“WHERE ARE WE going?”
A smile curled the corner of my lips, and taking my eyes off the road for two seconds, I glanced over at Elle who was strapped into the passenger seat beside me. “Do you trust me?”
“Yeah. Of course, I do.”
Reaching over, I cupped her jaw and stroked my thumb down her cheek. “Then that’s all that matters.”
She narrowed her brows in an attempt to scowl, but I flashed her another grin, and any signs of annoyance on her pretty face quickly vanished. Not that she was actually annoyed anyway. I knew Elle well enough to know when something was truly grating on her nerves, and this wasn’t one of those times.
With our fingers threaded together and resting on her thigh, her thumb drawing idle circles against mine, we drove mostly in silence. The air blew across our faces, whipping Elle’s hair wildly in the wind, and despite the heaviness that continued to weigh on our hearts, the mood felt exceptionally light. She was here. She was with me and that was the only thing that mattered.
Stealing another glance at her, I allowed my gaze to linger for a few moments. She was smiling that breathtaking smile of hers I loved, and I couldn’t get over how much in awe I was with her. She was strong and resilient. She was beautifully destructive—a chaotic storm who set my entire world on fire—and there was nothing more I wanted than to be devoured by her flames.
Sensing my eyes on her, she gingerly turned her head in my direction and frowned. “Why are you staring at me? I don’t have, like, pancake syrup on my face or anything, do I?”
My chest shook with laughter as I watched her flip the visor down, inspecting herself in the mirror. “No, Elle. Your face is fine. In fact, it’s actually quite beautiful, which is why I was staring.”
A pink blush bloomed on her cheeks, and as her eyes returned to mine, she cast me a sexy smirk. “You know…if you’re trying to score, Mr. Caldwell, all you have to do is ask.”
Jesus. There was something in the way she’d say Mr. Caldwell that turned me on to the point of distraction.
As she batted those long lashes at me in a suggestive manner, my blood pumped faster, and I unthreaded my fingers from hers, gently skimming them along the sensitive skin of her inner thigh and beneath the hem of her shorts.
“Nuh-uh.” She clucked her tongue teasingly but made no attempt to remove my hand. In fact, she shifted in her seat, allowing me better access. “Both hands on the wheel while you’re driving, mister.”
Funny. She hadn't been so adamant with the two-hand rule while our fingers were entwined.
“I don’t need two hands, sweetheart. I can assure you, I’m perfectly capable of maneuvering with one.” I tossed her a self-assured grin and a wink, my fingers sliding higher until they reached her warmth. A sharp gasp left her chest as I dragged my thumb over her center—the dampness between her thighs making me painfully hard—and her head lolled back against the seat. I was ready to say screw our plans and pull over, but we were pressed for time, and if I was lucky, we’d both be finding sexual relief soon enough. Slowly retracting my hand from between her legs, I patted her thigh and watched her lips downturn into a pout.
I gave my head a small shake. “You’re so fucking irresistible, you know that?”
Crossing her arms over her chest in mock irritation, she turned her head away from me. “You’re such a tease.”
I shrugged. “Payback. Now you know how I felt watching you strut that glorious ass of yours every day at the office. Talk about torture. Complete fucking torture.”
Watching as she attempted to hide a smile, I turned right down the road that led to the private airfield. “Besides, we’re here.”
Elle’s eyes widened as we pulled alongside the small building housing the airfield offices, and as I killed the engine and we both stepped out of the car, she walked timidly over to where I stood. “Owen…” Her lips parted momentarily as if she was in shock. “What are we…”
Reaching out and taking hold of the tips of her fingers, I pulled her closer, pushing our hands up in the air and pressing our palms flat together before lacing our fingers. “I thought maybe we’d get out of town for a while, what do you think?”
“Where did you…” She continued to stare in amazement, her gaze bouncing between me and the large jet sitting on the tarmac waiting for us. “I thought you didn’t own a private jet.”
“I don’t.”
“Then what is this?”
“I borrowed it. From a friend. I figured if we have the next three weeks off maybe we could spend it seeing the world.”
Her mouth fell open, and judging by the expression on her face, there were a million thoughts running through her mind, but she only managed to give voice to one. “But you hate flying…”
“Yes.” I pressed a kiss to her sweet lips and then quickly trailed a path up to her ear, catching her lobe and slowly dragging it between my teeth. “But seeing as it is a private jet and we’ll be alone, I was thinking maybe you could come up with a way to distract me.” Still holding her, I pulled back to gauge her reaction.
Heat flashed in her eyes and she smiled knowingly, not missing the underlying meaning behind my words or the thread of desire weaving them all together.
“This is crazy, Owen. Absolutely crazy.”
“Perhaps, but love makes you do crazy things, right?” Grabbing her hand, I tugged her along. “Come on.”
As we made our way onto the plane, I told Elle to go ahead while I stopped briefly to talk with the pilot and the flight attendant, making sure they had received the itinerary and confirmed our destination. I hadn’t told Elle where we were going, and I intended to keep it a surprise for as long as possible.
After ensuring the flight attendant knew to give us privacy, I headed back into the spacious cabin where Elle was already waiting for me. She stood in the center, her arms hanging loosely by her sides as her eyes roamed over the space, drinking in the luxury surrounding her. Large cream-colored leather armchairs lined either side of the plane, and a separate entertaining area featured a couch, mini bar, and large screen TV. A larger than normal, and rather impressive, bathroom was located at the rear, which included a walk-in shower and modern furnishings and fittings.
“Wow.” She spun slowly on her heels, her mouth agape. “I’m afraid to ask what something like this costs.”
“Don't.” I chuckled softly. “You don’t want to know.” Walking over to the mini bar, I pulled out two glasses and a bottle of scotch before grabbing Elle’s hand and guiding her over to the plush recliners.
The flight attendant made a quick appearance, requesting we buckle our seatbelts during takeoff and making sure we weren’t in need of any assistance, and then disappeared from the cabin. Luxury or not, my nerves were already gathering in the pit of my stomach, and as always, Elle sensed my discomfort. After making sure her seatbelt was buckled, she slid her hand over mine, squeezing it the same reassuring way she’d done the first time we’d ever flown together. And I realized, even if I hadn’t realized it at the time, I loved her then.
I had fallen in love with Elle Callihan the moment she walked into my office, and it had nothing to do with attraction. Not really. Sure, she was gorgeous, but it wasn’t her beauty I’d been drawn to; it was the way her soul spoke to mine, the way my heart whispered that she was it—she was the one. It wasn’t until she’d disappeared out of my office at the conclusion of her interview that I knew I couldn’t let her go.
I selfishly needed her in my life.
Once we were in the air and the light on the seatbelt sign flickered off, I freed the buckle and sat forward to pour myself a drink, asking Elle if she wanted one. Her response came silently as she crawled onto my lap, straddling my waist and swiping the glass tumbler from my hand.
Bringing it to her lips, she downed it in one long sip and immediately leaned her body closer, pressing her mouth to mine and allowing me a taste of the golden liquid. Our tongues swirled, the smoky liquor mixed with the sweetness of her mouth causing a low groan to erupt from my chest.
Elle answered by kissing me harder, deeper, her fingers pushing through my hair and her hips rocking forward and down against my swelling erection.
One small taste and I was parched.
Grabbing the back of her neck, I took ownership of the kiss at the same time my free hand slid beneath the hem of her top, climbing the smooth, creamy skin of her stomach until it came in contact with the thin lace of her bra. I slipped under the wire and cupped her breast in my palm, feeling her entire body shudder from my touch. Her nipples were tight and needy and I circled my thumb over the small bud, loving the way she bowed her back as if silently requesting more.
“What do you want, Elle? Tell me what you want.”
“You.” Her voice was soft and drowsed by lust. “I want you.”
Breaking away from my lips, she pulled back and removed her camisole, and then started working my belt free from its confining loops. With nimble fingers, she unfastened the button on my jeans, and her whispered command shot a surge of arousal straight to my groin.
“Lift your hips.”
I did as I was told, and as she dragged my jeans and boxers down my thighs—my dick springing free—she dropped to her knees. There wasn’t a moment to question what she was doing before her hot mouth was on me, her tongue licking and stroking. My head fell back as pleasure, sharp and powerful, slammed into me. A harsh gasp punched from my lungs, but Elle didn’t stop. She didn’t slow down. The soft flesh of her lips slid effortlessly along the velvet skin, and I curled my fingers in her hair, tugging gently, needing to grasp something.
“Jesus, Elle.” My heavy-lidded eyes drifted shut as liquid fire rushed through my veins. “That feels so—ah—”
My entire body jerked as she took me in her palm, her hand and mouth finding a perfect rhythm that had every muscle coiling tight. Pressure built and the pleasure twisting in my lower stomach neared its exploding point when she was suddenly gone. Her mouth, her hands—gone. I was still mourning the loss of her, watching through half-hooded eyes as she stood up and wiggled herself out of her shorts and her pink lace underwear.
As quickly as she’d left, she was back.
Her gaze never leaving mine, she climbed onto my lap, taking my face in her hands and slowly sliding herself down my painfully hard and throbbing cock. She was so hot—so tight, so perfect—and I groaned at how amazing she felt. My body demanded I thrust into her, and I ached to do so, but everything in her life had been so out of her control, especially when it came to us and the last few times we'd had sex, and I wanted her to have this. This power. This dominance. Curling my hands into fists to stop myself from taking hold of her hips and instead allowing her to set the pace, I watched her. Her cheeks were beautifully flush, her lips wet and swollen from our kisses, and her blonde hair splayed across her shoulders and down her breasts.
She looked like a goddess. A goddess whose every inch I was desperate to worship.
Unable to resist touching her, I reached behind her back and unclasped her bra, tossing it to the floor. My hands smoothed up her ribs, over the soft mounds of flesh. My thumbs swept over her taut nipples, and as she arched her back, gasping my name, I tugged her forward, taking the hardened tips into my mouth.
“Owen…”
I’d never get tired of hearing my name fall from her lips like that. Never.
Elle lifted herself, and as she slid back down, reclaiming the inches, I growled my need for her to move faster. I’d told her earlier that watching her strut her glorious ass around the office was torture, but that was nothing compared to what she was doing now. I sucked and licked at her breasts for several minutes, wanting this to go on and on, while simultaneously desperate for release. My mind whirled with urgency, and as my impatience continued to climb, I slid my hand between us, pressing down and circling her clit with my fingers. She threw her head back, her soft moans rising in volume, and I tilted my hips at an angle that allowed for deeper thrusts.
My body hovered on that precipice where sexual frustration reigned supreme, and I pressed my forehead to hers, practically begging for relief.
“Elle, I need you to—I can’t…”
Our chests were both heaving, Elle’s movements growing more and more intense, more feverish, and right when I thought I couldn’t hold back any longer, every part of me shaking as I fought to delay my orgasm, she cried out in sweet surrender. Her body trembled and her nails bit into the skin on my shoulders. The feel of her unraveling around me—the clenching of her inner muscles—sent me falling over the edge, and this time I took control, grabbing her hips and thrusting into her one final time, groaning out my own climax as pleasure swirled through my abdomen, to the tip of my dick, and down my legs.
She collapsed against me, stealing the last of my breaths as her lips crushed to mine, a satisfied sigh rolling up the back of her throat. I swallowed every one of her soft mewls and breathy whimpers, and I held her close, overwhelming emotion welling inside of my chest at the impossible way this woman made me feel.
Fuck, I loved her.
I had never loved a woman as much as I loved her, and I could sit there all day and claim how she was mine—mine, all mine—but the truth was, I was hers.
I was completely hers.
With Elle it was easy to forget I was dying. It was easy to lose myself in the now, in her smiles and her laughter, in those beautiful blue eyes that promised a lifetime of love and happiness, but I didn't have a lifetime. I had seven months if I was lucky, and I was terrified of the day I’d be ripped away from her, the day I’d be forced to give her one last kiss and whisper one last I love you.
I'd come to learn life challenges you in many ways, but it didn’t ever really teach you how to say goodbye, and saying goodbye to Elle Callihan would be the hardest thing I'd ever have to do.