Yours Completely (Billionaires and Brides 1)
Jace turned, his smile completely absorbing her. Her knees trembled and she was glad she wasn't standing because she would have melted. “Yes. But it can wait.”
With that, he jumped on the bed and kissed her. She giggled and pulled down the sheet, letting him know that he should take her idea to stay in bed very seriously.
***
Wearing her new dress, complete with underwear, bra and shoes, Ella had never felt more spoiled in her life. Her stomach was full, her heart was happy, and she was walking across the tarmac to a bright blue helicopter bearing the Connor emblem.
Jace held her hand as the entered the helicopter. Ella had seen pictures of helicopters, but they were always of commercial or military styles. This was a luxury helicopter. Where other helicopters had simple black utilitarian seats, this one had leather. The pilot sat up front in his own cockpit area while the cabin area looked more like a luxury jet. The thing was so lavish it had wood floors and the leather chairs were so soft that Ella was tempted to rub her cheek against one.
“Are you sure this is a helicopter?” Ella asked as they stepped inside. She looked around. Some of the rooms at the inn weren't even this nice. This was no ordinary helicopter.
Jace laughed. “If you put on the headphones, you'll be able to he
ar the pilot.”
Ella grinned and sat down in one of the chairs by a window, pulling a pair of headphones over her head. She could hear a male voice calling out words to someone sounding very official. Jace laughed at her childlike enthusiasm, putting a headphone set over his head as well. He then showed her how to fasten the five-point harness that would strap them in. Ella tried not to think about why they would need such a big seat belt.
“You ready? We're about to take off,” Jace informed her, taking her hand and giving it a squeeze. Ella nodded, a terrified grin about ready to split her face in two. Suddenly, the idea of flying in something that looked like a fancy car didn't seem like such a good idea.
The helicopter blades started to whir. For a moment, she wasn't sure how the physics of the blades beating the air would lift such a massive piece of machinery into the air, yet upwards they floated. Ella giggled as the ground slowly fell away. The whole thing was far smoother than she had imagined it would be.
This isn't so different than being in a car, she thought to herself, looking out the window. The bushes and trees slowly melted into something the size of toys, making her dizzy.
Jace held her hand as the helicopter rose up over the inn and sped across the lake. The blue water sparkled in the sun and suddenly became far smaller than Ella remembered. She'd lived next to the water for her whole life, but now, for the first time, she could see the entire thing. It was smaller than she expected, but far bluer.
“How fast are we going?” Ella asked, watching the ground below zip away at incredible speed. It made her stomach flip to think about it, so she turned away from the window. Without the ground to give her perspective, she could pretend it was just a car ride and that they weren't floating hundreds of feet in the air.
“About one-hundred-fifty miles per hour,” Jace replied casually. He leaned back in his leather seat, looking incredibly comfortable. “We can get up to one-hundred-sixty-seven. I have another that can go faster.”
“Another? Faster?” Ella shook her head. The idea of going faster was kind of scary. That's what planes were for. “Considering my car barely does fifty, three times that is pretty impressive.”
“Impressive?” Jace grinned, his blue eyes sparkling. “Then I better take you in my jet next time. It can make the flight from New York to LA in less than four hours.”
“Now you're just showing off,” Ella replied, grinning at him. “Next you'll tell me your car can do two hundred miles per hour.”
“Two hundred and twenty four the last time I tried.” Jace flashed her a self-satisfied smirk.
“Well, at least I'm glad you're not as fast in other things.” She wiggled her eyebrows to imply just exactly what those other things were.
“That's about self control, not speed,” he murmured, leaning forward so his breath tickled her cheek. Pleasurable shivers ran up and down her spine. She wondered for a moment if the pilot could see them back here. Probably not, as billionaires seemed to like their privacy.
A gust of wind rocked the helicopter. Her hand tightened around Jace's and she suddenly wasn't thinking of his self control anymore. The gust wasn't very strong, but it reminded Ella that their feet weren't firmly planted on the ground. Despite the luxurious interior, they were still flying.
“Does it do that a lot?” she whispered. Ella prided herself on her ability to stay calm in any situation, but the idea of falling thousands of feet to her death had her uneasy.
The helicopter lurched again.
Jace squeezed her hand. He radiated calm, which Ella appreciated. “It's just a crosswind coming up from the lake,” he assured her. “I've been through thunderstorms in this thing. This is perfectly safe.”
“Sure,” she agreed, but her heart wasn't in it. Ella decided that she wasn't a huge fan of helicopters. “How much further?”
“We're almost there,” Jace told her. He then clicked on his headset and said something to the pilot before turning back to her. “Don't worry, I have the pilot going straight there.”
“Thank you.” Ella nodded weakly as the helicopter banked left. She was ready to get off this contraption that felt like it might fall to the ground at any moment. Helicopter rides were not quite what she had expected. “Thunderstorms, huh?”
“Big ones. I'm pretty sure we went upside down at one point.”
Ella narrowed her eyes. “Now you're just making crap up. You've never gone upside down in this.”