AN: I know it is short, but it is because there is so much that was supposed to be in it that I had to break it down into segments to post it because otherwise I wouldn't have spent so much time editing it. Currently editing the next chapter. Also if anyone reviewed the last chapter, I never got them. I was told by a reader it may be because I had posted an author's note then deleted it and then posted the chapter and if anyone reviewed the author's note then it wouldn't post the review for the chapter. I surely hope that was what happened because I had absolutely no feedback about that chapter except from the reader that told me what they thought that happened. Not going to lie it killed my confidence too and I had stopped writing this for a while because I had worked soooooo hard on that chapter and I thought everyone thought it was terrible. Like this was the entire message I sent to my reader after it was pointed out to me what the problem could have been. "You know what, I hadn't even thought about that being the issue. That has to be it. Makes me feel better, that is for sure. This entire few days every time I check my email, all I have thought is "wow everyone must have loathed the last chapter, the sound of silence says it all". I forget that the website only allows for one review per chapter. Makes me wish I hadn't deleted the author's note but I am rather OCD about order sometimes. Thank you for letting me know that, it really has made me feel loads better!" But anyways here is the next chapter, and I hope this time I will get reviews.
"Stop fidgeting," he told her again.
He knew she couldn't help it, she had never been on a plane before this trip, and by the end of it she had been on several. Last minute their travel plans had changed. Not that they were complaining about that. They were getting to go home sooner. It just wasn't the best type of transport for someone who had never flown before. In just a few days they had left France, and now they were about to be landing in Boston Airport. Since the trip they had landed to refuel the plane several times or had transferred to different planes. So far they had ridden on a Boeing 307, which they were on now, a Boeing 247, and several other smaller planes. He wasn't sure why she wasn't used to the sensation yet.
"I can't help it," she snapped. She turned away from him when he looked at her. He was holding her hand and he started to draw circles on the back of her hand with his thumb. Though she had turned her face away from him he could see that she was squeezing her eyes tightly shut. Her lips were pressed together and he assumed only one thing.
"Are you feeling sick again?" he asked trying to sound more concerned than exasperated. It was hard to accomplish because he was exasperated. He was tired, in pain, and just ready to be home. She had gotten sick on the first three planes. He had tried to comfort her the best he could, but her mood wasn't in the best sorts.
He still hadn't figured it out. He wouldn't call this their first fight since they had been married just a few short days ago. They weren't fighting. She was just a bit moody and sick, and he was short tempered and in too much pain to really be sympathetic. He hadn't the word to know what to call what they were going through at the moment. Yet it made him feel a bit distant to her, and he gathered that she was feeling just as distant to him.
She shook her head no but stayed silent and kept her eyes closed. He heaved a sigh and gave up. She would be okay once they were on solid ground again. He sat back in his seat and got comfortable again. That in itself was a hard feat to accomplish. He was in so much pain that the idea of comfort seemed like a fantasy that children dreamed up.
As a child he remembered how his sister had thought unicorns were real. It had been such a silly notion, but she had believed so fervently in the fact that they existed. He knew comfort existed too. He remembered it fondly. Sitting on the couch after a hard day at work. Being a barber wasn't easy, and he remembered the feeling of sitting down for the first time in hours. A small smile snuck onto his face as he was caught in the memory of how his feet would throb as he sat down, feeling swollen in his shoes. He wouldn't have these moments anymore, or at least not for a long time until he was fully healed. And that was how it felt like a fantasy that would never happen. Comfort was his unicorn.
She made a little noise and his eyes flew open distracting him from his thoughts. It had been a little frightened mewl that she had tried to hide to herself. He knew what the noise was but it made his blood stir at hearing it. It sounded a lot like the noises she made when she was trying to stifle making too much noise while he had his hands between her legs. His skin heated at thinking of such a thing.
His eyes roamed down her skirt to her knees. He wanted to touch her. He scolded himself silently for being inappropriate. Since their wedding night he hadn't been able to touch her but like he was now, holding her hand, or giving her a quick chaste kiss. He knew while he was nothing but happy for being able to go home, that he was perturbed that he had gotten used to the idea of more time alone with her that he wouldn't get to have now. Even though they would have been on a carrier ship, they would have had more time together. Soon they would be in Boston surrounded by his family. And then it hit him. The plane wasn't what was scaring her necessarily. She was nervous about meeting his family and being on the plane aggravated that fact.
"You are scared about meeting my parents," he stated matter-of-factly, dragging his eyes off her knees.
She opened her eyes and looked at him apologetically. He squeezed her hand to give her comfort. It would be useless to tell her not to be scared. She was about to meet people who didn't know that she was his wife, and they were already skeptical about her wanting to marry him in the first place. So she had reason to be scared. He too was scared that his family would be upset for him not telling them that he was coming home sooner and that he had went ahead and took her as his wife.
"I love you," he whispered as he leaned into her, bumping his shoulder with hers. The slight movement pulled at his scars and made him want to cry but he was getting used to hiding the pain. She repeated the words back to him and raised their clasped hands so she could kiss the back of his hand. Her lips were smooth and warm, and his thoughts turned dark again. Was she always going to have his affect on him now? She had always made him tingle with desire once he had gotten to know her and he didn't associate her with pain. However this didn't feel like desire. It felt like a wildfire burning through his veins trying to consume his soul.
He noticed her looking oddly at him and he couldn't hide his wicked smile from her. It was slow the way his lips spread wide. One corner of his mouth crooked up higher than the other, causing the skin to crease on his cheek. He knew what he looked like; a man savoring a thought that only he knew about. Her dark brows drew together in question and his smile only grew wider. If only his wife knew what he was thinking. Usually she could tell what he was thinking, but usually when he was looking at her like he wanted her his face was dark. He wanted her to know what was on his mind but he didn't want to tell her. He wanted to see the blood stain her cheeks in embarrassment because he wanted to show her.
Quickly he looked around and the man across the aisle from them was snoring softly and everyone else was preoccupied with other things. When he turned back to her he angled himself so his free hand rested on her knee closest to him. Their eyes locked together and he watched as her breath hitched in her throat. She suddenly understood what was on his mind. Just like he predicted, she blushed such a solid crimson that it took everything he had not to laugh hysterically at her. Before she could say anything he pressed a small kiss to her mouth. It didn't bother him when she didn't kiss back. She was too busy trying to speak against his mouth in a whisper. He heard something that sounded like she was scolding him, but it didn't stop him from pushing his hand on her knee up her skirt.
His hand traveled over the lace of her stocking slowly, savoring the the feeling of the friction of the material against his hand. When his fingertips felt skin he stopped. Her skin was so soft on her inner thigh that it made his mouth go dry with wanting to taste her flesh. Quickly before she pushed him away, he closed the distance and stroked the slit between her legs where he wanted to touch the most, his fingers hitting the barrier of her lace underwear stopped his pursuit.
He pulled his mouth from hers and cursed where only she could hear. Her face was so red that he knew she was mortified that he would try to do such a thing to her in such a public place. Yet the way her chest was rising and falling with her breathing there was no denying that just his one touch set her on fire. Knowing that she too felt the same way as he was enough to sate his need to tease her.
After removing his hand from her skirt he turned to face forward as if nothing happened. Her nails though were biting into the skin on the back of his hand and he knew she was upset with him. That did make him chuckle. He couldn't stop himself. Out of the corner of his eye he watched as she tried desperately to compose her breathing. She nervously dragged her lower lip between her teeth and he forced himself to look away completely.
"You are inappropriate," she finally whispered. Her response was him chuckling again. She leaned into him and whispered something he never thought to hear from her. He was a bad influence. He had her cussing, and now he had her talking dirty to him. "I shouldn't have worn underwear."
He almost choked when she kissed his earlobe, her tongue quickly darting out to line the sensitive skin of his ear. He cursed again but this time it was when she pulled away. He knew he had been playing a game with her, a game he had expected to win. Liez had spent enough time around him to know how to press his buttons the right way and the wrong way. There wasn't really a moment he hadn't been sure he was making the right decision when he asked to marry her. He had never imagined feeling this way about her though. In such a short amount of time he was wrapped around her fingers and he had never been happier that she had said yes to his rushed proposal than he was at this moment.
Their wedding night had thrilled him and shown him that she was committed to him. At this moment thought when she threw his playful banter right back at him he knew that she was the only woman he had ever wanted this much in his life. He didn't just want to be with Liez, he wanted to possess her in everyway he could so she would know just how much she possessed him. He marveled at how such a little thing as her teasing him back would reinforce just how positive he was about his feelings for her.
He couldn't stop himself from saying it again. It just blurted out and he couldn't hide the emotion that was packed behind those three words. "I love you."
He blinked quickly trying to stop the tears that were forming in his eyes. He could blame it on pain, but the only pain he felt was knowing he wouldn't ever have gotten to experience this feeling if he hadn't met this woman. He had met this woman and he could never express how grateful he was for that. For the first time he felt like he was living. How ironic it was that he was a veteran of war, with half his body scarred, and a missing leg and he was just now feeling alive.
She said the words back to him with just as much conviction and leaned into him and kissed his shoulder. Yet sensing that he was having a moment she squeezed his hand and looked away. He knew she noticed the tears, but she knew he didn't want them to be acknowledged. She just pulled his hand to her lap so she could move closer to him. Her body pressed along the length of his and she looked out of the small window that was next to her. About that time the intercom dinged and the pilot told them that they were preparing to land.