Page 75 of Protecting the Boundary
He steps closer, and I hate that my breath catches the closer he gets to me. “I’m right where I’m supposed to be.”
I cross my arms in one last lame attempt to keep myself from caving to this man who’s already broken my heart once.
“What do you want to say? Just say it and then you can leave.”
He winces and grips the back of his neck—a sign that he’s nervous. But then his gaze gets determined, and he closes the distance between us until we’re toe to toe and I’m looking up into those deep brown eyes that I so easily—and stupidly—fell in love with.
“I was a shell of a man before I met you. I thought I’d put myself together enough that I was convinced I was whole, but I wasn’t. I was lying to myself. Turns out I’ve done quite a bit of that over the last several years. And then you came in and brought all your light and liveliness with you. I thought romantic love could only feel one way, and I couldn’t wrap my head around what you were trying to tell me that it could bedifferent. That I could love you completely and it wouldn’t mean loving Sydney any less.”
He cups my face, his thumb brushing away a tear I hadn’t even realized was there. “I’m so sorry it took you leaving for me to see how empty my life—my heart—is without you. I love you, Meredith. I love you so much, this last week hurt to breathe without you. I don’t want a life without you in it, and I’ll do whatever it takes to prove I can love you the way you deserve—wholly and completely.”
My gaze meets his, wanting to believe him with my whole heart, but still hesitant after getting my heart broken by him so recently. “I want to believe you,” I say, my voice hoarse from the tears threatening to fall in abundance.
“Then believe me,” he whispers back desperately, resting his forehead on mine.
“Romel…”
“I love you, Mere. I love you, and I’m sorry it took me so long to say the words, to understand the true depth of my feelings for you, but I promise it’s real.I love you.”
I don’t think I’ll get used to him saying it so freely. “And Sydney?”
I don’t want him to think I’m asking him to stop loving her. I know that’s not how love works.
He pulls back just enough to stare down at me. “I love her too, but it’s different.”
My heart feels like it expands in my chest, filled with a dangerous hope.
He goes on. “I love you with everything I amnow. All the lessons and pain and loss I’ve experienced created a different version of me when I was still holding on to the idea of the old one—the man I was when Sydney was alive. But I’m not that man. That version of me will always love Sydney. But this version of me can finally let hergo enough to know I can love someone else—you. It’s only you, Meredith. I don’t want anyone else. I’m not doing this because I’m lonely. I’m doing this because you’re the other half of my soul, and I don’t want to live any more days without you.”
Tears stream down my face relentlessly as I give in because there’s nothing I want more than his love.
“I love you too,” I cry and then he seals his lips over mine, and everything in my world seems to right itself with his kiss.
FORTY-NINE
This kiss is a claiming, a promise that I will never let her down like I did before. I will love her as hard and as long as I can.
Wrapping one hand around her back, I use the other to lift up her leg and carry her to the bed. I don’t dare break the kiss as I lay her down, desperate to feel her mouth as she submits to me.
Her hands wrap around my neck, holding me close as I plunge my tongue into her mouth and grind my aching, jean-covered cock against her.
“Need to feel you,” she pants.
I sit up and take off my jacket and pull off my shirt in record time. Her hungry eyes trace down my six pack, followed by her fingers. She leans forward and traces a reverse path with her tongue that has my eyes closing and my head tipping back.
Her hands go to the button on my jeans as she keeps peppering kisses along my abs. Every so often, her tongue darts out, and the sensation is making my mind a mess of desire.
I laugh at the visual of her frantically trying to get my pants undone while she’s still wearing her big, bulky coat. She stops kissing and looks up at me and then at herself. A bright smilewashes over her face and makes my chest tighten with love. How could I have been so blind to not understand what was right in front of me?
“Oops, should probably take off the winter jacket,” she giggles.
“Let me,” I say, my smile fading as I strip her out of her jacket and then her sweater until she’s left in only her bra and pants. I lean down to kiss her as I unhook her bra and slide the straps down her toned arms. I remove her boots and socks and then slowly—teasingly—I pull off her jeans and her underwear.
Her eyes are molten by the time she’s bared before me, her naked body absolute perfection. I kiss her hip, then that triangle of hair I’ve grown so fond of before finally kissing her pussy. I get down on my knees and use my fingers to spread her open, loving how wet she is already for me.
“This pussy is mine,” I demand.
She rubs her hand over my head. “Only yours.” I love how thick her voice is with desire.
