Page 85 of Beneath the Burn

Once the plane was airborne and the captain turned off the seat belt sign, he released her hand. “I need to talk to Tony for a few minutes, okay?”

“Yep,” she breathed.

Leaning into her, he cupped her jaw and raised her mouth to his. The first touch sent a thrill vibrating through her body. As he deepened the kiss, wildfire spread from his lips, his breath moist and hot, and his tongue coaxing a flame of sensations. He pulled back, drank her in with his eyes, and dipped his head again, kissing every inch of her lips, her cheeks, her eyebrows, and returning to her mouth.

Their tongues, teasing and receiving, stroked warm exhales and muffled moans. She gripped the armrests, gasped for air, and squeezed her thighs together to mollify the ache between them.

One of his hands retreated from her face, sliding down her neck, over her collarbone, lingering along the outside of her breast, and lowered to clutch her waist and pull her closer. The seat belt halted her movement. He released her mouth to glare at the offending obstacle.

Fingers aching in their locked position, she uncurled them and freed the belt. “I want to touch you.”

As she leaned toward him, she glimpsed the guys through the crack between their seats. Rio slumped in the last seat in the rear, head bent on his shoulder, mouth open and eyes closed. On the couch, Laz strummed a guitar in his lap, the sound piping to his large headphones. Beside him, Wil’s face pinched in concentration as he restrung his bass.

Jay removed his hand from her waist, redirecting her attention. He clenched his jaw and gripped the bulge in his leathers. Then he fell toward her and buried his moan in her neck. “Let’s go to the lavatory.”

The charged pulse between her legs dulled. What would Nathan think of her if she snuck off to the bathroom with Jay? Her lungs deflated. She couldn’t risk his judgement without first venting her guilt. “Thought you needed to talk to Tony.”

He put his hands on his knees and frowned at his erection. “Um…Not with this.” The leather pants seemed to magnify his arousal.

“I could shoot it with a rubber band.”

He barked out a strained laugh. “Where the hell did that come from?”

“It’s worked for me in the past.”

His smile crashed into a frown. “What do you mean by that exactly?”

“It’s not what you think. I was just a kid.”

“Jesus.” He stared at her, the whites of his eyes glowing in the dampened light. “That’s even worse.”

“No, this is good story. Want to hear it?”

“I don’t know.” He rubbed a hand over his thigh, distractingly close to his erection. “Do I?”

“Yeah.” She curled up in the seat with her legs beneath her and twisted to face him. “When I was little, Craig used to leave me at the neighbor’s house all the time. Nice lady, but she had five boys. Bigger and older, the bastards liked to gang up on me.”

His hand clenched on his leg. “Where was your mother?”

“I didn’t have a mother. Just listen.” She leaned back in the chair. “They cornered me in the basement, the backyard, the bathroom, anywhere Linda wasn’t, and tried to bully me into taking off my pants. You know, theI’ll let you touch mine if you let me touch yoursthing?”

“No.” He ground his teeth. “I don’t know.” His hand flexed and his eyes clouded, so she hurried to the good part.

“I was finding it difficult to fight them off. I could’ve tattled on them, but their retaliation would’ve made things worse. Instead, I made a deal with them.”

“Please tell me this deal did not involve the removal of your pants. How old were you?”

She tapped her lip. “Ten…yeah, I was ten. And the deal was, whoever’s dick I could hit with a rubber band from fifteen paces away would never be able to bother me again.”

He groaned.

“They agreed to one attempt each.”

“Fucking hell, Charlee. And if you missed?”

She grimaced. “He would have unrestricted access below my waistband.”

His hand flew to his hair, tangling and yanking with his fingers. “That was a hell of a risk.” His voice rose. “You were only ten, for fuck’s sake.”

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