Page 94 of The Fall

I sped up, watching his reaction as he cupped my breasts, looking at me with a reverence so beautiful and so pure I gasped at its arrival. No matter how hot the sex was between us, it was always an act of love and reiterated what we meant to each other. It had always been that way.

Dean had made it that way.

When his body stiffened, and he braced himself, he pulled up, moaning his release into my mouth with a fevered kiss. I let go as he emptied himself inside of me with whispered words. “La otra mitad de mi corazón . Ahora puedo respirar nuevamente.”

“Dean,” I groaned, “I told you, I only learned those two sentences. I still have no idea what you are saying.” He grinned up at me, still breathless.

“I guess you better get on Spanish lessons, love. You’re missing out.”

I ran my fingers through his damp hair, reveling in his clean and salty mixed scent. “I almost ruined this,” I said as he pulled away from another sinful and deep kiss.

“I wasn’t going to give up,” he said quickly. “I knew the minute I saw you at fifteen that there was something about you. The second you opened that sassy mouth, I was done for. You’ve never been an easy woman to love. You gave me hell at every turn. You still do. But I always knew you were worth it.” He leaned in, planting soft kisses on my jaw. I wiggled at the feel of his softening erection. “He’s fine. He’s resting. Let him be,” he insisted, pushing himself in deeper. I grinned and leaned in again as he wrapped himself around me. He grinned up at me and took my breath away.

“I fell in love with you the day you cooked crunchy enchiladas and rice soup for my eighteenth birthday.”

“That wasn’t soup,” I scolded with a laugh.

“I know it wasn’t supposed to be,” he said, playing offended when I slapped his chest.

“But, oh God, it was the worst,” he chuckled. “You were so brokenhearted when your entire family took a bite of crunchy enchiladas.”

“I didn’t know I had to soften the shells in oil,” I said. “It was a beginner’s mistake.”

“You looked so beautiful in your white sundress, damn near in tears. You were trying so hard. My heart broke for you.”

“You ate every bite and asked for seconds,” I murmured.

“I loved you then, Dallas. Maybe even before. I would eat crunchy enchiladas and soupy rice my entire life if it meant I got to do it with you. But I’m hoping you got a little better at it by now.” He chuckled, nipping at my neck. He pulled back again to make sure he had my attention as I looked at him in question. “You’re a lot of sass and bite, Dallas, and I love it. Maybe it’s the Spaniard in me. But what I love most is that heart you try so hard to hide. It’s so easy to see, and when you love, you love me so well.” He cupped my face in his hands as he spoke next. “Dallas, the greatest gift you’ve ever given me was a piece of your heart. I’m going to have to ask for that back now. I need it.”

“You already have it,” I whispered, pressing my lips against his.

“I know,” he whispered back.

“Dean?” I questioned, getting lost in his kiss.

“Te amo”

“I’ve really been blind, but I think I always knew how much you loved me. It was so hard to be in love with the most beautiful and wanted man in school. I still can’t handle the way they look at you at work now. I know I haven’t been an easy woman to love, but you seemed like an impossible man to keep. I just never really believed you were really mine. You were always so much larger than life. I always felt like I wasn’t enough.”

“I’ll never give you a reason to worry about that, Dallas. You place too much importance on that stuff, and I never have. You forget how beautiful you are and how much I want you.” He lifted my chin. “The best I have ever felt in my life is when I lose myself in my love for you. No other woman can compare with that. And then there’s always the fact that I’m going to marry you.”

I smiled broadly. “Well, I mean, it is a consensual thing. You may want to ask first,” I said, lifting a brow.

“I can be very persuasive, baby.” He ground his hips into mine, his length hardening again. “Tell me what you want now, and let me give it to you.”

“Being a doctor wasn’t the only dream I’ve ever had.”

“I know.”

“It’s so simple, isn’t it? Just to be with you, be yours. How the hell did we screw this up so badly?”

“We fell in love at an age when I couldn’t act on it. And then…we fell deeper in love at an age when we were only meant to cross paths. It wasn’t really our fault. It was the workings of fate.”

“And now?”

He smiled broadly. “I made fate my enemy and took matters into my own hands.”

“Way to go, Martin.”