HIGHER (The Indigo Lounge Series) (19 page)

Chapter Twenty-Five

The Indigo Lounge plane took off
mid-afternoon on Monday. Her first time on the trip, she’d been so overwhelmed
by Zach that she hadn’t really found time to experience the unique concept he’d
created.

Of course, he was no less
overwhelming now and she would probably never get used to the force of his
magnetism but at least she was learning to absorb the mind-altering shock that
he was hers without it affecting her thought processes too much.

The seat-belt sign winked out at
thirty-thousand feet and she stood up from where they’d been watching the
clouds from Zach’s suite.

“You wanna buy me a drink at the
bar, big guy?”

He remained seated and eyed her
attire and a frown started to form. “You sure you want to go out like that?”

She looked down at her leather dress,
the same one she’d worn when she accepted his indecent proposal three weeks ago
in this same suite. “There’s nothing wrong with my dress, Zach. The only change
is I don’t have any pantyhose on.”

His frown deepened. “But you’re
wearing panties, right?” he bit out.

She sighed and linked her fingers
through his, choosing not to remind him that there’d been a time when he’d
forbidden her from wearing any. “Yes. As ordered to.” She pulled him up. Or
tried to. He looked intensely irritated.

“God, what now?”

“I’m wishing I hadn’t burned that
chastity belt.”

She laughed. “Sorry. Can’t help
you there.”

His mouth twitched and he finally
rose. Tightening his fingers around hers, he brought them to his lips. “I’ll
just have to be your human chastity belt, then.”

The image his words evoked made
her cheeks burn. He quirked a brow at her.

“I see that turns you on,
Peaches. I can give you a demonstration right now if you want?”

“You get that the more you try
and keep me from going out the more I want to, right?”

His jaw tightened.
“Unfortunately, I do. Come on.”

They left his suite on the third
deck of the plane via the private lift. Zach bypassed the second floor in favor
of the first and she tried not to let her smirk show. They had seven hours on
board before they landed in Rome. She was dying to see how he intended to keep
her from the second floor.

The lift opened onto the main
lounge. The venture capitalist CEO she’d met at the pre-flight drinks, Mike
Henson, was at the bar with his Russian girlfriend when Zach steered her in and
pulled out a seat for her. His narrowed gaze fell to her bare thighs as she
perched on the stool and his mouth pursed.

“Behave,” she whispered.

He gave a low growl, turned to
the bartender and ordered a
caipirinha
for her and a beer for himself.

Mike straightened from where he’d
been leaning against the bar and came toward them.

“Hey Savage, I was just saying to
Olga that I think this plane is your best one so far,” he said.

The bartender placed their drinks
in front of them and Zach handed over hers. “Glad it’s living up to your
standards,” he replied.

“Shit, it’s a dream! If you ever
want a partner in any future venture, you know where to find me.”

“Thanks, I’ll bear it in mind.”

Another two couples drifted in.
Gabriel Antonelli introduced his stunning black girlfriend, Angela, and Damon
Sinclair introduced his wife, Birdie.

As the introductions were
reciprocated, Bethany noticed how Zach kept his body between hers and the men
and curbed a smile. Her guy was unashamedly territorial. She had no problem
with that.

Although she was beginning to get
irritated with Olga subtly eye-fucking Zach.

The conversation inevitably
drifted to business but she noticed there wasn’t that aloofness when Zach
interacted with the guests on her first Indigo Lounge flight. When the other
couples drifted away, she looked at to Zach.

“They’re your friends?”

“We move in the same circles and
get together every now and then.”

“So they’re your friends.”

He shrugged. “More like business
acquaintances I’m familiar with.”

She frowned. “Do you have any
real friends?”

His eyes shadowed as he stared
down at her. “Yes. You.”

She should be used to the way he
frequently kicked her feet from under her with his words alone, but Bethany had
a feeling she would never get used to Zach’s power with words. “I seriously
like you, you know that?”

His smile was a little forced,
and the hand drifting down her cheek trembled slightly. “You more than like me,
but I’ll take this for now. You want another drink?” he asked.

She drained the last of her
cocktail and shook her head. “I want to keep a clear head. Technically, I’m
supposed to be working.”

“Not while we’re flying.”

Stepping down from the stool, she
tugged down her dress. “I know, but getting to know the guests now will help me
service them better later.”

He froze. “Fucking wrong choice
of words there, Peaches.”

“God, are you going to be like
this throughout the trip?”

His nostrils flared. “Things are
still unsettled between us. I can’t help think something’s around the corner
waiting to fuck us up even more.”

She reached for his hand and slid
her other hand around his nape. “Shit is going to happen no matter how much you
may try to prevent it. What you can control is how you live in the moment,
right now.”

He swallowed and the fierce light
from his eyes burned right through to her soul. “You’re mine. Nothing and no
one is going to alter that. I won’t let it happen.”

She smiled and his breathing
altered. Her hand slid from his nape to his chest and as she kissed him, his
heartbeat escalated. “I like that sound of that. Know what else I like the
sound of?”

“Will I regret asking?”

“I like the sound of you taking
me to the second deck. I wanna see who’s getting frisky with whom.”

His breath hissed out. “God.
You’re a closet Peeping Tom. How did I not know this about you?” he grumbled.

She laughed and tugged him to the
glass staircase.

They entered the bar area and she
felt Zach’s finger tighten on hers. Glancing at him, she saw his face set in
hard, unreadable lines. She noted why a second later.

One of the guests, a young German
heir to a sport car giant was busy fondling his companion, who was naked from
the waist up. She had both hands tied behind her back, giving him free access
to her heavy breasts.

As Bethany watched, he slapped
one breast and made a sound of pleasure when her nipple immediately peaked.
Cupping her, his other hand reached between her thighs. At the first touch, her
head rolled back and her mouth dropped open.

The man’s eyes flicked to them,
his eyes glazed. He started to smile at Bethany, then noticed Zach and
immediately looked away. To his credit, he became completely engrossed by the
sight before him again. Leaning down, he rolled his tongue over his woman’s
nipple, sucked hard on it and groaned.

“Seen enough?” Zach rasped. She
glanced at him, wanting to see his reaction but he’d retreated behind an
inscrutable wall as he stared down at her, one eyebrow raised.

“Umm…maybe.” Bethany wasn’t sure
how she felt about witnessing another couple’s blatant enjoyment of each other.
She felt hot and guilty at the same time.

“You don’t have to be ashamed
about how external stimulus makes you feel,” he whispered in her ears. “As long
as you bring all your wants and needs to me, we’ll be fine. Deal?”

Biting her lips, she nodded.
Zach’s hand slid around her waist and he guided her forward, past the couple
who were now completely lost in each other. The passed another couple getting
heavy in the next spot and walked through to the games room.

Bethany’s stomach twisted as they
walked into the chill out room to see Mike and Olga and Damon and Birdie
lounging in the seats. Two of the screens had descended and as they moved into
the room, Bethany heard hoarse Italian swearing followed by a very feminine cry
of pleasure. Gabriel and Angela.

“Join us,” Olga invited, her eyes
latching on to Zach.

Bethany had never really tested
their relationship against the rigors of close proximity. Sure, she knew how
Zach felt about Chris, her ex and she’d made her feelings clear about the belly
dancer who’d got a little too close in Marrakech. But this was different. Olga
was blatantly eyeing up her man. She needed to set boundaries. Fast.

“We’d love to,” she responded.

Zach’s hand tightened around her
waist. When she glanced at him, his face was still expressionless. “You sure
about this, Peaches?” he murmured.

She sent him a thousand-watt
smile. “Absolutely.” She took a seat on the last remaining lounger and slid her
hand onto Zach’s thigh when he sat down next to her. Hard muscles bunched in
gratifying reaction to her touch.

Olga, dressed in a silver
sequined micro-dress that left very little to the imagination
cleavage-and-leg-wise, stood. Mike’s smile looked a little strained as he
watched his girlfriend sashay over to Zach, card in hand.

Zach’s face remained the same as
he took the card from her. Again he glanced at Bethany. She felt her smile
slipping but held her nerve.

Zach shrugged and opened the
card. “How many billionaires does it take to screw in a light bulb?” A tiny
smirk twitched his mouth.

Olga let out a tinkling laugh
that grated on Bethany’s nerves. “Silly question.” She stared straight at Zach.
“I say he should forget the light bulb. And screw me.”

Whoa
.

Zach barely blinked. “Your turn,”
he said to her.

She pretended to tilt her head in
thought. “Well, how important is the light is to him? Because if he has me, he
won’t need to worry about the darkness.”

Lame. So fucking lame
. And yet, the change that came over Zach’s
face made her want to scream with happiness.

He flung the card away and
pressed the screen button on his seat. “Sorry, Olga. She wins.”

Mike had a full-blown smirk in
place as the screens descended. Olga looked like she was chewing nails.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Zach caught her as Bethany flung
herself at him before the screen had fully descended.

“Baby, what the hell are you
trying to do to me?” he grated out.

“I saw your face. You liked what
I said,” she murmured as she settled herself in his lap, her thighs bracketing
him and her hands sliding into his hair.

He clamped his hands on her hips
and pressed her flesh.

“Like it? You fucking turned me
inside out.”

She made a soft sound and rubbed
herself against him. He hardened instantly. “I like turning you inside out.”

“I know. Any reason why you want
to prove that right now?” he asked, although he could guess the answer. Dark
satisfaction shot through him.

“I wanted to put that Siberian
bitch in her place. She’s been eyeing you like you’re Beluga caviar on her cracker.”

He laughed and cupped her firm
rump. “I hate caviar.”

She jerked back and looked into
his eyes. “Really?”

“Really.”

“Good.” She undulated her hips
and his mind reeled. Her dress rode up a little higher and the scent of her
arousal hit him like a blow to the heart.

“Bethany?”

“Hmm?”

“
If you want me
inside you, we have to return to our suite. I’m not fucking you with people
listening in, baby. Your pleasure sounds belongs to my ears alone. But it looks
like you have something to prove so have at it. But I say when to stop.”

Her beautiful
eyes were stormy with need when she stared down at him. “I thought you didn’t
fuck where you work.”

“I’m making an
exception for you. Besides, when I’m with you, it’s not work.”

“So, heavy petting is allowed
right here?” Her hands drifted down his chest and over his stomach.

“Hmm.’

She put her hand
on his hard crotch and squeezed him. Intrigued by how far she would go, he
watched her slowly slide down his zipper and take out his rigid cock. His
eyelashes fluttered but his eyes remained on hers, eager to see her face, watch
her pleasure as she pleasured him.

She pumped him a
couple of times and Zach gritted his teeth and swallowed a groan. He was
unraveling, already spinning out of control from her touch alone.

Her miniscule
smile told him she knew her effect on him and was pleased about it. She gripped
him harder, worked him faster, her fingers warm rings of exquisite torture. Her
lips parted and her pink tongue darted out to wet her lower lip. Another groan
ballooned in his chest.

Christ.

“Baby…” His gaze
dropped to his cock in her hand and he lost his train of thought. He was
agonizingly hard and growing desperate by the second.

“Zach,” her voice
was thick with need. He speared a hand through her loose hair and dragged his
fingers over her scalp the way he knew she loved.

“Peaches, do you
crave me inside you?”

“Always,” she
breathed.

“Time to return
to our suite?”

She nodded
eagerly. “Yes.”

He grinned at the
reluctance with which she released him. Gingerly, he zipped himself up and
dropped his shirt tails over his crotch.

She stood and
sent him a saucy grin. “That’s not going to keep them from guessing what we’ve
been doing,” she said.

He let out a
frustrated growl. “Next time you decide to mark your territory, pick a quick
getaway that doesn’t involve a dozen guests and two flights of stairs between
us and a bed.”

She mock frowned.
“Should I be worried that you think I’ll need to mark you often and
consistently?”

He smiled. “I
love being marked by you. Even though blue balls could become an issue if we
don’t time it properly.” He grimaced at the agony tearing through his groin and
pressed the button to lift the screen.

She caressed soft
fingers down his cheek. “Oh, you poor baby. I promise I’ll make it better very
soon.”

Her sheer
enjoyment of his discomfort made his teeth grit but he couldn’t stop the pure
vein of happiness from growing in his chest as he watched her beautiful face
and breathtaking smile.

This woman
knocked his numb heart into kicking life. And he intended to do whatever it
took to keep that life force beating. A return to his previous existence, to
that soulless numbness, was unbearable.

***

Rome was hot and gloriously
culture-filled. And the spot Karim chose to launch his first salvo.

Zach saw the first email from his
lawyers half an hour after landing. He barely managed to contain his rage as he
read the clear threat in the email.

Beside him in the limo Bethany
arranged to ferry the IL guests to his hotel, she turned sharply, her senses
tuned perfectly to his mood.

“Something wrong?”

“Yes.” He stopped for a moment,
marveled at how easy it was to talk to her now. To share his joy and his pain.
“The zombies are sabre-rattling.”

Worry clouded her eyes. She put a
hand on his thigh and he covered it with his own. “Explain.”

He looked out the window at the
passing view. Early evening sunlight glinted over the Coliseum’s ruins. Shorts
and T-shirt clad tourists aimed their phone cameras at the ruins and for a
moment he yearned to be one of them, with no worries or bitter past or threats
of losing the one precious thing in his life.

He refocused on Bethany. “He
wants me to leave the non-disclosure alone.”

“Or?” she pressed.

“Or he’ll unearth a few
skeletons.”

“Your skeletons?”

“Yes.” He sighed and passed a hand
over his face. He needed a shave. Badly. But Bethany had protested when he’d
threatened to shave this morning. Her reason for wanting him to leave it
unshaved brought a fleeting smile to his face and a hard kick to his groin. His
Peaches loved a good and rough Princess Treatment. And he had no intention of
denying her. He refocused when her hand tightened on his. “I never told you why
I cut my mother out of my life.”

Her breath caught. “No, you
didn’t.”

A wave of shame slammed into his
gut and spread outward. “I have a vague recollection of my father. Nothing
concrete. But even before he walked when I was four, I knew something wasn’t
right with our
family unit
.” He
stopped and sucked in a breath. “There were too many
uncles
drifting in and out, you know?”

She made a distressed sound and
the wave of shame crept higher, threatened to engulf him.

“At first, I would just stay in
my room. No one bothered me and I didn’t go hungry or anything like that. I
just recognized very quickly that staying in my room was the best thing all
round.”

“Then I got older. Things began
to make more sense.” She winced and he realized his fingers had tightened. He
loosened his grip immediately. “I couldn’t avoid the truth. And she didn’t
really bother to hide it from me once I hit puberty.”

“Are you…are you saying that your
mother was--”

“A glorified prostitute? Yes. And
the thing was, she wasn’t doing it for the money. She just did it because…” he
shrugged and noticed his whole body was coil-tense, “she enjoyed it. My mother
enjoyed giving herself freely to men just for the hell of it. I asked her once
why she did it.” His jaw locked for an instant, so tight he was stunned when
something didn’t break. “She told me she enjoyed the attention. Of course, she
couldn’t be like every other mother and join the fucking PTA or book club. She
let other men use her. Because she enjoyed it. When I was old enough to stay
away without supervision I did. I spent hours at the pool and only came home
when it was strictly necessary.”

“And your father?”

The long-buried scab ripped raw.
“He wasn’t interested enough to stick around when I was a kid. I have no
interest in getting to know him now. Kudos to the man, though. He paid enough
child support to allow my mother to support her exemplary lifestyle.” He
couldn’t stop the bitterness from spilling out. “You know, sometimes I hated
him for that? For supporting us from wherever the hell he was? I thought that
maybe if he didn’t, my mother would’ve been forced to get a real job.”

“Zach…I’m so sorry…God, I don’t
know what to say.” This time her fingers gripped him hard enough to hurt..

He risked a glance at her and saw
sympathy, concern and a sheen of tears in her eyes. But no judgment.

No judgment.

His breath fractured out of him
and he swallowed hard to keep from losing it.

She was so giving. So damned
generous, with her body and her soul. She was currently guarding her heart due
to his intense stupidity but he intended to do everything in his power to win
it back.

“You’re still here. That’s all
that matters.”

Silence followed, soothing the
jagged edges of his confession.

“So, Karim is threatening you
with your mother’s past?”

Bitterness soured his mouth.
“Yes, he’ll leak a story unless I let the Farrah issue go. I’ve refused. As for
my mother, I wish the past tense applied where she’s concerned.”

Her eyes widened. “You mean she’s
still…”

“She never stopped. Not when I
threatened to leave and never come back. And not when I made good on the
threat.”

She leaned closer and slid her
arm around his waist. Her nose nuzzled his throat and he closed his eyes and
reveled in the softness and goodness of her.

After several minutes, he opened
his eyes and looked down at her. “Do you have a question for me today?” Again,
he noted that this - letting her in, was getting easier.

Her smile lit her up from the
inside and his brain fried. God, how was it possible she had no idea how
gorgeous she was? His thumb traced her lower lip and he watched her eyelids
flutter with pleasure.

“I
had
a question for you. You just answered it.”

Surprise jerked through him. “You
wanted to know about my mother?”

“I wanted to know about your
childhood.”

He nodded, then breathed in deep.
“And are you okay knowing there won’t be any fond family Thanksgiving dinners?”

Her mouth brushed his throat
again. “I’m okay knowing we’ll have Thanksgiving dinner together some day.”

He splayed not too steady fingers
through her hair and angled her face to his. “I intend for us to have many. Get
used to the idea.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Are you sassing me, Peaches?”

“I wouldn’t dream of it.” Her
smile indicated otherwise. He started to lower his head, to taste those sweet
lips that had the power to wreck his world and put it back together again. Her
question stopped him.

“So what’s going to happen now
with Karim?”

Renewed anger churned through his
gut. “I won’t let him threaten me. I won’t let him threaten us.”

“Zach…”

“Let me worry about it, baby.”

“I don’t want you to go through
this alone. The alpha thing is sexy and all but there are some things I will insist
on sharing.”

“Understood. Now enlighten me as
to what else you think is sexy…”

The atmosphere had lightened
considerably by the time they arrived at The Indigo Palazzo Roma in the heart
of the Italian city just off Piazza Navona.

His uncompromising business ethic
coupled with his drive for perfection in all things usually worked well to
charm and impress his IL guests.

But for the rest of the afternoon
as he watched Bethany swing into work mode and seek to deliver the very best
experience to each guest, he surmised that perhaps on this occasion, his guests
were enthralled for a different reason.

She put each guest at ease while
maintaining a distance that made the Neanderthal in him stop wanting to rip
things apart. Their dinner at La Pergola, the three-Michelin star restaurant
came with a wine list that made even the Wall Street CEO and self-confessed
seasoned connoisseur’s eyes bulge.

Zach sat back and watched her
effortlessly charm his guests. When a few of them drifted off after coffee to
admire the rooftop view of Rome at night, he stayed at his table and allowed
himself an unashamed view of his woman. Her dark gold silk-clad body had been
teasing him all evening. The material had especially clung to her ass in a way
that made his groin burn every time she walked away from him, which had been
often, much to his irritation.

He finally managed to corner her
an hour after they arrived at Gilda, the exclusive club, where she’d arranged
after-dinner chill-out drinks.

She smiled when he turned her into
his arms on the dance floor. “Having fun?”

“Yes. What can I say? I enjoy my
work. Did you see Jerry Daniels’ face when the
sommelier
brought out the wine list? I thought he was going to have
a heart attack.” Her eyes sparkled and Zach thought she’d never looked more
beautiful.

“You knew he was a wine
collector?”

She raised a perfect eyebrow.
“You doubt that I did my homework?”

“I never doubt you, Peaches.”

Her breath shortened and her eyes
dropped to his mouth. Flames fanned into roaring life and his cock followed
suit. “How much longer until we can ditch this circus?”

She laughed. “It’s
your
circus.”

“Exactly. So I’m calling it a
success and you’re clocking off for the night.” He stood and held out his hand.
“I can tell you’re horribly jet-lagged. You need a bed
asap
.”

She rolled her eyes but slid her
hand into his when he stepped off the dance floor. Her knee-length dress
caressed her body as he strode over to the group and ensured everyone’s need
had been catered to for the evening. Then he watched her expertly hand over the
reins to the Italian assistant and hostesses she’d been working with all
afternoon.