The Merger

Chapter 28

Lucas Handler

"Ack!"

A sudden weight pressing against my chest stirs me up out of my latest NC-17 dream of Talia. We're in the shower and yelps of pleasure fill my ears each time I thrust into her. It's weird - the whimpers and yelps are so real, it's as if I'm not dreaming at all.

I turn over, feeling friction against my body and silky material against my face. I blink my eyelids open. The star of the show's chest is smashed against my face and her legs are squeezing my sides. Holy- am I still dreaming?

"Lucas, wake up!"

"Talia?" I ask, trying to move my face again. It's firmly wedged between the couch and her breasts.

What the-?

"Lucas, you need to get up! This is an emergency. There's turbulence!" Her legs cling tighter to my sides in a wrestler's lock as the plane shakes.

Fuck, I'm not dreaming. While I don't mind being straddled by Talia and almost smothered to death by her boobs, it looks like she's clinging to the couch armrest behind me for her life. I glance around, trying to register the level of intensity of the shakes, before letting out a breath. "Tal, baby, this is nothing. Come here," I coo while nudging her arms with my free hand to let go of the couch. I could tell when the pilot mentioned turbulence earlier that she isn't a fan. But I didn't realize it'd be this bad.

"I can't move. What if the plane shakes again?"

Sounds of the back room door opening reach my ears. "Everything o-" Jorge's voice travels through the space before he clears his throat. "So sorry to disturb," he says before the back door clicks again.

Talia makes a nearly inaudible groaning sound.

"I'll catch you if the plane shakes again. Here come lie next to me." I nudge again, hoping she'll release the death grip on the couch armrest.

After she takes a couple of audible deep breaths, she slowly lets go of the armrest and shimmies down my body so that we meet at eye level. If blood isn't already filling my dick from my dream, it sure as hell is now. The soft tissue mounds of her breasts press against my chest, sending awareness through my body. The striking, light brown specks in her eyes make my heart flip.

"Turn around, and come close," I say rather hoarsely as I lift my arms for her to move. She wordlessly turns around. I pull her body completely flush against me as I move us into a spooning position. A floral scent from her hair fills my nostrils and I nearly hum in delight. I snake my arm around her waist and tuck my hand between her and the couch. She fits against me perfectly like a glove. It's as if her round ass was made just for my lap. My dick jumps up, straining against my pants.

Her warm body nestles further into me as she tries to gain control of her breathing. "Sorry, I hate turbulence. This is," she gulps loudly before continuing, "nice." She takes another deep breath. "We should put on our seatbelts."

Still half asleep, and partly debating whether I'm still dreaming, I close my eyes. "I'm not moving. You should've stayed buckled up if you didn't want to be here."

"I-uh. I didn't want you to die."

I lift my lids again and smile when it hits me. "Talia Nassar, did you just risk your life for me?"

"What?" she replies.

While I hoped to try to keep my distance from her as best I could on this trip, my sleepy mind and body are relishing the current turn of events. My cheeks start to hurt from how much I'm grinning. "Talia Nassar, are you in love with me?" I start lazily caressing her side, feeling the slopes of her curves. Damn, I don't think I'm going to be able to control myself any longer.

"What?" she says louder this time.

I chuckle. "It's okay to admit it. I will happily admit to being a damsel in distress on the verge of death from turbulence lighter than the reverberation of a car engine."

"That was not light turbulence!" Talia turns around to face me.

The intercom turns on as if on cue and the pilot's voice streams through. "I told you it was going to be a light one. Should be super smooth sailing from here on out folks. Feel free to go about the cabin as you normally would."

"Right."

"And I'm not in love with you. Ack!" She buries her head in my chest when the sound of something like a water bottle hits the ground in the back cabin.

"Mhmm." I can no longer stand it. My dick is throbbing. This fiercely independent woman, who would rather jump off a cliff than show an inkling of vulnerability, is now clinging to my chest like she needs me to protect her.

She leans back with the cutest fucking giggle I've ever heard. "You should be thanking me for saving your life," she says with sarcasm heavy in her voice. Now that the pilot gave the all-clear, her body is relaxing more and more by the second. But she's made zero indication she's going to move, which feeds my hunger like hay thrown into a fire.

I gently push her to turn around into the spooning position again. She complies and wiggles her ass slightly as she moves back against me. My breathing hitches. There is no doubt she knows I'm hard.

Two things are running in circles around my mind. First, the fact that I committed myself to taking things slow with Talia after the whole shower incident. It's clear I'm well ahead of her with my feelings and I need her to be on board. While I dealt with heartbreak in the past, something tells me I won't be able to bounce back to normalcy at all if things went south.

Second, the fact that I have no fucking clue why I need to worry so much about a possible heartbreak and taking things slow. This thought is slowly beginning to outweigh the other. Especially now that she's pressed up against me, dangerously wiggling her hips, not so innocently.

Any way I look at it, my current feelings for Talia are lose-lose. On the one hand, if I decide to fully pursue her like the gentleman my mother raised me to be, that would likely cost me my career. Neither of us would agree to co-CEO. And if she becomes CEO (that's a big if), I'd be forced to quit and feel bitter toward her for taking something I worked way too hard to get. On the other hand, if I got the CEO position, she'd leave me right away, and then cue the heartbreak. See? Lose-lose.

What did I expect? We'd just ride off into the sunset together before shit hit the fan? We're doomed to failure. Maybe a fling is all we could hope for? And maybe Talia is smarter than me after all for suggesting it? I wanted all of her, but now that I can clearly see it isn't an option, I'll settle for anything, consequences be damned.

I scan the curve of her hip against my body again as if it's the final check. Yeah, fuck it. I need to be inside of her.

"How can I show you how thankful I am?" I whisper in her ear while trailing my fingers lower, reaching the hem of her skirt just above her knees.

Talia's breathing slows and she presses her ass harder against me, making me hum in pleasure. "Lucas, please fuck me. I'm begging you."

Fire blows through every single one of my nerve endings, scorching to ashes any remaining residue of self-control. Hearing her beg unlocked the secret password I didn't even know existed.

"You got it."