“Hard to forget, isn’t it?” He didn’t know why he was baiting her, tormenting himself. The answer throbbed in his trousers. “You weren’t able to scream. And boy, did you love to scream. Especially when I went down on you. Couldn’t get enough of that, could you, princess?”
Pink slashed high across her cheekbones. “I don’t recall you being especially silent on occasions,” she said, raising her eyebrows. “Especially when I had your cock in my mouth. Couldn’t get enough of that, could you, lover?”
His breathing lodged in his throat, his trousers growing unbearably tight. He curled his fingers deep into the soft leather upholstery, when really he wanted them curling around her. He wanted his hands, his tongue and his cock on her. In her. Every damn thing. Every damn where.
“Maddie...”
“I hope you’ve got a good lawyer, because you’re going to need one when I’m done pressing charges for kidnapping and molestation.”
“I haven’t touched you.” He let that hang in the air. “And I’m not going to touch you...unless that’s what you want.”
She turned her head away, but he held her chin between his fingers, bringing her back to face him. “You’re getting on that plane.”
She stared back at him. “Looks like you’ll have to make me, then, doesn’t it? But let me warn you, I can scream loud enough to alert most of London. Being abducted on the way to your wedding can do that to a girl.”
“Give it a rest. You weren’t going through with it out of choice.”
Her mouth dropped open, but she quickly closed it.
No argument? He took it as a sign of progress. For now. “Okay, so this is what we’re going to do. We’re getting out of this car and walking over to the plane. Got that?”
She brushed her tongue along her lower lip, making his cock throb. “I have to wonder why you’re doing this. What’s in it for you?”
The six-million-dollar question.
“Get on that plane and maybe you’ll find out.”
GABE LED MADDIE to the centre of the cabin and indicated one of the cream-coloured leather chairs.
“Make yourself comfortable. We’ll be leaving shortly.”
She stood where she was. It was hard to ignore, let alone deny, the heady thrill of freedom that came with getting on the jet, the joy of being whisked away and not having to go through with the marriage to Oscar.
Except her escape brought with it a whole new set of problems. Not just the consequences of her failure to marry, but more troubling was being with Gabe again. Could she handle it? Would she be able to protect herself from getting hurt this time?
Gabe moved closer until his hand brushed the back of hers. “Maddie?”
“You haven’t told me where we’re going. I ought to know where I’m being taken.”
“You know where.”
She swallowed and took a steadying breath, not entirely sure what unsettled her most. The thought of heading back to Monaco? Or because Gabe was standing right up close and personal. “Why are we going there?”
He hesitated, then took a step back. “It makes things easier.”
“What things?”
“I’ll tell you when the time is right.”
“You said you’d tell me if I got on the plane. Well, I’m here. So tell me.”
“You’re not ready to know just yet.” He strode down the cabin toward the cockpit. “Buckle up.”
God. The man was insufferable. The epitome of arrogance.
Irritated, Maddie considered making a dash for it, but she’d delayed too long, and the steward closed and secured the cabin door. Briefly, she wondered what story Gabe had spun the crew about a strange woman in full wedding regalia joining him on the flight to the Côte d’Azur. But she knew only too well how easily he could lure people into believing just about anything, since she’d been a victim of that charm offensive herself.
She sat with some reluctance, still questioning her decision to get on the plane. Gabe strolled back, slipping out of his jacket and throwing it across the back of a chair before sitting opposite her.
She wasn’t going to watch as he yanked off his tie and undid the top buttons of the crisp white shirt. She didn’t want to remember the silky strands of chest hair visible from that sexy V, nor did she want to recall the way his forearms rippled when he rolled up the cuffs of his shirtsleeves.
“Like what you see?”
Maddie looked up and found Gabe watching her, a knowing smile on his sumptuous lips. She hated that he’d caught her staring. Hated her own weakness that she couldn’t seem to help it.
“Not particularly,” she lied. “I don’t find pseudo-macho displays appealing.”
“Nothing pseudo about it. You’re here, aren’t you? Sitting in my chair, on my aircraft, at my pleasure.”
“Well, enjoy it while you can, because by now my fiancé will have alerted the authorities to my disappearance. When he discovers what’s happened he’ll have your guts for garters, and I’ll enjoy watching him strap them on.”
“Please. Oscar Kingston couldn’t organize the proverbial piss-up in a brewery unless there’s a few million bucks riding on it.”
“Well, if there were a few million bucks riding on anything, I’d imagine you’d be right there at the starting gate.” She considered him. “Is that what this is all about? Money?”
“Like I said, I’m saving you from making a big mistake. You might want to buckle up.”
Maddie realized they were taxiing out onto the runway, and her already unsteady stomach gave a nauseous roll. Once they were airborne, there was no going back. The wedding would be well and truly off. Cancelled. Oscar would go through with his plans.
Unless...
“Let me borrow your phone. I want to call Oscar.”
“In your dreams.”
She waggled her fingers. “Then let me call my father.”
“If you don’t buckle up, you won’t be calling anyone.”
Maddie fastened her seat belt—physically and metaphorically—and stared Gabe down. “Even criminals get a phone call.”
“Maybe you’ll get one, too. Later.”
“My dad will be worried.”
Gabe’s grey eyes narrowed, his gaze unwavering as he locked it on her. He drew in a breath. “He knows you’re okay.”
Her heart thumped. “How does he know that?”
“Because I called him this morning. Now, why don’t you relax? As soon as we’re—”
“You called him?” Maddie’s pulse kicked hard. “To say what?”
“That you’d decided not to go through with the wedding, and you were coming to stay with me until the fuss died down.”
Her thoughts took on a frenzied path as the aircraft soared into the skies. Her father didn’t know about the deal she’d made with Oscar. As far as her father knew, it was a love match.
She shook her head, feeling the ridiculous veil wobble as it maintained its tenuous grip. It seemed to symbolise this