Chapter 4
CHAPTER FOUR
Wolf.
It suits him. The man’s boss, Marshall Lake, told me his name. And true to it, the big brute has got a truly animalistic air about him. All muscles and long limbs.
That poor t-shirt has got its job cut out for it just keeping those biceps covered.
I try not to look, but I can’t resist treating my eyes as he moves to the front of the plane. Yikes. Talk about mantastic.
A few seconds later, he’s coming back toward me with my sweater, and he’s got two plush fleece airplane blankets. One for me and one for Nan. “This should help.”
He folds his impossibly tall self into the seat next to me again. Stealing more than just elbow room. Apparently, along with his mass comes a force field of energy that’s as wide as the damned runway.
Big Dick Energy. I heard it called that in some movie. And I never understood that before. But now… now it makes perfect sense. This man IS testosterone.
Apparently, he’s also the yang to my yin because he makes something in my ovaries sizzle.
Drats. That’s exactly what I don’t need right now. My life is enough of a mess as it is without my body-clock firing off missiles of desire at some stranger.
I feel, literally feel, his eyes on me as I pull the sweater over my swimsuit and cover my legs with the fleece blanket. “Thank you. This will be much more comfortable.”
He grunts. I can’t look at his blue eyes. They're too much. Those eyes are hot. Wild. Deeper than any ocean.
The pilot turns the jet, aligns it with the runway, and I take a breath. Finally. After weeks of trying to make this happen.
Soon, we’ll be in the air and Isla Rosa will be far behind. Not that my troubles will be over, but getting Nan to safety and keeping my distance from my father’s disaster will help. It has to help . There’s no other way.
As the engines rev, I close my eyes. As if on cue, my stomach starts to tighten, and we haven’t even gotten airborne yet.
“You okay there, luv?”
God give me strength. From that moment we chatted at the gas station, I knew he was my own personal kind of weakness. Blond-haired, blue-eyed, and like icing on the cake, he’s got that edgy British accent.
“Just trying to breathe over here.”
“Sierra’s an outstanding pilot.”
If only it were just about flying. But it’s not. It’s so much more. But getting airborne is only going to make my airsickness take priority. “Good to know. However, I’m a substandard passenger.”
He makes a soft, almost sympathetic sound. “Afraid of flying?”
“Nope. But I have to warn you, I might get sick.”
“It happens. Even to the strongest of men. I’ve seen it plenty in my time in the military.”
For some reason, I expected him to find my vulnerability something to needle me about, but he doesn’t. He just shifts in his seat and grows quiet.
As the jet picks up speed, so does my breathing.
Lift off is coming. God help me. And then…
My whole body tightens, from the tip of my toes to the top of my head. I nearly jump out of my skin when the man’s big calloused hand covers mine. “You’re holding your breath. Just try to inhale into your belly.”
When I open my eyes, he’s looking right at me. Mother of trouble. This man is breathtaking. And he’s close enough for me to gobble up.
There’s no way I can get a breath in now. He just knocked it right out of me.
“Breathe,” he says quietly, in a husky, intimate voice.
“I-I can’t.”
“Pretend you’re getting ready to blow up a big balloon that’s the shape of a pickle.”
What? I snicker. “That’s so not what I was expecting you to say.”
A triumphant grin tilts up one side of his ovary-igniting mouth. “Worked.”
Yep. It worked, alright. I’m now officially queasy as hell and hornier than I’ve ever been. Oh, how cruel life can be.
When I glance at his hand, where it’s scorching a hole in my bone marrow, he pulls it away. “Sorry. I violated your personal space again.”
If I wasn’t so afraid of getting sick, I might be tempted to come back with some kind of sexy reply. But that’s not happening right now.
Whoa! Suddenly, I’m pitched forward as the pilot jams on the brakes. The man’s whole demeanor shifts from playful to hard and dangerous as he leans over me and looks out the window.
“This is not good,” I whisper.
“Don’t move. If I say 'get low,’ unbuckle and get on the floor. Understand?”
I nod. Then he’s gone, storming toward the cockpit.