Chapter 4 - Distracted

While waiting for Edmund in his private plane, Isabella’s mind traveled to their recent discussion. Even if it hurt her to admit it, he read her right, he was entirely accurate.

It’s always been her dream to travel the world, but she'd barely set foot outside Madrid. She had her motives, but probably none legit or unshakable, some were just lame excuses.

“Do you need anything? A meal was ordered for you in advance, we can serve it to you now or a bit later, whenever you feel like eating.” The smiling face along with the polite tone of the flight assistant broke her train of thought.

“Meal?” She narrowed her eyes and shook her head in disagreement, at no point with the intention of being mannerless. “No, I’ve eaten recently, I’m not hungry, thank you!” She added, forcing a smile in response to the cordial proposal.

If she believed it was considerate of him to arrange everything from transportation to meals, hosting, clothing, it would be her little secret.

A warm smile made its way on her lips. ‘Is this how it feels being spoiled by a man? Ohh, how would I know? I’ve been independent all my life! Yet, interesting. I never thought I'd be the kind to enjoy this sort of pampering from a man, but I am.’

“Mister Stark warned us to prepare your favorite food, seafood pasta. So please call whenever you’ll have an appetite for it.”

“He did?” Her stomach did a little flip flop. “Anyway, let’s just wait for him too.”

‘I was not aware that little background checks also include inquiring about favorite foods.’ 

It didn’t seem to bother her that he went that far, it had quite the opposite effect.

“Don’t worry about him, he has a well-defined meal schedule.” She declared.

‘So it’s true, he must spend half of his time on this plane.’

Isabella could not miss the way the flight attendant talked about him, her manner of speaking screamed well founded care and admiration. He was either a great employer, or perhaps a lover, one of those two for sure, possibly both.

The woman was most certainly gorgeous, and the uniform she wore could easily be regarded as an outfit from erotic fantasies. Something whirled inside her at that idea, if she wouldn’t know better, she would think that she was jealous. Except, of course, that was not the case.

Against her better judgment, she wondered how he was as a lover, considerate and chivalrous, the way he was with her since they met, or wild and lascivious, the type his strong and manly features suggested. Either way, she concluded that he was definitely passionate and insatiable.

‘Isabella, please, for God’s sake, stop all this nonsense about the poor man! Please, snap out of this day dreaming, you’re already feverish with desire, and he is not the one appropriate to put out the fire!‘

“Are you not feeling well?” He appeared out of nowhere, his presence making her blush.

‘Crap! I don’t know if he’s reading my mind, but my cheeks are burning!’

She was wrapping her mind on things of no importance, but it was probably how her brain was coping with the situation of her sister’s accident, she was sure of that.

“Yes, I’m fine.” She added and looked aside, as he settled himself in the cozy chair in front of her.

“Fasten your seatbelt, we’ll be taking off now.” He warned and she complied diligently .

~~~

A few hours passed since the plane reached cruise altitude. She thoroughly examined the lavishly decorated interior of the plane, read all the available magazines and even listed in her head all the things she wished to tell her sister, good and bad.

‘I just hope she’ll survive! I need her to survive!’

She stole a glance at Edmund, he seemed undisturbed, caught into his own business. He had been working since the plane departed, ignoring her presence completely.

‘If he is even remotely aware that I exist, he is not showing it!’ She was disappointed. ‘I am half bothered by the fact that he can so easily ignore me and damn, I confess that his ability to focus in these troublesome circumstances is forcing me to look at him with admiration.’

“If you want to get some rest, the sleeping accommodations are in the rear of the plane. Plus you’ll find a bathroom equipped with a hot tub and a shower, in case you need to refresh a bit.” He stated, breaking the uncomfortable silence, her stare burning holes into his skin.

Edmund had spared no effort in the attempt to focus on his work since the plane took off. Reading the same document over and over again, the black letters on white background made no  sense to him, he was unable to understand a word from it.

He was painfully aware of her presence, she made analytic thinking an unfeasible achievement.

Unlike all the other women he’d shared a space with, she was under no circumstances trying to catch his attention, and the fact that she genuinely showed no interest was precisely the element that kept him distracted, as weird as it may seem.

Women constantly offered themselves on a tray with no effort whatsoever from his part. Those women were eager to sleep their way to high society. Not her, she was not like that.

“I might, but not at the moment.” She casually responded, her eyes hinting caution.

He smirked. ‘What, is she thinking that I’ll jump on her in the shower? Not a bad idea, to tell the truth!’

Fantasizing about how her body looked without those baggy clothes was apparently more iminent than the business issues he had to attend to. 

Putting the pieces of the Isabella puzzle together was a task that he ought to solve soon, his manhood grew hard at the mere thought more than once since they met. The sooner he got rid of the perturbation, the better.

He honestly hoped that she would leave his sight so he’d be able to do his job. Due to the recent events, his work has been delayed and his business partners were not the type to take justifications of private matters, as he wouldn’t either.

Trying to envision how she would look with her long legs wrapped tightly around his body, while she begged him to take her mercilessly, raw desire burning in her eyes and lustful moans filling the room...

‘Fucking hell! I cannot take this any longer, I need to retreat from here and I need to do it without delay!’ He jumped from his seat, startling her. ‘In fact, if I don’t fucking leave her presence now, I won’t take responsibility for what can happen.’

“Then you don’t mind if I go first.” He announced.

‘I’m going to attempt to cool myself in the shower.’

“Not at all.” She added, oblivious to the things she’s done to his figure.

He left the room and went straight under the cold water, to help with chilling out both his head and his body. 

It was working.

With no warning and for the first time in its existence, the plane started whirling, it was difficult for him to maintain his balance.

‘Isabella, she’s in danger! We both are, us and the crew as well!’

He rushed out of the shower in an instant, headed to the place he’d left her, only to find her on the edge of a mental breakdown.

He knelt down, cupping her face between his hands, forcing her to look him into the eyes. “Breathe in, breathe out! Breathe in, breathe out!” He attempted to persuade her, at the same time pushing his own fears on the back of his head. “Just look me into the eyes and follow my lead! You will be fine, I promise!”

The rest of the crew was locked in the pilot cabin.

“Please, I don’t want to die! I didn’t even live until now! I did nothing of what I dreamed of, I never loved! I want to… I want to live!” She sobbed, tears rolling down her cheeks, holding his shoulders tightly, while gazing into his eyes with raw genuine panic.

His protective instincts blasted off, he lifted her body into his arms and carried her in the king-size bed from the room in the back of the plane. 

‘If we are going to die, so be it, but we will do it in a heavenly way.’