Page 92 of Unapologetic Love Story

‘Yes. Obviously. You know we did.’

‘And you didn’t seem that bothered about it, Tom.’

‘We broke up a while ago, Ottie.’

‘So, why her?’

Tom exhaled. He knew what Ottie was trying to get at. Fern had been a Cambridge grad. She had mutual friends with Seb and Ottie. It was part of a rather incestuous time, where everyone knew each other and each other’s others. Everything had felt so staged. As if he and Fern had been playing parts. Standing where they were told to, saying their lines correctly. Then there was Mandy, who’d grown up in the Cotswolds. Her parents were friendly with the royal family.

Raina was nothing like any of them.

‘She seems like a little social climber. That’s not what you need; you need someone of your . . . you know. Your own kind.’

Tom could have laughed. Ottie still believed the lie he’d lived ten years ago. She thought his family thrived with acres of land in the Scottish countryside while he slummed it in a boxy Fulham flat like a faux bohemian. She thought his father’s love of his garden came from a life of leisure and cultivation, rather than a retirement hobby which settled the grief.

The one and only time Fern had come to his hometown to meet his family, she’d been horrified. She’d eyed the betting shops and the job centre and the supermarket with barely contained terror. Tom had realized that it had been a mistake to bring her, then that they were a mistake, period.

‘Raina’s in a class all of her own, Ottie,’ he said dryly.

Loud cheering caused both of them to glance back at the main party. Seb was being hoisted onto two other men’s shoulders. He was downing a bottle of gin in one go. Tom blanched at the sight and glanced at Ottie.

Her expression was impossible to interpret. She watched the rowdy scene take place as if she were a passer-by, who didn’t know a soul on board.

It made Tom’s decision for him.

‘Gotta go, Ottie. Congrats again and say goodnight to Seb for me.’

When he found her at the house in Barnes, she was still in her backless dress but her high heels were gone. They stood in the dim light of the hall and neither seemed willing to speak. Raina decided to use the language neither of them had ever struggled with and kissed him. She pulled his mouth to hers, and every time he tried to apologize, she upped the ante. She put his hands on her breasts. She slid her fingers beneath his waistband to feel how hard he was. He grunted and she made a noise of surprise when he scooped her up and moved them both upstairs.

Hours seemed to pass before he finally spoke.

‘I don’t like when you leave.’

Raina could barely make sense of what he was saying. He was on his back, her thighs on either side of his head as he languidly lapped at her pussy. Their clothing was in a heap on the bedroom floor and she was holding his cock in her left hand as she rocked gently against his mouth, drunk on what he was doing. ‘Why?’

He reached up to grasp her waist, firmly pulling her down to his tongue. ‘You know why.’

She didn’t want to stray into emotionally vulnerable territory again, so she slipped him into her mouth and gently sucked.

He groaned. ‘Oh, fuck, Raina. Fuck.’

Her long hair fell over her face as she made her mouth as soft and wet as possible. She sucked lovingly and smiled against him as he almost came apart. When her toes began to curl, he made a guttural noise and said, ‘Sit on me, sweetheart.’

‘Where?’

‘Either. Both. Just do it quickly.’

She willingly released him from her mouth and turned to mount his cock. They both made sounds of ecstasy and despair as she adjusted to his size. She rocked slowly for a moment, whimpering softly at how wonderfully full she felt. The headboard began to bump against the expensive wallpaper and the bed gently creaked. Closing Time by Tom Waits was playing softly from the record player. Track two.

‘Raina, look at me.’

She resisted for a moment, knowing what she would see in his face. What he might catch in hers. ‘Tom.’

‘Just let me say it—’

‘I don’t’ – she rolled her hips until she felt an exquisite burn – ‘want to talk right now.’

‘Fine, I’ll talk and you listen.’