Side Effects

Chapter 14

By the end of the flight, we were both exhausted, having round two turn into rounds three and four later on. We took some time to clean up a bit, but it did seem like we couldn't stop our bodies' reactions to one another, nor did we want to. We might have also been aided by a little turbulence over the Indian Ocean as well, which made the whole plane buck a little while Alaya was riding me in reverse cowgirl and just added to the thrusting motion for us for a bit. Yeah, that was an odd way to make love, when the plane is shaking as much as you are.

The only thing that kept us from continuing was the fact that we were going to be landing, and as much as I wanted to remain embedded within her, we did need to buckle up.

"Kian, we're here for five days, yes?" Esme asked while we were deplaning.

"Right. Go have a good time, I doubt we'll have the same kind of emergency as we did at the last stop," I told her and the others. "But keep at least one pilot sober at all times, I'm still not great at flying!"

I'd taken a few lessons from Esme, but nothing official. It was more in case of emergencies, and not something I'd ever want to rely on. It was much better to have her and Joel trade the flight duties, and I would keep Alaya happily entertained. I could keep us at a cruising altitude, and maybe land, but I wasn't getting a pilot's license any time soon!

We had a limo waiting for us, and once more we breezed through the customs before being whisked off to the St. Regis Hotel where we had a suite reserved. Yes, somehow, we found the time to change everything to a single bedroom suite, but I'd kept Alaya too busy on the flight to change all of the reservations beyond Rome. We'd have more time now though, and this would be a much more enjoyable stop.

"I'm going to go through withdrawal symptoms after this trip," Alaya said while looking out the window of the limo as we passed the old Roman Colosseum. "I need to remember this is all temporary, and that when I'm back in the real world Uber and little hotel chains are much more the norm."

"And yet I bet you'd still have a great time, even with that," I pointed out. With her gift of finding the best in everything, I knew she'd be fine with street food and a tent if need be.

She turned her head to give me a wide smile. "If you were with me, yeah I would."

I leaned in, giving her a kiss as I wrapped my arms around her. "You've been with me for a week, and I already know I'd have a bunch of fun on a road trip in an old clunker, if you were my navigator, and I'd never be bored."

She shuddered. "Boredom is the worst. I'll keep you entertained!"

The St. Regis hotel was a gorgeous building that gave us a corner Astor Suite that was appointed with some beautiful furniture that I'd love to take home with me. Or I would, if I had a home. Holy crap, I had no home! How did I just realize this? "I have no house!" I said with a chuckle while we looked out the windows overlooking the city. The bags had already been delivered, and I knew that in the morning I'd want to go shopping with Alaya so that we could fill out her wardrobe. My girlfriend was going to be pampered.

"Yes, you do! That big monstrosity of a castle that had the pizza bitches!" Alaya stated.

"Nope. I sold it to my sister when I sold her all my stock in the company," I told her. "Now, I just get a salary."

She looked over at me with a smile. "Are you trying to move in with me mister? Do I look like the kind of girl that's going to invite her hot, rich, kind boyfriend to live with her?"

"You might be." I pulled her into my arms and leaned down to kiss her. "Or maybe I'm the kind of guy who would find a new place, and invite his gorgeous, smart, driven girlfriend to move in with him. Besides, I thought you were renting a room?"