Almost Too Late

By:  Melissa

 

It had been a year since they had started dating and Melissa was alone in her room contemplating breaking up with Drew.  It was getting too hard to carry on like this, both of their pasts always in the back of their minds.  The fear of being hurt again was shadowing their relationship.  If only they could get past all that then maybe they might have a chance of making it work, but at this point Melissa really doubted it.  She should have realized on their first date that this was never going to work but she had thought she could make Drew forget all about Lea.

    She thought back to that first date and the words he had said to her. "Melissa, you're really a nice girl and I love hanging out with you but after the way Lea treated me I don't think I can ever let myself fall in love again.  So I hope you understand that all we can be is good friends."

    At that time Melissa was satisfied with that because she had just came out of a really difficult relationship herself.  Love was a useless emotion that had no place in their lives.  All it brought was sorrow.  Better to be friends and enjoy themselves then get caught in that curse again.  At least that is what she used to think.  Now somehow things were different for her and she could no longer deal with this charade.  She had to tell him tonight before he could look at her with those gorgeous hazel eyes and make her forget everything else.

    "Melissa, could I come in?"

    "Sure, Drew.  I think we need to talk."

    "You're right because something important happened tonight," Drew stated trying hard not to look at Melissa.

    "And what might have that been?"

    "I realized I was in love with you."

    Melissa's heart seemed to stop beating for several seconds.  "You're confused.  You told me that you could never love anyone again."

    "No."  His voice was low, almost stern, and his gaze was steady.  "All the confusion is gone.  I see clearly now what I have tried for so long to deny.  I love you, Melissa.  And I made a promise to myself that I would share that love with you before tomorrow."  He gazed beyond her to the balcony window of her hotel room.  "There are still several hours until the morning."

    Tremors rippled through her.  Anticipation?  She should be shocked.  But though her pulse leaped at his words, she knew it was want she wanted, too.  For too long she had denied the feelings in her heart for this man.

    Love.  Yes, She loved him.  And had for a long time.  But the very thought of showing him her love had her terrified.

    "You don't really know me, Drew.  We're almost like strangers since you've shut me out for so long."   

    "I know everything I need to know about you, Melissa.  You are a rare woman.  And you own my heart."

    She backed away until his fingers laced with hers held her firmly.  "I..." she licked her lips and tried again.  "I believe you care for me, Drew, but..."

    "Care for?"  He drew her fractionally closer.  "I care for my fans."  His eyes blazed.  "But I love only one woman, Melissa.  And I won't wait any longer to show you how much I love you."

    He brought his hands to her shoulders and stared into her eyes as he drew her close.  His mouth covered hers in a savage kiss.

    There seemed to be no gentleness in him now.  He was all fire and passion and need.  His lips moved over hers, taking, then giving, then taking, until she was drained.  His tongue sought hers, thrusting, demanding until she was breathless.

    Feelings pulsed through her that only his kiss had ever awakened.  Each time they came together, he uncovered another layer of passion.  But this time the passion bordered on pain.

    "Say you will let me stay with you tonight."  His words were muttered fiercely against her lips.

    Touching a hand to his proud face she whispered, "I had once thought you would never be able to love me.  But now you can.  Show me."

    "My love."  Lifting her hands to his mouth he buried his lips first in one palm, then the other.  "I have thought of nothing but you for so long now.  I'm consumed with the thought of loving you."

    Their gazes met and held, and he saw her fear had been replaced with something else.  Taking her hand he led her towards her bed.

    The sheets had been turned down.  A fire was burning in the fireplace and when Drew switched off the lights it was the only illumination in the room.  It was so quiet that Melissa could hear the unsteady beating of her heart.  And then she became aware of the hiss and snap of the flames as they licked along the bark of a log.

    Drew crossed the room, leaving her alone for a moment, and she glanced at the door.  But though it tempted her, she could not run.  She was bound as surely as if he still held her in his arms.  Bound by a need as strong as his.

    She watched as he held a candle to the fire.  Setting it on the table beside the bed, he moved to her, his eyes dark and unfathomable.

    "I need to see you while I make love to you," he said as his hands moved to the clips that held her hair.  As he removed them, her hair tumbled around her face.

    He plunged his hand into the tangles and drew her head back.  "How long I've waited," Slowly, hungrily, he nibbled her lips until she sighed and drew him closer.  He lingered over her lips savoring the sweet taste of her.   

    With strong, sure movements he undid the buttons of her dress.

    In the glow of the candle his face was dark and dangerous.  And beautiful, she realized, as he slipped the dress from her shoulders.

    He felt her tremble as the dress drifted to the floor.  "Are you afraid, Melissa?"

    She swallowed and cursed the fear that coursed through her, leaving her shaking like the flower petals in the wind.

    "Yes."

    He felt a rush of heat at the knowledge that his touch could affect her so.  This proud, brave beauty, who trembled before no man, was quivering before him.  He touched a finger to her cheek in a gesture so achingly sweet she caught her breath.

    "Don't fear, love.  There is so much we can teach each other."

    He studied the way she looked her slender figure barely covered by the sheer silk of her bra and panties, her hair spilling across her shoulders.  He drew her into the circle of his arms and covered her lips in a savage kiss.

    He could feel her, soft and pliant, as his fingers found the hooks of her bra.  He slid the fabric from her shoulders, then bent to follow its path with his lips.

    He felt her shudder as she reached for the buttons of his shirt and struggled to undress him.  When her fingers encountered his bare flesh, he gave a moan of pleasure.

    "I've waited a long time for you to touch me."   

    Her hands whispered over his skin until he could bear it no longer.  With one fluid movement he picked her up and carried her to the bed.  They lay tangled together in the sheets.  The only barrier between them was the silk of her panties still clinging to her body.  With soft, nibbling kisses he caressed her face.  She sighed and gave herself up to his tender ministrations.  But just as she relaxed, his teeth tugged at her earlobe and his tongue began thrusting, tormenting her until she sighed and caught his face between her hands, forcing his mouth on hers.

    He was hungry to touch all of her, taste all of her.  He found her breast, and he began to nibble and suckle until she moaned and writhed beneath him.  His lips found her bare flesh, arousing her until she ached and cried out his name.  And then, with a feeling of desperation, he tugged and tore the last of her garments savagely away from her, needing her warm and naked and willing.

    He left her no time to think.  Now she could only feel as she moved with him, flooded by dozens of different sensations that left her dazed.

    Never before had she lost control.  Never had she been so assaulted by so many different feelings.  Feelings that took her higher, and higher still, until she soared to the heavens.

    With his lips and fingers he took her to the first crest, until she shuddered and clutched at his arms, whispering his name.

    He had a desperate desire to take her wildly, savagely, but he fought down the need.  Instead, forcing himself to slowly savor the moment, he rolled over, pulling her on top of him, and kissed her with a fierceness that left them both shaken.

    Leaning on one elbow, she tentatively touches a hand to his chest.  Abruptly he went very still, loving the feel of her fingertips on his flesh.

    From beneath lowered lids he murmured, "Touch me again!"

    With an anguished sigh she bent her lips to his chest.  "If only I could take away all the pain you endured."

    His stomach muscles contracted violently.  With a wild rush of heat he plunged his hands into her hair and drew her face down for a kiss.  "You already have, love.  All the pain of the past is forgotten when you touch me."

    "I love touching you."  Growing bolder, she knelt and with her hair swirling around them both, traced a finger across his body, then bent to follow the path with her tongue.

    For long minutes he lay still while she kissed his throat, his chest, his stomach.  But when she brought her lips lower, he moaned before catching her in his arms and rolling her over.

    "Please, Drew.  Make love to me," she whispered.

    But still he held back, raining kisses across her cheek, down her neck, across her shoulder.

    Steeped in pleasure, she could only lie helplessly beneath him as his lips and fingers stripped away her last shred of control.  There were no thoughts of the past.  There was only a wild abandonment.  A wanton desire to glory in his touch and fill herself with this man.

    Her stomach quivered as his lips moved across the flat planes and along the flare of her hip to her inner thigh.  She arched toward him, begging him to end this torment.  But still he drove her higher.

    This was how he had dreamed of her.  Passionate, desperate.  His woman.  Only his.  That knowledge fueled his passion until he felt himself slip over the edge toward madness.

    He could no longer bank his desire.  He took her with a fierceness that left them both gasping. 

    She had known he would be reckless, dangerous lover.  From the beginning she had sensed the unbridled passion that lurked beneath his infuriatingly cold demeanor.  Cold.  No.  There was nothing cold about the man who had taken her to the very edge of madness, then beyond.  The heat, the fire, the passion burned her as they moved together in a wild, throbbing dance of love.

    She moved with him, matching his strength, matching his needs, as they climbed higher.  When they reached the crest, her eyes opened, meeting his.  Their breath trembled from between parted lips.

    He wanted to remember her always like this, dazed with need, hungry for fulfillment.

    He cried her name as they soared through a black velvet night and lost themselves among the stars.

    They lay still locked in an embrace.  With his lips pressed to a tangle of hair at her temple, Drew held her as tenderly as if she were a fragile doll.

    He kissed away the sheen that beaded her forehead, then lightly touched her lips with his.

    He loved her.  The thought filled him with such wonder, he was still dazed by it. Love.  That he should love this woman, who had first captured his admiration when she bullied them into letting her take pictures of them for some local magazine, was a source of amazement to him.

    Wrapping her arms around his waist and burying her lips in his throat, she said.  " I love you so much."

    "You love me?"

    She could not speak over the lump in her throat.  Instead she merely nodded.

    "Oh, Melissa," With his lips pressed to a tangle of her hair he began to murmur words of endearment.  She loved him.  It was more than he had hoped for.

    He kissed the slope of her shoulder, then buried his lips in the little hollow of her throat.  As he held her, he felt his passion rising.  With kisses and touches and whispered words, they tumbled once more into a world reserved for lovers.  And Melissa finally knew that they really were meant to be together.

The End

 

Tell Melissa what you thought of this story!