Page 38

Our turnaround in Chicago is a bit longer than some of our other stops. It’s one of Haven’s favorite cities, so as to be expected, she wanted to give her fans here an extra show.

When the plane comes to a full stop, we all rise. Most still deep in sleep, groaning at the fact that they were just woken up. Heavy eyes and sluggish movements form a weak line as we lug our belongings to the exit.

Slowly but efficiently, the plane unloads.

Happy to see that Jett is still in the cockpit, I try to pass by without feeding into the betraying nag that’s creeping up the side of my neck—try and fail.

“Thank you, Jett.” His mocking whisper hits me like a ton of bricks the second my head turns to make eye contact with him.

With his legs and arms crossed, he holds himself against the side of the small door, a smug smirk on his face like a devil in disguise.

“Fuck you, Jett,” I whisper back.

He walks a few steps closer, still keeping our distance, but bringing an ungodly amount of tension along with him.

“Careful. You know how much I love that smart mouth of yours.”

Inside the car, Jett’s words linger for longer than I’d like, but with so many reminders of the night that stole from me, for the first time, I’m thankful to escape to the one with him that made me forget.

“I guarantee I’ll forget about this the second I leave,” I snip.

I’m hungry for his fire and eager for his touch.

“I’ll just have to do my damn best to make sure that doesn’t happen, won’t I?

My eyes roll out of habit. Normally, I don’t engage in this much verbal foreplay. I’m straight to the point. I have to be, or else the flashbacks happen.

I’m just here to feel something…anything.

Since that party, I’ve been in survival mode. Searching for any feeling to take away the pain. Performing the only way I know how to avoid crashing and burning.

Searching for feeling, for worth.

Or maybe I’ve been trying to prove to myself that I deserved what happened to me that night. That because my no wasn’t as loud as it should’ve been, or I wasn’t as cautious as some may have been in my situation, or maybe what I wore suggested things it shouldn’t have, that what he took from me that night was his to take.

I snicker. “Guess you do.”

Jett’s voice is thick with lust and want, his teeth grazing the bottom of my ear, and my stomach flips at the sensation.

“Why don’t you use that smart little mouth and tell me what you need from me.”

With an exaggerated grunt, I roll my neck, still under the confines of his strong grasp.

“I knew you were all talk.”

I’m partially trying to bate him, but also just masking my disappointment. I was banking on him being different.

A tickle rushes down my ear, something warm and wet hitting my skin. It pools lower with every lick. He’s tasting me like I’m fucking ice cream. His moans against my skin are guttural, enforcing the reaction I was already having to bubble higher and higher.

“That’s where you’re wrong, baby girl. I just wanted to give you the power to play your cards before I showed you how much better my hand was.”

He smiles against my skin, and holy shit, my core tightens the second his teeth nip my ear.

“Oh, that’s such bull⁠—”

The grip he has around my throat tightens, and I fucking whine like a kitten.

“Let’s get one thing straight, Fia. We’ve been going back and forth all night. Whatever the fuck this is between us is electric, but don’t mistake me for a weak man just because I like to play. I brought you up here to fuck you like you’ve never been fucked before, and I intend on doing exactly that.”