Then he fit his mouth to hers as though he’d been kissing her for weeks, months, centuries. His aftershave filled her nostrils, and the lights went out as she closed her eyes. His hand brushed her naked shoulder, and she parted her lips under the pressure of his.
His taste filled her senses.
It was nothing like any kiss she’d ever experienced. Time stopped. There was only heat and wildfire. Devastation as he tore down her defenses and slowly rebuilt her, altering her so she was utterly his. So she wanted to be his.
As surrender shuddered through her, the officiant said something. Her father chuckled.
Oh no.
Axel’s breath hissed in. He reluctantly lifted his head.
Joy resisted losing the taste of him, clinging to his lips with her own, then didn’t know where to look so she stared at his tie. She must be glowing red as a traffic light at having put on such a display. At having revealed how reluctant she was to stop.
Axel’s gruff voice abraded her ears. “Let’s finalize this. We have a plane to catch.”
* * *
Joy had never been so aroused from lengthy lovemaking, never mind a single kiss. She was utterly destroyed, but despite Axel’s relentless push for the marriage, he seemed content to take his time over brunch with her father, his assistant and the two strangers who had performed their nuptials. In fact, he put up with a number of probing questions from her father before they left for the airport.
Thanks to Paul’s quavering inquisition, Joy now knew her husband was an only child. His father had passed when he was young, he enjoyed skiing in winter when he had time, he traveled for work, not pleasure and had no pets. He missed the challenge of being directly involved in the design process with complex projects but took great satisfaction in overseeing multiple international projects and making top-level decisions.
He had politely asked about her father’s lifetime working in mortgage and loans, then reassured him that he would bring Joy back for the big move to California. The unit Paul had chosen would be ready by the time Carrie’s baby was due. In the meantime, a private nurse had been hired along with a daily housekeeper. An assistant would also help Paul downsize and pack.
Joy’s marriage erased her father’s financial worries and ensured his day-to-day life would be much more comfortable. Leaving him was still hard. And even though her stress over providing for him was lifted, Joy was more anxious than ever.
Marry in haste, repent at leisure, her lawyer, LaShonda, had said with a glower of warning. Joy had picked LaShonda from the three she’d interviewed because LaShonda had been the only one to ask if she was out of her damn fool mind. Then she had proceeded to wield her red pen like a rapier on the prenuptial contract, building in enough protections to raise Axel’s eyebrows.
“If she wasn’t working for you, I’d hire her myself,” he’d drawled, then signed off on all the changes.
Before they left for their flight, they changed into travel clothes. Axel now wore dark green trousers with a black sweater that hugged the musculature of his shoulders and chest. He pushed his sleeves up to expose his forearms.
Why that detail seemed so important, Joy wasn’t sure, but she found herself staring at his strong, flat wrists and the light hairs decorating the fading tan on his skin. She kept thinking of their kiss. Kept thinking,I’m his now.
That knowledge sank deeper and deeper into her psyche, swirling in her belly as they climbed aboard a private jet. This was her very last chance to reverse this mad decision she’d made, but within minutes, her opportunity to escape had folded and disappeared with the landing gear.
They were in a luxurious cabin with deep swivel chairs facing a dining table while Heskel retreated to a smaller cabin in the back.
“Do the pods back there recline into beds?” Joy asked curiously, stifling a yawn.
Axel glanced up from reading something on his tablet. “Are you tired?”
It was only the middle of the afternoon, but she admitted, “I was too nervous to sleep last night.” Or the night before. “Do you think they’d mind if I used one?”
“You’re not sleeping in the staff cabin,” he said disdainfully. “We have a stateroom.” He rose and moved to open a door she had thought led to a bathroom.
She followed out of curiosity.
Like the rest of the jet, the stateroom was furnished in a style of minimalist luxury. The bed was huge, made up with a snowy white duvet and overstuffed pillows. Big windows revealed an indigo sky over a layer of pink clouds as they headed into dusk. At the foot of the bed was a flat-screen television recessed into a bulkhead of cupboards and drawers.
Axel acted as though a private jet was a perfectly normal way to travel, but all of this was completely surreal. Especially the part where she was married to him.
What if he’s dangerous?David had asked in predictable big-brother protectiveness. Joy had tried to play it off that this was a normal thing to do, that this was merely a business deal.
Nothing about their kiss had felt normal or businesslike, though. Kisses were acts of affection. Sometimes they warmed her up for a more intimate encounter, but they never sent bolts of lightning crackling through her nerve endings, igniting a desire in the pit of her belly that lingered for hours afterward.
“Do you want something to sleep in? Or dare I hope you sleep naked?” Axel leaned his shoulder against the bulkhead. He let his gaze stray unabashedly and possessively down the formfitting yoga pants and loose pullover she wore.
“I—” her heart lurched “—don’t think I’m ready for that.”
