I Will Always Love You (13 page)

She took a half step back and looked up into Stefan’s eyes where she saw
nothing but love. Melissa began to unbutton his shirt and ran her fingers
across the thick, dark hair on his muscular chest. She kissed his neck and
worked her way down to his chest as Stefan groaned with pleasure.

He reached out to touch her shoulders as he slid the thin straps of her dress
down on her arms. The summer dress slipped down to her waist to reveal a
white lacy bra. Melissa immediately crossed her arms to hide herself.

Stefan reached out as he pleaded, “Please do not hide from me.”

Melissa let her arms drop to her sides as her dress fell to the floor. She
stood before Stefan in only her panties and her bra and felt the heat of his eyes
on her. He pushed his shirt off and took a step toward her. Stefan kissed her
again as he reached around and unfastened her bra. He slowly pulled it off of
her as he deftly slid her panties off at the same time.

He stepped back and gazed at the woman he loved. “You are absolutely
beautiful.” Tears sprang to Melissa’s eyes. “Please do not cry.”

“No one has ever told me that I was beautiful.”

Stefan shook his head. “You should be told that you are beautiful every
day of your life. I am sorry that you have had such a hard life, but now it is
only you and I here and I promise that I will not hurt you.”

Melissa knew that what Stefan said was the truth. She trusted him with
everything that she was. She smiled, reached out her hand to him and
unfastened his jeans. Stefan stepped out of his remaining clothes and stood
naked before her.

Now it was her turn to say, “You’re absolutely beautiful.”

He chuckled, took her in his arms and kissed her deeply. After several
moments, Stefan led Melissa over to his bed. As they lay next to each
other, he took her in his arms and caressed
her back as he kissed her. He
took his time and wanted the night to last forever. Melissa shivered with
each touch of his hand.

“I love you,” Stefan said.

“You don’t know how long I’ve waited to hear you say that to me again,”
M
elissa said as she pulled Stefan closer to her.

They kissed and touched each other for what seemed like hours. They
tempted and teased each other until they could no longer stand it and Stefan
eased himself on top of Melissa. He looked deeply into her eyes, and she
knew that he could see
into
her soul. Their gaze locked and held as Stefan slowly
entered her. Melissa moaned softly as he slid deeper inside of her. She forgot
about everything in the world, especially about her flight back to America in
the morning.

They made love for hours until they were both spent. Stefan held Melissa
in his arms not wanting to break the new and deep connection they had. After
awhile
, Melissa moved to leave the bed.

“Where are you going?” he asked.

“I have to go back to Brigitte’s house. My flight leaves in less than
five
hours. I need to get some sleep, and I still have to pack.”

“You are leaving?”

“Yes. I have to go back to Chicago,” Melissa answered as she pulled her
clothes back on.

“What about us? What about what just happened here?”

“It was wonderful, Stefan. But I can’t stay.”

“I do not want you to go,” he simply stated as he sat up in bed.

“I know, but I have no other choice.”

“This is so unfair. We have finally found our way back to each other, but
now you are telling me that you are leaving.”

She slipped her shoes on and stood to meet the steady gaze of Stefan. “I
never said that I would stay. I can’t stay. My life is back in Chicago. I have my
daughter and my family that I finally have a good relationship with. And
there’s my career and all of the women that count on me. I can’t walk away
from all of that.”

“What about us?”

Melissa sat down on the bed and took Stefan’s hand in her own. “I’m
sorry, Stefan. But I can’t give up my life for you or for any man. I gave up who
I was for one man already. I completely lost my own identity. I couldn’t do
anything without first asking Jack if it was all right for me to go somewhere.
I even had to ask for permission to go to the grocery store. But now I know
who I am. I have a wonderful life in Chicago. I can’t just throw all of that
away. I’m sorry, but I’ve worked too hard and too long to get where I am
today. I just can’t give it all up.”

Stefan sat and stared at her in disbelief. “I thought that you loved me and
that we were starting over again.”

“I do love you,” she said as she stood up. “I think I loved you from the first
moment I laid eyes on you ten years ago. But I just can’t stay.”

“Melissa,” he said.

Melissa turned away and wiped the tears from her eyes. She turned again
to look at Stefan and saw in his eyes all of the pain that she was causing. “I’m
so
sorry
, Stefan
. I guess I never should have come here.
But
I just wanted to see you again
so that I could
try to explain why I wrote you that letter.
” She shook her head
as another tear rolled down her cheek. “
But I can see that all I’ve done is
hurt you again.”

“Melissa,” Stefan said once more.

She held up her hand and said, “Please don’t, Stefan. This is hard enough
for me. God, this hurts so much, but I just can’t stay,” She walked toward the
bedroom door.

Melissa turned to look at Stefan and quickly walked over to the bed and
gave him one last kiss. “I do love you. I will always love you,” she said as she
looked deeply into his blue eyes. She turned and walked out of Stefan’s life
once again.

C
hapter 22

Melissa sat next to Brigitte as they waited for her flight to be called. She
looked around the airport in hopes of getting a glimpse of Stefan.

“Are you expecting Stefan?” Brigitte asked.

Melissa looked sadly at her cousin. “No. Not after what happened last
night.”

“Are you sure that you want to walk away from him a second time,
Melissa? I saw how the two of you were this past week. Everyone could see
how much the two of you still love each other.”

Melissa hung her head. “I have no choice. My life is in Chicago.”

“We do have abused women in Germany, too.”

Melissa looked at her cousin. “Yes, I know. Unfortunately there are
abused women all over the world. But my work is in Chicago.”

“I understand,” Brigitte said as Melissa’s flight was called.
They stood up and faced each other. “Have a good flight home.”

“I will. Thank you for everything.”

“I did not do anything,” Brigitte replied.

“Yes you did. You made sure that I was at the festival when you knew that
Stefan would be there. Thank you for giving me a few more days to be with
him.”

“
Bitteschon
.”

They hugged and Melissa walked slowly to the gate. She turned to wave
to her cousin and to get one last look around the airport for Stefan. Seeing that
he was not there, she turned and boarded the plane.

* * *

Melissa took her seat next to a person with their nose stuck in a
newspaper. She put on her seatbelt and began to cry softly.

A handkerchief was placed in her lap. Melissa picked it up and dried her
eyes as she said, “Thank you.”

“
Bitteschon
,” a deep voice from behind the newspaper said.

“I must be going crazy. Now every man sounds like Stefan,” Melissa
muttered to herself as she began to cry again.

“No, not every man, just the original.”

Melissa turned her head to see Stefan sitting in the seat next to her with a
wide grin on his face.

“Stefan Koehler,” Melissa gasped.

“The one and only.”

“What are you doing here?”

“I am moving to Chicago,” he said matter-of-factly.

“Moving to Chicago. But how? Why?”

“Yes, moving to Chicago. I am getting there by this airplane. And why?
Because I love you more than I have ever loved anyone in my entire life. I let
you leave me in an airport once. I was not going to make that same mistake
again.”

Melissa looked at Stefan in disbelief.

“Do you not want me to go to Chicago?” he asked.

“No.”

“No?”

“I mean, yes! I want you to go to Chicago. But what about your writing
career?” She tried to hide the trepidation in her voice and failed.

“Melissa,” Stefan began as he took her hands in his, “I can write my novels
anywhere. But I do not want to spend the rest of my life without you, so I am
moving to Chicago.”

“Are you willing to give up everything, your family and your friends, to go
to Chicago to be with me?”

“I would give up my whole world just to spend one day with you,” Stefan
answered as he reached into his pocket. “I am moving to Chicago because the
love of my life lives there, and I was hoping that we could start our life
together.” He opened a velvet ring box to reveal a two-carat princess cut
diamond engagement ring. “Will you marry me, Melissa?”

With fresh tears in her eyes, Melissa simply said, “Yes.”

Stefan slipped the ring on Melissa’s finger, took her in his arms and kissed
her deeply. “Finally. I am not going to let you leave me ever again.”

“I won’t leave you ever again,” Melissa said as she looked into the sky
blue eyes of her husband-to-be.

“Promise?”

“Absolutely!” Melissa exclaimed as the plane taxied down the runway
preparing for takeoff.

Epilogue

Chicago, June 1996

Melissa sat in the hospital bed holding her new son. She looked up to see
her husband and daughter walk into the room.

“Mommy,” Stefanie said as she jumped on the bed.

“Hi,” Melissa said as she kissed her daughter then her husband.

Stefan let the kiss linger a moment or two and looked at his wife with so
much love in his eyes. “You look beautiful.”

“Thank you,” Melissa responded as the baby began to whimper.

“Michael’s hungry,” Stefanie declared.

“I think you’re right,” said Melissa. “Can you hand me his bottle?”

Stefanie got off the bed and went over to the baby’s portable crib to get his
bottle. When she turned back toward the bed, she saw her parents kissing
once again. With a sigh, she walked over to her mother’s hospital bed, looked
down at her new baby brother and stated, “You better get
used
to it Michael.
They kiss all the time.”

Melissa laughed as she looked at her daughter. “Does that bother you?”

“No. It’s a good thing that mommy’s and daddy’s kiss,” the
precocious six-year-old stated. “That way I can get another baby brother
or sister.”

“How would you like to have eighteen more brothers and sisters?” Stefan