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Chapter II
We walked through the airport, Aron holding my bag with one hand and my hand with his other. All around me were vampires and werewolves; I hadn't been off the property and this close to strangers in a very long time.
It made me nervous.
I saw many men chatting idly with other men, sometimes they had a woman beside them that looked as equally terrified as I, other times they would both be gazing into each other's eyes, murmuring whispers to each other.
Many people stopped to look at us as we walked, and I assumed it was because of Aron. I still had no idea why Willa was nearly gushing over him, I had never heard of him in my life – clearly he was somebody important.
Nobody approached him however; they maintained a distance offering a respectful nod before going back to their conversations.
We made it to the boarding queue and I stopped to take a breath as we waited in line. I felt nervous around all these strangers, and the queue was so stuffy. I felt the eyes of everyone boring into the back of my skull and my left arm became itchy from the anxiety I began feeling.
Once I boarded this plane I would separated by the ocean from my family. My beautiful Willa. I closed my eyes trying to hold my emotions in as I toyed with her bracelet. She had known what was going to happen, and she had given me her bracelet, an attempt to keep us connected.
A cold hand suddenly landed over the hand that was scratching roughly at my arm and I came back to awareness as I looked up at Aron who was frowning at my arm. Following his gaze I saw the little specks of blood.
Not unusual for me, whenever I begin to get nervous I always itch in that same spot, one time I peeled back most of the skin. Aron however looked horrified, I opened my mouth to say something and then closed it, what was I meant to say?
"C-can we not stay...with my family...j-just for a couple of days?" I whispered, feeling the homesickness washing over me in waves as I scratched my arm.
"You're hurting yourself," his deep voice rumbled. I jumped, having not heard it since we left the house. His tone was coloured with disapproval as he inspected my arm, before placing his hand back over it and leaving it there, pulling me forward when the line began to move. He ignored my question completely.
It began to itch with intensity again and I tried to pull it from Aron's hands, "i-it doesn't hurt, Lord Aron...it's j-just itchy."
Aron held it tighter, "I'm not going to allow you to peel your beautiful skin from your body. Come, we're boarding." He pulled me forward, handing the man at the gate our tickets. Pushing me in front of him, his hand at the small of my back guided me through the tunnel before we entered the crowded plan, already full of people.
I stilled, there were too many people, all looking at me before either holding their curious gaze or dropping it back to whatever they were doing before I had entered. I turned suddenly only to smack into Aron's chest. My heart began pounding as I realised this was it, and all I wanted was to drop to the floor and cry. "P-please don't make m-me leave my family," I pleaded quietly, my eyes welling up.
His eyes bore into mine and my heart rose at the tiny amount of defeat I saw in them, thinking he was about to agree.
"Sir let me direct you to your seat," the hostess behind me said to Aron.
"First class," Aron murmured, not taking his eyes off mine. I dropped my gaze to the ground, not wanting him to see me cry as he brushed past me, taking my hand and leading me through the aisles before I was led up some stairs.
We entered the first class area and it was scarcely filled, only three other couples in it. The hostess led us to the back to two very comfortable looking seats. "I will bring some refreshments once we take off," she murmured. I met her gaze and she smiled softly at me before walking off own the lane.
Aron nudged me forward and I took the window seat, angling myself to stare out at the tarmac, watching as other planes taxied by. I heard Aron opening the compartments and placing our carry-on bags inside before he took his seat next to me, immediately whipping out his phone and he began pressing buttons.
I'd never had a phone; in fact, technology in my house was very limited. All the girls at school had one, but I'd never felt the need for it. In my opinion it blocked you off from your surroundings, and a lot of people missed marvellous sights because of it.
I rested back into my seat, toying with my bracelet. I had never been on a plane before either, and the nerves began eating me up once more, my hand going to my arm and scratching.
"Don't," Aron ordered, his hand clamping over mine. "Or I will coat your nails in my venom, and it won't be such a nice feeling then." My heart stuttered at the threat, gone was the sweet persona he had maintained all evening, and here was the bossy and dangerous vampire.
Not wanting to find out whether he was being serious or not, I moved to toy with the bracelet, hoping that would take my mind off the itch.
"Good evening ladies and gentlemen and welcome to flight 0098 Vampire Airlines, we are flying non-stop from Yellowstone Regional Airport to Geneva International Airport. We are expecting calm conditions and hope to make it to our destination in just under thirty-two hours. Please find that the shutters are now being placed over the windows, if you need to get up for any reason please press the green button so that we do not disturb our sleeping inhabitants. In an hour all the lights will be shut off, so make sure you have everything you need." I listened with a frown on my face as she went through the safety procedure after that, Vampire Airlines. So clearly it was a plane designed to protect those inside from the sun, and be made dark enough to sleep throughout the day part of the flight. I felt nervous though, it would be so dark, and I wouldn't be able to sleep even though I'd officially been awake now for almost twenty-four hours.
"If you need anything love, wake me up," Aron murmured setting his phone down and removing his jacket, revealing a white dress shirt underneath. He rose and put the jacket in the compartment above us before sitting back down next to me, unbuttoning the first few buttons of his shirt.
I watched as a small amount of pale chest was exposed, and a strong part of me wondered what the rest of his chest would look like.
"You better stop looking at me like that love," Aron murmured. My gaze whipped up to meet his now very black eyes as he leant forward, his nose almost touching mine, "I'm not sure if you'd like what I'd do next." His hand rose and he stroked my cheek, quickly pulling back I turned my attention to the tarmac before the shutters began closing. "We're going to work on your affection issues," he murmured.
I felt my face heat up and I folded my arms, staring at the now closed window. Thankfully he said nothing else and the seatbelt lights came on. I looked down to find mine was already on, before turning to see Aron fastening his.
I felt the plane move and I jumped, hating not being able to see outside. I felt very confined in the plane, with no light coming in and being blocked by Aron I felt backed into a corner. The plane began moving faster before I felt it lifting off the ground, leaning heavily backward into my chair.
I didn't like this at all.
I clutched the chairs arms as we lifted, my heart thumping at the noise it made. It felt like we were forever going up, my ears popping, before suddenly we evened out. I took some steadying breaths as the seatbelt light flicked off and I nearly tore it from me, stumbling over Aron, his grasping hands missing my body by centre metres as I ran to the bathroom, locking myself in.
Throwing up whatever I had left in my stomach which probably wasn't much, I got up and flushed the toilet, ignoring the knocking on the door. I stood by the basin, staring into the mirror before wetting my face with cold water, and putting my damp hand to my neck.
I heard the lock snap and turned to see Aron entering the bathroom, closing the semi-broken door behind him. Taking strong steps toward me he took my right hand and before I knew what he was doing, he had coated each finger nail on the tip with venom.
"L-Lord A-Aron what are y-you doing?" I asked, shocked.
"I don't trust you not to scratch your arm, clearly your way too stressed. That will sting if you scratch mark my words, it'll wear off but it should put you off scratching, I won't have you hacking your pretty skin up," he released my arm and I felt for the first time in my life, the urge to scream really loudly.
He takes me from my home, my family, puts me on a plane to live across the ocean with him, and then he judges me for my scratching.
"I hate you," I whispered. I instantly regretted it as soon as I said it, I don't hate anybody, and I didn't want that there out in the universe either.
He let out a deep chuckle though, "no you don't. Because deep down you feel it," his arm came around my waist, pulling me right up against him. My hands went to his chest in shock, ready to push him away. "You feel the electricity when I do this," his hand grazed down my back and over my backside, pulling me into him.
I gasped at the shocks throughout my body, he didn't stop there though. "Your heart jumps when I do this," he stroked his fingers down my cheek and I began feeling dizzy, his mouth went to my ear, and I shivered as his warm breath tickled my ear, his stubble grazing just below it causing me to break out in goose bumps, "and you get aroused when I do this," he raked his teeth down my throat and I felt heat pool low in my belly, jolting when his lips pressed to my neck.
My breaths were becoming shallow, my body relaxing into his as he pulled away from my neck.
"So with those reactions, I find it hard to believe that you hate me," releasing me all together, apart from my hand he led me back out to my seat, and I struggled to calm down.
The hostess began handing out blankets while I tried to understand my body's reaction. Whenever anybody touched me, aside from Willa, I hated it. When he touched me...I closed my eyes tightly, suddenly feeling exhausted.
"Blanket?" The hostess asked Aron.
"Two please," Aron murmured. I felt his heated gaze on me
I felt the soft black blanket get placed over me, but I continued to stare at the shuttered window, rolling my body over to face that way as my chair reclined.
"Sweet dreams love," he murmured.
The lights shut off and I was surrounded by darkness.
-
I started awake, my heart hammering as I was met with darkness. Too much darkness, it felt like it was suffocating me! I pressed the button beside me, ignoring Aron's request of waking him. No thank you.
He slept soundly beside me; I heard his steady breathing but could barely make his shape out. I needed sun! And I knew where I could get it.
Stumbling out of my seat, careful not to jostle Aron even though I could barely see I made my way up toward the curtain where a small glimpse of light came through. I went behind the curtain and saw two hostesses in there, cutting up food.
"Lady Ashia," one of them said startled, "you cannot be in here. Lord Aron superficially told us to make sure you stayed in your seat.
"I need sunshine," I whispered. "I'm going crazy, I need light!"
"Lord Aron won't be happy Lady Ashia...if he wakes up..." the blonde hostess trailed off, worrying her lip between her teeth.
"Please," I pleaded. "I've been taken from my family, I'm not sure when I'll see them again, I'm a roller coaster of emotions – all I'm asking for is five minutes of sun," I flicked away the offending tears that slid down my cheeks.
The hostesses expression softened before she gestured I followed her. We had to go down some stairs and pass a bunch of sleeping vampires, a lot snored loudly. I heard someone crying as quietly as they could.
"You aren't the only one being taken from your home," the hostess whispered sadly.
We made it to a set of steel doors, the hostess pinned in a number and they opened, closing behind us before she opened the door to the cockpit.
The sun hit me full force and I closed my eyes at the bliss as I felt it seeping into my pores.
"Sylvia babe, is that you?" A man said from the controls, "could total go for some downtime if you know what I mean."
The blonde went red in the face before she cleared her throat, "um, Ashia wanted some sunshine."
Both pilots turned around, surprise flitting across their features.
"Well hello," a young red headed male turned around, grinning, "I'm Thomas beautiful."
"Careful Thomas," Sylvia murmured, "she belongs to....Lord Aron."
Thomas paled, "you mean to tell me Lord Aron is on my flight?"
"Dude I told you earlier...just didn't know his bride was on board as well," the flirty brown haired male next to him said. "So doll, sunshine?"
Getting nervous from all the attention I raked my fingers down my left arm, a yelp leaving my lips as the venom burned.
"Yes sunshine," Sylvia said, guiding me to a chair behind the pilots and sitting beside me. "We're not here for long. How off from dusk are we? I feel like it's the walking dead out there, wait until they introduce planes with coffins."
"Three or four hours," Thomas said. "So babe, you're not a vampire, you're too cute to be a werewolf, human or?"
I looked around uncomfortable, trying to ignore the burn in my arm. "Um...I-I'm a witch," I whispered.
"No kidding? My sister married a witch, parents weren't too chill with it but he's a pretty good guy I think. Know any cool spells?" I heard his smile as he spoke.
I smiled despite myself, "um...not really...my s-sister is better at magic then I am."
"You shy kitten?" the guy whose name I still did not know asked.
My face went red and Sylvia rolled her eyes, "ignore him. He always asks the obvious questions."
It went silent for a bit and I closed my eyes, enjoying the feel of the sun on my face. I felt like I was back in the grass again with Willa, and for a small moment I felt content, until the phone in the cockpit rang.
Sylvia answered it, her face taking on a look of fear as she hung up. Taking a breath she smiled, "time to go back Ashia."
I sighed and got up, "thank you for letting me sit in here."
"No worries babe," Thomas said, turning around and winking. "Make sure you don't tell your Soulmate out there that I cracked onto you, I'd like to finish this flight alive."
Before I could respond, Sylvia pulled me from the room, sealing the door and then opening the steel doors. Closing them behind us we waked back through the dark plane and toward the stairs that led back to first class.
When we reached the top I was gripped by two strong arms, and a yelp left my throat as I was pulled back to my seat, "I told you if you needed anything, to wake me up!" He hissed quietly as he sat me back down.
"What I needed, you could not give," I whispered as I turned away from him to face the side of the plane wall.
It was quiet for a few minutes before his voice broke the silence, "don't ever leave me again." I heard the arm of my chair make a vibrating noise as it lifted before I was pulled backward into Aron's chest.
I froze in shock before squirming, "s-sir t-this is making m-me feel nervous." This felt weird; I had never been touched or held in my life as much as I had by this man in the last twelve hours.
"Call me Aron, love," he murmured into my ear. "And I know," his hand circled around my stomach, his arm going under my head acting as a pillow, "but you will get used to it."
When I awoke it was to Aron nudging my arm. I blinked my eyes open, finding that the lights were on. The lights stung my eyes and I buried my head back into the pillow, realising it must be past dusk now.
"You need to wake up love, they're bringing out breakfast," Aron's mouth was dangerously close to my ear, and I tried to supress the shiver that ran down my back as I sat up, letting out a groan as I tried to readjust my eyes to the light.
Aron sat the arm back to its original spot before taking my blanket and handing it to the waiting hostess, it wasn't Sylvia. I looked at Aron who stretched, "I need to use the bathroom," I told him, biting my lip.
I watched as he got up, taking my hand and leading me to the toilet stall, and I noticed the lock had already been replaced. I was thankful he didn't follow me in as I turned and shut the door, flipping the lock.
I relieved myself first, a long yawn leaving me as I did so before I got up and flushed before heading over to the counter. I washed my hands as I took my appearance, my face was red and blotchy and I realised I had cried throughout the night, my hair was in a terrible mess so I pulled it up into a bun before wetting my face with cool water.
Dabbing it dry with a paper towel I made my way out, bumping into Aron as he turned around. "S-sorry," I whispered as I brushed past him. His hand came around my arm, holding me there.
"Out of curiosity, love, do you speak a tone over quiet?"
My face heated up, "oh – I um, I-I don't know," I squeaked.
He took a step toward me but I quickly turned around and went back to my seat, looking out the now open window. It was dark out, about eight in the evening and we were flying above ocean.
I felt him sit next to me, buttoning up his shirt. "I cannot wait to get home, and introduce you to my coven and family," he murmured as he took my hand in his and bought it to his lips. I swallowed my nerves as his other hand grazed up and down my exposed arm. I continue to stare out the window, trying not to pull my arm away, when the seatbelt light flashed on.
"Ladies and gentleman, if you could please fasten your seatbelts, we may be experiencing some turbulence." The voice was too cheerful for the message she had just delivered. No sooner had I fastened my belt the plane shook roughly and I jolted in shock as it did so again.
My hand gripped Aron's arm when it shook roughly again, an 'eep!' escaping me.
"It's alright love," Aron murmured. "It's just a bit of turbulence."
The plane smoothed out and the seatbelt sign came off and I relaxed my grip on Aron's arm, flexing my fingers. "Sorry," I whispered, noticing the fingernail marks dug into his skin.
He inspected his hand, "I've had worse. You have a grip on you that's for sure," he turned to look at me as I worriedly stared at his hand.
"That one had the venom on it," I whispered.
He smirked, "venom doesn't do much to me love, but thank you for your concern," before I knew it he had placed a chaste kiss to my lips before pulling away as our breakfast was bought to us.
I tried to ignore the tingling in my lips as I ate, praying that this flight would end soon and I could get out of this closed space, and have a bit of distance between myself and the brute beside me.
-
"Ashia, my love," I heard Aron's voice and I flickered my eyes open. "We're home," his face held the most amazing smile as he pointed out the window toward the houses and buildings, and green pastures.
Home.
His home.
I turned my eyes down to my hands, twisting them together and trying to hold back my tears. I wanted my home. I felt my chin wobble and I bit my lip hard, willing myself to hold it together.
His big hand moved to cup my cheek, running his thumb along my cheek bone. "I promise to make you a very happy woman," he murmured to me. "And you can have all the time in the world to settle in before we soul bond," his eyes went black; "before I make you mine in every way possible."
I took in his words, hearing the honesty behind it and I swallowed as he moved in, his lips nearing mine. At the last minute I turned my head and his lips landed on my cheek.
He sighed adding, "and I hope one day you will be comfortable enough for you to kiss me."
He sat back in his chair as the hostess announced that seatbelts needed to be put on as we were landing. I did mine with shaky hands, peering out the window as the rest of my life, lay out on the tarmac that we descended upon.
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