Search (The Empire Chronicles #2) (15 page)

“What?” I sat up with shock. “How could that be?”

Ms. Talbot looked me over. “Maybe a relative took care of it for you?”

Georgina. Of course. “That must be it.” My head spun. She paid for another three and a half years of college? The amount of money that would cost was a small fortune.

After regaining my composure, I stood. “Thank you for your time.”

I walked out of financial aid with mixed feelings. On one hand, I didn’t have to worry about paying for college anymore, but on the other, what could she possibly want in return? The apartment could be an investment property for her, and a wardrobe was one thing, but college tuition? Something like that couldn’t possibly come without strings.

I preferred Toby’s private jet to the Laurents’. I’d never admit that out loud, especially not to Georgina, but there was something more comfortable about his. Maybe it wasn’t the plane as much as the company. I settled back into my seat, trying to comprehend how in the world I was on my way to a royal wedding in Hawaii.

“You don’t have to stay buckled in the whole time.” Toby rested his arm on the back of a brown leather sofa.

“I guess I’m still used to flying commercial.” I tapped the buckle of my seatbelt. “You know, the whole stay buckled when you’re in your seat thing.”

“Is that so?” He strode over with a grin on his face, and I knew I was in trouble.

“Yes.” I looked him right in the eye.

“I guess it’s a good thing I make the rules on this plane, then.” He slid into the seat next to me and gently unbuckled my seatbelt. “I’m going to have to insist you come with me, miss.”

“Oh no. Don’t go there.”

“Go where?” He looked at me with mock innocence.

“With the role play. What, are you going to pretend to be an air marshal or something?”

“An air marshal?” Toby laughed. “Not exactly, but are you that against role play?”

“It’s not my thing.”

“Why do I get the feeling there’s a story behind that?” He brushed a few strands away from my face.

“Can’t we get back to where we were? Weren’t you going to whisk me away from my seat?”

“Ah, yes. The air marshal fantasy you so obviously have.”

“Stop!” I hit Toby’s arm in what I thought was a playful way.

He rubbed his arm. “Mental note, no teasing you about sexual fantasies.”

“Speaking of sexual fantasies…”

“Uh oh. Where is this going?” He grinned again.

“Can you um, can you have sex…”

“Are you trying to ask me if we can have sex with our wings out?”

“Maybe.” I looked down. Even with how confident Toby made me, I still felt strange talking about sex and the non-human thing. It reminded me of how much more of a sexual appetite I had now.

“I’ve heard it’s better than flying.”

“You’ve heard? Meaning you’ve never…”

“Nope. You can’t exactly show your wings if you’re pretending to be human.”

“Yeah, I guess not.”

“Want to try?” He ran a finger down my bare arm.

“When?”

“Now.”

“Now? Right here on the plane?” My body tensed. I wasn’t expecting him to say that.

“Aren’t your wings begging to come out anyway?” His voice was barely a whisper in my ear.

“Maybe.” I couldn’t deny it. Flying in planes was definitely not one of my favorite activities anymore—even if it was on a private jet with a guy I liked and who made my body temperature rise just by looking at me a certain way. He was looking at me that way at the moment.

“Excuse me? Would either of you care for a beverage?” A young flight attendant interrupted us.

I could feel the blood rushing to my face. How much had she heard?

“No, thanks.” Toby didn’t take his eyes off me. “I think we’ve got other plans.”

I pushed on his arm, lighter this time. I didn’t appreciate him making things even more awkward.

“Ah, oh okay.” The woman, clearly flustered, disappeared.

“What was that for?” I glared at him.

“What? Were you thirsty?”

“No.” I crossed my arms. “But you didn’t need to make it so obvious what we’re planning to do.”

“Why not? Do we have anything to hide?”

“No, but—”

“Then who cares? We aren’t doing anything wrong.” He tugged on my hand. “Come here.”

I let him pull me up, allowing both sides of my seatbelt to fall to the side.

He led me down the aisle to a room I noticed but never asked him about. “You don’t seriously have a bedroom on here, do you?”

“Of course I do.” He paused with his hand on the door handle. “And I’d like to use it unless you’d prefer the couch.” There wasn’t much that distinguished Toby’s plane from a luxurious living room. Complete with couches and a full bar, it was pretty over the top. It didn’t really seem like his type of thing, but I assumed it had come with the job—or his family.

“Open the door, Toby.” I mustered a confident voice.

“I thought you’d say that.” He held open the door so I could walk in first.

I glanced around the small space. A double bed, situated between a night stand and some cabinets, took up most of the room. Otherwise, it was empty.

“Should I bother with the lights?”

“No.” I had grown to really enjoy the dark more. Even with the night vision, it enhanced your other senses.

He closed the door behind him then turned to look at me. “Looks like you’ve become a do it in the dark girl.”

“Does that bother you?” I asked coyly.

“Nothing about you could bother me.” He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me against him.

“Are you sure it’s okay that we’re doing this? What if someone needs you?”

“Last time I checked, neither of us were flying the plane. Can you try to relax?” He left tiny kisses on my neck.

I nodded.

“Good, because after all that air marshal talk, I don’t think I can just go sit down.”

I pushed against his arm. “You tease me too much.”

“Is that possible?” He rubbed my back. “You like my teasing.”

“Maybe a little.” I slid my hand under the bottom of his shirt.

“I think it’s a lot.” He tickled my ear with his lips. “You like it a lot.”

How could a discussion on teasing me be so hot? I leaned my head back, letting him know I wanted his lips on my neck. He got the hint, and at the same time his hands started to move up my shirt. They slipped easily under my bra. Before I’d registered it, he had my shirt and bra off. I tugged off his shirt and moved on to his pants. I wanted him, and I didn’t want to wait. Neither did he. He had me out of my pants and underwear and down on my back. “Ready to admit you like when I tease you?” His mouth did the teasing this time as he moved it down from my neck.

“Yes.”

“Good.”

I prepared myself for all the pleasure I knew was coming, but my excitement was short lived.

Casey jerked back from me as soon as the knocking started.

“Yes?” I called without bothering to hide my annoyance.

“Sir? You have a phone call,” the flight attendant said through the door.

“Can you take a message? We’re, uh, a little busy here.”

Casey playful pushed me. I laughed.

“Okay. I’ll tell them.”

I waited for the sound of her footsteps to fade away before returning my attention to the beautiful and very naked Casey underneath me. I’d never get tired of seeing her that way. She was truly the most amazing site, and I couldn’t wait to see what she looked like naked with her wings.

I’d just lowered my mouth to her breast when the knocking started again.

“What?”

“Sir. They won’t leave a message.”

“Who is it?”

Casey rolled out from underneath me and started to get dressed. So much for enjoying the flight. I reluctantly got dressed as well.

“It’s Jared Florence, sir.”

I groaned. By then, we were both dressed so I wrenched open the door and took the phone from the flight attendant who was doing a poor job of hiding her amusement. Casey really didn’t need to worry about embarrassing the shifter.

“What do you want?” I barked out. Getting interrupted was bad enough, but did it have to be Jared? You’d think that after getting Casey back, my annoyance level would have dropped, but it didn’t. I was still so angry at him for using her, and hurting her. She acted like it didn’t matter, but I know his response to her Pteron nature stung. Whether she wanted to be with him or not, rejection still hurts like hell. Either way, he was going to have to apologize. I didn’t like it, but she was a Laurent, and they’d be seeing a lot of each other.

“Is that any way to greet the head of security?” I could practically see his smirk.

“What do you want?”

“We need to talk.”

I sat on the edge of the bed. “Evidently. That is why you called, isn’t it?”

Casey looked at me questioningly. She could probably hear his side of the conversation too.

He let out a deep breath. “I know you hate me, but I hate you too, so it kind of equals out.”

Casey laughed.

“Is that Casey?” His voice lilted. Her name and voice still meant something to him. Maybe he wasn’t the cold, heartless bastard I thought he was. At least not completely.

“Yes.”

“Could you put her on?” His voice went back to hard and serious.

“Why?”

“Because I need to talk to her.”

She nodded so I handed over the phone.

“Hi.” Her voice was so soft and tentative. Gone was the confident tone she used with me. I hated that he did that to her, but I was glad she could still be strong with me. I stayed close enough to listen in.

He didn’t respond for a second. “I’m an ass. Let’s just get that out there.”

She laughed. “I’ll agree with you there.”

“But that said, we have to move past what happened. I want to help you, and you need to help me.”

“You want to help me?”

“Yes. But first, I need your help and Toby’s.”

“With?”

“Can you put me on speaker?”

She handed me the phone, and I changed it to speaker mode. “Go ahead.”

“This wedding is important. I don’t really get it, but Levi really cares about how it goes.”

“Of course he does. He wants it perfect for Allie.” Casey smiled. “Most guys want to make their bride happy.”

“Whatever. That part doesn’t matter. The bigger issue is that I’ve got a bad feeling about it.”

“A bad feeling?” I tried to keep the skepticism from my voice. “We act on feelings now?”

“Allie wanted to get married in Hawaii… I get that, but it’s the one U.S. territory on rocky ground right now for us. It’s the perfect location for a strike.”

“You’re worried Murphy’s going to attack.” It hit me. Jared wasn’t just worried about Allie and Levi. He was worried about Casey too.

“Make a stop in L.A. I’m getting on.”

“Where are you now?”

“Waiting for you.”

“Wait. You’re getting on this plane?” Casey didn’t hide her anxiety. She was probably more afraid of facing Jared than she was of Murphy.

“Yes. Is that a problem?” There was a challenge in his words. He knew Casey better than I thought. She never stepped down from a challenge.

She clenched the comforter in her fist. “No. Come on aboard.”

“I’ll wait till you land.” The phone call ended.

“Oh, I guess we’re going to have company.” She walked to the doorway.

I stopped her and looked right into her eyes. “If you don’t want him to, we don’t have to stop.”

“Yes, we do.” She smiled lightly before walking out of the room. I didn’t like the flash of sadness that crossed her eyes. It wasn’t just about Jared, it was about everything. Her life as she knew it had spiraled out of control. I knew those feelings and wanted to make it better. The only trouble was I wasn’t sure how.

So much for an enjoyable fight. I followed her back out into the main cabin of the plane. She took the same seat again and watched out the window. After telling the pilot to detour to LAX, I sat silently beside her for a few minutes. Then she got up and started to pace. She walked up and down the aisle, and I could see the wheels turning in her head. If things weren’t so stressful, it might have even been cute.

I tried to stay out of her way. “If you don’t stop, you might wear right through the floor.”

She turned. “Let’s hope the floor of this plane is stronger than that.”

I laughed. “I think so.”

After the pilot announced our descent, we took our seats for landing. I took her hand in mine. “You can handle this.”

She smiled. “I know. It’s going to be an awkward weekend. I might as well get used to it, right?”

I squeezed her hand. “We’ll make it fun. I promise you that.”

Moments after taxiing, the pilot let me know our passengers had arrived. I gave Casey’s hand another squeeze. It took me a second to process what he’d said. Passengers? As in more than one.

I heard voices from the front of the plane and went to investigate. “Uh uh. No way.”

“What? I told you I was coming.” Jared tried to push past me onto the plane.

“Yeah. You didn’t mention this one was coming.” I pointed at another of my least favorite people, or should I say Pterons, in the world.

“Great to see you too, Toby.” Cade patted me on the shoulder. The new Pteron king of the West Coast was dressed in a blazer, slacks, and flip flops.

“And this must be Casey.” He slipped past me and stopped in front of Casey. “It’s an honor to meet you, princess.” He kissed her hand.

I cleared my throat. “How does he know who she is?”

He gave me a long, cold stare. “Because it’s my right to know. You may help run New York, but I’m in charge of the West Coast now.”

“Yeah. I remember.” Cade was a king, I wasn’t. Instead of running my own kingdom, I did grunt work for Levi.

Casey looked between us.

Despite my distaste, I still had to introduce them. “Casey, this is Cade. He’s the heir of the Daly family.”

“Oh… is that supposed to mean something to me?”

Cade laughed. “You’ve got a great sense of humor. Come, let’s talk.” He nodded toward the seat she’d been sitting in earlier.

I knew he wasn’t trying to hit on her. He was only trying to help his position by sweet talking an ally, but I didn’t like it. I didn’t like having two other male Pterons on my plane, especially considering how long of a flight we still had.