Chapter Fifteen
Zaine dragged himself out of bed. Emma had asked if she could use his pool, since her boyfriend was at work and she had the day off. He’d told her yes, but now, he wished he hadn’t.
He didn’t want to socialize or talk much. In the past weeks, he’d focused on working, but suddenly doing what he loved and drawing a project for the hospital based on the details Lara had given him wasn’t enough. He needed more… He needed Monique.
Ashley had proposed couples therapy and called him every day. He had been adamant about the end of their marriage. Maybe he’d fail his own son or daughter, but he couldn’t stay in a loveless marriage. He’d always done the dutiful thing, and now, although the idea of having a baby gave him hope for the future, the idea of remaining in a failing marriage did not. He’d be the best parent he could be, and if need be, he’d fight for shared custody.
The doorbell rang, and he wrapped himself in a black robe and walked down the stairs. He seriously had to give Emma a spare key sometime. He opened the door to find Ashley holding a couple of reusable bags.
She lifted them up. “Hey. Just thought I’d say hi.”
In the middle of the day? That wasn’t her style. He scratched his head, confused. Hell, when they’d been married she often arrived home later than he did. And she used a service for groceries so she didn’t waste time going to the store.
“I stopped by the farmer’s market and got some fruits and vegetables,” she said, setting the bags on the kitchen counter and removing the items she’d bought.
He thrust his fingers into his hair. Shit. No wonder Monique didn’t want to be a part of this fucking mess. How the hell did he explain to Ashley she shouldn’t be parading around his house and putting crap in his cupboards when she no longer lived there?
“I was thinking we could go for a hike later, if you don’t have any plans,” she offered. During the past weeks, she’d use any excuse to call and invite him to do things. While he had to keep in touch with her because of the baby, he’d been honest from the start about their status quo. She must have sensed his discomfort, for he shrugged and she said, “I need to use the restroom. Be right back.”
She headed to the bathroom, and a second later, her cell phone beeped. He ignored it, but it seemed it was a text message, and it beeped again. And again. Maybe if he swiped the message as read, he’d make that annoying sound stop. It was probably work related, anyway.
Zaine grabbed the phone and when he was about to click on the message, something caught his attention. The last picture looked exactly like the baby sonogram photo she’d shown him. Strange.
He tapped on the screen, zooming on the image, his body tensing up. On the bottom, instead of her name, it said Michaela Williams. The name of her assistant, who happened to be pregnant. Anger filled his chest, knotting his heart for an instant. When his heart beat again, it set a violent pace, and he growled. What the fuck? She’d told him she didn’t have any upcoming doctor’s appointments, and that the next one would be at twenty weeks.
What did he know about pregnancies? Sure, Megan had a baby, but her husband had been the one going with her to appointments, rightfully so. And now… Zaine pinched the bridge of his nose. Realization dawned on him, merciless like a freezing shower in winter. There’s no baby.
Fuck. He’d lost his twin brother, lost Monique, and now lost the baby he always wanted but never had. Somehow, all those three losses connected in his soul. Zachary would have loved Monique, the right woman, to mother his child. And a baby would have been the perfect miracle.
“Are you sure about not coming for a hike?” Ashley said, walking back into the kitchen. “I thought we could go and get a workout then grab a bite to eat.”
He lifted her cell phone with the image of the baby sonogram exposed. “You’re not pregnant,” he said.
Ashley’s smile died on her lips. Her eyebrows reached her hairline, and guilt washed over her expression, her eyes darkening. “Listen, I-I can explain.”
“Explain? You lied to me. What the hell?” You made me lose Monique.
Ashley smoothed her hand over her loose shirt. Why hadn’t he noticed it sooner? He’d imagined the reason why she’d favored larger tops had been because she’d gained weight in her belly and felt self-conscious. Now… His heart throbbed in his throat, his entire body pulsating with resentment.
“Calm down. I’ll explain.” She walked up to him, but he stepped back, sure his angry expression kept her at arm’s length. “I was pregnant when I left. That part isn’t a lie… I can prove it to you if you’d like. I lost the baby after four weeks, but I kept thinking, what if the baby had made it?”
Zaine shook his head, curling his fingers into a ball. Maybe she was telling him the truth now, but it no longer mattered. “Why this entire circus?” he said, pointing at the big reusable bags filled with fruits. “You’re not the domestic type. Why are you trying to be someone you’re not?”
She folded her arms. “Because I thought we were done, then I started to hear about you and that girl. You took her to Hawaii to meet Lara. I knew then she must mean something to you, and I changed my mind. So I thought a little white lie about the baby would get you to see I’m a better fit for you.”
“A little white lie?” he shouted. “You’re insane.” If he hadn’t found out the truth, how much longer would she have pulled this crap? At some point, she’d run out of excuses and he’d wake up and realize he’d been fooled.
Tears streamed from her eyes, and she grabbed a tissue from the counter and wiped them off. Maybe they were real, but at this point, he no longer cared if she regretted her actions or not. Ashley didn’t need his forgiveness; she needed therapy. “I was going to get pregnant again, actually. I mean it. That was my plan, so you didn’t have to find out right away. I’d tell you the truth later, after confirming the pregnancy. But you didn’t want to sleep with me,” she added.
No wonder she’d been trying to warm up to him lately. “I’ve heard enough. Get out.”
She composed herself, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. She walked up to him, her lips twisting into a mocking smile. “Don’t forget what’s at stake, Zaine. We can be a good team together again. All you need to do is forget about the help. If you shun me, I can tell Lara…and she won’t like what she’ll hear,” she said, lifting her chin. And the same woman who pouted at him on his balcony several weeks ago returned. He hadn’t completely bought her newfound sweet side, and this confirmed his suspicion. “I happen to have formed a friendship with her.”
So have I. “You really think Lara is going to break a contract with me, after I offered to work for free, because of petty shit? Please. I don’t need your manipulation. Out.” He raised his voice, confident in his decision. “Now.”
…
“Flight 8765 non-stop to Paris?” the ticketing agent asked.
“Yes.” Monique handed her the passport and the ticket.
The carefully coiffed woman nodded and typed quickly on her keyboard without taking her eyes off the screen.
Monique put the large suitcase on the scale, then clenched the handle of her carry-on bag. A shiver rolled down her spine, and she had to repeat the mantra she’d been telling herself all the way from her home. You’ll be okay. This is what you want.
She didn’t need Zaine or anyone to make her happy. She was just fine, thank you, without him—she’d had a life before him, and she sure would have one after him. She shifted her weight from foot to foot, like she had ants in her socks.
Damn it. She chewed her lower lip so hard, like she needed the pain to know this was really happening. In order to make one dream come true, she had to crush another.
Leaving felt so…final.
“Ms. Drummond?” the agent called her, giving her passport back. “It seems you’ve been upgraded to first class.”
“Huh?”
“Yes. You may take advantage of our VIP room on the third floor,” the woman continued quickly, circling the information on her boarding pass. “Here’s your flight and gate number. Please head to security and enjoy your flight.”
Monique tilted her head to the side, repeating to herself what the agent had said, making sure she had heard her correctly. Was there a misunderstanding? She hadn’t paid for an upgrade, yet she found herself following the flow of people lining up to security. Maybe the airline had empty seats and chose her, an adult traveling alone, to occupy one of them. Still…in the era of hard-earned miles and expensive upgraded seats, scoring an upgrade without any effort was too good to be true.
With my luck, they’ll kick me back to coach when they realize I didn’t pay for it.
“Next in line,” the TSA agent yelled, and she shook her head, brushing her second guesses aside.
For the next hour, she went through the motions, found her gate, and boarded the plane. Only one seat in the back was occupied, by a man or a woman, she couldn’t tell, reading a newspaper.
No wonder she’d been handed first class. No one else could afford it, right?
She looked outside the window and started to play with the buttons to her right. Her seat reclined all the way back, flattening like a freaking bed. Then, after the plane took off, the flight attendant brought her some champagne and warm appetizers.
She fumbled with the entertainment system in front of her, and memories from her flight to Hawaii with Zaine automatically inundated her mind. They’d also flown first class then, and he’d helped her use all this over-the-top crazy shit she never even knew existed. Who needed eighty-nine different movies?
Zaine…
She swallowed, her shoulders sagging into the seat.
“Monique.” She heard his voice, heard it so freaking close. Was this the last stage of their broken affair?
“Monique,” the masculine voice called her again, and she turned around to find him, the very same man of her dreams, sliding in the seat next to her.
Her jaw dropped. “Zaine?” she asked, barely getting his name out.
What’s he doing on this flight? Was he traveling to France for business? Some fancy conference or—
A golden gleam touched his gorgeous, soulful eyes. Moisture completely vanished from her throat, and her heart drummed a rhythm so fast, she hoped she wouldn’t pass out. That’d be beyond embarrassing.
“I waited until the plane took off because I didn’t want to take the chance of you trying to get off without listening to me.”
“What are you doing here?”
“I came for you,” he said, taking her hand in his. A current of anticipation shot up her wrist and at a maddening pace continued its fast-track mission through her body. Her nipples hardened like diamond tips, her body recognizing his before she even had a chance to rationalize.
“Why?” If he thought she’d be his side piece of ass while he stayed married to Ashley, he had another thing coming. Sure, Emma had told her he didn’t want to patch things up with his ex, but how could she know for sure?
“Because I love you. I learned today Ashley lied, and she isn’t pregnant. She used the idea to get back with me, though I wonder if what she really wanted was to think she’d won.”
Wow. The idea had crossed her mind once, but she’d pushed it aside. After all, at some point Ashley had to come through with the pregnancy. For how long could she pull off a fake one? “How did you know my flight number?”
He shifted in his seat, angling closer, his leg dangerously near hers.
Her internal temperature reached hell-like levels of heat. She worried her bottom lip, doing her best to keep from launching into his arms and kissing him like she wanted. They needed to work things out first.
He caressed the back of her hand with his thumb, and warmth spread through her, a squishy sensation wrapping her like a blanket. Being with him was like…coming home, even if they were thousands of feet from the ground. “Emma came over to my place immediately after I kicked Ashley out. She told me she ran into you yesterday, and that you were flying out tonight.”
“Yes, but she didn’t know my flight number.” Wasn’t that information confidential?
His lips curved into a sexy smile. “Yes, but Emma is a translator, and she often works with this airline and others. She called her contact and asked for a big favor.”
“Wow. Seems like she went to a lot of trouble,” she said, when what she really meant was he’d jumped a lot of hoops to be here.
He pulled her hand to his mouth and kissed her knuckles. “I called the airline and purchased all the seats in first class.”
A delicious tremble traveled down her spine, unsettling her stomach. “You did what?” No wonder the entire section was empty. Why would he do such a crazy thing?
He stared deep into her eyes, and she could get lost in the rich depths of his brown irises. “I wanted us to have enough room to talk. Amongst other things,” he said, and flashed her a slight wink that curled her toes.
“God, Zaine…”
He pushed away the armrest that divided both oversize seats. “I missed you, Monique. I love you.”
“I love you too,” she said.
“Come here. Show me.”
He pulled her to him, and she plastered her hands on his chest, touching his pectorals. Without delay, he captured her lips with his, and their tongues entwined in a wet, long, erotic kiss. A moan formed in her throat, but the sound never made it past her mouth. He thrust his fingers into her hair, and tingles of pure sexual awareness stung her scalp.
So good. He kept exploring her mouth, and she let him, trying her best to match his urgent passion stroke for stroke. She gave a low moan when he withdrew his lips from hers, and they both gasped for air.
He unwrapped the blanket from the clear plastic bag and placed it on top of them. Unlike the one from coach, this one was bigger and fluffier.
“I missed your skin,” he whispered in her ear, his hot breath fanning her lobe. “Missed your body under mine. On top of mine. Sideways.”
She quivered. “Me too.”
He touched her denim jeans, and she cursed herself for choosing such impractical clothes. When she’d gotten dressed, she’d prepared for comfort for a long trip in a small coach seat. She never in a million years would have guessed she’d end up having a quickie in first class—with the man she loved.
When he slipped two fingers in her underwear, her body melted, her insides flowing with her womanly juices. She clenched his hand between her thighs and gripped his jacket. A ball of pleasure hit her, making her dizzy, and she sucked in a breath to keep from shouting his name. Could it be? He thrust his fingers deep into her pussy, and she closed her eyes. Oh, no.
He’d barely touched her, and she came apart in waves of pleasure, the tension dissipating after she trembled, holding onto him, resting her forehead against his because she couldn’t handle more stimulation. Oh, yes.
She shook, and he continued slipping his digits in and out of her, until she was drained of all energy and she slumped against him, limp for a moment. And terribly happy.
He murmured in her ear, caressing her hair, then he lowered his other hand and massaged her back with easy, quick strokes.
“I can’t believe I just got off on a plane,” she said, sitting upright and looking deep into his eyes.
“You’re beautiful. I love to see you come,” he whispered.
She flushed. “Good, because you’re the one who keeps doing it to me.”
Flecks of gold twinkled in his eyes, his hand still massaging her back. “I’m going to France with you,” he said in a steady, commanding voice.
“Yes, that’s where the plane is headed, right? Or do you have any other cards up your sleeve?” What if he kidnapped her back to the United States? The idea was crazy, but she’d never been with someone who made her feel like this—invincible, like anything could happen.
“I meant…I’ll stay there and meet your family. Then, when you go to Africa, I’ll join you,” he said, stroking her cheek with the back of his hand.
She moved in her seat, restless, and withdrew from him. His hands on her turned her into jelly, and she needed to focus on their exchange. “Excuse me?” she said, desperate to be sure about what she’d just heard. Zaine, in Senegal with her?
He kept watching her, unfazed. “I’m taking a sabbatical year. I want to be with you, if you’ll have me,” he said softly, but she didn’t miss the pang of anxiety in his voice.
Wow. He’d meant it. He’d change his life for her, and she hadn’t even asked him. “Are you sure? What about the hospital?” He couldn’t abandon that project for her; she wouldn’t let him.
“I talked to Lara on my way to the airport. Because of my generous offer to work pro bono, she’ll work with me. I’ll travel when needed, and share ideas over the internet. Building won’t start today or tomorrow anyway.”
“But…”
“Zachary would be happier if I followed my heart and helped you make a difference in the world than if I only tried to get his name on a plaque,” he said nonchalantly.
Damn it, the man had a valid point. “Another of Emma’s rationalizations?”
“She’s a pain in the ass, but a smart one. Plus, my house has a pool that she loves and she offered to housesit.”
The flight attendant appeared in front of them, and if she paid any attention to them exchanging loving glances, she didn’t show it. She brought the wine list and assured them dinner would be served shortly. When she disappeared behind the curtain leading to the other sections of the plane, Zaine touched Monique’s hair with a look of pure fascination.
“I can’t believe this,” she said, as a virtual balloon of happiness burst inside her.
“You better believe it. I’m all in, baby. All in with you.”
“Me too, Zaine. Thanks for everything.”
“I say we celebrate in a more personal way,” he said, cocking his head in the direction of the restrooms. “You go first?”
She nodded and stood, walking a bit shakily after all the happy news she’d received. He hadn’t expected her to give up her dream for him, but he’d given up so much to be with her…willingly, and she loved him for it.
She headed to the vacant bathroom and closed the door behind her without locking it. Within a few seconds, he opened it and entered. God. His large frame occupied a good percentage of the tiny area, and she wasted no time, wrapping her hands around his head and bringing him close. She’d missed him…a lot.
He lowered his head, and she kissed him, ravenous for more. He slid his hands down her back, their bodies molded together. She could feel his dick throbbing between her legs, wanting out of his pants and in her.
Encouraged, she undid his buckle, then zipped down his pants and pulled them down with his boxers. She kneeled before him, and because of the confined space, his cock easily entered her mouth. She looked up to find him gazing at her, fire shining in his eyes.
“You’re so perfect,” he said, emotion lacing his voice.
She wasn’t, but he made her feel ridiculously perfect. Perfect the way she was…perfect enough for him. She squeezed his balls, and he thrust his fingers into her hair, showing her exactly how he wanted her to suck him.
She followed his rhythm, each time quicker, shoving his delicious, large rod inside her mouth. How good it felt, to be this wanted. This needed.
“Monique…” he whispered. “I love to come in your mouth, but now I need to fuck your pussy, baby. Really bad.”
He brought her to her feet and placed her on top of the sink. Swiftly, he removed her jeans and underwear. When she wrapped her legs around his abdomen, he groaned. She hoped the airplane crew didn’t hear them, but a part of her didn’t care. Finally, there was nothing to be ashamed of, and they could live their love out in the open.
He kissed her, merging their lips together. She bucked toward him, anxious to give him everything. He positioned his cock at her entrance, and just the head rubbing against her folds pushed desire through her.
“More,” she said.
He grabbed her wrists and, with one hand, held them above her head against the mirror. When he began to fuck her, her restrained wrists added more intensity, and she clamped her lips shut to keep from shouting.
A sheen of sweat slicked his forehead, and she knew his control had been hanging on by a thread when he’d touched her and she’d immediately climaxed, back when they were in the cabin.
He withdrew halfway only to pound into her harder, and she gasped for air, her breasts rising and falling with each breath. He kept his eyes on her as he rammed deeper, and she arched toward him, ready to give herself to a lifetime of pleasure with him.
“Mon Dieu. You’re killing me,” she said, when she tried to move her hands but he grasped them tighter, and then began to nip her jaw.
“Good. Then I’ll revive you and we’ll do it all over again.”
“Is love always like this? This crazy…thing?” She’d experienced loving her family, loving causes, but never a man.
“No. I think this is a Zaine and Monique thing,” he said, before letting go of her hands so she could touch his hair.
She wrapped her hands around his head, bringing him closer to her, then kissed him with passion, urgency, and lust. Three ingredients that made her blood run hot and thick. What if there was a way to freeze time and imprint this moment in her memory? As he gazed at her lovingly, his lashes covering his eyes, she sighed. She didn’t need to be afraid to lose him or the sensations he provoked in her anymore. She—they—had forever on their side.