There was a familiarity to their movements that made him want to weep with joy, a familiarity to the feel of her in his arms as he stripped her of what little clothing remained, just as there was a familiarity in the press of her hands against him as she divested him of his shirt and trousers. It was a feeling of home, a feeling of happiness, a feeling of belonging. He knew how to make her smile and make her sigh and make her body arch with pleasure. He knew how to draw forth from her lips quiet gasps, just as he knew how to make Ari bite down on her lip and quellthem. Everything about this was wonderfully, achingly familiar, except for one thing. One thing felt different. One thing felt new.
“Tom,” Ari uttered when he slid inside of her, and it was that, Tom realised as pleasure ran through him, hot and fast like a molten wave. It was the sound of his name — his true name, without the guise of another between them — on her lips, that made this whole experience so achingly familiar and also so blindingly new. Ari was making love with him, and the ghost of Tom Miller was nowhere to be seen, nowhere to be found.
It was just him and her. As magical as it ever was — more magical than it had ever been. Him and her, together once more, without any secrets or lies between them.
Underneath the waves of pleasure, something like gratitude rose inside him, and he took a moment to stop, to slow things down and just look at her. Her eyes met his and she gave him a small, tremulous smile.
“Say it again,” he asked quietly, running one hand over her hair. “Please.”
“Tom,” she replied, still smiling. “Tom.”
He smiled back, before lowering his mouth once more to hers.
“I love you,” he whispered into her. “I love you.”
“Tom,” she whispered back, “I love you too.”
Chapter 23: Came Back for You
The sky was only just turning pink when Ari reached Victoria station. The tube had been sticky and hot, with a few early-morning travellers wearily drinking their coffee as they made their way through the underbelly of the city, but Ari had hardly noticed them. She’d been caught in her own world and thoughts, on autopilot as she made the familiar journey from train to platform, platform to street, and then by foot to Luis and Sebastian’s elegant Ebury Street flat.
She pressed the buzzer once, and then — after a few seconds without any response — pressed it again. When there was still resounding silence, she pressed it again, and again, and again.
“My God,” a voice finally crackled down the intercom, annoyed and sharp. “If this is another flipping early morning delivery of a special edition Barbie doll I’m going to—”
“Sebastian, it’s me,” Ari broke in, leaning her head against the wall. “Let me in.”
For a moment, the line went quiet.
“Ari?” Sebastian crackled again. “It’s... it’s six in the morning, Ari. Reine’s still asleep. She’s fine. Unlike how you’re about to be if you don’t let me go back to bed. You said 8a.m.”
“This isn’t about Reine,” Ari replied. “Please let me in.”
“Ari, we’ve had a genuinely late night here and I’d like to get in another few hours of shut-eye before we hit the airport. Besides, Luis is passed out in a ball of cashmere at the moment and I—”
“I slept with Tom,” Ari admitted, her words blunt. “We had sex.”
Another moment of silence pulsed before Ari heard the door unlock as Sebastian buzzed her in. She climbed the stairs two at a time, her head bowed, and when she reached the third floor she found Sebastian waiting for her on the landing.
“Well, well, well.” He grinned, folding his dressing gown over his middle and looking her up and down with knowing eyes. “So, you’refinallytaking my advice.”
“Stop it and give me coffee please,” Ari replied, walking past him into the hall. She slipped her shoes off — because Luis was surprisingly strict about shoes on polished wooden floors — before poking her head into Reine’s little bedroom. Reine was curled up on her side, her honey-blonde hair in a neat braid, clutching her bunny. Ari smiled at the sight, before turning back to Sebastian.
“Thanks for having her,” she said, but Sebastian only shrugged.
“She’s never a problem. Her relatives, on the other hand...”
“If you mean me, I’m sorry for getting here so early. I just needed to talk and—”
“Not you, you muppet,” Sebastian replied, pulling on Ari’s arm. He led her through to his and Luis’s room, where Ari blinked in surprise.
Marnie was passed out on their bed, curled up on her side, clutching Sebastian’s silk pillow.
“Dare I ask?” Ari turned back to Sebastian, who gestured for her to follow him through to the kitchen.
“We watchedBridgerton. We drank more wine. We thought about making an Uber order for cigarettes—”
“Sebastian!”
