I gulp as he turns around, those passionate cobalt blue eyes burning into mine.
“Ready?” he asks.
I nod my head, not sure what I’m ready for, but knowing that I’m ready to go anywhere with him.
He turns back to the controls, hits a few switches, and then pulls on the joystick between his legs that looks like a big long… never mind.
We start to move. Up.
I glance out the window and see the top of my co-workers’ heads. Kyle is looking up with a worried look on his face, Susan is kissing the concrete, Devon is celebrating our successful take-off with a fist pump, and Pilot Dave is looking very confused.
The helicopter banks to the right and my stomach drops at the feeling. Or maybe it’s from the feeling of being so close to this absolute alpha of a man.
I’m sitting behind him and free to study the parts of him I can see. His thick tattooed arm and big round shoulder. I lick my lips when I gawk at the back of his neck, wondering how it would feel to run my fingers up it.
He’s so unbelievably hot. It’s not in a pretty-boy kind of way. He’s all man. Rough, growly, solid. The kind of man who takes what he wants. The kind of man who gets what he wants at all costs.
We’re flying high now and I can see the vast blue ocean on my right. The stunning luscious view of Maui is on my left, but I have no interest in any of it. Not when I’m able to gawk at this sexy pilot without him knowing.
When we’re far enough away from the heliport, he turns to me.
“Fucking hell, you’re gorgeous,” he says under his breath, but I hear every word through the headset. It sends a shiver through my body.
A whiff of his cologne hits my nose when he turns and it makes the hairs on my arms raise. He smells so good. I’m sure his natural manly scent smells even better.
“What happened to Pilot Dave?” I ask when I realize that this situation is a little fucked up. Are we still even on the tour or did I just get kidnapped?
“Change of plans,” he says. God, his voice… it’s low and gritty. It makes my thighs clench with every deep commanding word. “I’m taking you on an exclusive tour.”
He keeps his eyes mostly ahead, but every time he can, he glances back to steal a look at me. There’s awe in his eyes whenever he looks me over.
Did he really do this for me? Is he that taken with… me?
“Where exactly are we going?”
“Somewhere we can be alone. Somewhere private.”
“But we’re staying in the helicopter…”
He doesn’t answer.
“Right?”
He turns around with a sexy grin on his luscious lips. “You’re going to have the time of your life, I promise. You’re in my hands now. You belong to me.”
I swallow hard as he turns back around.
Being in his hands, in his arms, sounds like a very tempting place to be.
“Isn’t your boss going to be pissed that you basically stole a helicopter and kidnapped a client?”
“I’m the boss.”
Of course he is. I can’t imagine this alpha of a man taking orders from anyone.
“What about the police?”
“You can’t steal what’s yours. This is my helicopter.”
“What about me?”
He turns and those blue eyes pierce into me, grabbing my soul with a death grip. I can’t move when he looks at me like that.
“Like I said, you can’t steal what’s already yours.”
My breath quickens.
“You’re mine now, beautiful girl. You belong to me.”
“Are you for real?”
I’m playing hard to get, but I know it’s true. Whenever he looks at me with that possessive gaze, with that look of ownership, I know it’s only a matter of time before I submit to him.
“I could ask the same about you,” his deep voice growls in my ear. “Are you for real because you seem like a dream? One look and I’m already obsessed.”
“Oh, really?” I ask with a laugh.
He’s not laughing. “Really.”
I already find myself leaning toward him, my body drawn to him like a flower is drawn toward the sun. Like he’s the source of power my soul now needs to go on.
“Tell me your name, beautiful girl. I need to know it.”
I lick my lips and swallow. “Nia.”
“Nia,” he whispers. A smile forms on his lips. “Nia what?”
I can feel my cheeks blushing. Why am I so nervous? “Nia Henson.”
“Beautiful name for a beautiful girl. I’m Jack Caine.”
We sit in silence for a while, just the muted sound of the helicopter roaring through the headsets. I look out the window at some boats cutting white lines across the blue water.
“So, you own the place?” I ask, wanting to know everything about this mysterious man who apparently I now belong to.
He nods. “After I was discharged from the Air Force, I bought an old helicopter and started giving tours. Seven years later and I have a location on each of the four major islands, Maui, Oahu, Kaua’i, and the Big Island. I have fifty-two helicopters flying around Hawaii.”