Chapter 23
Luca
George passed the main terminal for departures before finally stopping in front of a private jet. I was almost positive I was in the wrong place. I didn’t know whose life I was living, but it sure wasn’t mine. “Is that for us?”
Axel reached over and took my hand. “Yes. It’s the best way to get there.”
I took in the sleek plane, wondering if maybe he’d lost his mind. “I thought we’d be flying commercial.”
“We only have a few days, and I want to make the most of them. We’re on our schedule, not an airline’s.”
“Do you travel this way often?”
“Only when it’s important.” He squeezed my hand. “Now come on. The clock is ticking.”
George exited and went to the back to get our bags as we climbed out. I couldn’t help but be excited. I’d never flown before, much less gone on a vacation like this to an island in the middle of the Atlantic.
“I’ll be here Monday evening at nine to pick you up, sir,” George said to Axel before rounding the car to leave. This was how the wealthy lived, not a social worker from New York City. I could hear Edith in my head telling me to stop overthinking and enjoy it.
We boarded the luxury Gulfstream and were met by our flight attendant. “As soon as the pilot gives me the all clear, I’ll serve your dinner. Can I get you anything to drink?”
“Champagne, please. We’re celebrating.”
“Yes, sir. Go ahead and get comfortable, gentlemen, and I’ll bring it to you.”
“Thank you,” he replied to her before turning to me. “Where would you like to sit?”
“Those look comfortable,” I said, choosing the comfortable leather seats.
“Excellent choice.” He stowed our bags and sat down just as she brought our beverages.
Axel reached for my free hand while I gripped the armrest with the other as we took off and left the city behind. It was a beautiful afternoon with the city in the distance. My face remained plastered to the glass as I took everything in.
“Have you ever flown before?”
“No,” I chuckled, still not looking away. “First time.”
We moved to another seating area to have dinner and more champagne. Just as I began to relax, the pilot announced that we were almost ready to land.
After Axel told me where we were going, I’d spent my lunch hour reading about the island and watching countless YouTube videos.
But nothing compared to the real thing when the fishhook-shaped island came into view.
The dark blue water of the deep Atlantic transformed into bright turquoise the closer we got.
Lighter patches of water were home to coral reefs that highlighted the edges of the land.
“This might be the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” I mused.
When Axel didn’t respond, I found him watching me like a TV show.
“Why aren’t you looking out the window?” I asked, alternating between looking at him and the view outside.
“I’d rather watch your face as you take it in.”
“Thank you,” was all I knew to say. Here I was again, a fish out of water, as a warm feeling settled into my chest. If I hadn’t been required to wear a seatbelt, I would have been in his lap.
Watching him watch me was the sweetest thing.
Giving up the view of the outside, I reached for his hand across the table. “Thank you. I’ll never forget this.”
“This is the first of many. I want to take you home with me next summer.”
My pulse kicked up. “Home? To London?”
Axel appeared as if it were no big deal. “Yes. We can spend a month there. I can show you Europe.”
Europe? My eyes bugged out. “A month? I don’t think there’s any way I can do that. I have to work. The most I take off is probably a week. Maybe two if I took the second one without pay.” I didn’t want to put a damper on our weekend.
“What if you did something else for a living?” He was relaxed and nonchalant, as if I had options. Career choices and opportunities elsewhere.
“What do you mean? This is all I’ve ever wanted to do. And my degree.”
“I know,” he said, ‘but what if you had the opportunity to use your education to help people another way? Would you consider it?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I suppose. Why are you asking me this?”
“I just don’t want to limit what you can do. There are opportunities out there for other things.” The jet bumped down on the runway, drawing my attention back outside. “Let’s talk later. Right now, we have a vacation to start.”
I agreed as I turned my attention to the new world outside my window. As excited as I was for this vacation, which I’d never had, I was just as excited to spend time with Axel. “What are we doing first?”
His husky voice told me all I needed to know. “Check into our private villa, and then we’re flexible. We can do whatever you feel like doing.”
There he went with more words to add to my list of new meanings. Flexible now joined puddle, low hanging fruit, and all the other new sex words. “Anything?”
Axel leaned forward, and I met him halfway, like two magnets drawn together. “I’m prepared for anything you want to do.”
Visions of us tangled together, making love, were all I wanted. Axel read me like a book written in large print. “You promise?”
“I’ll give you anything you want. If you want to spend four days, naked in bed, your wish is my command.” Oooh. He was going to make this difficult. “The beach is private, right? So, if I want to take you into my mouth, I can do that?”
“Anything you want. Pool, beach, ocean, bed, shower, kitchen…”
“Okay, I get it. I’m not going to be able to get off the plane if you don’t stop.”
“This is going to be the best four days of our lives.”
I needed something to distract me from all the sex talk, so my inner nerd came out.
“Did you know Bermuda is made up of 180 islands, but only 20 are inhabited? The total land is only 21 square miles, or 54 square kilometers, for you people who understand metrics. It’s also considered part of the Caribbean, even though it’s not anywhere near it.
In fact, it’s 650 miles off the coast of North Carolina? Can you believe that?”
The boner in my pants started to deflate. “Yep.” Until he looked at me like I was the cutest thing on Earth. Green eyes all soft, and a smile that said he could eat me up.
“Stop that, right there, if you ever want to get off this plane.”
Axel burst out laughing, happiness gushing from every pore. Watching him enjoy himself at my expense made me so stupidly happy. God, I loved him.
When I was able to deplane without a tent pole in my shorts, we got into a private car that took us to the secluded bungalow on the edge of the beach.
Dropping our bags by the door, we went at one another like two wild animals.
I pressed Axel against the glass wall of windows, and got a glimpse at our own private beach with electric blue water.
When I lost the rhythm, Axel pulled away, confused about my lack of interest in getting naked. “Can we pick this up in a bit?”
He looked over his shoulder and happily grinned at the view. “I thought you wanted to spend the weekend having sex,” he mused.
“I do. But I want to go out there first. We should look around before it gets dark,” I suggested. “You’ve spent a lot of money on this.”
The sun was beginning to set over the water. We had maybe an hour or two of daylight, and I suddenly wanted to feel the sun on my skin. “Can we go out there?”
Axel’s face was alight with happiness. “Of course. Let’s change and go for a swim.”
“I probably should have mentioned I don’t know how to swim. Never really needed to learn. Until now.”
His mouth tipped up. “Neither do I.” I didn’t believe him. He could do everything. “What if we only go waist-deep in the water? I’ll hold your hand. And should you need resuscitation, I’ll happily apply it.”
“What if you need to be resuscitated? Who is going to save you?”
He pulled me in for a kiss and bit my lip. “It better be you.”
No longer feeling ridiculous, I licked across his lips. “I guess I can be persuaded to save you.”
Axel held my face and kissed me softly. “You already have, love.”
The minute my feet hit it, I stopped to let it run through my toes before sitting in the sand. It was like no other sand I’d ever felt, pink in color, and silky smooth. I knew I had to look like a little kid, but I couldn’t help it. “I want to take some of this home with us.”
Axel sat down next to me. “That would be cool. But it’s illegal. We can come back whenever you like.”
When he said things like that, it gave me hope. He made it sound like we were a real thing, and I had to work on believing him. Not allowing my past to determine my future.
“Maybe we can take swim lessons next spring before we go to London.” There he went again. “I’ll hire someone to teach us in my pool.”
Live in the moment, Luca. “Let’s go. I want to see how warm the water is.”
Standing, I pulled him up and led the way into the blue water, where we sat waist-deep, watching the sun go down.
Axel pulled me between his massive hockey thighs and wrapped his arms around me as he rested his chin on my shoulder.
This moment embodied everything I ever wanted.
Not the luxuries, even though they were nice, but someone of my own.
My heart called out to his, and I’d never felt more secure or happy than when I was with him.
The lower the sun dropped, the stronger the breeze became, causing a shiver to ripple through me. Axel kissed my cheek, then whispered in my ear. “Let’s go shower and find dinner.”
After showering, we slipped into preppy shorts and polo shirts to head into town. We walked hand in hand as we made our way to the restaurant he’d chosen. We sat at a table on the deck, close to the fireplace, sipping a rum drink and enjoying every kind of seafood imaginable.
“Which one is your favorite?” he asked, smiling at me over the candlelight.
“I love it all. I don’t think I could choose only one.”
He reached for my hand. “Try. Which one?”
I looked down at what was left. “The spiny lobster.”
“Excellent choice.”