I can’t believe how mind-blowing the sex is with Skylar. I’ve always wanted her, thinking she was the hottest thing I’ve ever seen, but sex with her is like something from a fantasy. I’ve had women before, but it’s never been this interesting, this inventive, or this orgasmic.

When she’s on top of me, I must control myself if I don’t want to lose it inside of her right away, no matter what we’re doing, fucking hard or doing something that I would rather define as making love.

And it’s the case again. I’m so close to orgasm, I’m nervous I might lose it without warning. When I do come inside of her, I want to know about it before it happens. I want to be ready. With her on my lap, her breasts in my hands, her nipples hard, and her moans filling the sauna, I don’t think I’ll know when until it happens.

I let go of her breasts and put my hands on her hips, stilling her movements. She stops, hesitant. She gets up without me having to ask, and I slip out of her with a pop. I’m hard, straining, and throbbing. I’m about to have a release. My balls are full, and the desire inside me threatens to choke me.

I get up and pull her against me, kissing her hard.

“Turn around,” I say in a throaty voice.

I’ve been demanding today. She doesn’t seem to mind. In fact, when she’s not playing along right into my hands, she’s making demands of her own. My cock presses up against her stomach, and I know I’m slick with our sex. It’s messy today, with me smearing our fluids between us and the sweat on both our skins from the heat. Her hair hangs in little strands, damp now, and she looks like a wet dream.

I reach down, sliding my hands along her body toward her thighs. Her body is slippery. I hold onto her, brace my legs, and pick her up. She squeals, the lift unexpected. Her ass is perfectly above my cock, right where I want her.

I lower her down onto me, and she slides right onto my cock. I couldn’t have planned it better myself.

As soon as she’s on me, I start bouncing her up and down on my cock. She cries out, her breath pushed out of her lungs with every bounce. Her breasts are against my chest, and I can feel her body tightening. It won’t be long before I tip her over the edge again, and like this, I can control my own urges well enough to keep going a while.

When she orgasms again, I feel it coming like a wave. Her body tightens around mine, and her cries are shaky because I’m still bouncing her. She curls her body around mine, her arms tight around my neck, and her legs wrapped around my hips.

When her orgasm fades, I pick her up to slip out of her and set her down on the floor. I turn her around.

“From behind, angel,” I whisper in her ear.

“You like doing it from behind,” she says, smiling.

I nod. “Your ass is the best I’ve ever seen. I want to look at it as I’m fucking you. I love fucking you from behind.”

She blushes. It’s endearing. I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen a woman blush when I compliment her during sex. She turns around and bends over, pushing out her ass. She wiggles it for me, and I groan.

I push my fingers between her legs to find her entrance and guide my cock toward her. When I push into her, she cries out. I slide in and out slowly. Her body is even tighter now after the second orgasm, and judging by her moans, it’s more sensitive, too.

I know that it will be more intense this way, that I won’t hurt her when I pick up the pace.

So, I do. I fuck her harder and harder. Her body rocks back and forth. Her wet hair clings to her back, I know her breasts are swinging back and forth, and she arches her back so I have a wonderful view of her ass.

I can hear my balls slapping against her pussy, and it makes me so hot I can’t hold back anymore. I thrust deep into her and release my load, pumping into her. She cries out and shudders. I don’t think she’s orgasming again, but it’s an echo, and I’ll take it.

I empty myself out inside of her, and she moans and gasps. Finally, when it’s all over, I slip out of her. She turns and sits down on the bench. She’s out of breath, her chest rising and falling. I collapse on the bench next to her, and we sit together, breathing hard. She’s fantastic. Sex with her is like a fantasy, a dream come true.

I lean toward her again and kiss her. The kiss is deep and sensual. My tongue is in her mouth, and it’s like we’re sealing what we just did.

She leans against me. Her breasts are against my chest again. Her body is so close, but it isn’t about sex now. It’s about being together, about the physical and emotional bond that we’re forging between us.

“You’re fantastic,” I say to her when we break the kiss.

She smiles. “You’re pretty great, too,” she says. “And you’re pretty damn good in bed. Or in a sauna. Or wherever.”

She smiles at me, and I chuckle. God, I love this woman. The moment I think it, I know that it’s true. I’ve felt something for her for a long time, but now that we’re fucking so often, it’s becoming more and more intense. And with Paul kicking her out of the house and the marriage voided, there might just be a chance for us.

It’s still just a maybe, but it’s so much more than I’ve had before.

We leave the sauna through the bathroom area, rinsing ourselves off first. It’s intimate being in the shower with her. The water is warm and steamy. Sweat and sex trickles off our skins and swirls into the drain.

When we’re done, we dry off and walk back to the hot tub where our clothes lie in piles, forgotten in the throes of passion. I take two robes from the hooks and hand one to Skylar. She wraps herself in the thick robe before collecting her clothes. We walk up the stairs, back to the kitchen.

“Are you hungry?” I ask.

She shakes her head. “Just tired.”

I nod. It’s dark now. I switch off lights as we walk through the house. We climb the stairs to the second floor where the main bedroom awaits us. I close the curtains over the large, full-length window. Skylar switches on the bedside lamps before I switch off the main lights. The main bedroom is decorated with all-wood furniture and quilts on the bed that gives it a mountain feel. In the large bed, cuddled up in the thick blankets, Skylar looks petite and delicate. She shed her robe, but she didn’t bother putting on pajamas.

I do the same, climbing under the covers with her naked. She shifts toward me and presses her body up against mine. This time, it’s not sexual. It’s personal, it’s intimate, but she feels like someone that understands me on a different level, someone I can share my deepest thoughts with. Not someone I just want to fuck.

Having someone like this in my life is new and different. I’ve fucked many women, but being with someone that I feel understands me is new. New and wonderful.

I close my eyes, the sound of her rhythmic breathing lulling me to sleep, and I give into the peaceful darkness that closes around us.

When I open my eyes, the room is bathed in a golden light through the creamy curtains. Skylar isn’t in bed next to me. I get up and pull on track suit pants and a long-sleeved shirt. The air has a chill in it that you can only feel this far into the mountains.

I pull open the curtains and look out over the landscape. I spot Skylar at the river’s edge. She’s dressed in black boots, jeans, and a black coat. Her hair is pulled into a braid.

I pull shoes on my feet and go out to find her.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” I ask when I walk closer to her.

She looks over her shoulder at me. She’s not wearing any makeup; her cheeks are rosy in the cold air, and her eyes are a cerulean blue. She smiles and out here, with the world wild all around us, she’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.

“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to this,” she said. “Even if I lived here, this would get me, every day.”

I nod and look out over the scenery. It’s breathtaking, but she’s the one that makes my heart stop.

“Do you want breakfast?” I ask her. “The fridge is stocked. We can make something.”

Skylar nods. “I’d love to.”

I hold out my hand, and she takes it. Together, we walk back into the house.

In the kitchen, I start on eggs and bacon. It’s not the best meal. I’m not a cook, but it’s easy to make. Skylar climbs into the pantry and finds yeast. She’s ecstatic when she does.

She starts pulling out ingredients. I watch her as she gets lost in a different world. Her face is serious as her hands make magic with the ingredients.

Finally, when she’s done, she puts a bread pan into the oven. As I finish the eggs and bacon, the smell of fresh bread fills the kitchen. It tugs at my heart. This smell reminds me of her every time I smell it. It defines her for me. When I go to the bakery, this is the smell in my nostrils just before I see her.

Half an hour later, she pulls out a bread from the oven. It’s golden brown, twice as high as the pan it’s in, and it’s beautiful. She pops it out of the pan and cuts into it. The crust crackles, and I notice herbs in the dough itself.

“What is it?” I ask. It smells divine.

She shrugs. “One of my own recipes. I haven’t really titled it or anything.”

She butters a couple of slices, and the butter melts into the bread, coloring it a rich yellow. The smells mix together, and I have a feeling it’s her bread that will make the meal spectacular.

And I’m right. Once we sit down and I bite into her bread, I’m sold.

“What are our plans for the day?” Skylar asks me.

I nod, swallowing another bite of the third slice of bread I’ve been working on.

“I want to take you into the mountains for a hike. The views from up there are even better than down here.”

She flashes a broad smile at me. “I’d love that,” she says.

I smile at her.

After breakfast, we get ready. She changes into hiking shoes. I got dressed, too, in hiking shoes and a warm jacket. When I meet her at the front door, her eyes shimmer with excitement. I’m seeing a different side to her, and I love it.

We drive a while to the hiking trail. When we park and get out, the air smells fresh and crisp.

“God, it’s so pure out here,” she says. It’s exactly what it is. The air is so clean and pure it tastes different.

We hike into the mountains. I see a side of Skylar out here that’s completely free and unreserved. I’ve never seen her like this. She laughs easily. She takes in her surrounding with a childlike interest, and it’s like she can’t get enough of it. When we finally reach the lookout, we look out over Vail and the mountains beyond.

“You were right,” Skylar says in a breathy voice. “This is so much better than I could have imagined.”

She’s staring at the view, but I’m staring at her. Something about her out here makes her deepest self come to the forefront, and it’s beautiful. I feel like I’m allowed a look at something no one has ever seen, and I’m privileged. Privileged and besotted. I can’t let this woman slip through my fingers again.

After the hike, I take Skylar into Vail, and we have lunch at one of the best restaurants. She sits across from the table, studying the menu, and I can’t keep my eyes off her. I don’t know what it is, if it’s the change in scenery or the fresh air, or just the fact that I’m really starting to fall for her, but she looks different to me. More real. Glowing. Our lunch together is perfect. The food is as good as it gets, and the company is even better.

I watch her as she talks animatedly about what she saw when we hiked up the mountainside and how alive she is out here. I wish I can keep her away from the dramas of the real world we live in, but unfortunately, what happened with Paul is waiting for us when we go back home.

I know that this person, the glowing, expressive Skylar, will fade again once we go back to LA.

I push the thought away and spend the rest of the day with her as if nothing else exists but our time together in the town away from everything that’s real.

When we go back home, the sun is already starting to set, and splashes of orange and gold paint the world into the stuff of fantasy. I go to the kitchen and find snacks for us, finger food and wine. When I lay it all out in the living room on the coffee table, Skylar appears with a board game she found in one of the basement cabinets.

“I haven’t played games like this in ages,” I say.

Skylar smiles. I light the fire in the hearth as she sets out the game and reads out the rules. When I turn, the warmth of the fire, the glow it casts into the room, and Skylar sitting with the game on the carpet seem like a dream.

“This reminds me of something,” I say to her.

“What?” she asks.

I shake my head. I don’t know what it reminds me of. “I can’t put my finger on it. But it’s a good feeling. It’s how I want to spend more time in my life. If I can make space to do this more often, I would be a happy man.”

Our phones are off and in the bedroom. We haven’t checked them all day, and I’m not planning on checking it for the rest of the weekend. I want to be with Skylar without work or anything else interfering. When I mention it, she agrees.

“It’s good to get away from everything for a while,” she says. “Even if it’s just a weekend.”

She’s right. I know we can’t escape reality. I know we will have to face everything once we return, but one day, I want something that resembles this. I know that Skylar is at the center of it all. I can have this with her, even when we’re back in LA. I want this with her.

I won’t tell her just yet. It’s too much too soon. I don’t know what will happen now, with Paul being gay, whether he’ll come out or not. But whatever it is between me and Skylar will have to be a secret for now.

I don’t want it to be a secret for the rest of our lives, of course. But for now, I will take all the stolen moments we can get and hope for more.