Page 33 of Golden Burn

“Dom doesn’t kneel,” Ford whispers, grinning. “I do.”

If anyone would have told me I’d have almost peed myself from laughter on a private jet with a bodyguard, a lawyer, and a property mogul, who works with the mafia and intends to marry me in a matter of weeks, I would have told them to stop sniffing glue and drink some water.

“Look! Look! She’s moving them!” I exclaim, tapping Dom on the shoulder. He looks up from his laptop and blanches. After I completed Ford’s makeover—sultry, yet simple—I grabbed Juniper by the scruff and used the darkest shade of eyeshadow in my disposal to draw on some eyebrows. Now, every time she raises them, I burst out laughing. Ford, too, has been unable to keep a lid on his composure. She’s so freaking cute, I can’t deal.

“Juni! You’re so clever!” I praise, even though all she’s done is sit on her tummy and tilt her head side to side, listening to me laugh.

I’m interrupted when the captain’s voice blares from above. “We will be starting our descent in ten minutes.”

Cradling my sore stomach, I attach Juniper to her harness and stand so I can go to the bathroom before we land. As I walk off, I hear Ford say, “Admit it, my eyelashes are turning you on.”

Dom scoffs, but I hear the smile in his tone. “Oh, shut up.”

Smirking to myself with my head down, I put one foot in front of the other until I’m forced to stop by a pair of clean, black shoes.

I lift my chin, dragging my focus along every inch of the man in my way. Odin holds steady, no words passing between his lips. I know without having to check that he’s doing the same thing to me. I’m stuck in place, breathing through a straw as the heat he radiates reaches across the gap between our bodies and strokes me.

When my chin is fully raised, I see now what has him so still. His eye is lingering on my face. On the makeup that I applied perfectly. He seems transfixed for a moment; lost in a fantastical forest he never knew he stepped foot in. His gaze travels to my neck, my cheeks, my eyes, then to my lips and the plum-colored lipstick I applied to them.

My pulse hammers unsteadily beneath my skin. My thoughts stall, like a mouse that’s fallen off the wheel and landed on its back with its legs in the air.

He smells different. Like a glass of golden whiskey over ice, the backseat of a new car with windows tinted darker than hell, a fresh bar of soap lathered over wet, warm skin.

Looking into his eye is like peering into space. Infinite and mysterious, with the perfect amount of interest to make me want to explore it despite the likelihood that I might suffocate.

I have no idea how long we stand locked like this. Not until I try to swallow and find I can’t, due to lack of lubricant in my throat.

“Odin?”

His answering recoil is like the flutter of a fly’s wings. Faint but easily spotted. I keep my lips in place, even as the muscles pull at the outer edges, wanting to frown.

“Excuse me,” he says, his voice rough, strained.

“You’re excused,” I counter. I’m not shifting. I’m not moving until he lets me through. I’m going to hold my position until he bends. His eye flashes with warning, as if he knows what game I’m trying to play. I smile sweetly, exposing my teeth. His solid chest heaves as he blows a breath out of his nose.

As if his body is as heavy as a slab of ice, he shifts to the side and allows me through. I remain silent and stride past him, sashaying my hips from side to side. A whisper of a touch traces along my hip bone. My skin heats as if it’s been slapped.

Sensing that he hasn’t moved, I flick my head over my shoulder, find his attention and send him a wink.

Checkmate, motherfucker.

13

Etta

‘Oh, What A World’ - Kacey Musgraves

“Where are we actually landing?” I ask Dom, chuckling a little as I watch Ford remove his makeup aggressively.

“Zambia.”

The seatbelt falls from my hands. “What?”

“Never heard of it?”

I stutter, my heart tripping over itself. “Oh my God! We’re landing in Africa?”

Dom smiles, pleased by my outburst. “Yes. We have connections with one of the safari retreats.” I collapse into my seat, lost for words.

---