An aeroplane!
Her eyes sprung open and scanned her immediate surrounds.
Confusion clouded her. It was like the most luxurious room she’d ever been in, only sure enough, the little portal windows on the wall showed that she was on board a flight.
But why?
She lifted a hand to her head and felt the bump there. Had she concussed herself after all? She certainly felt as though she’d stepped into a vortex of the twilight zone.
She reached down and unclipped her belt, despite the little light in the roof indicating that seatbelts should be worn. She stood and scanned the room.
Zamir.
Comfortable and elegant, and all-too-regal, Zamir was at the other end of the plane. He was perfectly at ease in a large white armchair, with a desk in front of him. Papers were spread haphazardly over it.
Olivia spoke in a halting staccato. “What the hell have you done?”
Zamir lifted his head slowly, and his feelings were impossible to interpret behind his mask of nonchalance.
“We will be landing soon. You should take your seat.”
She stared at him with a growing sense of misunderstanding. “Landing? Landing where? Where am I?”
“You are on one of my jets.”
“One of your … Zamir.” She moved toward him; shock was making her brain spongy. “What are you talking about?”
He returned his attention back to his papers. “I thought you wanted to come to Dashan with me.”
Olivia gaped. His easy distraction was adding fuel to the fire of her bad mood. “That was then. Not now.”
He chose his words with care. “I did not feel it was a good idea then.”
“You’re … unbelievable!” The plane bumped and Olivia lurched sideways. She caught herself on a chair just in time.
With a breath of impatience and the sort of expression a parent might have employed with a recalcitrant toddler, Zamir stood. He put a hand on her upper arms but Olivia pulled forcibly out of his reach. “Don’t you dare touch me.”
His eyes glowed at her harsh warning. “At another time, I would take that as a challenge to demonstrate just how badly you desire my touch,” he responded with a darkly sensual threat in his voice. “But right now, I only need you to sit so that you don’t cause any more damage to yourself.”
She snorted inelegantly. “You speak as though you care for me and yet you’ve kidnapped me?”
“It was the only solution,” he responded seriously, though her words panged guilt through his conscience. He guided her to the chair opposite his and waited patiently for her to sit.
Olivia was almost numb with the revelation that he’d put her in an aeroplane against her will. And where were they going? It couldn’t be far, surely. She’d not been asleep long. Had she?
“How long have I slept?”
“Most of the flight.”
“Which is about as precise as a cloud,” she snapped.
His smile was tight. He reached down to her waist in order to buckle her in but his hands brushed against her legs and Olivia jerked away. “Don’t touch me,” she reminded him forcefully. Only her lower lip trembled and her features were showing fear. More guilt swirled inside of him. Olivia was afraid of him.
He had acted on impulse and out of desperation and now this woman feared him.
He stepped back with a shrug. Years of practice kept his feelings from finding expression. “Fine. Do your seatbelt up, Olivia, so that we may land.”
She gripped the armrest and pushed back in the chair. “You can’t be serious about this.”