Page 96 of The English Professor

‘I have a little. I should have grabbed your hand when I ran off. But... Will you hold me now?’ she asks, her voice fragile.

I wrap her in my arms tightly, cradling her face against my beating heart. We stay like that for ages, neither one of us saying anything, just two hearts trying to find a common rhythm.

She draws away to look up at me. ‘One thing I don’t understand... How did you know where to find me?’

I hesitate a moment before I decide to come clean. If this is going to be a new start for us, I need to put the right foot forward. ‘Candace.’

‘Candace! How? How did she find you?’

‘She got my uni email.’

‘Oh, right.’

‘She was worried. And so was I. Neither of us wanted you to be alone right now.’

Leyna nods against my chest. She says, ‘I wanted to call you but...’

‘It’s okay, Flower. I understand. You don’t have to talk about it now. We have time.’

Leyna rests a moment then jumps up. She runs into the kitchen and comes back with a note which she hands to me. ‘This was here when I arrived. I think it’s from Kenny, your investigator. He was trying to get in touch.’

‘Yes, Kenny called me a little while ago. He had some news about the restaurants.’

She looks surprised. ‘What did he say?’

‘It’s not important—’

Leyna cuts me off, ‘Jack, it’s important to you. Tell me what’s happened.’

I look at her for a moment then start to explain, ‘Turns out, I was right to be worried. My general manager, Daryl, has been running drugs out of the two of them.’ It takes everything I have to say that one sentence out loud. ‘Not all of them, but the ones here in the Lake District. It’s been going on for months and I’ve been a selfish prat with my head in the sand.’

‘You’ve had so much going on at work, you couldn’t possibly have known—’

I put my hand up. ‘No, it’s okay. I’ve not put the time and attention into them, and because of that this was allowed to happen.’

She nods quietly, understanding my need to get this off my chest. ‘What’s going to happen now?’ she asks.

‘Have to talk to the police, I suppose.’

‘Really?’ Leyna’s eyes bulge like saucers. ‘That makes complete sense, of course you will.’

‘Right now, though,’ I say, stretching out on the sofa, ‘all I want to do is sleep.’

Leyna adjusts her body to make space for me and we lie together. I place my arms around her and she snuggles into me.

I say softly, ‘You know, I realised something when you were gone. I miss you when you’re not around. I mean, I really fucking miss you. I can’t imagine you not in my life. Do you think you could ever love a weirdo like me?’

‘I fucking love weird.’ Leyna twists around and lies on top of me. She plants her mouth on mine and kisses me deeply. Leyna tugs at my shirt lapels as she kisses me with pure abandon. My cock starts to stir and I let her know by making low groaning noises.

‘Maybe you’re not as sleepy as you thought,’ she says with a sly smile. She takes my hand and leads me up the stairs and to the bedroom which is warm and inviting. We aren’t talking anymore. We are a sea of limbs and frantic mouths trying to devour one another. This is what we’re so good at. It’s how we work out our feelings, how we come to terms with things. We fling our clothes off like it’s a race to see who can get undressed the fastest. In the bedroom, I pull the green chaise longue so that it’s directly in front of the glass double doors that look out onto the gardens and then lean back on it. ‘Come sit on me,’ I beckon. ‘I need you so badly right now. No one will see,’ I say, nodding towards the view. ‘But I want to know what it feels like to fuck you with beams of sunlight washing over us.’

With smoky, heavy-lidded eyes, she walks towards me, straddling the long chair. She sits on top of me, our faces inches apart. This is what I wanted, what I think we both need—brutal intimacy. Nothing to hide. We’ve bared it all, come clean—time to seal it with a kiss, or a fuck.

I nibble her neck, breathing deeply and inhaling her scent until it coats my lungs. ‘You smell like roses,’ I moan. ‘I knew I called you Flower for a reason.’ I grab her hips and lift her slightly, setting her down gently onto my long, hard length, easing myself slowly into her slick entrance.

‘I’ve got nothing without you Leyna.’ I love speaking to her, our faces together, as she rides me slowly, swaying her hips front to back and grinding herself along my skin. We both want this to last as long as possible. It’s tender and bittersweet and delicious, like a rich velvety dessert you savour rather than devour.

Speaking against her lips, my cock buried deep inside of her, part talking, part kissing I say, ‘Leyna, I couldn’t keep my promise.’

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