Chapter 17
Dinner was torture. Ernie had never felt so awkward in his life.
Jack meant well. Maybe. Or maybe he just wanted to watch Ernie squirm.
Jack was playing the consummate matchmaker, getting them to talk about their families and swap flying stories.
Unfortunately, the more Ernie learned about Millie, the more he wanted the impossible.
One night. She’d been very clear. And she thought that one night was a mistake. She had regrets.
He had none. Worries, yes. Regrets, no. It would be a disaster if anyone ever found out, but he couldn’t bring himself to feel bad about the best night of his life. It felt so good, so right to be with her. How he was going to survive another night without touching her, he had no idea.
But he’d promised to respect her wishes. He would have to content himself with memories and dreams.
Millie retired as soon as dinner was over.
Ernie stayed up late into the night playing chess with Jack and losing over and over.
He couldn’t concentrate, knowing what awaited him upstairs, but he wanted to delay the torture of sleeping next to her without touching her for as long as he could manage.
“You seem distracted tonight,” Jack said as he took Ernie’s queen. “You’re usually not this bad.”
“I do? I think I’m just tired after all that digging.”
“Maybe you should get some rest, then. Gotta fly tomorrow.”
Ernie groaned. “Yes, we do. Hell’s Stretch.”
“You’ve got to fly Hell’s Stretch. I only have to get back to Newark.”
“Lucky bastard.”
Jack laughed. “You love the challenge, and you know it.”
“I do. It’s trying to get Millie safely to Cleveland that has me worried.”
Jack took his rook. “Check. She’s an excellent pilot. You said so yourself. She’ll be fine.”
Moving his bishop to protect his king, Ernie said, “You’re right, but I can’t help worrying.”
If anything happened to her, I don’t know what I’d do.
“Checkmate. Go to bed. You’re too lousy to keep playing.” Jack started gathering the pieces into a cloth bag.
“Fine. I’ll go to bed.”
Where I will not sleep a wink.
Ernie trudged his way up to the room and knocked lightly before turning the key. No response. Was she asleep already?
Tiptoeing in, he found her sound asleep with the lamp still on, a book still clasped in her fingers. And no wonder. It had been an exhausting day after an exhausting night.
Maybe he would manage to sleep after all. Stripping down to his boxers and turning out the light, he climbed into bed. Sleep took him more quickly than he thought possible, and he descended into dreams of Millie.
He had no idea what time it was when he jerked awake as another body stretched against him, warm and inviting. And naked.
“Millie?”
“Shh.”
“I thought this was a terrible mistake you regretted,” he whispered, as she hooked her leg over his hip and her hands roamed over his back. His own body responded despite his best intentions.
“I don’t want to talk. Just do.” She reached her hand down into his boxers to stroke him. It was suddenly very hard to form words.
“Millie,” he pleaded. “God knows I want you, but I don’t want to add to your regrets.”
She stretched against him and placed one of his hands on her breast. “This won’t add to my regrets. Last night was a mistake, but I don’t see how tonight makes it any worse. The damage was already done. We might as well enjoy ourselves.”
It was terrible logic, but with her hand on his cock, he was having difficulty coming up with a counter argument.
Did he really want to stop her? No.
But still…
“I don’t know why I’m arguing with you. I must be losing my mind. But I don’t want you to regret me. Not for yesterday. Not for tonight. If you’re choosing me over the risks, I’m yours. If you’re only using me to scratch a guilty itch, you should go back to bed.”
She stopped her hand. Dammit.
“Why does it matter to you so much?”
“I may be a cad, but I don’t believe in taking a woman to bed who doesn’t wholeheartedly want to be there.”
Grasping him, she ran her thumb over his sensitive tip, spreading the bead of liquid that formed there, making him groan.
“And you don’t think I want to be here.”
She resumed stroking. He was losing the ability to form coherent thoughts.
“Oh, God. Millie. I… I can’t… You have to stop.”
As she stilled her hand, he felt a terrible sense of loss. What was he thinking?
Gasping for air, he scooted away from her as far as the tiny bed would allow.
“I’m certain you want to be here right now, but I’m not certain you won’t hate me for it in the morning. I don’t want to keep going if you’re going to have regrets.”
She was quiet and still for a long moment. “I came to you because I knew I would regret spending the night alone far more than I would regret being with you. I choose you. I promise not to regret this in the morning.”
He didn’t entirely believe her, but he wasn’t going to get any firmer assurance than that. And he wanted her desperately. Giving in, he wriggled out of his boxers.
Unable to control himself, he rolled on top of her, nestling between her legs and kissing her like a starving man.
She answered him with equal fervor, wrapping her legs around him and digging her nails into his back.
His cock dragged through her wet seam, and she arched beneath him, curving herself to invite more. Dear Lord, this woman.
All the fire, spirit, and determination she brought to her quest to become an airmail pilot, she brought to bed as well.
Millie Aldrich did nothing by half measures.
She was as bold and assertive in his arms as she was in the cockpit.
With a twist, she nudged him over onto his back, pinning his arms above his head.
Reaching down to grasp him, she took control.
Her skilled touch brought him up, up, up above the clouds, piloting him through groans and shudders and jerks, bringing him ever higher.
She nipped and licked her way down his chest as he surrendered to her expert hand.
When her tongue touched his cock, the world around him disappeared, and he was floating, soaring.
And when she took him in her mouth, he entered the stratosphere, leaving the world behind and gliding out amongst the moon and stars.
A blinding white light exploded around him, and he spent himself, unable to hold back as her lips and tongue sucked him into sweet oblivion.
When blood returned to his brain and conscious thought became possible again, he looked up to find her sitting astride him, the moonlight revealing a greedy grin on her face.
“Now it’s my turn,” she said, scratching her nails down his chest. “Take me flying, Pritchard.”
“With pleasure, Aldrich.” He swiftly turned her over on her back, and she let out a little squeal.
His hand grazed up her inner thigh, and he sucked one luscious nipple into his mouth.
As his fingers found their destination, he murmured “Contact” against her skin, determined to wind her up like a propeller at take-off.
She moaned and pressed herself into his hand.
He wanted to take her as high as she could go, pushing the limits of pleasure and sensation.
How far could she go? How long could he keep her afloat?
When she was on the verge, he replaced fingers with lips and tongue, sucking hard on her pulsing nub.
Her whole body shuddered with the force of her release, and he held on as she rode it out, never slowing his pace.
Making her come once wasn’t enough. He wanted more. He wanted everything she had. Unrelenting, he kept up his tender torture, his cock twitching back to life as she writhed beneath him. She clutched his hair. The intoxicating smell of her musk drew him on as he tantalized her tender flesh.
“Oh, Ernie, It’s too much!”
“Too much or not enough?”
“Oh…oh…oh!”
If she could form words, he needed to take her higher. He wanted her gasping and dizzy with need. How far would the roaring engine of her desire push her lithe frame?
Inserting one finger then another into her, he felt the pulsation of another release building.
He guided her up through the clouds and into the blinding sunlight as she came with a violence that nearly shook her apart. It was all he could do to keep hold of her and guide her back down for a soft landing.
As she lolled beside him, still too far gone to form words, he retrieved a condom and put it on. After watching that, he needed to be inside her.
“May I?”
“Yes,” she whispered without opening her eyes.
Sliding into her ever so gently, he began a slow and steady rhythm. She wrapped her legs around him, still dazed with bliss. Being inside her was all consuming. Never in his previous encounters had he felt anything like it. She was unique, transcendent, and magnificent.
With each careful thrust, he felt an answering reverberation within her.
He had tested her limits, but he hadn’t yet exhausted her last reserves.
The earlier fury was gone, replaced by sweet lethargy as she rolled her hips in rhythm with his strokes.
They continued their slow, intimate dance as the tension built and built.
This was a side of Millie he’d never seen.
Her defenses were down, and she was soft and exposed beneath him.
Her face radiated guileless contentment.
The fight was gone, and she welcomed him, clung to him, surrendered completely.
And in that moment, Ernie knew he was done for.
The distance he prided himself on maintaining with his lovers collapsed.
There was no way he could let her go after tonight. Somehow, he needed to keep seeing her.
Her body trembled as she approached her climax, and he slowed his pace further to draw it out. At last, it rippled through her, wave upon wave, driving him to the brink and then over it. As the last wave subsided, he withdrew, and she snuggled against him, falling asleep almost instantly.
Struggling against his own exhaustion, he got up to dispose of the condom, then slipped back into bed with her, content as he’d ever been in his life.
When morning broke and the alarm went off, Millie didn’t flee. She stayed curled against him, warm and soft.
“Do we have to fly today?” she murmured. “I want another snow day.”
She pulled his hand to her breast and said, “Mmm.”
“I’m afraid so. Sadly, there are no allowances for having a gorgeous, irresistible woman in your bed.”
“What if we quit and stayed here?”
He knew she was joking, but oh, it was a tempting thought. They’d created such a cozy bubble together up in this room. He hated to pop it and let the rest of the world intrude.
“And let Mr. Dickson win? Nah, you’re not giving up that easily.”
She sighed. “No, I suppose I’m not. But Ernie…”
“Yes?”
“Last night was spectacular, and I don’t regret it one bit.”
A grin split his face.
“I’m so glad to hear that.” He nuzzled her neck and kissed her shoulder. “It was spectacular for me too.”
“Such a shame this has to be the end.”
No…
“Does it?”
She turned to look at him. Her brow furrowed, and her mouth turned down in a frown. There was a sad determination in her eyes as she caressed his stubbly cheek.
“Yes.”
No! This couldn’t be the end. He couldn’t imagine going back to his life of casual liaisons and empty flirtation.
“Millie, what if—”
“Don’t. Please.” She kissed his forehead.
“This has been wonderful, but it can’t continue.
It isn’t only about us. If we got caught, it wouldn’t just be the end of our careers.
It would be the end of women being allowed to fly the mail for years to come, and there would be consequences for you too.
I can’t let you down like that. I thoroughly enjoyed our time together.
I’ll remember it for years to come. But it’s over. ”
A dull ache seeped into his heart at her words, sharpening as it sank in.
When she moved to get out of bed, he didn’t try to stop her.
They went about their morning ablutions without speaking, with all the distance of mere colleagues. He went through the motions of dressing and shaving automatically, and when she walked out the door for breakfast, it was without a backward glance.