Starving Faithful

by Amy Lynn

  I board the plane with absolutely no regrets. What’s done is done, and I did what I had to do. As I locate my seat and stow my carry on in the overhead compartment, I ask the gentleman sitting next to me if he could help switch my phone into airplane mode. I’d only had it for a few hours, and right now, I am too exhausted to learn the menu of a new phone.

  The passengers are cranky on this flight, and the crying baby across the aisle isn’t helping matters. As the plane leaves the runway, I instantly feel my new life begin, smiling inwardly at the warmth that has spread throughout my entire body. A single tear runs down my cheek, and I quickly wipe it away admiring the glistening moisture dampening my index finger, reveling in the joy I still have the ability to cry tears and feel emotion.

  I am a little mad at myself. Mad I could stay with a monster for so long. Mad at the fact I denied myself the pleasure of truly being loved. I want love and affection more than anything, and it scares me that if I ever have the chance to fall in love again, I’ll fall too easily and set myself up for disappointment with another heartbreak.

  Abe’s words come echoing back. “You’re an amazing woman, Ava. Never forget that.”

  I will have to be careful of love this time around, and I know without a doubt, it’s going to take an amazing man to break through the shield of armor that encases my heart.

  With each day, I grow further away from Brad and gain back a little part of myself I didn’t realize I had lost. Every time I open my eyes a new day begins and I learn to love a new part of me. It’s strange to feel as if you’ve forgotten who you were, like you were in a world where you didn’t belong, but as I lay here listening to the steady rhythm of my heart beating a wild new melody, I know writing the lyrics will be an unforgettable journey to building a whole new symphony.

  The End

  (For now)

  Read on for a sneak peak of Starving Love, Book #2 of the Insatiable Series

  Starving Love Chapter 1

  Vail

  I board the first class section of the plane, my eyes desperately searching for anyone who had the ability to shred my last fucking nerve while I located my seat. I hadn’t flown commercial in years, which was the most valued perk of having my own plane. It was supposed to keep me out of situations like this, but mechanical difficulties had me grounded. This dreadful move was my last resort.

  I sank into my seat, which was horribly uncomfortable compared to what I was used to, and continued with my evaluation of the passengers as they boarded.

  So far, the occupants filling the seats seemed tolerable; however, the seat next to me was available and unfortunately would soon not be. I had no doubts there was going to be a fucking disaster boarding this plane, and you can bet your sweet ass they’ll be sitting next to me. My due reward for flying solo for the last blessedly quiet five years.

  Only a few seats remained now, including the one adjacent to me, and while I held out hope and the possibility of it never being filled, this was a sold out flight. Disaster was sure to come.

  And then I heard it. A crying baby. Fucking fantastic.

  The cry got louder and louder until they boarded the first class section of the plane. Then it was a full on wail. I shut my eyes and growled in protest of the little demon and hoped like hell that it would cry itself into a blissful sleep rather fucking quickly. The semi hard-on I was packing when I boarded the plane, an unexpected send off I received from Suki, Selvi, or whatever the fuck her name was, had just been struck down. This trip officially blows in more ways than one.

  My anxiety level was at an all time high, and I ran my finger through my hair and over the stubble on my chin at the misfortunate hand that I had been dealt. And then, she boarded the plane. An absolutely gorgeous brunette that had no knowledge of her own beauty. Her features were soft and delicate, her hair silken and long, and her body deliciously curvy. Her chest was full but natural and her skin glowed an exquisite peach as her green almond shaped eyes scanned the numbered seats. She looked carefully at her ticket and continued to make her way down the aisle, brushing back her dark locks. I went to swallow and realized my mouth was hanging open. Oh, for fucks sake.

  I averted my gaze when she neared and began fidgeting with my phone, a move I have never made in the past when dealing with women. Get it together, Locke. This screaming kid has you all kinds of fucked up. Wait. Was the kid still crying? I gave a moment’s listen and confirmed. Hell fucking yes.

  She paused at the empty seat next to me and took another look at her ticket, as I switched my phone into airplane mode. She stowed a small bag in the overhead storage and sat down next to me.

  Her scent enveloped me immediately, and it couldn’t have been more intoxicating. I closed my eyes at the battle my body was about to endure and realization hit me like a ton of bricks that the true disaster on this trip was me.

  The preflight announcement started, and I heaved a sigh this trip was finally about to begin. I tucked my phone into my shirt pocket and leaned back into the seat.

  “Um, excuse me,” she said, with a voice so soft I barely heard her speak. “I just got this phone, and I have no idea how to switch it into airplane mode. Could you help me please? ” she asked not meeting my eyes as she held out her hand to me, the phone laying flat inside her palm.

  Goosebumps erupted across my skin when my fingertips made contact with hers. I sucked in a shaky breath and held it, quickly found the settings, and handed it back to her by the bottom corner, certain not to make contact with her again for sake of my own sanity.

  “Thank you so much,” she said gratefully, removing the phone from my grasp and not meeting my eyes. Seems she had a habit of that.

  As the plane left the runway, the kid continued to scream, and she popped an orange tic tack into her mouth. I grew hard just thinking about what her kiss must taste like.

  Thirty minutes into the four-hour flight, the kids cries surged on, and the other passengers were growing intolerable of the situation. Honestly, I don’t know what took them so damn long.

  She began to speak with the frazzled woman holding the spawn of Satan, who was growing more frantic by the second as her attempts to soothe the cries of the baby were unsuccessful and went unnoticed by both grumpy passengers and the child. Turns out the lady was actually the grandmother traveling to California to reunite the child with its mother whose business trip had been unexpectedly extended. Shocker.

  The grandmother took the child from the infant carrier, and I noticed that the little demon was indeed a baby girl, dressed in pink from head to toe. Grandma held her to her chest while rocking her back and forth to no avail. “My daughter sings to her when she fights her sleep,” she told her.

  “And that works?” she asked.

  “Every time,” Grandma said.

  “Sing,” she said simply. “It’s what she wants.”

  “Oh no, honey child. I can’t carry a tune to save my blessed soul,” Grandma said with a grin. “I only sing in church where there are no judgments.”

  “May I?” she asked with her hands outstretched for the baby girl.

  After a moment, the desperate grandmother handed the baby girl across the aisle. She cradled the baby motherly to her chest and asked for a blanket to cover her with. For fucks sake, the kid was right next to me now.

  With the baby covered, she rested her chin atop the child’s head and began a rhythmic massage across and down the baby’s back. Damn, I could use one of those. Surprisingly, after just a few minutes the baby’s cries took on a different tone, still a cry but a slightly more tolerable one, if there was such a thing. A moment later, she began to sing softly into the baby girl’s ear.

  My chest tightened at her angelic voice, the sound touching deep unexplored parts of my soul I never knew existed. The longer she sang the harder I grew.

  What the fuck is wrong with me? An unknown woman and a baby have completely broken through my impenetrateable force field?

  Baby girl quieted significantly within min
utes and drifted off to sleep ten minutes later.

  The surrounding passengers began to give her quiet praise for her baby whispering capabilities, all very thankful for a now pleasant flight. None more thankful than me.

  She had some special powers indeed. Downright fucking magical ones.

  “So, where do you keep your cape?” I whispered to her before I lost the nerve.

  I flicked her a quick glance and noticed her eyes were closed with her lips pressed against the baby’s head. Shit. She’s asleep. I squeezed my eyes tightly shut and desperately wanted to go back a couple fucking steps and reverse the question and glance order. Always look first! Then she smiled and opened her eyes, and I completely lost my train of thought.

  “No cape,” she whispered back not bothering to meet my eyes. “Just have the touch, I suppose.”

  I have something you can touch…

  “Besides,” she added still whispering, “I like to sparkle, and there’s no room in the superhero world for that. I’m more fairytales and unicorns. A world where there are no evils, you have magic at your fingertips, and there’s always a happy ending.”

  There was evil, and she had no idea how close she was to it. I shifted in my seat at the growing erection beneath my trousers where her magic had seemed to awaken the beast. No doubt that little monster always gave promise to a happy ending.

  With baby girl fast asleep, she placed her carefully into the infant carrier where she remained asleep for the remainder of the fight, watched carefully by her grandmother.

  She put on a pair of headphones and began to watch a movie while I began to watch her.

  She had on a strapless turquoise colored dress with a thin gold belt accentuating her waist. Her nails were painted a natural soft pink, and I imagined what they would look like on certain parts of my body. NO. No more of that. Your zipper is under enough pressure as it is.

  But the torture just wouldn’t stop…

  Her crossed leg as it kicked softly into the open aisle...her index finger as she slowly traced the outer edge of her full bottom lip…her thigh as more of it began to show from under the fabric of her skirt...the scent of her hair as she ran her fingers through it.

  I’m a fucking disaster.

  I closed my eyes, desperate to part with the uncontrollable thoughts that had invaded my mind and body. I thought about work, my half-sister’s birthday party next week, and my lunch date with my mother on Wednesday. Anything but the lovely being who occupied the seat next to me. But my eyes landed on her. She had fallen asleep, headphones still in place, her head softly leaning to the side towards me.

  I settled back against my seat, positioning my arm so that it may used for a pillow, if and when the time came, and I waited.

  I had never wanted and not wanted a woman’s touch so much in my entire life, nor have I ever waited so long to get it.

  My eyes slowly swept over the length of her entire body and stilled when they landed on her dainty ring finger. How does a woman of her grace and beauty remain unattached? Any man in their right damn mind wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to put a ring on it. Not a fucking sane man anyway.

  And then it happened. She lay her head against my arm, the heat from her sun-kissed cheek radiating through my shirt, caressing my skin. I was blissful and full of anguish at the same time, seduced emotionally to the point of physical pain. The need to touch her, a growing ache I could no longer curb. Tentatively, I reached for a lock of hair that lay beautifully across my bicep and threaded it through my fingers. I was strung tight as a bow, my body humming in delight. The sensation began flowing hot and deep embracing every nerve in my body warming me to my very core and setting my soul on fire. My body burned for her, a longing ache I would never have the pleasure or satisfaction of exploring.

  This is not real, Vail. You’re not being real.

  I let her hair slip from my grasp. The intoxicating caress of her exiting my body just as quickly as it came.

  I lay my head against the seat in defeat, closed my eyes, and tried desperately to forget this unicorn occupying the seat next to me.

  I felt her stir, then wake, jerking in surprise when she realized she had slept against the arm of a complete stranger.

  I pretended to be asleep in hopes of easing her embarrassment, and perhaps some of my own.

  The fasten seatbelt sign came soon after, and I straightened in my seat, trying my damnedest to forget.

  As the wheels made contact with the runway, I breathed a sigh of relief that my driver Jeffery would be waiting, and I could leave and just forget.

  I remained seated as she collected her things from the overhead storage, and I restrained myself from looking her direction, regardless of how bad I wanted to.

  Damn near everyone had exited the plane except for me. I unfolded myself from the seat and kicked something out into the aisle that skidded and came to a rest a few rows down.

  The moment I saw it, I recognized it immediately. It was a phone. Her phone.

  I picked it up and slipped the device into the pocket of my slacks.

  Jeffery was waiting at the gate as I knew he would be, with my already claimed bags at his feet. I scanned the baggage claim for her, but she was nowhere in sight.

  I nodded once to Jeffery, and we exchanged pleasantries as I pulled the phone from my pocket. Burning questions blistered through my mind as I went through the phone. It was wrong to do so, but I had thrown my sanity along with my morals out the window hours ago.

  The contacts were empty, and the email account had not yet been activated. I opened the image gallery and my breath caught in my throat. A lone image of her stared back at me. My stomach fluttered at the sight of her, and I turned just in time to catch her at the corner of my peripheral vision. I erased all evidence of me ever being there and turned to Jeffery holding out the phone. “Jeffery, would you mind taking this phone to the beautiful lady in the blue dress. She dropped it as she was exiting the plane.”

  “My pleasure, Sir.”

  Jeffery did as he was asked, politely handing the phone to her. She threw her arms around his neck and pulled him into her embrace to express her gratitude. Lucky bastard.

  “Mission accomplished?” I asked Jeffery when he returned.

  He cleared his throat. “Yes. She was most delighted, Sir.”

  “Good. Now take me home, Jeffery.”

  “As you wish,” he said as he retrieved my bags at his feet.

  Opening my phone, I retrieved the photo I texted myself a moment before, the gorgeous face of her coming to life before me. I was warned about people like her. The one soul who walked this earth I wouldn’t be able to ignore. Beautiful beyond words, a heart that shines brighter that the sun, and eyes that could see straight through me. She was addicting in the worst way and impossible to ignore. She’s the lit match to my dynamite, and with just one look, flames had erupted everywhere. She’s the one person who could destroy me, but what can I say? I’ve always been a risk taker.

  Opening the car door, Jeffery asked, “How was the flight, Sir?

  “Fucking magical.”

  Dedication

  This book is dedicated to the two special men in my life, without whom, I wouldn’t have had the courage to embark on this unforgettable journey. Thank you for all the unconditional love and support you so generously give. With all my heart, I love you more than words can say. xoxo

  Mom, thank you for being my best friend, always believing in me, and my dreams, no matter how big they may have been. This one’s for you too. I did it! I love you. xo

  Acknowledgements

  For all my extraordinary friends, old and new, who take time daily to answer my endless newbie author questions, give advice, make me smile, and encourage me every step of the way…

  You’re all irreplaceable treasures. Thank you endlessly.

  For the reader,

  To the beautiful, extraordinary person reading this,

  YOU are priceless. Without you, my dreams wouldn’t
be possible. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for taking a chance on me as an unknown author. I am forever grateful and look forward to meeting you at a future signing. After all, YOU make my happily ever afters possible.

  Love and hugs always,

  Amy Lynn

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1—Ava

  Chapter 2—Ava

  Chapter 3—Ava

  Chapter 4—Ava

  Chapter 5—Ava

  Chapter 6—Ava

  Chapter 7—Brad

  Chapter 8—Abram

  Chapter 9—Ava

  Chapter 10—Brad

  Chapter 11—Ava

  Chapter 12—Ava

  Chapter 13—Ava