Airplanes were not fun, I realized two hours into our long, long flight. It would still be at least six hours, although Dante told me that was a hopeful estimate. It usually was an eight and a half hour trip, but the skies or the wind were in our favor, and it'd likely be shorter.
Dante had stocked the plane with books for me, as well as a TV that sat across from where I was, but the idea of simply sitting for eight hours was driving me insane. I didn't know why, either. I had sat in waiting for eleven years, why I couldn't do the same for a matter of hours while we flew across the globe was beyond me.
All I really knew was that once we got there, I would be far too close to Magnus, surrounded by wolves I didn't know, and somehow live in a pack when I had no wolf.
After rereading the same page for what must've been ten minutes, I set the book down with a silent sigh. Reading was not going to work, and I certainly didn't care to watch television.
Dante sat on the couch across from me, his attention completely engrossed in his sleek laptop. I didn't bother him, knowing I had kept him from doing any work for days.
I rest my arms on the table to my left, dropping my head onto my arms. My eyes wandered around the plane. It was the same one we had taken to go to my home, and to get Millie and Daisy. There were plenty of comfy, padded gray seats all around, with a couch on each side of the plane, facing each other. Dante sat on one, and I sat on the other.
At the end of the plane closest to the cockpit, a silver mini-fridge was fitted into a space in the wall. All around the fridge were cupboards full of snacks. Dante had of course shown me all of this when we got in, in an effort to get me to eat. I had accepted a water bottle, but nothing more.
The sound of Dante's fingers typing on his keyboard filled the room, and I moved my gaze back to him, watching him in concentration. His own blue-green eyes were darting back and forth across the screen, absorbing all of its information at a lightning pace.
I drifted my eyes once again, this time landing on my own fingers. His flew across his keyboard with a deftness I could never hope to mimic. Dante's hands were far stronger, too. Bringing my thin hands closer to my face, I stretched out a finger, seeing every bone and joint as my skin stretched and my joint cracked.
I then critiqued my nails. They were still the same gray that Sapphire had helped me paint on them what felt like forever ago, and they had yet to chip.
"A nap might cure your boredom," Dante spoke, lifting his eyes to meet mine over his screen.
A faint blush rose to my cheeks at his attentiveness. "I'm not tired." Dante had encouraged me to try and sleep through the flight earlier, as it would pass by quicker, but I was far too awake to even try.
"It'd help with the jet lag. There's some melatonin in the bedside table."
I didn't even know what that was, but I didn't pay too much attention to his suggestion. I was not napping.
Standing up, I decided to stretch. My shoulders rolled back, bones cracking as they did so, and the sound was loud in the tiny space. I'm pretty sure Dante was still watching me, but I paid him no mind. Walking over to the fridge, I grabbed myself another water bottle, having finished my first awhile ago.
"Do you want anything?" I asked, turning around to glance at him.
His eyes were already trained on me, and he shook his head. "No, thank you."
I shut the fridge, making my way back to my seat. Just as I went to sit, Dante leaned over his computer, grabbing my wrist, and tugged, bringing me down onto the couch next to him.
The movement surprised me, and I stiffened up as I fell into the couch, letting out a breath as I crashed into the soft cushions.
"You're nerves are all over the place. Sit."
I blinked, recovering from his sudden grab. "Of course I'll sit, thanks for asking." The sarcastic comment rolled out while I adjusted myself, fixing my sweater that had rolled up slightly from the impact.
"You were just going to sit over there and fidget. Why are you so restless?"
"I am not restless. I'm just bored."
He raised an eyebrow. "You're too energetic to be bored. Besides, I've seen you bored. This is restless."
I watched as he shut his computer silently, placing it on the table next to him. "I didn't realize I was being distracting." My fidgeting and inability to concentrate was now keeping him from his work, and I felt bad. "I'll go back to reading."
Dante's hand moved straight back to my wrist as I went to get up, keeping me from leaving. "No. What are you worried about?"
"I'm not worried." His hand receded once I made no movement to go, taking his warmth and electricity with it.
"You haven't been able to sit still for the past hour."
"That doesn't mean I'm worried." My eyes flitted back over to his fancy computer. I briefly wondered how much it cost. "You were working. I didn't mean to bother you."
"Is it Magnus?"
While Magnus was a definite worry of mine, I didn't think he was causing me to worry right then. He certainly could've been, but I wasn't able to concentrate in my thoughts long enough to figure that out. So once again, I fought Dante. "I'm not worried."
"It might be more than Magnus. Is it?"
"Dante, I'm fine. Really."
He leaned against his side of the couch now, giving me a look of clear disbelief. "Alright, so you'll be fine when I bring you to the challenge tonight?"
Bring me to the challenge? No way was that happening. "You are not bringing me to the challenge."
He shook his head. "No, I'm not. I don't want you that close to Magnus. Nor do you need to see anyone die."
My eyes widened. "I thought the death part was optional?"
"It is, but it's up to the two fighting each other, and Andrew is set on it."
"Andrew is your beta?" I remembered the name from earlier, but still wanted clarification.
"Yes. Derek is the beta of my other pack."
The idea of being Alpha of two separate packs was intriguing, to say the least. I had little idea of how normal Alphas ran their packs, let alone royal ones who ran two and also spent half their time across the globe.
"Does it work well, having two separate packs?" My curiosity got the better of me, and I asked.
Dante nodded, but seemed stressed at the thought of his two packs. "It works fine, especially since my Betas are excellent. If they weren't so capable, things would fall apart."
"Why didn't you just combine the packs?"
"My parents were going to combine them, but then they discovered the palace and got busy figuring that arrangement out. When the Royal Pack was finally configured and resurrected, my mom was pregnant with the twins, and my parents figured they'd leave the packs separate but connected, and continue to push for good relations between the two packs. Had they or I ever tried to join the two and later split them, one of the packs would have inevitably been weaker, having to find new betas, warriors, and everyone else."
That made sense in the long run, but seemed a lot more stressful on Dante and his parents.
"Is it everything to do with the packs that's stressing you out?"
"I am not stressed."
"Your foot bounces when you think. Something's bothering you." He observed.
A sigh escaped me. "You aren't going to drop this." I knew Dante well enough at this point to state this instead of asking it.
His silence was his answer, and I had to answer. "Honestly, I don't know. It might be Magnus. It might be being in a pack."
Dante seemed to think over his response for a moment, eyeing me as I deflated again. "Magnus won't be a problem. When he's on pack boundaries, you'll be kept within my reach, but out of his. Other than him, I don't see any possible safety concerns for you."
"When will he be on pack boundaries?"
Once again, there was a hesitant pause before he answered. He watched me, seemingly for my reaction. "Tonight. His Beta challenged mine, so the challenge would happen on my territory."
Holy hell. That's not nerve-racking in the slightest, I thought, chewing on my lip.
Dante noticed my immediate worry, and spoke up again. "He won't get near you. It will be a quick fight, too. I was going to have you stay in my office with Shane."
"Your office?" As in, his totally official, professional Alpha office? That was almost scarier than being with Magnus. He was going to trust me in there?
"Yes. Shane is my best warrior, so I won't need to worry about you if anything goes unexpectedly."
My mind mulled over his response. I wouldn't run into Magnus at all, it seemed, and when Magnus was around, Dante would leave me with someone fully capable of ensuring Magnus didn't rip my head off my shoulders.
Pulling my legs up and tucking them into my side, I considered the remaining worries about this trip. "Tell me about your pack."
I didn't pluralize the word, mostly out of forgetting to, but it didn't seem to matter. Magnus seemed to have problems with only one of the packs—the Lancaster pack, I think—and it seemed most of his business would deal with that one, if not all.
Dante still watched me as he thought over his answer. "Andrew is my Beta. After the creation of the Royal Pack, my dad's Beta became the Royal Beta, taking him and his lineage to that pack. Andrew's father was one of the strongest warriors, as well as brilliant, so he was chosen for the spot. Andrew is no different from his father, and they've been outstanding, especially considering their lack of Alpha or Beta blood."
Alpha and Beta blood were simply superior to that of a normal wolf's, so this was an impressive surprise from Dante's Beta. It was rare that normal wolves were able to compete even the weakest of Betas.
"The story is similar with Shane, too. My Gamma, however, is the younger son of the Royal Gamma. His older brother waiting for his father to step down to take the royal spot." A story similar to Dante's, but I didn't comment on that.
I did, however, speak up. "Do you spend much time at the pack house?" I was pretty sure he had told me that he lived in a separate house, so I didn't know what function the pack house played.
"Yes. My office is there, and I make sure there's always a weekly pack gathering to be able to see all of my pack. More and more wolves are choosing to move out of the pack house and live in their own houses, which makes these gatherings important for them, too. It also means that there's a lot more free space in the pack house than before. I don't know what I'm going to do with all of it yet."
His answer left me with no more questions about his pack, so we settled into a silence. The pack gatherings sounded like a nice thing, though, and I'm sure not too many Alphas made it a regularly scheduled thing to make sure the pack always feels homey and connected.
"How much longer are we on this plane?" I finally asked. I wasn't tired enough to sleep, or focused enough to be able to read or watch something, so time was the enemy right now.
Dante cracked a small smile, checking his watch. "Probably still six more hours. But I'm pretty sure the longer you think about the time, the longer this flight will take."
I stifled a groan and let my head fall back against the couch.
"I still have those melatonin pills. You could always sleep the flight away. It would screw up your sleep schedule, though."
I didn't want that. "I definitely want to be able to sleep after Magnus leaves."
"I'm not worried about Magnus." Dante made his voice higher to mock me and gave me a pointed look.
My jaw dropped at his impression. "I do not sound like that and I'm not worried about Magnus. I'm just bored."
And also worried. But I was not going to let Dante think he could read me like a book.
"Liar." His smug look told me he definitely thought he was correct, but he moved on before I could argue any more. "Magnus is a pain, but if he attempted anything with you he'd be killed. The man hasn't lived this long making risky moves. Besides, I don't think he'd be able to know you were an Abernathy off smell alone, although he might be able to tell by just looking at you. Regardless, he can't touch you without risking his own life, and I don't think he'd do that."
"Only some of that made him seem less scary. And you keep saying touch me like all he would want to do is grab my arm." I raised my brows at him, calling him out for lessening whatever it is he thinks Magnus might do to me.
Dante's irises darkened, and he crossed his huge arms over his chest. "I have no idea what Magnus would do exactly, nor do I even wish to consider any options, but I'm certain he's dreamt of getting back at your family. You being so close would be the perfect opportunity, and you being female gives him far more ways to hurt your family than he'd have with any of your brothers. Are you still pleased to have left the safety of your family?" His tone told me he did not like that I brought this up, and after hearing Dante's explanation, I wasn't happy to have brought it up either.
But at least he wasn't sugar coating it. He usually tried to spare my feelings and make things easier, but he was telling me what Magnus would want for me in clear words.
Dante's eyes were still dark at the thought, and I felt bad having riled him up. Unconsciously, I grabbed his bicep and leaned up to plant my lips on his cheek in a soft kiss, and I could barely be bewildered at my own actions afterwards.
"Yes, I'm still pleased. You're being far more candid than they would be, anyway." I squeezed his bicep once more, once again surprising myself at my actions, before I got up and returned to my old couch. Dante shockingly allowed me this time, and I picked up my book again.
* * *
Another couple of hours of the plane went by, and I had read the entire time. Dante had gone back to his work, so we didn't speak much. Dante had suggested I eat something, which I turned down, and then he mumbled something grumpily. I asked him a few times how much longer we'd be on the plane. That was the extent of our communication.
Finally, I had had enough of my book. I tucked the back cover slip into the page and closed it, setting it down on the table next to me with a sigh. I sat up from my laying position on the couch and faced Dante, tucking my hands under my knees on the edge of the couch.
"Can I have the time estimate again?"
This was probably the fifth time I've asked Dante in the past hour, and I guess it was his breaking point, because he shut his computer, got up, and gave me no time to anticipate his hands grabbing me.
"Eep! I just asked a question!" I protested, as he grabbed me by my waist and threw me over his shoulder.
"And you have asked that same question exactly nine times in the past two hours. It is time you take a nap and wake up in America."
"No, I don't want to screw up my sl—" He dropped me onto the bed in the back without any sort of warning, and I bounced as the bed adjusted to the weight being dropped. Dante immediately opened the bedside table drawer, rummaging through it, and I sat up, ready to keep arguing. "You cannot just force me to take this stupid pill and go to sleep. I'm fine finding something to do and I'll leave you be. No more questions."
The shaking sound of pills in a bottle sounded as he grabbed it, setting it on the counter.
"You also cannot just pick me up and throw me on a bed!" I added in an exasperated tone. Dante seemed to enjoy manhandling me, but I did not.
He turned to give me a wink after that remark. "Oh, I definitely can do that." He left the bottle on the counter and left the bedroom, giving me some much needed relief from him.
Thank Goddess he left. I wouldn't take his stupid pill and he could go back to his work and I'd spend the next few hours counting them down by the minute if I had to.
I grabbed the bottle of pills, opened the drawer, and put them back inside, but not before taking a glance at everything else in the drawer.
There was a notepad, some pens, some small metallic squares that I had never seen before, a sleep mask, and a small bottle of wolfsbane liquor that rolled back and forth when the plane tilted. Maybe that's how I'd kill the time in here.
I had just grabbed one of the intriguing foil squares, feeling some sort of circle inside and holding it up in the light to see the shine, when Dante returned with a glass bottle of water.
I set the foil back with the rest and shut the drawer. Unfortunately, Dante seemed to have caught me, because he had a raised eyebrows and his eyes set on the drawer.
"Find something you like in there?" His voice held an amusing tone, but he still looked hell-bent on getting me to have the stupid melatonin. He set the bottle on the table and opened the drawer again.
"I didn't know what it was. Sorry."
He froze in his search for the pill bottle, slowly turning his head to look at me. His expression was stunned. "You didn't know what that was?"
I blinked. "Should I?"
"You're serious right now." Sort of a question, but not really. I was only left more confused.
"Are you going to tell me, or is this still like shocking? Also, not taking that pill." My eyes glanced at the pill bottle in the open drawer.
"It's a condom. And you are going to take the pill. Probably."
I had never heard of one of those before, but I had gone this long not knowing what it was. "Okay. I still don't know what that is. And no pill."
"Maybe no pill. You really don't know what a condom is?"
He was getting redundant, and I was getting frustrated. "No, I don't. Why is this so surprising?"
This elicited a sigh out of Dante, who shut the drawer. "Because I didn't even consider the fact that I've probably already rushed you into things without your understanding. Goddess, I have, haven't I?"
My comprehension of this situation had only lessened with his words, and I could have groaned in frustration. "Maybe if you'd explain anything, I'd be able to understand you."
"A condom is for sex. It prevents pregnancies. And diseases. Most of the time, anyway. It's like a glove for your dick."
My jaw dropped at his crudeness, and then my mind instantly connected the bed and the condom being so close to each other, and I jumped up and off the bed. I practically threw myself into Dante's chest from the rapid movements, but he luckily stepped back. "Oh my Goddess, you threw me onto a dirty sex bed." I'd kill him. I really, really would.
Unfortunately, while I had grown serious about the situation, Dante had found my reaction hilarious, and was practically howling in laughter, his hand on his stomach.
"Oh, so now it's funny? This bed could be filthy and you just dropped me onto it." My hands dusted off my backside as I glared at him, which he only found more funny.
"I promise you that bed is clean. The sheets are replaced between every flight whether they're used or not, and I don't know any recent passengers that would've had an interest." He explained once he finally stopped laughing. He still had a stupid glint of amusement in his eyes, but I was still rather annoyed.
"There would be no reason to have so many of those things if people weren't using—"
"Florence, I can promise you this bed is perfectly clean. My parents would be the only worry, and that's too gross to think about, but the bed doesn't smell like anyone but you."
I still held my glare, but moved on. The bed was clean, and even though dick gloves for sex were literally right next to it, I had not been laying on anything I wouldn't want to be.
I really didn't know anything about sex. A fact I had glossed over a few times within the past month, but a fact that was becoming more and more prominent as Dante and I grew closer.
Finally understanding what a condom was, I was able to revisit Dante's worry. "You think you're rushing me into things?" I plopped back down onto my seat on the bed, praying to the goddess that Dante was completely right.
His amusement was gone, replaced by a sober look of concern. "I'm worried that I have been. I thought I'd been stopping when I needed to, but maybe—"
The snarky reply was out of my mouth before I could even think about my words. "Oh, you've certainly been stopping."
Dante cut off any more words he had maybe planned to say and instead raised one very interested brow. "You sound like you've taken a notice of this." He leaned over, placing his hands on either side of my hips and bringing his face closer to mine. My cheeks heated in the hottest of red blushes, and I had to hope to heavens that Dante didn't see my mortification. "Do tell me how you feel."
His smoky, woodsy scent consumed me, and I could barely keep myself together. Be strong. Do not let him know how much you've though about his abrupt departure from your shower.
"I, uh, don't have any, uh, feelings about it. None. At all. Perfectly fine." Unfortunately for me, my breaths came out slightly labored.
"Really?" He dragged the word out, those beautiful eyes flickering between my own, my lips, and then back up again. "Because it sounded to me like you weren't pleased about it, and knowing that would help clear all my worries away."
I scooted back a little, hoping to get out of this huge man's reach. He was looking at me like I was prey he'd love nothing more than to catch, and I was still horribly embarrassed from having exposed my own feelings. "Yep. Yes. I was actually pleased about it. You should stop. Always. I was actually very relieved when you pulled away in the shower. And this morning."
Goddess, I was done for. My shaky, breathy voice and my rapid heartbeat completely gave me away. Dante's eyes grew darker as he completely read through my lies. I was totally done for.
I squeaked and immediately rushed to slip away from him, pushing myself backwards across the bed, but Dante caught my ankles just as I moved to the middle of the bed.
His pounce was quick, and he was hovering over me before I could blink. "You forget I see through all your lies, Florence."
"It's not fair that I can never escape you grabbing me," I panted out, adrenaline high and my nerves even higher. I moved to try and slide up some more to try and escape him now that he was above me.
Dante's warm hands simply wrapped around each of my wrists and held them to the bed, trapping me for good. "I want to hear what you really meant."
I groaned, shutting my eyes and pressing the back of my head into the soft mattress. "No, you're going to force me to tell you what I really meant."
"I am simply keeping you from leaving. I won't force you to do anything, especially since I can do this for the next four hours. You'll crack before then."
My eyes bulged out of my head, and I struggled in his hands again. "You will not do this for hours."
"I'm going to get you to answer me however I need to."
"This is cruel and unusual punishment."
"Someone's read up on their constitution. The Americans will be pleased."
"I will kill you!"
He let out another few laughs at that one, before those piercing eyes were back on mine. "What did you really mean before, Florence?"
"That I am going to murder you until you are dead!" I tugged my hands some more, to no avail. This man was made up of steel.
"Goddess, all the way until I'm dead? Not like a halfway murder?"
"Ugh!"
Dante snickered, letting his head drop down. I stiffened when those soft lips made sizzling contact with my neck. He was torturing me with the sparks, and he knew it.
A soft gasp came out of me when he kissed my neck again, this time pausing to suck on my skin.
"Tell me, babe. I want to know what you meant." His breath was hot against my skin, raising goosebumps.
I gave another weak struggle at his hands, but the fight was over. I was no match for his strength or his touch, and if I didn't answer soon, he would probably leave dark purple hickies all over my neck. I was not entering his pack covered in stupid marks.
I caved pretty quickly. "You always stop."
He lifted his head up slightly to make eye contact again. "You don't sound pleased about that. I thought you would be."
This invited more elaboration from me that I wasn't wanting to give, so I tugged at my wrists again. Once again met with failure, I realized I had to give him an answer. My eyes darted away from Dante and up towards the plane wall behind me as I answered, "I feel like I disappoint and that you regret it afterwards."
"What? Florence—"
"Which is really stupid since all we've ever done is kiss and I feel like regret comes with, like, bigger things but somehow I feel like you do. Do you?"
"Goddess, no. How have I made you feel this way?"
I sighed. "This is an unfair interrogation tactic and you know it," I said, wiggling my arms again.
"Please just tell me."
"Dante—"
"Tell me."
I shut my eyes, letting out a breath. "I don't know. Maybe it was just after the shower thing. You didn't look happy and I didn't know why you stopped but you acted like it didn't happen and you were still mad."
Dante didn't say a word, so I peeked an eye open to find him staring intensely down at me. "Why do you think I stopped?"
I groaned again. "I will take the stupid pill and sleep! You win."
"Nope. Answer me."
I looked under Dante to the table, where the pill bottle sat on the corner. Using every bit of flexibility I had, I tried to use my foot to kick it towards me, but I wasn't tall enough to reach it.
"I really can stay here all day waiting for this answer."
"I don't know why you stopped. I've thought and thought about it and I have nothing. Happy?"
His eyes had darkened slightly, but why I didn't know. "You told me you didn't know what you want, and had I continued, your shirt and bra would've been in tatters in seconds. You're quite loud, and I didn't want your moans waking the entire house."
A fiery red blush rose to my cheeks, and I could only stare at Dante as he looked completely serious.
"I most certainly did not regret touching you, nor have I ever. But you didn't know what you wanted, and I didn't want to take advantage of you, especially not a sleep-deprived, emotional you."
Silence descended upon us, and I realized my eyes stung with tears, so I had to blink excessively to drive them away. "Oh," I finally whispered, a stupid, mately warmth spreading through my chest.
"If you ever voiced any of these things to me like I've been urging you to do, we'd clear a lot more up."
He could say that all he wanted, but it was hard to tell him things like that.
Without another word, he had bent back down to kiss the corner of my jaw, using his nose to push my face up to get more of my skin there. A soft hum left my mouth as his lips moved closer to my chin, before they moved up to my own.
His lips captured mine in a kiss so possessive and strong that his hands no longer felt like cages in comparison. I moaned, surprised to be enjoying his rough, hard kiss, and I only arched my back into his when his tongue slipped into my mouth and deepened his touch.
The sparks were lighting up everywhere, and my toes curled. My mind always shut off when Dante touched me and the electricity from his touch took over, and now was no different.
His lips moved against mine in an intoxicating rhythm before he finally pulled away, dropping the lips back down to continue kissing and sucking across the flesh on my jaw.
His lips moved down, trailing down my neck, before he left a long kiss on the juncture of my collarbone and neck. I couldn't help but moan loudly at that and practically arch my back into Dante, and pull at his hand restraints again.
He smiled against my neck, lifting his head up to look me in the eyes. "You could always use your words."
Dazed from his touch but still mentally present, I tugged one last time. "Please let go of my hands." My words came out in a rushed whisper.
He grinned, finally releasing my hands but keeping his planted next to my head. "See what happens when you communicate?"
I ignored his stupid, condescending comment, and instead reached up to grab his face and pull it back down to my own.
A growl came out of Dante's throat as his lips landed on mine once again, and his left hand moved to caress the side of my face, his thumb stroking soft shapes on my skin as he assaulted my mouth in ways I didn't even understand.
His hand then moved down to my neck, before it travelled down the side of my body to rest at my waist. His thumb snuck under my sweater to trace warm circles on my hip, bringing more warmth than the soft sweater ever did.
He pulled away to give me a second to breathe before redescending, nipping at my bottom lip this time. His hand snaked it's way further up, dragging my sweater up with it until it was bunched up right below my breasts. My heart skipped a beat then as I realized Dante was probably going to do what he had halted in the shower.
Dante's lips once again left mine to plant a soft kiss on the corner of my jaw. "Do you want me to stop?" His tone was low, and I was sure his eyes would be dark with his wolf's presence.
"N-no," I breathed out, taking a shaky breath as his finger traced under the wire of my bra.
A low growl of approval came out of his mouth, and his hand soon had slipped my shirt up, off, and away, barely having any problem getting it off my arms and back.
I briefly watched it drop, seeing any chance at covering myself up disappear as the sweater dropped below the bed and out of sight.
My eyes returned to Dante just as he licked the hollow of my throat, and I couldn't stop the giggle that came out at that touch.
His lips trailed down the hollow in my chest at a tantalizingly slow speed. Pausing to leave a long kiss between my two breasts, his finger came up and touched the little clasp on my stupidly lacey black bra. Or, Sapphire's stupidly lacey black bra that I was borrowing indefinitely.
Had I hesitated a second longer, his fingers would've unclasped the garment, and I would've been completely bare from the waist up while he still had every piece of clothing on. That didn't feel too fair.
"Wait," I breathed out, and he paused, glancing up.
Not having the courage to verbally explain myself, I simply brought my hands down his chest and grabbed the hem of his soft cashmere sweater, pulling up. Dante cooperated nicely, allowing me to take the clothing off and hovering above me in all his beautifully tanned, muscular glory. Goddess he was huge. Like, one of his pectorals was the size of my head. And his biceps were just about the same size. This man could literally crush me if he wanted to.
"Do you need me to stop, or are you just staring to stare?"
I blushed at being caught and shook my head. "I just thought it'd be fair." I whispered.
A low sound came from him as he dropped his head back to my chest, but instead of unclasping my bra and actually leaving me bare, he moved down first, planting soft kisses all over my stomach.
I hummed in approval as he kissed, and eventually nipped, just about every inch of my skin down there. His hand had moved back up to my neck, where he rubbed his thumb all over my jaw.
Finally, after minutes of this, he dragged his lips back up between my breasts, and his hand came back down to trace the wire.
He pressed a soft kiss to my skin before he rested his chin there and glanced up at me. "Can I take this off?"
My heart was pounding, and I had no doubt he could hear it. Dante wasn't leading as he had done virtually all the other times we had touched, he was stopping and talking to me and asking me if things were okay.
This version might possibly be sexier than Dante when he was pissed and animalistic.
And so I nodded in response to his question, horribly nervous to have Dante be able to see and touch me, but also feeling a slight, unexplainable excitement.
Dante's hand rose up to the clasp, but he didn't move to undo it. Instead, he brought his face back up over mine and pressed a soft kiss to my lips.
He pulled back after a couple seconds, hovering barely a couple inches away. "You seem far too nervous to be comfortable with this, Florence. You can say no."
So he definitely heard my racing heartbeat then. I bit down on my lower lip absentmindedly as I reconsidered what I wanted.
Dante, ever patient, simply watched and waited, still holding himself closely above me. After a moment, I finally had my answer.
"Maybe not right now," I agreed in a whisper.
Dante's head dipped back down to plant a long, hot kiss on my neck, forcing another shaky breath out of me. "Always tell me if you want to stop, baby."
Goddess. My brain had completely stopped working. His touch was everything, and I wasn't complaining at my complete immersion into it. My body was on fire because of his mere touch, and I didn't want to stop in the slightest. I just wasn't ready for him to see me topless, and I'd probably have been far too self-conscious to enjoy it had I told him I was ready for that.
His warm hand moved down again, his fingers dragging down my side, gripping my waist, before he moved lower still, gripping my lower thigh and pulling my leg up so my knee was bent.
This somehow made his bottom half feel all the more closer to mine, and I sighed blissfully. I was officially insane to be enjoying this so much, not to mention my lack of a single problem with letting the mate bond take over.
His lips started moving back downwards, towards my collarbone, but I decided it was enough of him touching me, and I grabbed his face with my hands, pulling him up.
I had no idea what I was doing at this point, but I could at least try and mimic his actions. Raising my head, I pressed my own lips against his neck, inhaling his warm, woodsy, smoky scent.
Dante let out a low groan, the sound vibrating against my skin. His response only encouraged me to continue, going off of everything I had learned from him. My nose trailed up towards his strong jaw, and I replaced one of my hands on his face with my lips, kissing all up and down.
"Fuck, Florence, if I had known all I had to do was interrogate you to get this sort—"
He was back with one of his incredibly hot swears, as well as another stupid, lighthearted comment. I knew exactly where he was going with it, too, so I was able to smack his chest hard enough to get him to laugh and stop speaking.
"You make it sound like you didn't corner me and pin me down." It was certainly more than an interrogation.
He gave me a cheeky, innocent grin. "I would never."
I opened my mouth to reply, when a loud ding! sounded all around the plane. "Your Highnesses, this is your Captain speaking. We are now crossing a zone of turbulence. Please make sure you are seated."
I blinked, the captain's voice taking me out of my mate-bond induced haze. "What's turbulence?" I absentmindedly asked, completely ignoring another pluralization of highness.
Dante must've noticed my retraction from what we had been doing, because he rolled onto his side, giving me space. "It's when the plane gets rocky for a little bit. All the furniture is bolted down though, so we're fine."
Before I could reply, the plane demonstrated turbulence for me, and the entire room shook a little, as did my balance.
I let out a yelp and turned onto my stomach, moving towards the end of the bed where my shirt had disappeared. I do not want to die on this plane. Definitely not shirtless, either.
Dante's fingers brushed gently against the skin around my still-unhealed wound as I snatched my shirt, and the plane shook again. Goddess please make the shaking stop. I had never experienced whatever this was before and it was horrifying.
"I'd like to fly Rosemary out to fix this in the next few days." Dante told me, his voice barely above a whisper.
I turned to stare at him with wide eyes. "You want to fly your witch out? To me?" He already tried getting her near me, and it didn't end well.
Sitting up, I quickly pulled my shirt back on, feeling much more comfortable with it on. Dante's gaze hadn't faltered from my face since the captain announced the turbulence, but with whatever we had been doing done now, I felt far too exposed in just my bra.
"I want that healed. She said she could do it last time."
"It'll heal on its own."
Dante narrowed his eyes in a very clearly annoyed way. "Just like it has been for the past month?"
"I don't want your witch near me."
"She can help, Florence. It has got to be annoying to constantly deal with an injury like that and worry about it."
"It's fine."
Dante sighed, and I thought I might've finally won an argument. "Alright. I thought you might want one less reminder of Batilda on you, but I guess you can wait this out."
Now it was my turn to glare, but I really didn't have a response to that. He was completely right and he knew it. But that didn't mean I wasn't annoyed. "Don't use her as a tactic to get to me."
"You're right. I'm sorry. But wouldn't it be nice to have full mobility again? Millard couldn't keep you from anything."
Another solid point, but I had an equal counter. "Millard isn't here, so I'm fine."
"I'm either flying out Millard or Rosemary to fix that. Your choice."
"Dante, you can't—"
"You've been injured for far too long. It's clearly not going to fix itself, and Millard doesn't need to fly out to Georgia to tell us that. Let me get Rosemary to see you."
"No. I don't want to talk about this anymore, either."
Dante let out a breath, but dropped the issue. "Fine. We'll talk about it later." He sat up, pulling his own soft sweater back on, covering all those beautiful muscles. A shame. "I'm going to go finish some emails and read some reports. I suggest you sleep, especially since you got so little sleep this morning and you won't be able to sleep for some time when we arrive."
He was so skilled at changing the topic. It always took me a couple of seconds to understand what he was talking about when he did jump to another topic.
"Okay." I didn't like the idea of sleeping without Dante here, so I probably wouldn't do it, but I knew he was leaving me to go work, and I didn't want to bother that. I'd stay in here, and if I slept, I slept.
He got off the bed, took a step towards the door, and then stopped. Dante's hand was on the back of my neck before I knew it, and he gave me a soft, warm kiss.
It was a short-lived kiss, but a welcome one nonetheless. He pulled away. "Communicate more, okay?"
Dante's eyes met mine with an intensity that shocked through me, and sent chills down my back. I gulped, but responded, "Okay."
His thumb rubbed against my jaw, once, twice, and then he let his hand drop, and he walked out of the bedroom, closing the door behind him.
I waited a couple of seconds, hearing him go back to his seat, before I flopped back into the bed. I really just did that. My skin was still so warm everywhere from his touch. And I had practically told him to do it all.
Goddess help me.