Paragon

⊰❉⊱ 24 ⊰❉⊱

I woke to a heat in my arms.

A burning in my throat. I felt my teeth already sharp in my mouth and opened my eyes slowly. It all came back in a flash. Quinn finding me in the night. Our heated kissing. The closeness and the desire in it all.

She was spread across my body. But the most immediate thing I became aware of was her palm pressed against the flat of my stomach under my shirt. I grit my teeth and glanced down. I had no doubt about why my self control was tested in the night.

The arm cast across my torso and her leg wrapped between my own were also a problem. The covers were spread in a mess only half over her. I took a careful breath and then another. I tried to plan how I would escape without waking her. I knew we would be close to Dubai International soon...

My body never demanded more than a few hours anyway. I could just make out the burning gold rise of the sun beneath the crack of the window shade.

I inched her arm off me carefully. When her skin slipped away and the heat with it, I could think more clearly. Her breathing was still steady so I knew it was successful. Then came the more difficult case of her leg wrapped between my own. I shifted my outside leg slightly and she sighed moving her head into the crook of my neck more. I clenched my jaw from the scent of her pressed against me from every angle.

"Quinn." I whispered.

Nothing. Then I felt her lips smile into the skin of my neck making me shudder.

"Morning." She mumbled.

I swallowed and tried to draw on my sanity again. Not the relentless burning in my throat that seemed to need to taste her much more than last night.

"This is not the easiest wake up." I emphasised, keeping my head tilted away from her steady pulse in her neck.

She chuckled, drawing back a few inches and dropping her head into more pillows with a sigh. I took the opportunity to take another sip of air and tilt my head in her direction.

"Sorry to wake you, but we'll be stopping soon." I murmured.

She nodded in a tired daze. It made me smile, watching her unable to form a sentence and still wearing a peaceful expression that only desired sleep. I moved silently and extracted myself from the bed silently. When I shut the door a member of crew was already offering me a hot towel and coffee.

I accepted the former and dabbed my face as I pulled my phone out. I dropped into a plush leather chair and read.

The local headlines of my former city were already painting every tabloid in big fonts.

WEAPONS SEIZURE IN EAST END TOTTENHAM

MEMBER OF MET POLICE CAUGHT UP IN FATAL TEN MAN SHOOTOUT

MASS FIREARMS FOUND IN OUTTER ZONE WAREHOUSE

I smirked at the dramatic pictures of burned out remnants of the weapons operation I blew sky high. Though I felt bad for leaving behind a trace of my presence. Solidifying my demise in the operation. Will would feel responsible–right up until he tracked down our missing squad car I had used to flee the scene. Whether or not the other mortals would believe him when he told them I was alive was beyond me... but it gave me resolve knowing he wouldn't blame himself for my 'death'.

My old phones were history. My flight plan untraceable and my employees would take any information regarding me to the grave because of very large pay packets...

"Can I get you anything Ms Fletcher?" A blonde member of cabin crew offered with a practiced smile and a head tilt.

I returned it and nodded my head towards the bedroom. "Please send a coffee and light breakfast to Miss Adams." I said easily.