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Keely nodded.“Are we one hundred percent certain of this?”
“I’m in a relationship with a rich, powerful guy who wears his secrets like a second skin, Keel.Nothing is ever one hundred percent guaranteed.Do I think he’ll take a butter knife to my throat while I sleep?I’m certain he won’t.Am I terrified that I still don’t know him nearly as well as I want to and that I’m falling harder for him regardless?Fuck.Yes.”Her breath shuddered out.
Her best friend studied her for several minutes, then leaned forward and covered her hand with hers.“I hear you.But Aunt Keely wants to know, what now?”
Bethany clutched her glass tighter and tried to smile through the anxiety storming through her body.“Now, I stay the distance and see where this takes me.”
25
The Indigo Lounge plane took off mid-afternoon on Monday.Bethany’s first time on the trip, she’d been so overwhelmed by Zach that she hadn’t really found time to experience the unique concept he’d created.
Of course, he was no less overwhelming now, and she would probably never get used to the force of his magnetism, but at least she was learning to absorb the mind-altering shock that he was hers, without it affecting her thought processes too much.
The seatbelt sign winked out at thirty-thousand feet, and she stood up from where they’d been watching the clouds from Zach’s suite.
“You wanna buy me a drink at the bar, big guy?”
He remained seated and eyed her attire, a frown starting to form.“You sure you want to go out like that?”
She looked down at her leather dress, the same one she’d worn when she’d accepted his indecent proposal three weeks ago in this same suite.“There’s nothing wrong with my dress, Zach.The only change is that I don’t have any pantyhose on.”
His frown deepened.“But you’re wearing panties, right?”he bit out.
She sighed and linked her fingers through his, choosing not to remind him that there’d been a time when he’d forbidden her from wearing any.“Yes.As ordered to.”She pulled him up.Or tried to.He looked intensely irritated.
“God, what now?”
“I’m wishing I hadn’t burned that chastity belt.”
She laughed.“Sorry.Can’t help you there.”
His mouth twitched, and he finally rose.Tightening his fingers around hers, he brought them to his lips.“I’ll just have to be your human chastity belt, then.”
The image his words evoked made her cheeks burn.He quirked a brow at her.
“I see that turns you on, Peaches.I can give you a demonstration right now if you want?”
“You know that the more you try and keep me here, the more I want to go out, right?”
His jaw tightened.“Unfortunately, I do.Come on.”
They left his suite on the third deck of the plane via the private lift.Zach bypassed the second floor in favor of the first, and she tried not to let her smirk show.They had seven hours on board before they landed in Rome.She was dying to see how he intended to keep her from the second floor.
The lift opened onto the main lounge.The venture capitalist CEO she’d met at the pre-flight drinks, Mike Henson, was at the bar with his Russian girlfriend.Zach steered her to the bar and pulled out a seat for her.His narrowed gaze fell to her bare thighs as she perched on the stool, and his mouth pursed.
“Behave,” she whispered.
He gave a low growl, turned to the bartender and ordered a caipirinha for her and a beer for himself.
Mike straightened from where he’d been leaning against the bar and came toward them.
“Hey, Savage, I was just saying to Olga that I think this plane is your best one so far,” he said.
The bartender placed their drinks in front of them and Zach handed over hers.“Glad it’s living up to your standards,” he replied.
“Shit, it’s a dream!If you ever want a partner in any future venture, you know where to find me.”
“Thanks, I’ll bear it in mind.”