Page 81 of The Unlikely Pair

My need to touch Toby right now alarms me.

I have to clear my throat twice before I can speak. “So. That happened again.”

I’m expecting Toby to mock me. After all, I was the one who insisted the last time be a singular occurrence.

Then I’m the one who proceeded to kiss him again.

Toby glances up at me with those beautiful eyes reflecting the flames. “I told you before. It’s a necessity.”

“You actually believe that?” I ask skeptically.

He shrugs as he pulls away from me. “I personally count sex as another life necessity. And out here, it’s either with each other or hunting down a cooperative bear.”

“You’re possibly slightly less likely to maul me than a large carnivorous mammal,” I say.

His grin seems almost prised out of him. “Only slightly.”

Seeing Toby’s lips wrapped around my cock was a surreal experience. That infuriating mouth, which sometimes makes me angrier than I think it’s possible to be, bringing me mind-blowing pleasure.

I try to clear my throat again, but my voice sounds raspier than usual as I force out my next words. “So, we’re going to continue this?”

Toby stares at me for a few heartbeats before he gives another casual shrug.

“It’s probably a healthy way to relieve some of the…tension between us, right? It doesn’t have to be a big deal.”

I stare at him, his words echoing in my head.

It doesn’t have to be a big deal.

Me, the leader of the Conservative Party, engaging in sexual encounters with a Labour MP, a male Labour MP at that, would normally be an immensely big deal. It’s basically the first chapter inHow to Irreparably Damage Your Political Career.

However, there isn’t exactly a profusion of tabloid reporters out here to catch us.

But scandals don’t need to make the tabloids to ruin careers. I know that all too well.

One of the most vivid memories of my teenage years is walking in just as my father was finishing a phone call.

“Yes. I understand. Thank you for letting me know,” he’d said.

Then he’d dropped the phone, clutching the edge of the kitchen bench like he needed it for support, his shoulders hunched.

I’d stepped forward. “What happened?”

My father looked up at me, his eyes devoid of their usual life.

“That was the chairperson of the Conservative Party. He’s no longer supporting my leadership bid.”

I had never seen my father so defeated.

Years later, I caught whiffs of what had spooked my father’s supporters. There’d been rumors about my father having a mistress in London. The last thing the Conservative Party needed was another sex scandal.

I’ve never asked him whether or not the rumors were true. I don’t want to know.

But with Toby and me, when we make it back to civilization, the only way anyone would find out about us would be if Toby divulged the information.

“This has to remain between us,” I say.

Toby makes an exaggerated show of looking around the clearing. “But there are so many people around here to tell. Actually, those wolves did remind me of reporters. Do you think one of them works forThe Daily Chronicle?”