Because he’s done nothing but show me what type of man he is. What kind of father. All the walls of resistance I thought I’d built around my heart have crumbled with every diaper he’s changed. Every book he’s read to me while I’m breastfeeding. Every night he’s slept next to me while respecting my need for space. But most of all, it’s the moments he’s connected with his son. The expression of love I see every time he’s gazed down at Branson. And, if I’m honest, every time I’ve caught him looking at me.
He’s broken through my barriers and he doesn’t even know it.
That makes me love him more. When I meet his penetrating eyes, my chest tightens with yearning. I don’t want to push him away anymore.
“I need…” I whisper, trailing off because I don’t want to give this to him. Not yet.
“I know.”
And when I meet his gaze, he’s not lying. He knows. He’s always known.
That alone should frighten me. He knew before and he still left. I shake the thought out of my head. He may have suspected, but I never told him. He never asked. That was on both of us.
“Stop thinking,” he murmurs. “Come here.”
He crooks his finger at me, and without hesitation, my legs move of their own volition until his arm wraps around my waist and he’s dragging me into him, capturing my mouth, and ravishing it with his tongue. I don’t even care that he’s soaking my clothes.
I whimper as Knox tears his lips from mine. The devastating loss sends my arms around his neck as I try to draw him back in. He resists, and I could curse him for it.
His forehead brushes against mine, electric eyes searing into me. “Tell me what you want, Melia,” he growls.
“You.” I can’t lie to him any longer. Or myself. I thought I could resist. I should’ve known better.
“For how long?” His hands dig into the flesh of my ass when I hesitate.
“Always.”
He swallows my whisper with a passionate kiss that blasts heat sweeping through me like fire in dry grass.
All that matters is this. All that matters is him. Us. This kiss.
It’s renewal.
It’s revelation.
It’s…terrifying and thrilling and so long overdue.
Most of all, it’s everything. Just like he is. Like he’s always been.
His kiss is uncontrollable. His hunger evident. Our tongues wage war, both of us trying to consume the other, lapping up everything we’ve missed.
Even as his hand descends into my panties, I pause with brief indecision. Am I really ready for this? Is he prepared for this? Our future is still so up in the air. Part of me is screaming to push him away. That it’s too soon. The other part of me insists it’s been far too long.
Knox senses it and doesn’t allow my hesitation. As his thick finger glides along the wetness of my core and presses down hard on my clit, my fleeting thoughts dissipate. His touch elicits a moan I don’t even recognize from my lips.
It’s been far too long since I’ve felt this sensual, this desired, and I’m too far gone to stop. I want this too damn much. I want him too damn much.
“God, Amelia,” he whispers against my lips. “You’re so fucking wet. So fucking tight still, even just around my finger.”
My legs squirm at the reminder of my pregnancy, and I suddenly feel self-conscious. Pregnancy was good to me, but my body still changed in ways I hadn’t anticipated. This room is all too bright. He knew me before the stretch marks and the eight-pound baby coming out of my body. What will he think now?
Before I can dwell on it, he sinks to his knees, pushing down my shorts and my panties, wasting no time before placing his mouth to my most sensitive spot. For the first time in what feels like forever, pleasure pulses between my legs and I want to beg him to take me right here. Right now.
“Oh god, Knox… We shouldn’t… Oh, don’t stop,” I pant as he expertly works his tongue along my most sensitive spot while his fingers glide in and out of me.
He’s working quickly, as if it’s a race against time, as if he knows that, at any moment, I could change my mind. Only I know I won’t.
A moan escapes me as when his thumb replaces his tongue and slowly works my clit over until I’m on the edge of release. It’s far too fast, and though I want this moment to last, I don’t know if I can hold on.
My eyes flutter open and take in the sight of the man kneeling before me. Tight muscles ripple across his back, and even though he’s lost most of his tan from last summer, he’s still my gorgeous Greek hero sent to torture me for whatever crime I’ve committed against the universe. Except, for right now, he’s on his knees, taking his fill of me as if he’s had a thirst he hasn’t been able to quench for far too long.
Knox Wellington is my most faithful parishioner, and I’m his exalted place of worship.
How did I ever think I’d be able to resist him once he reappeared in my life?
The thought is unfathomable as I watch him with hooded eyes. I grip the counter behind me, my legs quivering. My fingers run through his hair and take hold, gripping tightly as he brings me to orgasm. I cry out his name, trembling in pure, unadulterated ecstasy. His tongue circles my clit one last time before he raises his head and watches me with a passion I haven’t seen in far too long in his eyes.
“Fucking hell, Melia, I’ve missed you so damn much. I can’t hold on to my control any longer,” he spits out through gritted teeth.
“I’ve missed you, too,” I concede. “So fucking much. Lose control, Knox. In me. With me.”
His answering growl sets my nerve endings on fire. Then he curses under his breath. Eyes blazing, he meets my gaze. “It’s too soon. I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Don’t make me fall in love with you.”
It’s a promise Knox never could keep, and apparently, he still can’t.
It still baffles me that he’s here. That he came back. That I’m not doing this alone like I thought I’d be. Every single day since he showed up in the hospital, we’ve spent our time together. At first, it was hard to let him back in. I don’t know when it happened, but little by little, inch by slow, slow inch, he wormed his way back into my heart. It’s been a sweet, leisurely, tortuous foreplay and I’ve finally succumbed to him.
And now that we’re here, I’m embracing every second of it.
I shake my head, and his own falls. Using my thumb and my forefinger, I lift his chin so he’s looking at me. “It’s not too soon. At my last appointment, the doctor gave me the go-ahead.” The hope in his eyes make my heart swell. “I didn’t want to say anything. I wasn’t ready. But I am now.”
It’s all he needs to hear. He runs his hand up over the curve of my belly, rising before me. Strong hands grip my waist, setting me on the counter, bringing me closer to him. With one nudge, he opens my legs and settles between them. He thrusts his cock into me with such force that it takes my breath away. His eyes darken and he grips my hips, no longer giving me sweet caresses, but instead, the passion now feels more like desperation. His powerful pumps intensify and I slide back on the counter with every plunging drive deep into my core. Each electrifying thrust heightens the sensation, and I wonder if a woman’s ever died from an orgasm before.