Just before we kissed, she whispered back, “I love you, too.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
MERIT
The moment his mouth met mine, everything inside me exploded. The need to feel him closer and have his body against mine was almost painful.
“Dirk, please,” I begged as I moved my hands to his chest and grabbed his shirt. I wasn’t even sure what I was asking him for. More of him. More of us. More of this. Something to make me feel like this moment was truly happening.
“Merit. I need you. God, I need you.”
I reached down and pulled his shirt over his head. “Then take me,” I panted before his mouth claimed mine once more.
Our hands were clumsy as we worked at getting one another’s clothes off and our kissing turned more intense. I could feel my body vibrating with the need to have him. Not even the first time I was with Dirk, the night he took my virginity, did I feel this way. This was a want I’d never had before, and it was almost all-consuming.
Dirk pulled back and stared down at me, almost as if he felt the same way I did. I smiled, suddenly feeling shy from the intense way he was watching me.
“It’s always been you, Merit. Even if I wouldn’t admit it to myself, it was always you.”
I blinked rapidly in an attempt to keep my tears at bay. His words were what I had always longed to hear. This man, whom I had given my heart to so long ago, was here. Kissing me and saying things that made me both happy and scared. That insecure part of me, deep down inside, wanted me to think he was only saying it all because of the baby. That he was upset over losing his father and was afraid of not having his child in his life. I swallowed hard and pushed those thoughts far, far away.
Dirk gazed down at me with nothing but love and honesty in those green eyes of his. I decided to open my heart up and fully give it to him because I knew he was worth the risk.
I gave up the fight and felt my emotions threatening to spill free once more. Dirk quickly cupped my face in his hands and shook his head before he leaned down and kissed my wet cheeks.
His mouth moved softly over my face, placing gentle kisses as he whispered, “I’m never letting you go. Never.”
My legs grew weak, and I reached up once more to hold onto his arms to steady myself.
Dirk lifted my shirt over my head and threw it onto the floor. He reached around my back and unclasped my bra, allowing it to fall down my arms and off my body. A low moan came from the back of his throat as he bent his head and took one of my nipples into his mouth. I laced my fingers through his hair as I pulled him closer to me. Pain and pleasure hit me at the same time, and I felt a rush of wetness between my legs.
“More,” I begged. “I need more.”
He dragged his mouth away from my nipple and looked back at the food. He quickly walked over and turned off the stove and was back in front of me before I’d even uttered a word. He fell to his knees and slowly peeled my yoga pants and undies off at the same time, holding my hand as I stepped out of them. Then he simply stared at my stomach.
My stomach. Where our child grew inside of me.
Our child.
I swallowed and my heart pumped hard in my chest when he leaned in and kissed me gently on the stomach. I closed my eyes and pressed my lips together tightly in an attempt to not cry yet again. Stupid emotions. The gesture was so sweet, yet so erotic at the same time. My body hummed with desire.
“Mine,” he whispered as he kissed my stomach again. “Both of you.”
Those three words nearly made my knees buckle out from under me. Hearing Dirk say that was more powerful than I had ever imagined it could be. And true. Even if I never wanted to admit it to myself, I had always belonged to Dirk. Or, at least, my heart did.
“Dirk,” I whispered, moving my fingers once again through his thick, dark hair. He looked up and smiled. Goodness, that smile alone nearly had me coming undone.
“I want to taste you,” he said.
I pulled my lower lip between my teeth and felt my cheeks heat up. The idea of his mouth on me nearly caused me to moan.
Dirk stood and picked me up like I weighed next to nothing. He placed me on the island, and then his eyes drifted over my shoulder.
He looked back at me and frowned. “You need to eat.”