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Not that she barely knew Dirk—far from it. Yes, the number of days she’d known him were few, but she knew him. She’d spent hours in his company, had seen him in the worst conditions two people could find themselves in...and she knew him.
A flash of tenderness crossed his face, replaced by something she’d yet to see in Dirk...uncertainty combined with vulnerability. “I don’t sleep around,” he confessed. “You’re the first woman since...” And she knew what he was trying to say without actually naming his dead wife. “I never cheated on her, either, and we were married for twelve years.” His voice was so low she had to strain to hear him. “We were together for years before that, too. I waited until I could support her before I asked her to marry me, but...” His next words took her breath away. “She was my one and only.”
She believed him. Incredible as that statement was, she believed him. She’d grown up around actors and had an uncanny ability to know when they were acting and when they weren’t. Dirk wasn’t—he was telling her the truth that Bree was the only woman he’d ever slept with.
The sexiest man alive—so voted by numerous tabloids and magazines—was also the faithful, monogamous kind. Mei-li’s heart turned over, and the thudding sound echoing in her ears was her falling head over heels in love with him. Again.
The only thing she could think of in that moment, the only thing she wanted to do, was show Dirk the love he so desperately needed. Give him the comfort of her body, the shelter of her arms, but also give him the love that would stitch up the devastating wounds on his soul. She’d made a good start with her words in the living room a few minutes ago. Now she had to show him.
Sure now—even more so than she’d been only a few minutes ago—she moved back into his embrace. “Let me,” she repeated, her eyes promising what only her heart could deliver.
* * *
Dirk had desired women in his life other than Bree. It hadn’t meant anything—men were just hardwired that way, and it had never bothered Bree at all. She’d understood he would never act on those momentary fantasies. His physical and emotional relationship with his wife had given him everything he needed, everything his heart desired, and he’d pitied men who found it necessary to stray.
But the intensity of what he was feeling now shook the foundations of his world. Was it because he knew how ephemeral life truly was? Because he’d loved and lost and needed something real to hold on to that wouldn’t fade into the mist of dreams? Or was it because Mei-li took him high up onto a mountain with her, teaching him things he’d never known he could learn? Because she gave him wings?
She took him into her body as if she were welcoming him home, and he held himself there for a moment, savoring the peace that enveloped him. But his body’s urgent needs drove him to move, to slide in and out of the tight sheath of Mei-li’s body with a rhythm she matched as if she were made for him. Only for him.
He moved faster now, his breath catching, listening to Mei-li’s soft moans, knowing he was pleasing her as much as she was pleasing him. Feeling her arch beneath him, loving the smooth skin beneath his lips as she threw her head back, her whole body tightening. Gritting his teeth and holding himself back, wanting...needing...to bring her to completion with him. Stroke followed stroke, faster and faster, each one threatening to shatter his control. Then she cried out his name, and he just let go, thrusting into her one last time as her body throbbed around him.
They cuddled in the aftermath. Dirk had never been the kind of man who could roll over and go to sleep afterward, no matter how exhausted he might be. He’d always needed the closeness, the bond, that seemed a natural extension of sex.
“You are incredible,” he told Mei-li now, tightening his arm around her.
“It’s been a while for me,” she murmured, brushing her lips against his bare shoulder. Sighing a little, the way a woman did when she’d been pleased. Very pleased. “Could you tell?”
Dirk pulled back so he could see her face. “Define ‘a while.’”
A tiny smile played over her lips. “Eleven years?”
“Eleven—” He drew a deep breath. “Are you telling me...?”
She nodded slowly. “Sean was my one and only, just as Bree was for you.” She touched Dirk’s arm. “You understand. Of course you understand. After Sean, I couldn’t. I just couldn’t. It felt as if I were being unfaithful. Then later, I...I threw myself into my work, body and soul. I turned down dates so automatically for the first couple of years, it got to be a habit. And I didn’t miss having a man in my life.” She caressed him, sliding her hand down his chest, over his abs and lower. “I didn’t know what I was missing,” she teased.
