Season of Desire: Complete Edition (14 page)

‘Freya . . .’ His voice caresses my name. I love it on his lips. ‘I’m flattered you feel this way about me. I’d be a madman not to want you – but I’m not going to take advantage of you. You’re young. We’re in a strange situation. Emotions are riding very high. So let’s discuss my conditions.’

‘Yes?’ I’m intrigued as to what they are.

‘First: health and safety. You said your last boyfriend slept around and you had yourself tested afterwards, so I’m assuming you have a clean bill of health.’

I nod. ‘I haven’t slept with anyone since the tests.’

‘Okay. I have an annual health check, the latest was a few months ago. I only have protected sex until my partners are tested and we’re exclusive. I’m single at the moment.’

I’m curious and I want to ask more but I say nothing. I want to know the conditions.

Miles’s gaze becomes a little more intense as he says, ‘So, if we’re going to have sex there’s another issue. Contraception. I don’t have any condoms with me. I assume if you’re single, you’re not on the Pill?’

I look up at him a little coquettishly. ‘Actually, I am. I don’t intend to have kids for a while, so I had a three-year contraceptive implant put in.’ I hold out my arm, showing him the soft underside. ‘It’s under the skin here.’

He nods. ‘I see. Sensible. As long as it doesn’t stop you having safe sex as well.’

‘Don’t worry about that. I’m very safety conscious.’ I smile.

‘It’s just right now that you want to throw caution to the winds,’ he says with a kind of half smile.

‘Well, we might be going to die anyway,’ I throw back. ‘We may as well have fun while we wait for the end. Safe sex doesn’t seem so important when you might not be alive by the end of the week.’

‘I’m going to get us out of here,’ he says firmly, ‘don’t worry about that.’

‘So what are your other conditions?’ I’m being driven to pleasurable distraction by his nearness and my own semi-nakedness. I want him to touch me so badly it’s all I can do not to leap up and take possession of his mouth.

He leans towards me, his blue eyes serious but crackling with something that excites me almost unbearably. ‘Here are the rules. In this hut you’re not going to be Freya Hammond, heiress, daughter of my boss, and I’m not going to be your bodyguard, someone you can order around. Things are going to be very different between us. When we get out, normal relations will be re-established and everything that has happened here will be forgotten. Do you agree?’

My heart is racing now. My imagination is titillated by this idea. ‘I won’t be . . . me?’

‘That’s right.’ His lips curl up into a smile. ‘If you really want me to teach you, you have to be a willing and obedient pupil. You have to do what I say without challenging my authority. You may ask questions as long as it is part of your education, but you can’t gainsay me or question my decisions. Do you understand?’

A curling snake of thrilling pleasure is unwinding in my belly. ‘Yes,’ I say.

‘Do you agree?’

I nod.

‘You need to answer me when I speak to you.’

‘Yes, I agree.’

‘Good,’ he says with evident satisfaction. ‘To help you learn everything I can teach, you have to be prepared to do exactly as I say. But there may be things you do not wish to do, or that you fear will push you to the limit. If you feel that, you may stop the tutorial by requesting
study time
. Okay?’

I nod again, and then say quickly, ‘Yes, I understand.’

‘I want a willing student. You will not regret my instruction. If you are wilful, disruptive, rude or disobedient, I may have to punish you.’

My belly flips and my sex gives a violent judder. ‘
Punish me?
’ I whisper.

‘Of course,’ he says in a low voice, ‘but only if you merit it. Good behaviour will be rewarded, believe me . . .’

A tiny moan escapes me and I moisten my lips, panting a little as I wonder exactly what my rewards will be.
I have a feeling I’m going to like them.

‘Are you in agreement with all of this?’

‘Yes, I agree.’

‘Excellent. But to show that we’re not who we are in the outside world, that my rules are the ones we follow in here, I’m going to give you a different name, one that you’ll go by while you’re my student.’ He stares at me intently for a moment.

This is the most exciting foreplay I’ve ever known – and he hasn’t even touched me yet.

Finally he says, ‘I’m going to call you after your goddess’s season. You’re going to be Winter.’

I nod. ‘Winter. Yes, I understand. Shall I call you Teacher?’

‘No. This isn’t a classroom: you’re too old for school. This is more like private instruction. You may call me . . . Tutor. Yes, I think that’s appropriate. Now, Winter . . . are you ready for your first lesson?’

I lick my lips again. I’ve been ready for a while but I’ve enjoyed this introduction to my new role as Miles’s student. It’s been stimulating. My bud has been inflamed by his induction talk and I feel as though he’ll only have to touch me with a fingertip to set me off into shuddering ecstasy. ‘Yes, Tutor,’ I say.

‘Good. Then we’ll begin. First, I need to know what you’ve already learned.’ He eyes me gravely, his gaze moving over me. ‘Stand up, Winter.’

I get slowly up from my knees and say, ‘I’m afraid my last instructor was not . . . very well qualified.’

There’s a flash of amusement in his eyes. ‘I’m sorry to hear that, Winter. I’ll have to give my attention to undoing his clumsy technique and showing you a more polished way of doing things. I hate to see a woman of your calibre being given a second-rate education. I think you should take off your jeans now. I need to see you.’

Oh boy. I think we’re going to enjoy this game. My education is about to begin.

I unbutton my jeans and slide them down, stepping out of them so that I’m standing in just my bra and knickers, wishing I wasn’t wearing yesterday’s underwear. But I have a delightful feeling that I won’t be wearing them for much longer.

‘You’re very beautiful, Winter,’ he says appreciatively. ‘I always knew you were a fine-looking woman but I didn’t realise what treasures you were hiding from me.’

I look down at my own body. I’m tall with long legs and my frame is slender with a decent helping of curves in the right places. I’m lucky to have inherited my mother’s figure, rather than my father’s stockiness. The sight of my own semi-nakedness is arousing. I feel a wash of excitement at Miles’s evident approval, almost glad that I can make him happy with my body. I’m certain that he can take me to heights of bliss with his. ‘Thank you, Tutor.’

He raises his right eyebrow. ‘Your tone is excellent, Winter. You’re evidently learning to be humble.’ Miles stands up and the way he towers over me makes a thrill of excitement course through me. He’s huge, so masculine. I can’t wait to be possessed by him: I’m ravenous for him. He walks around me, inspecting me carefully as though I’m a prize exhibit or a specimen he’s evaluating for quality. I’m buzzing with the anticipation of his touch but he stays at a distance. When he has circled me, he sits down again on the bench.

‘Winter – come towards me and turn your back to me.’

I step forward so that my legs are almost touching his knees and turn around so that I’m facing the opposite wall and the tiny window, glittering black in the firelight. His hands land lightly on my back and swiftly undo my bra. It drops away from my chest and Miles takes it away. My breasts are free now, each pink nipple already hard with my arousal. I try to control my rapid breathing and the way my chest is rising so fast but it’s difficult.

‘Turn around and let me see you.’ His voice is low but commanding and I obey, turning slowly to face him. His expression is impassive but as his eyes light on my breasts, I see a flicker of desire there. He examines them without speaking for a few moments and then says, ‘You’re beautiful, Winter. I’m going to enjoy your instruction a very great deal.’

Miles stands up again. He’s tall and my head comes only to the top of his chest. My lips part at the impact of his nearness and the warm masculine smell of his body. He looks down at me: in the intensity of his blue eyes I can see desire and tenderness, and they are a potent mix, stoking my need for him to an even greater height.

‘Winter . . . I’m going to kiss you. Let me lead you. Do not move your tongue until I say so.’

I nod.

Slowly he lowers his face to mine. My heart is juddering now, racing with the thrill his proximity is sending through me. My lips are tingling with the desire to feel his pressed upon them. He draws out the moment as he approaches, looking first deep into my eyes and then at my mouth, as though it’s the thing he wants most in the world. His nose brushes my cheek and I sigh with longing and lick my lips again. His skin, raspy with the stubble that’s grown since yesterday, grazes against mine.

Please,
I beg silently,
I can’t stand this. Please kiss me!

But still he takes his time, pressing his face to mine, inhaling the scent of my skin. Then his hand goes to the back of my head – his hand is so broad that he can easily cup my skull in it – and he tilts my face upwards so that he can, at last, put his mouth on mine.

The sensation is blissful and I can’t stop my mouth opening at once under his but he pulls away immediately. ‘No. No – closed for now. Let me open you.’

I obey, closing my mouth so that he can press his beautiful lips on it as he kisses me softly and delicately. My eyes close so that I can concentrate solely on the light, bird’s wing touch of his mouth as he kisses me, not just on my lips but on my face, my cheeks, my chin and even on at the junction of my jaw just below my ear. The kisses are burning hot trails wherever they touch me. I’m trembling with excitement and still he goes on with his soft, entrancing kisses. They’re like nothing I’ve ever known, raising me to a new level of arousal. Then, when I don’t think I can take any more, the kisses change: his mouth becomes more insistent, pressing harder on me, wanting more. He moves his focus to my mouth and lips, and now the tip of his tongues emerges to touch my lips.

Trying to obey his instructions, I keep my mouth closed, letting his tongue run along my lips. He licks me gently, the hand that’s cupping my skull pulling me closer to him. I’m desperate to open my mouth but I use all my willpower to keep my lips sealed as his tongue begins to probe between them.

Then he moves his mouth to my ear and whispers, ‘Now you can open your mouth – but keep your tongue still.’

The whisper reverberates along my nerve ends, sending powerful shivers out all over me. Then his lips are back on mine, his probing tongue pushing between them and at last I can open to him – but I must keep my tongue still, even though I long to respond to his as it enters my mouth. He tastes sweetly delicious, musky and masculine, and he takes his time, exploring me, tasting me back, while I wrestle with the urge to move my own tongue. Then he murmurs into my mouth: ‘You can move now’ and at last I can obey my impulse to meet his tongue with mine. The kiss is dizzying as I lose myself utterly in the delight of his mouth. The hand behind my head keeps me firmly pressed to him, but Miles’s other hand is running over my back, along the curve of my waist and on my hips, smoothing over my skin and making it burn where he touches it.

I’ve never known a thrill like this: the simple kiss and one hand on my bare skin is sending me wild, maddening me with desire. We kiss on, irresistibly hungry for one another, each moment heightening our passion further. I want to press my whole body against his, but he’s keeping a space between us. I can guess that we won’t be moving this lesson on too fast – not yet, at least – but I don’t care. We could kiss like this for hours, as far as I’m concerned. I don’t think I could ever tire of it, as his insistent mouth sends waves of pleasure coursing through me. It occurs to me that the effect on me is so strong, I could even come like this, brought to a shuddering climax by his kiss alone.

Miles pulls away from me for a moment, taking his mouth from mine with the consolation of more hot little kisses along my face. I open my eyes. I feel dazed, as though I’ve been in another world. He’s smiling at me, tender and sweet.

‘You have to know how to kiss,’ he murmurs. ‘These kisses are to warm your passion and fire you up. Later, we’ll learn many different kisses, ones designed for when you are in the heights of ecstasy. Winter, you are definitely made for kissing.’

‘I love it,’ I say, while I think
made for kissing
you.
It wasn’t like this with Jacob.

‘Good. You are a very enthusiastic learner so far.’

‘What’s my reward?’ I ask huskily.

His eyes become stern. ‘Don’t get ahead of yourself, Winter. You’ve only just begun. There’s a long way to go yet.’

I draw in a shivery breath of anticipation.

‘Rewards will come in time. Get them too easily, and they won’t mean anything. You will need to know the value of them before you receive them.’

‘Yes, Tutor. I understand.’

He looks down at my breasts. ‘These are very beautiful. You’re deliciously made. Made for pleasure.’

I lift my chin and push my chest forward, so that my breasts almost touch his jumper. I’m desperate for him to caress them. The pink nipples have darkened to a dark rose, each one hard and ready to be toyed with.