"Thought you said you were heading up to shower?" I heard his deep voice behind me.
I jumped, turned, and smiled. He stood in the doorway to the dining room watching me. "I am. Thought you were getting coffee?"
"I did." He smiled, holding up a full mug.
Five hours later, we had boarded the plane. Maddox walked ahead of me down the aisle, my eyes firmly trained on his ass when he halted. I hadn't been paying attention and hadn't noticed that we were already at our seats. He lifted his bag above his head and slid it into the overhead carrier and turned to me.
"Did you want the window?" he questioned, stopping the entire line of people behind me from moving any further, instead of just sliding into the seat.
I shook my head. "No, you go ahead," I said, as the man behind me groaned at the fact that we were going to stand in the aisle and fight over the window seat.
"No, I insist. You take it." He grinned, waiting for me to climb in.
"No, Maddox, seriously, you take it," I insisted, but instead of climbing into the seat, he just stood there staring at me, a small smile on his lips.
"Would one of you take it. I've been up all night and would like to get settled so I can get some rest," the guy behind me gritted.
I stood there and looked at Maddox. Out of the both of us, he was the stubborn one, and I knew I probably didn't have a chance at winning with him. "I insist," he said, winking at me.
"Would you take the damn seat, sweetheart?" the man behind me snapped, shoving his bag into my back.
I winced in pain as he continued to shove. "Stop shoving me," I bit out, annoyed, as I turned to look at the man behind me.
"Then take the damn seat and flirt with him there instead of holding the rest of us up. Like I said, I was up all night."
I frowned and felt embarrassed at what the man behind me had suggested. I was not flirting with Maddox. I was about to say something when the man gave me another shove, causing me to fall forward into Maddox. He grabbed hold of me and held me steady for a moment. He let me go, and when I looked up, I saw Maddox was standing at his full height with his arms crossed over his chest. He had barely any head space left; he was intimidating at his full height of almost six feet, with his muscular chest puffed out. "Shove the lady again and you will ride in the overhead cargo area, because I’ll put you there myself. Tess, take the seat," he demanded, nodding toward our seats.
As the men glared at one another, I slid into the seat in order to stop what I knew was sure to become a fight if the guy shoved Maddox. I shoved my bag under my seat, then turned toward Maddox, who still stood there looking down on the man.
"Maddox, sit down," I said under my breath, grabbing his hand and pulling him.
He slid into the seat beside me without taking his eyes off the man. The man glared at both of us as he walked by, grumbling under his breath. Once he was gone, we looked at one another and laughed.
"Are you going to catch any sleep on the flight?" he questioned.
I couldn't help but let out a yawn. "I sure hope so. What about you?"
"I'll try, but I don't trust that jackass," he said, laughing while he picked up the magazine in front of him and flipped through it, looking at the meal options. "You hungry?"
"A little."
"Tell me what you’d like, and I'll get it once they serve, in case you’re asleep." He held the book down so we could both look through it and flipped the pages slowly, giving me the chance to decide.
"Just get me the oatmeal and maybe some fruit."
"Oatmeal and fruit, got it."
I could feel my stomach aching once they started going over the safety procedures of the plane while we began slowly making our way out to the runway. I hated everything there was about flying. Derrick normally held my hand when we took off, when we landed, and if there was any moment of turbulence. I had hoped to be asleep by the time we took off.
As the plane started speeding up, I looked over to Maddox, who sat relaxed in his seat with his eyes closed. I prayed he didn't notice that I was gripping the armrest so tightly that my knuckles were turning white. I leaned back against my seat and closed my eyes as the plane sped up even faster.
I was trying so hard to stay inside my head that I never heard Maddox speak to me. Instead, I felt a slight tap on my arm. I opened my eyes to see him watching me intently, a smirk on his face. "Are you okay? You look a little pale."
I shook my head. “Yep.”
“Then why does it look like you are going to throw up?” He chuckled.
"Okay, I hate flying."
Maddox chuckled. "You hate flying, and yet you booked a trip to Paris?"
I nodded. "I've always wanted to see it," I said, closing my eyes even tighter than before as the plane accelerated even faster. I hated the feeling of the pressure on my body.
He was quiet, and it felt like an eternity as the pressure built up on my body. I could feel the panic rising in me when I felt his warm hand on mine as he pried my fingers loose from the armrest. I opened my eyes and looked down as he slipped his hand into mine. "Squeeze all you want."
I swallowed hard. "What if I hurt you?" I questioned.
"You won't, go ahead," he said, meeting my eyes.
He had the most intense blue eyes I had ever seen, and the longer I stared into them, the less I thought about where I was and what was actually going on around us. It felt like minutes had passed as we sat there looking into one another eyes, my hand in his, and then he smiled.
"You can let go. We are in the air now."
I blinked and looked over out the window to see we were already up and in the air and I had barely even noticed the takeoff. I looked back at him, shyly smiled, and released his hand. "Thank you. That wasn't so bad at all."
"Oatmeal and fruit, right? Coffee?"
"Yes, please." I nodded. "Think I am going to try and get some rest," I said, sitting back in my seat and placing my headphones into my ears.
I adjusted myself and snuggled into something warm. Then I felt a jostling and opened my eyes. I stayed where I was for a few moments, breathing in a cologne I absolutely loved. Then I felt a heavy object on my shoulder. I raised my head and looked around the plane. We’d been in the air for a few hours and most people were asleep. I felt the plane shake—turbulence. The ding of the seatbelt sign caused me to panic. I looked down at my hand; it rested on Maddox's chest, and then I felt his hand grip my shoulder. He had wrapped his arm around me while I had slept.
"What is it? What's wrong?" I heard his deep voice murmur.
I sat up, pulling at the wrap I had wrapped around me earlier. "My God, I'm sorry. I must have fallen asleep."
"It's all good, Tess, not a problem. I was trying to catch a few winks myself," he whispered, shifting in his seat.
The plane dropped and shook, and instantly I panicked, jumping closer to him. He let out a throaty chuckle again, and I realized what I was doing and tried to compose myself and stop panicking.
"Relax, would you?"
"I'm fine. I'll just be happier when we land." I giggled nervously, sitting back in my seat, panicking silently.
"Come here," he whispered, pulling me into his side once again. "There is no need to panic. You're perfectly safe here."