“You’re scared of flying,” he said quietly from beside her. “That’s why you were acting weird in the helicopter.”
“No, I’m—” She bit off the words and then sighed. “Yeah, I am. Just a little.”
He shook his head. “I’d forgotten about the crash. Jesus, how could I forget?”
“Hell,Itry my best to. And I’m not too bad. Except I keep flashing back to the pilot’s thoughts just before he died.”
“It was one of the worst days of my life. Your plane just vanished off the radar.”
“It wasn’t too good for me either. The thing I hate most is that I used to love flying.”
“I’ll teach you how to fly a plane. It’s one of the best feelings ever. You’ll forget you were ever afraid.”
She wasn’t sure how she felt about that. But she’d think about it later. If there was a later.
They were speeding down the runway now, and she kept her breathing slow and even, her fingers loose in Kane’s. Then they left the ground and her breath caught. They were climbing, and she felt slightly light-headed. Finally, they leveled out and the seatbelt light flashed off.
“Good. I need a drink.” She flicked open her seat belt—she hated the feeling of being strapped in, unable to move—and jumped up.
Beside her Kane rose to his feet, towering over her. He stared down. She’d thought his face free from expression earlier, now she noticed a tic jumping in his cheek. “No, you don’t. Not yet anyway. You need to come with me.”
“I do?”
“You want to have this conversation in public?”
She wasn’t sure she wanted to have this conversation—whatever it was about—at all. She looked around at the grinning faces.
Was no one going to save her?
“Not a chance,” Rose said. “Go take it like a man.”
She gave in to the inevitable and allowed herself to be pulled along—again.
Chapter 24
Kane had no clue where he was going. He just knew that he needed to get Kaitlin alone. He felt like he was on the verge of exploding.
He kept reliving that moment when they’d blown the door open. The smoke had cleared and there had been no one there. He’d thought he’d lost her again.
Her hand felt small in his. He tightened his grip.
“Ouch,” she muttered.
He loosened his hold. After all, she wasn’t going anywhere. At least her color had come back. He hadn’t realized how terrifiedshe was of flying. Hell, he hadn’t thought she was scared of anything.
There were two doors at the back of the plane. The first led into what was clearly a galley, complete with a flight attendant. He slammed the door quickly and tried the next one. It opened onto a spacious bedroom, dominated by a big double bed. And better yet, it was empty. He hustled her inside and closed the door behind them.
Kaitlin turned to face him and looked up, eyebrows raised. He almost smiled. He was glad she was back—he didn’t like to see her vulnerable.
Then his anger rose again.
He was furious. With her, with him. With the rest of the Kindred who had allowed her to run riot and do whatever she damn well pleased.
He’d been right and she’d been wrong, and she should damn well admit it.
He ripped off the reflector device and hurled it on the bed. Maybe it would be a good idea for her to get inside his head. It might wipe that supercilious expression from her face.
Her eyes widened. Then narrowed. She was no doubt reading him. He wanted inside her head so badly, but she curled her lip.
