Chapter 2

"What?" I looked at him once again.

"Are you going to Paris for business or pleasure?" he asked again.

Oh, right. I had almost completely forgotten where I was. My nerves picked up again, remembering that the flight was surely going to take off any minute. "Oh, um, neither, I guess. I'm going to visit my mother and her husband."

I must've been making a face because Grayson asked, "And you're not happy to see your mother and her husband?"

I shook my head. "No, not since she left me and my sick father to run off to Paris and marry her rich lover," I heard myself saying. I paused. I can't believe I just said that. I had never told anyone about my mother and now I had just told a complete stranger about her.

I looked at him. He had a pensive look on his face. "I'm sorry. I don't know why I said that. I promise I'm not that crazy person on the plane who shares her entire life story with the stranger sitting next to her."

Grayson looked deeply into my eyes almost as if he were looking for something and then he grabbed the armrest between us and moved it so it was no longer a barrier. I watched his movements closely. "Um... What are you doing?"

"Shh..." Grayson said. Then he grabbed my hips that were already angled towards him and hugged me so that my knees were touching his. The delicious sparks started to trail up and down my body again as his hand found its way under my shirt and onto the small of my back where his thumb created soothing circles. I let out a breathy sound from the back of my throat. His other hand went up to cup my face.

"You don't have to worry about a thing now," Grayson whispered. "I'm going to take care of you." He leaned down so that his lips were touching my ear. "You're mine."

I leaned back a bit so I could see his eyes. "What do you mean?"

He smirked. "I mean..." His thumb touched my lower lip. I gasped. "Everything," he kissed my eyelid, "about," he kissed my other eye, "you," the top of my nose, "is mine." Finally, his lips met mine.

My eyes fluttered closed at the feeling of his lips on mine. It was absolutely euphoric, like fireworks and explosions. My hands went up onto his shoulders and squeezed. His shoulders were huge and muscular. I let out a soft moan.

I felt him smirk against my lips and I paused for a second. No, no smirking. Smirking meant that he might stop kissing me and I really didn't want that to happen. I went up on my knees, never taking my lips from his, and pushed my chest into his, basking in the sparks that came wherever my body met his. My hands went up into his hair and tugged his face closer to mine. He groaned in approval.

I suddenly felt his hands squeeze my hips tightly, then lift me onto his lap. My knees went on either side of him, straddling him and I pushed my chest against him as his tongue suddenly plunged into my mouth. His hands kneaded my hips and then went up to grip my waist under my shirt, both his thumbs touching the underwire of my bra.

Oh, my God, was it getting hot in here?

Someone cleared their throat next to us. Like a light switch went off in my brain, I suddenly realized what we were doing. I jerked myself back, but Grayson tightened his grip on me, keeping me firmly placed on his lap.

I looked at the flight attendant who was standing next to us. "Sorry, Miss, but I'm gonna have to ask you to go back to your seat and put on your seatbelt. The flight is about to take off."

I nodded my head quickly, feeling my face turning bright red. I scrambled to get off Grayson's lap and, thankfully, he let me go this time. I sat down in my seat and quickly strapped on my seatbelt. The flight attendant watched as Grayson put on his seatbelt as well. She nodded and walked away.

"Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God," I said to myself. I placed my hands on my face to try to cool down my burning cheeks. "I can't believe I just did that. What is wrong with me?" I couldn't even bring myself to look at Grayson out of pure embarrassment. I had pressed my chest into his, I had basically crawled into his lap like some hooker begging for him to get into my panties.

"Hey, hey, hey," I heard Grayson say. "What's wrong?" He touched my arm.

I jerked back, ignoring how much I wanted to keep his hands on me. "Don't touch me," I snapped.

Grayson made a startling growling noise in the back of his throat. I looked at him only to see that he had an extremely intense look on his face. His jaw was clenched and his breathing was deep, his chest rising up and down quickly. And, oh yeah, his eyes were pitch black. The pupils, irises, and the whites of his eyes were all completely black.

I gasped and scrambled backward, putting my back against the wall behind me. "Oh, my God. Your eyes."

His eyes widened and then snapped closed. He took a deep breath and when his eyes opened again, they were back to normal.

I was going insane. That was the only logical explanation. The death of my father and the fear of seeing my mother again were finally getting to me.

"I'm sorry," he said. "It's just... you can't tell me not to touch you."

My heart started beating faster. Or maybe he was insane. "What do you mean?"

He leaned forward, an intense look in his eyes. "Oh, baby girl, have you forgotten already?" His hand clasped on my knee and rubbed up and down my leg. "You're mine, remember?"

My blood began to boil. That was the third time that he had called me his property. Who did this guy think he was? Sure, he was extremely good looking and I had basically thrown myself on him and I was extremely attracted to him, but that doesn't mean I belonged to him. I was my own person. I belonged to no one. I especially didn't belong to some man that I had just met and who obviously knew no personal boundaries.

I opened my mouth to give him a piece of my mind but stopped when I felt the plane suddenly begin to move. I must've completely missed the part where they explained where all the exits were and how to buckle your seatbelt. But it was probably for the best. That just would've made me more nervous.

I felt my heart start to jump out of my chest and my hands begin to shake. I grabbed onto Grayson's hand that was still clamped onto my leg and squeezed my eyes shut. I tried taking deep breaths to calm myself down, but they came out more like quick, gasping pants.

Oh, my God, was I hyperventilating?

"Belle," I heard Grayson say. "Belle, baby, what's wrong?" I felt his hand come up to grip my shoulder.

I shook my head frantically, not able to find my voice. I was afraid that if I spoke, I would start to cry.

"Belle," Grayson's voice said to me. It came out calmer this time. "Look at me, Belle. I need you to look at me, gorgeous. Let me see those beautiful blue eyes."

I just shook my head again. The plane jumped as it began to lift off the ground. I let out a whimper and pushed myself further against the wall.

"Belle, I swear to God, if you don't look at me right now, I will kiss you again and who knows where that will lead."

Had he really just said that? I was basically about to have a heart attack and he was threatening to kiss me.

My eyes opened. Grayson's face was about a foot away from mine. He smiled. "There are those beautiful eyes."