Page 102 of An Inconvenient Marriage
That voice. The calm to my storm. If only I could answer.
But the engines were too loud, the plane too small. I couldn’t think. Couldn’t breathe. Clutching my stomach, I doubled over in my seat. Dark spots popped up in my peripheral vision, slowly creeping in until everything blurred.
My head spun, and nausea pushed up my throat. Then my entire world went black.
I didn’t know how long it was until I came to, but it must have been quite a while. Long enough for someone to convert my seat into a bed and apparently for Zach to lose his temper.
Standing next to me, he barked at the flight attendant to bring sugar water. The woman barely had time to leave before he barked out another order.
I reached for his hand and slicked my tongue over my lips. But since everything inside my mouth was so dry, the small action hurt. I tried again, and even though it still stung, I could at least part my lips enough to speak.
“Don’t be mean.”
The moment he heard me, Zach dropped to his knees and cradled my face between his hands. His expression was somber, and it hit me dead center in the middle of my heart.
“Don’t ever fucking scare me like that again.”
I tried to sit up, but he shook his head vehemently.
“Don’t move, the doctor’s on his way.” He flicked his wrist, and his face twisted in irritation. “He should have been here already. What the fuck is taking so long?” With short, choppy movements, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone.
Just as his fingers flew over the touchscreen, I put my hand on his to stop him.
“I don’t need a doctor. It was a panic attack.” Ignoring his warning look, I pushed into a seated position. “I haven’t had one this bad in a while, but I promise, it’s nothing serious.”
“You passed out! How the hell is that not serious?”
My heart almost gave out. Zach was genuinely worried about me. Did I dare to hope that his feelings ran deeper than the physical connection we shared? My head said no, but the organ pitter-pattering behind my rib cage had a mind of its own.
And no wasn’t the first thought it had.
Zach was still on his knees beside me, so I slid off my seat, onto my knees, too. Taking his face into my hands, I pressed a kiss to his lips.
“It really isn’t serious. I’m afraid of flying… and… a part of me is terrified to go back.” Taking a breath, I voiced the one thing I was most afraid of. “To be in the same city as my father.”
We hadn’t talked about him since the day I’d confessed everything, and my father hadn’t tried to contact me again either. I wasn’t naïve enough to believe he’d just let it go. He was stewing, probably thinking up a hundred different ways to get back at me.
And honestly, as elated as I was to finally be away from him, I was petrified, too.
“Zach, he’s not going to just let me go.”
The flight attendant chose that moment to hurry toward us and hold out a glass of what I presumed to be sugar water to Zach. The poor woman’s hand was shaking. How long had Zach been yelling at her before I’d come to?
Sensing she wanted to get away from us as fast as possible, I took the glass and hoped my smile put her at ease. “Thank you.”
She returned my smile with a small nod, then hurried away again. I set the glass on the floor beside me and met Zach’s gaze. It was dark and stormy, and before I could even ask about the flight attendant, he growled, “If Trent Stevens so much as looks at you, he’s a dead man.”
He got up and dragged me along with him. “I will never let him hurt you.” His thumb brushed over my bottom lip. “I’d rather die than have him put his filthy fucking hands on you ever again.”
And there he went again, giving my poor heart the one thing it couldn’t afford to have.
Hope.
His lips were on mine not even a second later, and with every stroke of his tongue, that little flame inside my chest grew into a roaring fire I had no chance of extinguishing.
It was wild.
Dangerous.
