Quiet Angel (14 page)

Gage looked over
at her—her hands gripping the armrest, her lips moving in prayer, her eyes closed tightly. “Open your eyes,” he said.

But she shook her head violently. He reached over and touched her hand. Layla’s eyes flew open, and she shooed her hands at him. “Both hands on the wheel!”

“It’s not a car,” he said. “Look, the sun is starting to set.”

Layla looked out the side and put her hands against the window, leaning in close towards the fiery majestic orb painting the heavens. Gage took it all in. The sun’s red and orange hues were nothing compared to her. He wanted this night to go perfectly. The plane dipped slightly, and Layla turned to him with nervous eyes.

“It’s fine,” he said. “You know how you hit a bump in the road? You get the same thing in the air.”

“I thought you said it wasn’t like a car.”

He rolled his eyes. “You want to try?”

“Uh, no way.” She leaned her head back and watched him. He was in total control. He looked young and happy. She was still trying to figure out the man, but she recognized this guy, the teenage boy she once knew. “You love flying, don’t you?”

“Yeah, I don’t get to do it enough. I’d fly everyday if I could.” He caught her staring and gave a little wink. “You try.” He reached for her hand and put it on the stick with his on top. “It’s called a yoke, but it’s pretty much like a steering wheel.” She relaxed her grip, and Gage moved his hand.

“Don’t let go!” she cried, but Gage put his hands behind his head. “Gage!”

“Just pretend you’re driving. You probably eat and drive, talk on the phone and drive, put on makeup while driving.” He ran his fingertips down her arms, her porcelain skin so soft and smooth, catching a glimpse of her cleavage, breathing in the lavender. He let his mind wander. The cockpit was small, but so was Layla. She could pull up her dress, straddle him, and make love to him with nothing around but the setting sun.
That would be pretty damn perfect—flying and fucking at the same time. Never done that.
He leaned over and slowly kissed her neck, seeing her breasts swell as she drew a deep breath.

“Mmm. Don’t distract me.” He pulled at the tie on her dress strap. “Gage.”

“Yes,” he groaned.

She took his hand, put it back on the stick, then scooted back. “Fly the plane.”

“I’d rather. . . .”

“I know what you’d rather,” she said, tying back her strap. “Be good.”

“I like being bad.” Gage opened a console and handed Layla a small blindfold. “Put this on.”

“Now I know you’re crazy! You want me to fly blindfolded?”

“Otherwise you’ll know where we’re going. We’ll be on the ground in five minutes.”

“Just so you know,” she said and slipped on the blindfold, “this is officially the worst date ever.”

*

After a short
limo ride and walk, Gage let her take off the blindfold. He’d tortured her enough. When she did, her hands flew over her mouth in shock. She was standing on the patio of his parents’ beach house on St. Simons Island, a small bistro table lit in candlelight set out for dinner.

“Is this still the worst date ever?” he asked, smiling.

“It’s getting better. This is beautiful.” Layla took in the ocean, the salty air, then remembered her last footsteps out on the beach, washed away, all alone. “I haven’t been back since.”

Gage adjusted the chairs so they faced the ocean. “I figured.”

They ate under the twinkling stars, and Gage kept his hand on Layla the whole time, stroking her fingers, occasionally grazing her thigh. It seemed like only yesterday they were snuggled together on lounge chairs watching the sunset.

“How are we getting back to Savannah?” she asked.

“I thought we’d fly back. It’s an hour and half by car.”

“Is that tiny plane safe in the dark?”

“Of course, it’s safe. I’d never take you up if it wasn’t.” He cocked his head to the side. “But if it makes you feel better, we could stay the night and fly back early in the morning.”

Layla shook her head and smiled.
The man is relentless.

“So I guess the question is,” Gage asked, “do you trust me to fly you home in the dark, or do you trust me to sleep with you in the dark?”

“I might need to think about that,” she said and turned to look inside the beach house through the huge windows off the patio. She saw the soft whites, the cool linens, and headed inside, with Gage following behind. The place looked exactly the same. She smiled spotting the guitar in the corner of the living room. “Do you ever play anymore?”

“Not really,” he said, picking it up and strumming a few chords.

“Remember when you used to play and sing for me?”

“I don’t remember that at all,” he said, blushing.

“Sing for me,” she said. “You always had a great voice.”

Gage considered it for a moment but then put down the guitar. “Maybe some other time,” he said. “By the way, I created an account for you with the airline, so you can fly whenever you want, and it will just be charged to me.”

“You didn’t have to do that.”

“It will make things easier with you in Savannah and me in Atlanta during the week.”

“You’ve got this all figured out, don’t you?”

“I’ll fly in every afternoon or evening and back to Atlanta in the morning. And if you ever have time, on your off days or whatever, you could fly to me. That’s why I got the account for you.”

“You really have given this a lot of thought.”

“Of course, I have,” he said. “I’m not going to lose you again. Some people have hour long commutes in a car. I’ll just be doing it by air. And it’s only 45 minutes.” He tilted her chin up to look in her eyes. “What I don’t have figured out is where I’ll be sleeping when I’m visiting.”

“Oh!”

“I usually stay with my mom in Savannah on the weekends. But maybe I can get a better offer from you?”

“I don’t have an extra bed,” she teased.

He squeezed her hand. “Layla, I’m serious. I’m not letting you go again.”

“That’s sweet, Gage, but it’s a little fast. One of us has to be practical. If it were up to you, we’d be married already.”

“OK, I’ll give you a month, but then we should get married.”

Layla laughed. It was funny the way he said it. But something told her that deep down, underneath all the charm and sexiness, the man was afraid. She lowered her head to his chest. As much as he wanted to be close to her, he was afraid to get
too
close without something more from her, something to make things secure. He was probably just half-serious about marriage—she could blame Poppy for mentioning it—but she obviously still had some making up to do.

Gage cleaned up
the bistro table, still wondering whether they were flying back or staying the night. He came back inside to ask Layla but saw her disappear into his old bedroom. He watched her slide a hand across the comforter then pick up a pillow, lifting it to her nose. He took a step inside, the floor creaking beneath him, and Layla turned to face him.

“I’ll never forget seeing you beside my bed in that white cotton sundress,” he said, sitting down beside her on the bed. “You really looked like an angel. I thought I was just dreaming about you again.”

“You dreamed about me?”

“I still do sometimes.” He cleared his throat. “I could tell in your eyes that night that something was different. But then you started to unbutton your dress. I saw your hands trembling, and I thought you were just nervous.”

Layla smiled. “So you sat up and undid the buttons yourself?”

“I was quicker,” he said, flashing a naughty look.

“I could tell you were nervous, too. You got to the last button and hesitated.”

Gage fiddled with the hem of her dress. “Then you slid your dress off your shoulders, and it fell to the floor. I remember telling myself I was supposed to look at your eyes, but you weren’t wearing a bra.” He reached up and outlined the top of her dress, his fingertips gently sliding just underneath the cotton. “I see you still hate bras.”

Her dimples showed. “I saw you swallow hard as you got to your feet, your eyes slowly sliding over my body.”

“I walked over to the door and locked it, watching you crawl into my bed. I kept thinking I should say something romantic, but I was so shocked.”

“You got in bed and leaned over me, running your fingertips down my cheek.”

“Your breasts pushed against my chest.”

“You leaned down and kissed me softly,” she said. “Then you ran your hand down to my breast, caressing me.”

“Your eyes closed, and you inhaled a deep breath.”

“I felt your tongue slide over my nipple. Your mouth was so warm.”

Gage’s eyes fell to her cleavage. “I could hear your breath growing ragged.”

“I could feel you hard against me,” she said. “I pulled you to my lips, and you kissed me gently, your tongue slowly stroking mine.”

“Then you pulled away slightly. I thought you’d changed your mind. But then you reached down and tugged at my boxers. I couldn’t believe it. I thought I was going to jump out of my skin.”

“I slid them down and rolled over on top of you.”

“I watched you kiss your way down my chest and stomach, your tongue darting in and out of your mouth, so wet, warm, smooth.”

“I could feel you quivering beneath me,” she said.

“When you slid your mouth over me, I thought I was going to ruin the rest of the night. I watched your mouth sliding me in and out, fighting the urge to finish.”

“I got a little taste of you and knew I needed to stop, but I really didn’t want to.”

Gage shifted on the bed and adjusted his growing hard-on. “Really?”

“But you pulled me up to you, holding the back of my neck, and kissed me so hard. I lost my breath.”

“I rolled you over and slid your panties down. I stopped for a second wanting to remember the way you looked naked before me—your breasts full, your eyes glistening, perfectly shaved.”

Layla blushed. “You leaned over to kiss me again and slid one finger inside.”

“You were so wet and warm.” Gage gave her another naughty smile. “I had to know how you tasted.”

“I remember the first outline your tongue made over me.”

“Your back arched up.”

“You slid your tongue inside me.”

“Your muscles clenched begging for me,” he said. “It was so sexy.”

“I remember thinking you were a god.”

Gage chuckled. “I had no idea what I was doing. I just listened to you, and when you moaned or tightened, I figured that was right.”

“You were very attentive.”

He leaned in close to her. “Watching you come for me that first time was such a high—the way your hips bucked, your muscles tightened, the way you bit your bottom lip to try to contain yourself. And the way you said my name—that was the first word either one of us said. I’ll never forget the way your sweet voice sounded as you came panting my name.”

“I was shocked how intense it was, how totally incredible you made me feel. That was the first orgasm I ever had.”

“But not the last of the night.”

“No, not the last,” she said. “And you were so sweet after, holding me, kissing me gently. It was like you weren’t in a hurry. You wanted me to enjoy my own pleasure. You were so unselfish even though you were hard as a rock.”

“I think I was nervous, not sweet.”

Layla elbowed him. “You were sweet. I was the nervous one. When you leaned over me, and I could feel you pressing against me, my heart was pounding so loud.”

“I was waiting for you to change your mind,” he said, “but when you took hold of me and glided me inside you, I almost lost it right then.”

“You stroked my cheek and stayed very still, watching my eyes.”

“You gave me the sweetest smile ever and pulled me into a kiss.”

“Then you slowly started to move.”

“You felt so warm, tight.” Gage looked away for a second. “I can still remember it exactly. You were trusting me. I was afraid I was going to hurt you.”

“I knew you wouldn’t.”

“Then you tightened yourself around me.”

“You groaned so loudly I was afraid you’d wake your parents.”

“I really didn’t care at that point,” he said. “You felt so damn good, and you kept clenching me tighter and tighter, drawing me deeper and deeper with each thrust.”

“You started so slow and gentle, in and out, in and out.”

“I wanted it to last forever,” Gage said. “Making love to you was the best feeling in the world.”

Layla smiled. “But then you moved faster and harder, and my whole body exploded again.”

“That time you bit down on my pillow. Watching you come sent me over the edge.”

“You yelled out my name!”

“And you kissed me hard on the mouth to shut me up.”

“You pulled me to your chest and held me tight—like I was the most precious thing in the world.”

“You were,” he said. “You still are.”

“You whispered that you loved me.”

“I felt tears on your cheeks and started to panic.”

“They were happy tears.”

“You said they were the best tears you ever cried,” Gage said.

“I saw a few tears in your eyes, too.”

“No way,” he said, but knew she was right. “You fell asleep in my arms. I watched you for a long time trying to figure out how to not leave for college, how we could be together. I planned on never leaving you.” She stroked his cheek, and he shifted his head away. “I woke up the next morning and reached out for you. But you were gone.”