Dusti took another deep breath and smelled the leather of the jacket under her nose. The texture of hair on her tongue made it apparent that either some of her long blonde hair or some of his shoulder-length black mane had ended up inside her mouth. She promptly spit it out, not caring who it belonged to, but just wanting it gone. His head lifted off hers.
Panic shot through her instantly as things came into focus and she glanced to the right. They were actually still in her seat—but the one next to hers no longer contained her sister or the spike-haired stranger.
Her mind refused to accept that Bat’s disappearance meant she hadn’t survived.
Her gaze lifted more to stare beyond that empty seat. She gaped as she saw the other side of the plane.
The cabin wall across the aisle had been torn completely open to reveal trees and blue sky, in place of windows and overhead bins with stored luggage. The jagged, torn metal of the fuselage was splayed obscenely to reveal the scenic view. Something had demolished that side of the plane.
The guy who still held Dusti slowly eased more of his weight off her when he leaned back a bit to look around too. Distress made her focus on him instead of the certainty that her sister had been thrown from the plane.
Blood marred the man’s face from a cut on one of his pronounced cheekbones, an injury a good inch long. He wasn’t classically handsome, too rugged and masculine to ever be considered a pretty boy with those dominant features. He needed a shave too, since stubble showed on his lower jawline, his chin, and shadowed his cheeks. His dark gaze swept across more of the plane than she could see while scrunched down inside the seat, where he still kept her pinned.
“KRAVEN?” He roared the word, his voice harsh.
“Fuck,” an equally cavernous male voice responded, sounding close. “We’re alive. Did yours make it?”
The stranger lowered his chin to peer into Dusti’s dazed stare. He studied her from face to chest, and finally locked gazes with her again. “She’s alive.”
“I hate flying.” Kraven sounded irritated. “I mentioned that, right?”
The man continued to watch Dusti and he actually smiled. “Several times, but we’re not flying anymore, are we? I don’t mind flying but I hated the crashing part. I bet you wish you were still in the air right now. Quit bitching and let’s see how bad the situation is. We survived. That’s all that counts in the end.”
“Get off me. You’re crushing me!”
Relief swept through Dusti at hearing her older sister’s aggravated voice and it tore her from her traumatized state. “Bat? Are you okay?”
“Dusti! Thank goodness you’re alive. Are you all right? Get off me, asshole! You weigh a thousand pounds. I need to check on my sister.”
“Maybe I would get off you if you weren’t gripping my dick. That’s not my thigh you’ve been clutching in terror, woman,” Kraven snarled. “Let go!”
“Ewww!” Bat squealed. “Get off me! My hand is trapped there, damn it.”
The man still pinning Dusti to her seat chuckled. “Did I introduce myself? I’m Drantos.”
“Let me go. Please get off.” Dusti hated the way her voice trembled enough to make it sound more like a feeble plea than a demand.
He arched an eyebrow. “That’s all you’ve got to say to me after I saved your life? I believe this is where you’re supposed to say thank you and tell me your name.”
Dusti was still suffering from shock but this had to be the strangest conversation she’d ever had. “Your belt buckle is digging into my…um…” She tried to wiggle her hips away from his but it only caused more discomfort. The metal object pressed against her panties pushed in deeper, causing her to wince.
He jerked his hips back to put a few inches between their bodies but he glanced down. His smile turned into an outright grin. “Sorry about that. I hope I didn’t damage you down there. That would be a crime. I love bright red, by the way. Is that a thong? I can only see the front.”
Her mouth hung open and she gawked speechlessly until she realized he continued to stare at her exposed lap. She shoved at him with her hands, pushing hard against his massive chest, and tried to put her feet on the floor to scoot back in the seat and away from the obviously deranged pervert.
He let her go, still grinning as she grabbed at her skirt to shove it down the tops of her thighs to regain her modesty.
The sound of a sobbing woman filtered through Dusti’s shock-hazed brain and her jumbled thoughts. Other noises slowly penetrated and she became more aware of her surroundings when Drantos rose to his feet to loom over her, no longer touching as he stepped aside to stand in front of Bat’s empty seat. He surveyed the plane, his features set in a grim expression. Dusti heard soft whispers then someone cursing from the back of the plane. It sank in that the four of them weren’t the only survivors.
She peered up at Drantos, since he kept her trapped in the row with his body planted between her and the aisle. He sniffed the air, made a distasteful grimace, before peering over the seats in front of them. He turned his head, staring down at the floor of the aisle.
“Are you going to just lay there on top of her or are you going to get up? It’s no time to take a nap, Kraven.”
“Go to hell. I think she crushed something vital when she squeezed my dick. I’m trying to recover. She’s got nothing on a cock ring, that’s for sure.”
Drantos shook his head. “You’re going to give her a bad impression if you don’t watch your mouth.”