In Flight (36 page)

James kissed my neck again, sucking hard enough to leave a mark.
 
He kissed the spot again as he pulled his face away.
 

I squirmed uncomfortably.
 
Things were getting awkward fast.
 

“We were made for each other.
 
It’s as simple as that.
 
Bianca told me just a moment ago that I had ruined her for other men.”
 
His voice was all charm, but I glanced up and behind and found that, unsurprisingly, his smile was all predatory challenge.
 

I elbowed him in the ribs.
 
I couldn’t believe he’d said that.
 
I blushed profusely.
 

Stephan laughed, though it died away when he saw my look.
 

Damien coughed uncomfortably.
 
“Well, okay.
 
I’d better get back.
 
See you later.”
 
He left.
 

I was fuming.
 

James began kissing my neck again.
 

I tried to stomp back on his foot and missed.
 
“That was embarrassing and out of line, James.
 
You can’t take things I say and use them like that.
 
It makes me want to never tell you things like that.”

He murmured an apology against my neck.
 
“I’m sorry.
 
I just had to set him straight after the things you said to him earlier.
 
I won’t do it again.
 
Forgive me?”
 

His teeth tugged at my ear, and it was hard for me to concentrate.
 

“You need to go back to your seat,” I told him sternly, far from appeased.
 

His hands drifted up to my breasts, and I looked around, scandalized.
 
But we were alone.
 
I hadn’t even heard Stephan leave.
 

“I love you breasts.
 
I’m going to clamp them tomorrow.
 
I would pierce them for you, if you’d let me.
 
I would love to mark you like that.”

I knew he was trying to distract me, but even knowing that, his tactic still worked.
 
I was shocked.
 
It sounded like such a hardcore, permanent thing to do.
 
I had never in my life even considered doing something like that.
 
And he said it as though he’d do it himself.
 

“You could do that?
 
As in, you could do the piercing yourself?”
 

He murmured a yes against my shoulder, kneading my breasts with just the right pressure.
   

“You think I would allow anyone else to handle these?
 
To do that to you?
 
Fuck no.
 
That would be a job for me.”
 
He pinched them roughly as he spoke.

“You’ve done that before?” I asked him cautiously, my back arching automatically.
 
I wasn’t really thinking of doing it.
 
I was more curious about this odd skill of his.
 

He rubbed his hard erection against my butt.
 
“I’m properly trained and quite good at it.
 
It can’t be painless, but I’ll try my best to lessen the pain.”
 

I noticed that he didn’t exactly answer the question.
 
I had a sudden vision of all of his ex-lovers sporting nipple rings for years after he was done with them.
 
It did seem like a small price to pay, I supposed, considering how good he was in bed.
 

“Do you pierce all of your lovers?”

He snorted.
 
“You have the oddest notions.
 
No, I do not normally pierce my lovers.”
 

“Just your favorites?” I asked, half-serious.
 

“I only have one favorite,” he replied, nuzzling against me.
 

“What was her name?”
 
I asked, getting annoyed that he wouldn’t give a real answer to the question.
 

He pinched a nipple hard enough to make me yelp.
 
“I was referring to you, you silly girl.
 
And to finally answer your persistent line of questioning, I have pierced three of my ex-lovers.
 
Now, I believe it’s my turn to get some information from you.
 
And, considering that you got to pick the question for me, I’ll do the same to you.
 
Have you ever gone out with Captain Damien?”

I couldn’t have been happier with his question.
 
I’d just been about to protest the exchange when he’d asked it.
 

“Nope.”
 

“Has he ever asked you out?”
 

“That’s two questions,” I said smugly.
 

“I believe I answered more than one.”

I sighed.
 
“Yes, when we first started hanging out with them, he did.
 
I said no, and he’s been completely platonic ever since.”
 

“Why did you say no?
 
You seem to like him.”

I turned my head just enough to give him an arch look.
 
“I wasn’t interested.
 
Apparently it takes a very specific type of man to get my interest.”

He practically purred against my neck.
 

CHAPTER THIRTY

Mr. Gratification

We were taking our seats to land before I remembered to ask Stephan about something curious he’d said earlier.
 

“What kind of dirt do you have on Melissa?
 
And why is this the first I’m hearing of it?” I asked him.
 
He didn’t, as a rule, keep things from me, even minor things.

He flushed a little.
 
“It was a very crude story, and frankly I wanted to shelter you from it.
 
You’re not a virgin anymore, but what I saw made me feel dirty, so I didn’t want to unload it on you.”

This did nothing but pique my curiosity even more, of course.
 

“What on earth happened?”
 

He grimaced.
 
“I walked in on Melissa in the cockpit last week.
 
She was, um, she was giving the captain, Peter, um, oral pleasure.”
 

I gasped, a hand flying to my mouth.
 
He just nodded with a disgusted look on his face.
 

“Where was the co-pilot?” I asked, not sure why that was the first question that popped into my head.
 

“He was just sitting there, looking uncomfortable.
 
I think Melissa thought he’d be into it, but he sure wasn’t.
 
And then, after she saw your watch, I overheard her talking to Brenda and Jake as I approached the back galley.
 
She had the nerve to tell them that she was planning to write you up for accepting gifts from passengers.
 
She had the gall to actually imply that James had been paying you for something that you did for him in the bathroom of the aircraft.”

My jaw literally dropped.
 

 
“That lying skank,” I said in disgust, reacting quickly with temper.
 

He held up a hand.
 
“I handled it.
 
First of all, I confronted her in front of the others, making sure they knew that she was a flat-out liar.
 
They had no trouble seeing that she was just jealous of your watch.
 
Brenda and Jake both know me better, and they trust me, so they easily took my word over hers.
 
And then I made sure they all knew what I had caught Melissa doing in the cockpit.
 
She at least had the decency to look embarrassed about it.
 
I even spoke to the first officer, and he agreed to back me up if I needed to write a report about it.
 
Melissa knows I won’t hesitate to get her fired if she tries to hurt you.
 
She’s lucky I didn’t get her fired for trying to spread nasty rumors about you.
 
I still get furious just thinking about it.”

I patted his hand comfortingly, mulling over the drama that had unfolded around me while I had just been going about my work, oblivious.
 

“She’s a piece of work,” I commented, then dropped the subject.
 

“James is so crazy about you,” Stephan murmured to me quietly.
 

He’s crazy, all right,
I thought, but I didn’t comment.
 

I considered sharing every scandalous detail about our relationship with Stephan, but decided against it.
 
It would dispel his strange notion of James falling for me like some romantic hero, but it would also make him unnecessarily sad.

James was waiting just outside the door as we walked out of the jet bridge as a crew, finally done for the night turned morning.
   

“Drive with me,” he ordered as he fell into step beside me.
 

I slowed until the others passed us.
 

“I can’t,” I said to him quietly.
 
“We’re supposed to drive with the crew, and I need to go check into the hotel to reserve my room.”
 

He flushed, his pretty mouth curling as he reached to pull my luggage for me.
 
“That’s all unnecessary, Bianca.
 
For the love of God, just stay at my place.”
 

I set my mouth.
 
“We’re not going over this again.”
 

He walked beside me in silence until we were nearly at our pick-up location.
 

“Fine.
 
A driver will come pick you up at the hotel,” he said finally, handing me my bag.
 

“When?” I asked, but he was already striding away.
 

It was an entertaining bus ride, with Murphy at his most amusing.
 
I wondered, as he was telling a funny story, if Melissa would try to go down on Damien with Murphy looking on in the flight deck this week.
 
Or would she go down on both?
 
I didn’t know how that sort of thing worked.
 

I was just discovering my own kinky nature in full, but taking on two men just seemed too sordid to me.
 
No matter what kind of spell James seemed to have me under, I knew I could never be talked into something like that.
 

Murphy interrupted my scandalous thoughts by addressing me directly.
 
“You can’t tell me you’re not gonna be sorry to miss out on us tonight!
 
Admit it, you love us!”
 
Murphy had adopted his atrocious mockery of an Australian accent as he spoke.
 
He did so often, claiming that it if it worked for Damien, it could work for him.
 
Damien always winced when he heard the butchering of his accent, which just made it funnier.

I smiled.
 
“I made plans before I knew about yours, Murphy.
 
Don’t take it so hard.”
 

“Just have James join us.
 
If he has a romantic evening planned, just tell him to save it for another night!”

I thought of how he was going out that night without me.
 
I briefly considered meeting up with them after that.
 
I knew, from other nights we’d gone out with these pilots, that they would have no problem staying out late and then getting up early.
 

“Maybe I’ll swing by the bar later,” I conceded.
 
“I’ll have to play it by ear.”

Murphy whooped as though he’d won a victory.
 
I met Damien’s eyes, and he was smiling warmly.
 
I felt a little uncomfortable, and couldn’t place why.
 
We’d gone out with these pilots many times and there was usually never an uncomfortable moment.
 

Am I just worried about what James would think?
 
The thought troubled me.
 

 
We reached the hotel and got our room keys in short order.
 
Everyone was lingering in the lobby, chatting with the hotel staff.
 
Murphy was convincing them to join up at the bar after work.
 
It sounded like he was succeeding.
 
Murphy was nearly as charming as Stephan, in his own silly way.
 

“Ms. Karlsson.”
 
A quiet voice spoke behind me.
 

I turned in surprise.
 
It wasn’t the usual way I was addressed.
 
I was a little surprised to see Clark standing there, both in New York and in our hotel.
 
I hadn’t realized that he traveled with James outside of Las Vegas..

“Hi, Clark.
 
How are you?” I asked, smiling.
 

“Great, Ms. Karlsson.
 
The car is out front.
 
Please, allow me to take your bag.”
 
He did so without waiting for an answer.
 

Stephan kissed me on the forehead.
 
“Have fun, Buttercup.
 
Call me if you need anything.”
 

I nodded absently, seeing the strange looks on the rest of our crew’s faces as I made a somewhat hasty departure.
 
I gave them all a quick wave as I departed.
 

James could have told me that he meant right away.
 
He probably hadn’t told me for a reason, thinking I would argue with him.
 
He may have been onto something.