“I don’t have panties now.” It was an accusation.

“Yes, I know. They’re in my pocket,” he said blandly, straightening his own clothing and refastening his slacks.

I watched his every move, my eyes glued to his mouth-watering length as he pushed it back into it’s confines.

“I could use my mouth on you,” I said, watching that instrument of pleasure disappear and licking my lips. I was impetuously ravenous to do just that.

He straightened, watching me like a hawk in the mirror. He brought a hand to my face, pushing his index finger into my mouth. I opened, sucking it in. He pushed his finger in and out of my mouth, a parody of the act.

“Harder,” he told me, and I sucked him roughly. “Use your teeth, just a bit.”

I did, and he made a sound of approval in his throat.

“I’m going to fuck your mouth tomorrow. But not until I’ve fucked your cunt into submission.” He pulled his finger free as he spoke.

I squirmed at his coarse language, somehow never in the least offended by the dirty things he said. In fact, I was hugely turned on by it.

“You have a filthy mouth,” I told him, my eyes heavy-lidded.

He smirked. “Is that an invitation? I could get it that way in a hurry.” He ran a tongue over his teeth as he spoke.

My insides clenched at the sight.

I shook my head, trying to get my mind back on the fact that I was working and that I needed to actually do some work.

“I need to go.”

He gave me a twisted smile. “If anyone complains, you can always say you were servicing a passenger.”

I wrinkled my nose at his choice of words, opening the door to ease out of the bathroom. I shut it behind me, assuming he would wait a moment before following.

Stephan was in the galley when I opened the curtain, fixing more rum and cokes for the couple in first class.

“Sorry,” I mumbled, going to the counter and leaning against it.

He glanced at me with a wry smile. “You don’t do anything half-assed. You go from stone-cold celibacy to being too loud in the bathroom at work. You’ve got it bad, Buttercup,” he said, but with good humor.

He swept from the galley to deliver the drinks and I was still blushing when he came back in.

James joined us, coming to hug me from behind, as though completely unconcerned about the fact that I was working.

I tried to pull away. “James, I’m working.”

He just hugged me harder, kissing my neck.

“What has gotten into you?” I asked him.

“You guys should be fine, if you stay in the galley,” Stephan piped in with a smile. “The plane is practically empty, the couple in first class just used the restroom in back, and they show no signs of moving at the moment. Canoodle away, lovebirds.”

I glared at him. “You’re supposed to be the voice of reason, Stephan.”

He shrugged. “It’s not as though it’s a crowded flight. If nobody knows, there’s no harm done.”

As though taking those words as an invitation, James pressed against me harder.

I elbowed him. He didn’t budge.

“What about the rest of the crew? Anyone could write me up for this.”

James kissed the top of my head, putting his hands lightly on my hips. He hadn’t said a word since he’d come out of the bathroom. I couldn’t fathom what he was thinking. I could only tell that he was suddenly as affectionate as a baby kitten.

Stephan shrugged. “I doubt anyone would. Melissa doesn’t like you, but I have way more dirt on her, so she wouldn’t dare. Just relax. Flight attendants bring their significant others on flights all the time. You think you’re the first one to join the mile high club?”

I wondered briefly about what kind of dirt Stephan had on Melissa, but we were interrupted before I could ask.

As though cued into our conversation, Murphy stepped out of the cockpit, grinning at us.

“Did you consider our offer, Bianca?” he asked jovially, taking in James without comment.

Hard arms wrapped just under my breasts from behind.

I smiled at Murphy, hoping that James wouldn’t turn things awkward.

“Murphy, all you did was scare the poor girl away next week, as well,” Stephan told him with a grin.

Murphy looked crestfallen. “Is it possible I’m not as sexy as I think I am?”

We laughed. I looked up and even James was smiling.

Murphy went into the restroom.

“See, Mr. Beautiful, he’s not so bad.”

His grin died. “He’s not the one I’m worried about,” he told me.

How could such a beautiful man be insecure? I wondered. It was baffling to realize that he was.

I hadn’t thought James was worried about Murphy, but I was still totally bewildered that he was actually jealous of Damien.

“You’re the most gorgeous creature on the planet. How do you not know that you’ve completely ruined me for other men?” I asked him quietly, and he gave me a beatific smile.

He bent and ravished my mouth until I yielded. I was hesitant at first to share such a hot kiss outside of a bedroom. But it was hard to remember that in the moment. He swept a tongue into my mouth, and it went on and on.

I was moaning low in my throat when he pulled away.

“Tell me that again,” he murmured against my kiss-softened lips.

“A male supermodel would look downright homely standing next to you. No man could compare to you. Why would I ever bother with another one?” I spoke the words quietly, and he was swiftly kissing me again.

I realized I had found a weak spot. The words were nothing but the truth, but I needed to remember to use them when I needed them. I doubted he could stay mad when I reassured him in such a way.

I had no idea how long we’d been necking like teenagers when he pulled back again. I looked up into the startled gaze of Captain Damien, and a sheepish Stephan.

“Oh, hey,” I murmured through kiss-swollen lips. The two men looked like they had been trying to speak to us and I hadn’t even noticed.

James wrapped himself around me from behind again, his arms under my breasts and dangerously close to brushing too close for decency. He kissed my neck, giving me a soft bite as he pulled away. It was way too sensual for company, but I knew he didn’t give a damn.

He reached out a long arm to the shorter Damien. “Hi. I’m James Cavendish. Bianca’s boyfriend.”

Damien shook his hand, looking stunned. “Oh. Boyfriend? Oh, well, hi. I’m Damien. Nice to meet you. You must be a pretty great guy if Bianca gave you a chance.”

James kissed my neck again, sucking hard enough to leave a mark. He kissed the spot again as he pulled his face away.

I squirmed uncomfortably. Things were getting awkward fast.

“We were made for each other. It’s as simple as that. Bianca told me just a moment ago that I had ruined her for other men.” His voice was all charm, but I glanced up and behind and found that, unsurprisingly, his smile was all predatory challenge.

I elbowed him in the ribs. I couldn’t believe he’d said that. I blushed profusely.

Stephan laughed, though it died away when he saw my look.

Damien coughed uncomfortably. “Well, okay. I’d better get back. See you later.” He left.

I was fuming.

James began kissing my neck again.

I tried to stomp back on his foot and missed. “That was embarrassing and out of line, James. You can’t take things I say and use them like that. It makes me want to never tell you things like that.”

He murmured an apology against my neck. “I’m sorry. I just had to set him straight after the things you said to him earlier. I won’t do it again. Forgive me?”

His teeth tugged at my ear, and it was hard for me to concentrate.

“You need to go back to your seat,” I told him sternly, far from appeased.

His hands drifted up to my breasts, and I looked around, scandalized. But we were alone. I hadn’t even heard Stephan leave.

“I love you breasts. I’m going to clamp them tomorrow. I would pierce them for you, if you’d let me. I would love to mark you like that.”

I knew he was trying to distract me, but even knowing that, his tactic still worked. I was shocked. It sounded like such a hardcore, permanent thing to do. I had never in my life even considered doing something like that. And he said it as though he’d do it himself.

“You could do that? As in, you could do the piercing yourself?”

He murmured a yes against my shoulder, kneading my breasts with just the right pressure.

“You think I would allow anyone else to handle these? To do that to you? Fuck no. That would be a job for me.” He pinched them roughly as he spoke.

“You’ve done that before?” I asked him cautiously, my back arching automatically. I wasn’t really thinking of doing it. I was more curious about this odd skill of his.

He rubbed his hard erection against my butt. “I’m properly trained and quite good at it. It can’t be painless, but I’ll try my best to lessen the pain.”

I noticed that he didn’t exactly answer the question. I had a sudden vision of all of his ex-lovers sporting nipple rings for years after he was done with them. It did seem like a small price to pay, I supposed, considering how good he was in bed.

“Do you pierce all of your lovers?”

He snorted. “You have the oddest notions. No, I do not normally pierce my lovers.”

“Just your favorites?” I asked, half-serious.

“I only have one favorite,” he replied, nuzzling against me.

“What was her name?” I asked, getting annoyed that he wouldn’t give a real answer to the question.

He pinched a nipple hard enough to make me yelp. “I was referring to you, you silly girl. And to finally answer your persistent line of questioning, I have pierced three of my ex-lovers. Now, I believe it’s my turn to get some information from you. And, considering that you got to pick the question for me, I’ll do the same to you. Have you ever gone out with Captain Damien?”

I couldn’t have been happier with his question. I’d just been about to protest the exchange when he’d asked it.

“Nope.”

“Has he ever asked you out?”

“That’s two questions,” I said smugly.

“I believe I answered more than one.”

I sighed. “Yes, when we first started hanging out with them, he did. I said no, and he’s been completely platonic ever since.”

“Why did you say no? You seem to like him.”

I turned my head just enough to give him an arch look. “I wasn’t interested. Apparently it takes a very specific type of man to get my interest.”

He practically purred against my neck.

CHAPTER THIRTY

Mr. Gratification

We were taking our seats to land before I remembered to ask Stephan about something curious he’d said earlier.

“What kind of dirt do you have on Melissa? And why is this the first I’m hearing of it?” I asked him. He didn’t, as a rule, keep things from me, even minor things.

He flushed a little. “It was a very crude story, and frankly I wanted to shelter you from it. You’re not a virgin anymore, but what I saw made me feel dirty, so I didn’t want to unload it on you.”