In Flight (Up In The Air #1)

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Mr. Personality

I reached into one of my carts, handing James a cold bottle without speaking.

He took it, watching me with narrowed eyes. Cold Mr. Cavendish was back in full force.

What had I done now? I wanted to touch him. I wanted to ask him why he was angry, but I didn’t. I just watched him without speaking until he turned and strode to his seat.

I hadn’t even known we were boarding. Normally Stephan both made an announcement, for those of us in the galleys, and then came and told me personally.

Of course, with Damien and Murphy in the cockpit, things ran a little bit differently. He didn’t have to pull pilot duty for me, so he hadn’t had to come up to the flight deck.

Damien poked his smiling head out again, then came out completely, standing a little too close to me, his voice pitched low. “Who was that a*shole?” he asked.

I just grimaced. I wasn’t about to talk about it. I was already distracted enough.

“Could we get a couple of waters, as well? I’ll try not to be a dick about it, though, like Mr. Personality there,” he said with a smile.

I gave him a slight smile back, though I had to stifle the urge to tell him that it was Mr. Beautiful, thank you very much. I handed him two bottles.

“You guys need anything else?” I asked politely.

He dipped his head. “Thank you, beautiful. We’re good to go.” He disappeared back into the cockpit.

I shook my head. He’s in an odd mood today. It was poor timing, to say the least. James would take exception to even harmless flirting, I was quickly learning.

I headed into the cabin briskly, to tend to my three passengers.

I stopped at James first. He was in his usual seat, looking tense, his features hard as he sat and twisted his unopened bottle of water.

“Can I get you anything, Mr. Cavendish? May I take your jacket?”

He stood, crowding me back a step when he moved into the aisle. He moved closer, and I stood my ground that time. His chest brushed mine as he shrugged out of his pin-striped suit jacket.

I saw the Burberry label clearly as I folded the garment carefully against me.

“He calls you beautiful. How much of your beauty has he seen, Bianca?” he asked, his quiet voice intense.

I gave him a perplexed, unhappy look. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, but now is not the time to do so. I’m working, Mr. Cavendish.”

His jaw clenched. “Whatever you were doing up there with those pilots looked more like play than work to me.”

His anger didn’t make me want to cower, as I might have expected. It made me want to fight.

“Don’t be ridiculous. I was working, and they were being friendly. You don’t get to control me outside of what we do in the bedroom, James.” My voice was quiet, but furious. “And you especially don’t have any control over anything to do with my work.”

He shut his eyes tightly, then opened them again, looking a little more controlled than he had just an instant before.

“I hate that. You can’t have any idea how much I hate that,” he said quietly, moving back into his seat. He leaned his head back, closing his eyes.


I let him be, hanging up his coat. I checked on my other two passengers, who sat in the last row of first class. I sent an unmoved James a glance as I walked back into the galley to prepare two Jack and cokes.

He kept his eyes tightly shut even on takeoff. I watched him, my brow furrowed. Stephan glanced between the two of us.

“Everything okay?” he asked.

I gave my little shrug. “I don’t know. He doesn’t like me being friendly with Damien and Murphy. But I am, and I’ve only known James for a week. I don’t understand him at all.”

Stephan sighed. “I told Damien that you were involved with someone. He took it well, but he was obviously bummed about it. You know he’s always liked you.”

My eyes widened. “He always likes every woman he meets. What does that have to do with anything?”

Stephan gave me a meaningful look, then shook his head. “Never mind. Once James realizes just how unreceptive you are to any interest on Damien’s part, I’m sure he’ll be more reasonable.”

I rolled my eyes. Reasonable did not seem to be part of James’s repertoire, so far as I had seen.

At ten thousand feet I rose and began my service promptly, in spite of the fact that it would only take minutes, and then I would have hours to kill.

I stopped by a still unmoving James, debating whether to ask him if he needed anything, or just to pass him by, pretending he was sleeping. I knew he wasn’t by his hard mouth and clenched fists.

I decided to tend to the other passengers first, easily putting off the decision on how to deal with him.

I served the couple two more cocktails, and two waters, heading back to James. I sat in the empty seat beside him, but he still didn’t open his eyes. I touched his hand lightly, then his arm.

“Mr. Cavendish?” I asked him quietly.

“Didn’t I warn you what would happen if you touched me in front of other people?” he asked without opening his eyes.

I looked around. “No one can see us, so I don’t think this technically counts.”

He grabbed my hand, quick as a snake, placing it firmly against his rock hard cock. He was so ready to go. I was shocked. Just sitting here on the plane, fully aroused…

“Are you always hard?” I asked him quietly, almost more curious than anything else, though I was far from unmoved by his ardor.

He smiled, a pained smile. “Of course not. Just most of the time, lately.”

He moved against me slightly as he spoke, and I gripped him without thinking. He groaned.

I pulled back and stood, realizing what I’d been doing and where. And how fast it would lead to something more. I couldn’t believe my lack of control.

“I need to get back to work. Can I get you anything?”

He just gave me an ironic, arched look, his arousal obvious where he lounged, hands on his armrests now. “I don’t need a drink, if that’s what you’re asking.”

I left him hastily. Things were quickly getting out of hand.

I hand served the snack since I only had three passengers. James nodded that yes, he wanted the snack, then didn’t move. I had to open his tray table for him, something I did often. But folding it open on top of his impressive arousal was definitely a new experience for me.

He gave me a very heated, heavy-lidded gaze as I moved on.

Damned temperamental, arousing man, I thought in agitation.

I served the pilots next, then served the couple several more rounds of cocktails. They looked about ready to pass out, but still spoke quietly to each other and drank heavily.

As I re-entered my galley, I nearly jumped, my hand going to my heart.

“Damien, you startled me,” I told the pilot. Stephan was helping in back, and I hadn’t expected to find anyone behind the curtain when I’d swung it open.

He just smiled. “Sorry, beautiful. How’s it goin’? Are you bored out of your mind with an empty cabin?” he asked, knowing that I liked to keep busy.

I nodded, smiling. “I may have to cut off the couple in first class. They’re slurring their words, but show no signs of stopping. That’ll add a bit of excitement, if they’re the usual disgruntled drunks I’m used to dealing with.”

He flexed an arm. “Lemme know if you need a hand. I’d be happy to throw my weight around for you,” he joked.

I just laughed. “That won’t be necessary. They’ll probably just send me nasty looks for the rest of the flight, if I’ve judged them correctly.”

“So Stephan tells me that you’re actually seeing someone now. I thought you didn’t date… And he told me it’s pretty serious. Is that true?” he asked. That line of questioning is inappropriately personal, I thought. And it came out of left field.

My eyes widened in dismay at a number of his comments. I thought it was possible James could hear us from his close seating. I didn’t want him to think that I was telling people falsehoods about our purely sexual relationship, so I was quick to correct the Captain.

“Serious? No, of course not. I’ve only known him for a week. We’re actually not even dating. It’s…complicated.”

Damien looked way, way too happy with my explanation. An explanation that I never would have given Damien if I didn’t want James to be sure that I would correct any false assumptions about what we had going.

Damien was the type of guy I could be friends with, but he wasn’t anyone I would have confided in about a rocky relationship. I felt like I had revealed way too much, by his reaction. He positively beamed at me.

“Ah, I see. So you’re not gonna break my heart by going off the market, before I’ve even had a shot?” he teased, giving me a harmless smile.

I gave him a slightly stern look.

“You’re incorrigible, Damien,” I told him.

“It’s a fact,” he said, winking at me as he went back into the flight deck.

I moved into the bathroom almost the second he left. I started to shut the door behind me, but a hard body got in the way, pushing me farther into the bathroom.

James shut and locked the door behind us, his eyes wild. He grabbed my hands, placing them around the handle to the right of the mirror so that I was angled at the mirror with a clear view of myself with him behind me.

I gripped it automatically.

“Not serious?” he asked roughly, shoving my skirt up to my hips.

He pressed against me, hard arousal lined up against my cleft from behind through his slacks and my panties. He rocked against me slightly as his hands moved to the buttons of my blouse.

I’d removed my vest, so it was just my shirt he had to contend with. He tugged on my little neck tie, but left it intact. He unbuttoned my shirt just enough to grip it open, exposing my bra. He undid the front clasp, freeing the heavy globes of my breasts. He fondled me roughly, pinching the peaks into hardness while those wild eyes watched every move.

“You have a strange interpretation of the word serious, Bianca,” he growled at me as his hands and cock worked me to a fever pitch.

He moved one hand away from my breasts, and I felt him fingering my sex around my panties. He abruptly yanked, ripping my thong off in one brutal motion. He tucked the offending garment into his pocket, then went to work freeing his impressive erection with one hand.

He pushed against my entrance for just a beat, then thrust into me hard, and it felt so exquisite that my eyes closed as I moaned in pleasure.

“Open your eyes! Does this feel serious to you?” he asked me. He jolted into me.

I just moaned and moved against him. He moved faster and harder, thrusting in and out, until the pounding was jarringly intense.

“Answer me. Does this feel serious to you?” he asked again.

It was an effort to get the words out. I didn’t know how he did it. My mind was in a hazy disarray that didn’t allow for clear thinking.

“It feels like ser-serious f-f*cking,” I told him as he continued to ride me mercilessly from behind.

He growled like an animal and pulled my hair until the back of my head was forced to his shoulder. It made my back arch impossibly back. He bit my neck hard enough to leave a mark.

I came so hard that I thought I may have blacked out. He was still riding me when my vision cleared, though his pace had slowed.

“If anyone asks, you’re off limits. I thought we made this clear from the start,” he told me coldly, never pausing as he f*cked me senseless.

“I-I-,” I tried to speak and couldn’t. He was rubbing my * now, building me towards another mindless release. “Wha-wha-,” I gave up speaking after that.

He was merciless, bringing me to orgasm again and again, thrusting endlessly.

He’s punishing me with pleasure, I thought through the haze.

“Please, no more,” I told him finally, coming back down from another drugging spell.

“Tell me who you belong to,” he ordered, no hint of softness in his tone.

James wasn’t home. Only Mr. Cavendish could be this callously possessive.

“I’m yours, Mr. Cavendish. I was a virgin when I met you. Don’t you remember? You took my hymen. If I’d wanted someone else, I wouldn’t have been untouched.” I didn’t keep the desperation or the exasperation out of my voice.

He came with a growl, eyes still impossibly wild.

His cock twitched inside of me for long minutes after he finished, and he gave these impossibly sexy, involuntary thrusts as he rubbed out the rest of his long orgasm.

“If you are having trouble understanding, let me spell it out for you,” he told me harshly. “This is serious, Bianca. I’ve never been more f*cking serious in my life.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Mr. Affectionate

James began to straighten my clothes before he’d even pulled out of me. He fastened my bra, adjusting my breasts inside of the cups as though he did it every day. He buttoned up my blouse, straightening my tie and then my collar. He smoothed my hair, and then his own.

I noticed that he looked perfectly composed. His hair was perfect and even his tie was straight. Whereas I looked like someone had just tried to f*ck my brains out. I said as much.

He laughed. It was a rich, dark sound.

“Not quite. I was more likely trying to f*ck the serious into you,” he said, obviously in a much better mood.

“Has anyone ever told you that you’re a moody son of a bitch?”

He looked a little sheepish, and then thoughtful. “Not quite like that, but I can hardly argue with it.” As he spoke, he pulled out of me. It was a drawn out process, and he watched me the entire time.

I shivered. “I need to get back to work,” I said as he started to clean me, reaching around me to use the tiny sink.

He kissed my neck as he wet a paper towel.

“I want to f*ck you again, Bianca,” he murmured against my skin, but made no move to do so. “But I get to show you the 4th floor tomorrow, so you’re safe until then. I would hate to ride you too hard before then and then have to take it easy.”

My look was a question. “The 4th floor?”

His tone was off-hand as he cleaned me. “That’s the location of our playground, Love.” He straightened my skirt, smoothing it down. I shivered.


“I don’t have panties now.” It was an accusation.

“Yes, I know. They’re in my pocket,” he said blandly, straightening his own clothing and refastening his slacks.

I watched his every move, my eyes glued to his mouth-watering length as he pushed it back into it’s confines.

“I could use my mouth on you,” I said, watching that instrument of pleasure disappear and licking my lips. I was impetuously ravenous to do just that.

He straightened, watching me like a hawk in the mirror. He brought a hand to my face, pushing his index finger into my mouth. I opened, sucking it in. He pushed his finger in and out of my mouth, a parody of the act.

“Harder,” he told me, and I sucked him roughly. “Use your teeth, just a bit.”

I did, and he made a sound of approval in his throat.

“I’m going to f*ck your mouth tomorrow. But not until I’ve f*cked your cunt into submission.” He pulled his finger free as he spoke.

I squirmed at his coarse language, somehow never in the least offended by the dirty things he said. In fact, I was hugely turned on by it.

“You have a filthy mouth,” I told him, my eyes heavy-lidded.

He smirked. “Is that an invitation? I could get it that way in a hurry.” He ran a tongue over his teeth as he spoke.

My insides clenched at the sight.

I shook my head, trying to get my mind back on the fact that I was working and that I needed to actually do some work.

“I need to go.”

He gave me a twisted smile. “If anyone complains, you can always say you were servicing a passenger.”

I wrinkled my nose at his choice of words, opening the door to ease out of the bathroom. I shut it behind me, assuming he would wait a moment before following.

Stephan was in the galley when I opened the curtain, fixing more rum and cokes for the couple in first class.

“Sorry,” I mumbled, going to the counter and leaning against it.

He glanced at me with a wry smile. “You don’t do anything half-assed. You go from stone-cold celibacy to being too loud in the bathroom at work. You’ve got it bad, Buttercup,” he said, but with good humor.

He swept from the galley to deliver the drinks and I was still blushing when he came back in.

James joined us, coming to hug me from behind, as though completely unconcerned about the fact that I was working.

I tried to pull away. “James, I’m working.”

He just hugged me harder, kissing my neck.

“What has gotten into you?” I asked him.

“You guys should be fine, if you stay in the galley,” Stephan piped in with a smile. “The plane is practically empty, the couple in first class just used the restroom in back, and they show no signs of moving at the moment. Canoodle away, lovebirds.”

I glared at him. “You’re supposed to be the voice of reason, Stephan.”

He shrugged. “It’s not as though it’s a crowded flight. If nobody knows, there’s no harm done.”

As though taking those words as an invitation, James pressed against me harder.

I elbowed him. He didn’t budge.

“What about the rest of the crew? Anyone could write me up for this.”

James kissed the top of my head, putting his hands lightly on my hips. He hadn’t said a word since he’d come out of the bathroom. I couldn’t fathom what he was thinking. I could only tell that he was suddenly as affectionate as a baby kitten.

Stephan shrugged. “I doubt anyone would. Melissa doesn’t like you, but I have way more dirt on her, so she wouldn’t dare. Just relax. Flight attendants bring their significant others on flights all the time. You think you’re the first one to join the mile high club?”

I wondered briefly about what kind of dirt Stephan had on Melissa, but we were interrupted before I could ask.

As though cued into our conversation, Murphy stepped out of the cockpit, grinning at us.

“Did you consider our offer, Bianca?” he asked jovially, taking in James without comment.

Hard arms wrapped just under my breasts from behind.

I smiled at Murphy, hoping that James wouldn’t turn things awkward.

“Murphy, all you did was scare the poor girl away next week, as well,” Stephan told him with a grin.

Murphy looked crestfallen. “Is it possible I’m not as sexy as I think I am?”

We laughed. I looked up and even James was smiling.

Murphy went into the restroom.

“See, Mr. Beautiful, he’s not so bad.”

His grin died. “He’s not the one I’m worried about,” he told me.

How could such a beautiful man be insecure? I wondered. It was baffling to realize that he was.

I hadn’t thought James was worried about Murphy, but I was still totally bewildered that he was actually jealous of Damien.

“You’re the most gorgeous creature on the planet. How do you not know that you’ve completely ruined me for other men?” I asked him quietly, and he gave me a beatific smile.

He bent and ravished my mouth until I yielded. I was hesitant at first to share such a hot kiss outside of a bedroom. But it was hard to remember that in the moment. He swept a tongue into my mouth, and it went on and on.

I was moaning low in my throat when he pulled away.

“Tell me that again,” he murmured against my kiss-softened lips.

“A male supermodel would look downright homely standing next to you. No man could compare to you. Why would I ever bother with another one?” I spoke the words quietly, and he was swiftly kissing me again.

I realized I had found a weak spot. The words were nothing but the truth, but I needed to remember to use them when I needed them. I doubted he could stay mad when I reassured him in such a way.

I had no idea how long we’d been necking like teenagers when he pulled back again. I looked up into the startled gaze of Captain Damien, and a sheepish Stephan.

“Oh, hey,” I murmured through kiss-swollen lips. The two men looked like they had been trying to speak to us and I hadn’t even noticed.

James wrapped himself around me from behind again, his arms under my breasts and dangerously close to brushing too close for decency. He kissed my neck, giving me a soft bite as he pulled away. It was way too sensual for company, but I knew he didn’t give a damn.

He reached out a long arm to the shorter Damien. “Hi. I’m James Cavendish. Bianca’s boyfriend.”

Damien shook his hand, looking stunned. “Oh. Boyfriend? Oh, well, hi. I’m Damien. Nice to meet you. You must be a pretty great guy if Bianca gave you a chance.”

James kissed my neck again, sucking hard enough to leave a mark. He kissed the spot again as he pulled his face away.

I squirmed uncomfortably. Things were getting awkward fast.

“We were made for each other. It’s as simple as that. Bianca told me just a moment ago that I had ruined her for other men.” His voice was all charm, but I glanced up and behind and found that, unsurprisingly, his smile was all predatory challenge.

I elbowed him in the ribs. I couldn’t believe he’d said that. I blushed profusely.

Stephan laughed, though it died away when he saw my look.

Damien coughed uncomfortably. “Well, okay. I’d better get back. See you later.” He left.

I was fuming.

James began kissing my neck again.

I tried to stomp back on his foot and missed. “That was embarrassing and out of line, James. You can’t take things I say and use them like that. It makes me want to never tell you things like that.”

He murmured an apology against my neck. “I’m sorry. I just had to set him straight after the things you said to him earlier. I won’t do it again. Forgive me?”

His teeth tugged at my ear, and it was hard for me to concentrate.

“You need to go back to your seat,” I told him sternly, far from appeased.

His hands drifted up to my breasts, and I looked around, scandalized. But we were alone. I hadn’t even heard Stephan leave.

“I love you breasts. I’m going to clamp them tomorrow. I would pierce them for you, if you’d let me. I would love to mark you like that.”

I knew he was trying to distract me, but even knowing that, his tactic still worked. I was shocked. It sounded like such a hardcore, permanent thing to do. I had never in my life even considered doing something like that. And he said it as though he’d do it himself.

“You could do that? As in, you could do the piercing yourself?”

He murmured a yes against my shoulder, kneading my breasts with just the right pressure.

“You think I would allow anyone else to handle these? To do that to you? F*ck no. That would be a job for me.” He pinched them roughly as he spoke.

“You’ve done that before?” I asked him cautiously, my back arching automatically. I wasn’t really thinking of doing it. I was more curious about this odd skill of his.

He rubbed his hard erection against my butt. “I’m properly trained and quite good at it. It can’t be painless, but I’ll try my best to lessen the pain.”

I noticed that he didn’t exactly answer the question. I had a sudden vision of all of his ex-lovers sporting nipple rings for years after he was done with them. It did seem like a small price to pay, I supposed, considering how good he was in bed.

“Do you pierce all of your lovers?”

He snorted. “You have the oddest notions. No, I do not normally pierce my lovers.”

“Just your favorites?” I asked, half-serious.

“I only have one favorite,” he replied, nuzzling against me.

“What was her name?” I asked, getting annoyed that he wouldn’t give a real answer to the question.

He pinched a nipple hard enough to make me yelp. “I was referring to you, you silly girl. And to finally answer your persistent line of questioning, I have pierced three of my ex-lovers. Now, I believe it’s my turn to get some information from you. And, considering that you got to pick the question for me, I’ll do the same to you. Have you ever gone out with Captain Damien?”

I couldn’t have been happier with his question. I’d just been about to protest the exchange when he’d asked it.

“Nope.”

“Has he ever asked you out?”

“That’s two questions,” I said smugly.

“I believe I answered more than one.”

I sighed. “Yes, when we first started hanging out with them, he did. I said no, and he’s been completely platonic ever since.”

“Why did you say no? You seem to like him.”

I turned my head just enough to give him an arch look. “I wasn’t interested. Apparently it takes a very specific type of man to get my interest.”

He practically purred against my neck.