One Chance (The One Series: Novella #4) (3 page)

“Good luck, Connor.” Paul had turned back to William. “Maybe you’ll have better luck with the bitch.”

The next ten seconds moved in slow motion. I saw William flinch, and he sprung forward without even a second of hesitation. His fist landed solidly against Paul’s jaw, and his head snapped back. The sickening crack signaled that his jaw had been broken. Paul clutched his face with both hands and let out a tortured scream. William seized the front of Paul’s shirt and twisted it, drawing him forward. Very calmly, he said, “I’m giving you a pass this time. The next time I see you, I kill you. Consider this your second chance.”

William shoved Paul away and turned to me. “Let’s go home, Livy.”

CHAPTER THREE

Thirty minute later, William and I were in my apartment, trying to forget about Paul. I watched William nervously as he meandered around my place, looking at pictures and pulling down books from their shelves. While William snooped, I poured us both a drink and wrapped some ice in a towel.

“Get over here,” I said when I saw him reach for my high school yearbook. William debated his next step but ultimately met me in the kitchen. He reached for a glass with his good hand and took a grateful sip. “Give me your hand, Rocky.”

The knuckles on his right hand were bruised and raw. I kissed each one and then placed the ice over them. “Totally worth it,” William said when he saw my pained expression. I didn’t like the idea of William hurting because of me. He kissed my forehead. “I love your place.”

I looked around my small
, but cozy, apartment. “It’s no Connor mansion or mountain house, but it’s home.”

“It is,” William agreed. “Thank you for letting me in.”

I wondered if William had intended the double meaning behind his words. I hadn’t just let him into my apartment- I was also letting him into my life. I had nothing left to hide.

“I couldn’t very well leave you out in the cold after you defended my honor in such a manly way.”
The scotch burned on the way down but it also warmed me. I look another sip. “That wasn’t exactly how I saw the night ending.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” I could tell that William was trying his best not to look uncom
fortable. He had made it clear exactly what he thought of Paul, and now he was trying to be sympathetic to my feelings. He was kind of perfect.

“I’d rather not talk at all, actually.” I smiled. “I think we can use our mouths in more productive ways.”

William chuckled. “Fair enough. I’m open to suggestions.”

I look William’s glass and placed it next to mine. Then I threw the ice down as well and took his good hand, tugging him behind me as I led the way to the bedroom.
I stopped at the foot of the bed, and William’s hands came to a rest on my shoulders. He slipped down the straps of my dress and kissed the newly exposed skin, sending a sharp tingle through my body. I let out a long breath and felt my body relax beneath his touch.

His touch was wonderful- the perfect blend of tenderness and strength. I never wanted anyone as much as I wanted William Connor right then. His hands moved to my back where they unzipped my dress. I shrugged it down my body and let it fall to the floor in a pile at my feet, exposing nothing but bare skin. I heard William suck in a breath.

As I turned around, I had to force myself not to wrap my arms around me. No matter how many times I got naked in front of a man, I always felt ridiculous. But the way William was looking at me chased away my insecurities.

“You are so perfect,” he said, his lips grazing lightly over mine, and then across my cheek and down my neck. His hands moved
from my hips, up my sides until his thumbs circled over my breasts. Then his lips were back on my face and he started kissing me again and it felt like the most erotic act imaginable. His lips, his tongue, his hands- they were what I needed.
He
was what I needed.

He let go of me only long enough to hurry out of his clothes.
I rubbed my hands over his chest, kneading the tight muscles and trailing soft kisses across his skin. Suddenly, there was too much space between us and I pushed my body against his urgently. He responded, wrapping both arms around me, and I lifted my head for another kiss. I could feel every inch of him, warm against my skin. His penis pressed against my lower stomach, still docile for the time being. I stroked it with the very tips of my fingers and William growled against my lips.

I
circled my hand over him and stroked a steady rhythm while my lips moved over his body. William lifted me suddenly, holding me against him as he moved over to the bed. He lowered me down, keeping his body against mine. His lips started at my neck and traced a leisurely path over my breasts and down my stomach. Then he was kissing me down there, his tongue expertly stroking my clitoris. I let out a loud gasp and my hands squeezed the pillow behind my head.

I could feel the familiar flush invading my body and the throbbing was getting stronger. As badly as my body wanted to unfurl, I was even more desperate for us to come together. I reached for William’s face and lifted his head. “Together,” I moaned, not able to form a complete thought. William understood and he shifted over. In my own frenzied state, I
barely noticed him putting on the condom. I was barely aware of anything at all until his erection pressed against the sensitive area his tongue had just left.

I used my hand to guide him in slowly. Once he was in up to the hilt, he steadied himself over me, staring deep into my eyes. When he kissed me, I could taste my own fluids on his lips. His face pulled away from mine, but the rest of him stayed deep inside me.

“I love you, Olivia,” he said, his voice as soft as the blue in his eyes. “More than you’ll ever know.”

I stroked his jaw
line with my fingers and traced his lips. “I love you, too, William.”

He couldn’t know how impossible that felt to me. I hadn’t known I was capable of love any more until I met William. But I had never been more certain of anything else in my life.

William moved slowly, in and out. As his body moved over mine, I circled my hips beneath him, rising to meet him each time he returned. We had been together so many times, but it had never happened like this before. It had never been this slow, or gentle, or loving. I had never thought that lovemaking could be so passionate, and yet so tender. Until that moment, no one had ever caressed my face while looking deep in my eyes and whispered how amazing I was while moving gently inside me.

We moved for each other, urging our bodies to work as one. I could feel my body vibrating as the waves of pleasure came faster and faster. William’s pace hurried and I knew he was close. I grabbed him and pulled him in even further, squeezing him inside me like I was drinking him in.
His forehead pressed against mine, our eyes just an inch apart. The waves crashed inside of me and around him, urging William until he couldn’t resist any longer. Our bodies shuddered and jerked together, just the way I had wanted.

As the aftershocks rippled through our bodies, William kissed me as sweetly as I had ever been kissed and pulled out of me gently. He rolled onto his back next to me and pulled me with him.
I leaned over him, my hair trailing over his face as I kissed him softly on the lips, slowly grappling with the idea that this wonderful man was mine.

“What’s wrong?” William asked as he brushed my hair out of my eyes.

“Nothing.” But that wasn’t entirely true. “I’m sorry I’ve been so impossible.”

William stroked my hair all the way down my back. “What do you mean? You haven’t been impossible.”

“Yes, I have. I pushed you away so many times.” I sighed and pressed my cheek to his chest, calmed by the steady beating of his heart. “I just wasn’t ready yet.”

“Ready for w
hat?” William’s voice sounded hollow with my ear pressed to his chest.

“For you, I guess.” I lifted my head and thought about how to explain it so that he could understand. “Before I met Paul, I believed in love.
Even after losing my parents, I still believed that I would find love someday. I don’t know if I ever really loved Paul, but after what happened with him, I started second-guessing everything. I stopped believing in the possibility of love, and I hated him for that. I wanted to be able to believe again, but I didn’t think it would ever happen. And then you came along…”

“And I rocked your world?” His lips curled into a dazzling smile and I nodded. That was putting it mildly, actually. “Welcome to the club, kid.”

“Have you ever been in love?” As much as I didn’t like the idea of William being in love with someone else, I also didn’t like the idea of him being lonely. He deserved to be happy.

“Besides right now?
No.” William twirled my hair between his fingers. “After what happened to Chris, I had a hard time letting anyone into my life. I know how much it can hurt to lose someone you love, and I didn’t ever want to feel that way again.”

“So how do you explain this?” I asked, grazing my fingers through his thin chest hair.

“I thought I told you earlier.” He tilted my chin up so that he could see my face. “You’re worth it. All the pain in the world couldn’t keep me away from you. I’ve got the swollen knuckles to prove it.”

I kissed
those knuckles and leaned into his hand when he cupped it around my cheek. “Are you really mine?” I whispered, still disbelieving.

“
Forever and always,” he said definitively. “You’re my home, Olivia. The only place I ever want to be.”

William was my home, too. He was my family, my best friend,
my everything. Now that I had William, nothing else in the world mattered. I just wanted to be with him, forever and always.

It took us several hours and another round of orgasms before we drifted to sleep. When I woke up the ne
xt morning, the sheets next to me were empty. I rolled over, still half-asleep, and found William sitting on the edge of the bed. He had been watching me sleep and didn’t seem at all embarrassed to have been discovered. I drank in the sight of him, marveling at the fact that even in his wrinkled T-shirt and boxer briefs, he looked positively delicious. He leaned over to kiss me good morning and I noticed that his hair was damp.

“You showered without me?” I pouted and stuck out my bottom lip. William caught it between his lips and nibbled it gently.

“I need to go in to the office. We both know that when we shower together, not a lot of cleansing gets done.” William tapped my nose with his finger.

I sighed. He had a point.
“True story. Will you be working all day?”

“Hopefully not.”

“I suppose you would like your shirt back?” I started to remove his dress shirt, which I had pulled around me in the middle of the night when I got cold.

William stopped me. “Leave it. In fact, stay right here. Don’t change anything. I’ll be back as soon as possible.”

“I’ll keep the sheets warm for you.” I stretched lazily and William’s eyes traveled from my toes up to the hem of his shirt and he groaned. I winked and said very sweetly, “Hurry back, dear.”

It took another ten minutes for us to say goodbye and once William was finally gone, I grew restless. Knowing William, he would be at the office longer than he said. He was a man that couldn’t leave a task unfinished. I didn’t want to spend my entire day in bed alone, so I took a shower and got dressed. Then I did two loads of laundry, scrubbed the floors and made lunch.
William texted around 1:00 to say that he would be home soon. Two hours after that, I opened the door for him.

William scooped me into his arms and buried his face in my neck, sucking in a deep breath.
“I’m sorry I was gone so long.”

“Don’t worry about. Now we’ll just have to make up for lost time.” I kissed him long and deep, melting in his arms. When he pulled away, he looked torn.

“While I was at work, I got a call from Bob.”

I tilted my head.
“Your brother? Is everything okay?”

I knew that William’s family wasn’t exactly close. They got together for the big holidays, but otherwise William stayed away from them as much as possible. I had met his brother a couple of times and he seemed decent enough. Apparently, he had an eccentric wife that refused to come around the Connor family. I wasn’t sure if that made her crazy or smart,
especially considering how badly William’s mother had treated me.

“His wife took off a
few days ago. They had a fight as per usual and she left, only this time she never come home. I guess she’s never been gone this long and Bob is starting to worry. The kids are having a hard time and he’s starting to panic.” William ran a hand through his hair and I noticed how tired he looked. On top of the work trouble, he had to worry about his brother’s family now.

“What can we do to help?”

“I told Bob I’d come over and watch the kids while he tries to track down Courtney,” William said. “You should stay here. You don’t need to be involved in this mess.”

“It’s your family,” I said simply. “Family is supposed to be a mess. That’s the whole point of families. You’re my family now, William. Of course I’m coming with you.”