“Anything you’re prepared to share.”
I peer up, his intense gaze holds firm, and I give over to his request. “It was about four am when my water broke. I remember thinking I’d wet myself.” My cheeks heat, but his grin urges me on. “I ordered a cab and was at the hospital by five am.”
“A cab?” he asks, raising an eyebrow.
I glance down and pick at the flint on my bottoms. “Yeah. I was in labour all day—and so scared. The midwives were great, but being on your own… Having your first baby is overwhelming. Anyway, she was born at eleven forty-five pm.”
He takes hold of my hand, tracing the heart-shaped birthmark below my wrist.
“Marcus didn’t put you at ease?”
I shake my head, biting my lip. “No, he wasn’t there.”
He balks, his eyes landing on mine. “Who was with you?”
I shrug. “The midwives.” His jaw ticks as he grinds his teeth. “My nan was away. She tried to get back for me. It is what it is.” In all honesty, it was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. When I let Marcus know I was in labour, he said he’d come to the hospital, and I’d believed him.
Olly’s hand comes up and cradles my cheek. “Why wasn’t he there?”
I clear my throat. Embarrassment spreads through me like it always does when I think about why. “He was at a grand opening of a new nightclub in the city.”
His eyes go wide. “What a fucking arsehole.”
“He hasn’t always made the best choices, but he’s her dad, so...” I take his hand in mine and pull it into my lap.
“Hell or high water, I’d be there for the birth of my child.” Olly’s statement full of conviction and I don’t doubt him.
But it also stings, because as beautiful as it was bringing Molly into this world, I wish more than anything I could have shared it with her dad. Marcus tries, but his best isn’t always good enough. I make sacrifices for Molly; it’s not even a question. But Marcus is sometimes removed. I wonder if by him not being present when she was born…maybe that bond isn’t there for him the way it is for me. Or all the sleepless nights that followed when I first brought her home. If he were there, too, would he be different?
“What about when you went home?”
Why is he so interested?
“Oliver, you’re full of questions today.”
He leans close, his lips centimetres away. “I want to know everything about you,” he says before brushing them softly over mine.
“It’s only ever been Molly and me. I mean, we have dinner with my parents every fortnight, but it’s mostly the two of us,” I say when he pulls away.
He shakes his head in wonder, his eyes scanning my face. The thing is, when I held her the first time…I never understood unconditional love until that day. It’s a feeling I can’t explain. I never knew I wanted to be a mum, and then she happened, and I knew it wasn’t my choice to make—I was always meant to be her mum. “You never cease to amaze me, Rachel.”
My breath catches in my throat, and my stomach somersaults when he reaches for me, then pulls me into his lap. I can’t suppress my giggle. He is so tactile; I’ve never had anyone touch me the way he does—carefree and without restraint. His lips work their way down my neck, causing me to shiver.
“Is it wrong how much I want you?” he says, his tongue trailing over the crest of my breast.
And then he shifts and pulls my legs on either side of his lap, so I’m straddling him.
The cold air hits my bare flesh as his hands work up the back of my t-shirt, and I break out in goosebumps. But when he kisses the tip of my nose before meeting my mouth with a slow, deliberate kiss, heat rushes through me in waves, the temperature in the room spiking. I grip his hair between my fingers and tug.
His dick strains at the opening of his unbuttoned jeans, and I use the tip of my finger to wipe the trace of pre-cum there.
He stands, and I tighten my legs around him as he walks us towards the door. I nip his throat before I pull his earlobe into my mouth and suck. He pushes me up against the wall, lowers me to my feet.
“I can’t make it to my room. I need to taste you.” His eyes are dark, full of desire. He lowers himself in front of me, hooks my leg in the crook of his arm. And without another word, his mouth is on me. My head knocks against the wall, hard, but I don’t care.
The way his tongue and fingers know what I want and where I need him is almost too much. I want to push him away and pull him closer. And then without warning, I come quickly, almost violently, and I have to bite my lip to stop myself from screaming.
I’m barely coherent when he slides up my body. “This will be hard and fast, but I promise I’ll make it up to you.”
