Blind Faith (22 page)

Will
.
 
He’d barely been gone an hour and already she ached for the sound of his voice, his laughter, the heady scent of his cologne.
 
She could still taste him, still feel the gentleness of his touch and the lingering warmth of his kiss on her lips.
 
Thinking of him calmed her shaky nerves, and by the time she finished
checking all the light switches and let
Rufus outside, Serena was actually smiling.
 
Yes, she would have to deal with McKinley sometime, but not tonight.

She gave Rufus a
few extra
minutes to do his business and putter around the yard then called him back inside.
 
He followed her through the kitchen and tried to wheedle himself between Serena and the door leading into the garage when he saw her reaching for the knob.
 
She rarely had reason to go into the garage except when she took out the trash so it was no wonder Rufus took a protective stance.

“It’s okay,” she stroked his head, “I promise there’s nothing more dangerous than a few fat spiders in there.”
 

Gently nudging him aside, Serena opened the door and reached inside, her fingers skimming along the wall for a few seconds before locating the button to the garage door.
 
The thump of Rufus’ tail against her leg as the door glided along the track told Serena he was just as happy about the prospect of Will coming home as she was.
 
Well, not quite.
 
She doubted his heart was beating as erratically as her was.

“Don’t get too excited,” she crooned softly, “we may have to wait a while.”

She didn’t want to think about the possibility that Will wouldn’t be back tonight.
 
Even if he hadn’t caught on to what she
had
subtly tried to tell him when she sent him away, Serena clung to the belief that he cared about her too much to give up so easily.
 

She closed the door then crossed the room to sit at the kitchen table, surprisingly at peace with herself.
 
Something had changed today, something deep inside where that frightened young girl had lived for so long.
 
The way she felt about McKinley and Will, and even herself, had been irrevocably altered by what she’d learned in the past few hours.
 
McKinley’s betrayal was a devastating blow but she
would
get through it somehow.
 
As for Will…

Serena’s heart leapt when she heard the familiar hum of Will’s car as it pulled into the driveway.
 
Rising unsteadily to her feet, she listened for a moment to assure herself he’d parked in the garage then made her way to the door.
 
An eternity passed before she heard the garage door close, and it was another agonizing eternity before she heard the soft click as the door
leading into the house
closed behind him.
 
Serena didn’t give him time to reach for the light switch.
 
She moved towards him, whispering Will’s
name on a sigh as his strong arms curled around her and pulled her close in a fierce hug.
 
 
 

“Serena, what…?”

“No, don’t say anything yet,” she pleaded.
 
“I just need you to hold me for a minute.”

Nestled against the warmth of his body, Will’s masculine strength surrounded her like a protective coat of armor.
 
She felt safe with him, trusted him…
loved him
.
 
Tilting her head back, Serena welcomed the slow, tender kiss Will gave her.
 
She welcomed the maelstrom of emotions that flooded her senses and the ensuing need for something more.
 
 
 
 

“Being brave doesn’t mean you’re not afraid,”
Will had told her during one of their long talks.
 
“It means forging ahead in spite of being so scared your insides are shaking.”

Serena had nodded in agreement but she hadn’t fully understood it until now.
 
She’d been terrified of leaving the safety of her home to finish high school but
had
forced herself to go to the Institute for the blind her parent’s enrolled her in.
 
And she
was
scared half out of her mind to attend college, but she’d done that too.
 
Living alone in this house and then letting Will move in with her had
also
been acts of bravery; she just hadn’t re
cognized
it before
now
.

This is where the running stops,
she told herself
.
 
This is where your life begins
.

“Don’t turn on the light,” Serena said in a hoarse whisper.

“You think McKinley
i
s going to drive by to see if I’m here, don’t you?
 
That’s why you had the garage door open; to make sure my car
w
as hidden.”

“Yes, and if the house is dark, she
w
on’t have any
reason to think you’re here.
 
I was afraid you wouldn’t catch on that I wanted you to come back.”

Will chuckled.
 
“I didn’t at first.
 
Then I remembered
what
you said before, that McKinley seeing us together only added fuel to the fire.”
 
He leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to her lips.
 
“I would have come back anyway, but then you already knew that, didn’t you?”

“I hoped.”

“You
knew
,” he insisted, “otherwise you wouldn’t have opened the garage door for me. And now that our evening must be spent in the dark, I’m afraid I won’t be much help in the kitchen.
 
Unless
you
consider bologna sandwiches
a meal,
in which case, I suppose I could risk using a penlight
.”

“I
…I
’m
not really hungry right now, are you?”

“I’m fine if you are.
 
Would you like to sit in the living room and talk for awhile?”

“No, I don’t want to talk either.”

“I’m running out of ideas here, sweetheart.
 
If you don’t want to eat or talk, what would you like to do?”

Serena drew in a
deep
breath and pushed the words out.
 
“I want to go to my bedroom.”

“Oh.
 
I’m sorry,” he sounded disappointed.
 
“I should have realized you’d be worn out after
everything
that happened today.”

“That’s
not what I meant,” she said, surprised that her voice could sound so normal when there was an acrobatic performance going on inside her stomach.
 
“I want to be with you tonight, Will.
 
I want you to make love to me.”

Serena’s words hung in the air, her proposition verbally unanswered
.  I
t was painfully obvious by the sudden tension in Will’s body and his continued silence that she
had
just
made a horrible, horrible mistake.

Chapter 11

I want to be with you tonight, Will.  I want you to make love to me.

The burning sensation in his chest began to subside as Will slowly expelled the air that was trapped in his lungs.  Had Serena really spoken those words or had he only imagined them?  Every muscle in his body tensed.  He was afraid to move, afraid to do or say anything that would alarm her.  He wished he could see her face, read the emotions she so often displayed without even knowing it.  Her voice hadn’t waivered, but that didn’t mean she was a hundred percent certain about wanting to sleep with him. 

And he needed her to be sure.  He needed to know there would be no regrets afterwards, and that Serena was doing it because
she
wanted to, not because she thought their relationship would end if they didn’t take it to the next level.

“Maybe we should wait,” he started, as if his heart wasn’t clamoring at the thought of touching her, tasting her; as if his body wasn’t aching to be inside of her.

“You don’t want me,” Serena replied woodenly.

She tried to pull away from him, but Will only locked his arms more firmly around her. 

“
Don’t want you?
  Oh, sweetheart, if you only knew.  All I can think of right now is how much I want to sweep you up into my arms and carry you off to the bedroom.”

“Then…what’s stopping you?”

“Well, for one thing,” he said solemnly, “it’s pitch black in here.  I
would
be lucky to find my way out of the kitchen without slamming one or both of us into the wall.”

Serena’s head fell forward, resting lightly on his chest.  Her slender fingers curled around the material of his shirt and her shoulders started to shake.  For one gut wrenching moment Will thought she was crying, but it quickly became evident that the muted sound she was trying to suppress was a giggle.

“You think that’s funny, do you?”

“You have to admit the romantic gesture would be lost if you smacked my head against
the
door frame.”  She managed to stifle the giggle but he could still hear the laughter in her voice as she tilted her head back.  “Can you imagine trying to explain to my parents why you had to take me to the emergency room with a possible concussion?”

“Better not chance it,” he grimaced.  “I’m not exactly their favorite person right now.”

“That’s not your fault, Will, and you know it. 

“Maybe not, but…”

“I don’t want to talk about my parents,” she was adamant. “Or McKinley.  I want tonight to be about you and me…
us
, just us.”

Will gathered her closer.  “I’d like that too,” he murmured against her cheek, “but…don’t rush into anything you’re not ready for, Serena.  If you need more time, we can wait.”

Will’s heart plummeted when she pulled away from him.  He meant what he said about waiting, but that didn’t keep the disappointment from settling in the pit of his stomach.  He wanted her, there was no denying that, not when every ounce of blood in his body had pooled in his groin the moment her slender frame had pressed into him.  But he refused to pressure her.  Will let his arms drop to his sides, resigning himself to one more night of aching loneliness.  He did not, however, have to let another night go by without telling Serena how he felt about her. 

“I love you,” he said simply.

Serena reached out, her touch light as a feather as her fingertips glided down his arm and curled into the warmth of his hand. 

“I know,” she replied, a slight tremor in her voice.  “I love you too, Will.  I loved you before I was old enough to even know what love really was, but I know now.  I feel as if a part of me is missing when you’re not here, and I know…I
know
, I would never be whole again if you walked out of my life.”

“There’s no chance of that, sweetheart.”

“In that case…” she turned around, “put your hands on my shoulders.”

“I was hoping you
would
say something more along the lines of, kiss me, you fool…”

“Just do it,” she laughed.  “As long as the lights are off, you’ll have to trust me not to lead you into any walls.”  As soon as his hands rested on her shoulders, Serena moved forward.  “We’re through the doorway now and turning right,” she said as Will shuffled along behind her.

Her step never faltered as she led him down the hallway towards her bedroom, which should have sent his raging hormones into overdrive.  Instead, Will started to worry that Serena’s sudden boldness was due to some sort of delayed response to the emotional turmoil McKinley had caused.  Certain he was right and that Serena’s brave front would collapse once they were in her room, Will braced himself for the inevitable.  Any second now she
would
turn around and tell him she’d changed her mind and wasn’t ready to share the kind of intimacy he so desperately wanted with her.

Serena stopped as they neared the bed.  “Will…I hope you don’t mind
,
but…”  She turned around, her pale skin luminescent in the dim light afforded by the moon beams seeping through the lacy curtains.  “Rufus is used to sleeping in here and I think he
would
be upset if you shut him outside the room.”

Will was so relieved she wasn’t shutting
him
outside the room, he wanted to drag her into his arms and kiss her senseless.  Peering through the darkness, he spied Rufus curled up on the floor near the foot of the bed.

“I think he’s already made the decision to stay and I wouldn’t dream of putting him out.  And now,” he drew Serena into his arms, “where were we?”

                       
                                         
***

The moment his mouth closed over hers, a delicious warmth began to spread like wildfire through Serena’s veins.  She melted like a marshmallow over an open flame, her insides turning into liquid goo as Will continued the sensuous assault on her lips.  He took his time, deepening the kiss and engaging her tongue in game of cat and mouse that was so erotic in nature her knees started to buckle.  Her skin tingled; every muscle, tissue, and fiber in her body tingled, but the most overwhelming sensation was the feeling of being
alive
.

There was no fear as his kisses gradually grew more ardent, only love.  And longing.  It filled her completely, heart and soul, the magnitude of it so heady it made her dizzy.  Serena was caught up in a whirlwind, twirling around and around until her cheeks were flushed and she could barely catch her breath before it was stolen away again.  Heat radiated off of his body, and she pressed herself closer with a shiver of anticipation.

“Don’t be scared,” Will murmured, trailing feathery kisses along her jaw line and down the column of her throat.

“I’m…not…ssss…” the last word came out as a breathy hiss and she shivered again, unable to form a coherent thought, never mind translating into words.

Will’s teeth raked over the tender spot between her neck and shoulder, coaxing a soft moan from her when he continued to nibble until she was positively spineless.  There was a mad flurry of butterfly wings in her stomach followed by a series of tugging sensations deep in her abdomen that sent spider webs of pleasure pulsing through her.

She felt Will’s fingers brush against her neck, felt them tremble as he fumbled for the zipper on the back of her dress and slowly guided it down. 

His touch was gentle, his movements slow and measured as he slipped first one strap of the dress over her shoulder and then the other and let it slither to the floor.  Serena tensed for a moment.  Exposed as she was in just her bra and a pair of lacy panties made her conscious of her body in a way she’d never been before.  She drew in a s
harp
breath when Will’s hands glided down her back to the curve of
her
hips, forgetting her nervousness, forgetting everything except the way he was making her feel.

“So beautiful,” he murmured, “so soft, so…perfect.”  He took her hands and held them against his chest.  “Your turn,” he spoke softly.  ”Unbutton my shirt.”

That melty feeling intensified when he took his hands away and left her to the task of undressing him.  Her shaky fingers found the first button and somehow managed to unfasten it then moved onto the next.  One by one she pried each button loose, acutely aware of the scent of Will’s skin and how ragged his breathing had become.  It gave her a sense of power to know she had this effect on him, and when she finally got to the last button, Serena didn’t hesitate to slip her hands beneath the cloth and push it off his broad shoulders. 

“Yes,” Will said when she flattened her palms against his corded chest.  “Touch me, Serena,” he pleaded softly. 

Serena moved her hands slowly across the impressive breadth of his chest and back again.  There was very little hair over his pectorals, but it grew more dense towards the center.  She sifted her fingers through it, fascinated that it could feel both coarse and soft at the same time, and equally fascinated by the smooth skin that stretched over solid muscle.  There was so much to process, so many sensations coursing through her.  She could feel his heart thumping wildly, keeping time with her own racing pulse, felt his chest expand with each harsh breath as he filled his lungs, and the warmth of it on her cheek when he let it out again.

Serena’s hands followed the trail of hair down over abs that were as defined by hard muscle as his chest was until the belt on his pants would let her go no further.  She splayed her fingers across skin that was decidedly warmer than it had been only a moment before.  She liked that.  Liked the response Will was having to her touch and the confidence it gave her to continue exploring his magnificent body.  And it
was
truly magnificent.

As a teenager, Will had the build of an athlete, sculpted from years of playing sports.  Whatever he’d been doing to keep in shape during the years since high school had only improved his physique.  Broad chest and shoulders, bulging biceps that were impressively large even with his arms relaxed by his side, hands that dwarfed her own in size; Will Duncan was undeniably male. 

Serena let her hands wander back to the hard planes of his chest, a little shocked by her own boldness but too enthralled with what she was doing to stop.  A few short months ago she would have been terrified at the thought of being left alone with a man.  But then, Will wasn’t just any man.  True, it wouldn’t take any effort at all for him to overpower her; physically, she was no match for him.  But Serena wasn’t afraid.  Maybe it was because she could still feel how tenderly his strong arms had held her and how gentle those big hands had been as they caressed her bare skin.

“You have a scar,” she said, running her finger along the length of it. 

Will’s hand clamped over hers and drew it away.  “It happened a long time ago.”

“How did you get it?”

“My own stupid carelessness,” there was an edge to his voice.  “Like I said, it was a long time ago.”

His evasive answer and harsh tone stung more than Serena wanted to admit.  She understood all too well what painful memories could do to a person, but couldn’t help feeling hurt that he
had
so firmly drawn the line between his past and the present.  Of course
,
he
had
shared
some
things about his family and childhood.  He’d even amused her with stories about the stunts he and her brothers had pulled in school, but he never mentioned getting injured. 

It must have been a car accident, she decided.  Glass from the windows maybe, or a piece of twisted metal.  What else could have caused a jagged scar like the one she’d felt just below his collarbone?  She wondered if someone else was with him at the time and if his reluctance to talk about it was because they
had
been injured too
.  A
ny other curious thoughts taking root in her head were quickly dispersed when Will distracted her with a long, lingering kiss.

The most exquisite electrical current hummed through her body when his bare chest brushed against the exposed flesh of her cleavage.  He pulled her closer, scorching her mouth with the heat of his kiss and sweeping her away in a whirlwind of emotions and erotic sensations so potent Serena was certain her bones had to turned to gelatin.  The warmth of Will’s hands on her waist should have steadied her but it had just the opposite effect, and she had to anchor her arms around his neck to keep from swaying like a drunkard after an all night binge.