“Are you nervous?” I asked Nate as we sat beside each other before take-off. We were sitting in business class, which was just as well because there was no way men the size of the Cartwright brothers could fit in economy seating. As it was, Nate’s knees jutted out into the aisle, and he looked almost too big for his seat. On the other hand, I was comfortable in my window seat with my extra legroom and soft blanket.

“Not really. I’ve already done the hard part.”

“Oh yeah? What part was that?”

“Getting you here.”

A blush crept into my cheeks. This man had really been turning on the charm since his naked proposal in the early hours of the morning. Maybe this whole marriage thing wasn’t going to be so awful after all. I mean, people got drunk and married strangers in Vegas all the time. Sure, most were annulled fairly quickly, but the rest of them figured their shit out and made it work. Nate and I could do that. There would be a lot to work out, but we had that spark that people would sell a kidney for the chance to experience. So we were ahead of the curve in that respect, I supposed—or at least that’s what I was telling myself to keep from throwing up. I was nervous as fuck.

“How about you?” he asked after watching me fidget. We’d begun to taxi along the runway and I’d checked my seatbelt about five times, read the emergency card and fiddled with the air vent, all the while bouncing my knee.

“Nope. I’m just fine.” I nodded, trying to convince myself more than anything. I wished I had Alesha’s blissful outlook. She seemed so at peace sitting next to Sam and talking quietly—giggling, even. And Alesha didn’t giggle. I needed some of whatever she was on.

Adjusting in his seat slightly, Nate sat back and chuckled. “You’re shitting your pants.”

“No. I’m possibly a bit nervous about flying, but that’s only because I’ve never flown any farther than Sydney.” That flight was only an hour and a half, and I’d done it when I was twelve and Aunt Maya had to attend a conference. We’d gone to see the ballet at the Opera House and ridden the ferry to the zoo. I’d thrown up over the side and she’d laughed it off, telling me the fish would be grateful for the extra treat. I’d cried harder because we’d been eating fish and chips. I didn’t want the fish to be cannibals.

I wished she was here now. She’d help me reason this out—or she’d convince me it was crazy.

“I know a way to take your mind off things.” Nate smirked, a lascivious glint in his eyes as he reached over to take my hand, bringing my fingers to his lips. He nibbled lightly on them one by one, my breath quickening.

“Oh yeah? Does it have the words ‘mile’ and ‘high’ in the title?”

“No. I’d thank you to get your mind out of the gutter, duchess. This is a reputable airline.” With a cheeky grin, he leaned a little closer and wrapped our fingers together so our fists were joined side by side.

“You kind of baited me with the way you said it,” I argued, watching as he positioned my thumb so it was lying next to his.

“I know.” He smiled and met my eyes. “I like it when you’re thinking dirty things. Makes your cheeks pink.”

“They do not go pink,” I retorted, knowing full well they did, if the burn on my face was anything to go by.

Seeming happy with our hand placement, he said, “OK, do you know how to thumb war?”

“Uh, can’t say I do.”

“So you start with your thumb up like this.” He lifted his thumb straight into the air. “Then you move it side to side.” He tapped it on my hand and then his, adding, “One, two, three, four, I declare a thumb war. Then you try to capture the other person’s thumb and hold it for the count of three to win.”

“You have enormous hands. I feel like you have the advantage.”

“You wanna play or not?”

“I’ll play.”

We tapped our thumbs four times, saying the little rhyme before wrestling with our hands to be the one to catch the other’s thumb. He won almost every time, but there were a couple of times that I beat him—although I was fairly sure he let me. Still, with all the laughter and focus on competition, I didn’t even realise we were in the air until it was announced that we could take our seatbelts off.

“Huh,” I said, looking around the cabin as the flight attendants started moving around and offering refreshments. “That’s a pretty neat trick.”

“You know what else is a neat trick?”

I grinned. “What’s that?”

“Fucking in an airplane cubicle.”

“I take it you’d like to give it a try?”

“Hell yeah,” he nodded.

With a smile, I stood up and slowly climbed over him, pausing a moment so I could lean close to his ear. “You know what else would be a neat trick?” He shook his head and waited for my answer. “Fitting that whopper cock of yours in my mouth and swallowing it down to the base.”

I felt the cock in question stand to attention immediately. “Can you do that?”

“I have no idea, but it’ll be fun trying to find out.”

So it turns out I can’t deep throat. I read about these women being able to control their breathing and take a man down their throat to give him the best blow job there is, but my gag reflex was just too strong; I couldn’t even get the damn thing deeper than a couple of inches without dry retching. Not my sexiest moment.

Nate had found the whole experience absolutely hilarious and was crying with laughter after the fifth attempt, pulling me to my feet and kissing me as best he could through his mirth. “I love that you tried, duchess. That was fucking brilliant.”

I felt like a total disappointment, but when he sent me soaring way higher than a simple mile, I wasn’t thinking about anything inadequate.

“I’ve got to tell you, duchess, this pussy is my favourite place to put my cock,” he rasped, driving into me against the wall as I moaned uncontrollably. With the amount of time he liked to spend in there, I was inclined to believe him.

I know what you’ve been doing, Alesha teased, sending a message via the plane’s entertainment hub once we’d returned to our seats.

Wouldn’t have a clue what you’re talking about, I returned.

Her: Mile high, mile high! That glow on your face tells me you’re a card-carrying member. Plus, we could kind of hear the banging. Well done. 😂

Me: Bullshit! We were NOT that loud.

Her: Haha! Made you admit it!

Me: Cheeky.

Her: And you were totally that loud. 😮

Me: OK. So why don’t you and spunky Sam go in there and show me how it’s done?

Her: Oh no. We’re waiting til the wedding night.

I sat back in my seat, surprised that she was adhering to any kind of tradition.

Her: I’m nervous. What if he thinks I’m no good?

Me: He’s a red-blooded male and you’re a gorgeous woman. He’ll think you’re amazing no matter what you do.

Her: I’m worried he’ll think I’m too inexperienced.

Me: Don’t be worried. You’re perfect and he’s lucky to have you.

Her: Thanks. 💕

Me: 😘 Are you sure you want to go through with this? We could fake our deaths and disappear…

Her: I’m sure. It was love at first sight. Sounds corny, but he believes it too. I’m ok. You’ll be ok too. Nate adores you.

I smiled to myself and tapped out a final message.

Me: We’ll see. But I’m happy if you’re happy.

Her: I’m ecstatic, honest. 😁

Why didn’t her saying that make me feel better? I’d accepted that this wedding was happening, but was I happy about it? No. I liked Nate, loved fucking him, but I wasn’t ready to marry him despite all the things he made me feel.

Glancing over at him, I watched the rise and fall of his chest as he slept peacefully, resting after our cubicle gymnastics. I couldn’t help but smile as I studied his sleeping features. He really was beautiful, and Alesha was right, he did seem to adore me. Why, I didn’t quite understand, but there we were, flying to a tropical destination to elope.

Under any other circumstance, I’d feel like the luckiest girl alive.

The tiny hairs on the back of my neck stood on end, causing me to lift my gaze to seek out the source. It wasn’t difficult. On the other side of the plane, a set of pale eyes watched me. I locked glares with Jasmine. She resented this entire trip, I could tell that much. I’d know it even if she hadn’t told me that she’d rather kill me than have me marry her son. Her baneful scrutiny really did put a dampener on any sort of loved-up feelings I was starting to have towards Nate. Her mere presence was a threat. And when she smiled and nodded at me, I felt like I was being cajoled by a wolf, her grin nothing more than a curving of lips with no real feeling behind it. Did she hate me, or did she hate the situation?

Moving my gaze to where Kristian and Abbot sat watching in-flight movies, I wondered if their presence was a threat too. Were they there as witnesses or bodyguards? I had no doubt that despite their goofy demeanours, they were more than capable of menace. I’d even seen a glimpse of that in Nate when his hand had closed around my throat at the mention of cops.

I turned my attention back to the in-flight screen and typed out another message to Alesha.

Me: These people scare me.

Her: Focus on Nate.

Me: I can’t pretend he isn’t one of them.

Her: Just do what you’re told and everything will be fine. I promise.

Do what I’m told. She made it sound so easy. I let out a sigh and leaned back, closing my eyes to try and sleep away some of the ten-hour flight, but a new message ping made me open them again.

Her: Don’t message me anymore. He’s waking up, and I don’t want to rock the boat.

Me: See you at our wedding, then.

Her: 🙂

She made a good point. I held my finger against the screen and deleted our entire conversation.

“What are you up to?” Nate asked, his hand resting on my thigh as he adjusted his chair to sitting.

“Just playing around with the entertainment system. There are games on here as well as movies,” I fibbed, tapping the games icon to show him classic options like Tetris, chess and solitaire.

He looked on with little interest. “Maybe you should try and catch some Zs, duchess. There’s not going to be much time to rest before the ceremony, and afterwards… well, it’s our wedding night, so there won’t be a lot of resting going on then either.” He dropped his eyes to my breasts, just in case I didn’t catch his meaning.

“I have no illusions of sleep in the foreseeable future, or at least until that appetite of yours is sated some.”

He leaned back again and closed his eyes. “Never. I think about you and I’m hard. In fact, that bathroom seems unoccupied right now.” He looked at me hopefully and I laughed, shaking my head.

“How about you save just a little for the wedding night, big boy? I want you at your satisfying best.”

“Me too, so sleep, duchess. Your husband-to-be commands it.”

Commands it.

Just do what you’re told and everything will be fine.

Without an extra word, I reclined my chair and closed my eyes, doing exactly as I was told. Not that sleep was willing to come. I lay there in closed-eyed worry instead as questions swirled about in my mind. What is my life about to be like? Will they allow me to go back to work? Will they make me their accomplice instead? Will they let me visit my aunt?

With every question that popped into my mind, another ten seemed to follow until I couldn’t even close my eyes anymore. I stared at the ceiling of the plane, willing the emergency oxygen system to activate and drop down in front of me.

I needed air.

I couldn’t breathe.