The Wicked Mrs. Gastrell (English version)

“What’s the matter? The meeting didn’t go well?” I woke the quiet Cholo.

He was standing at the terrace, shirtless, and sipping his wine. His face is hard and so is his grip on the body of the glass.

He didn’t move until the last of his drink was dried out.

“Nothing that cannot be resolved.”

Sighing, I walked over to him and took the empty glass from his hand and dropped it on the nearby table. The day I thought to be a bomb turned out to be an uneventful one.

After Cholo’s brief introduction to Maverick, everyone talked about business. Cholo didn’t seem to doubt our relationship. I thought my husband would ignore my presence again but I was wrong.

He never let go of my hand even when we were inside the conference hall owned by the secretary. I would have been beaming in happiness if it were not for Maverick’s presence. I was on my toes for the rest of the time that he’s with us because he is a living reminder of my painful past.

I felt naked emotionally and vulnerable in his eyes even when I knew that he didn’t mean any of it.

The whole afternoon my guard was up. I was cranky and moody so when I asked Cholo if I could leave and stay the afternoon at the hotel in Monte Vega, he just nodded and drove me to the place.

He didn’t ask any more questions. He left immediately after personally escorting me to our room and leaving me with hugs and kisses.

He picked me up again for dinner and then went out again for the last-minute meeting. That’s when he came back wearing this dark look all over him.Content property of NôvelDra/ma.Org.

“It’s okay if you didn’t want to tell me.”

I hugged him from behind and pressed my face to his back. I clasped my palms at the bottom of his chest and jokingly pulled his chest hair. I smelled him while closing my eyes. This felt so nice. If only I could stay trapped in this time forever.

“Karina,” he said in a delicious whisper that I secretly smiled.

Oh how I love it when he calls me this way.

“Yeah.”

I slowly crawled my fingers down until I reached the waistband of his sweatpants.

I heard him sigh. My smile got wider. Oh how I love torturing him both when we’re fighting over words and over the sexual tensions in the air.

“Lower,” he growled and guided my hand into his pants.

Chuckling, I drew out my hand away and plucked a strand of his chest hair in the process.

“Ouch!” irit nito.

I blurted out into a laugh.

“You deserve it. Pervert!” I let go of him and walked towards the bed.

“Hey, they’ve done nothing to you. That’s not fair.”

I just laughed again and lay down on the bed. He followed and lied on top of me. He snuggled his face on my neck while I brushed his hair using my fingers. His right hand is immediately on my ear. I sighed.

How did we get here? At first he’s like a dragon breathing fire on me but now he’s like a gentle lamb in my arms. Thanks to that night, I might have him under my leash but the doubtful Karina in me is not buying it. I can sense that there’s more to it than Cholo is trying to show me.

But whatever that is, I can save that up for later use. The important thing is now that I have all his attention.

“Did your friend know about our past?”

“Are you talking about Maverick? Yeah, he knows you,” Cholo answered without hesitation.

“Oh really? As in everything? So that’s why he looks at you like that.”

He raised his face to me and removed the strand of hair that covered his eyes. His grey eyes gleamed under the subtle light.

“What do you mean?”

“The way he looks at you as if he knows that you’ve been crazy about me all this time.”

I grinned at him and played with his fallen hair.

“I think it’s the opposite. He must have seen how you’re so crazy about me.” He leaned and gave me a kiss on my lips.

“That I wouldn’t be embarrassed to admit. You’re so worthy to be so crazy about, Cholo.”

He smiled at me and caressed my face. His eyes traveled down to my lips and back into my eyes.

“I don’t talk about you to my friends. You’re my pretty little secret I wanted to keep forever. I am greedy for information when it comes to you. But I didn’t know that every time I get drunk, you are always the one I talked about to them. That’s how they knew you.”

He looked down on my lips again and smiled.

“The memory of your lips kept me awake at night for years, Karina. I kept looking for your presence everywhere I went. Your scent, your sweet smile, and your face haunted me all these years. You’re imprinted all over me. I can’t sleep because I wanted to feel your heat, your scene. I want to touch you. I despised myself for not being enough for you, that you still chose to run away from me. But now that you’re here in my arms again, I will prove to you that I am enough for you. I am your first man and I will be your last man.”

After saying that, he pressed me with a kiss. It was soft and tender just like how he used to kiss me back then. I surrendered and met his tongue with mine. They danced in a wet sound only they could make.

His lips went down to my neck and trailed kisses on my shoulder. I bit my lips as I continued to hold onto his hair.

“This is just unnecessary,” he murmured while tearing my lacey nightwear.

He didn’t waste time when my breasts were already in view. He held the other one in between his thumb and point finger while he latched on the other peak.

I wrapped my legs around his waist and rubbed myself on his bulge. He traced the contour of the side of my body until he reached the string of my panty.

That’s when my senses woke up. Before he could dipped his finger inside me, I shoved him away forcefully and sat on the bed, my hair in a frenzy and my hands on my boobs to cover them. Cholo was gaping at the edge of the bed who almost fell.

“Wha- what was that for?” he asked after sitting down properly.

I shook my head and smiled at him sheepishly. “I’m sorry if I have to cut short your trip to heaven but I’m not in the mood for this.”

“It’s okay, wife. I’ll do more foreplay.”

He came towards me and pulled me by the hand, which I immediately pushed away because I might be seduced by him.

“No, no. What I mean is I can’t do it for now. I have my period.”

“Oh,” he nodded.

“Yeah so if we continue doing it then that would be messy.”

He smiled reassuringly at me.

“It’s alright, Karina. I understand and I respect you.”

He stood up and disappeared for a moment. He came back with a t-shirt. He put it on me, hugged me and laid on the bed. I was on top of him and it’s my turn to bury my face on his neck while his hand went immediately to my ear and played at it.

“You’re still hard. I can handjob you,” I offered him but he just patted my back.

He groaned and kissed the top of my head.

“You’re making it harder for me, wife. Just sleep. Or do you want me to make you cum? I read that it eases your menstruation cramps.”

I stormed out to look at his serious face.

“You read about what?” I asked with a raised brow.

He giggled and spank my butt softly.

“I just read it out of boredom. It’s the last piece of unread article in my newspaper and the event I’m invited to is still not starting so I have no choice but to read the entirety of it.”

“What’s the use of your cell phone? You could play games or watch videos or go read about stock market.”

He shook his head and just laughed.

“Now this is how you are when your hormones are messed up. That’s why you’re so moody earlier and always in for the fight every day. Does it hurt? Wait, I’ll just call for the hotel to send us some hot compress.”

He laid me down gently and got up for the telephone. I just smiled as I stared at him. He looked at me and then asked.

“Do you want anything? Food? Drinks?”

I shook my head.

“I just want a cuddle,” I said with a lip-bite.

“Oh man,” I heard him say before immediately returning to talking on the phone. When the hot compress arrived, he himself applied and held it for me. He was behind me. I was laying on his one arm while he’s holding the compress in place for me.

“Better?” he asked after a couple of minutes.

“Yeah but the temperature here is uncomfortable. Can you please adjust the aircon?” I requested.

“Sure. Please hold this. You’re used to the cold now. I still remember how you trembled in the cold back then.”

He stood up and followed what I said. I smiled at the memory. Could it be that he really did not forget about me?

But how could he have done that? How could he ignore me like he has never seen me?

“Let me.”

He snatched the compress from me again when he returned to the bed after pulling me from behind. His hand snuck on my ear again and began stroking it.

“You know I could get used to this feeling, Karina. I could get used to everything about you again. It was heartbreaking for me when you left so I could not afford another one. That might not be so masculine to say but it’s the truth there. You might become my habit again and I will not dare break another one again. It’s leaving me useless.”

My eyes were beginning to tear so I didn’t answer. I let the silence fill the void because what else can I say? Yes, he was heartbroken then what about me? Was I shattered? Or was I just simply dead inside?

I can’t feel for years trying to find the will to forgive. I can’t smile genuinely because there’s nothing real to me. I was drained inside and too thirsty for people who will never come back to life.

In short, my heart was more than broken. It was not whole because the people I missed each took a piece of it. They cannot come back to return it so I’ll forever live this life incomplete.

So for now, I’ll just choose to close my eyes and drift to sleep.

When I woke up, we were already in different positions. I was hugging Cholo already while his legs were on top of mine. I slowly removed it and stood up. It’s still two a. m. according to the digital clock on the bedside table.

I opened the door to the terrace and went out. The wind immediately blew and my hair flew. I held on to the railings and looked at the view of Monte Vega. Life here is slower when compared to Cerro Roca. It used to be ahead when it came to property development but now it seems to be lagging behind.

Sighing, my hand searched for my necklace. I took off the pendant and opened the locket. I smiled when their lovely smiles greeted my gloomy night.

“I missed you all. I missed you all every day of this fucking existence.”

I kissed the picture and closed my eyes. My tears started to fall. When would I get to see you all? When would I get to see you all?

It’s still very hard for me to move on until now as if everything happened just yesterday. My nights are still lonely and my days are still sad because you were never by my side anymore.

I looked at the sky and saw nothing but darkness. There is no moon tonight. There are no stars either. It even seems like it’s going to rain. Ah, the Universe must be sympathizing with me. It’s good because they didn’t listen to my prayers many times.

Are you angry because I became like this? I’m sorry because I’ve already started. I don’t have time to turn back. It’s too late to turn my back now. I’m already on fire so I’m going to go all out until I’m consumed.

My eyes feel like crying again so I decided to go back inside the room. When I turned to enter, I saw movement of a creature to the side.

I was stunned when Ymir’s eyes met. He was on the terrace on the other side of the room. He’s still wearing his clothes from the meeting and was holding a bottle of liquor.

Everything came rushing back on me. Everything he did to my family suddenly flashed through my mind. All my suffering because of him suddenly came back like a raging storm. Tears welled up in my eyes when I remembered what happened to my entire family at the hands of his family.

How could a cruel guy like you exist, Ymir? How could your entire family do that to innocent people?

I saw him get taken aback with my tears. His jaws clenched as he drank from the bottle. I saw for a splice of a second how pity and something else crossed his eyes.

I don’t want your pity, Ymir. I want your blood and I’m getting closer to draining every drop of it from your body.

I wiped the tears from my face with my hand and then gave him a middle finger. I left him with a grin before going inside and closing the door. I’m closer to my goals and I’ll get satisfaction after this. It’s coming soon. Just a little flirting, Karina.