Chapter 20 Skye
SKYE
Miles runs his hand up my thigh and leaves goosebumps in its wake. The rug is soft under me, but not quite soft enough. I stand and Miles looks hurt.
“You good?”
I smile, taking his hand and leading him to one of the living room chairs. “Grand.”
I shrug off my sweater one shoulder at a time. I can’t help but smile at the look on Miles's face as he watches me like I’m the most beautiful woman in the world. When I’m with him, I feel like I am.
My sweater drops to the floor then I remove one strap of my nightgown.
Turning around I remove the other and let the fabric drop to a pool by my feet.
The cool air of the room hits me, making my nipples hard.
I turn around and move my hands up my body, fingertips rubbing over my breasts.
Miles grips the sides of the chair for dear life.
I move my hands down and touch my slit as Miles sucks in a breath. My fingers swirl, the sensation heightened by Miles’s gaze. How many times have I thought of him while I’ve done this and now, like a dream, he’s here. I move one finger all the way inside my legs trembling with want.
Miles unzips his pants, adjusting his growing bulge.
I pull out and place another finger slowly inside. I moan, “Let me see it.”
Miles stands. He quickly tosses aside his shirt, pushes his jeans down, then his boxers, exposing his huge erection.
“Stroke it.” I bite my lip, my fingers still moving.
He obeys, sitting back in the chair, his large hand moving up and down his even larger cock.
Warmth is spreading to my cheeks. I pull my fingers out and walk one slow step at time toward him. He grabs my hand and takes my fingers in his mouth, sucking and emitting a pleasant hum.
“Where’re the condoms?” I ask.
He doesn’t take my fingers out of his mouth, just points at his pants on the floor.
I remove my fingers, placing each hand on his thighs. I spread them apart as I lower slowly to my knees, my face inches from his crotch as I rifle through the pants. Pulling the condom out of the pocket, I rip open the foil and roll it on slow and firm.
Miles’s breath comes out heavier at my touch.
I stand and turn around as Miles reaches for my ass, squeezing a handful.
Slowly, I lower onto him, every nerve ending in my body tingling as I let him in deeper.
Miles’s hands reach around, squeezing my breasts as I move up and down, going deeper each time until my thighs are trembling and he’s filled me completely.
He moves his hands to my hips adjusting the angle, and oh lord he finds a spot that I’ve never felt before. I cry out, “Yes. Right there.”
Miles thrust over and over using his large hands to bring my hips down. I hold the sides of the chair, needing something to ground me.
“Go with it baby,” Miles grits out, moving a hand back to my breast. “Come for me.”
I let go of the chair and cover his hand with mine. He intertwines our fingers as my whole body tenses, my core squeezing around him so hard we cry out together.
We are lying on a big blanket by the fire, sipping wine and looking out at the stars, my body still pleasantly humming. I can say without a doubt that this is the most passionate affair I have ever had. But I have to be more careful.
Something about the way Miles looks at me, the way he leans in, opens me up like a book, and my whole life comes spilling out.
All this talk, the way he held me, nestling his nose in my hair, as we looked at the red deer on the side of the road, feels very un-fling-like.
I can feel the string between us knot together as warm and strong as one of Kate’s scarves.
Nope. We have to keep this strictly physical, surface-level.
Coo-Coo-Ca-Choo, babe.
Miles points to the moon. “Oh, look. It’s a banana moon.”
“A banana moon?” I laugh. The moon is a perfect pointy crescent. “That, sir, is called a Cheshire Cat moon.”
“Ah, of course. The writer whips out the literary references.”
I sit up, letting my sweater fall off my shoulder. “And of course the man makes the phallic reference.”
Miles smiles and tiptoes his finger on my thigh. “Oooh, I like where your head is at.”
I let his fingers roam, but point again to the moon. “Look at it. Can’t you just imagine the furry kitty body around it, and then it disappears, and his smile is all that’s left?”
Miles nods. “Curiouser and curiouser.”
I nuzzle into his neck, kissing the edge of his jaw.
“Who knew quoting Alice in Wonderland got you so hot?”
I kiss my way down his body as he keeps talking.
“I love when she asks the rabbit, How long is forever?”
“Yes! I’ve heard that quote. What’s the answer again?”
“Sometimes just one second.”
“It’s not in any of the books,” I say between kisses, working my way back up to his mouth.
“Are you sure?”
“Positive. Still very impressive.”
We kiss, and it’s like falling down the rabbit hole.
He stands and takes my hand, leading me to the bedroom this time.
It’s our last day on the Isle of Skye. We have to leave this afternoon, so technically, we don’t even get the full day.
We spent all of Saturday in our cabin, our own little “Somewhere Only We Know” or our SOWK as Miles started calling it.
He does it with a fake Boston accent, so it sounds like someone from Good Will Hunting saying “sock”. It makes me laugh every time.
We’ve only left for a small walk to explore the stretch of the loch near us.
Miles looked the whole time for monsters or selkies.
I still can’t believe I told him that about my mother.
Not that it isn’t true—I have often wondered if my mother longed for her singing days the way a selkie longs for the sea, for her life before.
I’m just surprised I told Miles. I hadn’t expected to share so much more than a warm bed with him.
But we’ve talked nonstop—well, except when our mouths were otherwise occupied.
I have to get that in check. Stop sharing every thought in my head with him.
This morning, we’re dragging ourselves out of bed before the sun, off to the fairy pools.
Miles picked the music this morning, so “Annie Laurie” is playing softly over the stereo.
He’s sipping coffee from his travel mug and staring out the window.
The moonlight is highlighting his cheek like a soft kiss.
I pry my gaze away, putting it back on the road.
Truth be told, I could look at him for hours.
I park the car, and we get out. The sky is just starting to turn a pearly gray. Miles takes my hand in his, and we walk down the path.
“The pools aren’t very far.”
A slow, unconcerned smile spreads across Miles’s handsome face. “I’m up for anything.”
We walk on, watching the sky put on a light show just for us.
Pinks and oranges outline the glowing clouds, the colors getting deeper the farther we walk.
This weekend has been perfect. A stone lodges in my throat as the thought echoes in my head like someone yelling in a cave—we have to go back today.
Somehow, we have to figure out how to sneak into the castle and make it look like we weren’t even together.
Rushing water buzzes in my ears, making my thoughts even louder.
We’ll have to pretend we didn’t have this amazing time together.
They’ll shoot their movie, I’ll write my words, and then Miles will leave.
It hits me like a swift slap to the face. Miles is still going to leave at the end of this. I was so wrong all those years ago. Our meeting won’t change anything about either of our worlds.
The fairy pools come into view, the water reflecting the brilliant colors of the sunrise.
“Wow,” Miles says as he squeezes my hand.
My skin is hot from his touch. I drop it. I need to feel something other than my overwhelming feelings for him and this rising panic that none of this is real.
Shrugging off my coat, I kick off my shoes and quickly shimmy out of the rest of my clothes.
Miles’s eyes smolder as he watches me. “What are you doing? It’ll be freezing.”
“Aye.” At this moment, I welcome the chill.
Without another thought, I jump into the crystal-clear pool, the icy liquid stealing my breath, or is it the fairies? I move my arms and kick my legs to get my blood moving.
Miles crouches by the edge and puts a tentative hand in the water. He shakes his head. “No way.”
I smile and give him a little splash, which he dodges expertly.
The water sends ice coursing through my veins, but it is soothing.
I float on my back, my face to the glowing clouds, water filling my ears, and everything else fades away.
My swirling thoughts have slowed. It was always supposed to be an affair. A harmless little fling.
After a couple more minutes in the icy water, my bones start to feel the cold. I swim to the edge. Miles offers me a hand. He takes off his jumper and wraps it around my shivering body. “Your lips are blue. We should get you back to the fire.”
He rubs the sides of my arms. We didn’t bring a towel. Honestly, I wasn’t planning on wild swimming in November. I pull his cardigan closer, get my pants and shoes back on, and we head back to the car at a quick pace.
Once back at somewhere only we know, Miles plops me in front of the fire and runs me a bath in the clawfoot tub. Goosebumps still cover my flesh as the loch shimmers outside.
“Skye, your bath awaits.”
I rise but stop dead in my tracks as something gliding in the loch catches my eye. Barely breathing, I watch as the shadowy figure whirls through the water.
“Skye?”
I glance toward Miles as he comes out of the back.
“Are you okay?”
When I turn back to the loch, it is still as a church on a Tuesday.
I can smell the bath before I see it. The navy blue clawfoot tub is filled with lavender-scented bubbles.
Bubbles higher than the sides. Miles comes over to me and gently pulls my jumper—well, technically his—over my head.
He kneels down, skimming my body with his lips on the way to unbutton my jeans.