Chapter Sixteen

 

“You’re quiet,” Dustin said as the plane took to the air.

“Just thinking.” For once I wasn’t thinking about the wings falling off or the wheels getting stuck in the undercarriage. I was thinking about Dustin, and how I would be able to face him every working day at the rink and not let one shred of my feelings for him show. I was supposed to be his boss, not one of his groupies.

“About what?” he asked.

“Er…Dad.”

“He looked well.”

“I agree.” I turned to him. “Do you think they guessed what we’d been doing?”

Dustin pulled his lips downward. “I hope not. I wouldn’t like to get on the wrong side of him, and I reckon sweet-talking his daughter naked and making love to her on his Bali bed would get me some kind of dressing down.” He reached for my hand and drew my knuckles to his lips. “Was good, though, wasn’t it?”

“Yes.” I looked into his dark eyes, held them for as long as I could and then glanced away.

“When we get back,” he said, “that’s it.” He paused and when he spoke again his voice was a fraction higher, the last word inflected upward. “Isn’t it?”

“That’s what we agreed?” I tried to make my answer sound like a question.

He swallowed. We were silent for a moment, then, “Do they ever come out of there?” he asked, nodding at the cockpit door.

“No, not when we’re in the air. They sometimes speak over the intercom but I’ve never known them to leave the controls.” I paused. “Why?”

“Because I want to do this.” He reached for my safety belt, clicked it open and then tugged me onto his lap.

“Dustin?” His arms wrapped around me and I landed on his knees.

His thighs were hard, his chest too, and I pressed my hands onto his wide shoulders. “I shouldn’t have my belt off.”

“I’ve told you before, rules are meant to be broken.” He slid his hand into my hair and pulled my face to his, grinned sinfully and then kissed me.

“Mmm…” I murmured, holding him tight. I needed to memorize his flavor. Seal this snippet of time into my memory so that late at night I could bring it out and recall how his lips moved, how his body was so in synchrony with mine, how he tasted and smelled.

He was a little breathless when I pulled back.

“You okay?” I asked.

He shifted on the seat, tipping me slightly and then squeezing me closer.

“Yeah, just…” He gave a lopsided grin. “I really shouldn’t have kissed you, I’m paying for it now.”

“What do you mean?”

He pulled a pained expression.

“Oh…” I said. “I get you.”

“All very well for girls,” he said, twirling a strand of my hair between his fingers. “Tight jeans don’t give you a space issue.”

“Would you like me to help you out with that particular…issue?” I asked, licking my lips.

He glanced at the cockpit door again. “Fuck, really?”

“Well, no, not that, but I can offer this.” I untangled myself from him and slid between his legs so I was kneeling on the hard floor. As I lowered, daringly folding my body before him in the small space, I felt all sense of perspective leaving me. There was only this, us.

He swallowed and I watched his Adam’s apple bob beneath his darkly stubbled neck. “Sweet cheeks, I don’t know if…”

I grinned. “Come on, don’t be a sissy.”

He raised his eyebrows. “Sissy? You really just called me a fucking sissy?”

I reached for his fly, a sensation not unlike when I’d been bungee jumping coming over me. “Yeah, come on, show me what you’re made of.” I popped open the buttons and explored within the warmth of his soft cotton jersey underwear.

His shocked expression dropped and instead he chuckled, lifted his butt and shoved at his jeans. “Okay, you asked for it.”

The sight of his velvety erection had the last shreds of sense racing from me. All I could think of was becoming closer acquainted with it, with him. The sounds of the plane faded and thoughts of the pilots discovering us faded into the background of my lust-addled thoughts.

What the hell, you only live once.

Dustin slid his hands firmly into my hair and directed my face into his groin. The gesture was so confidently intimate yet also wildly dominant that a heat of desire rose within me. I opened up, took him in, felt him push my scalp, forcing me to take him deeper as my lips molded to the circlet of his shaft.

“Ah fuck, that’s wickedly good,” he groaned, his heavily expired breath breezing over my head and neck. “Jesus, sweet cheeks, you really fucking know how to work your mouth on a guy.”

Only on you, I thought, I’d never felt so enthusiastic or turned-on giving oral before, it wasn’t really my thing. But with Dustin it was different, every gasp, groan and whimper of pleasure he released went straight to my clit, satisfying a need in me too. I wanted, no needed, to hear him give it up to me, take what he wanted and satisfy that very base masculine need to release his seed. It was primitive, instinctual, I longed for more.

“Ah, yeah, just like that, fuck…so good.”

His words increased my enthusiasm and I picked up the pace, used my hands on him as well as my mouth. His thighs tightened around my shoulders, a tremor ripping through his body and vibrating into mine.

Saliva dribbled from my mouth, smearing my chin. It was mixed with the hot taste of pre-cum now. Dustin was bone hard. Dipping the end of my tongue into his slit produced yet another moan from him, one that went right through me, settled in my chest and in my heart. I had to make this count, be an experience neither he nor I would ever forget.

My pussy was swollen and hot, my clit bumping against the seam of my capris with each bobbing movement. I wasn’t sure but I wondered if I might come from that alone. Fabric on flesh. I was a little dizzy, slurping and breathless, getting wet, wet and wetter.

Dustin increased the hold on my head, fucking my mouth as much as I was taking him in deep.

“Ah, ah, yeah…” he groaned, “Get ready, sweet cheeks, I’m gonna fucking erupt in your mouth. So fucking deep in your mouth.”

I increased the suction and pulled him deeper still, ignoring my need to breathe and the potential to gag. In the fog of my desire none of that mattered. It wasn’t appropriate, what we were doing, but I was past caring.

A wash of salty fluid filled my throat. I impaled myself as far on to the root of him as I could possibly manage, swallowed and worked him frantically with my hand, knowing I was slurping, gasping, my noises worryingly loud.

Who cared? This was our plane. Lust had dropped my standards of etiquette but I really didn’t give a shit.

He tensed, flinched, shoved me onto him then almost off him. The taut drag of my lips on his shaft was clearly exhilarating in his moment of climax. I cupped his balls and pulled harder and faster with my mouth.

He seemed completely lost in the moment, jerking his hips up, pressing them down, owning me. Any precariousness of our situation seemed to have taken flight in his mind, too.

I sucked in oxygen, gulped again, enjoying the moment of drinking him into the very heart of my throat.

The very heart of me.

My potential orgasm receded as Dustin stilled and breathed through his release. I slowed right down and swirled my tongue around the ridges of his cock.

“Ah, yeah, yeah, yeah…” he said, the words tripping over themselves, as though there was nothing else in his brain that he could think of to say.

I shifted my head, fighting against his hold, and instantly he released me, allowing me to lift off his cock.

Breathlessly, I looked up at him, swept my tongue around my lips and failed to suppress a grin as he watched me with blown pupils and a damp red face.

“I don’t think I’ll ever get over…” He gasped.

“What?” I wiped the back of my hand over my mouth and pulled myself up so my face was level with his. “Get over what?”

“Getting blown by the boss,” he said, a cocky smirk winding its way over his face and balling his cheeks. “Top fantasy come true.”

I could have been mad at the reminder of reality, could have scowled because of my sadness that we were nearly over, but I couldn’t. Sucking Dustin into my mouth, feeling his pleasure, knowing I was the catalyst of that pleasure, was too precious an experience to tarnish with negative emotions.

No, I didn’t regret any of my sexy times with my hotshot goaltender. It had all been perfect.

But like everything, all good things came to an end. And this was our ending.

 

*****

 

For once I didn’t panic when the plane’s wheels clunked from the fuselage. My stomach lurching on descent didn’t make nausea swell within me. I was too preoccupied with the swirl of emotions stealing my thoughts. The last few moments of sitting next to the man who’d stolen my heart in such a short space of time was not something I wanted to be distracted from.

He was dozing in the seat next to me. After tucking himself away, he’d rested his head back, closed his eyes and within minutes the soft sound of his breaths told me he was sleeping. This was a habit of his immediately after sex, I’d noticed.

But I wasn’t complaining. I stared at him, indulging in being able to do so for as long as I wanted without him knowing. He still hadn’t shaved and the bristles on his chin, jawline and coating his throat were thick. It gave him a wild caveman look and I remembered the time he’d thrown me over his shoulder and then ravished me on the outdoor bed.

Crossing and uncrossing my legs, staving off a tug of longing in my belly, I studied his closed eyes. His long lashes were almost girly, though I would never dare tell him that. I reckoned I’d seriously pushed my luck calling him a sissy. His heavy eyebrows were far from feminine, though. They were thick and heavy and he had a slight crease between them, as though he might frown at any moment. I wondered what he was dreaming of to make him feel that way.

The plane tipped to the right heading for the small private airport we used just outside Orlando. Dustin shifted slightly and I continued to drink him in with my gaze. His t-shirt was taut over his chest. I could make out the square shape of his pecs and the hard dots of his nipples. My mouth watered and I wished I could taste his skin one more time, have his smooth, hard flesh against my tongue for just another moment. Our stay at the villa had initially stretched in front of me like a torturous nightmare, but as it turned out, I’d have happily stayed many more nights if it meant I could still be with Dustin.

Suddenly the plane touched down with a jolt. I gripped the armrest and gasped.

“You okay?” Dustin asked, placing his hand over mine.

“Yes, fine. I didn’t think we were so close to landing, that’s all.”

He yawned, lifting his hand off mine to cover his mouth. “Sorry, I must have dozed off.”

“Yeah, you did.”

The plane thrust to a slower pace and then taxied to a halt. As the engines faded and stopped completely, silence enveloped us.

“Home again,” Dustin said, unclipping his belt.

“Yep, back to real life.”

He looked at me, his gaze intense, the frown between his eyebrows no longer a suggestion but a deep groove. He opened his mouth and I held my breath, wondering what he might say. Did he want more? Was there any part of him that thought maybe we could continue whatever this was between us back in the real world?

The cockpit door opened.

“Welcome back to Orlando, Miss Gunner, Mr. Reed,” the copilot said, grinning and rubbing his hands together the way he always did after a flight. It was as though he was pleased with a job well done. He’d got us here in one piece. “I’ll get this door open and you can be on your way.”

I tore my gaze from Dustin, unclipped and stood. I grabbed my bag and pressed my lips together. I wanted to tell Dustin that I was prepared to keep seeing him, that I wanted him in my life not just on my team. But the vibes he’d given me made me pretty sure it would have to be a secret relationship. Seeing the boss was clearly a problem for him and I didn’t want to be an affair. Clandestine meetings weren’t for me, and neither was being a woman a man wasn’t prepared to jump up and shout to the world that he was seeing.

No. I wouldn’t be a dirty little secret. That wasn’t how I operated. I was Gina Gunner, daughter of Fergal Gunner. No one kept me hidden away, not even the great Dustin “Speed” Reed.

I headed out into the sunshine and as always the humidity caught in my lungs after the beautiful sea breeze of the island. But I didn’t let that stop my race to the small terminal. I could see Clifford waiting for me, leaning against the sleek black car reading a newspaper, his peaked cap shading his face.

Dustin’s big footsteps banged behind me.

I sped up.

“Sweet cheeks,” he called. “Hold on.” Suddenly at my side, he touched my shoulder.

“You’ll really have to stop calling me that,” I said, not slowing down. I needed to get out of there before my willpower disintegrated and I offered myself to him on any terms.

“Er, yeah, I will, sorry, Miss Gunner.”

That stopped me. I turned, looked up at him. “I don’t know if you need to go that far, everyone really will be suspicious that we had something going on if you get all formal on me. Perhaps just Gina will do, since that is my name.”

“I liked what we had going on, Gina.” He swallowed and I stared at the movement in his throat, at the way the neckline on his t-shirt appeared stretched to the max.

“Me, too. It was fun.”

“Fun, yeah, I guess that’s one word for it.” He gave a twisted smile and narrowed his eyes farther against the glare of the sun.

“But now it’s back to work. I’ll get your contract organized first thing tomorrow, though of course you’re entitled to a cooling-off period, especially since you’ve made such a drastic change to your salary. I’m guessing your agent will have something to say about it too. He’s not going to be happy.”

Dustin shrugged. “I pay his wages. He’ll do what I tell him.”

I nodded, but stopped when I felt his hands on my cheeks, holding me firm, his fingers just touching my ears. I looked up at him, my heart skittering, wanting to hurl myself against his body and beg him to come back to Dad’s enormous house where I was about to go and rattle around on my own.

I wanted to ask him to make love to me again, in that special way he had of making me feel as though nothing and no one else existed. But I couldn’t. I’d promised myself that we’d make love only once. Any more than that and I would have absolutely no hope of repairing the rips in my heart. Once, well perhaps with a solo tear I could shove a Band-Aid on and hope for the best. Immerse myself in work and hope that a busy mind would dull the pain.

He dropped his head lower, pressed his forehead against mine and shut his eyes. I could feel his warm breath spreading over my face, down my neck and onto my chest. I let my arms hang at my sides, resisting the urge to wrap them around his thick body and pull him close.

“I guess I’ll see you at the arena then,” he said, opening his eyes and taking a deep breath.

“Yes,” I whispered, “I guess.”

As suddenly as he’d touched me he released me and then strode away, heading for the gateway to the lot. His huge SUV sat there waiting for him, shimmering in the heat. He drew closer to it and farther from me. The haze on the tarmac shivered around his feet and legs, making him almost like a mirage, a vision. Had our time together been a dream? It certainly felt that way, except for one thing—I could still taste him.