UnLoved Forever (Unlucky Series, #3)

by Lexy Timms

  Dani turned, frowning. Definitely back, now that she was needed. Luke felt a rush of pride as he watched her drill his father with a gaze that would make a lesser man cringe.

  To his father’s credit, he had no reaction at all.

  “How could he... they...” Dani fought for the right phrases. “How did they gather such material?”

  William sighed and looked away. He might have been expecting the question, but he certainly didn’t want to answer it. “Your mother was originally assigned to infiltrate organized crime...”

  “Assigned?” Dani cried. “By whom?”

  “I don’t actually know. We think it was the British. We’re not sure. At any rate, she was assigned to the task of infiltration. Your father inherited a struggling company, and there were forces moving in to... help him. It was thought that if she could get on his payroll, assistant, maybe something... more...” William let the implication hang in the air.

  The DING of the seatbelt light chimed, and the pilot’s voice came over the speaker. “We’ve been cleared for immediate takeoff. We should be landing at our destination in just under two hours, so relax and enjoy the flight.”

  The plane seemed to collapse in on itself as it gathered the weight that typified the take-off of a heavy plane. It roared down the runway, flashing concrete and steel as the images of Florida sped past the windows, and launched itself into the air.

  Conversation was muted as the powerful engines whined and screamed, and the plane, despite all rationality and common sense, lifted from the ground powered by brute force. Luke’s ears suffered as they always did, but not enough to derail him, and not enough to allow for half a story to be told.

  They bounced hard, as though they’d struck something. Indeed, striking a pocket of turbulence was still hitting something, despite the transitory nature of the air. The engines settled into a determined rage and the plane leveled, having proved itself and now reveling in its accomplishment.

  “Go on,” Luke said when things had quieted, and the stewardess had come around with offers of drinks, which William waved away.

  William shrugged. “She fell in love. It happens sometimes.” He looked pointedly at Luke. “She kept working, spread wide a network of informants, the most comprehensive web of information we’ve ever had.”

  “We?” Dani frowned. “I thought you didn’t know who assigned her.”

  “We.” William shook his head, and scowled. “And I don’t. Maybe it would help now if I did. She had to have been reporting back; there might have been other copies... But there are several agencies on this now. All over the world. When your mother went underground, her death was faked. From what we’ve been able to piece together, she kept up her network, though.”

  “So, if this thing has generated interest from all over the world,” Luke said, shaking his head, “how many of those agencies are on our side?” He had a sudden image of a deluge of spies that he couldn’t quite shake. None of this was sounding good right now.

  “Most,” William said, though he seemed uncertain. “The hard part is knowing which ones are which.” He sat back and unfastened his seatbelt. “I’m going to go find that stewardess and see about changing my mind on that drink. You might want to clean up. I arranged to have some clothing for you, and there’s a full shower on board.” He pointed to a door behind them. “I also arranged for you, my future daughter, a fresh set of clothing as well. You have two hours, so you might want to get to it.”

  Dani and Luke looked at each other.

  “Air Force One for five bucks?” she asked, looking cheerful for the first time that morning.

  “Hell, I’d pay ten.”

  They snapped their buckles free and half ran to the door he’d indicated.

  Chapter Nine

  Of course, nothing ever works out like it does in the movies.

  Dani and Luke collided in the doorway in their haste, and it took a few moments to untangle limbs before bursting through awkwardly into what turned out to be a broom closet with a bed. Dani banged her shins on the edge of the bed, while Luke tumbled fast, hitting the floor hard, face first. She winced in sympathy, straightening with a certain amount of caution, as the plane still hadn’t exactly smoothed out and, apparently, they’d both forgotten how to walk.

  So maybe it wasn’t the bedroom portrayed in the movies. No giant bed with oval sheets and presidential seal comforters. That was probably elsewhere, in the part of the plane clearly off limits. Apparently, William’s influence didn’t extend to the really good stuff. This was something about the size of a twin bed, little more than a cot. Something used for quick naps by people less important who couldn’t hold their liquor, or asked the wrong questions at a press junket.

  Still. It was bed in... what was technically Air Force One. Dani and Luke looked at it, and then at each other. There were two sets of clothing on the bed, jeans, non-descript shirts, socks, underwear. There were also a couple of towels and all the toiletries for showering.

  They stripped in less time than it took to think about it, falling into each other’s arms with an eagerness that sent clothing and toiletries to the floor. It took about two seconds for Dani to realize that Luke had gone at least two days now without showering. Despite all that she gamely hung in there, through passionate gropes, until he shifted on top of her and she got a solid whiff of his armpits.

  “Sorry,” Luke said as she recoiled slightly. He eased back, and sat against the head of the bed. “Why don’t we share a shower? I’m sure there’s no end to the possibilities as I take the stink off.”

  Dani laughed, relieved that she hadn’t offended him, and turned to the door marked BATHROOM. To make up for her lack of enthusiasm for his embrace, she wiggled her butt in front of him and laughed when he grabbed her hips and pressed into her so that she could feel his arousal. She almost lost it there, and it was all she could do to pull away and lead the way to what she hoped would be some soapy fun. Feeling silly and free, Dani opened the door and nearly screamed in frustration.

  Seriously?

  To call it a bathroom was as technically correct as saying a porta-potty would hold a party of three. It might, but they would have to be really good friends and they wouldn’t be able to use the facilities as intended.

  The bathroom was, instead, a niche, where the toilet was part of the shower. In order to wash oneself, the lid needed to be closed and the person showering had to sit on the toilet and hold a hand shower. The hand shower was the sort they had on submarines and places where water had to be stored and used sparingly. You pressed the button and got wet, only then soaping up thoroughly, before pressing the button to rinse. She’d seen larger bathrooms in RVs.

  “Ah...” She turned to look at Luke.

  “Well, ah... Yeah...” he said, his face falling. “I guess it’s not really very big... shit.”

  Dani smiled, and stood on her toes to kiss him. She couldn’t resist grabbing him, hard, enjoying the feel of him in her hand. Though it was strictly a way to steady herself. Of course. If she stroked him a little it was only because the plane still wasn’t all that steady. Or she wasn’t. It was hard to tell the difference.

  “It’s okay,” she said, giving him an extra tug, and watching in delight as his head tilted back and a look of sublime bliss settled upon his features. “I’m already naked, so you go wash, and I’ll find a way to entertain myself while I wait.”

  Luke dropped his head to regard her in a mixture of lust and frustration. “You sure?”

  Dani nodded. “Oh, yeah. I already showered last night. I’m good. Just... don’t linger.”

  Luke grabbed her and kissed her. Dani pressed her body against his, flesh to flesh. For a moment she didn’t care about stink and sweat or anything else. All she wanted was to finish what they’d started. Only with reluctance did she pull away, though she groaned painfully. “Just... hurry.”

  “Don’t get dressed on me,” he said, waggling his finger in her direction. She stuck her tongue out at him. H
e stepped into the bathroom and cracked his head on the faucet.

  “Serves you right. Er... Are you okay?” Dani asked, visions of head wounds dancing in her head.

  “Yeah, just too tall. I forgot they make these things for—” He held out a hand and measured out something about a foot shorter than him, and shrugged. “Midgets.”

  “You mean, people like me?”

  Luke smiled and grabbed her breast, his thumb caressing her nipple until her back arched and she forgot how to breathe.

  “That is how you tease someone,” he informed her, dropping a kiss on her nose and stepping backwards very carefully into the room and closing the door in her face.

  She would have followed him if she hadn’t heard the snick of the lock. The rat. She stood there a moment, the air cold against her nipples, raising them to hard pebbles that ached enough to make her want to cry. Or hit something. Preferably him.

  “You’d better hurry up in there!” she shouted, and went to look at the scattered clothing. It seemed they had found for her rather standard blue jeans, but the cloth was thick, high quality, and the seams were extra strong. In her size, too, which was a little disconcerting. Just how much information did her future father-in-law have on her anyway? She picked up the panties, blue and white striped, delicate bikinis that would fit perfectly.

  Yeah, he’d gone well over into the territory of being ‘creepy.’

  A clang and clatter, followed by Luke finding at least three new words, echoed from the tiny bathroom.

  “You all right?” she called through the door.

  “Yeah!” Luke said, his voice sounding a little panicky. “President’s plane, they could fix the lid...”

  Dani heard the water turn on and Luke swear. “COLD! COLD! COLD!” She rested her forehead on the door and sighed.

  The water shut off and she could hear him moving around. She could see in her mind’s eye that he was digging for the soap, lathering it on. The image of her man proudly lathering his muscled body was probably something closer to the image of a poor guy slumped in a tiny bathroom trying to get soap into places he couldn’t reach.

  That was when she heard the crash.

  “LUKE!”

  “I’m okay!” he yelled through the door.

  “What happened?”

  “I got so soaped up, I slid off the toilet and onto the floor.” Dani bit her lip to keep from laughing. “There is no floor in here. It’s all walls that curve.” He paused for a moment. “Dani... I fell UP.”

  Dani lost her fight with the giggles. Naked, she nearly collapsed on her side of the door. She stumbled back to the cot and sat down, crossing her legs and waiting for Luke to emerge.

  The water sprayed again to the resounding chorus of “COLD! COLD! COLD!” and then silence. The door cracked open and Luke stood before her like a drowned rat. With an erection.

  “I forgot the towel,” he said miserably.

  Dani rushed to get the towel to him and began drying him off in silence. She started with his head and face, tenderly and gently wiping his cheeks and chin. She scrubbed more vigorously at his chest and back and belly, and his strong, beautiful legs. She knelt to dry his calves, and while she was down there she slipped him into her mouth.

  Luke gasped; his hand rested on her head, fingers buried in her hair.

  He pulled out just before they both fell.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, we’re experiencing some heavy turbulence right now. I’m going to have to ask you to return to your seats immediately and refasten your seatbelts.” As if to reinforce the captain’s announcement, the plane shifted sideways and dropped ten feet.

  “WHY!” Dani yelled, and kicked the carpeting.

  “Come on, before they find us beat to a pulp, naked,” Luke said. His words where rational, sensible, but his erection belied his calm demeanor. It just looked damn painful.

  “You think we could just—” The plane took another nosedive. Dani rolled across the floor, landing at Luke’s feet, giving her the rather unique view of seeing the underside. “I suppose not.”

  He dropped her underwear on her head. “C’mon, now. Be a big girl...”

  “No!” she said, digging in her heels, drumming them against the carpeting like a little kid in a full-blown tantrum. “No, I am not getting dressed until you get...”

  The plane bounced. Twice.

  “YOU’RE DOING THIS ON PURPOSE!” she screamed at the ceiling.

  “Who are you talking to?”

  Dani snatched the underwear and pouted as she drew it on. “Never mind.”

  In a few moments, they slinked back into their seats. William looked up, raised one eyebrow, and shook his head.

  “When the seatbelt light comes on, you need to return to your seats right away!” the stewardess or staff member, or whoever the bitch was, chastised her. Dani dropped her head, staring at her lap, hoping that if she counted to six hundred she could keep herself from punching the woman in the face.

  “We weren’t dressed,” Luke explained.

  Dani dropped her face into her hands. Really? Advertise it, why not...

  The woman rolled her eyes and said, “Well, at least you’ll be relaxed for the trip.”

  Luke had an iron grip on Dani’s arm as the woman walked away, never realizing how close she’d come to death.

  “Decent fit?” William asked.

  Dani’s head shot up and she looked at him for a long moment.

  “The clothes?” William prompted, having the grace to look awkward.

  “Oh. Yes. Thanks. Clothing.” Dani nodded, glancing down at her t-shirt and jeans uneasily. She wasn’t about to admit in a million years that these had turned out to be the most comfortable jeans she’d ever worn in her life.

  Luke collapsed against the back of the seat beside her and exhaled noisily.

  “Have a good shower?” William asked.

  Luke turned slowly. “Dandy.”

  “Hey, how many people can say they showered on Air Force One?” William crowed, delighted in his accomplishment. Then he dropped his voice to a conspiratorial tone. “And what else did you two do on America’s most recognized airplane?”

  The next wave of turbulence might have saved his life. By the time they stopped bouncing, Luke had both Dani’s hands trapped.

  “Let go.”

  Luke shot her a look and let go slowly, really slowly, as Dani straightened her clothing. William was still holding the paper cup in his hand, though his pen was skewered through the middle of it and water was pouring out onto the floor.

  “We’ll be landing soon.” William said, signaling for the staffer.

  “I HAVE TO APOLOGIZE. I wasn’t able to procure a limo on such short notice,” William said as they walked down the staircase the airport had wheeled to the gate. The appropriate people had been informed that this was not Air Force One, the president was NOT on board, but the bulk of the thing and the official seal carried its own gravitas. Meaning more people than were truly necessary just about tripped over each other trying to secure imaginary luggage, and getting a car turned out to be easier than ordering the airport to not provide honor escorts and marching bands.

  Dani felt rather underdressed in jeans, and silently thanked William for the fact that she wasn’t seen coming out of the president’s plane in short shorts and a ripped t-shirt. Although a part of her wondered what the headline would read the next day if she had. It felt odd, though. Outside their immediate circle of airport and underlings, it did seem that the airfield was rather empty. In fact, nothing seemed to be taking off or landing at all.

  Please tell me they didn’t reroute air traffic. No, wait... I don’t want to know. I truly do not want to know.

  She climbed into the back of the car provided. Not a limo, but still sleek and black and looking rather official. Luke and William sat beside her. Dani felt a momentary burst of elation to be on the way and actually doing something, which died a quick death when the car pulled out and came to a complete stop at the
exit of the airport.

  Judging from the bumper to bumper mess on the expressway, traffic was going to be bad.

  “Unfortunately,” William said, his voice rather terse, “I’ve been informed that traffic is unusually heavy due to some heavy construction on the route. We’re on the other side of the city from where we need to go.” He settled back against the seat with his phone, lips compressed, face a study of worry. In that instant Dani had a quick view of what Luke would look like when he was older, when he pouted. She shook her head.

  Okay, we’ll work on that.

  Luke was staring out the back window behind them. Dani snuck a peek. “What? Are we being followed?”

  “Just... surprised,” he admitted, twisting around to face forward. “I wasn’t sure we were going to get away with it.”

  “Away with what, dear boy?” William asked, setting down his phone and digging into a briefcase at his feet and bringing out a stack of papers at least an inch thick. Dani’s eyebrow rose as she glanced over at Luke, who gave an almost imperceptible shrug. The case had been waiting for him when the car arrived.

  “How we got away with just running off like that,” Luke said after a moment. Dani bit back a smile. His tone was distracted as he shifted, trying to get a better look at the papers. William shot him a look and turned his body somewhat, presenting him with the back of the file folder to look at.

  Luke sat back, expressionless. Dani could tell he was fuming inside.

  “Do you think they’ll come after us?” Dani asked, reaching for his hand, running her fingertips over his fingers until he reached out to trap her wandering fingers in his palm.

  “You don’t know my mother...” He drew her hand to his lips and kissed the tips of her fingers. “She’s a lot like you. Like a pit bull when she gets an idea in her head.”

  “I’m not sure if I should be flattered or insulted,” Dani muttered, enjoying the warm flutter in the pit of her stomach at the feel of his warm breath against her hand. It conjured pleasant images of warm breath elsewhere against her body.