw her hands on the hem of her own shirt, he rested his on top of them. “Let me,” he begged and she nodded.
He took his time removing her clothes, letting his eyes linger on every naked inch of her skin. Her body was perfect. Toned from her extraordinary level of fitness, yet still soft, still curvy, like a woman should be.
He trailed his lips everywhere, stopping for seconds that dragged on to minutes as his body learned hers all over again.
She moaned and writhed, pleaded and pulled at him, but he wouldn’t hurry.
When he got done, there could be no question in Malin’s mind that he worshiped her. When he tried to move her arm away from her body, to run his tongue over the arrow tattoos he loved so much, she tensed and wouldn’t let him.
“Let me see,” he said, easing her arm from her side.
What he saw there came close to breaking him. Instead of two arrows, there were three. The third tattoo was of an arrow piercing a heart.
He felt it as though an arrow had pierced his own. That is what he’d done to her. He’d put an arrow straight through her heart. Rather than moving her arm back, hiding her pain, Dutch ran his tongue over the newest tattoo.
“Forgive me,” he said, and went back to tracing its detail. “Please forgive me.”
“Make love to me, Dutch.”
He took a deep breath. “Baby, I want you more than anything, but we can’t.”
She pulled back and looked into his eyes.
“I don’t have any condoms.”
She nodded. “I have an IUD. I’ve had it since we were together.”
He kept his eyes focused on hers. “I haven’t…” He couldn’t bring himself to say it. He wanted her to know that he’d only been with Alegria and he’d used a condom every time, but he couldn’t say it. Not now. He couldn’t mention another woman’s name when he had Malin in his arms.
While he hesitated, trying to figure out what to do, Malin moved away from him. He watched as her hands came to his belt, loosened it, and then opened his zipper. She put her hands under him, and he lifted, helping her pull his pants from his body. When they were off, she pushed his shoulders back and straddled him.
Dutch brought his hands to her breasts and then to her hips, helping as she eased onto his hardness.