Page 19 of Hush Darling
Her gaze dropped to his trapped hand, and a boundless sense of possibility ripped through her. The moment was too dreamlike to be real. Too infinite. Too vast. And somehow, it was real. Where was the hovering sense of impending doom? It was as if consequence could not reach her here, with him.
Testing the strange sense of surrealness, she relaxed her posture and met his gaze. Their stares locked. The corners of his green eyes creased as the silk of her gown slowly lifted. She should shove his hand away but she didn’t.
“You’re already braver than you were.” He gently repositioned her hands at her sides.
She swallowed as his fingers trailed lightly over her bare flesh. “This part never scared me.”
He raised a brow. “Is that so?”
She feared her ignorance being exposed, but not his touch. Meeting his stare, she held eye contact with him as he gradually nudged her thighs apart with bold intention. It was up to her. If she wanted him to keep going, she would have to open for him.
Emboldened by the challenge in his eyes, her legs fell open, and her eyes shut. When his fingers traced over her panties, she sucked in a breath and tipped her head back. He teased over the damp spot of arousal, making the fabric wetter and drawing a shy gasp from her throat.
Sensations jolted in places she’d never felt before. His fingers slipped beneath the material, gliding purposefully along her skin. Then he pressed inside.
“Wait.” She gripped his wrist before his finger could fully penetrate her.
He chuckled, delving beyond where any man had touched before, only to pause at her notable panic. “You are innocent, aren’t you?” His voice darkened into a low whisper, full of intrigue. “Relax.” He pried her grip loose and set her hand back on the armrest. “I won’t hurt you. I just want to check something.”
Her breath hitched as he slid a finger inside of her and teased the place of resistance that validated her virginity. Mortified, she snapped her knees together, trapping his hand. Her brow pinched with uncertainty, and she bit her lip.
“It’s true then. Part of me actually thought it was an act.”
He thought she was faking ignorance? “Why would you think that?”
He lifted a shoulder. “Women do all sorts of things to get my attention. I never had a thing for virgins…But I also never had my finger inside of one. I’m starting to see the intrigue.”
Her breath hitched as he ever so slightly swirled his finger inside of her.
What if he told people about this? She didn’t want to be the center of gossip or remembered for being a virgin. She feared others learning such secret things about her. But what if he told them? What if he said she was the type of girl to let a stranger finger her on a plane?
“What’s it going to be, Ms. Darling? Shall I show you how to sing to the stars?”
Her lips parted, but her words disappeared as the cabin jostled.
His hand vanished from between her thighs, leaving her bereft and oddly aware of the hollowness where his touch had been. More turbulence shook the plane, and her body tensed.
“What was that?”
“Relax.”
“Pardon me, folks,” the captain’s voice squawked over the speakers. “We’ve hit a pocket of turbulence. There’s a small storm up ahead, but we should pass it quickly. Please keep your seatbelts fastened for your safety until I announce otherwise.”
“What? We’re flying through a storm?” Her calm vanished.
Peter let out a crowing laugh. “We’re in the clouds, Wendy. Storms are perfectly normal up here.”
Lightning flashed in the distance, outlining the billows of clouds ahead. The stunning view of vastness left her feeling small and helpless. When the cabin shook, her nerves sparked. Each jostling rattle wound her tension tighter until she was a coil spring about to pop.
“It’s only air. There’s nothing to fear up here. We’re all alone.”
“That doesn’t help me. Is that lightning?” A bright bolt webbed the sky.
Her dreamlike state shifted to a nightmare as the plane tossed about. They dropped several feet through the air, and she cried out in fear, unable to hide her panic.
“Just shut it out.”
“I should have shut you out!” She reached for her phone, but the pocket of her robe was empty. She checked her other pocket. “Oh, my God. I left my phone at home.”
