by Alex Cook, Indigo Sin, Taylor L Ray, LaVerne Thompson (epub)
“Ahhh…J is a lot like me. That’s part of why we get along so well.”
“I’m not sure I could handle two of you,” she said with a grin.
Cameron chuckled. “Red, you’d be very surprised at what you’d be able to handle.”
Can’t get enough of Cameron and Leanne? Stop by Horny Devil to find the second part of Red Hot! http://www.hornydevilpublishing.com/Conte
mporary_Romance.html
Skye High
By LaVerne Thompson
Chapter One
Reilly sank down into the plush leather chair of the business first class section window seat and sighed in relief, she was exhausted. She’d only had two days to get ready for this trip, yes she’d known about it for two months but it was only a couple of days ago that she knew she’d be able to make it for sure. When she finally got her money back that snake of her accountant had stolen from her, only then did she book the trip. At first she thought she was ruined, all her hard work down the drain. None of the people involved would be able to recover all their money the accountant had been entrusted with. Still she got back enough to continue to run her taxi service and splurge on her first vacation in years.
She spent every dime she had on her year-old business, and the company was running in the black. Her car service provided a more exclusive kind of taxi service. More expensive than a cab of course, but cheaper than booking a limo. Her clients traveled in style and luxury in black Explorer SUVs with plush leather interiors and shock absorbers that made it seem you floated on air. Accounts were set up online so no money exchanged hands with the drivers and all bookings were done online or through a Smartphone app she had designed. Reilly had six full-time drivers, two part-time ones for the twilight hours, and a manager. When the cars were not in use they were kept in garage space she rented, and she also had a contract with a local mechanic to service the SUVs. All of this helped to keep her operational expenses low. Business was good, even better now she had her money back and at the last minute decided to take the trip to see her best friend get married after all.
The business first class seat was the only thing available on such short notice and a treat for her. Then she had to rush to get everything together because her passport had expired and a renewal had to be expedited. She couldn’t wait to see her friend Trisha. There was a time when they saw each other every day. Then after college Trisha moved to England. It had been a year since they’d been in the same country at the same time and now she was getting married. To some Count no less. But Trisha always looked like she was meant to be royalty with that ice blond beauty thing going for her, which was in complete contrast color wise from Reilly’s rich dark chocolate skin tone and curly ha ir down to her waist. If she ever straightened it, it would hang down to her butt. But she liked her hair just the way it was thank you very much. Women paid a fortune to get that look. She simply had to shower, towel dry, run a big-toothed comb or fingers through her locks and she was good to go. Reilly settled back into her seat, took the complementary drink and sighed in pure bliss. The seats in first class quickly filled up, all but the seat next to her, not that she minded. After pretty much getting very little sleep these last few weeks due to the worry of her finances, and then the rush to make this trip, she was mentally and physically exhausted. She planned on sleeping through the twelve-hour flight. After she finished her drink, she took her sandals off and put on the cozy socks the airlines provided for them. She couldn’t put the seat back into the bed position yet, but she got the blanket out and snuggled under it. Being in the more secluded area on the upper deck of the plane, everyone in her section had already settled down. Those in the business or coach classes were a level below so they didn’t have to traverse past her section. As soon as her eyes closed she drifted into slumber.
The husky voice of the male seated next to her as he spoke to someone…the air hostess?…drew her away from sleep. “Mmm…” she groaned attracted to the sound, she turned toward it. She opened her eyes and drowned within the vibrant green gaze that stared back at her. Reilly had seen eyes like those before and they drew her to a memory from a night a long time ago.
*****
“Are you sure he’s going to be here?” Reilly asked her best friend Trisha for the umpteenth time.
“Yes,” Trisha said as she flung her long blond hair over her shoulder and they made their way through the crush of people and further into the crowded frat house. Trisha’s brother had just graduated from college earlier that morning along with his best friend Ben Skye, known as Skye to his friends, and a God among men. Reilly and Trisha attended the same exclusive all girls private school in McLean, Virginia. They’d hit it off from the first day of middle school. As an only child Reilly loved company and she’d spent many weekends at Trisha’s house.
Reilly first spied Skye when he’d come ho me with her older brother for a visit one weekend and hadn’t been able to get him out of her mind. She’d only been a freshman in high school then and still wore braces— geek anyone — and he was a brunette, green-eyed, ripped God. He barely paid her or Trish a any attention. Skye and Trisha’s brother, Chris, were too busy hanging out at the pool with some of the neighborhood bimbos who’d also come home from college. She’d seen him maybe two more times since then; he’d had girlfriends with him both times and still didn’t pay her much attention.
At seventeen and now a senior in high school, this was her chance to get Skye to finally notice her. Her braces were gone and she’d grown a set of boobs that had most men drooling; the low-cut cotton summer dress showcased her shape to perfection. She aimed to bring Skye to his knees tonight. He and Chris had graduated earlier that day, and while Reilly couldn’t make the graduation ceremony, she damn well made the party. Tonight was the night she’d get Ben Skye to take notice.
“I don’t see him?”
Trisha knew of her fascination, alright obsession, with Skye and was in full support of it. But then Trisha was a romantic. She’d read one too many of those HEA novels, but in this instance Reilly wouldn’t argue about it. “Don’t worry,” Trisha said leading the way into the kitchen. “He’s here. Chill.”
And she was right.
Chapter Two
“Skye!”
Leaning against the fridge in the kitchen on the other side of the room, Skye was not really paying attention to Tommy and David, two of his frat brothers. Turning around at the sound of his name, he had to squint a little in the dim light to see who’d called out to him. Blinking to clear the fog from his brain, it didn’t help much as he was well on his way to being wasted. It was something he rarely did, but hell he deserved to celebrate he’d graduated, and he’d broken up with his girlfriend a week ago — or she’d broken up with him because he couldn’t commit. Hell he had an entire life time of women in front of him. Besides he was leaving the country in a week to start work in the family import-export business in the Brussels office. He’d be there for at least two years, and after that, well, he’d probably spend the next couple of years working between Europe and the US. There was a reason his major was international economics and finance. He’d been primed for the European market.
“Congrats again, Skye.”
The blond bombshell came into view and Skye smiled, recognizing her. She was Chris’, one of his frat brothers, sister. He gave her a slow once over enjoying the view, but that’s all he’d do knowing her brother would kill him even for looking at his baby sister. But wait, she was legal now, he remembered Chris sending her something for her eighteenth birthday just before exams. He shook his head, it didn’t matter she was still off limits. But then she stepped aside and introduced her friend and everything and everyone else in the kitchen faded into his periphery. Reilly, her name was Reilly and that’s all he got, other than he wanted to touch her to see if she was real.
“Dance?” he said. Shit he hoped music was playing. If not he’d damn well turn something on, but he looked toward the main room, and yeah, he heard music blasting out t
here.
“Sure.”
He swung his gaze back to her then took her hand. When their hands touched something happened, and he looked down at their joined palms. She had a deep, rich dark chocolate complexion he wanted to lick to see if she tasted sweet too, while his looked more like vanilla. Then he glanced back up at her face, from her raised eyebrows and slightly parted lush lips, she’d felt that shock too, or was it just the alcohol. He shook his head. Fuck no! He’d never had that kind of reaction to a girl before; yeah his dick getting hard, but not this sense of shock, of being a little out of control. No that was new.
Ignoring Trisha, he pulled her along with him out of the kitchen and into the living room onto the center of the make-shift dance floor. There were a few other gyrating bodies already there, but he ignored them too. The music was slow, sultry…good. He turned and tugged her toward him. She was tall for a female; usually he liked his women short, petite, but she was anything but. Her curves nestled into his angles perfectly; he di dn’t have to bend to accommodate her. He liked it and pulled her even closer into his embrace. In response, she put her hands in the back pockets of his jeans, and his ass flexed at her touch. Skye rubbed his face against the softness of her hair, and he inhaled her fragrance. He had no frigging idea what it was, only that it caused his dick to pulse even more. He would have held her like that all night, but the boner he sported would not let him be comfortable. When the song changed, he stopped and ran his fingers along the side of her face. “Come with me,” he said.
She nodded her head, he took that to mean yes. Turning still holding onto her hand, he headed in the direction of the stairs and his room.
*****
Reilly blinked to clear the sleep from her eyes, but the face from her teenage fantasies was still there. Older, harsher lines, not the young man she remembered. The face before her was that of a man in his prime. His brunette hair was still thick, a little longer than she remembered. It curled slightly as it just brushed his chin, but it suited his square-cut features. His eyes she could never forget, a brilliant shade of green, and they seemed to twinkle as he gazed at her. Even casually dressed in faded jeans and a long sleeve dark gray Henley-style shirt, he could grace the cover of any fashion magazine. He’d been six two when he’d graduated from college and ripped; now his shoulders took up the width of the seat. When he’d shifted to face her, his biceps flexed and she noted the streng th and outline of the muscles beneath the cloth. Yep, still ripped.
She’d always wondered what would have happened if Chris hadn’t come upon them on the stairs that night. Well, she knew, what would have happened. But Chris had whispered to Skye the dreaded number — Seventeen. The look of astonishment on Skye’s face would have been comical if she hadn’t felt so disappointed. But to Skye’s credit, without a word, he’d taken her hand again and headed back to the dance floor, dancing with her one last time without holding her. After the song he’d disappeared, and she and Trisha had left shortly afterward. But they’d run into him outside with some other guys.
He’d called her name as they turned in the opposite direction to walk to Trisha’s car. Jogging over to them, he’d taken her hand and placed a piece of paper into it. “Here,” he said. “Call me on your eighteenth birthday.” Then he’d kissed her cheek and walked back into the frat house. She’d called him once, on her eighteenth birthday and left a message. He never returned her call.
Chapter Three
“Hello, Skye.”
He grinned. He’d been the last passenger in the first class section to board and when he’d sat down, the woman in the adjacent seat had been asleep, she’d even slept through take off. But now he was glad she’d woken up as he stared into her striking amber- colored eyes. “I’m sorry. Please, forgive me, but do I know you?” How he could ever forget the beautiful creature before him was one of God’s mysteries. Yeah he’d known a lot of beautiful women in his thirty-two years, but damned if he couldn’t remember this one. It’s not like he dated that many women of color. Okay so he liked variety, but still perhaps there was something about her that tugged at his memory. He couldn’t quite capture it, but hopefully she’d enlighten him so they’d get reacquainted.
“Well that’s embarrassing.”
“Oh god no, don’t be embarrassed, it’s me. I’ve been up for the last twenty- four hours busting my hump to make this trip so I’m a little tired.” He grinned flashing all white teeth and a thong-dropping dimple in his chin. He’d been told it was the kind of smile that had females weeping between their legs, and he had no problem using it now on the beauty before him.
“You were in the same frat as my best friend’s brother in college.” He frowned. “Huh?”
“Yeah, Chris Whalen.”
Skye shook his head, and then laughed. “Chris, yeah. In fact I’m on my way to his sister’s Trish’s wedding in London.”
“So am I.”
“You’re kidding, you know Trish?”
“Oh yes, we’ve been friends for years.”
He frowned. “Then how the hell do I not know you? What’s your name?” But as soon as he said the words the memory that had been teasing him snapped into focus. He could see it now, a young girl’s face morphed over a more womanly one , then back into focus for him again. “Reilly?” He remembered. She’d never called him. “You’re past your eighteenth birthday. Why didn’t you call?”
“I did.”
He shook his head. “No way. I never got a message.”
She shrugged. “I called you on my birth day and it went right into voice mail. I left you a message.”
“Oh honey. I’m so sorry. You have no idea, but I never got it. If I had…well this conversation might be going very differently.” He sat up and turned his chair a little so it angled toward her. The extended headrest provided privacy from your neighbor and normally he welcomed it; he didn’t now. His gaze raked over her from her curly hair that hung like a waterfall capturing winter colors in its depths, down to her ample chest, then back up to her face. She stared at him with humor in those warm brown eyes of hers. He should have remembered. She was one of the few women he’d ever known who had such dark skin yet such light eyes. The contrast was stunning. She was gorgeous as a kid, she was even more beautiful as a woman, and his dick as it had that long ago night, sat up and took notice again.
“What are the odds?” he said leaning over the console between them.
She rested her elbow near his own and leaned toward him. “I have no idea. It ’s too bad you didn’t get my message, but I did call.”
“I’m sorry. You have no idea. Did you have a good birthday?” “Oh yeah. My friends took me out to dinner.”
“That’s nice. But I wish I had gotten that message.”
“Why?”
“I would have called you back.”
“Then what?”
“Then I would have been able to finish what we started that night on the dance floor.”
She smiled and her entire face lit up. Besides the plane, that wasn’t the only thing going up. He had to shift to get comfortable; the organ between his legs was refusing to give him any relief. He leaned forward and grabbed the blanket he’d placed in the pouch in front of him when he’d first sat down. Opening it up as quickly as possible, he covered himself, but glancing up he caught her gaze resting on his lap. He smiled. “Oh yeah, things would be very different now.”
Her head rose to look at him. “And why would things be
different?”
“For one thing, this wouldn’t be the first time I’m seeing you in ten yea rs. Think of all the time we’ve wasted.”
Sh e laughed. “Well I don’t think either of us wasted any time thinking about it.”
Skye frowned. “That’s where you’re wrong. I have thought about you over the years.” When he saw the skeptical look on her face he grinned sheepishly. “It’s the truth. I w ondered why you never called and what you’d be like as you got a little older. I even asked Chris about you onc
e.”
“What? You’re kidding.”
“It’s true.” He shook his head. “He said you were engaged, so I never asked again. But I did wonder about you.”
“He told you I was engaged? That bastard!”
“Why?” He frowned in confusion. “Weren’t you engaged?” She shook her head. “No. But I might have been dating Chris
then.”
“What!”
“Yeah, in one of my more insane moments, I went out with him, twice, right af ter college. That’s it. We had dinner, and I knew he’d only and always just be a friend.”
“Sonofabitch!” Wincing at the volume of his own voice, he looked about the quiet cabin. It was a late evening flight so most of the seats were already in a reclined sleeping position, making him continue in a softer voice. “He never said a word. And when I asked if you and Trisha were still friends, he said yeah and that he thought you were engaged.”
“But I don’t understand. Why would he tell you that?”
He looke d at her. “You know why? I wanted you that night at the party, and I still wanted you years later, and he damn well knew it. But he wanted you too.”
She frowned. “He’s got some explaining to do. But you’re wrong about his feelings for me. When I told him we’d just be friends, he accepted that and moved on. He’s engaged himself now.”
“Yeah I know, but make no mistake, he wanted you.”
“Wow. I didn’t want him.”
“What about me?”
Chapter Four
Reilly stared into the eyes she’d dreamt about for years. She’d cried that night when he didn’t return her call and called herself all sorts of names for being such a ninny. How could she ever think that a guy like Ben Skye would even be interested in dating someone like her? But now looking at him, having the experience of a woman, she knew he damn well desired her. At least he was physically attracted to her, he had been back then too, but was that all it was? A mutual itch they both needed to scratch? The cabin’s lights had already been dimmed, but now the in dividual lights around them also went out leaving their over-head lights the only two in the cabin that were on. Skye looked up and shut off both of their lights, cocooning them in the semi-darkness, creating an intimacy around them that she felt in the warming of her blood throughout her body.