“I guess. I suppose it’s getting late.” She sounds wistful, glancing up at the still brilliant sky.
I pull myself out of the water to sit next to her, feeling a little more in control of my urges.
“I’m glad you came here with me.”
“I’m glad you asked me to come.”
We stare at each other for a moment longer, then I stand, offering her my hand. She lets me pull her to her feet, and I resist the urge to take her in my arms. Something has shifted between us, something profound, and I don’t know where it’s going. I just know I don’t want it to end.
We dry off, get changed beneath our towels then gather our things and head back along the trail to the car. Zara is quiet, but it’s an easy kind of silence. She stays close to me and we exchange glances every so often. She’s wearing her red dress again, and I swear I can feel her with every cell of my body.
As we drive back towards the hotel, the sun setting across the ocean, I want this to go on for ever. We pull into the car park behind the hotel, and I can see her getting ready to go, gathering herself up again.
Screw that.
“Come with me for a walk on the beach? It’s too nice a night to head in yet.”
Her eyes widen slightly. I can see her weighing up my question, and I think she knows it could be more than just a walk. I sit back, wanting to give her space, no pressure to choose, nothing to see here. I’m holding my breath again, though.
She smiles at me, exquisite in the fading light. “All right.”
ChapterTwenty-Five
Zara
The sun is almost gone, the sky darkening, the waves reflecting lilac and gold. A breeze blows off the ocean as it surges towards the shore, splashing against the stone barrier. I feel as free as the birds that skim the waves, their wings wide, drinking in the last of the day. It’s as though something deep within me has loosened, something about the night and Myles and the magic of the past few days moving through me, relaxing me.
We almost kissed in the waterfall pools. I knew it was what he wanted. I can’t deny I wanted it, too. I haven’t had any alcohol but I feel drunk, somehow, drunk on the wild landscape, the hissing ocean, the purple-streaked skies. I’m not sure what’s going to happen next, and it doesn’t matter, I realise. That sense of freedom swirls through me, the knowledge that nobody except the two of us knows we’re here.
We leave the hotel grounds, taking the curving path along the base of the cliff. My skirt slides around my legs, the fabric clinging to me like a caress. When Myles’s hand brushes against mine I take it, twining my fingers with his.
Myles stops at a stone bench set into the hillside, the road above us empty, apart from the occasional flash of headlights. The nearby hotel gleams white like a ship glimpsed in the gathering dark, about to head out to sea.
“Shall we sit for a while?”
His hand tugs on mine, gently. It’s as though electricity connects us, my fingers tingling. He sits down, pulling me with him. I almost land in his lap, his hands on my hips as he catches me, one arm coming around my waist to stop me falling backwards.
Then his mouth is on mine.
I don’t even know how it happened. Nor do I care, once the first moment of surprise passes. His lips slant across mine, the kiss deepening, our tongues tangling. He tastes of honey and salt, his mouth hot and hungry. His free hand slides down my back, then caresses my bare leg, his touch awakening tingles along every inch of my skin. I press against him, lost in the feel of him, the strong muscles beneath the linen shirt, his fingers on my skin, the musk and fire scent of him, the hiss of the nearby ocean.
His hand leaves my leg, his other arm still holding me to him as his fingers tease me through my dress, circling my breasts then travelling the valley between. His hand slips inside my neckline, warm against my skin. His thumb rubs hard on my nipple and I gasp, arching against him, my head going back. His mouth traces my jawline, his stubble scraping me, his breath warm in my ear.
“What if someone comes?” I manage to breathe. But my heart is pounding, slickness at the top of my thighs as his hand moves lower, sliding beneath my skirt.
“What if you come?” he growls. “Because that’s what I’d prefer.” He pauses, though, as if waiting for me to give him permission.
Oh God. He needs none. I don’t even care if anyone sees us. I am lost to reason, want him so badly. I reach down, taking his hand to where I need it to be, my legs parting.
He groans, shifting so my leg is across him, so I can feel his hardness pressing into my thigh. His fingers trace across my underwear, then slide inside. I feel his sharp intake of breath at how wet I am, his fingers parting me, his thumb circling my clit then pressing down. I almost scream, burying my face in the curve where his neck meets his shoulder, breathing him in as he plays with me. His fingers slide between my folds then enter me, first one, then two. Oh, I am going to die here, and I will die happy. His arm around my waist is like iron, holding me in place, his cock rock-hard against me.
“Myles,” I sigh, as pleasure builds in me, pressure in my lower belly begging for release. His fingers tease me, circling my clit then entering me, until I can hardly bear it. “Oh God,” I moan, as his fingers continue to slide in and out of me, as I tighten around him.
“Come for me, Zara,” he groans, the heel of his palm pressing down on my clit as his fingers plunge inside me once more. I’m so close to the edge, grinding my hips against his hand. He pulls his fingers out once more, sliding up to my clit, caressing then pressing down again, sliding his tongue into my mouth at the same time as he slips his fingers back into me. It’s all I need. The orgasm explodes through me, taking me as though it’s a wave and I’m floating, utterly at its mercy.
“Zara,” he mutters, his stubble scratching my throat, my chest, as he kisses downwards, holding me while I shudder, pleasure tingling through me from head to toe. “I’ve wanted this for so long. Since we met.”
Since we met. It’s like a shock of cold water, another wave crashing over me. I stiffen in his arms, remembering when we met, who he is. What he is.
