Should I be worried?she’d asked Theo.
I don’t know, but I am. I’m sorry.
It was the most direct contact about his situation he’d had with anyone on the outside in months. He wished they’d had more time. An opportunity to give her more information—and to ask for her help not just in finding the eye.
But then again, how did he know if he could trust her?
And could he trust Andreas?
Theo replayed Lydia’s half of their phone conversation in his head:
They want to meet today. I don’t know who they are, but they have access to a helicopter. They clearly have connections…
The archaeologist…you may know him…American and Greek…he knows you.
The couple…it seems something is off. Like they don’t trust the other two men. See what they know but keep your eye on them…and call me if anything happens.
Fortunately, he’d been able to come up with some bullshit excuse aboutgood luck and safe travelswhen Louis had confronted him after they’d left, wanting to know what Lydia had said to him. Unfortunately, Maurice had been able to arrange for a last-minute helicopter pickup in a remote area of western Crete. Vautour certainly did have connections.
And Theohatedhelicopters.
The helicopter hit a bit of turbulence and bounced in the air.Fuck. He held his breath and clutched the seat belt strapped across his chest. His hatred of flying hadn’t stopped him from traveling, but it had been a year since he’d flown, and every dip and bump still freaked him out. The maneuverability of the helicopter wasn’t helping things. This was why he preferred overnight flights. He would havemuchrather taken the boat even if it took them all goddamn day.
Dani reached over and loosened his death grip on his harness. She then took his hand and placed it in her lap, threading her fingers through his. Theo stared at their hands interlocking with each other. Slowly, she rubbed her thumb over his, calming his nerves. She’d always been good at doing that.
He leaned his head back and closed his eyes, taking in thesteady rhythm of her stroke. God, Dani had a way with her hands.
The events from the last couple of days flooded his thoughts as everything else faded to the background. The pool. The bath. This morning, Dani straddling him in the bed. Flirting. Touching. Her hands making their way all over his body. The same hands that were holding his right now.
He couldn’t wait to be alone with her again. To hold her. To comfort her the way she comforted him. He pictured her lying beside him, her palm skating across his abs and diving beneath the waistband of his pants. Those delicate fingers wrapping their way around his cock, stroking him. He swallowed to keep from salivating.
Theo quickly shook the thought away and his eyes shot open. What the fuck was he doing? They weren’t on some holiday. He couldn’t be over there, fantasizing about Dani jerking him off while they were literally being transported by their captors in a helicopter.
Not to mention the fact that Dani was with someone else. Everything that had been going on between them the last few days was clearly nothing but his imagination running wild. She wasn’t coming on to him. She was simply doing what she’d always done: taking care of him like family.
What the hell was wrong with him?
He untwisted his fingers from hers and took back his hand. But not without catching a confused glance from Dani.
What was there to be confused about, though? They were onlypretendingto be a couple. Was holding hands really necessary?
Finally, they neared the mainland and headed to an area onthe outskirts of town where Andreas would be waiting for them. As the pilot hovered for their landing, Theo fought to not reach for Dani again, this time closing his eyes and holding on to the straps at his shoulders. Once they were safely on the ground, they quickly hopped out of the helicopter, grabbed their bags, and hustled away from the aircraft into the wide-open field.
Dani and Theo waited about a hundred feet from the helicopter as Maurice and Louis finished up with the pilot. The sun was high in the sky, beating its rays down on them. Normally at this time of day—thehottestpart of the day—Theo would have insisted on waiting out the heat inside somewhere. At least on Crete they had the benefit of the sea breeze. Here, the temperatures had to be pushing close to one hundred degrees.
Theo glanced over at Dani, pulling up her hair and fanning her neck. He watched a bead of sweat run down the side of her face, down her neck, and straight into her cleavage below her V-neck. The white T-shirt almost glowed on her honey-colored skin and perfectly molded around her breasts. He’d always liked when she wore white. Sometimes he imagined what she might look like with one of his white tees or button-downs barely covering her ass.
He stared at her chest, her sweat glistening in the sun. When he lifted his eyes and met hers, she was already watching him. She narrowed her gaze, though he tried to look away quickly. But it was too late. He’d been caught.
Fuck.What waswrongwith him?
“See something you like?” Dani asked, folding her arms, which had the (un)fortunate effect of propping up her boobs even further. There was a hint of attitude in her voice. Like maybe she wasn’t too pleased that he’d been looking.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
“Sorry, I zoned out thinking about something,” he said.
“Such as?” she questioned, tilting her head to the side.
