She’d just lose it in front of me, my friends, and a few Gibraltar flight attendants hitching a ride across the pond.
I looked at my watch. “Time to head to the gate. Wish me luck.”
Samantha flicked a little wave. “Good luck, Dev. Hope everything goes well for your nervous flyer. Maybe feed her some drinks?”
“Worst idea ever.”
Fort, Juliet, and I left the Galileo lounge, rolling our carry-ons behind us. Flying on a charter was more leisurely than flying commercial. It was still important to be on time, but the plane wouldn’t take off without you, and you wouldn’t be bounced from the flight if you were too far back in the boarding line.
Fort and Juliet held hands as they walked, exuding a sexed-up glow. They’d doubtless been going at it non-stop in the Tuscan countryside. The only sex I’d gotten during this trip was stroking a blindfolded submissive’s pussy during a BDSM gangbang, although that had been pretty damn arousing. I’d have to tell Fort and Juliet about it at some point, but probably not in front of the scientist I was supposed to help.
When we got to the gate, one of the pilots greeted me. He was standing beside a woman I thought I’d never see again.
No.
No, not possible.
What the fuck? It was as if my memory of the Via Sofferenza scene had summoned her. The wavy blonde hair was the same, the full lips, the awesome tits, but she was clothed, and her eyes obscured by scholarly, black-framed glasses instead of a blindfold.
“Captain Kincaid,” the older pilot said. “This is our guest for the flight, Dr. Ella Novatny.”
The woman from the dungeon—the theoretical astrophysicist?—looked at me and offered her hand. I forced a smile through my shock, and summoned my airline captain’s voice. “Nice to meet you,” I said, pretending I’d never laid eyes on her before.
She blinked at me, and I could see her panic, her worry. Not that she recognized me, although she did hold my gaze a little longer than normal. I noted that her eyes were blue, so blue. They were the one part of her I couldn’t see last night. Everything else had been naked, exposed, offered, reddened, marked…
Yes, it’s definitely you, you horny little masochist. I recognize you, even with those brainy glasses.
Captain Ross turned and patted Ella on the back. He was a veteran of Gibraltar Air with a flawless record. “You shouldn’t be nervous,” I told her. “You’ve got the best pilot in the business flying you over to New York.”
“Oh, ho, ho.” With his graying beard, Ross looked like an airline Santa Claus. “And you have to put your trust in Captain Kincaid here, Dr. Novatny. He’ll help you relax and tell you what’s what while we’re flying. Before you know it, we’ll be touching down at Kennedy International.”
Dr. Novatny—oh God, it’s her—listened to our banter with her shoulders hunched, her back to the sweeping glass walls and air traffic outside.
“Well,” said Captain Ross. “I’m off to do the preflight routine. The second officer and I will go over every list twice, just for you, doctor.”
He’s making a list, and checking it twice… How had I never noticed how much Ross looked like Santa? This whole encounter felt more and more like a farce. I’d slapped Dr. Novatny’s tits and whispered filthy things in her ear last night. She’d moaned and shuddered as I molested her…and I didn’t think she knew.
Now here we stood, pilot and nervous flyer. She turned to look out the window, her pale face drawn. I felt stressed as fuck, too. Did I tell her that I’d been there last night? That I’d touched her?
Hell no. How could I even start a conversation like that? But not telling her felt deceptive and shitty.
My friends chose that moment to join us. My thoughts flailed, trying to process the coincidence. Dr. Ella Novatny. I’d expected some old, frumpy, college-professor type. Even with the glasses, Ella looked too beautiful to be a scientist. Was it sexist to say that? Her eyes were blue like mine, but more oval-shaped, slanting at the corners. Her features were delicate. Lickable. At close quarters, her lips were a crime. I noted some pale freckles, dusty and scattered.
She looked on the verge of falling apart.
“Let me introduce my friends,” I said, turning and pulling them forward. “This is Fort St. Clair and his girlfriend Juliet Pope, and my first name is Dev. Well, Devin. Feel free to call me that. Or Dev. Or whatever.”
Fort gave me a strange look. I wasn’t normally one to blather around women. They greeted one another and then looked back at me. I didn’t notice the silence for a moment. No, I was staring at the masochistic sub from Via Sofferenza, trying to picture her in an astrophysics lab. Nope. All I could picture was her spread-eagled, nearly nude body, and her blindfold and gag.
No. Not a good thing to think about at this moment. Fort patted my shoulder. “All right, man. Juliet and I are boarding. We’ll save you two some seats.” He nodded at Ella with a sincere smile, then gave me one that was much more snarky. He suspected I had a hard-on for her, because he knew my thing about busty blondes. If Fort knew about our actual history…
“I guess we should board too,” I said, pushing away the memories and forcing myself to focus on her face rather than her chest. “Can I carry your bag?” I hoped my brisk, relaxed manner seemed natural.
Ella shot another glance out the window. Across the tarmac, a large plane swept in for a landing and she turned her back to it, fidgeting with her glasses. “I know the statistics about flight safety. I know I shouldn’t be afraid.”
“Of course not. Everything’s going to be fine.” I leaned closer, nearly as close as I’d been to her in the dungeon. “If you have any questions or concerns, I’ll be sitting right beside you to answer them.”
She took a deep breath, studying me, a glint of a question in her eyes. Did she remember me after all? Had she recognized my voice? No, she was only anxious, looking for reassurance. I wondered how someone so intelligent could be afraid of flying. It was pure science: lift, weight, thrust, and drag. I’d be happy to explain it to her when we took off, if we took off. She didn’t move toward the jet way. Her hands opened and closed on her carry-on’s handle.
“How can I help you?” I asked. “What questions or concerns can I address for you right now?”
“I don’t… It’s just…” She took a shuddering breath. “I really need to get to New York.”
“Don’t worry. You will.”
The fact that I’d spanked this woman’s ass last night didn’t register, only her trembling. She was so afraid. I could see it in her pallid complexion, her tight lips. “We need to leave now,” I said. “Are you ready?”
She turned from me and buried her face in her hands. I stared at her glossy, thick curls, imagined threading my fingers in them and dragging her onto the plane with my lips at her ear, whispering graphic, erotic threats. Would she like that? Definitely.
But it wouldn’t look very professional to everyone else.
“We really do need to go,” I said, sympathetically, but firmly. “The airport in New York will be expecting us at a certain time.”
“Okay. I’m going to get on the plane, but this is really, really hard. I’m really scared right now.”
“Did something happen?” I asked. “Something on some other flight?”
“No.” She was practically in tears. “That’s why this is so ridiculous. I’ve never had anything happen while I’m flying. But what if something does? It’ll be so…catastrophic.”
“You’ll know if something goes wrong, because you’ll see it in my face. That’s why we’re flying together. You can trust me to be honest with you. And I honestly promise that we’ll arrive in New York without a scratch on either of us. I travel thousands of miles a year by plane, and nothing’s ever happened to me, so I would know.”
Her eyes searched mine. Deep, rich blue, like photos of the earth’s oceans taken from outer space. Fuck. I had to get her on the plane.
“I don’t even want to go,” she burst out. “I wanted to decline the job in New York, but I can’t. I mean, it’s groundbreaking work, but… This morning, I just…”
“I think you want to go,” I said, cutting her off. “You’re here, aren’t you?” I kept my voice light. “Come on. You’ve got to see the inside of the plane. The first class compartment is a beauty.”
She turned toward the boarding door. Progress.
“So, you know how to fly this kind of plane?” she asked. “In case something goes wrong?”
“Well, there’s already a pilot and a co-pilot, who’s also called the first officer—”
“But do you know how to fly it?”