Page 23

Another jolt. The sound of glass shattering snapped Olivia back to reality.

“No!” She broke the kiss and pushed away from him. He blinked as if the kiss had stolen his intellect as well. Did it? And why should it matter?

He released her without protest. Her pulse still racing, she stumbled away and sank into the seat farthest away. If only she wasn’t trapped. She’d like to run to the other side of the earth.

In another few seconds, she’d buckled the seatbelt when the plane rocked with turbulence again.

What had she been thinking? Kissing a vampire? Well, nothing wrong with vampires, but Marek, her kidnapper? She might as well jump out of the plane!

Olivia shut her eyes as the plane rocked again and spent the rest of the flight shoring up her defenses. How long would her partnership with Marek last? She wasn’t sure her sanity could survive for more than another day. Her body cried out for his touch, for him to assuage the ache between her legs. The vindictive part of her hoped he was in just as much discomfort.

She prayed for Marek’s staff to work faster and prove her innocence. The sooner, the better, because she needed to be rid of him ASAP.

Chapter Six

Neitherofthemsaida word after the kiss. Olivia decided she’d pretend it didn’t happen. By the time they landed, she was practically bouncing in her seat with impatience. As soon as the door opened, she rushed down the ramp. Their jet must have landed in a restricted area of a larger airport. Overhead, a giant passenger plane had just taken off, its sleek body slanted as it gained altitude. The sound of engines drowned out everything else.

Olivia drew in a deep breath, inundated with the scent of heat coming off the concrete mixed with plane exhaust. It was better than being trapped in an enclosed space with Marek.

She sensed more than heard Marek coming up behind her. When she turned around, he had pulled off his shirt, and her brain blanked at all that gorgeous, naked skin.

“What’re you doing?” Her voice came out high-pitched.

His lips curved into an amused smile. Midnight, leathery wings stretched out behind him, the total wingspan about three times his shoulders. Her mouth went dry at the sight; her fingers itched to touch them. She knew vampires could fly, had seen them soaring over Las Vegas, the Vampire’s City, on screen, but this was the first time she’d seen it in person.

“Come.” He crooked a finger. “We’re flying to the hospital.”

Olivia stood rooted to the spot. Flying. He would have to carry her. Their skin would touch again. Happiness flared, which she quashed mercilessly.

“Ugh, we can’t drive?” she asked, hating how he reduced her high-functioning brain to mush.

“Would you prefer to sit in LA traffic for an hour?” he asked, raising a brow. “I thought you were in a rush.”

She finally forced her feet to move. “You won’t drop me?”

“How many times do I have to tell you?” He rolled his eyes. “If I really wanted to kill you, I would’ve done it already.”

With an arm behind her back, he slid his other arm under her knees and lifted her in one smooth movement. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach at the ease with which he did it. At five-ten, she wasn’t a small woman. None of her exes had been the strong type who could carry her. Not that it mattered. She valued much more than physical strength in her partners. Yet, she had to admit there was something to be said for a man who carried her like she weighed no more than a feather.

The pleasant feeling vanished instantly as Marek’s wings propelled them upwards. She threw her arms around his neck as she suppressed a shriek. Her heart tried to leap out of her chest, and she buried her face against his collarbone. He smelled so good, cedar with an underlying hint of citrus. Honestly, he should star in a cologne commercial.

As they rose higher into the sky, his heat seeped into her, chasing away the chill. Olivia peeked an eye open. It was either that or inhale deeper of Marek’s scent, as if she needed more awareness of him.

Millions of lights glittered on the rolling hills of LA. It was enough to convince her to open both her eyes. LA spread out below her like a slumbering beast, the lights stretching out to the ocean on one side and disappearing into the mountain’s fog on the other. In the distance, the Ferris wheel at the Santa Monica pier glittered. This was her first time in LA, even though Arizona wasn’t far. When Betsy had moved here, she’d promised to visit. That had been a year ago.

The thought of her sister grounded her further. She looked up at Marek and flushed when their gazes met.

“It must be nice to be able to see everything from above.”

“It has its perks,” he said. “Is this your first time flying?”

“If you mean in the hands of a vampire who might drop me for his amusement, then yes.”

“I told you; I won’t drop you. It’d be a waste,” he whispered against her ear, his warm breath tickling her skin. She felt the shock down to her toes.

Look at the view, the view,she shouted at herself.Don’t think about caressing his naked chest.

“Stop that.” She slapped his chest instead.