Chapter Forty-five
Dallas
She jumps into my arms, wrapping her legs around me. My eyes close at the feel of her. The weight of her. The mere presence of her.
When our lips meet, it’s like they never parted. Our soft and welcoming kisses soon turn desperate. There’s so much to say, but right now, I plan to do all the talking with my body.
I carry her back to my room, barely even registering the squeal behind me when my sister realizes what I’ve brought with me.
Setting Marti on my bed, I stand and stare at her for a moment. Is it possible she’s gotten even more beautiful over the past few weeks? Her hair is soft, flowy, a bit shorter perhaps. Her eyes sparkle with a glittery shadow on the lids. Even her smile seems brighter, and easier somehow. One thing that hasn’t changed is her scent. How I’ve missed that sweet vanilla aroma enveloping me. I’ll never smell it again without thoughts of her invading my mind. Now, she’s here. And I don’t ever want to be without her again.
Our eyes connect, the heat passing between us more intense than ever before. She says three words that set my world on fire.
“I want you.”
I get on the bed and climb on top of her. “You fucking have me.”
She reaches up, weaves her hands through my hair, and pulls my face toward hers.
We kiss until we’re breathless and desperate for more. Our hands tear at each other’s clothing, both knowing the thirst we have for each other can only be quenched once I’m deep inside her.
I flip her over and unzip her dress, pulling it off her body in one fell swoop. Leaving her on her stomach, I work my lips over her shoulders, her back, the sexy dimples below her waist. I tug down her panties and work my mouth over the soft globes of her ass, continuing down to lick the backs of her thighs, her knees, her calves.
The sexy noises coming from her heighten my arousal and my cock throbs painfully. I want to take my time with her. Explore every goddamn inch of the body I’ve dreamed of every night for the last two-and-a-half weeks. But right now, more than anything, I need to be inside her.
I turn her onto her back, and I swear the way she looks at me makes me feel ten feet tall. I’m the king to her queen. The Clark to her Lois. The fucking yin to her yang. We belong together. I’ve never been more sure of anything.
“Dallas,” she begs. “Make love to me.”
The rest of my clothes are gone in seconds. I hover over her, my engorged dick pressing against her entrance. I run a finger down the slope of her nose, along her jaw, down a pulsating cord of her neck, amazed that she came all this way for me. That she took a leap of faith. That she’s… mine.
Before I sink myself inside her, there’s one thing I have to do. For weeks I tried to deny it. I ran from it like I’ve run from so many things. But the truth is clear. I can’t hide from it any longer. Because I know beyond the shadow of a doubt that I can’t fucking breathe without her.
I draw in a breath and say the words I never thought I’d say again. “I love you.”
She nods over and over, tears streaming down her beautiful face. “I know.”
It’s a declaration I didn’t expect. She, like everyone else, knew the truth even before I did.
I swipe a piece of hair behind her ear. “And you love me.”
She cups the side of my face. “More than you can possibly imagine.”
I swallow, a tear of my own dropping down onto her cheek. “I’m going to need you to say it.”
“I love you, Dallas Montana. I love you so much.”
I close my eyes and let the words sink in, my heart expanding with every passing second. She was right. Phoebe was right. My heart is so goddamn full. Fuller than I thought it could be. There is room for both. Hell, there’s room for both and room to spare.
As I slide into her, I see my future in her eyes. A future I couldn’t even dream of a few weeks ago. A future I was sure wasn’t in the cards for me. A future that will exist only because she exists.
This woman was made for me. Placed on this earth for me. Designed by God for me.
We make love like we’re the only two people who ever have. As if the act was created for us. Invented by us. And when we come together spectacularly, my entire life makes sense.
I slump down on top of her, both of us breathing heavily and holding on to each other in a way that lets us both know this is a feeling we intend on having over and over again for the rest of our lives.
I perch up on an elbow. “Let me get one thing straight. You got on a plane? I thought you said it would take an act of God.”
She runs a hand through my hair that’s hanging down and tickling her face. “Don’t you know by now that I’d do anything for you? I mean, you got me to climb a tower, Dallas. Getting on a plane was just another leap of faith.”
“You think all this is just some divine intervention?”
“I don’t know. Could be.” She shrugs. “Or maybe it’s just the butterflies.”
I smile then touch my forehead to hers. “Is it too early to ask you to marry me?”
She giggles. “Maybe just a bit. There are things we need to talk about.”
I was kidding and she knows it. Or at least I think I was kidding.
She squeezes my arm then continues playing with my hair. It reminds me of the cabin.
“But just so you know”—she reaches between us and puts her hand on my heart—“when you do ask, the answer will be yes.”
My heart pounds even harder than it did a few moments ago.
I roll off her and she rests her head on my chest. “How about for now, I just move to New York and we’ll see how things go?”
“You’d… move here?”
“I love it here. And I love more than you, Dallas. I love your family.”
“Yours is pretty great, too. They’re here, you know.”
She perches her head on a hand and looks up at me. “Asher and Bug are here?”
“They flew up with me.” I shrug. “You said you always spend Christmas together. I didn’t want you to miss out on that.”
“How are you for real?” she asks.
“Sweetheart, I’ve been asking myself that same thing about you since the day we met.”
Her smile is bright. “That’s the first time you called me sweetheart when my life wasn’t in danger.”
I laugh. “Maybe it is in danger. I do plan on eating you alive every chance I get.”
She lays her head back down on me, shaking my body with her silent laughter. Then she sighs deeply. “In all seriousness, there is something we need to talk about.”
“Charlie,” I say, running a hand down the smooth skin of her back.
“I’m a full-time mom now. We come as a package deal. I need to know you can handle that.”
“I can handle it.”
“How do you know?” She looks up. “What’s changed?”
I snort and say the only word that can sum it up. “Everything.”
“Aren’t you scared?”
“Terrified. But the best things in life are worth fighting for, right?”
“Absolutely.” She plants a kiss on my cheek then glances around the bedroom. “I slept in here the night of Lucas’s party.”
“I know.”
“Your mom told you?”
“I smelled you.” I lean close to her hair and inhale. “Vanilla. Always vanilla.”
“I can’t sleep in here tonight, Dallas. I want to, but Charlie might be afraid if he wakes up in a strange place and I’m not there.”
“What room is he in?”
She nods to the bathroom. “He’s next door.”
“Well, then, you’ll have to make sure you don’t scream my name too loud when I make you come at least two more times before I let you leave.”
She smiles. “Promise you’ll never stop trying to make me scream.”
I laugh. “Sweetheart, that’ll be the easiest promise I’ve ever had to keep.”