Something Old Something New (Lost Love Series) (Erotic Romance) (2 page)

Matt was the opposite of Will in that regard. For perhaps the millionth time in the past eight years, Mia found herself contemplating what her life would have been like if she had made a different choice. Would she ever have started her bakery? Would she have children of her own? It seemed like a completely different lifetime.

Chapter 5

Because this day was not already hard enough for Mia, Kathleen insisted that she pair up with Will to exit.

“You’re both tall,” she explained. “It will look better.”

“But Zack was standing closer to Matt,” Emily quickly pointed out. Mia loved Emily for trying to protect her.

“Well then during the actual ceremony, they’ll have to make sure to switch,” Kathleen declared. “Can you handle that?”

“I think we can manage,” said Will, sounding faintly amused. Silently, he offered Mia his arm. With some trepidation, she took it. Even just touching his sleeve was enough to send an electric current through her body. He, however, did not seem effected in the slightest.

Together they began to walk back down the aisle. She remembered Emily telling her about his injury, but he seemed to have adapted to walking with the prosthetic quite well. In fact, if Emily had not mentioned it, she never would have known he had been hurt.

“I’m glad you made it home safely,” Mia finally said when she couldn’t handle his silence anymore.

“I seem to recall promising I would,” he said, a slight edge to his voice.

“Yes,” she said softly. “I remember.” Perhaps speaking was a mistake. They walked the rest of the way out of the church in silence.

When they reached the restaurant, Kathleen’s dictatorial nature appeared again. Everyone had been assigned seats.

“We’re not in school, Kathleen,” teased Emily.

“You have place cards for the reception, so this will be good practice,” Kathleen explained, sounding slightly exasperated. “Just sit.” Everyone in the room was wise enough not to disobey.

In retrospect, Mia realized she should not have been surprised that she and Will were seated side by side. It was that sort of day. Emily looked concerned, but Mia shot her a quick reassuring smile to say she was all right. She was not, of course, but Emily should not have to worry about her best friend’s love life on the night before her wedding.

As she sat down, she was careful not to let any part of her body brush against his. Even if he had forgotten her, she could never forget him. Every touch sent fire through her veins. It seemed wisest not to put herself in that position. Instead she focused her attention on Zack, who was sitting on her other side.

She and Zack had a lovely chat. He was an old friend, and talking to him was always so easy. Not to mention the wine – that certainly didn’t hurt either. After a few glasses, she found herself smiling naturally, laughing at everything, and holding onto Zack. He didn’t seem to mind. They had known each other a long time. He knew how physically affectionate she got after a few drinks.

“She’s had enough,” she heard Will say softly. She turned swiftly and saw a waiter with a wine bottle nodding and backing away from her glass.

“I’m fine,” she assured Will. Speaking to him did not frighten her at all anymore.

“One more drink, and you are going to find yourself in bed with that guy,” he commented. His tone was light, as if he were just making a casual observation. His eyes, on the other hand, were steel.

“Trust me,” she said as she burst out laughing. “That’s not going to happen.”

“I know you, Mia,” he told her. “One more glass and you’re in his bed. One more after that and you’ll spend the night vomiting.”

“I’m not seventeen anymore, Will,” she snapped. Her voice carried a bit further than she intended. The whole table fell silent to turn and stare at her.

“Time to go,” he said, standing swiftly. He gently but firmly gripped her arm just above the elbow and pulled her to her feet. She was so surprised that she didn’t say a word. She just stared at him.

“Sorry everyone, I think Mia’s had a bit too much. I’m going to make sure she makes it safely back to her room.” Mia felt him put his arms around her to support her. He had spent the whole evening ignoring her, and now suddenly he was Mr. Knight in Shining Armor?

“Some things never change,” muttered Matt. Emily glared at him in annoyance.

“Thanks, Will,” said Emily, looking at Mia with concern. Mia felt awful. She had tried so hard to keep from messing up Emily’s moment, but here she was, making a scene anyway.

“I’m fine, Emily,” Mia assured her. She tried not to wobble too much as Will led her out into the hallway.

“Easy there,” he said, reaching over with his free hand provide extra support when she stumbled, just outside the doorway. She brushed his hand away.

“What are you doing?” she demanded.

“Walking you back to your room?” He sounded confused as to why she would ask.

He hit the button for the elevator.

“No,” she said. “I mean, why do you even care if I make it back to my room? I haven’t heard from you in nearly a decade.” As she spoke, the elevator arrived, and she leaned on him as they walked into it. “Then, I finally see you, after all this time, and you act as if you don’t remember me. Like I am nothing to you. Do you know how that felt? To walk down that aisle and see nothing but indifference on your face?” Angrily, she stumbled out of the elevator as it reached her floor.

“Come on,” he said with a sigh. “Let’s get you back to your room. What number?”

“621,” she said, handing him her key. He led her to the correct room and opened the door for her.

“Good night, Mia,” he said.

“You didn’t answer me,” she accused him, grabbing his arm as he turned to walk away. “Why are you doing this? If I mean nothing to you, why did you even bother?”

For a moment he was still, and then swiftly he turned, grabbed her face in both of his hands and kissed her. Without even thinking about it, she wrapped her arms around him. To have her arms around him just felt so right. This is where she belonged.

She pulled him into the hotel room with her. The door swung shut behind them.

Mia reached up to put her hands on his neck, but he grabbed a wrist with each hand. Using the weight of his body, he pushed her back against the door, pinning her hands against the strong wood, just above her head. He broke off the kiss, and for a moment, he just looked at her.

“You will never mean nothing to me, you understand?” His voice was so filled with lust that it was practically a growl. She nodded. He leaned his head down slightly to kiss her again, this time thrusting his tongue possessively into her mouth. Her knees felt as if they had been turned to jelly. If his body had not been pressing hers back against the door, she might have collapsed.

As they kissed, he released her wrists, so that he could return his hands to her head. He buried his fingers in her thick golden hair while his tongue ravaged her mouth. Her blood felt like fire in her veins. She felt an ache between her legs, just begging for him to fill her. Will released her mouth and began kissing her neck and shoulders.

“I want you to make love with me tonight,” she murmured. He froze. Slowly he pulled away. She reached behind her to undo the zipper on her dress.

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea, Mia,” he said cautiously, beginning to back slowly away. Mia let her dress fall to the floor. She could see the arousal in Will’s eyes as he looked at her in her lingerie. As he backed away, she closed the gap between them, pushing him back toward the bed.

“Why not?” she asked. She reached down and grabbed his erection through his trousers. He groaned slightly before pushing her hand away. “I can tell you want me.”

“I do,” he admitted. “But you’re drunk, Mia.”

“So what?” she said.

“You can’t give consent when you’re drunk,” he told her.

“You also can’t give consent when you’re 17,” she pointed out. She put both hands on his chest and pushed, making him fall back against the bed. Before he could recover, she climbed on top of him. “That never used to bother us.”

“We were both kids then, Mia,” he reminded her, reaching up to caress her face gently.

“Kids?’ she laughed. “You wanted to get married.”

“I remember,” he said. She could hear the pain in his voice. Her rejection had really hurt him – enough to make him run away for eight years without so much as a phone call to let her know he was all right.

“Will,” she began. “I’ve thought a lot about that night, and I want you to know…” She trailed off, unsure how to continue. Will took the opportunity to roll them over so that she was not lying on top of him anymore.

“Let’s talk about that later,” he suggested. He sat up. “Right now, you need sleep.”

“I want to talk about it now, Will,” she said. She wanted to tell him how much she loved him. She wanted to tell him how many times she daydreamed about what her life would have been like if she had said yes when he proposed. She wanted to tell him everything, but her head felt so fuzzy. She tried to continue, “There is so much I want to say. I just can’t seem to find the right words, and I am so dizzy…” She raised a hand to hold her aching head.

“You need water,” he told her. He got up and filled a glass in the bathroom sink. She had trouble sitting up, so he sat next to her and let her lean on him as he helped her drink the water.

“Better?” he asked. She nodded, and he laid her gently down back on the bed.

He glanced around until he saw her suitcase. After rooting around in it for a minute, he found her nightgown.

“Come here,” he ordered. She crawled across the bed to where he stood. She raised her arms, so Will could slip the nightgown onto her body. Mia looked up at him petulantly. She wanted to be wearing less clothing, not more.

“I don’t want to go to sleep,” she told him. “I want to kiss you some more. I want to feel your hands on my body and your cock inside me.” She could hear how slurred her voice was. Honestly, she was starting to feel sort of tired. Maybe if she just closed her eyes for a second…

“Nice try, but no,” he told her. “I’m not that teenager who still loses control when I hear you say the word ‘cock.’ Go to sleep.” He kissed her lightly on the forehead before getting up and walking away from the bed.

“Wait,” she called after him. At the sound of her voice, he paused. “Please don’t go.” She knew how weak her voice sounded, but she didn’t care. After that kiss, she could not bear the thought of being parted from him. “Stay with me.” She wanted nothing in the world more than to feel his arms around her, holding her close as she slept.

For a moment he stood still, thinking about it. He must have decided that he could not be parted from her either because he deliberately reached towards the wall and flipped the switch to turn out the light. There was enough moonlight coming through the window that he could find his way back to the bed.

She smiled as he sat down and began taking off his left shoe. Then he reached down and took off the prosthetic he wore in place of his right foot.

“I heard about that,” she murmured. “Does it hurt?”

“No,” he answered shortly. Mia reached over to gently caress his back in quiet comfort. Will reached back and held her hand for a moment. Then he let go to take off his bowtie. Soon he was wearing just his white undershirt and his boxers. He slipped under the covers to join her in bed. The last thing she felt before she drifted off to sleep was Will curling his strong body around hers. For the first time in a long time, Mia felt like she was home.

Chapter 6

Mia awoke to the sound of someone pounding on her door.

“Mia!” Emily yelled. “I need you!” Mia rolled over and reached for Will, but her searching hands found only air. Suddenly she was wide awake.

“Mia!” called Emily. “Are you all right?”

“Just a second,” she called back as she hurried out of bed to open the door. Emily burst into the room in a tizzy.

“There you are!” she exclaimed. “I don’t know what to do! The flowers have arrived and they’re all pink instead of purple, and Kathleen is furious, and everything is ruined!”

“It’s going to be okay, Emily,” said Mia, putting a firm hand on each of her shoulders to make her stay still for a moment. “Do you like the flowers?”

“Yes, I suppose they’re pretty, but they’re not what we ordered, and Kathleen said -”

“If you like them, then they’ll do,” Mia interrupted her.

“But Kathleen…”

“Is not getting married today,” Mia reminded Emily. “Will you and Matt be any less married if the flowers are pink?”

“Of course not.”

“Then it doesn’t matter,” Mia said. “I’m going to go use the restroom. You just sit down and relax.”