Tangled up in Pain Read online

  “Do you really think I need to go back?”

  He nods.

  “But what if everything turns out fine? I mean, she could just get better.”

  “What if she doesn’t?”

  I shake my head.

  “Look, I know that you don’t want to go home, especially given how bad the situation is. But if you don’t go back for your mom, then you have to go back for your dad. He’s all alone there in that hospital room. He needs your support.”

  I shake my head and take another deep breath.

  He’s right.

  Of course, he’s right.

  Finally, I grab my phone and start searching for flights.

  Of course, there are no direct flights and I’m lucky to find one with only one stop rather than two.

  It costs almost a thousand dollars.

  Shit.

  I shake my head.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Looking for flights.”

  “So, you’re going?” he asks, a little smile forming at the corner of his lips.

  “Yes, I am.” I roll my eyes in exasperation. “Even though it’s going to cost like a grand to leave tonight and I have a four hour layover in Chicago.”

  He stares at me with a dumbfounded expression on his face.

  “Is that what you were doing? Looking for flights?”

  “Um, yes, what else?”

  “Why don’t you just take my plane?”

  While Jackson is on the phone making arrangements, I stare out of the window, which begins at my feet and stretches above my head, at the gray skyline.

  Apparently, Earnest Hemingway once asked F. Scott Fitzgerald what makes the rich different from the rest of us. Fitzgerald stared at him and then answered, “They have more money.”

  That’s one of those quotes that always made me laugh a little to myself.

  What I didn’t realize was how wise it really was until this moment.

  As someone without money, I would’ve had to spend half of my measly monthly paycheck on a ridiculously long flight to get home.

  And what does Jackson have to do?

  Just make a phone call and order his plane.

  I don’t know yet, but I bet it will be a direct flight.

  A part of me wants to say no out of principle.

  I am an independent woman who pays her own bills and she likes it that way.

  But I don’t really want to go home in the first place and that makes paying for a crammed flight through O’Hare airport in Chicago a lot less appealing.

  “Okay, it’s all set up. The pilot will be there in an hour.”

  “Oh, I don’t think that’s enough time. I have to go home and pack.”

  “That’s okay, he’ll wait. He won’t leave without you.”

  I stare at him, trying to process what he has just said. The plane will wait for me? Me?

  “Yes, the plane will wait for you,” Jackson says, reading my mind.

  Chapter 3 - Harley

  When we go…

  “Mr. Garbo will drop me off and then come back to take you to the airport,” Jackson says when we pull up to Julie’s apartment dressed in our penthouse-issued clothes.

  “It shouldn’t take me long to pack if you wait and then I can come with you while you pack,” I suggest.

  “What do you mean?” he asks.

  I stare at him.

  “Wait, you want me to come with you?”

  It never even occurred to me that he wouldn’t.

  I mean, I didn’t think he would when I was looking up flights to go commercial.

  But I am taking his plane.

  “I thought that since you were offering your plane that I would…you would…come with me.”

  “It’s really not a big deal. It’s just like being on a regular plane; it’s just all yours and it goes to a different airport. You’ll be fine.”

  I don’t know if he is being dense on purpose or he is just obtuse. So, I just come out and say it.

  “Can you come with me?”

  The words come out soft and shy.

  But his response is quick and confident.

  “Of course.”

  Packing doesn’t take that long on either of our parts and we are pulling up to the airport in no time.

  I’ve never been anywhere like this before. Instead of parking and dragging our bags through the main entrance, waiting for them to get checked, and then going through the long process of security, here Mr. Garbo just pulls up to one of the sparkling white planes on the tarmac and gets our bags out of the trunk.

  I go to get mine, but Jackson stops me.

  “They’ll take care of them for us.”

  I grab my purse and follow him up the stairs leading right into the plane. Inside, a flight attendant welcomes us inside and shows me to one of the spacious leather seats near the center of the plane. It’s about as big as a recliner that my father used to have.

  To the left of me, are another two seats facing each other with a desk in the middle.

  Unlike regular planes, where all the seats are facing the front, this one is arranged like a living room.

  Jackson sits down in the large recliner across from me.

  The flight attendant asks us if we would like anything.

  Suddenly, feeling drained from all the emotions of the night, I ask for a coffee.

  “Two coffees, please,” Jackson says.

  “Would you like anything to eat?” the flight attendant asks.

  “What do you have?”

  “Croissants, bagels, cereal, lox. I can also make you some eggs, any way you want.”

  “I’ll take a croissant.”

  “What kind?”

  “What kind do you have?”

  “Plain, chocolate, hazelnut, oatmeal.”

  “Hazelnut, I guess.”

  When he walks away, I turn to Jackson and joke that was way too many decisions to make so early in the morning.

  Soon after we are served breakfast, the plane takes off.

  We pierce through the cloud cover in no time and find ourselves in the bright blue sky above.

  “This is…beautiful.”

  “I’m glad you like it.”

  “So, this is your plane?”

  “Yes. I haven’t used it in a long time though, so I leased it out.”

  I nod as if that makes perfect sense.

  People lease planes?

  Is it like leasing cars?

  Jackson sits back in his recliner, relaxing.

  He is wearing a suit, but a less formal one than I saw him in before.

  There’s no tie.

  The shirt is starched and ironed, but the top button is left open.

  His dress shoes are polished, giving them a bright shine.

  My gaze falls to the floor, which I notice is carpeted in a thick expensive weave.

  “How’s your croissant?”

  “Delicious. I’ve never had a hazelnut croissant before.”

  “Neither have I,” Jackson responds.

  “Here, have some,” I volunteer.

  He shakes his head, staring right at me.

  “Only if you come over and feed it to me,” he says with a smile.

  His smile is contagious.

  I can’t help but smile, too.

  I get out of my seat and walk over to him.

  Sitting down on the arm of his chair, I carefully bring the croissant to him.

  He opens his mouth and takes one large sensual bite.

  “Mmm, that is good.”

  “Told you.” I get up to leave, but he pulls me back toward him.

  “Where are you going?”

  “What? You want more? You asked for a bite. You can’t have more.”

  “Oh, yes, I can.” He reaches for me and grabs the croissant out of my hand, taking another big bite.

  Laughing and wrestling, we break the croissant into pieces and watch with disappointment as it crumbles in our hands.

  Suddenly, Jacks
on reaches over and kisses me. His lips are soft at first, but then they become more needy.

  More demanding.

  I lose myself in his mouth.

  In that moment, the world outside disappears and nothing else exists except the two of us.

  A few moments later, I pull away and look at him.

  “Is everything okay?”

  “It is now that you’re kissing me.”

  “I can do more than kiss.”

  I smile. “I wish, but we can’t do it here, right?”

  I can’t see the flight attendant behind the curtain, but I know he’s there.

  Jackson shakes his head. “This is my plane. If we need privacy, we will have privacy.”

  I furrow my brow, not entirely sure where he’s going with this.

  He reaches over to the panel of buttons on his chair and presses the one with the word ‘PRIVATE’ on it.

  “What does that do?”

  “Now, the flight attendant will know not to bother us.”

  “Under what circumstances.”

  “Under no circumstances. He will not come back here until I press that button again.”

  “But what if there’s some sort of emergency?” I ask, not really believing him.

  “I’m not a pilot. If there’s an emergency, then he’ll have to turn to her. Besides, if we do nosedive, I’m pretty sure we’ll know.”

  “I did not need that image in my head,” I point out.

  “Let’s play a game to take your mind off things?” he asks. “You do everything I say, no matter what it is.”

  Chapter 4 - Harley

  When we play a game…

  When he makes that request, his voice gets lower and more authoritative, sending shivers down my back.

  But I’m not afraid, I’m excited.

  I press my toes into my shoes and my heels lift off a bit from the floor.

  Jackson sits up a bit in his chair and unbuttons the middle button of his suit.

  I bite my lower lip, remembering how good his butt felt in my hands.

  “Take off your shoes.”

  I unzip my ankle boots and step out of them.

  “Socks.”

  I pull them off and place them in the boots.

  Jackson’s eyes run over my body until they find the precise thing they want to focus on.

  “Pants.”

  I unbutton the top of my jeans and pull down the zipper. Then I slowly pull them over my butt the way I’ve seen women do in movies.

  “Turn toward me.”

  My heart skips a beat.

  I’ve never been bossed around and I never thought that I would like it.

  But I do. I really do.

  It’s hard to explain how excited it makes me to do as he says.

  I turn my body toward him.

  My moves are a lot less smooth, but he doesn’t laugh, so that’s enough, I guess.

  When I get them down to my knees, I trip and nearly fall to the floor, but catch myself at the last moment.

  “I’m sorry, I’ve never done this before.”

  “Take off your jeans?”

  His smooth voice gives me a hot flash.

  Instead of a sweet man who comforted me when I first learned about my mom’s condition, he is suddenly ruthless and hard.

  Unforgiving.

  Perfect and cold like a marble statue.

  And this is the man who made my blood run warm and my whole body burn for him.

  When I toss my jeans on the ever-growing pile of clothes, I turn to him.

  Now, all that remains is a light blue cardigan, a pink blouse, and a matching set of bra and panties.

  Both in white.

  “Take off your sweater,” Jackson says next.

  His dark eyebrows perfectly frame his piercing blue eyes with thick envious lashes.

  My eyes light up as I look at his sculpted cheekbones and down at his luscious lips full of wicked words.

  “Blouse, too.”

  A moment later, I’m standing before him in nothing but my bra and panties.

  Again, he tells me to turn around, slowly.

  “Why?”

  “I want to look at every part of you.”

  I take a deep breath.

  The perfect body of a Victoria’s Angel, I do not have.

  But it is what it is, and I have slowly grown to accept it.

  Yes, I still wish that my thighs didn’t touch when I walked or that my breasts were a little bigger to make up for how wide my waist is, but I can’t change any of those things anytime soon.

  “You are…stunning.”

  I turn around to face him and see how mesmerized he is by me.

  It’s as if he sees none of the faults.

  He looks at me and he sees someone beautiful.

  It practically takes my breath away.

  “Come here,” he says in his smooth, mesmerizing voice.

  I do as he says and he puts me on his lap, spreading my legs around his as I climb into his seat with him.

  He uses his hands to unclasp my bra and lets my breasts fall before him.

  He watches them bounce before leaning over and taking one in his hand and the other in his mouth.

  I lean my head back in pleasure.

  His kisses are greedy as he is about to devour me.

  He holds the small of my back tightly without letting go.

  When he finally pulls away, the warmth that was building up inside of me drenches my underwear.

  Jackson moves his hand down my body and buries it inside of me.

  He pushes his fingers deep inside and my legs spread wider to accommodate him.

  My body responds instinctively toward his, making it impossible for me to contain my arousal anymore.

  I reach for him, but he pushes my arms away.

  “Take off your underwear.”

  Without moving my body much, I do as he says, yearning for him in anticipation.

  “Now, put your hands on my knees and open wide.”

  As much as I want to touch him, I do as he says.

  I prop myself up by holding onto his knees and giving him space to pleasure me.

  He takes a moment to spread me out wide and look at every part of me.

  Whatever embarrassment I felt has vanished completely and is surpassed by my overwhelming feeling of arousal.

  I need him.

  I crave him.

  I want him to take me over that edge.

  When I clench my legs together, he pushes them apart.

  Pushing his fingers deep inside of me he starts moving them in and out, slowly speeding up his rhythm.

  I hang my head back and lose myself in the moment.

  But just as I am getting close to that explosion I demand, he pulls out.

  After unbuckling his pants, he slides them down.

  He slides on a condom and plunges his large cock inside of me, piercing my body almost in two.

  Suddenly, our movements become fluid.

  We move as one wave.

  Slow at first.

  Then faster and faster.

  The familiar warm feeling starts to overwhelm me.

  But this time, it builds fast.

  So fast that I don’t even see it coming until I’m moaning his name in his ear.

  “Harley,” he groans in response before lowering me on top of him.

  Chapter 5 - Jackson

  After…

  As she lays naked on top of me, drenched in sweat, I want her again.

  But my body is spent and it will take some time to recover my strength again.

  Whatever trepidations I had about accompanying her to Montana have all vanished.

  After Harley pulls herself off me, she gets dressed and I clean myself up and pull up my pants.

  She takes her seat across from me and takes another sip of her coffee.

  “Thank you for that,” she says.

  “And, thank you.”

  She laughs a quiet little laugh and shakes her h
ead.

  “No, I mean, for all of this. For the distraction.”

  “Oh, is that all I am?” I joke. Her smile vanishes and her face gets a grave expression.

  “No…you are so much…more than that.”

  “Good, because you are, too.”

  I don’t press the privacy button again until we are both presentable. When the flight attendant comes over, I ask for a bottle of water and Harley asks if he has any candy.

  “Yes, what kind of candy are you looking for?”

  “M&M’s? They’re my favorite.”

  “Plain or peanut.”

  “Plain.”

  When he comes back with a king-size pack, Harley climbs onto her chair with both feet and wraps her arms around her knees.

  Then she makes a delicate rip in the side of the bag, fishes around in there, and pulls out a yellow one.

  “They always say that they taste the same, but yellow ones are my favorite.”

  I smile.

  “Do you want one?”

  I shake my head. “I’m not a big fan of chocolate.”

  She stares me as if she has just seen a three headed dragon and adds, “More for me then.”

  We don’t talk much after that.

  She pulls out her headphones and loses herself in the music on her phone.

  Eventually, she reclines her chair and falls asleep.

  I get a blanket from the side bin and cover her up with it.

  High above the clouds, the reality of everyday life seems far away. Perhaps it’s the distance from the ground or, I tend to think, it’s the movement.

  I don’t know how fast this plane is flying, but it feels like it’s fast enough to take us away from all of our problems.

  But then again, there’s the issue of landing.

  Once you descend and the wheels touch the earth again, you’re grounded in another place with its own problems.

  Never in a million years did I think that someone like Harley would crash into my life and bring me out of the spell under which I lived, no, existed.

  It was like I had spent four years in the dark and now I could see the light, breathe the air, and smell the flowers.

  I wasn’t sure if she would take me up on my offer of a plane, and I was surprised by her invitation for me to come.

  But now that we’re going, meeting her family seems like the most natural thing in the world.