“I love the hell out of you, too, Rick Savage.”
“You’d better. Killer and all.”
“Even when you don’t,” I vow.
“Even better.” Somehow the plane has settled into a smoother ride, and he says, “Come on.” He unhooks my belt and stands, leading me down a narrow path to the back of the plane. To my surprise there’s another set of double lounge chairs, they face the rear of the plane for privacy. Even better, Rick pulls a curtain shut. A few minutes later, we’re sitting side by side eating ice cream and Doritos, of all things, and talking about the night.
“It’s no Häagen-Dazs,” he says, of the ice cream, “but in a pinch, it works.”
“I’m actually too hungry to care what is,” I assure him whilst downing a bottle of water we’re sharing.
“Walker owns a fleet of six planes and they keep them stocked with good shit most of the time. This was short notice.”
He scoops a big bite of ice cream and surprises me by going back to the topic of his father. “The bastard snuggled up to Tag. He could have gotten you killed. He probably burned that damn house down to try and distract me from killing him, too.”
“Would you have?”
“What if I say yes? I almost did it the night my mother died. Who knows how many more people I might have saved, that’s he’s killed with his ‘skills,’ by ending him then?”
“But you didn’t. And you wouldn’t.”
“What if I said yes?” he repeats
“I wouldn’t believe you.”
“You have more confidence in me than I do. Me staying away had far more to do with him than you, baby. If I’d have stayed around, he wouldn’t have been here to burn down that house.”
“If you would have stayed in Texas, I believe we would have gotten him in rehab together.”
“I’m not sure I would have been that reasonable, even for you. In many ways, Candace, I’m a better man now. Because of who I am and what I know, and how you affect those things and me.” He scrubs the stubble on his jaw. “That probably sounds ridiculous considering all I’ve done.”
“No.” I catch his hand and kiss it. “It doesn’t. And I’m sorry.”
“Sorry for what, baby?”
“I need to stop saying, ‘if you would have come back.’ We’re better and stronger because of who we both became and that took time, age, and experience. I want to ask questions about the years I missed and not have you feel like you have to be defensive.”
His eyes soften. “I’d like that.”
“Good.” I kiss his hand again and grab a Dorito. “Do you use this plane to fly overseas assignments?”
“First, no more of those for me. We’ll talk through what jobs I take and don’t take, but they’re stateside, with you. As for your question, we have a couple of long haul jets that have actual twin-sized beds inside them. We need our shut-eye to go and kill people.”
I smile and scoop my ice cream. “I like that.”
He arches a brow. “Like what?”
“You aren’t watching what you say to me anymore.”
“No,” he says solemnly. “No, I’m not. I can’t invite you into my life and hide things from you. I don’t want to hide things from you. And I think you’ve seen enough at this point to make a decision about what you want.”
“Ice cream and Doritos with you anytime, anywhere.”
His eyes smolder and he sets his ice cream aside and mine too, shoving away the table. He hits a button on each of our seats and the backs begin to lower while the legs raise. He raises the arm between us and in a matter of another thirty seconds, we’re laying down, facing each other, our legs entwined. “Anytime? Anywhere?”
“You know it.”
He cups my backside and molds me close. “Anything? Anywhere?”
I laugh. “We are not having sex in this plane, Rick Savage.”
He nips my lip in that delicious way he does, and a shiver races down my spine. “No?” he challenges, his voice a low, rough seduction. So is the spice I inhale from that perfect dip in the line of his neck.
But still, I say, “No.”
“Why?”
“We’re not alone.”
“We are alone.”
“It doesn’t look like we’re alone. Are there cameras?”
He strokes my hair from my face and tilts my gaze to his. “No, and I think we both need to fuck like crazy rabbits. We need it. We’ve earned it.” His hand slides over my top and he teases my nipple through the silk, his mouth capturing mine, his tongue, God, his tongue, doing this long, deep stroke, that I feel all the way to my sex.
By the time his mouth parts mine again, my top and half bra are down and my breast is in his hand, my nipple is puckered and swollen in his fingers. He rolls me ever so slightly, and then he’s kissing me again and the hand that was on my breast is pulling up my dress. That’s when I realize that he’s about to find out that I don’t have on any panties.
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
Candace
Rick’s hand is under my dress and I catch his hand but it’s too late. His hands are on my backside and his fingers slide intimately along the seam of my body and then freeze. He pulls back. “Where the fuck are your panties?”
“Rick, I—”
“Holy fuck. Did you—”
“No.”
“Where the fuck are your panties?” Anger cracks like a whip in his voice.
“He didn’t touch me. He just—he pinned me against a wall and—”
He’s up and out of the chair in an instant. I scramble to a sitting position and I don’t even care that I’m naked from the waist up. The seat being reclined is awkward and I’m not waiting for it to right. I crawl over the top, manage to gain my footing, and find Rick standing with his back to me, his fist on the wall, chin low. I rush toward him and the plane jerks. I grab his body for stability and slide between him and the wall.
“I did not have sex with him. I didn’t even let him kiss me, and he tried.” He just stares at me, his lashes half-veiled. “He pinned me against the wall. He touched my breast and when I grabbed his hand, his other hand went up my dress. He yanked my panties and I shoved him. I wanted to knee him, but all I could think of was buying you and my father time. I was about to though before I’d have let him touch me any more intimately, I would have. Rick, he got us a room. I had already decided I was going to run before I’d go to that room.” I’m rambling, I think. I know I’m rambling, but he’s not responding and I keep going. “He had to give a speech. I managed to let Adrian know that I was going to run while he was speaking. That’s how I ended up in the bathroom with that beast outside the door. That’s when Adrian—”
“I’m going to kill him. You know that, right?”
“Yes.”
I say nothing more and neither does he. His hand cups my neck and his mouth is on my mouth. God his mouth is on my mouth. And just like that, all the walls fall away. Just like that he’s holding me, touching me, and I don’t even know how it happens but his pants are down, and he’s lifting me, the thick ridge of his erection pressing inside me. I’m panting. I’m crying out. He rotates, and he’s leaning against the wall, his hand between my shoulder blades and I lean back. I lean back with all my trust in this man, and when the plane jerks, I don’t even feel fear then. This man would never drop me.
And so I ride him, rock against him, explode into the moment with him, and his eyes, his smoldering stare, are all over my breasts. My body. Yes, my naked body. My dress is gone. Don’t know how that happened and I don’t care. I just want this man. I just want us and when I want so badly that I can want no more, I’m tumbling forward into him, I’m holding onto him, my body spasming and quaking. And he’s right there with me, hugging me close, his body trembling, low groans murmuring into my neck, while my name growls from his lips.
When we still, the plane does not. It’s shaking around us as he carries me to the seat and sets me down. “I brought your overnight bag,” he says, an
d a few minutes later, I’m in leggings, a T-shirt, and my feet are in socks. Still in his black fatigues, Rick claims the seat next to me, and then we both roll to our sides facing each other.
“I would never—”
“I know.” His voice is low, absolute.
“You were—”
“Pissed at myself for putting you in that position. I should have found another way.”
“It was the only way, Rick.”
A phone rings and Rick rolls to the left and grabs it from the wall. “Yeah?”
“Got it.” He hangs up. “Your father is with our team and safe. They’ll be in New York by tomorrow night.”
Unbidden, tears spring to my eyes. “Thank you.”
He lays back down and molds me close. “Anything for you, baby.” He strokes my hair. “Anything.”
At that moment, thirty thousand feet in the air, with Rick Savage holding me, I feel like the world is right. This man has a way of doing that for me. He always did. When he’s holding me, nothing is wrong. I know this isn’t over, but for now, I let myself revel in what really matters: Rick is here with me. My father is safe. And soon we will all be together in New York City. And with that, my lashes lower and I drift off into the sweet heaviness of slumber.
CHAPTER FORTY
Savage
I’m not sure how long I lay in that seat facing Candace, my hand possessively on her hip, staring at her, drinking her in, before I drift into sleep. I wake with my hand still on her hip and by my calculations that means half an hour before we land. And damn, she’s beautiful, so damn beautiful, but there is so much more to this woman than beauty. She’s smart and strong. She’s brave and fierce. She’s my damn heart. She’s my everything. She’s also talented as hell. And even knowing how much her work means to her, I haven’t even taken the time to really talk to her about her work or where she wants that to take her in her future. And neither has she. That’s how blindly she’s following me into this new life.
The altitude begins to change, an alert that I need to wake her up soon before she’s startled awake. I roll away from her, head to the bathroom, brush my teeth and splash water on my face. I’m just about to head back out to the cabin, but my gaze catches on my scar in the mirror, and I give it a long, hard inspection. I made myself embrace that scar a long time back and I embrace it all over again now. It’s a reminder of how different my life is from those years when I first met Candace. If she’s going to be in my life, and she is, I need to lay down a safe path for us to travel. I need to make decisions right now that protect her and our future. I need to fucking kill Gabriel and hell, maybe even Pocher. There has to be a way to get rid of that rat-faced prick, and not feel the backlash.
The plane shakes and shimmies and I quickly exit the bathroom to find Candace still sound asleep, but her hand is on my seat now, as if she was looking for me. I wonder how many nights she reached for me after I left all those years ago. I wonder when she stopped. I curse myself for ever letting that happen but I remind myself that she was right when she spoke of the past last night—we were young. I was young and fucked in the head. I lie down next to her again, facing her and when the altitude beings to shift even lower, I reach up and gently stroke her cheek. Her lashes flutter and lift and when she focuses on me, her eyes soften. “God, I missed waking up to your face.”
My cold as ice fucking heart is all kinds of warm mush. “God, I missed waking up to your face.” My voice is low, rough, affected in ways no one can affect me but Candace. “We’re going to land in half an hour, baby. The pilot warned me it should get bumpy on the way down.”
She raises up on an elbow and blinks again. “What time is it?”
I glance at my watch and then at her. “Five in the morning New York time which is exactly why we’re going to the apartment to shower and nap before we dive into the bigger pond of problems awaiting us.”
Her eyes go wide. “Oh no. Oh God. I just realized that Gabriel saw you, Rick. He’ll look for me with you.”
“And why would he do that?”
“Because I didn’t just tell him you were my ex in some matter-of-fact way, Rick. I told him I wasn’t sure I could commit. I told him you were the reason. I told him that you’re the love of my life. And then you were at the party and I disappeared.”
“You told the man you were engaged to that I was the love of your life?”
“You are the love of my life, Rick Savage.” She leans in and kisses my cheek. “And yes. I did.” She pushes the button to raise her seat and I do the same. And then we’re both feet on the floor, staring at each other. “What did he say when you told him I was the love of your life?”
“That he’d change my mind, but of course, he never did.”
“Bastard,” I growl, “but on another note, you’ve now made me hot and hard, and I really want to fuck you good morning.”
She laughs. “Oh no. I need to pee and brush my teeth.” She starts to get up and the plane jerks. I catch her to me and in my lap, heat rushes through us. Her hands settle on my face, over my scar that really, truly she seems to not give two fucks about.
“I love you, Rick Savage.”
“I love you, too, baby.” The phone on the wall buzzes and I groan. “Go brush your teeth. I put your bag by the bathroom door. I’ll get the call.” I set her away from me and her and her cute little ass hurry away.
I grab the receiver, and the pilot speaks. “Blake wants to come on board before you get off to head off a problem.”
“Tell me you have more than that.”
“I don’t, and the internet isn’t going to work long enough for you to find out on your own.”
In other words, “Houston, we have a problem.” I disconnect with the pilot and pray like hell Candace’s father isn’t dead.
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
Savage
Candace exits the bathroom with her hair brushed, her lips glossy and a smile on her face. I focus on that smile that I want to last forever and fucking ever until we die at an ancient age. The plane jerks and I stand up to catch the ceiling and her to me, holding her until the quaking of the plane eases. And that’s what I’m going to do every time she needs me. Hold her, the way she held me when my mother died. Hold her and not let go of her. The plane stills and I maneuver her around me and to her seat, before claiming mine, both of us buckling up.
Her stomach growls and I laugh. “Donuts on the way home.”
“No donuts. God, no. We’ve had them every day. If I never have a donut again it will be too soon.”
“Never again for the rest of your life. That’s a little extreme.”
“I want a hamburger.”
“A hamburger at six am,” I say, my lips curving in approval. “I swear, woman, I fall in lust with you more every second.”
She grins and opens the blind, peeking outside.
“New York City.” She glances over at me. “I was here last year. I wonder how close I was to you.”
“Too far,” I say solemnly. “Too damn far.”
She rotates to look at me. “I wonder if you were here when I was.”
“When was it?”
“Near the holidays.”
“I was in Maine.”
Her brows furrow. “Maine?”
“I was running a bodyguard operation for a Walker client. And before you start thinking I’m going to set you up in New York and run off again, I don’t have to take any out-of-town jobs. I don’t have to take any job I don’t want to take, baby. That we don’t want me to take.”
“But your work and—”
I lean over and kiss her. “None of the married men at Walker puts their women second. I’m not going to be the first. I’m not ever putting you second, Candace. Never. Ever.”
“The married men?”
“The married men,” I confirm. “Like I will be soon.”
Those words have about fifteen seconds to linger between us before we touch the ground. Candace grins widely and leans in to press her lips
to my ear. “I can’t wait to see your home.”
Somehow, after all these hours on the plane, she still smells like fresh flowers, and I inhale a deep, sweet breath before I pull back to look at her. “Our home.”
Her teeth scrape her bottom lip. “Our home.”
“Our home,” she murmurs.
The plane takes a short hike and halts, and as the engines shut down, I can only hope I’m taking her to that home in peace. The doors open and I squeeze her leg. “Stay here and let me make sure we have a car waiting.” I don’t get very far.
We are no longer alone. The big, tall man with dark hair tied at his nape, and enough size to almost rival mine, is my boss, Blake Walker. I rotate back to my seat and give him room. He ducks down to enter our little cubby hole of travel space and claims the seat across from me but his attention goes to Candace. “Candace, I’m Blake.”
“Hi, Blake. Thank you for everything, but please tell me my father’s okay?”
“He’s on a plane home, but he’s not talking about Gabriel. He doesn’t trust us right now.”
Candace shoots to the edge of her seat. “I can call him. I can—”
“Not yet,” Blake says, eyeing me but before he can speak, Candace pushes him.
“We need to take down Gabriel quickly,” Candace argues. “We have to get him arrested and—”
Blake interrupts. “We don’t have that problem anymore.”
There’s a finality to his words that I know well. Candace does not. She blinks and I can feel her attention slide between me and Blake but I’m looking at Blake. “Ding Dong, Pencil Dick is dead,” I say before he can speak. “Alejandro killed him.”
“He’s dead?!” Candace asks, sounding confused and alarmed. “I thought—I thought I was the target?”
“You are,” I say tightly. “Tag paid Alejandro to kill you. He also made arrangements to ensure Alejandro still gets paid for completing the job, despite his death. Gabriel dying first was a message to me. I didn’t do the job, so Tag had to pay Alejandro to it, and now I have to pay the price.”
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