Avery slows his steps and presses his hand on my back, pushing me forward up the stairs to board the plane. With each step, I feel my heart pound harder. My breath comes quicker. I try to slow my steps, but his hand on my back pushes me as he forces me up the stairs.
I step into the plane and spin around to run off but slam right into him. He stands before me, blocking the only exit. “Avery … please.” I squeeze my eyes shut.
“Look at me,” he orders, placing his hands on both sides of my face.
I slowly do and silently beg him to do it. He knows I hate to fly. “Are you punishing me?” I whisper and feel my eyes start to sting. For standing up to him in his office.
He frowns. “No.”
“Then why won’t you just give me …?”
“No.” He growls the word this time, interrupting me.
“Avery …” His lips crash to mine, silencing me. His hands leave my face, both sliding into my hair. They tighten, and goose bumps spread across my skin, causing me to gasp into his mouth. He tilts my head to the side and deepens the kiss. His tongue meeting mine with passion. My pussy tightens, and I moan as he pushes his hips into mine. He’s hard.
He pulls away, and I gasp for a breath. Placing his forehead on mine, he takes a deep breath. “Fuck, Bunny. I could kiss you for hours.”
“Don’t stop.” I rasp.
“Sir?”
He pulls away to turn around. Kayn had walked halfway up the stairs and is holding a black backpack. “The bag you requested.”
“Thank you,” he says and then turns back to face me. “Let’s go, Bunny.”
I choose a seat, and Avery promises to get me a drink. Maybe he’ll put something in it if I’m lucky. Chloe sits down across from me and looks around before leaning forward and whispering. “You want him to drug you?”
“I’m afraid of flying,” I admit.
She frowns. “It’s the safest way to travel.”
“Tell that to my parents.” She tilts her head to the side in confusion. “They died in a plane crash.”
Her green eyes soften with sadness. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
I look away from her ’cause I never gave my father’s death a second thought. The world got rid of an ugly man. He had once sold his soul to the devil, and he came for payment. My mother, however, did I miss her? Yes. But I think she too had done some unforgivable things. Avery used to tell me he was playing his part. I’m not sure if that’s what my mother was doing or not.
“Here.” She reaches out and grabs my hands as the engines roar to life.
I close my eyes and start to count to ten. When I get to five, I feel a hand on my shoulder, and I jump, my eyes springing open. I look up to see Avery standing next to me with a glass in his hand containing dark liquid. I take it and throw it back all at once. It makes me cough, but I hand it to him and order, “Another one.”
I don’t miss the fuck you look that Chloe gives him when he turns and walks away. “Are you excited to be going home?” she asks.
I look down at my hands knotted in my lap, my knees bouncing. “Yes. I haven’t spoken to my best friend in over three weeks.”
“Why not?”
“I’m not allowed to use the phone,” I tell her.
She exhales, showing her annoyance, and then pulls her cell out of her purse and hands it to me. I just stare down at it. “Go ahead. Call your friend.”
I dial her number, and it rings once, then twice. I have no clue what time it is here, so I can’t even decipher what time it is in New York. She answers on the fourth ring. “Hello?” she answers sleepily. I woke her up. Not surprised. She’s like a freaking vampire. Sleeps all day, runs all night.
“Alex.”
“Who is this?” She yawns.
“It’s me. Presl—”