Chapter 2
A lump forms in my throat.God, I wish I had that.
Tears glisten in my eyes but I manage to hold them back.I'm not going to cry, I'm not going to cry, I'm not going to cry—
"Kael!" Eli dashes from the kitchen and into the living room, aiming straight for Kael.
Kael lifts his finger up to his lips to tell him to lower his volume.
Eli gives an apologetic look and whisper-shouts, "Kael!"
"That's my cue to take her," Sara says as she heads over to where her boyfriend is to cradle her child.
She smiles at me as she pats her baby on her back.
"I'll put her upstairs and then I'll be right back."
"Alright," I say.
Once Kael is free of Lissandra, Eli jumps unto him with excitement.
"Hey, there, kiddo," Kael chuckles as Eli hugs him fiercely.
I've taken Eli to see Kael and Sara a handful of times before.
He seems to be very enamored with Kael because of his fighting techniques and also because Sara told him that Kael kicked Jett's butt before during her dad's wedding and he's always wanted to learn how he did it so he can do the same to Jett in the near future.
"What have you been up to lately?"
"I've been practicing my blocks.
Wanna see them?" My brother says.
Kael nods and Eli does a series of blocking gestures with his arms.
"I'm getting good right?
Jett has been teaching me."
Upon hearing Jett's name, Kael snorts.
"You're learning from that bastard?
His moves are all worn out and outdated.
Come on.
I'll teach you better blocks so you can show Jett and maybe kick his ass, how about that?"
"Yeah!
I'm down for that," Eli says, squealing.
Kael and Eli disappear off outside and I know that'll be the last I hear from them for the next couple of hours.
I need to get started on my damn dinner.
I have eight hours to prepare a meal for eight people and I haven't even begun yet.
Maybe I shouldn't have been playing Mario-kart all morning.
I notice Jett coming up from behind the pillar and joining me as I make my way to the kitchen.
He's dressed in different clothes—a white polo shirt and brown khakis.
Damn white always makes him look good.
"Where have you been?" I nudge his arm with my shoulder.
"Hiding," he tells me, shrugging.
"Did you see Kael stealing Eli away?
That son of a bitch."
A laugh bubbles out of me.
"Jealous now, are we?"
Jett makes a disgusted face.
"No.
Of course not.
I never get jealous."
"Bullshit.
You got super jealous when Blake was my fuck-buddy."
Jett winces at the last word.
"Can we not talk about that?
I don't want to relive those days again.
I don't like hearing about who's had their cock inside your pussy," he says, sliding a protective arm around me.
Then, he lowers his head and whispers in my ear.
"They're non-existent to me.
Because your pussy ismine."
Ah, there's my crude, possessive, sex-driven Jett.
Laughing, I grab his and my favourite body part of his and squeeze.Hard.He groans loudly.
"And your cock ismine."
"Why don't you make that very clear to me?" He bites my ear and I shiver in delight.
God damn, how can a gesture so minute still have so much of an effect on me?
Even after one and a half years of being with him?
I shake my head.
"I can't right now.
I need to start dinner.
And Sara's helping me."
"Last time I checked, Sara's putting her baby to sleep upstairs," Jett leans down to press a kiss on my collarbone.
I moan softly.
He grins against my skin.
"And Kael has Eli outside." Another kiss on the side of my jaw.
It lingers on my skin, but not before he places another one on the edge of my lips.
"I'd reckon we have a couple of minutes before the rest of our guests arrive."
I bite my lip seductively.
"I wonder what we can do with a couple of minutes."
He holds up two fingers, a perverted smirk plastered on his face.
"Twice."
Damn.
Ambitious, are we?
"You'resoon."
Taking Jett's hand in mine, I quickly lead him towards the guest room.
Dinner can wait a few more minutes.
[ D E R E K ]
"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god," Aria says, one of her hands clutching the handle of her seat tightly and the other on mine, her fingers digging into my skin so hard that I wince.
I would point it out to her, but with her nerves at an all time high, she'll probably lash out and gauge my eyeballs out if I dare speak against her at a time like this.
From the window, the airplane begins to pick up speed, accelerating across the compound.
The faster it goes, the harder Aria grips my hand.
I wish there was any way for me to calm my wife down.
Typically, when she's sad or angry, it's nothing a little serenading or sweet loving can't fix, but this situation is different.
I highly doubt she'll want me to go down on her right now—not while she's both scared and nervous at the same time.
"Hey," I lean into her, pressing a small kiss on her bare shoulder.
She merely jerks away.
Dammit.
"It's going to to be fine."
Aria glares at me.
"How the hell do you know that?
Do you know how many plane crashes we've had this year alone?
Fifty-four.
Anything could go wrong—engine failure, bad weather, not enough fuel—"
"Okay, sweetheart, you need torelax," I tell her.
"You're only freaking yourself out.
Nothing bad's going to happen."
"You just jinxed it," she groans, her head falling back to her seat.
"You just fucking jinxed it, Derek.
I hate you—"
I groan.
Aria has had a phobia of flying since I've met her.
I've found out about it only last year, when we had to travel to Colorado for a Christmas getaway with our friends.
She refused to go on the plane at first, and it had taken two hours of me convincing her to realize it was just all in her head.
By the time she was ready to get on the plane, we had missed our flight and had to catch another one.
Fortunately for us, we arrived right on time before dinner.
This time, Imadesure we got on this flight.
I carried her, kicking and thrashing, into the plane.
She hates my guts for it right now, but I know she'll thank me later when we arrive
"Shhhh." I place my finger on my lips.
"There are children on board." My eyes dart to the two kids in the opposite seats who are both looking right back at us—all wide-eyed and curious.
"Sorry," she mumbles.
"I just—I don't like flying."
"I know, sweetheart.
I know," I say, frowning.
My hand cradles her cheek and angles her face so she's looking at me.
Her lip trembles with distress, her hand still clutching mine.
I want nothing more in this moment than to kiss her fears away and make her realize that I'm the only safe space she'll ever need.
Yeah, I know.
Some sappy stuff.
But I can't help it, Aria brings out that side of me.
And I like it.
"Why don't you just work onAshesfor a bit?
Your manuscript's due in two months," I tell her soothingly.
Ashesis the sequel to her debut middle-school fantasy book,Embers
She initially wanted for it to be a stand-alone novel but it was such a huge hit that her editor demanded that she should make it into a trilogy.
She's been working on the second book for months now and as much as I really think she should take a break from it and rest, I also want to get her mind off the fact that we're on a plane so I guess I'll go with whatever benefits her—and me—the most in the next seven hours.
She shakes her head.
"No, I can't work on it now.
I'm too distracted."
Oh well, it was worth a shot.
The plane dips slightly and Aria yelps, gripping my hand tight again.
I bite back an agonizing scream when her fingernails penetrate my skin again.
Once the plane normalizes itself again, she lets out a long breath and slackens against her seat, but not before catching a glimpse of my poor hand.
"Oh no," Aria says, turning my hand over.
Blood leaks from five punctured wounds thanks to her fingernails.
"Shit, it's bleeding."
"That's fine," I tell her.
"I'll just go clean up." The plane has already taken off and any minute we'll be allowed to go to washroom.
Her eyes are sharp when she grabs my hand again.
"You're not going to leave me here, are you?"
I cast her a perplexed look.
"Uh yeah?"
She shakes her head, her dark hair swishing.
"No.
You can't leave me.
I'll start thinking again about crashing and—"
You got to be kidding me.
"Sweetheart, it's a seven-hour flight.
Eventually I'll need to go and pee."
Aria's lips fall into the frown.
Then, releasing me, she leans over to the front pocket attached to the back of the seat in front of her, her hand rummaging through until she finds something and pulls it out.
Then, she throws it to me.
"Here," she says.
"Pee in here."
I curse under my breath.
I throw the paper bag back at her.
"I'm not going to pee in a goddamned bag."
"Why not?
People do it all the time—"
I make a face.
"What people?"
"I don't know." She shrugs.
"Okay, maybe not people.
But you can do it.
You've done it before when we had that road trip to New Port—"
"That was because there was no gas station for miles!" I hiss at her.
She pouts at me, and I immediately soften.