When a Champion Wants You (19 page)

Reaching for the cup once
more, she heard the doorbell chiming. She glanced at the clock. It
was a little after nine at night. She summoned enough strength to
get up from the couch and when she looked through the peephole, she
couldn’t believe her eyes. Dimitrius was standing there and he
looked upset, same as he was at Emily’s house.

She silently shook her
head. She wouldn’t entertain any more insults from him. If he
didn’t want to be with her, fine. But there was no need to bash her
with harsh words. She was hurting enough already.

Dimitrius rang the doorbell
again and again. And again…he knew she was home. Her car was parked
out front and the lights in the living room were on. Melanie didn’t
want to answer the door, so in order to get him to stop pressing
her doorbell, she yelled, “Go away, Dimitrius.”

“
Not a chance…open the
door, Melanie.”

“
Why?”

“
Because I need to talk to
you, now open the door,” he said, sounding
authoritative.

Melanie took a quick breath
and unlocked the door. Her eyes instantly connected with his. He
looked serious, yet melancholic, wearing a pair of jeans and a
black T-shirt, standing tall and powerfully male. “May I come
in?”

She nodded and stepped
aside so he could pass. When he did, she could feel his energy, his
mere presence wreaking havoc on her body. The slightest scent of
his cologne and his own pheromones made her warm and fuzzy all
over.

Dimitrius walked over to
the couch, sat down and looked up at her, not saying a
word.

She walked over to join
him, sitting a pillow cushion away from him, twiddling her thumbs,
not sure what else to do or say since he was staring at her so
hard. Finally, she opened her mouth to say, “What is it that we
need to talk about?”

“
First, I want to say that
I’m sorry for the comment I made to you. I said it out of anger. I
know you would never have an abortion or do anything of the sort.
I’m sorry.”

Before she had a chance to
keep her tears at bay, one had escaped, rolling down the length of
her face.

Dimitrius swallowed hard
when he saw it. He knew he was the cause of it. He scooted closer
to her and brushed the tear away from her face. “I want to ask you
something,” he said.

“
Okay.”

“
Let’s say that we’ve been
happily married for five years, and The Champion Corporation ended
up folding and I lost everything including my house, the cars and
had no money in the bank…would you leave me?”

Melanie shook her
head.

“
Okay. Now let’s say that I
was in a horrible accident, and I became paralyzed. Would you leave
me, Melanie?”

Melanie fought back tears
as she shook her head. “No.”

“
Why wouldn’t you leave
me?”

“
What does this have to do
with—”

“
Why…wouldn’t…you…leave…me?” he asked, methodically slow,
cutting her off.

She sniffled. “Because I
love you.”

He scooted closer to her
and asked, “Then why would you look me dead in the eyes and tell me
that you didn’t love me, Melanie? Why?”

She dropped her head,
trying to hide her sadness.

Dimitrius tilted her chin
up with the touch of his index finger so their gazes connected.
“Why?”

“
Because…I,” she said with
trembling lips. “I’m not a good woman for you.”

“
Why would you say that?”
he asked, feeling her pain in his heart. “Because you can’t give me
a child?”

She looked shocked,
surprised that he knew. “How…”

Before she could say a word
more, Dimitrius captured her lips in his mouth, kissing her with
the hunger of a pleasure-deprived man. And no other woman could
give him the pleasure of the woman he loved more than he loved his
own life. No woman had been able to get under his skin the way she
had. Make him furious to the point of no return and then could calm
his soul with her ripened lips.

“
I love you, Melanie. My
love never has, or never will come with conditions, baby. I just
want you, and right now, I need to make love to you.”

“
I need you too,
Dimitrius,” she said honestly.

Dimitrius effortlessly
carried her to the bedroom, gently lowered her there, pulling the
belt of her robe and watching it fall open, displaying the
beautiful body that he missed.

After making love, he held
her in his arms, feeling her body shiver as she whimpered. It
touched him to his soul to feel her so sad. He wanted to do
everything he could to reassure her that he loved her and she
wasn’t
broken
to
him because she couldn’t have children. She was the woman he wanted
to spend the rest of his life with.

“
Melanie, baby,” he said,
staring into her eyes. “I want you to know that I love you no
matter what. Yes, I want children, but just because you can’t have
them doesn’t mean that I don’t want to be with you. I’m not Scott
and I never want you to compare me to him or any other man. I’m the
man who loves you unconditionally. Do you understand
me?”

“
Yes, Dimitrius,
but—”

“
No buts, Melanie.” He
shifted his body to stare into the sadness of her face, batting
tears away with his thumbs.

“
I don’t want you to resent
me later on for not being able to give you what you want,” she told
him.

“
I love you too much to
resent you, sweetheart. Even when I was angry at you, I still loved
you.” He took a kiss from her lips and said, “Now listen…I will not
live another day without you. Effective tomorrow morning, we will
pack your things together so that you can finally move with me
into
our
home.
Okay.”

Melanie sniffled. “You’re
getting all boardroom on me now?” she quipped.

“
Yes, and you like
that…don’t…you?” he asked between kisses.

“
I do,” she
said.

And they made love once
more before the night was over, loving harder than they’d ever made
love before – their souls on fire as their bodies moved together.
The night left them both completely spent.

Epilogue

Four months
later

Standing at the
grill, Dimitrius looked across the pool, over at
Melanie as she sat next to Emily an umbrella table. He inhaled a
deep breath and released it slowly, feeling a level of satisfaction
beyond his wildest dreams. He never imagined he could end up this
way – happy and in love. It brought him much joy and satisfaction
to be with a woman like Melanie. A woman he was in love with. A
woman he would build with. Grow old with.

He watched as Melanie
rubbed Emily’s stomach. Emily and Dante had announced two weeks ago
that Emily was five months pregnant. They were expecting a son. He
was happy for his brother and happy that another Champion man was
joining their family.

“
Look at you manning the
grill,” Desmond said, standing next to Dimitrius with a basketball
tucked underneath his arm. “You look like dad standing
here.”

Dimitrius smirked. Out of
his brothers, he was the one who resembled their father the
most.

“
Hey, let me get one of
them hotdogs, bro,” Desmond said.

Dimitrius poked a hotdog
with a fork and said, “Here you go,” handing it to him. “We’re
about to eat, so round up everyone,” he said.
Everyone
included Dante and Emily,
Sherita, Melanie’s parents, Desmond and a few of their closest
friends.

“
Alright. I’m on it,”
Desmond said.

Dimitrius took a roaster
pan, that was filled with a variety of meats, over to the
designated food table and then, after every one was gathered, he
said, “Thank you everyone for being here at my home, sharing this
beautiful day with my wife and I. This is truly what life is all
about – family and friends.”

Dimitrius walked over to
Melanie, took her by the hand and she stood next to him. He kissed
her on the cheek and said, “And, with that being said, Melanie and
I would like to make an announcement. We didn’t think it would be
possible, and the doctors told us it was highly unlikely, but it
just goes to show that when you love someone,” he said, throaty,
taking a moment to get himself together so that he could finish his
statement without becoming overly emotional. He released a breath
and said, “When you truly love someone, anything is possible. So it
brings me great pleasure to let you all know that Melanie and I are
expecting a baby girl.”

Emily’s mouth dropped open.
“Melanie! You’re pregnant?” she said with tears of happiness in her
eyes.

Melanie nodded and rubbed
her stomach.

“
And you didn’t tell me!”
Emily said.

Melanie’s eyes teared up.
“We wanted to make sure we were out of the woods, especially since
the doctors didn’t think I could get pregnant.”

“
This is the best news I’ve
heard all year,” Melanie’s mother said, elated.

“
How far along are you?”
Emily asked.

“
Four and a half months,”
Dimitrius answered. “She has to be closely monitored by the
doctors. They’re almost positive that she won’t be full-term, but
we’re committed to doing everything it takes to make sure our angel
arrives here safely.”

Emily stood up and rushed
over to Melanie, throwing her arms around her. “I’m so happy for
you guys,” she said. Then she hugged Dimitrius. “Our children are
going to grow up together,” she said happily.

Dante and Desmond walked
over to Dimitrius and both gave him a congratulatory
hug.

“
This is awesome news…proud
of you, man,” Dante told him.

“
I am too, Dimitrius,”
Desmond said. “But I feel sorry for my little niece already. I know
how strict you’re going to be with her.”

Dimitrius smiled. “You know
it.”

“
And just to think that you
guys thought this would never happen,” Dante said.

“
I know. I’m glad I didn’t
give up on Melanie. I have you and Emily to thank for that,”
Dimitrius said.

“
Not a problem, man,” Dante
said. “That’s what family is for, right?”

“
Right.”

The men looked up at the
women. Melanie was barely showing but Emily still wanted to compare
belly sizes. They were even talking about having their baby showers
on the same day.

“
Now, it looks like all we
have to do is to get Desmond to settle down with his kryptonite,”
Dante quipped.

“
I’m too young to settle
down,” Desmond told him.

Dimitrius shook his head.
“You’re never too young when you know you’ve found
the one
.

“
Is that right?” Desmond
said.

“
Yeah. That’s right,”
Dimitrius responded. “Now let’s eat for crying out
loud.”

Melanie looked up at
Dimitrius and smiled. Then she walked over to him, wrapped her arms
around him and said, “This is perfect.”

He smiled and said, “It is,
isn’t.”

“
Yes. Thank you for making
all of my dreams come true, Dimitrius.”

“
Thank you for taking a
chance with me. I promise to make you the happiest woman that has
ever walked this earth.”

She kissed his lips, then
said, “Baby, you already have.”

* * *

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When A
Champion Wants You (The Champion Brothers)
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