One Mistake (The One Series: Novella #2)

By: Emma J. King

CHAPTER ONE

The snow had been falling for three days
straight and it didn’t show any sign of letting up soon. The weathermen were predicting at least a foot and half of snow in the city and they were urging everyone to stay inside. William and I were happy to oblige.

The morning after the holiday party, just as the snow began to fall, William
drove me back to my place so that I could pick up some clothes and a toothbrush. We had immediately returned to his place, and hadn’t left since. It was now Tuesday morning, and William and I were drinking coffee and reading the paper in bed.

I
placed my empty mug on the nightstand and watched him scan the business section, trying not to think about the fact that he was naked beneath the luxury sheets that were tangled around us. Every time I thought about William’s nakedness, it led nowhere productive. And we had important things to discuss. “We have to return to work eventually,” I said when he finally folded the paper and tossed it onto the bed.

“Says who?” William stretched lazily. “I own the company. I’m giving you a hall pass.”

“Exactly. You own the company. Therefore you might want to actually run the company.” I poked him in the side, but it was like poking a stone wall and he didn’t even flinch.

“Tomorrow is Christmas. No one is working today anyway.” William snaked an arm around me and pulled me to his body.
I rested my cheek against his bare chest and traced the tips of my fingers down his sternum. He sighed contentedly. “I have other plans for you today, Olivia Harris. Plans far more scandalous than contract negotiations and legal research.”

“You might need to buy a bigger place. We’ve run out of rooms.” In the three days and four nights we had spent together, we had managed to have sex in every room in the house, and it was a big house. “Oh wait! We haven’t done it in the gym. And can we talk about the fact that you have your own gym?”

“It was either a gym or an indoor pool,” William explained. He twined the ends of my dark hair around his fingers. “I thought the indoor pool would be excessive.”

“Rich people problems.” I was pretty sure I would never be bringing William back to my one-bedroom apartment.
I tilted my head back and smiled. “It must be very hard to be you.”

“You have no idea.”

By now my hand had slipped under the sheets and drifted below his waist. “Speaking of hard,” I said as my hand closed around him. “You are insatiable, William Connor.”

“I don’t know
about that. I’m sure you can find a way to satisfy me.” William’s fingers were still tangled in my hair and he tugged on it gently to lift my head.

“I think you may be right about that,” I said, my
grip on him tightening as my mouth was engulfed by his.

William’s hand skimmed over my hip bone and down the curve of
my ass. When he gave it a gentle squeeze, my body began to hum and ache at the same time. I was stuck between a rock and a hard place, so to speak. I was deliriously attracted to William and I wanted him very badly. I wanted to feel him inside me, pushing against me in just the right places. But I was sore. In just those few days, we’d had sex at least a dozen times, and it hadn’t always been gentle. My body needed a break.

William had other notions, and he could be very persuasive. In his eagerness, he tossed aside the sheet that was partially covering our bodies. He started to straddle me but I pushed him away.

“What’s wrong?” he said, looking confused and even more eager to have his way with me. With the sheet gone, I had an uninhibited view of his amazing body. Resisting William Connor was a futile effort.

“Nothing. Nothing at all.” I pushed him gently onto his back and kneeled over him.
As I lowered my body onto his, I could feel him rising up to meet me and I slid lower at the last minute. “I thought we might try something a little different this time,” I said, running my tongue slowly over my lips.

William raised a questioning eyebrow. “Different?”

I kept my eyes locked on his as I slid further down in the bed. William realized what was happening and let out a carnal groan. There was no denying that this was going to be more pleasurable for him than for me, but his anticipation was a complete turn-on. As I closed my mouth over the tip of his erection, I kept my eyes on him, looking up through my lashes. He sucked in a breath and let it out in a quick gasp. “Olivia,” he said in a whispered moan.

I circled my tongue slowly around him. William tasted both salty and sweet and I wanted more. As I took more of him in, William groaned again and jerked slightly. When I felt him tingling at the back of my throat, I closed my lips over him tightly and began a slow retreat, sucking hard in the process. I repeated the process several times, letting my tongue tease the head of his penis each time.
William tangled a hand in my hair as I continued to work, and I could feel him tugging slightly as I moved up and down. I could tell from his writhing that I had him right where I wanted him. I removed my mouth and held his erection in my hands. I was still watching him, and I could see him lift his head in surprise.

The smile that spread across my face was pure sex. As he watched, I slid my wet tongue from his tip, down the length of his shaft. His mouth dropped open in pleasure and his eyes closed. I repeated the move, this time using my hands to gently squeeze his testicles. William’s jaw clenched hard and I knew that he was about to come. His eyes flicked open, and he silently let me know that he was about to release. I widened my eyes to say that I understood and then I closed my mouth over him again, and after one trip over his length, his body jerked beneath me and he released into my mouth, grunting my name again.

I quickly swallowed the sticky liquid that filled my mouth, trying my best not to gag or make a disgusted face. As much as William turned me on, that part of oral pleasure was never sexy. He was panting slightly as I trailed kisses from his now satisfied erection up his torso. I stopped just below his jaw, and whispered in his ear, “Delicious.”

William exhaled sharply and turned his head to face mine. “Holy fuck, Olivia.”

I laughed at the stupefied expression on his face. I couldn’t help but tease him. “Was that good for you?”

“Everything about you is good for me,” he said, his head shaking slightly in awe. “You better not plan on leaving me anytime soon because I don’t think I could let you go.”

“I’m not going anywhere in this snowstorm,” I said, rolling onto my back.

“That’s not exactly what I meant.” William rolled onto his side, and I melted as his warm body pressed against me.
Whether I liked it or not, my attraction to him wasn’t going away. He placed the palm of his hand over my stomach, just below my bellybutton. “You are so amazing,” he said in a near whisper.

“You’re only saying that because of what I just did,” I said. It wasn’t the first time a man had declared his amazement to a woman just after sexual activity. I wasn’t that naïve.

“I’m not,” he insisted. He pushed up on an elbow so that he hovered over me.

The intensity in his eyes caused me to shrink back into the bed.
His eyes burned a steely gray and his lips pressed into a firm line. I could tell he was weighing whether or not to say something else. After a slow blink of his eyes, he said, “Just promise me you’ll stay.”

I nodded, lifting my head to kiss him softly on the lips. “If that’s what you want. I’ll stay.”

William smiled. “Our first Christmas together,” he said. “How romantic.”

“Romantic, erotic. Same thing.” I kissed him again, and then jumped out from under him. “Shit.”

“What’s wrong, Livy?” William jumped out of bed as well and watched as I frantically scrambled to find my clothes.

“I can’t believe I forgot.” I pulled on my underwear and snapped a bra into place. “I’m such an idiot.”

“Livy. Calm down.” William grabbed me by the arm and pulled me to a halt. In my hasty panic, my heart had been racing but now it skipped a beat for an entirely different reason. William was standing before me, naked, wearing nothing but a worried expression and wild sex-hair. I was dying to run my hands through it, but I didn’t have time.

“I have to go, William.”

“Go? Where? Livy, I don’t understand what’s going on.” His troubled face was utterly adorable. I wanted to wrap my arms around him and pull him back to bed.

I placed a hand on his chest and smiled up at him. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be acting like a crazy person, but I have a prior commitment today and I just remembered.”

“What kind of commitment?” William stood watching as I pulled on a pair of jeans.

“Do you remember that place I told you about? The shelter where I help out?” In a fit of anger, I had told William the darkest secret about my past. I had an ex-boyfriend that turned violent, and put me in the hospital. Since then, I had been volunteering my time at a shelter that took in abused women and children.

“I remember.” The clench of William’s jaw said that he was thinking about my ex-boyfriend, not the shelter.

“Today they are having a Christmas party, and I’m sort of in charge of it.” It had been my idea, actually. The shelter had about a dozen kids, and most of them didn’t have a lot to be happy about. I wanted to do something to cheer them up, even if it was just for a day. “I need to be there in twenty minutes to get everything set up.”

I found a clean sweater in my bag and pulled it on. Then I got on my hands and knees to retrieve my boots from under the bed. When I got back on my feet, William was already half-dressed in a pair of dark jeans and he was working on the buttons of his white dress shirt.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

William looked at me comically and said, “It should be pretty obvious, but I’m getting dressed.”

“Why?” I still
didn’t comprehend. “The shelter is only a few blocks away.  I can walk. You don’t have to take me.”

“I’m not taking you.” He had finished with the shirt and was pulling on a gray sweater. “I’m going with you.”

“No, you’re not.” I hadn’t meant the words to come out so harsh, but William’s head snapped up. “I’m sorry. I just mean, you don’t have to feel obligated to go. Really. You should stay here. I’ll be back in a few hours.”

“I don’t feel obligated,” he said with anger in his voice. “I don’t do things out of obligation. I
want
to go with you.”

I didn’t want to argue with William. It was wonderful that he wanted to go, but the shelter was a sacred place. Most of the women and children didn’t trust men. I didn’t know how to explain it to William without offending him. “And I want you to go, William. But you might not be comfortable there.”

“You don’t have to worry about my comfort. I’m sure I can handle it.” William’s eyes flashed at me.

“I’m sure you can,” I
agreed, and lowered my voice. “But they might not be able to handle you.”

Understanding passed over William’s face. “I see.”

“These people have been through a lot of bad stuff and they don’t exactly trust men.” I shrugged helplessly. “I can’t blame them for that. I know it’s unfair, and that you aren’t like those men, but they don’t know that.”

“I get it.” William smiled tightly. “I wouldn’t be welcome there. Rightfully so.”

“No, it’s not right.” I frowned, wishing there was a solution. William was a good man and he wanted to help. Surely he would be the best possible example for these kids that didn’t have a positive male influence in their lives.

“You should come,” I decided. “If anyone is uncomfortable, you can always leave. But if you want to, you should come.”

William tilted his head uncertainly. “Are you sure?”

I nodded confidently. “Yes. I’m sure. Put on your coat.”

“Give me two seconds,” William said, grabbing his phone from the nightstand. “I just need to make a quick call.”

While William was on the phone, I pulled on a coat and scarf and stepped outside. The sun was reflecting o
ff the blanket of snow and I had to squint until my eyes adjusted to the light. The air was fresh and crisp as I sucked it in, and then let it out in a slow puff.

“It’s a beautiful day,” William said as he locked the door behind us. He took my cold hand in his and it began to warm instantly.

We stepped out onto the unblemished snow covering the sidewalk and began to make our way as carefully as possible. All of William’s neighbors were still inside, warm and dry.

“I hate snow,” I said when my feet slid
out from under me for the third time. William kept me on my feet.

“You really need to learn how to walk without falling,” he said with a laugh. He wrapped an arm around my
shoulders and pressed his cold lips to my cheek. “Not that I mind saving you.”

I leaned into him, reveling in his warmth and steadiness. “You may end up regretting you said that. I need a lot of saving.”

He didn’t respond and we continued on in relative silence. Our steps made loud crunching noises as we traversed through the snow. The shelter was only four blocks from William’s place so it didn’t take us long to reach it. It had been converted from an old school and despite being in an affluent neighborhood, it was fairly rundown.