Free A Lesson in Passion: Season of Desire Part 4 (Seasons Quartet) by Sadie Matthews

creeping into my heart. After all of this, it seemed that it had meant nothing to Miles. Maybe a sticking plaster for a wounded heart, but little more than that. We would go home now and things would return to normal.
      Normal?
      I picture my everyday existence with its flurry of activity that really adds up to nothing much: the whirl of socialising, the preening and pampering, the rounds of shopping to keep up with the very latest of everything. And for what? What does it all really achieve? It doesn’t make me happy, I know that. Beneath the cheerfulness I summon up to show my friends, I feel constantly sad and angry – something I can hardly admit even to myself.
      Miles has made me happy. He really has, and not just because of the divine sex he’s introduced to me. Even though I always knew that this was no-strings attached, he’s made me feel cherished and loved in a way I haven’t for ages. For as long as I can remember, in fact. And he’s made me feel protected too. The idea of losing that feeling is like walking naked into a snowstorm. I don’t want to return to the chilly loneliness of my daily life.
      I look at him as he sleeps beside me. He’s turned towards me so that I can see the finely moulded shape of his lips and his long straight nose, his eyes closed. One arm is bent under his head and the other is flung out towards me, the fingers reaching out over the sheets as though he wants to touch me even in his sleep. I reach out my hand and brush the tips of his fingers with mine. His hand twitches and he sighs.
      Oh Miles. What am I going to do without you?
      I tell myself that he’ll still be close to me, that perhaps we can continue our lessons in other places – at home, in planned locations – but I fear that Miles won’t want that. He’s suggested nothing of the sort.
      A tear leaks out from under my lashes, followed by another.
      I don’t want to lose you. I’d give anything to be back in the storm in that hovel, if it meant I could be with you.

Chapter Eighteen
    The next day we pack up to leave the chalet.
      The chef arrives to make us breakfast, as Miles thinks we require a little more than eggs on our last day. He’s a tall, red-faced man with enormous ears, who says little but produces a hearty meal to sustain us on the journey home.
      It’s only when our bags are at the door and we’re upstairs waiting for our cars to collect us that I say casually to Miles: ‘So – what happens after this?’
      I’m sitting on the sofa while he’s standing by the window looking out over the magnificent view, clouded over today with a hint of bad weather to come. He looks ready to be on his way in a Belstaff black leather aviator jacket and sunglasses. My skin tingles at the sight of him, remembering the delicious early morning sex we shared when we woke up. It was not the long, erotic experience of my lessons, but the kind I love almost as much: straightforward but intense as he kissed me deeply, parted my legs and pushed in the hot hardness of his morning erection. I wrapped my legs around his thighs, and we ran a fast course of deep, satisfying fucking that ended in crackling, electric orgasms that exploded swiftly over us.
      I wanted to speak to him then, as we pulled apart in that hot post-sex sweat and dampness, but he was out and striding to the shower almost at once. The time wasn’t right to broach the issue.
      He turns to me now, his expression inscrutable and his eyes hidden behind the mirrored shades. ‘After this?’ He smiles suddenly, making happiness course through me. I’d do anything for that smile. ‘Well, Winter, I think you’ve learned just about all I can teach you for now.’
      ‘I don’t think so,’ I say softly. ‘I think there’s more to learn. And I need to consolidate my knowledge. You don’t ask a girl to take her driving test after just one lesson.’
      He laughs. ‘True.’ Pulling off his shades, he walks towards me and sits