Filthy Scrooge

“Hey.” I reached over and slapped his arm. “What are you doing?”

He opened one eye. “You’re doing fine.”

Panic rose. “There is no sleeping while flying.”

“Just ten minutes. Someone tired me out with all those children and a Santa suit.”

“Then we can call Joe back up here.”

He made an a-ok sign. “He’s sleeping.”

I looked over my shoulder and sure enough Joe had his arms folded and his hat over his face. “Well, wake him up.”

He laughed. “You know, if you were really flying, we’d have banked over there into that mountain.”

“What?”

He laughed. “I turned on the auto-pilot.”

I released the yoke and it stayed steady. “I’m going to kill you.” I flipped off my headphones and seatbelt and swung at him.

He held up his arms. “Hey, now.” He hooked his arm around my waist and dumped me into his lap. My hands were braced against his chest and our lips were inches away from each other.

“That’s a feral look right there,” he said in a low voice.

I couldn’t hear him quite as well without my headset, but I was doing well enough. And I was feeling pretty feral, to be honest. He’d let me think I was flying the stupid plane, so I had a right to rip his head off. But he was smart not to let a non-pilot do any sort of flying.

Not that I intended to give him any sort of out.

“I only turned on the auto-pilot a few minutes ago. So you did fly for a few minutes.”

“You’re just saying that so I won’t bite you.”

His lips twitched. “I don’t mind a few bite marks.”

“Pig.”

“Oink.”

“Incorrigible.”

“You have no idea. But you’re going to find out tonight.” He drew me closer. “Relentless, hungry, insatiable…” He trailed off as our lips met. His fingers curled into my sweater, then smoothed over my lower back.

Carnal and open-mouthed, the kiss was intense. He didn’t hold back. The laughter had gone between us and all that remained was his taste flooding my mouth. Air, oxygen, or even breath wasn’t an option. He took over every part of me.

The blackness fuzzed into the kiss and I tried to kill the panic. I dragged my mouth away and pushed back from him.

Too much. Dammit, why? Why did I always freak out when it got to be too much?

Though I’d never known anything quite like this before. Not even close.

He frowned up at me and tried to catch my hand, but I needed space. I headed for the back of the plane and nudged Joe. He sat up, completely alert. I nodded to the cockpit and he gave me a little two-fingered salute.

I dragged one of the blankets out of the overhead compartment. I had no idea what Linc had done with my damn purse. I was tired of looking out at the sea of blackness. At the trees and mountains that seemed so overwhelming.

Instead I did the only thing I could do when I was in this state. I tucked away the questions with no answers and the fear that existed with no likelihood of comfort.

And I slept.