Attraction (Love & War, Part I) (13 page)

A car arrived in the hangar, drew to the side of the jet and
three people got out. A small Asian woman and two older men. Their
voices carried through the jet as they mounted the steps and
arrived inside. They poked their heads in one by one and Ashton
introduced her to them; Nisha, John and Charles. Nisha was his
exceptionally capable accountant, who he '
couldn't possibly function without'
, and his two real estate experts, were
'
the top men in their field,
anywhere
...' Ashton had explained with
great pride and enthusiasm.

She was
getting a much better feel for Ashton. He was becoming less cocky
and controlling in her mind and simply more self assured. He was
very pleasant to be around, and his staff seemed to respect and
like him. She could see his upbringing, and his Eton and Oxford
education had played a big part in it all. He had that air of
confidence that the upper classes all seemed to have. She didn't
hold it against him that he'd been born with a dozen silver spoons
in his mouth and hob-nobbed with royalty in his spare time. People
couldn't help their birthright.

Ashton left
her side to secure the outer door with a resounding heavy thud
which echoed around the interior. After a few words with the
passengers, ensuring everyone was seated, had their drinks of
choice to hand and their belts fastened up, he rejoined her in the
cockpit.

Closing the
door, he took off his jacket and hung it up on the hook on the back
of it and sat down.

Sealing them
together in the tiny cockpit had trapped all their sexual energy in
a very tightly confined, intimate space. She could feel it growing
by the second, and every hair on her body stood to attention.

“
Well this is cosy,” she remarked, humorously, trying to keep
a casual tone as they sat so very closely together.

“
The door needs to remain shut during flight. It's protocol
for reasons of safety. I can't be distracted or interrupted by
noise from the cabin,” he explained, logically, putting on his
pilot's headset.

“
I guess not.” He may be in pilot mode but the twinkle in his
eye told her something else. He licked his lips and glanced at her
out the corner of his eye. The air was almost sizzling around
them.

She was almost
overcome with excitement as he began to give her a running
commentary on his actions. But she soon found she was merely
nodding inanely, and wasn't listening to his explanations of
horizons, elevators, engine performance monitors and ailerons. She
did however, lean over, to look down between his legs, to the
floor, to see the rudder pedals he mentioned. But mainly to get a
good view of his long legs stretching down to them.

Her eyes and
mind were very much occupied, and in far more pleasurable ways than
the functions of a jet, however many millions it cost.

She was in
thrall of his muscular arms rippling beneath his white shirt, his
overwhelmingly handsome profile with it's heavy stubble, and the
wildly sexy dark hair which stood up like a brush. Her fingers were
dying to have a good rummage in that hair of his. She could imagine
pulling it all over the place, fingering it back and forth, playing
with it for hours while he played with hers, or other things. She
ticked herself off, then continued to think the same thoughts.

But thoughts
were simply that, thoughts. Random, illicit and unspeakable
desires. And Ashton was undeniably gorgeous and worthy of a lot of
fantasy and unspeakable thought.

He was without
doubt much better looking than Adrian, who she considered to be a
real hot dish, and she was fast becoming very attracted to his
upper class vowels as well. He seduced her ears with every A and E
he spoke. She'd have to keep her head, to work hard to ensure he
didn't seduce anything else, because Ashton was one hell of a hot
guy.

She'd known
that the second she met him. And that quick kiss in the car had
proven just how hot, when he'd shot her in the stomach with a dose
of his extra-strength, dominating sexuality. She couldn't help but
wonder what it would be like, getting down and very dirty with
him.

Mind-blowing,
probably.

She shook
herself out of her sexually obsessed thoughts. Her night with
Adrian had left her running on a sexual simmer. Her fire had been
lit like an everlasting flame. Being continually sexually aware to
this degree was almost painful, and very distracting.

Ashton had a
short conversation with flight control, and his deep voice and
confident delivery swept her away. Her stomach lurched in
anticipation as the hangar attendant signalled good to go.

“
Right Nikki, here we go. Are you ready for the flight of your
fantasy?”

“
Oh yes Captain Gates! Take me to the heavens.”

He chuckled
dirtily. “That is something, dear Nikki, that I plan to do very
soon.”

Her stomach
rolled with the thrill of his blatant sexual innuendo.

Not that she
was letting him get away with it.

“
Keep your mind on your flightplan, Captain.”

She gave him a
frosty look down her nose and he raised his sexy eyebrows at
her.

The plane
moved forward smoothly, out of the hanger into the morning light
and started to taxi across the tarmac and out towards the runway
approach lanes.

“
We might have to wait a few minutes for take off clearance,”
he explained as he taxied along.

Her heart was
pumping so fast with so much excitement she was about to faint.

“
How long will it take, the journey to Paris?”

“
Ah well, that depends how fast I fly,” he joked.

“
How fast do you plan to fly?”

“
My usual, average speed is five hundred miles per hour. ETA
is 25 minutes.”

“
Only twenty five minutes to Paris,
wow
... that's so
cool.”

“
It's a short hop.” He smiled at her and took a deep breath,
his fingers playing with the throttle, rubbing it sensuously and
tapping at it rhythmically.

This was all
such a turn on. The whole Ashton was a turn on, from the top of his
sexy hair, his ethereal scent, which was invading her brain, all
the way down to his shiny mega-expensive shoes. She was coming to
understand why women dropped at his feet so easily.

He came to a
stop at the head of the runway. Nicole looked at the long strip of
grey ahead of them, her heart about to burst out of her chest.

“
Flight 62 Golf Sierra Oscar, requesting clearance for take
off.”

She could hear
a static reply coming through his earphones.

A moment later
he pulled on the throttle and holding the control column in his
other hand they literally thundered down the runway like a
rocket.

Nicole wasn't
overly impressed with plane journeys, the only parts she enjoyed
were the take off and landings. Those parts held an element of
danger. Would the plane make it successfully off the ground, and
stay off the ground? Would it land gently or thump down
heavily?

But this was a
wildly exaggerated version of the take-off experience in a
commercial jumbo jet. Seeing the runway whiz by so fast was
disorientating. It really was a big blur outside.

He pulled back
on the controls and the nose of the aircraft lifted against the
horizon. They were literally up and off the runway in seconds, her
head was pressed back against the seat and she was now staring at
the sky. Her stomach was left behind on the ground as they began a
steep ascent.

“
Shit
,” she said,
breathily, as all the blood left her head.

She looked at
Ashton to see he was unaffected and deep in concentration. His
hands were constantly moving around the equipment and screen
displays. The landing gear stowed away noisily beneath them, and
she sat quietly acclimatising to the cool of the pressured air
mixture as it hissed and built around her. A few minutes later,
they began to level off, the engine noise reducing to a steady
hum.

“
Thirty five thousand feet, we're at six miles in altitude,”
he turned to face her, a little grin tugging at his
mouth.

“
Well Ash, I have to admit, that was really
something.”

“
Enjoying it so far then?”

“
Absolutely.”

“
We're at cruising speed. Not much to do until I begin descent
in fifteen minutes. Would you like to take control for a
while?”

“
Oh my God, can I really?” Her eyes widened , She hadn't dared
to suggest it.

“
Why not? For a few minutes, she's yours. Take hold of the
control column. Don't make any sudden movements with it, my
Cessna's very sensitive to touch. She likes a gentle hand, as much
as I do...” he chuckled.

I'm sure we
all like a gentle hand.” She smiled sweetly at his smutty comment
and envisaged herself holding his sensitive part as her fingers
wrapped around the column before her. The soft thrum of engine
vibration ran through her hand and up her arm.

“
So what do I do with it?”

“
We need to give the passengers a smooth ride so
very
slowly move
an inch to the left and then back to the right.”

She did as
instructed and the plane shifted, banking slightly one way and the
other.

“
Cool,
” she said,
completely over the moon with her small but significant
achievement.

“
Good. Nice wrist action you have there, Nikki, very steady.
Now try increasing speed with the throttle. Let me show you. She
placed her hand on the throttle and Ashton placed his on top. Her
heart rate picked up and her mouth was drier than the desert at the
feel of his large warm palm covering her hand. He squeezed and
eased her hand forward and the jet notably accelerated and then
eased back returning it to its former speed. “Keep your eye on
those, the altimeter for height and the other for speed,” he
pointed to the dials on the dash before her. Keep to a level of
nine hundred kilometres per hour or five hundred knots, which are
the larger red digits, and thirty five thousand
altitude.”

“
Okay, and this is such a privilege, thanks so much, Ash,” she
said with a massive beaming smile in his direction.

“
You're very welcome.”

He took his hand away from hers, his fingertips trailing
slowly and softly down her wrist.

A hot flash of
desire shot through her. She was pretty sure he knew how she was
feeling; how shook up and excited to be in his presence and flying
his plane. She tried her best to take it all 'in her stride',
calmly holding the controls, her eyes firmly fixed on the dashboard
monitors.

Nicole was
thrilled to be left to her own devices, co-piloting his priceless
jet. She was pretty sure there weren't many women in the world
who'd been allowed to do this.

She banked
once more each way and then accelerated and decelerated. She raised
altitude and dropped several times, testing out the sensitivity of
the controls carefully.

All the while
she was so aware of him. He was sitting cross armed and his eyes
were on her. On her hands, her body and her face. She couldn't feel
much hotter under his intense scrutiny.

She was
allowed a good five minutes, but all too soon her time was up.

“
Very impressive, Nicole, may I have her back now?” he said
with a broad and very sexy smile.

“
She's your jet, so I guess you can,” she replied, as he
regained control.

“
I don't get a lot of opportunity to fly her and Adrian will
most likely have her to himself all the way back,” he
explained.

“
Can Adrian actually fly a jet?” she asked in
amazement.

“
Almost. I'm instructing him. He can manage take off and
landing and knows the equipment. He's pretty well
advanced.”

“
That's so nice of you. Teaching him to fly.”

“
Hmm, I'm sure he appreciates it, in his own way.”

“
You seem to have a good relationship.”

“
We did. Although it's been a little strained since you
appeared on the scene yesterday.”

Her stomach
lurched.

“
Why's that?” she dared to ask.

“
Oh come on Nicole, I'm sure you can work it out.” He turned
his body to face her, his eyes locking onto hers.

“
I don't want to come between you, for any reason.”

“
Ah well, now there's the problem. You already have. It
appears Adrian likes you and so do I.”

“
You're my client.”

“
So?”

“
So, we can't become involved personally.”

“
That's entirely up to us, isn't it?” he replied softly, and
his face took on a deeply brooding look. His hand reached up and
stroked her cheek with his finger. “Or am I wrong?”

“
I...” she was speechless with how much one finger stroke was
affecting her insides.

She pulled
herself together, moving away from his finger, with a twist of her
head. “I'm seeing Adrian.”

“
So you said. But I'm seeing and sensing a lot of interest in
me.”

“
Like what, for instance?” she said defensively.

He stroked her
face again. She gasped at his touch which was wildly exhilarating,
and her eyes closed. Her body was betraying her completely.