“And what do you think I’m planning, Will?”
Will shrugged. “I don’t know, Mr. Godfrey. But whatever it is…I’d really appreciate it if you’d stop. I mean… You have Liezel. Why would you need another woman in your life?
“And what do you exactly mean that I have Liezel.” Sinclair’s jaw tightened.
“I’m positively sure you know what I mean. The people in the office aren’t idiots. Have a wonderful night,” he said and walked away, hands clenched into fists.
***
Una sat in the passenger’s seat in silence, her eyes gazing out at the light snowflakes slowly coating the windows. She was a little uneasy, that was much confirmed by her third sigh since they left the party a few minutes ago. Slowly, she wrapped her arms around herself.
Thoughts of Liezel and Sinclair had not left her mind. What would Liezel think if she found out what Sinclair had been trying to do behind her back? And she couldn’t quite understand Sinclair’s sudden interest in her. He seemed determined, and she didn’t like it. Not one bit. And she didn’t trust him too.
While deep into her thoughts, it wasn’t until they reached the exit road and had turned left instead of right that Una realized they weren’t going home.
“Where are we going? You missed the exit road,” she asked.
“It’s a surprise.”
“What—where is it?”
“You’ll see.”
She turned her gaze to the window, staring out at the streets. It started to snow, and she blinked at the snowflakes falling like feathers. Bright lights flashed around the outside of shop doorways, and Christmas trees were resting behind windows everywhere.
Una remained silent for the remainder of the trip until Will pulled over into a vacant spot. Her eyes surveyed the area, trying to figure out where exactly Will had taken her. They were already on the outskirts of Boston, that was for sure.
“We’re here.” Will smiled at her and got out first and rounded the car to open the door for Una.
Slowly, she stepped out, her eyes on the medium-sized house across the street, and by far, the only house she noticed in the area. She looked around and focused her vision against the snow to see any other houses. It was difficult, and she was starting to feel really cold. She just wanted to go home.
“Are we going there? Who lives there?” she asked, eyeing the house to her left.
“No. We won’t be going there.”
Will led her around to the back of the house, following a narrow footpath. It didn’t take them long to arrive at their destination. She rubbed her cold hands together as she waited for him to unlock the door of what looked to her was a seven-foot wooden fence.
“Is that a greenhouse?” Una asked as they stepped inside.
“It is.”
She looked around and, with the aid of a nearby lamppost, saw that the whole thing was surrounded by the fence made of hardwood. The medium-sized greenhouse was sandwiched between two trees. She looked back and saw Will locking the fence from inside.
“It’s freezing. Let’s get you inside,” Will said, and they made their way toward an indoor garden. He dug another key from his pocket and unlocked the door. Pushing the door open, lights flooded from the fluorescent lights overhead immediately greeting them.
With a welcoming smile, he said to Una, “Welcome to my secret garden.”
Chapter 18
His Secret Garden
Will’s garden housed a variety of indoor plants and colorful flowers. As Una walked further into the garden, she saw a row of red roses that were mostly in full bloom, giving off a sweet scent. She leaned and let the flowers brush against her face.
“Do you like roses?” she heard Will from behind.
She turned around to face him. “I think they’re pretty.” She was lightly shaking.
Will frowned slightly. “Let me adjust the temperature,” he said and walked away, leaving her to continue with her admiration for the flowers.
For a few minutes, she surveyed the place, with Will providing her answers to some random questions she asked him about the plants in the room. When her curiosity was satisfied, Will took her hand and led her to a nook where it provided shade from the stream of lights from the fluorescents, the space also had various cushions and thick blankets to make a makeshift bed.
Seeing her smile at him softly, Will took this as her consent to pin her against the wall with no resistance from her. Moving his hands from her shoulders to her hands, he linked their fingers together as he stepped closer to her. His lips lingered over hers, and his blue eyes bore into her brown ones.
“We can rest here for the night if you want,” he muttered.
Una only nodded in agreement. Will lightly traced his fingers up her side, moving up and grazing the smooth, pale skin of her neck. She was growing more and more tense by the second. And quite frankly, she was scared and curiously excited at the same time. She wasn’t sure if these two emotions mixed together were normal at the thought of a looming intimate moment with Will, but her face was flushed as her body grew nervous.
When Will noticed this, he smiled. “Relax, Una.”
Although this kind of intimacy was something that had been screwing his head for the past weeks, he didn’t want to scare or pressure Una into doing anything she was going to regret doing after. It took him a lot to restrain himself from acting or being too bold or too brash despite his nerves biting into him.
When Una didn’t show any trace of concern or hesitation, he pulled back, but only to gently lower her to the makeshift bed. He then leisurely brushed his lips along the side of her jaw, tracing his way to her ear. Una tilted her head back, giving him more access and let out a breathy moan when his tongue darted out and licked her ear.
Una never thought such a lewd thing like this could feel quite arousing…
Will ran a hand down her legs and cupped the backs of her knees, rubbing her skin. Una sighed and bit her lip, throwing her head back at the action. He then brought his mouth down onto her collarbone, biting at the skin while his other hand slid its way back up her face, caressing her cheek.
He dipped his head lower, letting his nose trail against her skin while he moved down from her collarbone. Una bit her lip and closed her eyes, tacitly telling him she was okay with whatever he had in mind. Will didn’t waste time as he lifted the dress over her head and tossed it somewhere on the floor.
Una held her breath in—with nothing on but her underwear—she felt exposed for the first time. She was blushing so hard underneath Will, feeling shy and afraid that maybe Will might not like what he’d see.
She felt his breath against her ear as his fingers were tracing light patterns on the exposed skin above her bra. “I can’t believe that this is actually happening,” Will whispered against the hollow of her ear, his voice deep and thick with desire.
As Will brought his mouth to nip at her neck, one of his hands came snaking its way up to bury itself into her dark hair as the other one trailed a light path down south. He dragged his fingers over the skin above her underwear.
Will’s warm mouth never left her neck as he began to take it a step further and slid his finger further inside her panties—and then stopped. Una gasped and reached for his hair and tugged on the strands.
Will slightly pulled away and stared deep into Una’s eyes. Silently, he leaned forward and kissed her head. Una’s eyebrows knitted in confusion.
“Una, you have no idea how filthy my mind is running right now…the things I want to do to you…” he laughed lightly. “But I respect you, and if you are not ready, if you want to stop and go home, I suggest that you tell me now…”
Una took a deep breath and pursed her lips, and for a second, Will thought she was going push him away and tell him to take her home. But his mind raced when he noticed her hand sliding under his shirt and to his great surprise when he felt her palm came in contact with his abdomen.
Will continued to watch her looking as though she was attempting
to gather all her courage and pour it into her next action.
“Una…” he groaned.
Glancing down, Una slowly dragged her fingers down, roaming the skin above his belt. When her hand went further down, she must have felt him fully hard because her breath caught in her throat. Will gasped in return and pressed into her.
She lifted her eyes to his dark blue ones and said, “I don’t want to go home.”
Will couldn’t help himself but let out a full grin and kissed her cheek. “Kinda hoping you’d say that.” His face grew serious again.
“Liezel wanted to tell me about the first time she did it. I told her to shut it because I didn’t want to hear about it. Now…now I think I should have listened…” Una trailed off and gave him a nervous smile. “Do you think that will hurt me?” She gestured down.
Will had to smirk at this. It was all too adorable in his mind. “At first, it will. But don’t worry, Una, I got you,” he assured her in a husky whisper.
He slightly pushed himself up and reached up a hand to the switch panel on the wall, dimming the light in the room. He pulled her to him, and when she wound her arms around him, any shyness or sense of nervousness started to fade away. He groaned, and his lips found hers again, and in seconds, his warm mouth trailed down her throat as he moved, pulling her legs up and around his hips.
Una inhaled sharply, and Will crashed her lips to his own. She shivered lightly underneath him as his hand gently ran along her thighs, their kiss growing rougher and deeper. When they pulled away, they both stilled, their breaths coming out in deep gasps.
Whatever doubts she had about the pleasures of being with a man, she reckoned she had to shut them from her mind as Will’s hand slowly slid around her waist and then hooked his thumbs in the waistband of her panties and began to pull them down, taking her and their relationship to another level.
Una knew she was ready.
Unbelievably, she was finally ready.
***
Snow continued to fall gently from the gloomy skies—silently and softly settling over everything—when Will lifted his eyes open the next morning. He could already see the white pile outside through the glass walls of his garden. He used to swear at the snow, used to hate winter, and used to swear at the cold. But that particular morning, he was in no mood to swear and feel hatred because sleeping soundly next to him was her.
He looked up and saw the sun’s rays filtering through the thick, dark clouds. It was still early, but he had always been an early riser, a habit his father thought he needed to develop. One of the things his father had taught him and he held on to.
Lying on his side, he pushed back a sad memory of his past and focused on what was currently happening and focused his attention on Una: her brown hair framing her almond-shaped face, downturned eyes, a turned-up nose that somehow matched her plump pink lips that now looked a bit swollen.
He smiled and bit his lower lip as he recalled the night he just shared with Una. And with an idea forming inside his head, he leaned in closer and started kissing her shoulder, his lips caressing her skin.
Will rose up onto his arm and continued to pepper her with kisses, from her shoulder up to her neck, nipping gently as he did so. Lifting his hand under the blanket, he started drawing small circular motions on her hip and then moved across to her belly button, his fingers gently and playfully grazing her skin, and he could feel himself getting hard from the thought of them still naked under the blanket from last night.
Then he heard Una moan, slowly opening her sleepy eyes.
“Merry Christmas…” Will breathed into her skin, his hand slipped down her stomach and teasingly started to stroke the inside of her thighs.
“Merry—” Una paused when she felt his thumb started to move closer to her center. “—Christmas.”
“Did I hurt you last night?”
“At first…but…it felt good after. Really good, actually.” She immediately blushed at her sudden confession.
Will’s hand slid back, and he began rubbing Una’s back instead. “Una…” he trailed off, not sure if it was really necessary to ask her what he was about to.
“Yes?”
He cast her a curious look and took a deep breath. “Why did you let me?”
“Because it felt like it was the right thing to do at that moment.”
“Hmm…”
“Well, you…you made it feel like it was the right to do. You made it feel so…normal and special at the same time. Does that make sense to you?”
He nipped her shoulder in reply. “I think so, yeah. And did you like it?”
“Ask me a more sensible question.”
He chuckled softly and pulled her closer to him and then buried his face in the crook of her neck asked gently into her ear, “Can we then do it again?”
Una’s blush deepened, and then she grabbed Will’s face gently in her hand and pecked on his lips. He rolled on top of her and dipped his head down and started kissing every inch of her body the way he did the night before.
Chapter 19
Secret Meeting
“So basically, I ended the year with a loud bang.” Glen threw his half-eaten donut back inside the box. “If that doesn’t call for a celebration, then I don’t know what will.” Two weeks after returning to work from the holidays and Glen still couldn’t shut up about how he scored two women on New Year’s Eve.
Will made a face. “Hmmm…I don’t think so, buddy.”
“Are you kidding me? What is more important than getting laid for free, Will?”
“Why? Do you usually pay for sex?” Liz breezed into Will’s cubicle with a stack of paper in her hand, joining them.
Will looked up from his computer with a smile. “Oh, welcome back, Liz!”
“Thanks, Will. Hurry up and finish your coffee. Mr. Godfrey will be having a meeting with the Hanswell brothers for a possible tie-in, and he wants your team to be there.”
“Oh, I know the Hanswell brothers!” Glen’s face lit up. “And by the way, to answer your question, Liezel Anne, yes, and so does every guy with a full-functioning dick on this entire planet,” he snapped at his friend.
“Question: where did you and Una go over the holidays? You went off-grid,” Liezel asked, ignoring Glen’s answer.
“Well, we could ask you the same.” It was Glen who asked. “Work resumed two weeks ago. Where were you?”
Liezel glared at him, a bad mood was almost instantly evident in her eyes. “I filed for a vacation leave. And where I went is none of your business.”
“But I’m sure you informed Mr. Godfrey about it. It’s pretty shocking though that he was okay with you being gone for two weeks…”
As Liezel and Glen’s voices drone on, Will took a sip of his black coffee from the cup while he dug his phone when he felt it vibrate in his pocket. The sudden kick of rush in his stomach, seeing that it was a text message from Una nearly caused him to burn his tongue with his hot drink. His girlfriend wasn’t big in sending text messages.
He opened the message, and a grin immediately spread across his lips.
Una: Hey, this is Una. I know you’re at work; hence, the text. We’re running out of ice cream. I’d appreciate if you’d grab one on your way home. Thanks.
Will chuckled lightly at how formal and proper Una’s text sounded with all the punctuations in the right places. Clearly, she was not into ‘text talk.’ He was still smiling silly when his friends finally noticed him.
“Are you laughing at my joke or…” Glen trailed off.
Will immediately locked his phone and placed it back in his pocket.
Liezel rolled her eyes. “Obviously, not at your joke, but whoever he’s texting with.” She smiled at Will. “Is it Una?”
“She’s asking me to grab ice cream after work,” he told her nonchalantly.
She checked her watch on her wrist. “Okay, let’s go, guys. Mr. Eric and Paul Hanswell would be here any minute.” She sauntered back to her desk to place her cup of coffe
e on her desk and grabbed her notepad.
A few minutes later and Will and Glen’s dev team had gathered in the spacious conference room with Sinclair and the Hanswell brothers with Liezel in the corner, taking notes for Sinclair.
As their boss took the front to discuss what their company and his team of developers specifically could do more to the Hanswell brothers, Will’s mind drifted off to Una’s message that he forgot to reply. Sitting behind four guys from his team, he slouched in his chair and casually dug his hand in his pocket and fished out his phone and typed his reply.
Me: Hey there! I will grab a gallon. Is there anything else you need?
In seconds, he got a reply from Una.
Una: For now, just ice cream.
Will stared at her reply for a moment, deliberating whether or not he should just send okay to end the conversation. But it’s not like Una had really started a conversation. She sent him a text message to inform him to buy ice cream. It was not supposed to strike up a conversation, was it? He thought.
Careful enough not to draw attention from anyone, Will decided to send Una something that would still end the conversation but very different than the very annoying ‘okay.’
Me: Coolio. I’ll talk to you later. I don’t want to have you get caught texting in class.
He kept his phone back in his pocket while one of the Hanswell brothers started exchanging ideas with Sinclair. Looking at his boss, he reckoned that the brothers were actually important clients, and as he tried to listen in and focus on the discussion, he felt his phone buzz. He slipped it out of his pocket.
Una: I’m at home. I decided not to attend my classes today.
A smirk quickly spread across Will’s face. Amused, he typed in another message.
Me: I wish I could do the same with work. What are you up to then, little miss?
Little miss? He puffed, surprised at what he just called Una. But he was even more shocked at his girlfriend’s almost instant reply.
Considerably Wicked: A Dark Romance Page 19