by Kim Baldwin
“That where we’re going?” Blayne asked hopefully.
“You never know where we might end up. We will see what destinations are available.” She raised a hand in brief salute to an apple-cheeked man with a thick growth of salt-and-pepper beard. Their Cessna pilot, she assumed.
He yawned as though he had just rolled out of bed, which did not help Blayne’s confidence in him one bit. “Jesus, Alexi, I just don’t know about this,” she said under her breath.
“We’re going to be fine. No one has two air emergencies in one week. It’s a statistical impossibility.”
She said it with such confidence, Blayne could force her legs to climb the steps up. But as they buckled in, her hands shook, and she couldn’t seem to think of anything—picture anything—but the sight of the enormous hole in the Airbus as they walked to the ambulance.
Alexi reached over and interlaced her fingers with Blayne’s. It seemed a natural thing to do.
Grateful for the contact, Blayne closed her eyes and tried to take deep, even breaths. How is it that you can keep me calm in the chaos when nothing else helps?
For a very long while, it had seemed as though her attraction to Alexi had been entirely physical—sparked by Alexi’s fabulous body and beautiful, classic features. Her smile, her eyes. That undeniable, simmering sexuality so well hidden most of the time. It sure gave her ideas. Lots of ideas. She had imagined them in all sorts of positions, doing all manner of things to each other.
But this latest attempt on her life had shown her that the feelings she was developing went far beyond just the physical. She respected and admired Alexi for her constant strength and quiet courage. Her resourcefulness and determination. And her thoughtful kindness, too, at moments like this.
Alexi’s mysterious and taciturn ways had been intriguing in the beginning. But more and more, Blayne really wanted to get to know the woman beneath the tough exterior. And she wanted Alexi to trust her in the way that she had come to trust Alexi. I know that everything she does for me is her job. But I think it’s also personal with her. I can see it there, sometimes. God, I hope it is. I hope it’s not just wishful thinking.
Alexi squeezed her hand, as though in affirmation of her thoughts, and she smiled at the timing. “Better?” she asked.
Blayne opened her eyes and smiled at her. “Yes. Better. Thank you.”
Alexi smiled back. “My pleasure. Better for me, too.”
Blayne wanted to say something else, something that expressed how thankful she was and how lucky she felt, and maybe even that she’d been a fool. She’d been uncharacteristically rude and obnoxious to a woman who had gone beyond the bounds of any job just to keep her safe. But she had trouble finding the right words and they were taking off, and it was all she could do to breathe. Instead of thinking about their wheels leaving the earth, she centered her thoughts on the woman next to her, drawing on her strength and taking comfort in her tenderness.
She didn’t want to think about the future, or the next hurdle, or the people chasing them. She just wanted to exist in the now, feeling like her hand belonged in Alexi’s.
Chapter Seventeen
“I need a distraction,” Blayne leaned toward Alexi as she said this, so the remark carried a certain intimacy. “Show me what you got.”
Alexi looked momentarily stunned. “Could you repeat the question?”
“I believe distraction is your department, isn’t it? You did say whatever it takes. I have those words burned into my memory,” Blayne reminded her.
Alexi cleared her throat, considering a response. I knew I should never have said that. What the hell was I thinking? At least Blayne had waited until they had finished their meal. The lights in first class had been dimmed and the beds made up for those intending to sleep.
“Well?” Blayne demanded playfully. She was actually much more relaxed than she thought she would be, thanks to a couple of drinks, a nice meal, and the comfort of blankets, pillows, slippers, even pajamas if she wanted to embarrass herself. The complimentary amenity kit included an eye mask she had no intention of using. While sleeping might be one way to make the flight go faster, she was not about to waste time that could be spent collecting on Alexi’s promise.
“Yes, I did say that.” Alexi forced herself not to squirm. She didn’t dare look at Blayne. From her seductive tone of voice, she knew what she would see in her eyes. And she didn’t know if she could stand looking at that for the next several hours without touching her. “And I am a woman of my word. So what did you have in mind?”
Blayne threw a blanket over Alexi, grateful there were few other flyers in first class and that the pod style seating screened the passengers from one another. She and Alexi had one of several pairs of seats designed for couples traveling together. But the airline wasn’t taking any chances. If togetherness lost its charm, you only had to hit a button and a privacy screen rolled up.
Beneath the blanket, she put her hand on Alexi’s thigh, halfway between her knee and groin. “This would sure distract me. How ‘bout you?”
Despite her best intentions to remain unaffected, Alexi could not help but jump at the touch. Then she immediately took Blayne’s hand in hers, to keep it from moving any farther up her thigh. With her other hand, she gripped the armrest so tightly she was afraid she might tear it right off.
“This is…” Completely unfair. Totally impossible. Excruciatingly wonderful. Damn it all to hell.
“This is…?” Blayne leaned over the divider between them and snuggled in until her breast was pressing against Alexi’s arm and her face was just a few inches from Alexi’s ear. “Cozy? Inviting? Overdue?” she whispered seductively.
“I was going to say…this is…” Alexi struggled for some neutral response. “A good time for you to rest,” she managed weakly.
Blayne laughed. “Yeah, right. That’s exactly what you were thinking.” She planted a soft, lingering kiss on Alexi’s cheek. “Liar.”
Alexi didn’t move. Her mind seemed to suddenly desert her, leaving her body to fend for itself. And her body was welcoming Blayne’s advances and urging her on.
“I know you’re attracted to me,” Blayne whispered in her ear. “I can tell you want me as much as I want you, no matter what you say.” She punctuated this statement by sucking on Alexi’s earlobe.
“Blayne,” Alexi said hoarsely, “You…” You do not know how right you are. You turn me on so damn much I cannot complete a sentence. “You…cannot.” It was a half-hearted response, lacking any sort of conviction whatsoever.
“Oh, yes, I can, and so can you.” Blayne ran her tongue lightly along Alexi’s neck. “You said whatever it takes to keep me distracted. All you have to do is just sit back and enjoy. At least for now.”
Alexi had no power to stop her growing arousal. Nor could she manage to say or do anything to discourage Blayne’s mouth from what it was doing. Her body wanted to move of its own accord, lean into Blayne’s touch, and most of all…she wanted to touch Blayne back. Meet those lips with her own. It was taking every ounce of willpower for her not to respond, and she had no idea how she was going to be able to keep this up for several more hours.
Without warning, Blayne’s hand slid from beneath hers, moving firmly up her thigh, higher now, dangerously within reach. She trembled, every nerve ending on edge. Christ. As her breathing quickened she could feel Blayne’s smile against her neck.
She couldn’t help herself. She leaned her head back and closed her eyes as Blayne’s hand moved deliberately, slowly, fingers spread to touch the greatest area possible. Just for a moment, let me feel this. Enjoy this. Then I will stop her. But just for a moment. The tantalizing strokes traveled down her thigh, then up the inseam of her pants, before skimming over her sex with frustratingly little pressure and beginning the same route again. At the same time, Blayne’s teeth nipped lightly at her neck, and her tongue wetly claimed the pulse point at the base of her throat.
One pass of Blayne’s hand, then two. Three. Each elicited a subtle l
ifting of her hips to meet it. She is going to make me come if she keeps this up. Her mind was hazy, out of control, in full surrender to Blayne’s touch.
A soft chime penetrated her consciousness and forced her eyes open. The passenger in the window seat ahead of them, to the right, had summoned the flight attendant and she was already heading their way. Alexi sat up abruptly, distancing herself from Blayne’s mouth as she snapped back to full awareness. Her hand stopped Blayne’s, with more conviction this time.
She was breathing heavily, so intently aroused she had trouble focusing. Too close. That was way too close. Gamoto, what this woman can do to me.
As the flight attendant exchanged words with the passenger, Blayne leaned in to whisper in her ear. “You can’t seriously tell me you want me to stop.”
Alexi’s jaw clenched when she felt Blayne’s warm breath against her face. Her body was throbbing, and there was only one thing to be done. “Excuse me,” she whispered, barely recognizing her own voice. Rising hurriedly, she slipped past the flight attendant, grateful to find an unoccupied restroom a few rows ahead.
Once she’d locked the door on temptation, she stared at herself in the mirror. The extent of her need was written on her face so clearly it startled her. The plane shifted slightly in a small bit of turbulence, and she spread her legs to steady her balance. Still breathing heavily, she quickly undid her pants and used her left hand to brace herself against the sink, while her right brought her body the only satisfaction possible. It was quick, and necessary, and not nearly enough. It was Blayne’s hand she wanted to be getting her off, not her own.
She washed up, and decided to wait until her breathing had calmed before venturing back to her seat. In those moments with herself, she berated her weakness, and vowed never again to allow Blayne to get her to the point of no return.
*
It took Blayne several long seconds to fully comprehend that Alexi was gone. Had left her high and dry just as things were finally getting interesting. Well, not so dry, actually. Alexi was halfway up the aisle before it really registered, because Blayne was nearly intoxicated by desire and had successfully blotted out much of where they were and who was around them. By the time she figured out what was happening, Alexi was too far away for her to raise a protest without disturbing the few other passengers in the quiet cabin. Fuck. She knew damn well what Alexi was about to do. And that certain knowledge was the final straw.
When Alexi had unexpectedly begun to relax under her caresses, had closed her eyes and accepted what she was doing without argument, Blayne’s body had come alive, every cell tingling with anticipation. The first time she tasted that soft, bronzed skin, her heart began to pound. And each time that Alexi’s hips rose slightly to meet her touch, her own arousal redoubled.
So by the time they were interrupted, Blayne was already close to the edge, ready to explode herself, just from the thrill of finally being able to touch Alexi. And now this. She can’t do this to me! She’s going to come back all spent and satisfied and leave me frustrated. I just know that she is. Fuuuck.
Alexi had been gone only a short while before Blayne decided that she wasn’t about to be left stranded like that. Two can play at that game. She headed up the aisle herself and into the vacant lavatory opposite the one Alexi had claimed.
God damn it. So close. It was patently inhumane, she decided, to get that aroused and then have to stop. She knew Alexi wanted her. She studied her reflection as she unzipped her jeans. I have to admit, I wear that just-rolled-out-of-bed look pretty well. She had that heavy-lidded, sexually-charged look of someone who had already been laid, and happily so, but the reality, however, was altogether different. She was desperate to come.
She unfastened her pants and let them fall to her knees, unwilling to encounter any further obstructions to her release. She used both hands, one to knead her breasts roughly, tugging at the nipples…and the other to slide into the wetness that had formed between her legs when she had run her fingers over Alexi’s sex.
Damn, that was hot. She closed her eyes and imagined her hand was back on Alexi, continuing in that seductive circle along her thigh. And she tried to tell herself that the hand she felt giving her pleasure was Alexi’s hand. That is what she wanted. No, needed. It had gone beyond want a long time ago.
But her body just wouldn’t believe her mental promptings.
She only succeeded in perhaps slightly increasing her arousal factor, and at great cost in terms of her frustration level. It was nice. It was pleasant. But she couldn’t come, no matter how much she wished for it. No matter what formerly foolproof technique she tried. It only left her wanting more.
She washed and pulled her pants up, and took another look at herself in the mirror. That hazy look of desire had been replaced by the restless, vacant stare of a caged animal. Damn, do I need to get off.
In the lavatory across the aisle, Alexi took a deep breath and studied her reflection one last time. Better. Certainly a radical departure from the look she had come in with. To all outward appearances, she was her old self, a passable deception. Though she’d achieved what she’d come in for, her body still vibrated with need. The need to touch Blayne, to control her climb to ecstasy, to make her body thrill with want, to watch her come.
That was one need that had no chance of ever being satisfied. And that realization made her much sadder than she would have dreamed possible. She took a deep breath, unlocked the door, and opened it…to find Blayne just exiting the restroom opposite hers.
Their eyes met, and they both froze.
The look on Blayne’s face threatened to implode Alexi’s fragile composure. Oh please, Christ, do not do this to me. There was a hunger in her eyes, a hunger Alexi wanted desperately to satisfy. It was that unmistakable look that a woman gets when she is close to the precipice, wet with excitement, when nothing in the world matters but coming.
More than anything, Alexi wanted to pull Blayne into her cramped lavatory cubicle and quench the thirst that consumed the both of them. Push her up against the wall and hold her there with her body until neither could breathe.
But that would never do. She tried to force the image from her mind, but her body didn’t want to let go.
Blayne stepped across the aisle, eyes boring into hers. She looked neither left or right, not caring if they were overheard. “Tell me…” she said, clearly annoyed, “How the hell you can look as though you don’t feel what I know you’re feeling?”
“We should return to our seats now,” Alexi said, keeping her voice even. “With a firm resolve on both of our parts not to let anything like that happen again.”
Blayne took a half-step nearer until she was invading Alexi’s personal space. Her eyes never left Alexi’s. “Dream on.”
Blayne’s proximity and that damned look in her eyes was unraveling Alexi’s composure. She reached out, grabbed Blayne’s upper arm, and steered her toward their seats. “Go,” she said in a low voice. “We cannot attract too much attention.”
“This is not over,” Blayne whispered.
Alexi sighed. It never is.
*
Vittorio Cinzano drummed his fingers on the table, staring with disdain at the cocky guard watching over him, memorizing his face. Smile, asshole. Keep smiling. I’ll shove your teeth down your throat myself.
Florio would get some of his anger as well, for making him wait. Which was no problem. He certainly had plenty of it to go around these days.
The door to the small meeting room opened and the attorney entered, carrying a briefcase. He nodded respectfully at Vittorio. The guard stepped out, and Florio took the seat opposite his boss.
“Better have some good news for me, Michael. I am done with waiting.”
“I have,” Florio said hastily. “We have a judge who understands our situation, and a favorable decision is expected today or tomorrow.”
Cinzano smiled for the first time in many days. “And the other?”
“Progress there, too. We have
them at the Toronto airport. I should know more on that soon.”
“Excellent, Michael. You keep your job for another day.”
*
So damn stubborn, Alexi concluded, watching over Blayne as she slept. You will be my undoing, I suspect. With your absolute refusal to be deterred.
When they had returned to their seats, Alexi had resolutely reached for her earphones and selected a movie, and then encased her body in one of the white British Air duvets, more to ward off further intimate touches than to fend off any chill. Her body temperature needed no assistance on that score.
Blayne had tried to start things up again, with suggestive looks and straying hands and none-too-subtle propositions, but Alexi had firmly ignored her, pretending complete absorption in the movie. Obviously aggrieved, Blayne had folded her arms across her chest and pouted for several minutes. And then finally she had turned her seat into a bed and succumbed to sleep.
Alexi remained awake, keeping vigil over her charge, and thought about what she needed to do once they got to London. She knew the city well, and would be grateful to be back in familiar territory. First, a call to her assistant, then to the hotel to pick up her passport and gun. A stop at the bank, for some ready cash. Then some shopping for clothes and other necessities.
She knew that Blayne would be jet-lagged when they arrived, but she was not about to let her nap when they got to the hotel. She wanted Blayne dead tired when they retired to their rooms for the evening, so out of it she would crash for several hours.
Because Alexi had plans for some company that night, a London lady friend who could hopefully accomplish what masturbation had not. Get her mind off fucking Blayne and back onto protecting her.
Chapter Eighteen
“I just want to get out and walk around and explore.” Blayne’s face was nearly pressed up against the taxi window as they drove by Trafalgar Square.
