He laughed softly in self-deprecation. “I’m not used to making up my own lines. I do a lot better when I have a script to work from.”
“You’re doing just fine,” Mei-li told him, her eyes misty.
“Then, put me out of my misery, would you please? Just say yes?”
“Yes.” She barely breathed the word, but he heard the gladness in her voice.
He wasn’t prepared for the fierce exultation that flooded his body. He hadn’t been sure what her answer would be, but...it wasn’t a surprise. So why...?
He didn’t have time to think, because before he knew it his arms were full of warm, soft woman. His lips were touched by an angel’s lips. And a ten-week ache exploded into a fiery inferno.
* * *
They lay together in the aftermath of loving made all the more intense for the weeks of self-denial. But Dirk knew he would never get enough of Mei-li. That ten years from now...twenty...thirty...she’d still make him ache. And, woman that she was, she’d make that ache disappear. Because it wasn’t just a bond of the flesh, but a bond of the heart.
“You brought me back to life, Mei-li.” he whispered, pressing his lips against her temple. “You are my life.”
She placed her hand over his heart, and in that instant he saw his future spread out before him. Rich in laughter. Rich in love. Rich in everything that made life worth living. Because of one slight woman...who could move mountains.