CHAPTER NINE
THE CAR DROVE onto the airport tarmac where the private plane was in the middle of preflight checks. I grabbed a glass of liquid courage from the bar in the hanger before I met Calind on the plane.
I’d never been on a private plane before, and Calind’s opulent jet was the Malbork Castle of private jets. This was better than first class.
A look of concern crossed Calind’s face as his eyes met mine.
“You must have radar.” I set my handbag on the ground beside my staked out seat on the couch and flopped down next to him.
Calind’s fingers trailed up my arm, inciting a path of electricity underneath my skin. He removed the glass of liquor from my hands and set it on the table in front of us.
He leaned into me, teasing my lips with his mouth only a breath away from mine. “The recent death of your father grants you one pass. If you allow the man whose scent I smell on your skin within inches of you again, you’ll regret it, Regan. Am I understood?”
Guilt manifested into the tangible and made the back of my neck burn. “Smell? You can smell him on me?”
“Are you going to deny that you were with him before you came here?” he questioned with slight indigence.
“He was sort-of-not-really-a-friend.”
“Who he was to you is unimportant. Is my warning understood, Regan?”
“Completely,” I replied.
“Wash him off your skin and return to me,” Calind ordered. “You have twenty minutes before takeoff. New clothes are on the bed.”
I hesitated at his orders and gave myself a silent pep talk as a reminder to let go and embrace the person I had to become. I did as told, heading toward the tail end of the plane. As I looked around the back of the plane, containing a bathroom with a double vanity and cylinder shaped shower leading to a bedroom, the regret seeped into my thoughts.
I closed my eyes and in that second, Calind scooped me up into his arms. He set me inside the shower, and without wasting time, gripped the buttons of my shirtdress and tore the material from my body.
When I tried to speak, he pressed a finger to my lips to warn me. With the wave of his hand, frigid water shocked my nearly nude body.
His palm skirted my torso and shredded my panties. He pressed against me, holding me in place as his fingers toyed with my pussy. He wasted no time sliding two fingers inside of me and locking my wrists above my head with one hand.
Through the heavy downpour, darkening his lashes and messing with his once pristine hairstyle, he watched my every reaction. He curled his fingers inside me, pressing a button I didn’t know I had and tapped it at a breakneck speed.
“Fuck,” I groaned, my body trembling. I was on the verge of exploding, and the entire cockpit heard how much Calind tortured me with pleasure.
Locked in the eyes of a sexy man who looked like he wanted to taste every part of me, and enduring an electrical current running wild inside every inch of my body, I convulsed, allowing the sensation to take control.
I’d never had a full body orgasm, but Calind made damn sure I experienced one.
He released me, guiding my ravaged body against the glass wall of the shower and lifted my chin over his fingers. “I promise you, you’ll never miss him.”
I couldn’t help but smile; the man was so unreal. I upturned my face to receive a kiss he never gave me.
FROM THE TARMAC, a driver was available to take us into central Tokyo.
I loved the bustle of the city and could’ve stood on the sidewalk for hours and found inspiration in the fashion.
I enjoyed looking in the windows of the eateries, too. The restaurants displayed plastic replicas of the food in the windows, providing a glimpse of the menu. Many of the restaurants were so high-tech that a computer took your order.
After Calind and I checked into our hotel, we headed out again. Our chauffeur took us to the Mori Tower in Roppongi Hills.
We took the elevator to the Tokyo City observation deck. I stood on the platform to appreciate the view of the dusky Tokyo skyline. The paned windows allowed a 360 degree panorama.
I rested the side of my head on Calind’s arm as he stood beside me. “My father took me to Tokyo once. I don’t remember much of it. Shit, I don’t remember enough of my teenage years at all. My life didn’t really start until I was sixteen.”
“What do you remember?” Dark sunglasses hid Calind’s eyes, but his head remained trained on the view.
“Being homeschooled by my nanny, Helga. Traveling the world and spending time in sterile rooms of odd-looking hotels. I was always alone. I had no choice but to keep my head stuck in the books while my father was in meetings. He was always at a meeting.
“I met a sickly girl once. I think she was a neighbor at the hotel. She was a trouble maker and coerced me into sneaking out. I don’t remember how we even got out. I remember my father being pissed when I came back, though. He muttered, ‘You’re just like her.’” I didn’t understand what triggered my need to spill on things I’d never shared with anyone. My mouth didn’t want to stop moving when I said, “Think I’m destined to be alone. Everyone leaves or disappoints me in the end.”
Calind’s hand covered my own, and with the other, he angled my head in his direction. “You’ll never be alone again, Regan. I will be with you until the end. A gentleman’s promise.”
Every fiber in my being believed him, and I felt relieved.
I reached for his other hand and Calind opened his palm. His hand dwarfed mine when I fit my fingers through the spaces between his. When he closed his fist, a strikingly intimate feeling made me quiver.
“What do you remember about her?” he asked and seemed genuinely interested. “Your mother?”
“I wish I could remember my parents together. I don’t have a single memory of them, and I recall very little of her. Just small things. My mother had this regal way, and her hands. She had these dainty, slender fingers with knobby knuckles. She used to have red paint on them. I think she was an artist, pottery maker, or something. My father would never talk much about her, even if I asked.”
“It could’ve been a sore subject for him,” Calind suggested.
“Probably. I can’t imagine meeting the love of your life and watching her die. He always said she broke his heart. What if the craziest thing happens? What if you fall in love with me? Are you going to fall apart when the time comes? Don’t answer that. I don’t want to know.”
It was the first time I had ever gone into detail about my family with someone, or what I did and didn’t remember of being a teenager. It was the spark needed for a deeper connection, and I couldn’t fight the need to make the spark burn brighter. “What about your parents, Calind?”
The drawn-out silence made me look up at him.
“Can you give me a hint of something?” I asked, hopeful. “We can talk about it. It won’t ruin my experience to talk about your life. I want to know about you, Calind.”
Clasping my waist, he silently directed me toward the elevator shaft.
CALIND AND I spent a good week in Japan, acting as friends—where one friend discussed herself, and the other friend listened or asked questions and never shared any information.
We slept in the same bed and ate out every night. Correction: I ate. Calind’s diet was comprised of wine, wine, and more wine. During the day, Calind closed himself off in a separate part of our suite and worked undisturbed.
One night over a bento box at a too small table, while being stared at like I was an oddity for the millionth time, I was ready to leave Japan. To keep myself busy, I had shopped until I couldn’t fit any more clothes in my suitcases.
“It’s the hair,” Calind said from over his tablet without a glance in my direction.
“That’s a part of it. It’s a fascination in America, too.” I wrapped my finger around one of my tight ringlets and gave the stink eye to someone who dared to stare. “When are you going to fuck me?”
His head jerked toward me.
I batted my eyelashes and clasped my hands together. “Pretty please,” I pleaded and failed to crack his iron exterior. “This is bullshit. You’ve hardly touched me since the plane. All you do is attend business meetings outside our hotel and brood over dinner like a moody model. I know you want to fuck me, and you’re making me wait for some bullshit reason. I’m horny as hell. Fine. No sex. Who says we can’t have a little everything-but-intercourse fun?”
“I do.”
“You were ready to give me your dick on the beach of my father’s estate. Is sex with you so amazing that you have to prepare and delay for so damn long?” I swear he was withholding from me as a power play.
“Yes,” he said, cockiness heavy in his eyes. “You’ll have what you want eventually, and remember when it happens, you asked for it.”
ANOTHER DAY, ADDING up to a month we’d spent in Japan, and yet more time wasted wandering in and out of stores buying clothes I didn’t need and didn’t fit me. A part of me figured that with the way things were going with my health, I’d lose weight and be able to wear them soon enough.
I had strayed too far from the hotel and couldn’t walk back. I took the train for the first time and wished I hadn’t. It was so packed and crowded, I couldn’t swing an elbow without hitting someone.
As I recalled how I’d seldom spent time with Calind that day, well, not enough for me, I got annoyed. I grew more irritated when a man, although he smelled nice, kept brushing against me inside the train.
When I felt a half hard cock brush against my ass, the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. I was ready to turn around and backhand the pervert.
Arms wrapped around my waist, pushing me toward the back exit door of the train and kept me steady. “Don’t move and don’t speak. It’s considered improper etiquette to speak on a train.” Calind’s smooth voice rumbled underneath the sounds of the train.
A lump created a catch in my throat and kept me from speaking. Calind wedged his legs between mine and jerked them open, staggering my stance. Cold, sharp metal poked at my thighs and cut a perfect circle into the crotch portion of my tights.
I jerked up in response. “Those were two hundred dollar tights you—”
Leaning forward, his hard chest pressing against my back as he slid his hand onto my mouth for a moment to quiet me. He dropped his hands to my ass, working to tear my panties off from underneath my skirt.
He moved his legs farther apart, forcing my legs to separate and step on a few toes.
A few of the surrounding people shot me looks. I shrugged, gave them a nervous smile, and said, “Gomen nasai,” apologizing in Japanese.
By my feet, I caught the sight of a shopping bag right beside me, and what peeked out underneath white tissue paper made me nervous as hell.
From behind me, Calind’s fingers toyed with my slit, teasing me by raking his fingers just short of my entry.
My eyes darted around in paranoia, hoping no one knew what Calind had planned for me, threatening to get us arrested.
“If you don’t look so suspicious,” he started, pressing his soft lips and words against my ear, “you won’t call attention to us.”
From over my shoulder, I spied him as he brought a hand to his mouth and sucked his fingers.
His deft fingers opened me, and one finger slipped inside my pussy while his thumb ran circles around my clit.
A charge ran through my body, the little shocks reverberated from my pussy, making me clench and shudder.
As I became wetter, one finger became two. He snuck the toy nestled in tissue paper out of the shopping bag on the floor, and guided the silicone Rabbit vibrator inside my pussy, thrusting it in and out.
I couldn’t focus on being inconspicuous, I was going to come...hard.
I bit my lip to keep from moaning. As the quiet toy plunged in and out of me, the pointed ears of the rabbit vibrator thrashing against my clit, I gripped the pole hard and pressed my other hand against my mouth.
On the verge of an orgasm, my eyes darted around the crowded space. I couldn’t believe no one took notice of Calind and me. It would’ve taken a simple glance, and they could have easily seen that Calind was up to no good in between my legs.
The toy rotated and vibrated in silence. I gripped the pole so hard, the inside of my palms changed colors. I was on a flight to space and I never wanted to come back to Earth.
My forehead touched the pole, and I watched Calind’s reflection in the window. He smirked like he knew what was coming next.
My neck could no longer hold my head. I covered my mouth, trying my damnedest not to scream out. My entire body quivered so hard, people around had to have taken notice.
“Please, please, stop,” I whimpered into my hand, my eyes watering.
He cranked up the vibration and my eyes rolled back.
An “Oh, God,” unfurled from deep inside my throat and I trembled. “Please.” My voice shook in rhythm with my thighs.
He withdrew the toy from inside me and placed his palm on my pussy, pressing firmly. His touch made the crazy feeling subside enough to permit normal functions. I bit my knuckles, nearly piercing the flesh as I tried to push the aftershocks out of my system.
Calind wrapped his arms around me in much needed and wanted comfort.
The train stopped, and he ushered me out of the nearest door. The second our feet touched the platform, Calind tugged me to a less dense part of the station. His lips were on mine, driving me crazy, and leaving me wanting when he tore them away from mine much too soon.
“I think I’m ready for a change of scenery, aren’t you?” he asked with a wicked smile.
I couldn’t move my weak neck to nod. He’d wrecked my body and left me feeling as though his hands were all over me, all at once.