Sinners on Tour

  “We’ll have dinner and bubbly floating high above the earth. And where it leads from there…” He shrugged.

  “Can we do it in there?” she whispered, her heart thudding with anticipation.

  He chuckled. “We can try. That was my plan.”

  She grabbed him around the neck and pulled him close so she could kiss him. “I love you,” she said against his lips. “Did I ever tell you I’ve always wanted to make love in a hot air balloon on my wedding night?”

  “Uh, no. I don’t think so.”

  “That’s probably because I didn’t realize I wanted it until just now. Sometimes I think you know me better than I know myself.”

  He laughed and kissed her deeply. “You like to have sex in unusual places. It’s not a mystery, only a challenge to figure out the best spots.”

  Antsy, she unfastened her seat belt and opened the car door. “Hurry,” she said. “I can’t wait.”

  She fled the car, approaching the balloon in the valley using a half-run/half-skipping gait that made her feel utterly buoyant. Sed quickly caught up with her and took her hand in his.

  “Good surprise, huh?” he asked, his voice deep and gruff.

  “Great surprise!” she said. “It’s so beautiful!”

  The balloon was a bright blue with yellow stars and a curved quarter-moon decorating the fabric. The flame beneath the giant sphere glowed bright in the waning light as a man inside the basket pulled a cord and sent fire shooting up into the neck of the balloon.

  “I was starting to think you weren’t coming,” he yelled in greeting.

  “Sorry we’re late,” Sed called. “We had a hard time getting away from the reception.”

  “Congratulations on your marriage,” the man said.

  “Thanks. As far as wives go, I think I did all right,” Sed said.

  Jessica elbowed him in the ribs.

  Standing beside the basket, Jessica stared up at the enormous balloon, her mouth agape with wonder. She’d seen hot air balloons in the sky before, but never up close. She couldn’t believe how big it was. “Wow,” she said.

  “I’m Gary Bastion. I’ll be flying our craft this evening.”

  “It’s so big!” Jessica said.

  “That’s what she said,” Sed quipped under his breath.

  “First time?” Gary asked.

  “Oh no, she hasn’t been a virgin for a while,” Sed said.

  Jessica elbowed him in the ribs again. “It’s my first time in an air balloon,” she said.

  “You’re in for a treat,” Gary said. “You’re lucky the storm passed early.”

  “Lucky, he says,” Sed murmured.

  “We do have a few things to go over before we can lift off, but we need to hurry.”

  Jessica and Sed listened to his safety spiel. They even practiced the tuck and kneel position they were supposed to assume should they be in for a rare rough landing.

  “Careful,” Sed said as Jessica flattened herself face down on the ground. “You’ll squash little Sed.”

  “Is she pregnant?” Gary asked.

  “Yeah. We sort of started our family early,” Sed said, giving Jess’s belly an affectionate rub. “Couldn’t wait for the honeymoon.”

  “How far along are you?”

  Jessica looked up into Gary’s concerned face.

  “About ten weeks,” she said. “Why?”

  “We don’t allow women in their third trimester to fly at all,” he said. “There’s always a slight danger of a rough landing, one that could trigger early labor.”

  “Should we cancel?” Sed asked, a mixture of concern and disappointment on his face.

  “I’ll leave that up to you. I’ve never had a rough landing—though there’s a first time for everything—and she’s not close to giving birth or anything. Have you had any complications with your pregnancy?”

  “No,” she said. “None.”

  Gary nodded, but his expression was serious. “The chances are slim that there will be any issues with the landing, but there’s always a chance.”

  Sed looked to Jessica and squeezed her hand. She really wanted to ride in the balloon and she was far from her third trimester. How rough could a balloon landing possibly be? She couldn’t imagine it being too extreme.

  “I really want to go,” Jessica said. “You went to all this trouble to arrange it and the danger is slight. It is slight, isn’t it?” she asked Gary.

  “Almost nonexistent.”

  She nodded at Sed. “Let’s do it.”

  “If you’re sure,” Sed said. “I won’t be upset if you’re worried and want to cancel.”

  “I don’t want to cancel. I’m not worried at all.”

  Sed smiled and nodded. “Everything will be fine.”

  “All right,” Gary said. “Climb aboard.”

  Sed helped Jessica climb the ladder, and Gary gave her a hand over the edge of the basket and inside. Sed was soon standing beside her looking up at the balloon with as much wonder in his expression as she felt.

  “Give me a minute to talk to Gary man-to-man,” Sed whispered in her ear. She had a feeling he’d let his wallet do most of the talking, but she did want to make love to her husband floating high above the earth. She hoped Gary was accommodating. Sed and his wallet could be very persuasive.

  Jessica leaned over the basket and noticed a woman sitting in the grass near one of the tethers. Jessica waved at her and got an enthusiastic wave in return. A cool wind rustled though Jessica’s hair, and she rubbed her hands over her upper arms, wishing she’d thought to bring a sweater. But how was she supposed to have known that she’d need one when Sed refused to tell her his plans for that evening? A warm, hard body pressed against her side, and Sed wrapped an arm around her lower back.

  “Cold?” he murmured into her ear.

  “A little,” she admitted, but that wasn’t why she was shivering. It had been a very long day and she very much needed to get lost in her man’s arms. “Well? What did Gary say?”

  “He doesn’t allow that sort of thing to go on in his balloon while he’s watching.”

  “Oh,” Jessica said, her voice flat with disappointment.

  “But for a couple thousand dollars, he promised to look the other way.”

  With his sensual mouth, he caressed the skin just below her ear—nibbling, licking, suckling that delicious spot until her knees went weak and she groaned.

  He stepped away. “Dinner first,” he said. “Then dessert.”

  “I want dessert now, “Jessica said.

  He captured her mouth in a heated kiss. Her entire body thrummed with pent-up sexual energy as she kissed him desperately.

  He tugged away and leaned close to whisper in her ear, “I’m worth the wait.”

  She was well aware of that, but spanked his ass for being so full of himself.

  He left her standing there and went to sit at a small rattan table next to one edge of the basket.

  “Are you coming?” he asked, gesturing toward the seat across from him.

  “Not yet, unfortunately,” she grumbled under her breath.

  But the table built for two was inviting—though not quite as alluring as its occupant—so she rubbed the chill out of her bare arms and took her seat. The table felt a bit awkward. The seats were higher than a normal chair—more like tall beanbags than anything—and when she was seated, the table was very close to the tops of her thighs. She wondered at the strange configuration until she peered out over the edge of the basket and realized she’d be able to see out while they dined. That would explain why the cushions were high, but why was the table so low in comparison?

  Gary came to stand near the table. “My wife is an excellent cook,” he said proudly. “She’s gone to retrieve your meals from the warmer in the SUV. Once the food is on board, we’ll cast off, and she’ll follow us in the chase car. You’ll have to serve yourselves, I’m afraid. I’ll be keeping the balloon on course. And we have to land before it gets dark.”

 
“Why is the table so low?” Jessica asked.

  “So your dinner doesn’t fly overboard and spook the vineyard grapes,” Gary said and then laughed.

  “Oh,” she said, smiling. “That makes sense.”

  “Is this your first dinner cruise?”

  “Nope. My wife proposed to me on a dinner cruise,” Sed said, nodding at Jessica. “But it was on a boat.”

  “She proposed to you?” Gary’s eyebrows lifted comically.

  “Yeah, she was a little desperate, I think.” Sed grunted when she kicked him in the shin.

  “You’ve got it all wrong. I proposed to Pes, remember?” Jessica said.

  Sed laughed. “He’s my evil twin.”

  “Is that why you put this together?” Jessica asked. “Trying to one-up my proposal dinner?”

  “Of course not. I wanted to give you a wedding night you’ll never forget.”

  She reached across the table and took his hand. “You know what it does to me when you’re uncharacteristically sweet, don’t you?”

  He wiggled his eyebrows at her. “I am well aware of that, Mrs. Lionheart. I might have a few ulterior motives here.”

  “Boats are romantic,” Gary admitted with a shrug, “but I think your husband might have you beat with the hot air balloon. Not that I’m partial or anything.”

  “We’ll see,” Jessica said. “If so, I’ll have to come up with something even more splendid to reclaim my title as biggest romantic fool.”

  “Gary! A little help, please,” a woman’s voice said from the opposite side of the basket.

  Gary went to help his wife load two lightweight Styrofoam coolers into the balloon.

  Sed tilted his head at Jessica while they waited. “You look chilled.”

  “I have a feeling it’s going to be even colder once we take off,” she said.

  “I’ll be back.”

  “Where are you going?”

  “Patience, love,” he said with a grin.

  Next thing she knew, Sed spoke a few words to Gary and was gone. She craned her neck to watch him jog across the field to the car. A moment later he was on his way back carrying his leather trench coat. Oh yeah, she knew what that meant. He only wore the trench coat when they were trying to keep their public liaisons as clandestine as possible.

  Jessica looked up and smiled at Sed when he dropped the coat over her shoulders a few minutes later.

  “Better?” he asked, placing a kiss on her temple.

  She snuggled into the coat and inhaled the scent of leather and Sed—a heady combination. She felt instantly warmer, more than half of it due to anticipation, not the garment. “Yes, thank you. I’m glad you remembered it was in the car.”

  He took the seat across from her again, and Gary’s wife approached the table. “You’ll have to serve yourself,” she said, “but everything that’s warm is in the cooler with the red tape and everything cold is in the blue-taped one.”

  “What’s on the menu?” Jessica asked, leaning over to lift the lid of the red cooler. The lid slammed shut before she could get a look at or a sniff of the contents. Sed’s hand rested on the cooler, blocking her inspection.

  “Patience, baby,” he said.

  “But I don’t have any patience,” Jessica said.

  Gary’s wife opened the blue cooler and placed a plastic bucket of ice in the center of the table. Jessica wondered if everything in the balloon was kept light or soft to prevent injury. Either that or Gary and his wife were cheap.

  Gary’s wife retrieved a bottle and forced it into the ice bucket, rattling and crunching ice as she pressed down.

  “Utensils and glasses for your toast are in the basket there,” she said, pointing behind Sed. “I think that should cover everything. Enjoy your evening. And congratulations on your marriage.” She glanced specifically at Jessica when she asked her next question. “Was this really all your husband’s idea?”

  Jessica nodded. “It was a complete surprise.”

  “I think you have a keeper.” She winked and turned to give Gary a kiss before climbing over the basket to leave.

  “A keeper, huh?” Jessica said, grinning at Sed, who was looking very pleased with himself.

  He cocked his head slightly, looking so sexy that Jessica had to cling to her squishy chair to keep from leaping across the table and tackling him.

  “Was there ever any doubt?” he asked.

  She chuckled. “Not in your mind.”

  Jessica felt increasingly light-headed and she realized that the balloon was free of its tethers and rising. She hadn’t even felt it lift off. The burner roared as Gary pulled some rope that made the flames shoot high into the interior of the balloon.

  “I’d think the thing would catch fire,” Jessica said nervously.

  “You’re safe,” Sed murmured.

  He always made her feel safe. “I know.”

  She watched the earth slowly fall away as Sed rattled around in the basket and produced a pair of plates, utensils, and champagne flutes. She melted when she saw that their toasting glasses were engraved with a pair of wedding rings tied together with a ribbon, her and Sed’s names, and the date. He’d thought of everything. He really was a keeper. Well, most days. Some days he was positively infuriating, but those days were becoming increasingly rare.

  “I’m not sure how much I can eat after all that cake at the reception.”

  “I think you’ll manage,” he said.

  He stood to get the food from the coolers. First he scooped tossed salad on her salad plate, then he opened the hot food containers. When she reached toward a spoon to help herself to some delicious-smelling herbed risotto, Sed snatched the spoon away from her.

  “Allow me,” he said.

  “Sed, I can serve myself.”

  “I never doubted it,” he said. “But just because you can doesn’t mean you have to. Let me take care of you tonight. Without argument. It would really mean a lot to me.”

  She drew her eyebrows together. “Why?”

  “Because I care about you.”

  “I care about you too, but I don’t feel the need to serve you to demonstrate it.”

  “Well, tonight I do have that need. Can you handle it? Someone who loves you trying to take care of you?”

  “I never said I couldn’t handle it.”

  But as he filled her plate with food, she had to admit that it did bother her. She’d promised herself long ago that she’d never allow a man to rule her life and for some reason, this felt like a step in that direction.

  “Can I serve you?” she asked, thinking that might make her feel a bit more comfortable about allowing him to choose how much and what kind of food she would receive.

  “You can service me,” he said, his voice gruff with desire.

  Jessica pursed her lips. Was he trying to get a rise out of her? She knew her temper turned him on, but she really didn’t want to argue tonight. Especially not here, where everything was so romantic due to his thoughtfulness.

  “I think I’ll let you service me,” she retorted.

  “I am willing, if not able,” he said with a crooked grin. “The table is kind of low for me to get at you properly. Wasn’t the shower enough?”

  “You know I never get enough of you.”

  He grinned cockily and opened another container of food. The scents of basil and garlic, tomato and oregano stirred her