Chapter 23 - Astrid

It was around 10:30 am when we left. I tried calling mom and dad before leaving but neither of them picked up. I did, at least, get to call An and tell her we were headed to Bhutan. She sounded way too excited by the intrigue and adventure that lay ahead of me. Then Rio butted in to meet An during the video call. They hit it off after he fed her a lot of historical facts on his native island and told her he'd already dispatched a few books for her perusal by post. The look of pure joy and excitement nearly melted my heart, though there is still a lot to melt till Rio can get to the core.

Corinthia and Demi came to see us off at the airport while the younger Xenakis boys were preoccupied: one with school and the other with sleep. Corinthia struggled to keep her composure as her blue eyes glistened under the sun. Rio promised his mother that he would come back in one piece, but that wouldn't do much comforting to a premature widow like Corinthia, especially not after watching the video of Bianca and the vampire horde. And then, she did the strangest thing. She hugged me as if I was now part of her family. I accepted it out of respect, but Corinthia's embrace and her strong arms wrapped around me a little too tightly.

Demi said she was going on a road trip after we get back, insinuating the amount of times the Alpha and Beta get to travel while the Delta's duties are to the home territory in their absence. Rio laughed, but obliged her. It made me think about my dad, Delta to Silver Bow, who's never once caught a break in his busy schedule. And just for a second, I thought, "If only Alpha Gilbert were more like Rio." I shook the thought almost as immediately as it popped up in my head.

As the plane takes off, I watch outside my window when the island territory suddenly vanishes from view after leaving the magical barrier. All that's left ahead if another day of travelling up in the air, in this confined metallic bird. At least, now I know what to expect as my ears pop from the altitude shift. The first time, I felt like my head was about to explode.

I look over the aisle to see Rio looking at his phone with a serious look in his eyes, while Alex sits at the back in the furthest seat away from Valentina. I sniff the air in an attempt to understand Alex's frustration with her but only end up catching a whiff of Chanel No. 5.

The interior of this plane is different and especially more spacious than the plane I arrived in, with two private rooms in the back. Rio told me earlier that the flight would take almost a whole day so I understand the need for separate compartments and more space. I laugh to myself thinking this is only my second flight ever and yet I've spent more time up in the air than in Mesaniskia.

As soon as the pilot tells us we can unbuckle our seatbelts, Alex fusses about his seatbelt, gets up and walks to one of the private rooms and slams the door shut.

"Men are such babies," Valentina remarks from the seat in front of me where I can see her profile as she looks out the window. She then peeks over to make eye contact with me. "I speak from experience."

"How many years of experience?" I ask, curious to pinpoint her exact age.

"Chérie, I spent three-quarters of my life chasing one man who tossed me aside as soon as some other shiny new thing came along."

"And now, here you are chasing a woman."

Valentina doesn't respond to this for a while and the flight continues in silence for the next half an hour as Rio still seems contemplative over his phone. I close my eyes to be alone in my thoughts, but it only causes more worry and anxiety over what may lie at the end of this flight.

"Astrid," Valentina softly calls.

"Yes?"

"I want to thank you, if reluctantly, for calling me out at Oscura."

I flicker my eyes open and see Valentina's side profile again as she bites her lower lip.

"You see," she continues, "after living for so many centuries, one forgets to feel such human things as humility, guilt and regret. Especially after the first century when everybody you used to know as a human has passed on to the next life, you take for granted how important such feelings are and how much they ground you to whatever 'human' part of yourself you lost along the way. So, thank you."

"Don't mention it."

Though I omit my disapproval of her leveraging information just to get an in on Mesaniskia, and now she has her very own daylight ring, which I can see her admire on her bony, porcelain finger.

"I really do love Bianca, you know." She sighs. "Oh, love. It's so...human." Her deep laughter shakes her seat.

I roll my eyes not really knowing if her emotions are genuine or a side effect from the elation of being out in daylight.

Across the aisle, Rio finally puts his phone down and massages the bridge of his nose.

"Everything okay?" I ask.

He looks at me with his blue-black eyes and smiles. "Just checking Demi's updates and other things for our journey."

"What kind of updates?"

"Oh, boring stuff. Itinerary details, hotel, refueling the plane, etcetera, etcetera."

"Thank you," I blurt out.

Rio's brows turn up in a surprised curiosity and I sigh, remembering how I told him I wouldn't thank him till Bianca was found. Well, she's not found until I see her before me with my own two eyes, but I guess I'm ready to put my ego aside.

"Yeah, I know what I said before," I look away, feeling my cheeks turn red from surrendering my past attitudes. "But, you have been quite thoughtful and considerate and have gone out of your way to do all this."

"That's only because you have been so forthcoming, Astrid."

I look back at him and notice a corner of his lips tug into a grin. He's teasing me. I was never forthcoming.

"And thank you for this beautiful ring," Valentina interjects herself into our conversation, smiling from ear to ear.

I scoff and get up to go to the back end of the plane where I was told food and beverages were stocked. But also to get away from Valentina, whose euphoria makes me cringe as she admires her porcelain skin's pale radiance against the sunlight from her window. I wonder what will happen to the ring after all this is over. Would Valentina be allowed to keep it?

But I shake my head from thoughts of the future. Why am I even fussing over Valentina de la Mort?

I pass by a closed door behind which I hear the deep and rumbling sound of Alex's snoring. The second door is open, revealing a twin-sized bed and enough leg room to walk five paces. The next door is the lavatory, and right at the very end of the plane is the storage area.

I look around the various drawers to see what sort of food's been packed for the journey. There appear to be lots of sandwiches and packaged meals. I grab a sandwich and crouch down at the lower drawers to look for a soda drink.

"We also have alcohol if you'd like," Rio's cool voice startles me.

I flinch but chortle.

"I think it's a little early for that."

I finally find a soda can and stand up. I gasp and clutch my food items to my chest when I realize how close Rio was standing behind me. I feel his breath on me like cool mint and it makes me tingle as I remember how I kissed him the night before. As a result, my breathing becomes raggedy when a new type of hunger overtakes me.

"Astrid," Rio's cool minty musk wafts its way into my lungs, leaving me frozen in place. "I can't stop thinking about last night."

Rio hovers over me, his piercing eyes watching me expectantly. I merely feel my lips part and inhale. With every gulp of breath, an excitement builds up within my core.

"Can I kiss you?" he asks.

I nod my head, accepting the first time he's asked for consent.

Rio gently grazes his hand to the side of my exposed arm, leaving tiny little goosebumps in their trail. He brings the hand up to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear, then looks me in the eye with a fire that could consume me whole. He presses his lips on mine and my body immediately melts and bends at his will, when he suddenly grabs my thighs to lift me up. He walks a couple of paces, to a spot where I hear a door close behind him.

I break away from the kiss to find myself being eased down on a bed as Rio slowly crawls on top of me. And I also find that the sandwich and soda I was clutching before still lay very much clutched against my chest. Rio smiles at this and moves them to the little table beside the bed. He kisses me again, and although this may not be as passionate as all our kisses before, it is more sincere, probably also because I'm not fighting him off from another surprise.

He carefully tucks his hand under the curve of my waist and slowly moves it down to my hip where he firms up his grip to sway them a little towards him. And that's when I feel the faint outline underneath his jeans, pressing up against my thigh.

He stops the kiss as I feel my body tense up.

"Rio," my voice is breathless, "We're in a plane full of people who have super hearing."

He smiles in understanding. "Of course."

Well, judging by how unabashedly his family stripped down to their birthday suits for the run last night, I'd say he was ready to go all the way even in spite of what I'd just said.

I reach up to twist a little black curl right above his left brow and tell him, "Maybe we can lie down here for a while and just...be."

Rio takes a hold of my hand and kisses it, which causes a little wave of pleasure to pass through the whole length of my arm. He then leans back and squeezes up against the wall of the plane as I turn to rest my head on his shoulder and my hand, hesitantly, on his belly. Under his shirt, I feel him flex a little.

He kisses the top of my head and says, "Astrid, do you know how crazy you've made me feel?"

I scowl. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, I've always been told how easy things get once you find your destined. But you were a tough cookie from the start."

"For necessary reasons," I iterate.

He chuckles and I ride through the vibrations of his body as he does.

"I want to do right by you so badly that I feel myself wanting to change every aspect of my life for you and it feels...right. You've come into my life and flipped it upside down and scrutinized me and my people. It's very gutsy of you."

"I'll admit, it came from a place of resentment that I've been holding for a few years."

"Is that really how all the wolves view us Lycans?"

"You don't have to worry about the wolves, Rio. Whatever pack instincts you all possess runs well through their veins. The resentment is more personal."

"Was this before or after my engagement to your best friend?"

"Both," he chuckles at my response. "Guess a tiger never changes its stripes no matter how much time it spends with wolves."

"Well, trying to figure you out has made me a little restless and crazy. But in a good way. I think."

I snort at this. "Looks like Valentina's not the only one who's gone crazy."

We lie in bed like this for a while. I close my eyes and listen to his heartbeat, which was racing at first but has settled into a calm rhythm averaging out to 55 beats per minutes.

"What's your favorite color?" Rio asks.

"Blue. Like the sky."

"Like my eye?"

My resting hands nudges the side of Rio's stomach and I sigh. He moves slightly at the sensitive area and laughs.

"You're quite full of yourself, you know that?"

"Does that annoy you?"

"It does leave quite a lasting first impression."

"Then I'll be sure to keep my character cohesive," I hear Rio say this with what I can only presume to be a boyish grin forming on his face. "Tell me, what's your favorite dish?"

"My mom's homemade ramen."

"I'll have to get that recipe from her."

"Good luck with that. She holds a lot of them close to her heart."

"What's your favorite movie?"

"I usually say 'Parasite', but I also really love 'Legally Blonde'."

"Hmm, interesting."

I hear the sharp intake of air as if he's about to ask another 'what's your favorite' type question. When he stops himself. I gently nudge my arm that's resting on top of his belly.

"Ask."

"How many guys have you been with?" Rio rushes through the words.

That was a not a 'favorites' question.

I turn my head to peer up at him and his unreadable expression. Does he really want to know? Am I ready to incur his jealousy?

"I have dated," I lay emphasis there where his question was ambiguously laced to mean something more sexual, "two men."

"Two?" he repeats.

I nod.

He looks at me expecting more, so I sigh.

"Yes," I tell him, answering the more specific question he's thinking about.

"I see."

"Hey," I tap his chest, hard as a rock under my fingers, "how many women have you been with? And I mean both dated and slept with since you didn't have the balls to ask."

He purses his lips and looks up, moving his eyes on imaginary numbers above my head. "I don't know if I want to say."

"Come on, Rio. We're both adults here. And I promise you won't hurt my feelings if that's what you're worried about. The teenage wolves in Silver Bow are horny as hell. I can only imagine how much hornier Lycans are."

He sighs, reconnecting with my eyes. "I've never really dated anyone, but I have slept with...several women."

"Several?"

"Yes. Do you still want to know my number?"

Do I? Or is it better to leave it ambiguous? Below 10 sounds about right. What if Rio's number is somewhere in the teens, or worse yet, beyond 20. I dread to think the number even reaches 30. But I'd rather know now than get mad later.

I nod.

"Six."

A sigh of relief escapes my bated breath as I laugh into his shoulder.

"What?" he questions at my sudden outburst.

I shake my head. "Nothing."

"You were right about your observations of Lycans—as usual. Of horny teenage Lycans. But my parents were very adamant that I not give in to those urges considering that I was to become Alpha and the added guilt of sleeping with someone's destined within the pack always hung over me. It wasn't until Alex and I took a sort of sabbatical away from home that I let myself go."

"And to only six women?"

"Only six? Would you have preferred if I said 12? Or 27?"

I purse my lips and shake my head.

"Besides," he turns his body on his side to come face-to-face with me, "I was saving lucky number seven for someone special."

My heart picks up its beating as I move in to kiss Rio.