Chapter 7 Nikolas
Nikolas
I blink at them, not believing my eyes. How the hell did they get on this plane? I triple-checked when we boarded to make sure nobody was hiding anywhere. Besides, Tommy and I had quite a significant head start. So how come?
Tommy squeezes my arm hard. He’s breathing so haphazardly I can hear every needy inhale and shuddering exhale.
God, I don’t know why, but I hate it when he’s afraid or hurt or generally not his sassy, cheerful self.
It’s irrational, I realize it, but every time it happens, it feels like a stab to my flank I can’t defend myself against.
Maybe I was just that lonely. I thought I was doing fine, but ten years is a longass time for a man to spend alone. Despite the shitshow I got dragged into, the truth is that since Tommy burst into my life, I’ve felt alive in a way I haven’t since my days as a mercenary.
“Niko,” the man responsible for the craziest two days in my life says, aiming those irresistible blues at me. I swear, when he looks at me like this, I don’t think I can ever refuse him, no matter how insane his request might be. “I think—”
The four Crew goons pick exactly that moment to snap out of their hypnotized trance and level their gazes at us.
Tommy inches in closer, gluing himself to me as tightly as he can manage.
My eyes roll back a bit from how good that feels, but I also clench my hands into fists and take on a defensive stance.
This is bliss, even if now is so not the time for it. He’s embracing me like he means it. Like I am his. No one has hugged me like that before, ever. It’s pure pleasure with the shittiest timing ever.
The men size us up, smirking as they take a step closer. The plane continues to spasm in the air, shaking and banking like it’s trying to throw the intruders off.
“Listen, gentlemen,” I try, slowly taking a step back as they continue their threatening advance. One I might be able to take on. Two I might successfully hold off. But four? That’s a bit beyond me, especially with the way I’m struggling to maintain my footing. “Maybe we can discuss—”
The closest man charges at us. Tommy yelps, ripping his arms away from me and thus breaking the hug. I grab his wrist and shove him back into the cargo compartment, smashing the cockpit door closed behind us.
“Tommy! Get me something long and lean! Hurry!” I yell, hoping he’ll find something amidst the cargo on the floor that I can use to lodge the door in place.
“Like what?” he asks, his eyes shining from what must be an adrenaline rush.
“Anything that can fit through the handle! A knife, or a bar, or a rod, or even a crash axe! Even an extinguisher will do as long as I can wedge it under!”
Tommy nods and disappears into the back of the plane.
The four men in the cockpit growl and grunt, making these weird animal noises as they bang on the door and try to force it open.
My shoulders strain from the effort it takes to keep the thing in place, and it feels like they are about to pop out of their sockets if Tommy doesn’t come back in the next ten seconds.
Luckily, he does, panting and sweating like he’s sprinted a whole marathon. He’s holding a crash axe. “Where do you need it?”
“Through the handle,” I grit out. Pain radiates through my right shoulder down my arm, the pulsing so bad it makes the entire world spin around me. “Fast. I can’t keep it closed for much longer.”
Tommy shoves the axe in place. Thank fucking god this plane uses the older door model that comes with an actual handle and not with that weird recessed grip thing commercial airliners use.
Panting, I plop on the hard floor and cradle my face in my hands.
I can feel every thump of my heart along the side of my neck as I try to catch my breath.
My legs have turned into jelly, my shoulders pulsate with burning agony.
But the door is secured. The four attackers can’t get to us at least for a couple of minutes.
“What now?” Tommy asks, his long, elegant fingers kneading my right shoulder ever so gently.
My eyes flutter closed, and a tension-releasing sigh leaves me, sucking the rigidity out of my body. I slump further, letting my hands fall to the sides of my body. When I twist my head sideways, I find Tommy crouching next to me with a soft but determined expression on his lovely face.
I can’t help it—I must reach out. I must touch him and make sure he’s really here.
That I am not alone, that I have somebody by my side even if that was never part of my plan.
Father Gabriel was supposed to lead a peaceful, dull life, to help people, to listen to them, to have followers but never friends.
He was destined to die alone of old age, or one too many arguments with the village administration, to do as much good as he could.
I grab Tommy’s silky hair and pull him into me. He stumbles and loses balance, yelping as my mouth finds his only partially by accident. Then he moans, the most obscene and sexiest sound I have ever heard in my life.
Oh, who am I kidding? Nikolas Stavros living a peaceful life until he ends up forgotten in obscurity? Fuck that. I tried, I really did, but some things you simply can’t change. I hated every peaceful day, every stupid bicker, every dull morning and boring evening.
I am a legend, a man feared by many. This chaos, this nonsense Tommy dragged me into is what I thrive on, what makes me feel alive. Fuck, how I’ve missed this, the adrenaline, the uncertainty, the risk… the flirting with death.
I shove my tongue inside Tommy’s hot mouth, deepening the kiss I’m dictating.
He moans again, melting in my arms as they come around him and pull him even closer.
But he takes as much as he gives, he’s ravenous, like all he’s ever dreamed about is kissing me on this uncontrollable plane diving from 30000 feet above the ground.
Also, he tastes like that raspberry candy he was eating earlier.
“Niko,” he mutters, pausing for air. His cheeks are red, his eyes are glassed over, his lips glisten from our kiss. “Fuck.” He bites on the bottom one. “Was this your idea of a goodbye? Are we going to die?”
I don’t even like raspberries, but tasting them on him? I think they are my new favorite fruit.
I run my fingers down the curve of his jaw, his damp skin so smooth and silky. He purrs and stretches like a cat that’s just gotten what he wants. He’s perfect, so perfect. And his eyes, they are heart-stealing, hopeful too, a little scared as they focus on me and only me.
Fuck.
I study the plane’s ceiling as I rake my hand through his blond mop of hair.
Was it a goodbye? The likeliest outcome is that we either crash, or the four men kill us before we do.
I promised to keep him safe, to help him get himself out of this mess, but it looks like I might not be able to do that.
“I’m out of ideas, Tommy,” I sigh, pressing his head to my shoulder.
The plane continues to rock and shake like it’s nobody’s business.
Are the men in the cockpit really going to let it crash?
Do they not care if they die with it? Sounds about right, the Crew is batshit crazy like this from what I remember.
They are fewer in number than some of the other organizations, but man, do they make up for it…
It shouldn’t work, quantity is what counts in the underworld more often than not, but they have sat at the top for decades.
Power, influence, strength, they have it all.
I was a fool to think I could go up against them.
“Sorry. I don’t think we can take them on.
You… don’t know how vicious and strong Crew soldiers are. ”
I only ever managed to kill one member of the Crew gang.
Just one. And it sealed my fate, it ruined my life.
Fighting him—I grit my teeth, my heart rate escalating.
It was the most gruesome, insane fight I’ve ever participated in.
That man simply refused to go down, no matter what.
I used every trick up my sleeve, every weapon. Nada. It made no difference, not until…
I snort, can’t help it. Fuck, everyone has it so wrong. If only they knew what really happened that night.
“Listen,” I say, inhaling Tommy’s scent. It’s a mix of sweat, dirt and that raspberry and it drives me insane with the need to taste him again. “There’s something I need to confess—”
“No,” he cuts me off, hopping to his feet and urging me to follow suit.
“Your confession can wait because you aren’t giving up.
Nikolas Stavros doesn’t give up.” His eyes dart left and right, bouncing between the cockpit door and the cargo hold.
“And we need to talk about that kiss because…” He pulls on his bottom lip and adjusts himself.
“We are out of options, Tommy. I really wish—”
“Nope. Stop it with the goodbye talk, I told you.” He brushes past me, not listening, bends down and takes something out from under the small jump seat by the lavatory door. “Can’t we just use this? Do you know how? Because I don’t. But, uh, maybe we can work it out on the go…”
My eyes go wide, my heart banging against my ribcage for a very different reason as I process what I see. I was so busy wallowing in self-pity for wasting the last decade pretending to be someone I wasn’t that I didn’t even notice the parachute.
If I ever needed a sign that saving Tommy was the right call, this is it. Yes, he’s pretty and his smile is like a sunrise you can only see on a wild beach, but that’s not it. No. He might seem a little clueless, na?ve even, he might not be a muscular giant, but what he’s shown me so far…
He’s the same breed as me. He’s competent in all the ways it counts. He’s got what it takes to be part of my world, to stand next to me, to make the impossible possible.
I look into his expectant blue eyes and I see in them the partner I dreamed about but never had. I see a man capable and crazy enough to have my back, someone who thrives when others cower in fear.
Maybe he doesn’t know he has it in him yet, that spark of insanity I possess, too.
But I will teach him. I will show him everything and I will worship him, too.
I take a deep breath. Because it’s too fucking late now.
If we survive this, I won’t let him go. I grin like a maniac.
He’s mine. Plain and simple. He’s mine, mine, mine, mine.
I’ve found something I didn’t even know I was looking for, something I didn’t dare wish for, something I was scared to acknowledge.
And now I don’t ever intend to lose it. No matter what and even if death is trying to stand between us.
I grab the parachute and locate the control panel on the wall, hitting the cargo doors release button. A loud screech makes the plane shudder even more. A few of the crates fall out. “If you still want that blowjob, it’s yours, Tommy, as soon as we get to the ground.”
He perks up like a puppy that’s been given a bone with the meat still sticking to it. “Really? You mean that? You’ll let me suck your dick?”
I turn around, grab him by his neck and peck his mouth quickly.
“From now on, I’ll let you do whatever the fuck you want to me.
” I hold his hand and break into a run, trying not to collide with the cargo and crates that have been dislodged.
“But first”—I toss on the parachute, praying my fast check didn’t miss anything—“we are going to jump.”