Free ESCAPE: A Stepbrother Romance (These Wicked Games Book 2) by Ava Dark

pit?”
    He groans. “You’re dirty.”
    I bite my lip. “Want to find out just how?” I grab my sweatshirt and slowly lift.
    Cade grabs my hand hard. “Don’t.” He looks at the cockpit door.
    “Calm down, Cade.”
    “Look, Mags, can we just— Let’s just slow down.”
    “Me!?” I cry. “Who’s the one who keeps turning inferno hot then ice cold?”
    “I’m sorry, it’s just…”
    “What? Goddammit, what?”
    He sighs. “Weird.”
    My heart sinks. It takes a moment to notice it’s because the plane has started moving. I blink several times, trying to decide whether it’s the plane or my own emotions that triggered the dread. “How… What is?”
    “Us. You’re my— Our parents are married.”
    “So? We’re not related. I mean, Jesus, Cade, we didn’t even meet until I was ten. It was another year and a half before we got to know each other.”
    “It’s not just that.”
    “What then?”
    He goes silent.
    “Fine. Just don’t tell me anything.” I throw myself back into my seat. Which hurts, but which I don’t let show. Then the plane accelerates. I whimper.
    Cade, perhaps misinterpreting this, touches my leg. “All right. Do you really want to know?”
    My fingers dig into the arm rests.
    “Mags?”
    “Wait,” I squeak. “Don’t. Like. Takeoff.”
    He laughs a deep laugh. “Are you kidding?”
    I shake my head rapidly.
    “Here, take my hand.”
    The nose of the plane lifts up.
    “Ah!”
    “Take it.”
    I look down, and grab his hand, then look forward quickly. This doesn’t really do any good, since it’s not like I can see through the closed cockpit door and out the windshield, but somehow makes me feel a little better. Like I’m in the driver’s seat of a car. A really fast, really scary, really free-willed car that doesn’t slow down when I command it to.
    “Just squeeze.”
    “I am.”
    “You can do better than that. Come on, harder, little girl.”
    “I’m not a little girl!” I cry. Exactly like I used to when I was a little girl.
    “Good. Harder.”
    “My hand’s going to break if I squeeze harder.”
    “Don’t be such a pussy.”
    I turn to him, my mouth open. “What did you call me?”
    “A pussy,” he says simply. He squeezes my hand. “Now come on, squeeze, bitch.”
    My mouth drops open. “What?!”
    I can see the smile he’s trying to repress, like he’s in on some big cosmic joke.
    I begin to say something else, when there’s a dinging.
    “Okay boys and girls. Or, boy and girl. You’re free to move around now. There’s drinks in the galley, and a not-half-bad selection of food, if I say so myself. Enjoy. And if anyone wants to check the cockpit, now’s your chance.”
    I look at Cade. He’s smiling. “See. Aren’t you glad you squeezed my hand?”
    “Asshole.”

Chapter 23
    After a brief look around the cockpit—I really couldn’t resist… what girl could?—Cade makes me a gin and tonic.
    “That’s not very appropriate, Mr Dorn,” I say as I take the glass from him and sniff it, getting bubbles in my nose. I wrinkle it.
    “God you’re so cute. As for appropriate, you’re gonna need something to calm you down for the landing.”
    “We only just took off.”
    “It’s less than an hour flight.”
    “Flown it much?” I take a sip. It’s actually good. I take another.
    “Whoa there.” He goes back to the kitchen area. “Have some food first.”
    “I’m good.”
    He stops what he’s doing and leans out to look at me. “Are you kidding? When was the last time you ate?”
    I shrug, and take another sip. “This morning?”
    Cade comes over to me and holds out some kind of sandwich.
    “Really, I’m good.” I take another sip. It’s really delicious.
    “All right, Hemingway,” Cade says, plucking the glass from my grasp. “Eat something or you don’t get any more. That’s an order.”
    “Yes master.”
    He goes back to the kitchen, and makes himself a drink.
    “What’s wrong?” I ask when he sits back down