19. Lucky
Lucky
We hurried to pack and meet our plane. Right as we were turning down the correct street, I received a text telling me our plane had already landed and had been refueled. The pilot was ready to take off as soon as we reached the private plane terminal.
When we arrived, we scrambled to get out of the car with our bags, paid our driver, and hurried up the steps of the plane.
Our pilot shook our hands as we boarded. Again, we didn’t have a flight attendant, but I wasn’t bitter about it at all considering this thing was a death trap waiting to happen.
“Welcome. This will be around a nine hour flight. There are food and drinks in the fridge in the back. Please help yourselves. We’ll arrive around three this afternoon.”
I held onto the pilot’s hand when he moved to release mine and met his eyes. “Are you sure you’re okay with taking me?”
His nod was both calm and confident. “Yes. I’m also being well compensated.”
I shook my head. Not good enough. “No compensation is worth your life.”
He paused, studying my face, then he patted my hand with his other one. “I volunteered. And if an emergency happens, I have enough experience to know how to handle it. Rest easy, Miss Carra. I’ve got this, and I’ll get us there safely.”
I nodded, hoping he was right, and moved to follow Nick. He was heading for a seat near an emergency exit because he was the best boyfriend in the world.
“Here okay?”
“It’s perfect. Do you mind if I sit in the aisle seat?”
His smirk was small, but it told me he was trying, and I wanted to give him a hug just for that. “We both know you’re going to end up in my lap, sunshine. How about I sit in the aisle seat, and you start the trip where you’ll eventually end up anyway.”
I laughed. “Don’t be smug.”
Five hours later, I blinked awake, yawning.
Nick had opened the window shade closest to us, and from his lap, I was brave enough to take a peek out the window.
Sitting in the aisle seat gave me the same perspective shift that stepping back from the cliff ledge had done on Maui.
It allowed me to look out at the horizon while avoiding looking down.
Because down was bad.
Looking down was almost always a physical and mental roller coaster where I couldn’t tell whether up was down, or down was up. Looking out at the horizon was usually okay, but it was a lot better with Nick’s arms around me.
He didn’t make me feel invincible—I was still scared of things sometimes—but I always felt braver with him. I think Nick brought out the best in me in many ways. I just hoped he thought the same about me.
I glanced at him, only to find him asleep. I lightly traced his lips with my fingers, then trailed them over his cheeks and eyelids.
“If you’re going to kiss me, I approve,” he murmured without opening his eyes.
“Well, I was going to kiss you, but I don’t think I will now,” I teased.
Grey peeked through his lids as he squinted at me. “Cruel woman.”
Laughing, I leaned down to kiss him. “I love you, Nick. Thanks for always making me feel safe and for a hundred other things you do just because you’re wonderful and you love me.”
His smile was soft. “You’re easy to love.”
By hour eight I was getting antsy. Nick put a gentle hand on my legs to keep them from bouncing.
“Mercy, sunshine. Have mercy on me, please.”
I was confused about what he meant until he pointed out that I was still sitting on his lap.
Oh.
I smiled sheepishly. “Sorry.”
He chuckled and kissed my forehead. “You feeling secure enough to get into your own chair yet?”
“Am I killing your thighs?” I maneuvered into my own seat, and my knees started bouncing impatiently again. I wasn’t even terrified for the landing like I usually was. I just wanted to get there and be done with this already.
“There is literally no right answer to that for most guys, but nah. Just...” He cleared his throat and waggled his eyebrows, making me laugh.
“Gotcha. Sorry. I’m just antsy.”
He took my hand. “I know. I am too.”
Around hour nine, our pilot got back on the comm.
“King Asharien lives on the Snaefellsnes Peninsula, near Lóndrangar, on the western side of Snaefellsjokull. He’s given us permission to land on his private airstrip.
He’s also given me permission to stay at the castle for the duration of your trip and has already arranged to have the plane refueled, so we will be ready to go back to Moonhaven when you have completed your business with him.
We will be landing in ten minutes.” The comm channel closed.
“Well, at least we won’t have to go through a busy airport where all the signs are in a language we don’t understand,” I said, my knees still bouncing. I glanced out the window for a second, enough to see we were making a wide circle and lowering in altitude.
“It wouldn’t be a problem because I know all the languages.”
“What!” I gaped at him.
His smirk was smug. “Terrifyingly powerful genie, remember. I don’t know why you keep forgetting this.”
“Probably because you don’t act like a terrifyingly powerful genie,” I sassed, making him tickle me until I started shrieking with laughter.
“Take it back,” he demanded.
Giggling, I tried to fend him off with my puny muscle strength. “No, you’re like genie light, or genie zero. A regular genie but with fewer calories.”
He nipped my neck, making me shiver. “Not nice, sunshine,” he growled.
Still laughing, I scrunched my shoulder toward my ear in an effort to move him from the danger zone. “I wasn’t trying to be. Is it old age, do you think?”
Nick pulled back and gaped at me. “I can’t believe you went there.”
I shrugged, looking at him with wide-eyed innocence. “It’s okay if things start to fail or slow down. It happens when men age.”
He threw his head back and roared with laughter, then squeezed me tightly in a hug.
“How did I not know you could be this vicious? I think you left a stab wound, sunshine. I need TLC to make it better.” He kissed my cheek and snorted, saying under his breath, “fails or slows down.” Then he shook his head, and my pulse jumped as the wheels hit the tarmac, bouncing the plane a bit.
I craned my neck to look out the window again. “Wait, we’re down?”
Nick sounded self-satisfied when he said, “Yep.”
I turned back to him. “Were you trying to distract me?”
“Did it work?”
I mean, yes. Yes, it did. Nick was always distracting in all of the best ways. “Yes?”
He smirked again and kissed me, then stood and started gathering our bags.
Tricksy genie.