Crashed into Love: Boxed Set (29 page)

She was late.

Every passenger was on board and the crew were
looking anxious.

My heart hadn’t slowed since boarding the flight to
Tahiti. I knew Nina had the ticket. Shit, I’d seen her take it from her
windshield. I’d wanted to surprise her then and there—to pop from the shadows
and wrench her from the car and into my arms. But I waited.

The memory of her accepting her wings threatened to
overwhelm me. I was so damn proud of her.

Maybe she wouldn’t show? Maybe she’d taken the six
months to push all thoughts of me away, and I’d be left heartbroken. Served me
right after leaving her for so long.

The flight attendant spoke into the galley phone,
most likely advising the captain they had a no-show. Nina wasn’t coming.

I had to face facts. She hated me. She didn’t want
me. And I deserved it. What did I expect after leaving her alone in Samoa? With
no goodbye or valid explanation. I couldn’t cope with the thought of being an
invalid. Of being a downer with a brain that no longer worked. Not having a
hope in hell of achieving my dreams, unless I went back and spent another
hundred grand to relearn everything.

So I did the logical thing and ran.

Such a pussy.

As much as it hurt—the waiting, hoping—endlessly
afraid she wouldn’t accept my one-way ticket, it was the only way. She needed
to make the decision on her own terms. And I needed to know that I wasn’t too
late, to see if her love for me was as strong as mine was for her. I knew I’d
never feel any less for her. It wasn’t just a mortal love, it was a galaxy of
love that would last an eternity.

But I also hated to admit defeat. I wasn’t worthy of
her and she had finally realized that. I should never have left her in Samoa. I
should have stayed. Screw not remembering how to fly. My priorities were wacked
and now I’d suffer alone.

Commotion sounded up the front of the plane and I
froze.

Oh my God, she came.

She was here.

My chest contracted and my head pounded along the
jagged scar I now sported beneath my black hair.

Flustered, red-cheeked, and bright eyed, Nina
apologised profusely to the cabin staff. Her handbag kept sliding off her arm as
she manhandled her trolley. My lips stretched into a grin so big it hurt. She
didn’t have to say another word. She just proved to me how much she loved me
and my life would never get any better than it was in that moment.

I squirmed in my seat, fighting the nerves in my
stomach, as the air-hostess pointed the direction down the aisle. I’d
deliberately chosen the last row in the cabin.

Privacy. Incognito.

I hadn’t seen her in six months… who knew how my
self-control would be.

Her eyes read the seat numbers as she came closer.
Every step she took, my heart stuttered with rhythm. God, I loved her. And she
was here! Was she a mirage? Was she real? As my brain healed, I’d suffered some
wacky hallucinations, I hoped to hell she wasn’t one of them. I wouldn’t
survive it. 

Her eyes dropped to her boarding pass as she slowed,
nearing my row. I tensed, any moment now—

Her eyes locked onto mine and she dropped her
handbag.

We didn’t move, drinking in each other. I stared at
her as if I were a parched vampire completely desiccated. All the loneliness of
the past six months evaporated.

When she didn’t move, I stood and inched out of the
row to reach her. My fingers desperately wanted to touch her, but I hesitated.

“Hi,” I whispered, ignoring the rest of the plane
and passengers. They were inconsequential. Nina soaked up my entire attention.

“Liam.” Her mouth gaped. “What are you doing here?”

I smiled, loving the shock laced with wonderment in
her tone. “I came to fetch you. You didn’t think I’d make you fly all that way
on your own did you?” The moment I made the decision that it was time; I
couldn’t stay away any longer. I jumped on a plane to meet her. Hell, the plane
ride was only eleven hours, but it was eleven hours too long not to be with
her.

Never taking my eyes from hers, I reached for the
trolley bag and stretched to put it in the overhead locker. I captured her hand
and tugged so she followed me dazedly into the row. I took the window seat,
putting my back to it to face her.

“You’re really here?” She blinked, looking me over.
“Are you okay? How’s your head?”

There was time for that. And it wasn’t now. I
pressed a finger against her lips to shush her. Her eyes widened and she
inhaled sharply.

Chills of feelings darted down my arms. I shared a
connection with this woman deeper than any other. We grew to love in a coma. We
found each other when by rights we should’ve died. We didn’t play games when we
were asleep. I wasn’t going to now.

My heart sprinted and the cabin air thickened to
cocoon us in our own little world. “You have about two seconds to tell me if
you’re here because you love me and you’re moving to Tahiti, or if you’re
letting me down easy.” I dropped my finger, letting it trail down her chin,
tracing her neck.

She shivered, eyes glowed with undisputed lust. “I
don’t need two seconds to answer.”

Need surged through me like an electrical storm. I
sucked in a breath as she pressed forward and her lips connected with mine. Our
eyes were still open and I drowned in her sapphire depths.

She made an angry noise in the back of her throat
and broke the kiss.

I blinked. What was wrong?
Kiss me again
.

With a jerk, she raised the arm rest between us,
pushing it out of the way and sliding closer. The moment her thigh connected
with mine, I couldn’t stop myself any longer.

My arms latched around her and I dragged her against
me. If there was more room, I’d have her in my lap.

Her mouth opened under mine and her hot tongue
fought me in a battle of emotion. I poured every inch of pain and separation
into the kiss and grew lightheaded.

She moaned as her hands ran along my jeans waistband
and slunk up my t-shirt. She kissed me harder, stealing all rational thought.
All I wanted to do was help her undo my jeans and sink into her.

I couldn’t control the groan rattling through me and
my fingers lassoed into her hair holding her firm, kissing her like I’d wanted
for six long, lonely months. I couldn’t get enough of her taste and the
knowledge she was here. She’d come… for me. 

An annoyed cough sounded above us. Nina flinched and
broke away, wiping her mouth.

An elderly flight attendant peered down her nose.
“Excuse me; this is not the back of the bus for making out. Do up your
seatbelts, we’re about to take-off.”

I chuckled as Nina gulped, her cheeks as red as a
valentines card. “Sorry,” she mumbled.

The moment the woman disappeared up the aisle, I
grabbed Nina’s hand and placed it directly on my crotch. The heat of her fingers
sent me into lust overdrive, and I damned my idea of reconciling on a plane.

Her breath caught and she rubbed my erection. My
eyes tried to close in bliss, but at the same time, I was left shaking my head
in amazement. I’d placed her hand on me as if we’d been together for years and
she’d not flinched. Sure, she’d touched me in our coma-dream, but this was the
first time in real life we’d kissed and been this close.

Her face slackened. Did she think the same thing?

Her fingers stroked and then pulled back. “This is
so strange. I know exactly how you feel and taste, but I’ve never actually been
with you naked.” She dropped her eyes. “And yet, I don’t care. I trust my dream
more than I trust reality. I know you. I love you.” Her voice dropped to a husky
whisper. “I can’t believe you made me kiss you like that in public, though. And
our first kiss no less.” Her smile took my breath away.

“It was a hell of a first kiss.” I leaned in to
nuzzle her neck, breathing in her fresh scent of vanilla. “I’ve missed you so
much. I need you so much. I don’t care where we are. Or if it’s the first time
or not. I want you.”

Nina reached up to run her fingertips through my
hair. I tried not flinch as she found my scar.

Pain shone in her eyes and terrible guilt filled me.

“I’m sorry. For everything.”

She sighed. “I know. But I could have helped you. I
wanted
to help you. You gave me no choice.” Her face flashed with temper. “No one knew
if you were alive or where you were. It was torture, Liam. It was selfish,
inconsiderate, and I’m sure Joslyn wants to strangle you as much as I do. Don’t
ever do that to me again.”

I hung my head. “You have every right to be pissed.
And I’ll make it my lifelong commitment to make it up to you.”

She sucked in a breath.

All I wanted to do was kiss her and affirm she was
really here. I didn’t care we were on an airplane. All I cared about was for
the first time in my life, I was blisteringly happy. Charlotte would be
pleased. I finally found my place in the world and it was linked to this woman
who, as much as she tried to act annoyed at me, was quickly dissolving into the
beguiling woman I remembered from our shared dreams.

We sat in silence as the engines roared and we
hurtled down the runway. Nina flashed me a timid smile as we raced to the
clouds. “You and me, on a plane again. At least if we crash, we’re together.”

My heart squeezed. As wrong as it was to look fondly
on a life-threatening condition like a coma it was the best thing that happened
to me—minus the brain injury, of course.

When we levelled out, I took Nina’s hand and placed
a tiny red box in her palm.

“What’s this?” Her eyebrow rose as she caressed the
felt.

“Open it.”

She frowned, and slowly snapped the box open.
Resting inside was a key.

“What’s this for?”

I smirked. “It has two meanings.” God, I was gonna
be so cheesy.

She smiled softly, taking the key out and fingering
the tassel keychain.

“It opens something that I’ll show you when we
arrive in Tahiti.” I leaned in and captured her mouth, before adding, “It also
symbolises how you’ve unlocked all my feelings. I’d sworn never to feel such
highs and lows of life again. But you showed me how one dimensional I was.
Guilt, remorse, shame… there is so much more, and you reminded me of that.” I
reached to touch her cheek, fingertips sparking as she leaned into my touch. “I
missed you every second of every day.” I took a breath, inhaling her scent,
drugging myself with her. “When you walked up to accept your wings, I couldn’t stop
myself from inching forward. Chills darted down my back at the mixture of
happiness and satisfaction on your face. I was bowled over by emotion, as in a
way, even though I wasn’t there, I helped bring your dreams to life. That’s
priceless to me, Nina. I'm so
so
damn proud of you. And so happy you
accepted my gift.”

“You were there? You watched me?” Her voice was
barely a whisper.

Shit, maybe I should’ve mentioned that part.

My voice dropped, barely audible over the engine
hum. “I couldn’t have stayed away. Just seeing you experience that was worth
the separation as ultimately it means our future together is unstoppable.”

“What do you mean?” Her chest rose and fell and I
had to restrain myself from dipping my head to kiss her soft cleavage.

I kissed her lips instead, taking my time to coax
and tease. When I pulled away, I murmured, “We’re unstoppable as we’re
together. I’ve found you, and now I’m never letting you go again.”

* * * * *

The day was waning and the sunset was an orange
fireball in the cloudless sky when we left the Tahiti terminal together. The
entire ride we talked, we laughed, shared, we fell in love all over again.

Being back in Tahiti made happiness overflow. My
life was perfect. I looked at Nina beside me. She’d only brought the one
trolley bag. Her entire life was in that bag and she’d let me become her
future. Shit, I was getting sentimental.

I bent to kiss her cheek as we made our way to the
resident car park. I bought a jeep two days before I left, and it sat bright
blue and shiny in the orange sunset. “Are you jetlagged? Do you want to rest or
you okay to do a side trip?” I eyed her, trying to see fatigue. The only thing
Nina gave off was dynamite energy. I could almost picture her dancing and
spinning. Maybe I should’ve learned how to do that, too.

She let me put her bag in the open roll top back and
I took the excuse to squeeze her fingers as I opened the passenger door,
helping her climb in. She bit her lip and smiled as I didn’t let go when she
was seated.

“What did you have in mind?” Her voice hinted at
what
she
had in mind. I shivered at the throaty invitation. 

“Nothing too strenuous.” I dodged around the front
of the jeep and climbed in. “I want to show you what your key unlocks. You’ll
like it. I hope.”