The Pairing

Unable to speak, she merely bobbed her head. Pesh only chuckled at her response. “Come on. Let’s get going.”

Still in shock, she remained rooted to her seat. When he came around to open her door, she peered up at him. “Tantric sex? Like Sting, Trudie Styler, and Tantric sex?”

“Yes, I suppose so,” he replied, as he offered her his hand. Ordinarily, she wouldn’t have taken it, but at the declaration that Pesh was actually into something outside the sexual norms, she was too floored to argue with him. “I didn’t think you’d like anything…kinky.”

Pesh’s dark eyes widened. “Tantric isn’t kinky. It’s about connecting with your lover on a more intimate level. It’s about breathing them in and truly being one.”

“So it’s not about marathon sex that lasts for days?”

He chuckled. “You’ve gotten the more salacious side confused with what it actually is.”

Megan pursed her lips at him as her mind whirled with the possibilities. After all, if Tantric sex with Pesh was anywhere as good as his efforts in going down on her, she was one very lucky lady. “I guess you’ll just have to educate me.”

They were interrupted by an air traffic controller with a headset. “Hey, Dr. Nadeen, how goes it?”

“Good. Thank you. Everything ready to go, Lewis?” Pesh asked, as he pumped the man’s hand.

“Gassed up and checked out. We just need your flight plan.”

Pesh’s gaze went to Megan before he said, “We’ll be flying into Savannah/Hilton Head airport.”

“Great. Thanks,” Lewis replied, before he started back inside the hanger.

“You’re taking me to Savannah?” she asked.

“For dinner and dancing. I had originally intended on more, but we got a later start.”

“This is crazy. You’re crazy.”

He gave her a puzzled look. “You don’t like Savannah?”

“No, I love it. I just meant taking me four hours away for dinner.”

“It’s not that long by plane.”

Crossing her arms over her chest, she tilted her head at him. “You couldn’t just take me somewhere fancy in Atlanta? You have to fly me in your private plane to another city?”

He shrugged. “Why not?”

Although it was probably unattractive, she couldn’t help snorting with contempt. “I’m probably going to sound a little like the line from Pretty Woman when she says she appreciates the seduction scene, but she’s a sure thing.” She patted her chest. “I am a sure thing. You don’t have to go to all this trouble.”

His dark eyes narrowed. “Your way of thinking is precisely why I’m doing what I am.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’ve only been with men who wanted a sure thing—men who didn’t even bother trying to imagine a future with you past when they came at the end of the night.” She sucked in a breath at his words. With his expression softening, he closed the gap between them. “While you may only want sex from me, I want far more from you. I want your time, but I also want you to understand that you’re worthy of something special. And if it takes planes and fancy meals to prove it to you, then I’m going to do it.”

After his argument, Megan sat frozen in dumbfounded silence. How was it possible that he knew so much about her? He was right in the fact that she settled for being the ‘sure thing’ for the guys she dated in the past. She knew she didn’t want to make those mistakes again, so why shouldn’t she let him try to wine and dine her? “Fine. Take me to Savannah.”

He opened the passenger side door. “Here you go. Make sure you buckle your seat belt.”

She nodded before she dipped inside the plane. Pesh waited for her to adjust her dress before he closed the door. As he walked around the front of the plane, she got busy finding the seat belt and buckling up. Once he climbed inside, he handed her a headset. “This will help with the cabin noise.”

“It’s going to mess my hair up,” she complained.

He laughed. “I never took you as the type of woman who worried about her hair.”

She grinned as she eased the headset on. “Now you know. I worry about my hair, and you get your freak on in the bedroom.”

He rolled his eyes at her and turned in his seat. After placing his headset on, he started flipping switches and turning knobs. The propeller on the front of the plane started whirling.

“So what kind of plane is this?” she asked over the noise.

Holding up a finger, he spoke into the mic on the headset. “Ground to Tower, this is Cessna 172 requesting to taxi for takeoff.”

Suddenly the sound of the tower came over her headset. “Clearance for taxi and takeoff, Cessna 172.”

“Roger that,” Pesh replied. The plane lurched forward and then started taxing down the runaway.

“Hmm, I’m guessing a Cessna 172?”

Pesh smiled. “Yes, it is.”

“It’s nice. I like it.”

“I hope you’ll be saying that again in a minute.”

Megan knew what he meant when the plane started gaining speed down the runaway. Just like when she was on a commercial flight, it was on the ground one minute, and then in the air the next. They soared into the blue sky while zipping through white, fluffy clouds. Once they had gained enough altitude, Pesh eased off on the rudder and glanced over at her. “You okay over there?”

She grinned. “Are you kidding me? This is amazing.”

“I’m glad to hear you like it. I didn’t know if you were going to take after your Uncle Aidan.”

“I hear you gave him drugs to make it.”

Pesh laughed. “Yeah, I did. He slept most of the way there.”

“Total wuss,” she remarked with a smile.

After adjusting one of the controls, Pesh said, “Well, I have to admit that my late wife wasn’t a fan, either. She tolerated flying with me because she knew how much I loved it, but most of the time, she’d take a pill to relax.”

“So she didn’t share your passion?”

“No, she didn’t. She always encouraged me to do what I loved. She never was one to make me choose between her or something else. She was that sacrificing.”

“That was really amazing of her to be that giving.”

When Pesh remained silent, Megan knew it was time for a conversation change. “Now that I know we’re going to Savannah, are you going to tell me where we’re going for dinner?”