Page 8 of Their Deviant Love
“Connor O’Malley, I swear if you start treating me like I’m a girl and can’t do the same shit you do, I’m going to stab you.” She shoves me out of the way, sits on the ledge, and throws her legs over the other side.
“Wait! Let me go first. At least then I can catch you.” I reach out to grab her.
“Snooze, you lose, Harvard,” she says as she turns her body and lowers herself from the building. Then I watch as she climbs down the same pipe I used to climb up.
My need to protect her has nothing to do with me not thinking she’s capable. It’s because I failed to keep her safe and I don’t want to fail her again.
I climb out the window and start making my own way down. As soon as my feet hit the ground, I take Aurora’s hand in mine and lead her to the back of the property. She doesn’t ask where I’m taking her, not even when we reach the forest and I start along the path that will guide us to the main road where I parked.
Forty minutes later, we reach the car and I open the door for Aurora. She climbs in—again without a word.
As soon as I pull out onto the quiet highway, I pick her hand up and bring it to my mouth. “I’m sorry,” I tell her.
“For what?” she asks.
“For making you leave your family.” I know how much they mean to her. It can’t be easy.
“Connor, you did not make me leave. I chose to leave with you. I will always choose you,” she tells me. “If anyone should be sorry, it’s me. I’m the reason you had to…”
“You are not the reason I killed my father. Don’t even think that, princess. You are the reason I breathe. You are the reason there is something in this life worth fighting for,” I tell her.
“Oxygen,” she says.
“Huh?”
“You are my oxygen,” she clarifies.
“Ditto.”
It takes two hours to make it to the hangar with the private plane I arranged. The pilot is someone I trust, but also someone who won’t make it back to be able to tell anyone where we went.
I logged in and forged the flight logs. This plane is headed to Houston. Aurora and I will be landing in the Maldives. I’ve booked a honeymoon villa overlooking the ocean, under an alias obviously.
We’re going to hide in plain sight, and where better than paradise? The time we spent on her aunt’s island was magical. I want that again. I want to be just us… while I figure out how I’m going to use the intel from that box to get us back to The States safely.
“Is there a bed on this plane?” Aurora asks as we walk up the stairs.
“No, but the chairs should be okay to sleep on,” I tell her.
“Sleeping isn’t what I had in mind.”
Well, fuck. Now I wish I’d arranged for a larger plane.I picked something small, something that will attract less attention.
“Welcome, sir. We’re ready to take off,” the pilot says right as we claim our seats.
“Thank you.” I nod and make sure Aurora is buckled in before I fasten my own belt.
“You know him?” she asks.
“Nope,” I tell her.
“You trust him not to tell anyone where we’re headed?”
“He’s not going to be able to tell anyone anything,” I whisper.
She understands the meaning of my words. I know Aurora doesn’t like the idea of killing innocent people. But I chose this pilot for a reason. Killing him isn’t a crime. It’s a community service. He has a record for child abuse.
“Trust me, he deserves it, princess,” I tell Aurora. I don’t need my wife believing I’m more of a monster than she already does.
