Chapter 1 #3
Taking his seat across from me again, Shio had his head in his phone as the pilot announced we were preparing for takeoff.
Shio kept typing away, and since I couldn’t see what he was saying, I let my eyes wander from his hand to his neck.
The diamonds in his necklace shone beneath the cabinet lights.
Each time he moved a finger, the stones in his watch gleamed as well.
Even though he was acting as if I didn’t exist outside his instructions, he looked so damn edible.
His dark chocolate skin was glowing, his low haircut was freshly lined, and his facial hair was trimmed to perfection.
As he clenched his jaw while giving his phone all of his attention, he was the finest man alive, and I’d bet my next high on it.
Looking around the empty cabin, since the stewardess had disappeared behind a curtain, my brows furrowed.
My heart jolted in my chest, forcing me to reach up and rub it.
My breathing shortened, and I could feel sweat forming at my hairline, possibly curling my baby hairs.
I was leaving America. I was leaving a place I’d wanted to come to for my entire life.
I was leaving Shio. I’d planned to do so anyway, to keep Shio and his people safe, but the thought of being forced to do something while I had no clue what we were about to walk into was frightening.
The thought of Shio hating me and his last interaction with me being one that was in a negative light made me want to vomit. I couldn’t breathe, or at least, I felt like I couldn’t.
“Shio…”
He paused his fingers but continued to look down at his phone.
“Shio,” I said, removing my seat belt.
I dropped to my knees and crawled to him. His long legs were spread wide, so I crawled between them. His signature scent engulfed me as my cry made its way up my esophagus. Gripping his thighs, I looked up at him through wet lashes and a racing heart.
“Get up.” His words weren’t stern. They weren’t angry either. They were flat, and that was worse. Here I was, at his mercy, and he couldn’t even look at me.
“Shio. Please!”
His eyes slowly lifted from his phone to my face. I sputtered a cry as tears fell.
“Don’t. Don’t fuckin’ beg.”
“But… but. Say something.”
He stared into my eyes, showing no signs of remorse, yet I stayed on my knees with his muscular thighs underneath my palms.
“Fuck you want me to say?” He blinked, his wild lashes brushing against his cheeks as his thick brows slightly folded.
His silence was unnerving. I would have preferred it if he yelled at me, cursed at me, questioned me, or even took a page out of my father’s book and slapped me.
But, outside of him pushing me out of the house and lifting me onto the plane, nothing.
That scared me more than being handed over to the Rodríguezes.
The thought of him truly no longer caring for me made me ill.
“Say… Say… something. ?Cualquier cosa! (Anything!)”
His pink tongue slid across his bottom lip as his eyes moved from my face to my hands.
It was as if his gaze were scorching because I immediately let him go.
At the same time, the plane shook, sending me tipping backward.
Before I could fall, he was up in a flash, his seat belt removed, and he caught me by the arm.
I blinked repeatedly, nervous because I might’ve been injured, but happy to feel his touch.
He tucked his phone in his pocket and then pulled me upward.
The plane was still going through turbulence, but he was steady enough to guide me.
“No worries, we are just bypassing a storm coming through Jagoda Bay. Please fasten your seat belts.”
Shio bent, his necklace hitting me in the face as he pushed me into my seat.
Knowing I wouldn’t get this close to him again, I grabbed his face in the palm of my hand, even though I knew I was no match for his strength and he could easily snatch away.
He didn’t, though. Our eyes locked on one another as he stayed hunched over, his chain dangling, and our noses brushing.
Without hesitation, I pressed my lips against his as he remained stone.
I pulled back slightly and pressed my lips to his again and again and again and again.
Shio didn’t return my advances, though. He just shot me a stale look instead.
Not only was I defeated by his lack of response, but embarrassment washed over me for being so forward.
“Stay in your seat.” His lips brushed against mine as he spoke, his minty breath tickling my cheeks.
He pulled away and sat back in his seat, his eyes finding the window.
I ran my tongue over my lips to savor his taste, then wiped the tears from my face.
There was no sense in crying. There was no sense in feeling sorry for myself.
I knew, no matter what Shio had promised me, that this day would come.
He said he had a daughter. I didn’t know what Felipe had told him over the phone, and I wasn’t a mother, but I understood that he was trading me for his child.
Even though the thought of Shio procreating with another woman gutted me like the fish at the coastal markets, there was nothing I could do about it.
I sat back and accepted defeat as we flew into the night’s sky.
My only regret was that I didn’t snatch my drugs on the way out.
I needed to be high to deal with what was to come since the high had now officially worn off.