Air Bound

by Christine Feehan

  Jorge looked past him to spot the clothes on the floor. “Let me take your clothes. Maria will launder those for you,” he offered.

  Maxim managed to look surprised, as if he hadn’t noticed the wet clothes—or deliberately left them on the floor to command Jorge’s attention. “Oh. Thanks.” He wanted the man looking at the wet clothes on the floor of his most prized cabana and not at his woman curled up in the bed.

  Jorge took the clothes, and with his happy, knowing smile left them to do what honeymooners do.

  Maxim took the plate of food to the bed. He stood for a moment looking down at her. She looked far too small there in the large bed, hardly making a ripple beneath the sheet. The bruises stood out starkly on her pale skin, looking obscene to him. He sank down beside her.

  “I know you’re exhausted, honey, but I need you to sit up just for a minute or two and try to eat something.”

  Her long lashes fluttered. She opened her eyes without lifting her head. Need punched him low and wicked. Hard. And it was need. He sighed and pushed back her hair with gentle fingers. “You know I’m not going to be able to do without you. Not ever. We’re bound together, you and me, for all time.”

  A soft smile curved her mouth—that mouth that was giving him far too many fantasies. Her blue eyes lit up. “That’s so sad for you. I know you aren’t thrilled.”

  “I’ve decided there might be a few perks I hadn’t considered.”

  She laughed softly and turned over to stretch. He winced when she did, but she didn’t complain. Instead she sat up, pulling the sheet up under her arms.

  “I can’t imagine what perks you’re thinking of.”

  “Sex.” He said it bluntly.

  “I don’t know a thing about sex. Not one single thing. You’re the first man I’ve ever kissed. I don’t think you’re going to be all that thrilled with me as a lover.”

  He laughed softly. “You really don’t know a thing about men, do you? Especially a man like me. I’m quite happy teaching you how to be my lover.”

  He didn’t want much more discussion on the matter as his body was already as hard as a rock in anticipation. Thinking about burying himself inside her hot, slick channel, surrounded by her soft body, was doing things to his own body he’d never experienced before.

  Every seduction had been calculated and planned for a specific reason. The women were targets—or he had been one. Either way, the act of sex had been just that. He had a certain expertise, taught, and used when necessary, but his emotions had never been involved. In his own way, he supposed he was as much a virgin as she was—which was laughable.

  “I’m going to marry you, Airiana.” He set the plate between them and handed her a fork. “Jorge’s wife, Maria, is an excellent cook. Eat.”

  She pressed her lips together, taking the fork slowly, her blue eyes regarding him steadily. “That’s it? You declare you’re going to marry me and then tell me to eat.”

  He shrugged. There wasn’t really much more to say. Clearly she wanted more, but that was all he had. As far as he was concerned, it was all there was.

  She sighed. “I feel like kicking you again, Maxim. I fear you’re going to have bruised shins for the first twenty years or so that we’re together.”

  Relief flooded him. He hadn’t even known he’d been holding his breath. It was strange to him how he was absolutely confident in every area of his life aside from with her. Airiana shook him up inside. Caused chaos in his well-ordered mind.

  “Eat,” he ordered again. His voice came out gruff, maybe even a little harsh, and that earned him another look from under her long lashes.

  She took a bite of the burrito. A very small bite. One couldn’t even consider it an actual bite, more like a delicate nibble. He had the sudden urge to shake her.

  “You might consider that I’m a lot bigger than you are, honey, when you decide to defy me over something so ridiculous as eating.”

  Her fork stopped midway to her mouth. “Defying you? Seriously? Maxim, I feel sick to my stomach, but I’m eating because you asked me to and I wanted to please you. I’m taking small bites to make certain I don’t throw up. Stop being an arrogant jackass. I’m not really in the mood for it. Sometimes it’s cute and funny and even appealing. Right now, when my stomach is lurching and I hurt like hell, it isn’t at all attractive.”

  He didn’t get past that she was eating because she wanted to please him. There was something about loving another person that eluded him, and it was right there in front of him. Airiana did things for him that she wouldn’t normally do—and she did them to please him.

  He touched her hair. In the warm air it was slowly drying into wild, untamed waves and even a few curls over her head. “I’m sorry, baby. I’m just worried about you. I tend to react with . . .” he trailed off.

  “Arrogance? Anger?” she suggested.

  “Maybe both. When I can’t control something I probably react with anger, although honestly, it’s buried so deep I’m never certain if that’s what I’m really feeling. Anger is an emotion we’re not allowed for many reasons. It isn’t safe.”

  “This school you attended was pretty messed up, Maxim.” She took another bite of the burrito and chewed thoughtfully. “Everyone feels anger once in a while. It isn’t healthy to keep it buried.”

  “My anger would be like unleashing a volcano, and that wouldn’t be good for anyone.”

  He watched her swallow the small bit of food, and for some inexplicable reason, the movement of her throat tightened his body even more. He was afraid he might end up with a permanent hard-on if he didn’t claim her body soon. The sheet dipped just a little, revealing the small creamy swell of the tops of her breasts. Without thinking he reached out and tugged at the sheet until it dropped down to her waist.

  She sat very still, holding her breath, her gaze jumping to his. He smiled to reassure her and then realized he probably looked like a wolf about to devour her.

  “I’m only looking at what’s mine,” he assured her. “You need to sleep. But I like looking.”

  Her breasts rose and fell when she drew in her first deep breath of air, filling her lungs. Her nipples were rosy and peaking under his scrutiny. Temptation in the form of a woman. He couldn’t help himself. One hand caressed her left breast, a brush with the pads of his fingers. She was warm and every bit as soft as her skin looked.

  A current of electricity ran from her breast to his groin. The charge sizzled through his veins, a rush of intense heat that flooded his body. His cock jerked, drawing her attention to the bursting fullness he couldn’t hide beneath the towel cinched around his waist. He didn’t want to hide his reaction to her.

  “Do you think you’ll actually fit?”

  He closed his eyes for a brief moment trying to hold on to sanity. It was the last thing he expected her to ask. Especially in a curious, I’m-so-intrigued tone.

  “I think you were made for me,” he assured. “I’ll take good care of you, Airiana, always. A man should prepare his woman, and I have no doubt I’ll find that task very pleasurable. I think I could eat you like candy and never get enough.”

  She blushed. The color surged into her face, down her neck and into her breasts. He felt the heat beneath his exploring fingers. She didn’t pull away from him, not even when he tugged on her nipple gently. Heat flashed in her eyes, desire pushing at the exhaustion. He wanted her with every breath he took. It was going to be a long, excruciating night with his body on fire and no relief. That was certainly a first for him.

  “I can’t eat any more, Maxim, I’m sorry,” she said. She put the fork down and looked around a little helplessly. “I don’t have a toothbrush.”

  “The resort always has a little supply of things in the bathroom, including toothbrushes. Not a cheap one either.” He’d used one of their toothbrushes he’d taken with him to kill a man who had ambushed him in his hotel
room in Cairo. He thought it best not to mention that fact to her. “In the second drawer. There’s toothpaste as well.”

  Her face lit up. “Thank you. My mouth will be forever in your debt.”

  “I like that idea,” he said softly, contemplating the possibilities. She hadn’t moved to make her way to the bathroom, and he realized she was sitting very still under the assault of his fingers. He hadn’t stopped caressing her breasts. He enjoyed the shiver running through her body when he tugged at her nipples. She was definitely very sensitive. The idea of teaching her the things he liked was becoming more pleasurable by the moment.

  He ran his fingers from the tip of her breast, lightly down her bruised ribs to her navel. Because he could. Because she was his. Reluctantly he dropped his hand. “Go brush your teeth, baby. You need to sleep before I change my mind.”

  She slipped out from under the sheet, a slow process when every muscle hurt. The tiny curls just above the junction of her legs were every bit as platinum, gold and silver as the hair on top of her head. He had to resist touching her there—and it wasn’t easy. He would have followed her to the bathroom to ensure she didn’t fall, but his body was too hard and painful to walk. He managed to set their meal aside on the end table before slipping the towel from his body and lightly circled his shaft, wanting to give himself relief, but knowing it wouldn’t help.

  He found himself smiling. She made him feel so alive. He wasn’t alone in a hotel room, or a cabana or the cabin of a ship. He wasn’t alone traveling the world, going back time after time to empty apartments he’d rented in several different names. She knew his true identity. She saw him; the man that he wanted to be—could be—was deep inside where no one else could ever go.

  “I could maybe help.”

  Airiana stood beside the bed, looking at the thick length of him. This time he could see the apprehension in her eyes. He almost loved that as much as the curiosity, because she was so willing, even in spite of her anxiety, to please him. Was that love? Unconditional surrender? He wanted to know. More and more it mattered to him to find the right path with her.

  “Not tonight, honey, although you can’t know how much I want to take you up on that. I have to protect you, even from myself. You need care tonight. Rest. Not more physical activity, as much as it pains me to say.”

  “I want you to be able to sleep, Maxim. You haven’t slept in days.”

  “I sleep. I’ve taught myself to sleep whenever possible.”

  He pulled back the sheet and waited for her to climb into bed. There was no resisting caressing her firm, rounded buttocks. He had a great appreciation of her shapely backside. She didn’t pull away from him at all, rather pushed back into his hands while he kneaded and massaged the firm muscles.

  “Lie down, honey,” he instructed a little gruffly.

  She was just too much of a temptation. His body refused to settle down, even when he willed it to. That had never happened to him before. He found it oddly unsettling and yet exhilarating.

  Airiana complied with his command, and he pulled the sheet over her. They had never really turned on any of the overhead lights. The moon was up and light spilled into their cabana. He didn’t like lights at night. People could see in and he couldn’t see out.

  “At least lay down, Maxim. I know you said you can’t sleep with anyone in the same room, but I’ve gotten used to you being close and I don’t want to be afraid.”

  He stretched out beside her, pleased she wanted him close to her. She moved subtly, enough to press her body close to the heat of his. Strangely, the small action made him far more comfortable.

  She fell asleep almost immediately, and he turned to curve his body around hers protectively. Propping himself up on one elbow, he indulged his need to memorize every sweet line of her face. His body slowly settled now that she was asleep. He found himself just watching her, drinking her in.

  16

  MAXIM became aware of movement close to him. His hand tightened around the butt of his pistol beneath his pillow—an automatic response—just before awareness told him where he was and who lay beside him. He was curled around Airiana’s body, her breast nestled in his open hand. He felt her nipple against the exact center of his palm.

  He found himself smiling. He had a gun in one hand and a breast in the other. That had happened exactly seven times throughout the night—but he’d slept beside her. He’d actually gone to sleep with another human being beside him. Elation filled him. Airiana was magical. She represented everything good he’d never dared to want or dream about having.

  He had only known pain. Loss. Heartache. Betrayal. He trusted no one, and no one trusted him. He had been alone for so long, existing in a shadow world where he was nothing but a ghost. He would have died in those shadows eventually without ever knowing what love was.

  He breathed her into his lungs. His mouth moved against her temple and all that soft hair tumbling around her face slid over his jaw. Her skin tasted like love. Her hair felt like it. When he looked at her, his armor, always in place, always formidable, had cracked. Crumbled. Fell away.

  He had promised himself he would never feel like that helpless boy, ripped apart by the loss of every single person he loved. He wouldn’t love. Wouldn’t feel. No one could ever hurt him like that again. How had she slipped past his every defense? How had she found that tiny piece of his soul he kept hidden from the world?

  She stirred and he slipped his arm around her waist, wanting her to sleep as long as possible. He needed a little time to assess the intensity of his feelings for her. So strong. Overwhelming really. There was no way to hide from the emotions building with every minute spent in her company.

  He hadn’t known he was vulnerable. Now, it was too late. He had said he had no choice, and maybe the truth was, there never had been one, not when it came to Airiana, but he knew his conscious choice would be her. He would be risking everything. Everything. His life didn’t matter that much to him, but his heart . . . his soul . . . those mattered, and she owned them.

  He had watched her the entire time they were together, and a man like Maxim noticed everything. He knew her every move. The little faces she made when he annoyed her and the sudden flashes of humor or temper. He had never considered what it would be like to have a partner, someone to watch his back, and he certainly would have laughed if someone had told him this little slip of a woman would be the one he would always want with him.

  He pushed back strands of blond hair spilling into her face. Her eye was several shades of purple and still looked a little swollen, but the seawater had helped, taking some of the raging fire out of it. Her feet were healing a bit as well. She seemed to be able to heal fast and he was grateful for that.

  She regretted killing the men she’d been forced to kill. He wondered what it would be like to be that innocent. He knew what those men were like, what they were capable of. There was no redemption—nor did they want it. The men he hunted and the ones associating with them were the dregs of society. They made up the harsh underbelly where it was kill or be killed.

  Maxim breathed her in again, taking her deep. She was already tangled tightly inside of him, and there was no getting her out. He couldn’t run. He couldn’t hide. He had to face the fact that love had ferreted him out. He hadn’t been prepared so there was no way to combat it. The emotion stole up on him and like the truest arrow, pierced his heart until he knew there was no recovery.

  Her lashes fluttered, those long, feathery lashes that drew his attention immediately to her eyes. He bent to brush kisses along the lids. Her eyes were gorgeous, such a startling blue, and could deepen or lighten in color depending on her mood. He had to admit the storm clouds swirling at times were well worth stirring her up.

  A man had to wonder if her passion ran as hot as her temper. Or if that habit she had of giving herself so generously would be there in her lovemaking. His body had flared to life t
he moment he had awoken, her breast in his palm. He shifted, sliding his thigh between her legs, careful to keep his movements gentle. One hip and thigh carried bruises from her encounter with Gorya.

  There was something extremely sensual and decadent about sliding one’s skin along a woman’s soft skin, especially her inner thigh. His body hardened more, his blood rushing to fill his aching shaft with a hungry demand. He pressed close to her buttocks, nestled there between her soft, firm cheeks, warm and aching with a pleasure he’d never known.

  “Maxim?” Her arm reached behind her to circle his head. “You slept.” It was a question and a statement.

  He brushed kisses over her eyes and down her nose to the corner of her mouth. “I’ve never slept so much in my life. Lying beside you is amazing.” He kissed her, tangling his tongue with hers, thrusting inside her mouth to get the taste of hers that drove him mad and kept him coming back for more. The taste he dreamt about and had on his tongue when he wakened.

  She pushed her body tighter against his, kissing him back with the same generosity she showed in everything she did. She just gave herself to him. Completely. Her trust was like an aphrodisiac pouring into his mouth and down his throat. Heat surged. Rushed. Electricity crackled and sizzled. He wanted her until every cell in his body ached and demanded.

  He rolled her under him, on her back, still kissing her, trying to stay gentle when he felt like a tiger about to devour its most alluring prey. Her hands slid over his shoulders, touched one wound lightly and slipped to his biceps. Just that whisper of her touch on his body inflamed him more. He wanted her to touch him everywhere. He needed her touch.

  Right now, he wanted to know every curve and valley. Every shadow. Intimately. Her body had been given to him, into his care, and his job, as he saw it, was to care for every aspect. He kissed his way to her chin, her throat and then down to the swell of her breasts.