Fly With Me (Wild Aces #1)(47)



“Not in the last five hours.”

“I love your curves,” I murmured, rolling over and taking her with me until my hips rocked against hers, pressing her into the mattress. “So soft and sweet.”

I tilted her chin, touching my lips to hers, my tongue thrusting in as she made a little hum of pleasure.

“I love your mouth,” I murmured, my hands moving down and arching her forward as she wrapped her legs around my waist.

Jordan’s hands twined in my hair, pulling us even closer together, the kiss turning urgent and hungry as we made the most of the time we had left.



JORDAN

The Oklahoma City airport was quickly becoming both my most favorite and my least favorite place. When my plane landed and I walked toward the gate, my legs carrying me toward Noah, it felt like the best place on earth. But when he dropped me off there, when I waited by the security line, waited for the hug and release, for my legs to carry me away from him? Well, then it sucked. Big time.

It had been a good weekend. A great weekend. But I was sick of just having a couple days together. It wasn’t exactly a sustainable relationship. And I wasn’t sure how we were supposed to take things further if we could never spend time together. Maybe we should take a trip somewhere; I could suggest it after Meg’s wedding. I figured meeting the parents was probably enough to spring on him without adding the pressure of a couple’s trip. It felt like we were headed there, and at the same time, I couldn’t get my bearings on whether things were happening too quickly for us or not quickly enough.

Noah stood next to me while I checked in for my flight and gave the attendant my bag. Whatever weird mood had settled over me like a miasma seemed to have affected him, too, and we wore matching grim expressions as though steeling ourselves for an unpleasant and arduous task.

I’d been lucky in my life. Sure, I’d gone off to college, but I’d only been a few hours away from my parents, and I’d gone with my best friends, so it hadn’t been a big thing. I hadn’t had to say good-bye to a lot of people in my life, had always been fortunate enough to have the people I loved close.

I loved Noah.

I’d suspected I was falling in love with him since the beginning, had been able to recognize that this feeling inside me was something else entirely from the way I’d felt with other guys before. But now I knew. And given how complicated things were between us—the chasm created by his job and my difficulty coming to terms with how I fit into his lifestyle—I couldn’t say I was entirely happy about it.

And I didn’t know how he felt, or if we were even on the same page. We needed to talk about it, but I wasn’t sure how to broach that conversation. It seemed counterintuitive to push for a future I wasn’t sure I wanted.

God, I really was terrible at this.

We walked toward the security line, our hands linked, my chest tight.

I offered a lame attempt at a smile, not quite meeting his gaze.

“I’ll see you in a week.”

Noah squeezed my hand, the same conflicted expression on his face that I figured was mirrored on mine.

I waited for him to say something, hoping I’d somehow find the answers there. But he didn’t speak. He moved forward with a jerk, cupping my face, lifting my head to meet him halfway as his lips came down to claim mine.

Whatever the question, this was the answer. It wasn’t just a kiss—I’d had good kisses before him. It was the rightness of it. The inaudible click that I felt between us. It was something I hadn’t found before and it was the thing that kept me holding on, even as I wondered if I was nuts for doing so.

I clung to him, my nails digging into his biceps as his mouth laid waste to mine. It wasn’t as much of a good-bye kiss as it was both promise and claiming, a memory I’d take with me as I got on the plane and left him behind.

He pulled away, his gaze brimming with purpose, his want and need blasting me.

I didn’t speak. It was the kind of kiss that was a tough act to follow.

I walked through security, my heart heavy, lips swollen, throat thick with unshed tears. Each step took me farther and farther away; each step extended the invisible thread that connected us, the one I clung to now.

One week.





SIXTEEN




JORDAN

“What do you think?”

I looked up from my phone as Meg walked out into the salon wearing her wedding gown.

She looked stunning. The dress was a princess ball gown with lots of tulle and lace. It showed off her tiny waist, and even though she’d worried that it would be too much dress for her since she wasn’t tall, somehow it fit her perfectly. She looked like a delicate fairy.

“You look amazing.”

Our mother pulled out a tissue, dabbing at her eyes. “My little girl—all grown up.”

Meg grinned. “It’s perfect, right?”

“Mike is going to love it. You look like a princess.”

It was three days before the wedding, and Meg was having her final fitting to make sure nothing had changed and the dress still fit like a glove. I’d taken the week off to help Meg with last-minute wedding plans and to entertain all the out-of-town wedding guests who were beginning to trickle in. I’d already made four trips to the airport to pick up relatives and I still had to go back tomorrow to pick up Noah.

My mother and the bridal shop attendant fussed over Meg’s gown and veil, and I felt tears welling up. Images of us growing up together flashed before my eyes. I was so going to cry at the ceremony.

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