Chapter 8 Orion #2
“I’m trying to figure out how to fix things without making a mess of everything we’ve built.”
“What if it ends up making a mess anyway?”
“Then I’ll handle it.” I held her gaze.
The words hung in the air. She didn’t look away, and neither did I. The jet hummed around us, carrying us toward the canyon, and every second that passed felt like standing on the edge of something I couldn’t see the bottom of.
She turned back to the window, but I caught the small smile on her lips. I noticed a slight relaxation in her shoulders, as if we had received an answer without needing to directly ask the question.
We flew in silence for a while. A comforting silence that somehow felt more intimate than talking.
We landed at Grand Canyon West Airport as the sun started its descent toward the horizon. A helicopter waited on the tarmac—white, sleek, and painted with the Olympus Royale name and logo—exactly what I’d arranged.
“You’re kidding,” Tashi said when she saw it.
“I never kid about marketing research.” I helped her out of the jet, my hand on her waist longer than strictly necessary. The warmth of her body, felt through the thin fabric of her dress, made my mind race. “Come on.”
Martinez, the pilot I’d used before for VIP tours, nodded as we approached. He was professional enough not to mention that I had never brought a woman here before.
We buckled in, put on our headsets, and the helicopter lifted off.
The Grand Canyon from above was impressive—bands of color carved by millions of years of erosion and an incomprehensible scale until you were inside it.
Then we descended below the rim.
The helicopter dropped into the canyon, and suddenly we were flying through layers of geological history. The walls rose around us in impossible verticality, striations of red, gold, and purple telling stories that predated human civilization by epochs.
Tashi’s hand found mine and squeezed tight.
I didn’t let go.
“This is insane,” she said through the headset.
“This is Vegas,” I corrected, although we were technically in Arizona. “Everything’s insane here. That’s why it works.”
Martinez flew us deeper, the canyon walls towering above and below, creating a sense of being simultaneously insignificant and part of something vast. The sun angled through gaps in the rock, painting everything in shades of amber and rust.
Other helicopters passed—tourist groups getting their sunset tours—but Martinez knew the quieter routes, the angles that felt private even in a public wonder.
“Wedding packages,” Tashi said suddenly.
“What?”
“You were right. This would be incredible for weddings. Intimate ceremonies in the helicopter. Exchange vows over the canyon at sunset. Land at a private platform for champagne and photos.” Her brain was working now.
I could hear it in her voice. “We could partner with high-end wedding planners. Market it as the ultimate elopement experience. Charge premium prices for genuine once-in-a-lifetime moments.”
“See?” I said, grateful for the excuse to focus on business instead of the way her hand felt in mine. “Marketing research.”
“You’re still a liar. This was never about marketing.”
“Maybe not entirely.” I squeezed her hand. “But you just demonstrated that it’s possible. That’s what makes you valuable, Tashi. You see opportunities even when you’re processing personal crises and dealing with corrupt regulators and flying through the Grand Canyon for the first time.”
“Stop making me sound impressive.”
“Stop being impressive.”
She turned to look at me then, and even through the headset and the noise of the helicopter, something passed between us. Understanding. Want. Trying not to acknowledge the heat between us. The sky turned shades of purple and gold that painters spent lifetimes trying to capture.
“Here,” I said. “Come look out this window.”
Tashi glanced at me with skepticism but unlocked her seat belt and leaned over to gaze at the sun setting, awash in mauves and purples.
“That is—” she said.
And the helicopter hit an air pocket with a bump that shuddered through the cabin. Tashi lost her balance, and I grabbed her. She fell into my lap.
“I’m sorry!” she said.
My voice deepened. “I’m not.”
“Orion,” she said.
“Shh. I like holding you. Did anyone ever tell you that you’re gorgeous?”
“Not often.”
“Well, then whoever you were with was an idiot.”
“I’m not everyone’s cup of tea.”
“Good. I drink whiskey myself.”
“Orion—”
“Is my holding you a problem?”
“The FAA may have something to say about it.”
I chuckled. “We’re the only two people on the helicopter except the pilot, and he’s too busy to file a complaint. I’m more concerned about you. Tell me you want to go back to your seat.”
Tashi sighed. “You know I don’t.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
She looked away. “Leo. Ares.”
“My brothers have nothing to do with us.”
Tashi turned her head and stared into my eyes with a gaze so intense, it cut through to my soul. “Are you sure?”
“Tashi, ever since I saw your face on our first interview, I couldn’t get you out of my head. If they didn’t see how special you are, I’d question whether they were my brothers.”
“But—”
I reached out my hand and gently touched my finger to her lips, silencing her unspoken words. Her lips were full and pink, slightly parted as she stared up at me with uncertainty in her eyes. The faint scent of her perfume, a delicate scent of lilies and vanilla, wafted up to my nose.
“I have an idea,” I said.
“Yes?”
I slid from my seat, leaving Tashi there, to kneel between her legs. With her eyes wide, I kissed up one leg then the other, then parted her knees gently and was pleased to find her thong and very trimmed bush.
“I want to taste you, Tashi.”
I hooked my fingers under the strings of her thong and pulled it down, then off.
“Beautiful,” I murmured.
My tongue found her rosebud with expert precision, lashing my tongue on her delicious clit.
I worked on her with my mouth while she wrapped her thighs around my head, holding me steady as she tried to arch into me.
Every time she got close to the edge, I’d pull back, kissing her thighs or her stomach, letting the tension ebb before I let it build again.
I knew she was close when her legs quivered.
“Orion, please—”
“Not yet. You are too delicious.” I returned to my task with renewed focus, adding my fingers to the mix. Suddenly, the pleasure wasn’t building—it was crashing over her in waves that made her cry out loud enough that all of Vegas probably heard.
She came apart while I held her through it, her mouth forming an “O” in surprise as her aftershocks hit, then faded. My hands held her trembling thighs, and I pulled her down for a kiss that tasted like a promise.
“I want to feel you come around my tongue.”
“Oh God.”
I lashed the sensitive bundle of nerves, worshipping her with my mouth to build toward her second explosion.
Tashi panted as she hit some plateau that held her on the edge of her orgasm.
“That’s it,” I encouraged. “Let me feel it.”
I thrust my tongue inside her, her luscious juices making me harden at the taste. The second orgasm hit harder than the first, her body clenching around my tongue as pleasure shook her. She bucked into my face, her fingers digging into my arms, and she panted as the orgasm ebbed.
“That was—” she gasped.
“Yeah.” I pressed a kiss to her temple. “It really was.”
The PA crackled. “Mr. Kolykos, we’re getting ready to land. Please make sure you and your guest are in your seats with your seat belts on for your safety.”
“Oh,” Tashi said with disappointment. “I wanted to—”
“We’ll have other times, Tashi. You can count on it.”
She sat in her chair and stared out the window as the helicopter descended for a landing. She was gorgeous, but more than that. The question remained—could I keep her despite all the garbage happening at the hotel?
We had spent seventeen years building this empire, maintaining control, making calculated decisions, and putting business first. And now I was flying an employee home from the Grand Canyon, holding her hand like a teenager, and not regretting a thing.
Want. Hope. Could I have her without losing everything else?
That felt like enough.
For now.