She lowered herself as she kissed my stomach and lower abdomen and then she parted my legs and positioned herself. When her tongue lightly moved over my folds, spasms started to take hold of me.
She waited a couple of seconds for me to relax, then applied a little more pressure and closed her mouth over me, using her tongue to drive countless waves of ricocheting sensations all through my body.
I thought I’d lose my mind or burst into a tiny million pieces as I trembled under her and I moaned her name while she continued to tease and flick my clitoris with her tongue until I couldn’t take it anymore.
Uncontrollable spasms took hold of my body as a powerful orgasm seized me and I completely blacked out for several seconds as the sensations continued to reverberate through me.
God, was this how it was like being in love? Did everyone experience such a rush, or such powerful waves of pleasure? I wondered as Amelia lifted herself up and came to rest beside me.
“I don’t want you to love me, Livvy,” she said a while later.
I watched her sweet soft expression and asked. “Do you think it’s something I can control?”
She ran her hand over my cheek and pecked my forehead. “It’s something you must.”
“I can’t, Amelia. My heart has a mind of its own.”
“We can never be more. Even this, what we’re doing right now, it’s too much, too risky.”
“I wish you’d stop being so afraid.”
She sat up. “I’m afraid for you, because I don’t want to hurt you and I haven’t done my best at controlling myself or this situation. I told you, my family comes first.”
I sat up after her. “I get that, but when are you going to start putting yourself first. Your kids are grown up. They’d want you to be happy. They’d understand.”
“No, they wouldn’t. To do something so different would be confusing for them. To be this person, I’d have to give up everything.”
“I’m willing to give up everything for you. I’m willing to risk my parents finding out that I’m in love with you.” I placed my hand over her back and she got out of bed and pulled a bed sheet to conceal her nudity.
“Stop saying that.”
“That I’m in love with you?” I asked as I got out of bed and reached for a robe. “I need you to understand that these are not just words to me. I’ve never felt this way about anyone else.”
“Livvy, can’t you see?” she asked as she headed to my walk-in closet. “You and I can never be together that way.”
“I saw you tonight, Amelia. I saw how happy you were,” I said as I followed after her.
“I was reckless. I shouldn’t have done this. I shouldn’t be here.” She reached for some clothes and started getting dressed.
I felt like she was yanking my heart out of my chest with her bare hands. “I didn’t plan to feel this way. It just happened. When I walked into your office that first day, seeing you for the very first time changed my life.”
“I know right now the lines are seriously blurred, but at the end of the day no matter what I do, I’m still Amelia Gallagher. That’s never going to change.”
I didn’t need the reality check; I knew who and what she was. I knew what she stood for. At that point, I didn’t really expect anything from her. I just wanted her to accept my feelings for her and then we could move on from there. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything.”
I’d probably spoilt everything and judging from the way she was reacting, this was most likely going to be the end of our affair. “Greg’s going to be disappointed his blackmail’s not going to amount to anything.” If there was no affair for him to hold over my head, his blackmail was invalid.
“What did you say?” Amelia asked.
“I said I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything.”
She’d found a pair of jeans, a top and a jacket that perfectly fit her. She pulled her hair over the jacket and approached me. “No, what did you say after that?”
I must have zoned out a bit because it occurred to me I’d mentioned Greg and blackmail in the same sentence. “I said that…” I hesitated. I’d never meant to let her know.
“Greg’s blackmailing you?” she asked.
I turned to face away.
“What’s he got on you?”
I bit my lower lip.
“Damn it, Olivia. Tell me,” she said in a low firm voice.
I didn’t know how she’d take it, but at this point, I had no choice but to tell her. “He thinks I’m having an affair with your husband.”
“What? Why would he think that?”
“A while back he followed me to the mansion and later on to your penthouse. He thinks I’m sleeping with Mr. Gallagher. He doesn’t know… he doesn’t know it’s you.”
“Why didn’t you tell me this sooner? For God sakes Olivia, we were out in public together. He could’ve been following you. He could’ve seen us.”
I could tell she was upset, but I wanted to reassure her and tell her there was nothing to worry about. I knew my brother. Since he believed I was having an affair with Mr. Gallagher, he was too lazy to follow it up with real actual proof. He was probably somewhere getting drunk waiting for his payday.
“He didn’t,” I said as I headed back to the bedroom.
“How can you be so sure?” she asked as she followed after me.
“Because he thinks he’s getting paid and he’s coming back tomorrow night. Wherever he is, trust me, it’s nowhere near us. You have nothing to worry about.” I sat down on the bed where only a few moments ago I’d felt like I was in heaven.
“What does he want?” she asked.
“It doesn’t matter,” I said as I met her concerned gaze. I wondered if it was over the blackmail or the possibility of someone finding out about us. She watched me for a while then headed back to my closet. A moment later, she came out wearing a pair of closed comfortable shoes.
She walked over to me and placed a kiss on my head, lingering a bit. “Goodnight, Olivia.” She walked out of my bedroom and moments later, I heard my living room door close.
I lay down on the bed and replayed our entire night in my head. When my thoughts obsessively circled around the last half hour, my heart started breaking at the possibility of it being our last time together and my eyes started tearing up.
Chapter Forty-Eight
The hardest part of going to work the following day was pretending that the previous night hadn’t taken place, but I was determined to show courage instead of fear. I did my job and performed my duties like it was just any other day. I was keeping it all together and trying hard not to think about the most recent events that had occurred.
There was a part of me that wished I wouldn’t see Mrs. Gallagher that day because I wasn’t ready to face her just yet, but luck wasn’t on my side. I ran into her around midday while I was heading out for a meeting. I wasn’t sure if she was coming in, or going out, but part of me was wishing she was coming in. Once again, luck wasn’t on my side.
“Hello Olivia,” she said.
I straightened up, picturing our situation as a Band-Aid that quickly needed to be pulled off. “Mrs. Gallagher,” I said.
James pulled up a plush Mercedes Benz S-class limo right in front of us and I stared at the luxury car in awe. James usually drove me around in a BMW which was very classy, but this monster of a car was a sight for sore eyes.
I looked at Mrs. Gallagher and wondered if we were supposed to travel together just as James came and opened the door for her. I stood in hesitation, unsure of what I was supposed to do.
“Get in, James will drop you off on the way,” she said.
Quickly thinking on my feet, I shook my head and said, “Its okay, I’ll get an Uber. I don’t want to inconvenience you.”
“You won’t,” she said.
Since I didn’t have much of a choice, I got in the car and sat beside her. She had other drivers. I didn’t see why she couldn’t have someone else drive her wherever
she was going. We didn’t have to share the same car.
“How’s your day?” she asked when we were on the road.
The question prompted my mind to revisit the previous night. How did she think my day was? I’d offered her my heart and she’d crushed it and on top of that, she was seated beside me, wearing that amazing fragrance that I loved and looking as wonderful as ever. “It’s okay,” I said.
She pressed a button on her side of the door and a tinted window came up to create privacy between us and James. “Olivia, I’m sorry last night didn’t go as planned,” she said.
I held my head up high and said, “Its fine, things happen.” I was hurt, my heart was breaking but I was working and I needed to hold myself together. I promised myself I wouldn’t break in front of her.
“Are you okay?”
What do you think? A voice said in my head as I looked at her and smiled. I didn’t want her to see how much the situation was affecting me. “I’m fine, Mrs. Gallagher.”
I stared outside the window, wishing, hoping she wouldn’t say another word. “I’d like to offer my assistance regarding the situation with your brother,” she said.
My hands quivered and I tightened my grip on the contents on my lap to keep her from noticing. “Because you care or because you might be implicated?” I asked.
She was silent for a moment, then she asked, “Does it matter?”
It mattered because I wanted to know she was offering her help because she cared about me. “I guess not,” I said.
“What does he want from you?”
I took a breath and shook my head. “I appreciate you wanting to help, Mrs. Gallagher but with all due respect he’s my brother. He’s family.” I looked at her, silently reminding her of her high family values. “I’ll handle him.”
“Can you at least tell me what he’s demanding from you?” Her soft gaze was pulling at my heartstrings. This was the moment where I’d normally reach out and touch her, or kiss her, but I didn’t know if I was allowed to do that anymore.
“Are we over?” I asked, resentful of how easy it seemed for her to throw everything we’d shared away. I wanted to know what she was thinking so that I could start my grieving process because waiting for something that would never come was probably going to destroy me.
“Olivia,” she said.
“You know where I stand. I just want to know if we’re on the same page.”
“I’m sorry, but right now it’s just too much.”
I didn’t think her answer would hurt me quite as much as it did. Her words tore my heart apart. “I understand,” I said, even though I really didn’t. But, I tried hard to control my breathing so that I wouldn’t seem fazed by her words.
The moment the car came to a stop, I got out before James came to open the door for me and I quickly walked out. I rushed to the venue where my meeting was taking place and headed straight for the bathroom.
I dumped the contents in my hands on the sink, rushed to the bathroom and hurled. I didn’t know why, maybe it was my body’s way of absorbing shock, but after a few minutes, I was fine, a little queasy, but fine.
I got out of the bathroom and went to the sink to compose myself. I rinsed my mouth with some water, retouched my make-up and straightened up. I temporarily put Mrs. Gallagher out of mind, looked through the meeting notes and confidently stepped out and headed for my meeting.
I was glad I didn’t see Mrs. Gallagher again for the rest of the day. The moment it clocked five, I was out of the office. Keeping busy helped because I didn’t think about my breaking heart, but that only postponed the pain.
I figured dealing with it would be much more beneficial to me because it would promote healing, but the moment I was home, alone with my thoughts, I realized heartbreaks were not like ordinary problems.
I wanted to be angry with Mrs. Gallagher, but I couldn’t be. She’d told me all along not to develop feelings for her and she’d constantly told me her family came first but I hadn’t listened. I’d done this to myself. I was to blame.
But how did she expect me not to feel anything for her when she was such a magnificent woman? She’d taken me out of a tiny studio apartment, gotten me exceptional professors, paid off my student loans and now, she had me working at the heart of Price Healthcare, doing everything she’d normally do herself.
Apart from the work-related perks, she’d opened up to me, allowing me to see the real her. She’d told me about her past, about the one great love of her life and she’d touched me in a manner that no one else ever had.
Even as these thoughts crossed my mind, I felt my heart palpitating as my love for her continued to grow. The very idea of thinking I may never touch or kiss her again drove me mad and made me tear up again.
Images of our time together passed seamlessly through my mind. I could hear the sound of her laughter, the look of pure bliss in her eyes, the smooth velvet feel of her skin, the sweet soft taste of her lips and that powerful fragrance she always wore. God, this was torture.
I recalled all our conversations, every single moment she’d smiled or laughed, every time she’d looked at me with her soft blue eyes or brushed her hand against mine and each time she’d slept holding me in her arms.
I groaned in desperation, cursing my selective photographic memory because these thoughts would haunt me for the rest of my life.
How was I supposed to fall out of love with her when the mere thought of her only succeeded in making me love her more? How was I supposed to do so when we worked so close together?
Was she thinking about me? Did she care that I was hurting? Was there any chance she could be just a little bothered? Would she move on to someone else as though none of this had ever happened?
That last thought made me feel like I’d punched myself in the heart with Wolverine-like claws. I flinched in physical pain as I rolled on my bed, staring at the ceiling. I wondered if every night would be like this. Would I lie in my bed, the last place we’d made love, and torture myself with thoughts of her?
Would I helplessly torment myself with questions about where she was, what she was doing, who she was with, and if I ever crossed her mind? Or would this pain eventually come to pass?
Maybe it was so intense right now because it had just happened. Maybe in time, I’d manage to get her out of my mind, maybe even out of my heart. Right now, I just needed to keep myself busy and keep my mind occupied.
I got out of bed and went to take a shower. I needed to go meet my lecturer for my class.
When I was about to leave the apartment, my phone started ringing. I was going to let it go to voicemail but decided to pick it up.
“Hello,” I said.
“Is this Olivia Williams?” a female voice asked.
“Yes, this is Olivia Williams.”
“Do you know a Gregory Williams?”
I was still expecting him to show up later on that evening demanding his quarter million dollars. “He’s my brother,” I said.
“He was in a car accident earlier on today and he’s admitted at St. John’s Memorial Hospital.”
My heart stopped. “What?”
“Ma’am, you need to get down here as soon as possible.”
Greg was in a car accident?
“Ma’am?”
“Yeah, I’m on my way.”
I was still holding the phone to my ear in shock, long after the woman had hung up. I should have asked if the accident had been serious. Oh, God, Greg. I quickly got to my feet and ran out of my apartment.
I hailed a cab when I got downstairs and on my way there, I called Rex and told him to meet me at the hospital. After everything that had happened, I needed someone for support.
I got to the hospital and immediately headed to the information desk. After confirming that Greg was admitted there, I was told to wait for his doctor to come tell me his condition.
“Livvy?” Rex arrived shortly after. I hadn’t told him much over the phone, so when he took me in his arms then pulled ba
ck and started scanning me for signs of distress, I quickly filled him in.
“I got a call from the hospital informing me that Greg had been in a car accident. I’m waiting for his doctor to come tell me if he’s going to be okay,” I said.
“Olivia Williams?” I turned to face Greg’s doctor, an intelligent looking middle-aged man.
“That’s me,” I said.
“I’m Dr. Alex Burgess. Your brother suffered multiple fractures. He’s in the intensive care unit and he’s still unconscious. We’ve done all we can for now. We’ll know more when he regains consciousness,” he said.
“Can I see him?”
“Yes, but for just a short while.”
I took Rex’s hand and was about to follow the doctor when he said, “I’m sorry, but only one person for now.”
“Its okay, Liv. You go. I’ll be right here waiting for you,” Rex said.
I didn’t know what to expect but when we walked into the small hospital room, I gasped in shock. He had bandages all over. His arms and legs were suspended in the air and he had a neck brace, with small cuts and scrapes all over his face.
“I’ll leave you alone with him for a few minutes,” Dr. Burgess said.
I moved closer to his hospital bed and closed my eyes, trying to imagine the pain he must have been in. It was so hard to see him lying there like that. What was I supposed to tell my parents, Sandra and Riley? How was I supposed to break the news to them?
I touched his short hair as I looked at his face. “What did you do, Greg?” I said softly, recalling how earlier I’d been dreading his visit. “You must get better, you hear me? You must do it for Riley and Sandra. They need you.” I couldn’t help wondering if his accident would’ve occurred had I let him stay with me as he’d wanted.
“Ms. Williams?” I turned at a nurse’s voice. “You’ll have to come see him later,” she said.
“I’m here, Greg. I’m not going anywhere,” I said, then leaned down and pecked his forehead.
A moment later, I walked out of his hospital room. I thought I was okay until I got to Rex and completely broke down. What the hell was happening? Everything had been going so well then just like that, it was all going to hell.
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