f the meatballs.
“You can have the last one,” she told him.
“Are you sure?”
Malin laughed and nodded. “Do you really like them that much, or do you just pretend to make me feel good?”
Dutch leaned forward, grabbed her nape and pulled her close so their foreheads touched. “I don’t like them; I love them.”
Malin studied his mouth as he spoke, yearning to feel his lips on hers.
“A half hour ago, I wouldn’t have done this, but now I can’t stop myself.”
He covered her mouth with his, pushing his tongue through her lips. “I’ll clean up later,” he told her, standing and taking her by the hand.
Malin followed him up the two flights to the bedroom, already trembling with want.
“I can’t get enough of you,” he murmured as he pulled her shirt over her head.
“Me either,” she said, doing the same with his.
Once they were both naked, they lay on the bed and stretched out on their sides, facing one another.
Dutch took his time, moving his eyes over her body. Their languid lovemaking was at once pleasure-filled and painfully slow, but Malin wouldn’t want him to do anything differently.
There was a connection between them that had nothing to do with frenzy. It was sensuous and unhurried, so full of love that Malin thought her heart would burst.
The way Dutch looked at her filled her heart—it was as though she was the sexiest, most precious, most loved woman alive.
Malin closed her eyes, refusing to let an unrealistic expectation ruin the magic that was between them.
—:—
An unfamiliar feeling took hold of Dutch’s chest and wouldn’t let go. As his eyes lingered on Malin’s body—her gorgeous, delectable, mind-blowingly sexy body, he found himself looking deeper. He looked into her eyes flecked with brown, green, and blue, that changed so often, and he felt as though he could see the purity of Malin’s soul.
Was he confusing his need to protect her, take care of her, keep her safe, with loving her? Or, did he feel all of those things because he loved her?
He could no longer go so slow. Passion overtook him as he moved over her. “I need you now, baby,” he breathed, entering her body with his.
When her body arched and yielded to his, Dutch came so close to saying the words he vowed he never would because he’d convinced himself he’d never feel them.
Did he love Malin Kilbourne? As more than a friend? As more than someone he was protecting? Did he love her as the woman he wanted to spend his life with? He didn’t know. Not yet anyway.
“Dutch,” she groaned.
“Shh,” he whispered. “Just let me love you, Malin.”
—:—
They made love so many times, Malin felt as though she hadn’t slept more than an hour. Her body was as sore as it was sated and her heart was so full it leaked through the smile on her face.
Dutch had held her so tight, so close to him, like he’d never let her go. His fingers dug into her flesh, and when she thought their bodies couldn’t get any closer, he tightened his grip until as much of their skin as possible was flush against the other’s.
He slept now, but soon they’d have to leave their pretend life and go out and face the uncertainty of her real one.
She’d gone it alone for so long that it was hard to let herself lean on Dutch, but knowing he’d be with her when they left the island, eased her worry.
“What are you thinking so hard about, baby?”