His scent hits me instantly, and my stomach drops straight through the floor.
“Please go away, Phoenix.”
I don’t even bother opening my eyes when I say it.
“I’m heading home, pretty girl. It’s not my fault I’m beside you.”
“Fine,” I mutter, finally cracking one eye open to glare at him. “Then you won’t mind if I pretend you’re not here.”
When I finally force both eyes open, he’s back in his seat. He’s not hovering over me anymore, not invading my space—he’s justthere. Close enough to reach out and touch. Not nearly far enough away for me to try to function.
I settle back, disappearing into the seat, and yank the complimentary sleep mask over my eyes—anything to block him out and pretend he doesn’t exist for the next few hours. But it’s useless because ignoring Phoenix is like trying not to breathe.
“Can I get you anything, sir?”
The flight attendant’s sickly sweet voice cuts through my half-assed attempt to escape reality, but all I really hear is the way she’s practically serving herself up as Phoenix’s mile-high fucktoy.
“What have you got?”
“Why don’t you tell me what you need, and I’ll tell you if it’s on offer?”The innuendo is so blatant it’s practically on its knees with its mouth open.
I don’t even need to lift my mask to picture it. I know Phoenix. I know how devastating he is and how he pulls people in without even trying. I know exactly what she’s offering, and it sure as hell isn’t peanuts or ginger ale.
“You think you can get this beautiful woman here to talk to me?”
I shove my mask off one eye and glare at him while the flight attendant’s smile dies on her face.
“Oh… um, would you like a beverage?” she stammers, her cheeks blotched red as the color rises beneath her skin.
Yeah… that’s what you meant.
“Water,” Phoenix says smoothly, never breaking eye contact with me for even a second.
“And for you, miss?” Her voice is suddenly too polite, like she knows she’s already screwed up.
“I’m fine, thanks, and you can go ahead and offer him what you really want to give him. He’s not mine. Go wild.”
She doesn’t even try to hide her relief as she hurries away, almost tripping over her own feet.
“Not yours? Did you even hear a word I said to you last night?”
“Unfortunately.”
That smug smile stretches across his face, and I want nothing more than to dig my nails into his perfect jawline and claw it off.
“I’m done, Phoenix. Now do yourself a favor, save yourself the humiliation of being ignored, and leave me the hell alone.”
He pushes to his feet, rising over me until I can feel the heat rolling off his body—suffocating and annoyingly inescapable—and even though I know better than to get caught up in him, I can’t look away. His hands lower, bracketing my thighs, and those mercury eyes never leave mine. He reaches for my seatbelt, snaps it into place across my lap, and then yanks it hard.
“Now leave that on,” he murmurs before sliding back into his seat.
My mask slides back down, and this time it’s staying put. I press it tight against my face, wishing like hell I could just disappear into it.
Minutes pass. Maybe ten, maybe twenty, it doesn't even matter. All that matters is that I can’t settle. My body is restless, and my head is a fucking mess. I’m trying to shut my mind down, but knowing he’s just there—Jesus.I want him gone, out of my space, out of my head, and out from under my skin. Instead, I’m sitting here, replaying the image of him in that hotel room—his hand wrapped tight around his cock, his eyes drilling into mine, and the way he degraded me when he came all over my chest.
Yeah, I can’t get that out of my head.
My brain is screaming at me that I should hate it, but my vagina, who clearly has no standards whatsoever, just rolls her eyes like I'm the problem here. So I press my thighs together hard,trying to shut her up, but it does nothing to dull this ache. If anything, it makes it worse.
