Chapter 180
Keira was bone tired, even the coffee wasn’t keeping her eyes open. Her head kept drooping forward despite her hest
efforts to stay alert.
“You need to sleep,” Alexei said, watching her struggle.
“I’m fine,” she mumbled, but her eyelids were growing heavier by the second.
“There’s a bedroom in the back.” He gestured toward the rear of the plane. “Go lie down.”
“I don’t need-” She started to protest, but another wave of exhaustion hit her mid–sentence, and she needed to cover her mouth to yawn. “Sorry.”
“Keira.” His tone left no room for argument. “You haven’t slept properly in days. Go.”
She wanted to disagree, to prove she could handle whatever came next without showing weakness. But her body had other plans. Her eyelids started to close despite her best efforts to keep them open.
The next thing she was aware of was strong arms lifting her, cradling her against a warm chest. Her eyes fluttered open to find Alexei carrying her toward the back of the plane.
“Now I feel like a real princess in distress,” she said, tongue in cheek, though her voice came out sleepy.
Alexei’s response was immediate and unexpected in the main cabin with everyone watching. He stopped walking and kissed her, his mouth claiming hers with surprising tenderness. The kiss was brief but thorough, stealing what little breath
she had left.
When he pulled back, his eyes were dark with something that made her stomach flutter.
“Get some rest,” he murmured, carrying her into the small but luxurious bedroom. He set her gently on the edge of the bed, his hands lingering on her waist for a moment before he stepped back.
“You should sleep too,” she said, fighting another yawn.
“I will. But you need this more than I do right now.” He moved toward the door, and she felt a stab of disappointment.
Looking at the bed, then at the closed door where Alexei had just left, Keira felt a little huffy that he left her. She had sort of hoped he would use the bed with her. After everything they’d been through, after the intimacy they’d shared, she wanted him with her. She was also worried about having a nightmare. Because Alexei was right, she hadn’t been sleeping. She had been prone to nightmares after her parents‘ deaths.
But maybe that was for the best. Maybe she needed the space to think, to sort out everything that had happened in the last forty–eight hours in her head.
She kicked off her shoes and removed her clothes and crawled under the covers naked. The bed was impossibly comfortable, and despite her churning thoughts, exhaustion won out.
The hum of the jet engines pressed a steady rhythm against the cabin walls, vibrating through the plush carpeting and into the bones of the plane. Outside, ocean and night blurred together. The world had quieted except for Alexei’s mind. He
Chapter 365
had reviewed security for when they landed with Mitchell. Then the man had malved Back vitet the offen Sensing Alexei wanted to be alone.
The flight attendant returned, this time with two buttons of her uniform undone, and Alevel vras sure she had rollather skirt higher. She bent over him to grab the empty coffee cups, her breasts deliberately brushing His arm
“Your Highness, can I get you anything else? I mean anything.”
Alexei pulled back sharply, disgust clear in his expression. “My fiancée is the only person i want or need”
The woman’s face flushed red as she straightened, gathering the cups with jerky movements. She mumbled an apology and hurried away. He would make sure she was replaced.
He remained in the lounge area for hours, reviewing documents that blurred into each other until the paragraphs lost shape. His tie off, his shirt unbuttoned at the throat. He poured himself a drink he didn’t taste, leaning back into the
leather chair.
The clock on the bulkhead mocked him. Five hours. Five long hours since he had set Keira in the bed. He tried to let her rest. He told himself it was better to leave her alone. But each tick of the clock made the restraint thinner, stretched taut
until it threatened to snap.
He rose at last, straightening, his hand brushing over the black silk tie on the table. He wound it loosely through his fingers, as if testing the strength of a tether. Then he turned toward the rear cabin.
He opened the door.
Keira lay on her stomach, the covers tossed down her legs, her bare back exposed to the glow of the filtered overhead light. Pale skin stretched smooth, marked only by half a dozen freckles dusted over her shoulders. Her hair spilled across the pillow in a cascade of tangled blonde.
Alexei closed the door with a soft click.
For a moment he only watched her, his own body tightening with the sight. Her sprawled form was unconsciously invi and one he didn’t want to resist. He breathed once, deliberate, then tugged his shirt loose, stripping it off. His trousers followed, left pooled near the door.
The tie remained in his hands. He rolled it, testing again, then climbed into the bed, careful not to jar the mattress yet unable to keep from pressing closer.
Keira shifted in her sleep, murmuring something incoherent. Instinctively, she turned against the heat sliding in beside her. Her lashes fluttered, slow at first, until cornflower blue eyes cracked open, hazy and unguarded.
There he was, bare–chested, the sharp lines of his collarbone shadowed in the dim light, the dark tie draped lazy between
his fingers.
“You couldn’t stay away?” Her voice rasped, sleep–torn but teasing.
He bent close, his mouth brushing her ear. “Not now that I’ve had you.”
Her pulse stumbled at the roughness in his tone. The awareness of her own nakedness slammed into her only then. She grabbed for the sheet, tugging it higher across her breasts.
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16:56 SIT ZLATT-
SIPPALA
Chapter 180
had reviewed security for when they landed with Mitchell. Then the man had moved back to where the other ro sensing Alexei wanted to be alone.
The flight attendant returned, this time with two buttons of her uniform undone, and Alexei was sure she had rolled her
skirt higher. She bent over him to grab the empty coffee cups, her breasts deliberately brushing his arm
“Your Highness, can I get you anything else? I mean anything.”
Alexei pulled back sharply, disgust clear in his expression. “My fiancée is the only person I want or need”
The woman’s face flushed red as she straightened, gathering the cups with jerky movements. She mumbled an apology
and hurried away. He would make sure she was replaced.
He remained in the lounge area for hours, reviewing documents that blurred into each other until the paragraphs lost shape. His tie off, his shirt unbuttoned at the throat. He poured himself a drink he didn’t taste, leaning back into the
leather chair.
The clock on the bulkhead mocked him. Five hours. Five long hours since he had set Keira in the bed. He tried to let her rest. He told himself it was better to leave her alone. But each tick of the clock made the restraint thinner, stretched taut
until it threatened to snap.
He rose at last, straightening, his hand brushing over the black silk tie on the table. He wound it loosely through his fingers, as if testing the strength of a tether. Then he turned toward the rear cabin.
He opened the door.
Keira lay on her stomach, the covers tossed down her legs, her bare back exposed to the glow of the filtered overhead light. Pale skin stretched smooth, marked only by half a dozen freckles dusted over her shoulders. Her hair spilled across the pillow in a cascade of tangled blonde.
Alexei closed the door with a soft click.
For a moment he only watched her, his own body tightening with the sight. Her sprawled form was unconsciously invi.. and one he didn’t want to resist. He breathed once, deliberate, then tugged his shirt loose, stripping it off. His trousers followed, left pooled near the door.
The tie remained in his hands. He rolled it, testing again, then climbed into the bed, careful not to jar the mattress yet unable to keep from pressing closer.
Keira shifted in her sleep, murmuring something incoherent. Instinctively, she turned against the heat sliding in beside her. Her lashes fluttered, slow at first, until cornflower blue eyes cracked open, hazy and unguarded.
There he was, bare–chested, the sharp lines of his collarbone shadowed in the dim light, the dark tie draped lazy between his fingers.
“You couldn’t stay away?” Her voice rasped, sleep–torn but teasing.
He bent close, his mouth brushing her ear. “Not now that I’ve had you.”
Her pulse stumbled at the roughness in his tone. The awareness of her own nakedness slammed into her only then. She grabbed for the sheet, tugging it higher across her breasts.
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16:57 Sat, 23 Aug Q
Chapter 180
He caught the corner with two fingers, peeling it slowly from her grip. “Don’t hide from me.”
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Her breath quickened. Something blazed in his gaze, a hunger so sharp it burned. She swallowed, watching him loop the tie slowly between his palms, stretching it taut.
“Is that-”
His smirk cut her off. “You scream, little firecracker. And I don’t plan to let anyone else hear you. All your screams belong to
me.”
The heat in her cheeks nearly scalded. She opened her mouth to snap back, to throw some deflection like she always did when he set her off–balance. But the words stuck. He was already nudging her flat against the pillows, covering her body with his weight, his mouth trailing down her throat.
Her voice caught and her breath was unsteady. The sound of it pushed him harder, his grip pinning her wrists to the
mattress.
She bucked against him. “You think you’re in control?”
His answer was nothing but a low growl against her pulse.
