Chapter 13
Will backed away and offered me his hand, and I took it. He kissed my fingers and then led me back to the airplane. Neither of us said a word.
He busied himself with luggage and the pilots while I stood there, watching everything he did. I couldn’t take my eyes off him.
He must have sensed my stare, because he stopped moving with his back to me, then he turned around, and his expression showed penance.
He tilted his head at the plane’s entrance.
“Get settled for the flight, Elle.”
Inside from a window, I watched him again as he body-searched the pilots.
John smirked like a mini version of his brother.
“You’ll get used to it, Ellie.”
The richness of Will’s kiss still lingered on my lips, on my tongue. His fury and his remorse occupied my headspace.
“He doesn’t scare me, John,” I said.
“Few people can say that about my brother. I’m quite glad you’re one of them.”
Lissie raced down the aisle, wearing her backpack—she’d filled it with her animals—and her activity pulled me out of my head. The little pink puppy she slept with fell on the floor.
I hoped she and I would both sleep through the flight.
I grabbed her stuffed puppy.
“Come here, girl. Let’s get your bed ready.”
The plane’s cabin had a small galley and two separate seating areas, all styled in creamy-white leather and walnut paneling.
John pointed to a reclining seat in the front and helped me convert it to a bed for Lissie.
Ben boarded, but he went straight into the cockpit.
“John, what’s he doing in there?” I asked.
“He’s doubling down on the preflight check. We don’t know these pilots, so he’ll confirm everything.”
Dread jolted through me.
Will took such serious precautions, which showed me the enormity of what we faced.
I corralled Lissie and held her on my lap to gain some sense of security.
The pilots boarded and joined Ben.
Will came on last. He headed straight for the rear seating area, stopping only to pull me up and take me with him. Lissie followed and leaped on the plush leather sofa between us.
She had never been shy. Still, it surprised me to see how at ease she’d become so quickly. A child’s innocence let them see a person’s character more easily, so Lissie’s comfort with Will gave me yet another reason to trust him.
Will pushed a wild lock of her brown hair out of her face.
“When you wake up, we’ll be on the other side of the ocean. Your castle awaits, princess.”
She grasped on to his hand, her beautiful eyes and her mouth wide with excitement.
“Are we going to a real-life castle?”
“Something like that, but first you must go to sleep.”
Caught up in their sweet moment, my heart missed a beat.
Lissie found her very own superhero.
I pointed to the little lavatory.
“Your toothbrush is ready for you.”
She agreed to the bedtime plan but only after Will said “kaa-suhl” one more time. Once she settled into her make-shift bed, Will gestured for me to come back to the sofa.
He tucked me beneath his arm.
“We take off whenever you’re ready. I’ll pull out this sofa bed, and you’ll sleep here.”
Being against his body was natural, kind of like being home, so I burrowed deeper into the warmth of his side.
“Good. I should definitely stay close to the lavatory.”
His arm tensed.
“How bad will it get, Elle?”
“I’m not sure. I’ve never flown on anything this small. How long is the flight?”
He captured my hand and kissed it.
“Seven and a half hours.”
But that one kiss on my hand wasn’t enough.
I wanted his lips on mine again.
I couldn’t sleep. I didn’t even get drowsy. And our little jet still sat on the runway.
Will closed the privacy panel between the cabin areas and sat at the edge of the sofa bed.
“Tell me what I can do to help you, Elle.”
“Just stay with me, right here on this bed. Let them go.”
He bowed his head, then picked up the cockpit phone.
“Let’s go. Do what you can to avoid turbulence.”
He stretched out his arm along the back cushions.
“Come closer to me.”
Yes, yes, yes…a distraction is exactly what I need.
I slipped in under his arm.
Will swallowed his whisky and set his glass and my water bottle to the side. He laced our fingers together and stared at my mouth, then he met my eyes.
“You’re okay with the way I kissed you earlier.”
As usual, he wasn’t asking, though his eyes did search mine for consent to do it again.
“Are you going to kiss me again, Will?”
He lowered us onto the mattress, his body over mine.
“I’m going to do many things to you.”
That raspy whisper near my lips made my stomach flutter.
Will began trailing his fingers down along my leg, all the way to my toes. He dragged my foot up, bending my knee, spreading my legs. His fingers moved to my thigh, slipping around to my backside and beneath the frayed hem of my denim shorts.
His deep timbre grew more distinct with every word.
“You should wear more when you’re alone with me.”
I grabbed his face, drawing his mouth closer to mine.
“I’m fully clothed.”
“I have your bare arse in my hand.”
“Good,” I whispered.
He shook his head, smirking, and then he kissed me, sucking hard on my lips at first, choosing when he wanted to push his tongue into my mouth and explore mine.
His kisses were like velvet. So smooth, self-indulgent, luxurious…and addictive.
The distraction worked, because the plane had ascended into the sky, and I could think about only one thing—Will touching me.
Heat blistered my skin everywhere he kissed me. My earlobe, my neck, my chest as he unbuttoned my blouse.
“No more holding back, Elle.”
“No more, Will.”
“I’ll give you what you want, baby.”
He pushed his erection against the soft space between my thighs. I reached for it, but he caught my hand and kissed my fingers before confining my hands above my head.
I wanted him. All of him.
“I—”
He shut my mouth with his. Need burned in his eyes when he pulled back from the kiss.
“It’s not the place, but soon. And Elle, you must be sure you know how it’ll be with me. There’ll be no going back for you.”
“Will—”
“—hear me out.”
He pressed his lips to mine, dragged his mouth to my ear.
“I want you to understand me clearly. When I say you’re mine, it means I’ll take everything from you. It means you belong to me. And remember, Elle…I’m the bad guy, not your good cop. This is your chance to say no. Your choice. I’ll always protect you, but if I can’t have you, I’ll keep my distance.”
I dragged my fingers over his jawline, scratching through his scruffy beard.
“I’ve never had a real connection with anyone, but when I’m with you, something happens to me. You know how you say you always win?”
I quickly covered his mouth with my hand.
“Don’t answer. I know you always win. Well, you should know something about me. I always know what I want, Will. I’ll do without…I’ll suffer…pay a higher price…if that’s what it takes to have exactly what I want. So like I said earlier, I want only you.”
He stared into my eyes, seeking, finding, approving.
Finally, he bowed his head. That movement of his head, it was slight but also unmistakable, and my heart told me it was all mine.
His eyes swept over my body, head to toe, while he took off my blouse.
“You’re quite beautiful.”
“Kiss me again,” I said.
Shaking his head, he pressed down with more of his weight.
“I want to see more of you first.”
I nodded, and he opened the button on my shorts, pausing at the zipper.
“I waited so long to see you, to touch you.”
Then his abrupt kiss burned my lips and moved down to my stomach as he slid my shorts over my hips, down my legs.
I moaned and arched against him. I needed him. Nothing else mattered in that moment. It all made me so high…the whisky on his tongue, his warm scent, the strength of his arms, his hot mouth on my skin.
He took my mouth again with his, whispering into the kiss.
“Be quiet…just this once.”
I nodded while yanking at his shirt. He pulled it off.
When he slipped his hand into my panties and pushed one, then two fingers inside me, a cry vibrated in my throat, but he stifled it with his kiss.
“Good…you’re still tight for me.”
He moved his fingers in and out of me and circled my clit.
This man tested me. He watched me. He pushed me. He increased the intensity of his touch until it was almost too much.
No thoughts or even simple words formed in my mind.
Pleading for release, I pulled his face to mine and breathed the one word my brain could come up with—his fucking name.
Will smirked against my mouth.
But he didn’t stop. No, instead he put his hand over my mouth and pushed me harder.
I bit into his hand as I climaxed, as my soul shattered into billions of tiny fragments.
“You’re mine, Elle. Mine.”
I was lost in his eyes…lost in the idea that I had willingly become his possession.
“Yours,” I whispered.
He gave that nod, the bow, and kissed me softly.
When he sat upright and stretched, the muscles in his shoulders and back rippled…
And he looked like a fierce lion rising from his den.
I reached for my blouse.
“Leave it,” he ordered.