Total pages in book: 51
Estimated words: 49441 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 247(@200wpm)___ 198(@250wpm)___ 165(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 49441 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 247(@200wpm)___ 198(@250wpm)___ 165(@300wpm)
“How often do you travel?” I asked, turning back to find Nathaniel already watching me as I took in the aircraft.
“Reasonably often. Especially when I was doing research on the key and labyrinth. When I’m not using it, I rent it out to others with similar aversions to public transit.”
“Oh, yes, my popcorn,” I said, rushing over to the kitchenette to grab the bag of cheddar popcorn and one of the drinks I’d requested before choosing the bench, solely for the ability to stretch out my legs.
Alright, fine, the better angle to view the TV was part of it too.
While Nathaniel rolled his eyes as I made my selection, he said nothing as one of my shows filled the screen just before we took off.
The thing was, though, that I hadn’t done quite as much running around in years as I had in the cathedral. So my body was exhausted. I barely got into the storyline before I was drifting off again.
I only woke up again as the plane landed on the tarmac, jolting me around wildly, making me shoot up.
A blanket pooled around my waist, and I realized that the only person who could have covered me was the grumpy vampire himself, since there was no staff, save for the pilot and co-pilot.
“We’re here?” I asked, reaching up to push some of my hair out of my face, feeling a little disoriented as I slid my legs back to the floor.
“Yes,” he confirmed. “And we must hurry to be off,” he said, glancing at his watch.
“Isn’t the sun up?” I asked, remembering the little golden tendrils spreading across the sky when we’d first gotten on the plane.
“Time difference,” he reminded me. “We lucked out with rainy weather, but the sun should be out within the next hour,” he told me, moving toward the door as the pilot came out of the cabin to lower the steps and offer Nathaniel his goodbyes.
“Roxanne,” Nathaniel called, making me jolt as I slid my feet back into the uncomfortable shoes.
He was holding a hand out. Like he expected me to slip my hand into it.
The strangest thing was how much I wanted to do just that.
“Roxy,” I corrected as I got to my feet.
“Roxy,” he repeated, reaching for my hand when I didn’t offer him mine. I couldn’t tell what I was more stunned by. The way my belly flip-flopped at the sound of my name on his lips. Or the way his fingers slipped between mine, then held tight. “We have to be fast,” he told me, holding my hand tighter.
I realized just a split second before it happened that he meant we had to do the super-speed thing. But this time, without his arms around me, it was even more disorienting to actually be pulled along behind him.
The wind whipped around me, making my hair fly out behind me as my belly bottomed out, and adrenaline made my heart trip into overdrive.
At the last second, before I was sure we were about to collide into the parked town car, Nathaniel twisted me, wrapping an arm around my waist and pulling me into the car and onto his lap the same way he had the last time.
The difference being that, this time, shock and fear weren’t gripping my system.
Oh, no.
It was an entirely different set of feelings crashing through my system as we finally stopped moving, and I was settled against his body.
Namely, exhilaration.
And the undeniable spark of desire.
One that threatened a wildfire.
I wanted to stay just there. I wanted to wiggle and writhe against him, to get relief from the need that was a coiled ache in my core.
That was exactly the reason I slid my butt off and onto the seat beside him, then, a little more reluctantly, moved my legs off of him as well.
“You could sell rides to that,” I said, pressing a hand to my still-frantic heart. Though, I think it had less to do with the run and more to do with the desire coursing through my bloodstream.
Nathaniel’s brow raised, making me realize the other way that comment could have been taken.
“The flying thing,” I said, sucking in a deep breath to calm the need. Only to breathe in his crisp, clean scent that only intensified the feelings I was trying to fend off.
“Right,” he said, nodding stiffly. “Of course,” he added, shifting in his seat, turning away from me to look out of the heavily darkened windows. “We just made it,” he observed as the sun broke out from between the previously gray skies, banking the entire tarmac in fatally bright light.
“So, ah, about this labyrinth,” I started.
“What about it?”
“It might be helpful if I knew more about it. Kinda gonna be walking around in the dark all by myself here.”
“I will be with you,” he said, making my head snap over.