Chapter 2 2

I went to move away, looking forward to escaping the awkward situation, but the man just tightened his hold on me.

He leaned down and whispered in my ear: "Not so fast... You're not getting away that easily."

Then he looked at the creeper who would be sitting next to me during the flight.

"Move," he said to him.

Mr. Creeper just sat there and gawked at us for a second. It made me very uncomfortable to think he'd been watching us.

"What?" he asked.

"Move," the good-looking man repeated. "I'm sitting there."

"I'm sorry? I'm not moving. This is my seat."

The man holding me growled low. "Here, take mine." He handed Mr. Creeper his ticket. "It's first class," he said, watching the man look over the ticket with a raised eyebrow. "Now, move," he said slowly-almost threateningly-as if he was daring the man to question his orders again.

The creep looked at us one more time before he got up and quickly grabbed his bag. "Go on, gorgeous," my new, mysterious neighbor said, gently pushing me to the window seat while following closely behind.

"Um, sorry about earlier," I muttered, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear and dropping my gaze. I wanted this guy to like me. "I rarely go around touching strangers like that, I promise."

I laughed nervously. When he didn't respond, I cleared my throat.

"Okay... So why did you give up your first-class ticket to sit all the way back here?" My eyes met his, and his hand moved to cup my cheek.

"Because I wanted to be near you," he said huskily. He ran his thumb over my cheekbone as he examined every inch of my face. "Wow, how did I get so lucky?"

I leaned away from him, not sure of how to respond. I must've heard him wrong.

"Sorry, what did you say?"

He just smiled and shook his head. "Nothing. Don't worry about it, beautiful." He leaned toward me across the armrest. We were close for two strangers.

"I'm Grayson. What's your name?"

Almost as if I were in a daze, I heard myself say, "Belle."

His smile widened. "Belle," he said to himself. "My Belle."

His eyes were so pretty. I couldn't help but stare into them. "Uh-huh...," I said absently.

He let out a wholehearted laugh.

Did I say something funny?

"Our bond is strong; I can tell," he said.

Is it just me, or does nothing he says make any sense?

"What? Our bond?" I asked.

He brushed a loose strand of hair from my face. "Don't you worry your little head about it." I was once again snapped out of the daze he seemed to keep putting me in when a baby behind us let out a loud scream. Realizing just how close I was to the man Grayson I jumped back.

I'd been able to feel his breath on my face.

My cheeks immediately turned red, but before I could feel too embarrassed, he spoke.

"Mine. Mate," he said, his deep, husky voice ringing in my ears.

2. Turbulence

BELLE "What did you just say?" I asked.

"So, business or pleasure?" Grayson asked.

Oh, right. I had almost completely forgotten where I was. I was hearing things. It must have been the stress. My nerves picked up again as I remembered that the plane would likely take off any minute.

"Oh, um, neither, I guess. I will 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 my sick father and me 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 told no one about my mother, and now I'd just blabbed it to a complete stranger.

I looked at him. His expression was pensive.

"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 searching for something -and then he grabbed the armrest between us and lifted it so it was no longer a barrier. I watched his movements closely.

"Um... What are you doing?"

"Shh...," Grayson said. He grabbed my hips, which were already angled toward him, and tugged me so that my knees were touching his.