01

Rary

I took a deep breath as I walked through the airport, luggage in hand. I couldn't calm down, no matter how hard I tried. I hated flying. AND one flight in eleven hours to Paris was the last thing I wanted to do on the day before Christmas Eve. But my mother had begged me to come spend the holidays with her and her husband.

I knew that she only had me as a guest out of guilt. I hadn't seen my mother for over five years, and she didn't seem to mind leaving me behind after my father got sick. It took her just a year to get married again and another year to have a child. She completely forgot about my father and me, and started acting as if we had never existed. So the fact that she invited me to come see her now made me very angry.

But I had no one else. Paris was my only option if I didn't want to spend Christmas alone. Passing through security was easier than I thought; I found my gate without much trouble. But even with all this luck, I couldn't help but feel restless.

I had flown only two other times in my life, both for reasons I would have liked to avoid. The first was for my grandmother's funeral in Florida, and the second was for my mother's wedding in Paris to a man I had never known before — a man who was not my father. So not only was flying absolutely terrifying, it always led me to an unwanted situation. I knew that this flight would be no different.

I waited for boarding for half an hour. I wanted to arrive early to ensure that I wouldn't miss the flight. I didn't want to have to pay for the next one. Once on the plane, I couldn't stop my hands from shaking. A flight attendant smiled at me as I passed her, and, noticing my nervousness, waved her head to reassure me. I did my best to return the smile.

When I finally managed to get to my seat at the back of the plane, I looked for a man who would be sitting next to me for the next eleven hours. His gaze moved up and down my body, stopping on my bust for a moment before meeting my eyes. He smiled.

"Hello," I murmured. Ignoring the weirdo, I grabbed my carry-on and lifted it above me to place it in the overhead bin. I noticed that the man had placed his suitcase in the middle of the compartment, and I huffed, trying to move it with one hand as I struggled to stick mine to the side.

I had almost managed to fit my luggage in when I felt hands wrap around my waist, touching the bare skin of my stomach where my shirt went up. Thinking it was the weirdo, I tried to walk away, but stopped as the hands tightened around me. It felt like sparks spread across my body.

I shook my head to see who the hands belonged to and widened my eyes as I took in their image. He was a giant, taking a deep breath, almost comically large inside our small plane. His muscles tensed against his black shirt and blue jeans, telling me that he had spent a considerable amount of time at the academy.

He had chocolate brown hair, mesmerizing dark green eyes, and a jaw that looked like it could cut paper. His lips were full and sensual, and I leaned in unconsciously, imagining what it would be like to press my lips against his. Suddenly, a deep growl interrupted my thoughts, and I returned to a vertical position. Our eyes met, and my cheeks blushed immediately, but before I could feel too embarrassed, he said.

"My mate," he said, his deep, husky voice hissing in my ears. He squeezed my waist gently as his forehead lowered to meet mine. I probably should have slapped him, but instead, I let my eyes close and reveled in the feeling of his arms around me as delicious sparks spread through my body. I didn't even know it was possible to feel this good.

I felt his head move away from mine as he bent down to cuddle in my neck. I leaned my head to the side to give him better access, and he left a soft kiss at the place where my neck and shoulder met. My knees went weak, and a weak sigh escaped my mouth.

He smiled against my neck, laughed, and took all my weight in his arms while I leaned completely against him to prevent myself from falling. I was in the clouds. 

A clear throat snapped me out of my trance, and I let out a scream as I tried to move away, remembering where I was. Unfortunately, as I tried to keep my composure and act mysterious, I forgot that his hand was still holding my luggage in the overhead compartment.

I braced myself, expecting a hard bump against my head, but nothing happened. Instead, I heard, "Careful, beautiful." I looked at the man in front of me, who still had one hand resting possessively under my shirt on my lower back. His other hand now held my suitcase above my head. He smiled at me and gave me a wink before pushing my bag into the compartment and closing it. He kept his hand on my back and turned to look at the woman behind him, who had tried to get our attention during our intense moment. The woman looked shocked and hesitantly cleared her throat.

"Sorry, I just need to get to my seat, and you guys are blocking the aisle. I didn't want to interrupt your meeting. You two clearly haven't seen each other in a while," she said, smiling sweetly.