Page 84 of Miles Apart
I nuzzle into her neck and nip at her silky skin. “The forests are dope. There’s good stargazing.”
“Aren’t you full of surprises?” The edges of her lips curl.
I’m an enigma to her, not because she judges how I grew up or carry myself. Emma calls me on my bullshit but sees beyond my layers, straight to my core. I want to expose more of myself so that she feels safe enough to do the same.
I reach for the pail to add more hot water. “Japan is nice. I take two weeks in the Kyushu region at least once a year. There’s a beautiful coastline, hot springs, and historic sites.”
“Sounds amazing.”
“You could come with me…if you want.”
Damn if this woman doesn’t have me nervous as fuck. I never felt the need for a travel partner but struggle not to make space for Emma in my life. I want new adventures with her, for her stubborn ass to give me lip before we christen a room. I wantmore of Emma’s smiles and the chance to see where life takes us. I want to earn more pieces to the puzzle that creates her masterpiece.
I’m about to tell her never mind to save face, but then she turns around and kisses the outline of my mouth. “I’d love to,” she whispers.
Our lips collide on a moan as she rolls into my erection. The tent I rented is spacious enough to fit a tub for the two of us, and Emma proves it when she pushes me into her warmth. Sex without condoms was a mutual decision on this trip, and it’s new territory for us. We never shared such intimacy with other partners—one of our many firsts together.
Emma slips her tongue into my mouth and grinds her hips. “You’re not tired of me yet?” Her body shudders as my fingers knead her nipples.
“I’d follow you to the ends of the earth, kitten.”
With a kiss to her collarbone, I cage her to me and sink further into her. Emma matches me thrust for thrust. We cry out under the moon, scaring the shit out of every forest animal from here to the Pacific Ocean.
Chapter 38
Emma
“Did I not tell you he’d be a disappointment?”
I tear my eyes away from the fabric swatches quilting my desk and look up at Carter, who’s fixing a cuff link in the doorway. He grins at my glare. “A phone call would’ve saved you the time it took to fly out here and be ignored.”
“Maybe if I treated you like an afterthought, I’d get more of your time.”
Carter’s barb reaches its target and detonates. He pushes off the doorframe to waltz into my office in a wheat suit tailored to his frame. He flew thousands of miles to rub salt in my wound; he doesn’t care if it stings.
Miles left. Vanished without a trace or a forwarding address.
It’s a reality I’m still wrapping my head around.
The extended stay in Big Sur was everything I never knew I wanted. Miles and I tethered ourselves to hidden parts of us we rarely uncover. I saw him. I bared myself to him.
Miles was a man at peace, comfortable in nature’s white noise, the sound he uses as an escape. Behind his unapologetic mouth and wild antics is a person with a gentleness reserved for a few.
It was perfect until it wasn’t.
We returned to Malibu Sunday and made love on the beach underneath the stars the entire night. By Monday, it was back to our routines. He left for work, or so I thought, and never came back. His computers, clothes, rental car. All gone. One day of silence stretched into four.
Now every moment of last weekend is on repeat as I look for a clue to explain how Miles could walk out of my life so easily after everything we shared. Something distracted him when he checked his computer before bed on Sunday, but nothing set off alarms or explained his abrupt departure.
Clearly, I was wrong.
I don’t stay in the same place for long. Once I’m done, I’m done.
The confession doesn’t match the parts of himself he showed me.
I want to try, Em.
It’s okay to be scared. You’re not alone…
