has changed. I’m still desperate for you. But then I was ordering you. Now… I’m asking, humbly.’
I stay very still, looking at the floor again, feeling as though everything is balanced on this moment. I don’t know if I’ve persuaded him, but the way I’ve asked feels right to me. I want him to be my teacher, my instructor in a world I’m eager to explore. I know that the condition will be surrendering my power over him – the power I have in the outside world. I wait, desperate to know his answer, my fingertips trembling lightly.
He speaks at last, his voice strangely rough. ‘But something hasn’t changed. I would still be abusing my position of trust if I sleep with you, no matter how much you beg me.’
I lift my head slightly to look at him, hoping that my sincerity will be evident in my eyes.
‘You have my word that whatever happens here will remain a secret. I will never divulge to anyone anything that takes place inside this hut. I give you my solemn promise.’
He is staring back at me, his lips tight and his eyes grave beneath their hooded lids. ‘Can I really trust your promise?’
‘Yes,’ I say in a heartfelt voice. ‘I might be many things, but I’m not a liar or a traitor. I’ll never go back on my word.’
‘You know what, Freya Hammond? I think I believe you.’
‘Then…’ I turn my gaze to him. ‘Will you? Will you be my teacher?’
There’s a long pause. I know he’s thinking it over. He desires me, I felt it this morning, but he needs more than that to agree to this. At last he speaks, his voice low, its roughness gone. ‘There would be… conditions.’
My breathing quickens and the shaking in my fingers gets stronger. A throb of desire swells between my legs.
‘Yes,’ I whisper. I lift my top and remove it in one swift movement, so that I’m sitting there, my skin touched by the orange firelight, the light falling on my breasts as they rise from the cups of my bra. My bruise is still there, dark against my white skin but I hope that this time it doesn’t put him off. ‘I’m ready for my first lesson.’
Chapter Seven
Miles is staring at me, his gaze raking my body as I sit in front of him, offering myself to him. The atmosphere between us has become highly charged. I can feel electrical currents of desire zipping over me, flicking out to the zones of my body that most long for Miles’s touch: my lips, my nipples and my sex. My breath is coming fast now and my chest is rising and falling quickly as I try to control my growing excitement. I’ve been deadly serious in everything I’ve said to Miles: I want to be taught. I don’t want some mindless quick fuck, the kind he thought I wanted this morning: I want something beautiful, something meaningful. I have a feeling that Miles is going to change my life and it is about to start right now.
‘You look very beautiful,’ he says. ‘Do you know how hard it was to pull away from you this morning? I’ve never had to fight so hard to control myself.’
‘It was the same for me,’ I say softly. ‘I’ve been desperate for you since last night in a way I’ve never felt for anyone.’
His gaze is intense and feels as though it is burning right into my skin.
Oh my goodness, if this is what his eyes do to me, what will happen when he actually touches me?
My skin prickles with delicious anticipation at the thought of it. My desire moves up another notch and I can feel the answering throb between my legs. I know I’m already wet and ready.
‘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