I leaned forward and planted a soft kiss on her lips. My heart broke to think of her unloved and moving through the uncaring foster system. I decided right there and then that I would do everything in my power to make her happy. Even if it didn’t work out between us, I would make sure she was set up for life. “You know what makes me feel good?”
She shook her head.
“When I see you happy because of something I’ve done. That’s what makes me happy.”
“Oh, Gabe,” she whispered tearfully.
I knew I was pushing things, pushing things towards an intimacy that went far over the bounds of the contract we had agreed upon, but I didn’t care. I just wanted her to be happy. Knowing she was would make this entire trip worth it.
"Let’s go," I said, getting out of the car onto the breezy airstrip and helping her out. While my driver was taking our bags out, I led her to the steps to the waiting aircraft.
She hesitated for a moment at the bottom.
I glanced around at her. "Still feeling nervous?”
She nodded, biting her lip. "I’m sorry, I know it’ll be fine, and I’m just being a big baby, but I’m just a little freaked out.”
“I’m here, okay,” I said as pulled her up the steps with me. "Let’s sit down and get something to drink. Then you can speak to the pilot, if you want. Or anyone onboard. They’ll explain everything that’s going on to you, so you’ll understand what’s happening totally and completely."
"Thank you." She sighed, smiling and nuzzling into me.
I guided her inside the door, where an attractive air hostess with a wide smile was waiting for us.
"Nice to see you again, sir," she greeted. I tried to rack my brains to remember her, but I came up blank. I guess I must have flown with her at some point.
"Hello, Mrs. Grayson," she continued, nodding to Willow, who smiled back at her.
"Could you bring us some champagne, please?"
"Of course, sir," she replied, and backed off to take care of my request.
Willow bit her lip, clearly keeping a giggle in.
"What is it?” I asked, nudging her.
She shook her head. "It’s just so weird having people behaving as if I was something special, running around doing stuff for me. I was the one doing that stuff for others until not so recently."
"And now you’re the one who gets to call the shots," I finished for her.
She beamed at me. "I have to be careful I might get used to this.”
I laughed. "I hope you do," I replied. "Any wife of mine is going to be pampered as hell."
"I should hope so," she replied, putting on a faux-haughty air. "Only the best will do for me."
"And only the best is what you will get," I promised. I knew we were just playing, but I meant it. I wanted to shower her with everything I could, anything that would get that beautiful smile beaming on her face.
Chapter 20
Gabe
We took our seats opposite each other, then Willow settled down and peered out of the window to the runway outside. The weather was supposed to be good so it wouldn’t be long before we took off.
"How much does it cost to run something like this?” she asked, glancing around, her eyes wide.
"I’m not sure exactly how much," I confessed. "I have accountants who take care of things like that."
"I should see if they do a discount private-jet service for waitresses," she joked. "I don’t think I’ll want to travel any other way from now on."
"What? You’ll take the private jet down to the corner store to pick up bread?" I teased.
She laughed. "Yeah, damn straight I will, or I’ll get one of my many slaves to bring it to my bed.”
"It can work however you want it to work, baby. The world is your oyster.”
She caught her breath, as though my words had taken her off-guard.
The air hostess returned with our glasses of champagne, breaking the sudden stillness that had descended between us. I wished I could figure out what the hell was going on inside her head, because something had wormed its way up there and I wanted to know what it was. It seemed like she was holding back something from me. Something crowded between us that hadn’t been there before.
The air hostess walked away.
"To us," I toasted. Lifting my glass, I tapped it against hers.
"To us," she echoed and took a tiny sip of the bubbly in the crystal flute before her. Then she was peering out of the window once more.
"You feeling any less nervous?"
She shook her head. "I’m sure I’ll be okay once we’re actually up in the air. Or I’ll panic and jump out of the plane in a parachute, and just walk to the conference."
"Over my dead body you’re jumping out of this plane,” I growled. It was meant to be a joke, but the thought of her getting hurt made my insides burn like lava.
“Gabe, I’m sorry. I’m being so unsophisticated and childish. Once the plane gets in the air, I’ll be better. I promise.”
I squeezed her knee. "Hey, it’s alright to be freaked out. Really. Doing something new can be scary if you’ve never done it before. If there’s anything I can do to make it easier..."
"Ha, ha, just keep the champagne coming? If I can get blackout drunk then I don’t have to remember any of this anxiety, right?”
I laughed. "Trust me, jetlag and a hangover aren’t a good partnership.”
"It’s my first time flying," she shot back playfully. "Let me be the judge of that, yeah?”
"Sure thing," I conceded. "But don’t say I didn’t warn you when you have to go through the whole first day wearing dark glasses and trying not to catch anyone’s eye..."
"I won’t," she promised, and the plane began to move. Her jaw tightened. Despite all the nervous attempts at humor, it seemed clear she was still seriously uncomfortable.
I touched her knee once more and drew her attention back to me. "It’ll be fine," I promised her. "Really, I’ve flown on this thing hundreds of times. I promise you, I only hire the best. They know what they’re doing, you are completely safe."
"Well, yeah, but you can’t say anything else, can you?" she quipped, trying to keep her tone light. "You can’t say ‘actually, yeah, this is really dangerous and loads of planes crash.’ We could drop out of the sky at any moment..."
We took our final run-up, the wheels churning below us. Her face went pale and I slipped into the seat next to her, putting an arm around her shoulders and pulling her close. "You’re going to be all right," I comforted.
Willow nodded, even though she didn’t look like she meant it. "Yeah, I am. I trust you. Millions wouldn’t, but I do.”
I grinned. “That’s my girl.”
Gritting her teeth, she turned away from me to look outside of the window. We had just lifted off and Chicago was below us. “Jesus, how high are we going to go? It’s a long, long way to the ground.” Her head whirled around. “Oh my God, what was that sound? Was it the engine?”
“Relax, it’s nothing. It’s like driving a car. You use one gear to accelerate and another to cruise.”
She turned back to the window restlessly.
I touched her cheek and brought her face back around to me. I needed her to focus on something else. Gently, I kissed her. She moaned softly against my mouth and I knew exactly what I needed to do to keep her from getting too freaked out. She was wearing a short pencil skirt, the very epitome of professional and the sight of her curvy body poured into the tight fabric was turning me on a ridiculous amount. I slipped down in front of her, and pushed her legs apart to expose her panties.
"Hey, hey, what are you doing? What if someone comes in—"
"Don’t worry, we’re not going to be disturbed," I promised, as I pushed her skirt further up her thighs.
“Don’t they come in to serve tea and coffee and stuff?” she said, staring at the closed door.
“Not while this light is on,” I explained, pointing to the light I had the designers install in the plane. In
the past, I had used it when I wanted to concentrate on work and not be disturbed, but today… I had a totally different use for it.
I brushed my lips over the inside of her thigh. She moaned and tipped her head back, reaching down to run her fingers over my scalp. The air was rushing by the windows, but she didn’t seem to give a damn about it anymore.
I moved my mouth further and further up along her thighs, pushing them slowly further and further apart until she was completely exposed to me right there in the middle of the plane. I leaned forward and planted a kiss on her soaking panties, letting my warm breath blow on her pussy through the fabric.
She groaned and wriggled on the seat.
I inhaled the sweet, musky scent of her wet pussy.
I couldn’t count how many times I had gone down on her in the last month or so, but every time I did, I just became more and more addicted to her taste and scent. I wanted as much as I could get from her.
I hooked my fingers around her panties and pulled them aside so I could access her sweet little pussy. Pressing my mouth on her clit, I sucked softly on her. Some air hostesses could have walked in even when the, Do Not Disturb light was on and caught us at any moment, but I didn’t care. Hell, maybe some part of me thought that was hot in itself. I wanted the whole world to know just how into this woman I was. I wanted everyone to know Gabe Grayson couldn’t get enough of the once abandoned child, nobody really wanted.
"Ah..." Willow moaned softly, lifting her hips and pushing back against my mouth.
Her sweet scent was filling my head and the flavor of her was rich on my tongue, like a fine wine. No woman I’d ever had tasted like her. How could she alone taste so good? As if she’d been made for me, made to match my hunger. Her silky-soft pussy was easily the most delicious thing I’d ever tasted in my life
"Mmm." Her hips ground restlessly against my face. One hand was clamped on the seat next to her and the other had reached down to grasp my head and pull me closer to her as though she couldn’t get enough.
I knew she wanted me, truly and deeply, the same way I wanted her. The chemistry we had couldn’t be faked or written into being with legal jargon or be bought even with a million dollars. What we felt was as real as the sky around us, as concrete as the earth we’d just taken off from...
The excitement of doing it on a plane made her come quickly, her body arching off the seat as her clit pulsed frantically beneath my tongue. I held my mouth where it was, not quite ready to give up yet, but when she pushed my head away desperately…I relented. She pulled me up on top of her and kissed me deeply, wrapping her arms around me, holding me close. Her breath was coming quickly and her heart was hammering in her chest.
I knew, like me, that she couldn’t get enough of this thing between us.
"Fuck me," she breathed in my ear, but before I could do as she asked, a sound drew our attention. I glanced around and saw the air hostess coming back in. I jumped off my wife.
Willow swiftly pulled her skirt down and rearranged herself, her cheeks still adorably flushed from being caught in the act. She bit her lip and glanced at me.
I turned my attention to the hostess.
"Just came to check if you needed anything, sir.”
"I think we’re doing just fine," I answered and pointed to the sign.
She turned bright red. "Oh, I’m so sorry. I didn’t see it. I’ll leave you to it," she replied, and ducked out of the cabin quickly.
Willow laughed. "Okay, so I think we have to keep it in our pants for a while yet.”
"Maybe for the time being," I agreed. "But are you feeling a little better now? A little less stressed?”
"Actually, I am." She nodded as she looked out the window, where we had just broken the cloud cover and made it into the sky beyond. It was blue as far as the eye could see, and she beamed at the beautiful color. "This is amazing, Gabe," she cried excitedly. Just like a child, she had forgotten her earlier fears.
I watched with the indulgence of a parent. Poor thing she hadn’t had a good childhood. Well, I intended to make it up to her. I took her hand and brought it to my lips. "Anything for my wife.”
Willow beamed an angelic smile in my direction.
I wasn’t even sure if I was joking any longer.
Chapter 21
Willow
"So, which way is it to our room?” I asked Gabe, as he swept me into the elevator.
He pressed the button on the gold panel. "We’re in the penthouse suite.”
I laughed. "Of course, we are. You have no idea how the other 99.9 percent live, do you?”
"Of course, I do," he replied. "But I work very, very hard for my money and it’s my first trip with my wife, so I’m not making any sacrifices."
"So… we could call this our honeymoon?” I wondered aloud.
He grinned wolfishly. "We could.”
The doors swished open smoothly and he led me across a thickly carpeted corridor towards a grand doorway. He swiped his key against the lock and the door clicked open.
After he pushed it open, he held it for me while I entered. I gasped at the sheer luxury and decadence of the vast, high-ceilinged suite. It was so beautiful a shiver went through me. I walked to the middle of the room and looked around me in sheer wonder.
The truth was… no matter how hard I tried, I hadn’t been able to get what Austin said out of my head. Was he right? Was I just a novelty? Was Gabe just doing all this because he was slumming it while knowing that he would be able to shake loose of me as soon as he got what he wanted? I felt pretty sure that Austin hadn’t confronted his cousin about his suspicions. Instead, he had very cunningly placed them in my head, knowing they would stew in there.
He must have been hoping I would crack and run away with my tail between my legs.
I hadn’t told Gabe about what had happened. I told myself it was because Austin’s opinion wasn’t important to me and I didn’t want to give it any more value than it had, but if I were honest, I didn’t tell Gabe because I didn’t want him finding out and maybe even realizing that he agreed with his cousin.
No matter how much I told myself I didn’t care what Austin had said, he’d changed my relationship with Gabe. Now I felt torn between how to react to all the wonderful things Gabe was showing me. I no longer felt like showing him how truly thrilled I was to see or do something I’d never seen or done before I met him. Slowly, but surely. I was stopping myself from showing my excitement because I didn’t want to be that woman from the slums that he was fucking for a little while.
I couldn’t help thinking about what Lorraine said to me either. About getting hurt. Maybe she had a point. Maybe I should have done a better job protecting myself from all of this. Being with him was intoxicating, not just because of the money, the luxury, the excess, and the sex…which was exciting, and better than anything, I’d ever experienced before.
If I let myself get used to any of it, I would be setting myself up for a fall when the contract ended.
"What do you think?” he asked, approaching me and winding his arms around my waist.
I kept looking down at the city below. I’d never been this far from Chicago before and I was suddenly very aware of how distant I was from everything I’d always known as home. I couldn’t even call up Lorraine and ask her to come see me. "It’s beautiful," I whispered, but my voice sounded far away and distant.
For a long second Gabe didn’t move at all, then he stepped away from me and wandered over to the bar. "Do you want a drink?”
"No, I think I’m okay," I answered, glancing over at him. He was so good-looking he made a crowd of butterflies take off in my stomach. The line between playing his wife and actually just being his wife was starting to get thinner and thinner, and I had to find some way to expand it again. "Maybe I should get some sleep. It was a long journey out here and I could use some time to catch up."
"Sure thing," he replied easily, but he stared at me, as if thrown by the hasty retreat I was beating. "I’ll wake you up
before dinner.”
"Sure." I backed into the bedroom and closed the door behind me. I wasn’t tired. In fact, I felt like my heart was breaking. I knew I needed to get a hold of myself, I just didn’t know how.
I closed my eyes and rubbed my hands over my face. Then I crashed on the huge bed below me gratefully. I could do this. I could do this for me and Lorraine. I promised her half the money and I couldn’t just walk out now. I gave my word to Gabe too. He had kept to his side of the bargain. He didn’t deserve to lose because I was silly enough to go and fall in love with him. I was hired to pretend. I could pretend, couldn’t I?
As I lay on the bed, I found a strange tiredness catching up with me. My brain was overworked. I closed my eyes. I’ll sleep for a little while. When I wake up, things would be clearer, better. I would be fresher and I could handle it then.
I jolted awake as soon as the door opened. I thought it’d only been a few minutes, but it was getting darker outside. I pushed myself up at once. "What time is it?" I asked, running my fingers through my hair.
"It’s coming up for dinnertime," Gabe replied softly. He sat on the edge of the bed and laid a hand on my leg through the covers.
I withdrew it quickly. It felt as though his fingers were burning through the covers, branding my skin. The light was behind him so I couldn’t see his face properly, but I felt him frown.
"They have an introductory dinner in about an hour downstairs," he explained. "Are you still tired or do you think you’ll be able to join me?"
"Well, it would be pretty weird if I didn’t, wouldn’t it?" I replied. "I’m your wife, after all."
"Yes, you are my wife," he agreed slowly. He watched as I climbed out of bed and went through the bags I had packed to come out here. "You okay, Willow?” he asked.
The sound of my name called so softly from his lips was more than I could take. I closed my eyes and tried to stem the rush of desire that consumed me in that second. "I’m fine," I replied. "I just need to get ready, that’s all."
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