Page 87 of The Code of You

On the plane, the world narrowed to a single aisle leading in one direction. I took the window seat. It was my last connection to the outside. Neo sat beside me. The seat next to us was empty.

"Did you arrange that too?” I whispered.

His smile was answer enough.

I buckled my seat belt. The plane began to move, then lifted off. I felt the ground disappear beneath us, and with it my last chance to escape.

"How long?” I murmured.

"Three and a half hours. Then we connect.” His voice stayed level. "Three and a half hours in which you belong to me.” Then he raised the armrest between us. His upper arm pressed against mine.

"What are you doing?” I whispered.

"Marking my territory,” he murmured. "Everyone on this plane should know you’re mine.” His warmth moved through my sweater and burned itself into my skin.

"Neo . . .”

"Shh.” He pressed his mouth to mine, his tongue pushing inside.

I burned immediately. My hands gripped the armrests and my breathing came faster. He placed his hand on my thigh. I gasped, wanting it to move higher, wanting him to touch me where I was aching for him. Then he pulled away. My chest rose and fell quickly. He simply looked at me, satisfied with the effect he had on me.

"I could drag you to the bathroom. No one would stop me.” His voice was dark. "But I won’t.”

I let out a breath. My hands tightened around the armrests. "Why not?” Damn it. Why did I sound so desperate? I was pathetic.

"I’m waiting until I can have you in our room tonight.” He leaned back, a cruel smile on his lips. "Where no one will hear you scream. And you have to sit here until then, wanting. Every. Single. Second.”

My thighs pressed together. "That’s sadistic.”

"Yes.” He looked at me the way a scientist looks at an experiment. "Your pulse is already at ninety-five. In an hour it will be at one hundred ten. In two hours you’ll be begging.”

"Never.”

"We’ll see.” His hand covered mine and pressed down. "Three and a half more hours on this plane. Then the connection. Then the hotel. Twelve hours, Pandora.”

I stared at him. Trapped. Burning. Out of my mind with need.

***

The connecting flight passed in taut silence. Neo didn’t touch me again, but his gaze burned on my skin. When we finally landed, my hands were trembling.

"To the car,” he said.

The drive along dusty roads stretched endlessly. Eventually, a town appeared. The asphalt looked worn and cracked at the edges. The buildings were almost identical, some with balconies, others with small awnings. The facades carried the marks of weather. At a street corner, a supermarket. Letters on signs I couldn’t read. The windows were papered with old, torn posters. A man sat on a stool outside the entrance, smoking.

Dreva. I didn’t know if that was the name of the district or the town. I only knew it was on the rusted and overgrown sign by the road.

Neo sat silent behind the wheel, scanning the street. He had bought the car. It was an old banger, rusted and barely holding together. Booking a driver would have been too risky.

We parked outside a concrete block. Five floors, just a number beside the entrance, smudged and redrawn in chalk. Neo opened the door and took my bag. I got out and stretched my legs. Metal and ash hung in the air. The memory of something that had once burned here.

At the door, Neo entered a code without hesitating. A hum, then the click of the lock. Inside, it smelled of damp. The elevator wasn’t working, so we took the stairs. Concrete steps with chipped edges. I felt the cold through my soles. Neo went ahead. Third floor. Left side. He opened the apartment door. Pale twilight fell through a window onto the floor. I stepped inside.

"This is it,” Neo said, and closed the door with a short push.

The rooms were sparsely furnished. I sat on the bed and felt the rough material under my fingers. He set the bag down, but his movements were too controlled, scanning every inch of the apartment.

I took off my shoes, one then the other, slowly. My body was moving on autopilot. Neo moved toward me, and the air changed when he came near. I raised my eyes. My body responded with warmth, caught between the urge to run and something far darker.