Page 59 of Heart Set on You

I guess there is only one way to find out.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Rylee

The days are suddenly rushing by in a blur. Miles and I are trying to make the most of the time that’s left, and we spend every night in bed together. We can’t seem to keep our hands off of each other. We have a lot of sex – a lot of sex – but we do other things too. We watch movies in the theater room at his place, skinny dip in his pool late at night. I even teach him how to cook my Gran’s famous chicken. We spend most nights at home, still trying to keep our relationship out of the public eye. I still haven’t given Miles an official answer about the Artist Awards, and he hasn’t pressured me for one.

It’s weighed heavily on my mind. I want to make him happy and accept his invitation, but I still worry about the fall-out. I’m still too afraid of what America might think of me. There’s something else that’s worrying me even more: the fact that I may not survive losing Miles when I leave him at the end of the month. I’ve grown so used to being with him every day and every night. Staying at his home, surrounded by his stuff, sleeping in his bed – none of that is going to make saying goodbye any easier. Going public with our relationship weeks before it ends also seemed foolish. I need to start putting some space between us.

That would be the smart thing to do. But I don’t have the strength to pull away from him. Instead, I just want to be with him every chance I can. I just want to make him happy.

“I’ve been thinking,” I say, my head resting on the side of the hot tub at his rental house, enjoying the feeling of the jets massaging my back.

“Okay,” Miles asks cautiously. “You’ve got me curious.”

I cut to the chase. “About being your date for the Artist Awards.”

“And...” he asks, his eyes hopeful. He looks like a dream, all tanned and wet, but what really gets me is the way he’s looking at me. He really wants me to say yes.

“I would like to go with you if the invite still stands.”

His eyes go wide, and he breaks into a huge smile. “Of course it still stands! Really? You’re going to come? Because I’m going to be really fucking sad if I heard you wrong.”

“Yes,” I tell him, nervous and excited at the same time.

“Fuck, Ry. I’m so happy right now,” he says, moving towards me through the water. He grabs me by my hips and pulls me onto his lap. My legs straddle his waist while he kisses me chastely then pulls back just a few inches meeting my gaze.

“You know what this means, right? There’s no more hiding it after this. People will know we are together.”

“Yeah, I know. It’s going to be a lot, but I’m tired of hiding our relationship. I’ve thought about it and if it’s something that matters to you, then I think I can handle it. I’m only nervous about them digging through my past.”

I didn’t have to elaborate. I can see in Miles’ eyes that he knows I’m referring to my parents’ accident. “I won’t let it happen.”

I nod, knowing he will protect me in any way he can.

“I’m so damn excited to show you off to the world.”

Excitement surges through me. As terrifying as it sounds, I would be proud to be photographed on Miles’ arm.

My hands run up over his pecs to the back of his neck, where I clasp my fingers together. He lowers his mouth to my neck, gently sucking on my skin, then nudges his nose under my jaw. I tilt my head back so he can continue his trail of kisses down the column of my throat. It feels so good. The night’s crisp air against the hot water of the jacuzzi, and Miles’ cool, wet kisses on my skin.

He fiddles with the strings of my bikini and I get the feeling he wants to rip it right off of my body. He’s already hard. I can feel him against my belly.

I playfully roll my hips over the bulge in his swim shorts, earning a low groan from his lips, his eyes rolling to the back of his head.

Miles runs the tips of his fingers up the sides of my body. “We won’t have to hide anymore. I can hold your hand in public. Or kiss you,” he says. “Or I can push you up against a wall and devour you at the grocery store.”

I shake my head. He’s ridiculous. He leans in, capturing my mouth with his. The kiss starts off slow and controlled but turns sloppy and feral. His tongue moves over mine in slow, soft strokes. His mouth on mine, his erection grinding into my center. Being this close to him, our bodies touching everywhere, feels incredible and I never want him to stop.

But he does, lifting me from his lap, putting me on my knees on the seat beside him. His hard chest against my back. He sucks on my neck from behind me as he gently pushes my chest into the edge of the tub. His hands on my hips. He slides off my bikini bottoms, and his swim shorts go next.

“Mmm,” I moan as he pushes inside of me. I feel my eyes flutter closed and my entire body shudder. He gives it to me slow, and hard. “Oh, Miles. You make me crazy. Keep going. Just like that.”

“Incredible. I know. So good,” he says through kisses against my shoulders. He moans my name as he pushes further into me. The sound makes me ache all over. “Perfect. So perfect,” he murmurs, controlling my body with every thrust.

His hands wander down my back to my ass, squeezing, as he uses the hold he has on me to rock his body into mine from behind. Then he tortures me with a spot so sensitive, I tremble everywhere and soon I’m headed for the finish line. From the sounds he’s making and the pace he’s moving, I can tell he’s on his way too. I rock back into him and that’s all it takes for him to cry out my name. I look at him over my shoulder, watching him unravel and my heart nearly stops. It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen watching him come undone because of me. He turns me into his lap, where we collapse together in the warmth of the water.

I cup the back of his head in my hand and kiss him hard. He kisses me back with the same intensity, controlling the kiss, stroking my tongue. It’s bliss, it’s heaven. Miles Bennett knows how to kiss a woman. He also knows how to set my heart on fire.

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