Now that they were away from the effusive praise of the Reyes’, Nick was happy to focus his full attention and energies on Shannon. Helping her to a seat had allowed him to wrap an arm protectively around her waist aiding her passage through the plane; a simple action which brought him immense pleasure and contentment.
He hoped his gentle touch and solicitous attention was making those emotions clear to her. Nick wanted Shannon to fully understand how important to him and precious she was in his life. Their long nights sleeping in the same bed when he’d held her and their limbs had twined together in total perfection had set the stage.
The fancy luggage he’d had delivered for her to use, the limo ride to the private hangar, the huge private jet with the Barrett logo emblazoned on the side, all of that was part of who he was and pretending otherwise wasn’t being truthful. Since being completely open and honest was the only way to move beyond the outright lies and half-truths from the past that had almost destroyed their future, Nick had sagely decided to just let it all unfold as normal. There was also real effort being made on his part to open up so she could see inside his heart and mind. These things, he knew, were important to her.
A female flight attendant approached them with a polite smile and a basket full of cookies and bottles of fruit juice which she carefully placed into a special holder on the small shelf next to them.
“Mr. Barrett, Miss Reynolds,” she began, “the Captain has informed me that we are in line to begin taxiing the runway. Your guests and crew are secure, sir.” she said directly to Nick. “Are we ready to get underway?” she asked. After getting a quick nod and a, “Thank you Nadia” from Nick, she efficiently evaporated back to wherever one’s private flight attendant went giving Nick an opportunity to lean closer to where Shannon was seat-belted in.
“Off we go, little one.” he said gently as he ran a finger down her face from ear to chin. “East Coast here we come!” he added in a jolly tone bringing an adorable soft pink blush to her cheeks and those beautiful eyes to his. Her face told a million stories, all of which warmed his heart, for at that moment there was no shadow of lingering doubt or anger from the past hovering nearby. It was a gloriously free moment when he couldn’t stop himself from straining against his seat-belt to lean close enough to place a tender smooch on her sweetly kissable mouth.
As the plane began to taxi to their assigned runway, Shannon sat back in the outrageously comfy leather seat aboard the equally outrageous luxurious company jet that would take them from her simple, uneventful southern California life to the east coast realism of Nick’s real world and a long, put-off visit with her parents and brother.
Okay, so maybe her boring and ordinary life was not so much that anymore, she marveled inwardly. Not since she’d slammed full speed into her past in more ways than one. In just a few short days she had retreated from the business which had been defining her life for far too long, leaving everything in the more than capable hands of her assistant Rory, and allowed Nicholas Barrett to overtake her life like a hurricane. Life as she knew it had certainly changed in oh so many ways, including the part where she had allowed him into her bed. To sleep, yes. But even that had been a huge step for her.
She watched out the window as the plane picked up speed, hurrying down the runway, gathering energy to take off and glide to the sky. Still feeling the after- glow of the gentle kiss Nick had gifted her minutes ago, Shannon was suddenly glad he was next to her. He had reached out and taken her hand, giving it a gentle little squeeze at the moment of take-off. She was not a secure flyer, preferring distraction to watchful attentiveness when she had to travel, but his reassuring presence and the way he always seemed to know what she needed relaxed her immeasurably. She gave herself up to enjoying the plane’s quick ascent and the capable way the pilot brought them in short order to a cruising altitude which he announced via the on- board comm system.
The second the seat belt sign went off, Nick reached out, unbuckled her so quickly that she gasped in surprise, hauling himself out of his own seat and bringing her with him to sit side by side, legs touching on a soft, low leather bench sofa.
His unexpected actions and physical movement of her body had caused Shannon’s dress to hike up her long, tanned legs before she knew what was happening. It was a naturally modest reaction for her to instantly try to tug it back into place because she never had been one for showing too much skin in public. While being alone in a sequestered cabin aboard a private jet didn’t qualify for public, Shannon was trying to readjust herself when she caught sight of Nick’s face.
His fierce gaze all but burned her legs as he stared at her bare limbs with undisguised appreciation. She actually gulped because right then the air around them became drenched with a blatant sensuality that scrambled her thoughts and dried her throat. She stopped trying to tug down the hem of her favorite vintage Ashlynn McVeigh dress, feeling a twist of feminine delight unfold at her core as she simply allowed him to look to his heart’s delight.
His eyes became dangerously hooded with desire and something she else couldn’t quite pinpoint. That she couldn’t read him as easily as she could pretty much anyone else felt like a disadvantage. Her breathing become short and shallow with expectation since she had no idea what would come next.
Nick’s mind became cloudy with erotic imaginings as he devoured the long, lissome limbs bared to his hungry eyes. That he wanted those tanned, soft skinned extremities wrapped securely around his hips as he hammered her body with his powerful thrusting hips was a no-brainer. So far they’d weathered a storm of raw emotions from their painful parting which hadn’t completely killed the opportunity for handful of kisses and stolen caresses that screamed louder than their aching emotions.
Hell, any time they were even in the same room he had an instant hard-on and experienced a deep insistent need for this woman which no amount of time or her denial was going to change. Allowing Shannon to set the pace was by far more difficult than any business deal he’d ever been involved in for his need to take control and move her along to the desired end game was an instinct he knew had to change. His past actions when he had chosen for her and taken away her right to have a say was a bitter lesson learned the hard way. This stage was all about Shannon. With time now on his side, he was sure they would get there because her need for him was so painfully obvious; each time he touched her she all but went up in flames.
Being a man however meant that sometimes he had to constantly test the waters and keep taking chances which is just what Nick did when he reached out and moved her small hands away from tugging down the hem of her dress to lay them aside so he could run a large, warm hand up her calf to the outside of an exposed thigh, eventually sweeping underneath the fabric of her lovely outfit until his questing fingers touched the elastic of her lace panties.
A startled Shannon began to reach for his hand to stop what he was doing until at the last second she instead lay her hand upon his forearm a second before dropping her eyelashes lest he get a full look at the powerful yearning evident there. Things were spiraling out of control as she careened from one set of potent emotions to the next.
Was this her happily ever after Shannon wondered? Was she brave enough to let the past stay in the past? So many of her carefully constructed arguments against this man had been dismissed over the last week that she was left with a lot of empty space in which to create a more truthful version, warts and all, of Nicholas Barrett. No longer a demon and far from being an angel, Shannon was finally allowing herself to admit that she’d willingly take the bad with whatever good she could find as long as in the end, he would stay by her side this time and not throw her away when the going got tough. Did she have the spirit necessary to demand what she saw as hers?
The cabin lights dimmed fractionally as Nick muttered, “We’re on cruise control now.” in a distinctly gravelly voice. “Nadia will come around to serve dinner if you’re hungry.” he said with special emphasis on the hungry. He sat discreetly back a notch
so they wouldn’t be embarrassed when the attendant approached. Shannon knew twin flares of regret and longing when the fingers at her hip, which had been deftly tracing the lace pattern of her panties, retreated. Ever the gentleman, he hastily re-arranged her dress. She’d been so wrapped up in the sensation of his touch against her skin that she’d completely forgotten they weren’t alone by any stretch of the imagination.
Moments later Nadia appeared as if on cue to let them know that a light repast had been set out for them to eat at their leisure in the private lounge.
Storing this piece of information away in the wonders never cease file, Shannon rose as Nick did and with his hand solicitously at her waist allowed herself to be escorted to a space kept for Nick’s exclusive use when on board.
The functional and sumptuously comfortable lounge included a flat screen TV with a small table set for two next to a sideboard of secured serving dishes that smelled heavenly. A cushioned love seat and a built-in desk sectional with overhead storage completed the room. None of what she saw suggested the rich, spoiled playboy she’d seen him as and accused him of being.
Nadia efficiently set about detailing what was available; asked solicitously if there was anything else she could get them before engaging in a brief back and forth with Nick about flight details and accommodations for the Reyes’ and the flight crew. Nick expressed his thanks before dismissing the woman with an assurance that he would call if they needed anything at all.
Before exiting, Nadia had the good sense to address Shannon directly with a respectful inquiry into her comfort after having noticed the way she was getting about with a slight limp. Her deferential manner toward the woman at his side gave Nick intense satisfaction both at his employee’s perfect assessment of what was so obviously going on and Shannon’s always lady-like interactions. She was a perfect fit for him; they complimented each other so well that Nick was hell bent on showing her just how well they fit. Intimately.
They spent the next hour sitting compatibly at the small beautifully set table enjoying the selection of simple fruits, scrumptious cheeses and artisanal baked goods set out for them. When Nick inquired if Shannon preferred a heartier meal, perhaps something hot, she responded rather breathlessly that she was fine but not all that interested in food right then. Quirking an eyebrow, his senses went on high alert.
Blushing furiously she fumbled over the implications present in her words while Nick watched in amused satisfaction. Yeah, he wasn’t all that hungry for food either. Hungry, yes. For food, not so much.
What the hell was the matter with her Shannon fumed inwardly? Good lord but she sounded like a blithering idiot awkwardly trying to explain away the double entendre meaning of her words. As lovely as the tempting dishes were which had been prepared for them and as pleasant as the inane perfectly polite conversation between them was as they bantered about absolutely nothing, she was fantasizing about the way his long, beautifully sculpted, very manly hands had disappeared under her dress earlier. Having said she wasn’t feeling hungry for food, Shannon panicked; desperately praying she hadn’t continued that thought out loud adding that she was indeed hungry. For his touch.
It didn’t help her composure that Nick sat so still, staring at her as a galling pink blush crept up her neck spreading rapidly across her face. He might not be saying anything but the smoldering look on his face spoke of things which left Shannon trembling in her seat. She’d asked him not to rush her and right now she wished he’d forget she had ever said anything so ridiculous.
His eyes were fixed on her mouth when she snaked out her tongue and swept some much moisture along her parched lips. He zeroed in on that movement with an intensity that rocked her world. Shannon knew they were fast approaching the moment when they would be done with polite conversations and solicitous touches. He was holding himself back, as he had promised he would, while she found her way in this odd, surreal situation.
Ah, what the hell, she thought as any remaining tethers which were even remotely keeping her responses to him at bay unraveled under the drenching effects of the sexual fall-out that had them both securely in its voracious grip.
Nick was struggling for control especially after watching in slow motion wonder when her tongue had wet her lips, instantly reminding him of other things that tongue had done. Erotic things. Things which had made his nerve endings stand at full alert.
A full color movie of her tongue licking him from top to bottom replayed in his mind. She had this intense way of absorbing everything through her senses so the impressions she wrought and experienced from the strokes of her tongue had moved both of them to shuddering awareness of the other. He loved watching her taste his body and the obvious pleasure she took in doing so had turned up the flame even higher.
She knew it was up to her to make the first move if she wanted any more from him than focused politeness and iron clad control. She’d seen all she needed to see. Shannon loved him enough to forgive the past; loved him enough to trust his vision for their future. With each brick that had come down and with each re-woven thread, the connection they shared, that thing which calls lost souls together, had reawakened and strengthened. The time for doubts and drama had passed.
She was overcome for a few seconds as reality hit her when she completely embraced a decision that would have life-long consequences. Her emotions skyrocketed making Shannon want him to be out of control and undone too. She wanted him feeling even a tiny measure of the flames engulfing her at this moment. Judging by the increasing boldness in those smoldering eyes she had only to reach out and he would be hers all over again. Could she? Should she? Again she thought, ‘Ah, what the hell.’
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
“Kiss me.” she said. That was all. Just, kiss me. With those two words Nicholas Barrett knew a redemption and forgiveness so deep and profound that it shook him to his core. With emotions clogging his throat he simply stood up and came around the small table so he could scoop her up from the chair where she sat.
Gathering her to him so she felt the entire length of him along her body, he slowly lowered his head towards her for a kiss she knew would change everything. The second before his lips touched hers she saw deeply into his eyes, into his very soul, and was stunned to see the presence of tears gathering there. Everything about him spoke to how deeply moved he was and how precious this moment was to him. Just like that, she was undone.
He kissed her, slowly and reverently at first, allowing the sensory overload of their fused mouths to gather momentum. Wallowing in the intoxicating passion which burst forth the second they melted against each other, Nick poured his heart and soul into that kiss. He wanted her to know that for him this was like nothing else he’d ever experienced in his lifetime. Kissing her was like being reborn. Where before he’d been isolated, alone and barely concealing the bitterness he felt over the loss of this beautiful, extraordinary woman from his life, at this moment he was soaring free at last. He thought of the matching tattoos which had started all this and of the fabled twin souls flying free at their reunion. The tears he had felt gathering when she had quietly asked him to kiss her kicked in to high gear with that connective memory.
Shannon clung to Nick’s shoulders as he held her firmly against him while he plundered her mouth. Soft and gentle at first, their kiss told a story with undercurrents of hope and desire directing the outcome. Before too long their kissing exploded into something too big for either of them to handle as he groaned his need with each swipe of his tongue along hers. Spearing her fingers into his hair Shannon held him where she wanted him as her own mouth voraciously responded to the masculine plundering of her senses.
Standing there in the middle of the dimly lit room, she was writhing against his rock hard body as he devoured her response with his mouth and hands. He held on so tightly that at one point he realized he was bending her over the arm caught around her waist with such ardor that she had no choice but to simply let him have his way with her. He felt very much like the
swashbuckling pirate she had jokingly said he reminded her of. Nick surrendered to the primal beat picking up tempo in his body, ravishing the heavenly creature in his arms with a surprising lack of finesse. He wanted her, deeply, madly, and completely.
Shannon fell into his kisses with complete abandon, kneading her fingers against his scalp as she moaned in response to the greedy oral duel each was engaged in. Rolling her tongue around his and sucking it deep into her mouth, she knew an aching emptiness at her core which only he could fill. As her body responded to his touch with a rampant sensuality that overtook her senses, Shannon pressed herself against him marveling at the potent sexual drumbeat that his possession started inside her.
How long they stayed like that, wrapped up in each other, kissing, stroking, moaning she didn’t know for the sensation of being in his arms, and not holding back at all, was so compelling that she lost all sense of time or awareness of anything outside the two of them.
Eventually the sultry kissing became bolder and hotter as Nick left worshipful kisses across her face before licking her ear and neck causing Shannon to sink her teeth into Nick’s shoulder in response. By the time he put his hungry lips to that spot on her neck that he knew would drive her wild, she had surrendered to him so totally that all she could do was whimper and writhe in his arms when he suckled the sensitive skin where neck met shoulder.
“Shannon…?” Nick rasped. She knew what he was asking so she answered him with a deep whisper that began in her heart and ended on her lips. “Yes Nick. Yes, please.” There was nothing else to say.
The Billionaire's Second Chance Page 24