Chapter 70: Loving You

When Derek ran out of the inn, Meredith's jeep was already pulling off leaving the sound of its screeching tires trailing behind. Without a second thought he jumped into his own car and followed. He wouldn't let this go now, not when they walked so far. After he poured his heart out, after she had mirrored his actions. There was no other way forward for them other than the path that they would walk together.

He wasn't tailgating her; he was giving her space. He was driving at just a safe distance so he doesn't lose her. There was little chance he would, the two red dots at the rear of her jeep were the only lights piercing the darkness now that they left the town buildings behind them.

After almost a quarter of an hour Derek started to wonder how long they would continue this charade. If it was up to him, he would follow her to the ends of the earth. However, he didn't fill up since leaving Las Vegas, he didn't want to get stuck in the desert again. He wasn't sure Meredith would rescue him in her current frame of mind.

But before he began to get seriously anxious, her taillights began to get bigger, a sign that she had pulled up, and finally they disappeared. He stopped the car following her example and got out. He wasn't really surprised to discover the jeep empty. He heard footsteps on dry grass and a twig being snapped somewhere in the vicinity. With no hesitation, he left the secure smooth surface of the road to follow the whitish dot of her dress dancing in and out of his field of vision.

Wind pushed the clouds away letting the full moon illuminate the earth. Derek embraced it with relief, he could pick up his pace without the risk of tripping and landing face down on the ground. He was also able to recognize his current location. Even months later, he could easily notice the traces of countless fires, the ashes and charred wood along his path. It was the spot where they had celebrated the bonfire night. He was certain now what Meredith's final point of destination was. It fit. It was the place she had showed him shortly before his departure, it was the place where he had convinced her to give their relationship a real chance, where he had been accepted. There couldn't be a better sign, this was the place he could change her mind again.

With a new spring in his step, he climbed the narrow winding path, his hands groping around occasionally so as not to lose his footing. The rocks surrounding the passage shrouded it in darkness. His pains were soon compensated when he reached the top of the cliff. His eyes couldn't help but widen, his lips parted slightly, as a magnificent nightly panorama stretched before him, flooded in the pale moonlight. The full silvery orb hung low in the sky, its glow flooding the earth sort of like a constant spotlight.

However, this beautiful picture didn't include Meredith anywhere. He first thought he took a wrong turn somewhere. It was possible. Come to think of it, the spot looked different than when he was here with her previously. He soon realized it was due to the crude wooden railing that was erected at the edge of the cliff. For one horrible moment during which he stepped closer to the railing, he considered…

"Don't worry. I might have been acting like a lunatic tonight… or the last few weeks… or maybe all my life… but I'm most certainly not suicidal."

Letting out a deep breath of relief, Derek whirled around to see Meredith sitting on a small bench that must have been added at the same time as the railing. He had easily missed it as it was situated in a slight hollow in the rock wall.

For the first time this evening, he was not sure what to say. Words, confessions, and assurances swirled in his brain, but none made it past his lips. He wasn't sure what to tell her because he didn't know exactly where they stood. Meredith's face was currently unreadable to him, her mood, and thoughts a mystery. She seemed calm. Even though her hands were joined together in her lap, they weren't twitching like always when she was nervous. Her voice didn't shake, her cheeks were already dry despite her eyelids being just a bit puffy and her green orbs a little glassy, not that he needed a reminder that he had brought her to tears.

"We had to put it up," she spoke up again before he had a chance to and pointed at the railing behind him. "Safety measures. Mainly for tourists' sake-"

"I'm sorry," he choked out of the blue.

"For what?" she asked calmly, cocking her head slightly.

"I didn't want this evening to end like that. I didn't want to pressure you into… into…"

"Telling everyone my dirty secrets?"

"Painful secrets," he corrected her softly.

"It's okay… I guess," she let out a small sigh accompanied with a shrug of her shoulders. "You said nothing but the truth… I said nothing but the truth."

"Still." Derek shook his head as if he was mad at himself. "I wanted to get you to listen to me… you hadn't wanted to. And Cristina…" he cut off suddenly.

"Yeah, Cristina and you, how did that happen?" Meredith asked curiously, quirking one eyebrow.

"Well, she read…"

"She read the article," Meredith nodded knowingly. "Of course. It was nice, by the way, your interview. You were so nervous, but it didn't show. You did overstate my role though."

"I certainly did not," he insisted softly. "You know that as well as I do."

"You're saying modesty doesn't become me?" Derek was once again surprised by the hint of chuckle in her tone. "I suppose it doesn't."

"Meredith…" He finally braced himself to take a step toward her. "Are you… okay?"

She didn't answer his question immediately. She considered her reply, her eyes studying dusty little rocks beneath the soles of her shoes before she looked back at him. Surprisingly, or even shockingly, she felt okay. Not an hour ago, she was an exploding supernova. She thought the weight of her history, brought about by Derek so openly, was going to crush her. Not anymore. That painful burden appeared to have been lifted from her shoulders. If she had to be honest with herself, she hadn't experienced such lightness of spirit and… freedom?... in a long time. She spoke up. Unlocked a vault of truth. Cleaned years' cobwebs from a window. She really did explode. But now that the aftershocks receded and the dust settled, all she had was a slight weakness in the knees, probably caused by running up here more than anything else, and some painful memories. Yes, painful were they still but they lost their staggering force pressing on her spine. They were no longer the poison running in her blood.

"I'm… Yes, I think I can say I'm okay…" she answered at long last, her voice betraying her own lingering amazement. "I think I've exhausted my limit for meltdown and drama."

He inclined his head in a small nod. He couldn't read anything but sincerity in her voice and her eyes. He had to trust her on this one, trust the fact that she was no longer running but opening up to him. "And… what about us?" He wasn't really asking, mind you. He wouldn't take no for an answer anyway. But the question had to be asked. He needed to know whether he'd managed to change her mind, whether she would continue to protest adamantly.

"Well, that's a loaded question," she remarked, blowing away a stray strand of her hair that had escaped from the clip on the back of her head.

Something about that simple gesture made Derek unable to resist. The unintentionally seductive way her gloss-touched lips rounded to push out a puff of air, the innocent way her eyes followed the blonde wisp… he was pulled towards her as if by a force of invisible strings. His shadow engulfed her briefly as he blocked the moonlight closing the distance between them. The pale beams were back to the task of caressing her skin in no time when he crouched down before her, one of his knees touching the ground, his arms went on both sides of her to find support against the bench as he inched forward.

They weren't even touching yet a slight shift in the air was not lost on either. The longing for each other they both felt profoundly manifested itself more and more openly.

"Meredith… the answer is simple," he said softly, his voice perfectly melting into the gracious silence of the night.

"Is it, oh wise one?" she chuckled, dubiously quirking an eyebrow. Her response was utterly free of sarcasm though.

"Absolutely," Derek went on conversationally, a corner of his lips curling up. "You either yield to me now or I pursue you a little longer and then you yield to me."

His cheeky declaration was rewarded by a peal of laughter.

"You're awfully sure of yourself…" she sighed but mentally admitted that it was not without reason. Why would he doubt his actions? So far, he'd faced and dealt with every obstacle she'd thrown in his way, with methodical patience and determination. So far, he'd kept succeeding…

"I'm far from being presumptuous," he promised simply, mirroring her musings.

"You followed me all the way here," she said pensively.

"Did you attempt to lose me during your escape from the dragon house?" A chuckle rose in his chest.

"No, you followed me all the way here," she repeated stressing every word and he understood. She was talking about his moving to Rachel.

"You know I've always considered the option and…" he paused, his gaze on her unwaveringly steady, "there's no such place I wouldn't go after you. I… I will always be closer to you than he possibly could," he evoked Meredith's words from just two days before. It seemed like an eternity had elapsed. "Because… I love you."

Involuntarily, Meredith's eyes fluttered closed, and a glorious shiver ran down her body like a rollercoaster cart. It felt more blissful than when he had confessed it for the first time.

"I'm…" she gulped and met his eyes. "I'm starting to believe it. Not the loving part, mind you," she hurried to correct herself, "the being closer than him part. I mean, what I feel is… as if a rope that binded me to him was cut… Does that make sense?"

"Perfect," Derek whispered breathlessly. He was glad that she felt like the ties to the man that had nearly destroyed her life had been severed. At least for now. The true test would come later, when he showed her the contents of a CD he'd brought from New York, a CD that was currently hidden at the bottom of his suitcase. However, that was not a conversation for tonight. Tomorrow maybe, but this night was all about them, they deserved it. It was long overdue.

Meredith's hand flexed in her lap. It wanted to touch him, appease her starved impatient senses. But she forced herself to wait just a little bit longer.

"Will you not regret it?" Her eyes eagerly sought for any trace of doubt in his, her ears strained to detect any hesitation in his voice.

"What is there to regret? Making myself happy?"

"Your-"

"Career?" he interjected and winked at her teasingly. "You don't have to be in New York to change the face of medicine."

"Smartass."

"I learned from the best."

She took a deep breath, her lungs expanding to greedily take in the sweet nocturnal scent, and raised both of her hands. Her palms gently encased his cheeks, her thumbs stroking the stubbled skin.

"You have decided?" she asked once more, searching for the ultimate confirmation.

"I have." Encouraged by her caress, he removed his hands from the bench and allowed them to finally rest on her hips.

"You're sure…?"

"Positive."

He expected to hear a few more questions but instead, something else entirely rolled of her tongue. "I love you."

His lips stretched in a relieved smile as he relished the moment, her "I love you" reverberating in his head repeatedly.

"I'm sorry I hurt you," she went on, her voice more somber. "In my defense… I did what I thought was best for all parties concerned."

"I know," he assured her, soothingly rubbing her sides through her dress. He meant it as a gesture of reassurance but inadvertently, he stirred to life something else deep inside him. He felt only slightly guilty as his want and need for her intensified. They were having a conversation crucial for their relationship and his cognitive functions were soon going to be overpowered by the heat of her body protected by her clothes. He didn't even think of sex for weeks… Okay, he did think of sex, but he pushed it to the very back of his mind. But it seemed like he would soon no longer need to, and that awareness was making his head spin.

Meredith was not oblivious to the fact that the hour of words had just passed by. They still had a lot to discuss for sure, but it was time to seal their reunion, the best way they knew how. The earth must have gone on a standstill, gawking in awe as Meredith leaned forward to meet his awaiting lips.

For a moment when their mouths simply glided against and nibbled on each other, their half-lidded eyes remained firmly connected, as if fighting disbelief over their long-awaited joining. The kiss lingered on and the ground beneath their feet didn't split apart to swallow them, the gates of hell didn't open. Everything was peaceful, everything was as it should be.

As they drew reassurance from each other, their eyes finally closed, allowing them to step beyond the chasteness of the kiss. It was insufficient to sate their growing need. Despite all their differences of character, they were a passionate physical pair. Maybe that was why they fit so well, fire fusing with fire to burn into completion.

Instinctively, Derek applied a soft pressure on her hips and Meredith followed his guidance, leaping from the bench and molding herself against his solid, welcoming frame. It was like being immersed in a hot bath, only the warmth was pervading their bodies from within. Their embrace felt well familiar yet but there was a new element to it, a sense of security and trust that had previously been just out of reach.

Lord, it simply felt… good. Her hands sliding into his hair, Meredith deepened the kiss with increasing greed, meeting no resistance on Derek's part as her tongue stealthily sneaked past his lips. She unhurriedly re-explored his moist cavern, Derek welcoming her in kind. Their tongues mated lovingly as his arms locked around her waist. They latched onto each other like a desert traveler onto a stream of crystal pure water, the exhilaration and relief it brought making it gruesome to part.

It was unavoidable, however. Utterly out of breath, they pulled away just an inch, gulping for air. They stumbled a step, chuckling quietly, their eyes misty. They immediately lunged back at each other, lips crashing with even more fervor, hands clawing all over each other as if undecided what to touch first. But from the corner of his eye, Derek noticed something that made him break the kiss once again, his action resulting in Meredith's hot mouth landing on his neck, sending a thrill down his spine.

He groaned as she drew a moist trail from his pulse point over his bobbing Adam's apple to the hollow of his throat. Interrupting this sweet torture was the last thing he wanted but he suddenly spotted the total darkness they were engulfed in. Unbeknownst to them, clouds shielded the moon completely from earthlings.

"As much as it pains me to pry myself off you," he breathed shakily, "we should… maybe take it somewhere else…"

"Really? Where's your sense of adventure gone?" she looked up, teasing him with her words and her rosy lips swollen with kisses.

"Oh, I don't want to get caught in a storm again," he shook his head and twirled them around closer to the path leading back.

"But then we would have to take our clothes off to get dry, wouldn't we?" She wiggled against him relentlessly, her arms sneaking up on him like ivy vines.

"Won't we anyway?" he asked distractedly as Meredith's forefinger situated itself in the gap between his shirt buttons, sending an electric current to even the most remote cell in his body.

He gasped and she beamed against the suddenly oversensitive skin of his neck. "We will, we are…"

"Mer…" he tried to protest feebly.

"Shhh…" She placed a finger against his lips, and he couldn't help nibbling on it. "Don't worry, we're in the middle of a drought. Those are not rain clouds. See, already moving away."

He didn't even look to verify her statement; his lips dived to shower her mouth, her jaw, her neck with rapacious kisses, teasing her skin with the tip of his tongue. One of his arms draped tightly around her waist, his other hand went to massage the back of her neck sliding just under the collar of her denim jacket. The softness of her skin, the sweet flowery scent of her hair, he missed being this close to her, literally and figuratively. Meredith had never been this close to him, not even in the act of making love. For the first time, he felt that they were completely free to live their life as they pleased. Their pursuers – mistrust and hurt – finally gave up their chase.

Their mouths reconnecting in a drugging kiss, Derek slowly pushed her jacket off her exquisite shoulders, marred only by the spaghetti straps of her creamy dress, but even they slipped down obediently once his outstretched fingers travelled down the length of her arms.

Meredith's hands did not rest idle either, she was giving as good as she was getting. She longed for him, owed him, craved to love him and please him. This man who was becoming like putty under her touch as she was under his changed her existence in a way, she hadn't ever believed possible. Damn, she hadn't even believed that such an unconditional romantic love could exist. After everything he'd done for her, she would never doubt it again. It cost him half a year of his life, months of hard work and sacrifice. He did it all for her, succeeding in freeing her from the demons of her past.

Squirming under his caresses, she untangled his tie, sending it somewhere behind her shoulder and fumbled with the buttons of his shirt. Her groan matched his own when she pulled it open and clung to his naked chest, not even bothering to completely take off the garment.

With a hungry growl, he reclaimed her lips and his open hand landed on her breast. She moaned into the kiss, delightfully sucking on his lower lip, and tautened like a cat seeking to be petted by its master. He palmed her soft mound relentlessly, grasping at the hem of the dress. He tugged it down along with her white strapless bra, exposing a rosy nipple that immediately hardened due to the cool temperature and his ministrations.

Her insides clenched in anticipation and her body prepared itself to be reunited with her lover. Her body demanded to be joined with him as one and voiced this request undulating and crashing her hips against his like waves against the shore.

"My god," Derek gasped as his hardness once more came dangerously close to her heated core. He had an amazing stamina, and he was always proud of that, but Meredith was known to test his endurance in more than one way. He didn't exactly want a repeat of the night he first told her he loved her…

If Meredith was aware of that fact, she didn't let it show. With a tiny smirk, she traced the ridges between his chest muscles and before he could protest or simply slow her down a little, she unclasped his belt buckle and inserted her hand into his slacks to grip him tightly.

That was it. He almost roared as he swept her up by her thighs and blindly proceeded to perch them on the bench. Meredith let a squeal and a giggle as she pulled back his head to her, her fingers clawing in the raven black hair, and indulged him in a series of deep long kisses, each one growing in intensity and fierceness. She wrapped her legs around him, bringing them flush against each other.

Liquid desire replaced blood in his system. He wanted to drown in all things Meredith. The feel of their ravenous kisses, her bare flesh tantalizing his chest, the way her body ushered him to complete her… Maybe this was not a traditional romantic reunion. They weren't about to make love in the secluded privacy of their bedroom, surrounded by candles and rose petals. Their reunion was raw, passionate, and unrestrained. Acting on impulse. On the spur of the moment.

It didn't mean it was any less sacred. It was perfectly right for them. It was the essence of their relationship, born in the dark night with sparkles and flames of attraction illuminating the way.

"Derek…" she breathed his name softly in his ear, her voice trembling with need. He recognized the pleading note, it was matching the lust circulating inside him. His fingers hitched and rolled the skirt of her dress up against her lap. The scent of her desire reached his nostrils urging him on. He huffed peevishly as he toyed with her panties. How cumbersome a tiny piece of lace could be? Immensely as it would seem. It prevented him from what he yearned the most at that moment, what both of them yearned. He didn't think he could stand parting with her burning body while she disentangled herself from him to take them off. Instead, the delicate material met its glorious end, being pulled apart as Derek annihilated the last barrier between them.

A drunken smile lit his lips as he guided himself inside her, earning an animalistic moan of approval from her side. He entered her at a relatively slow pace, allowing her muscles to adjust to his size, while his eyes drank in the vision before him, the breathtaking creature in his arms. She was the epitome of desire, and she was his, she would always be, unconditionally.

Unsurprisingly, she would have none of his gentleness. She began rocking her hips, silently asking him to meet her half-way, teasing him into bending to her will as she eluded him and filled herself with his length in turns.

What else could he do but to comply? He thrust up increasing their mutual pleasure and took the rosy peak which wandered about tantalizingly close to his face in his mouth. It simply begged to be lavished with loving attention. With the last shred of conscious thought, he reached between them to assure he wouldn't speed off to completion faster than her. He easily found her ripe little jewel and applied the tortuously sweet pressure. The shriek that tore from her throat carried far into the night.

Her fingers blundered over his upper body as the motions of her pelvis increased in urgency in the quest for final satisfaction. Terrible things would surely come about if she didn't reach it. Her muscles were already sore, but she kept forcing them to carry on. Her lungs were burning for air, but she strived on intermittent gasps. And the pressure in her belly, all-consuming, undefined, and banishing every sensible thought from her head. Nothing else mattered but vanquishing that pressure.

Finally, the spring uncoiled, and when it did, it shook her world to its very foundations. Her body ceased to exist, it turned into golden dust, when her every cell swelled exponentially only to burst magnificently. Her nerves resembled high voltage cables surging with deadly power. It travelled over to him, jostling him over the edge. He embraced the energy wholeheartedly. It pumped inside him, it was forced out of him as she clenched around him, it was discernible in the roar that erupted in his chest while his love and ecstasy spilled deep within her.

They cradled each other snuggly long after achieving fulfillment. Trying to catch a breath, they were too spent to move, even to cover their sweaty disheveled bodies from cooling off in the crisp air. It was frightening to an extent, the dominance they held over each other. It could well bring either of them to the edge of doom. But then again, that power would be nothing at all without the trust they had now vested in each other's hearts. That would be enough of a guarantee that it would only be a force of creation.


Finally, together again!