The clouds of Cairns were left far beneath the wings, looking like piles of fluffy marshmallows.
Sugar Valentine sat in the plush leather seat of the private jet, holding a glass of warm milk that Silas Thorne had personally poured for her. She still hadn't quite regained her senses.
Half an hour ago, she had been carried horizontally out of the check-in gate by that madman. Following that, she was seamlessly transferred onto a Gulfstream G650 that had been standing by for a long time. Silas never had any intention of letting her take that crowded commercial flight; he had effectively moved their "home" into the sky at thirty thousand feet.
"Silas Thorne, this is illegal kidnapping." Sugar bit her straw, glaring fiercely at the man across from her.
Silas had already changed into a deep gray silk shirt of soft texture. His collar remained unbuttoned, exuding a sense of post-event lethargy. He held Sugar's "specialized phone" in his hand, his long fingers dancing nimbly across the screen as he rewrote her underlying logic.
"Kidnapping?" Silas lifted his gaze, his eyes deep and unfathomable. "Miss Valentine, you signed the agreement yourself. Since I am your 'new boss,' taking an employee on a business trip is perfectly reasonable."
"You forced me to sign that!" Sugar bristled.
Silas set the phone down and leaned forward. The space inside the cabin was already confined and thick with ambiguity; as he approached, that chilling scent of cold fir instantly invaded every breath Sugar took.
"Forced you?" He extended a long arm, bracing it directly against the armrest of Sugar's seat, his fingertips twirling a stray lock of her hair. "Back in the hut last night, who was it that held onto me and refused to let go, saying, 'Silas Thorne, don't leave'? Hmm?"
Sugar's face instantly flushed red all the way to her neck. "That was... that was a side effect of the sedative! I was talking nonsense!"
"Is that so?" Silas let out a low, soft chuckle. The sound was so magnetic it made half of Sugar's body go numb. He suddenly reached out, cupping the back of her head to force her close to him. "Then is the blushing right now also a side effect?"
Panicked, Sugar reached out to push him away, but she forgot that the plane was still in its ascent phase. The aircraft swayed slightly; losing her balance, she tumbled directly into Silas's embrace.
Even worse, the tip of her nose slammed right against his firm chest. Through the thin silk, his body heat radiated into her, causing her heart rate to spiral out of control instantly.
"It seems Miss Valentine really enjoys throwing herself into my arms." Silas took the opportunity to wrap his arm around her waist. His large palm rubbed against the soft skin of her waist through her clothes, sending waves of tremors through Sugar.
"Silas Thorne... let go, we're on a plane!" Sugar struggled to get up, only to find the man's strength was startling, pinning her like an iron lock.
"A private jet. No one dares to enter." Silas's voice grew a few shades hoarser. He leaned down, his thin lips pressing against the side of her neck, delivering a light, punishing bite. "Sugar, the matter of the chip isn't over yet. You still haven't told me—exactly how many aliases did you prepare just for that little piece of metal?"
Sugar shrunk her neck back, feeling that patch of skin start to burn. She remained stubborn. "How can you call a hacker's work 'lying'? That's called 'professionalism'! Who told you, a big CEO, to be so blinded by lust that you'd take in any beautiful woman who jumps onto your boat?"
Silas paused, a dangerous, dark tide surging in his black eyes.
"Any woman?" He suddenly exerted force, lifting Sugar up and placing her directly onto his lap. "Sugar, do you really think just any woman in this world can enter Silas Thorne's bedroom?"
One of his hands began to wander restlessly up her spine, finally stopping at the sensitive nape of her neck.
"Before that night, I had investigated you for three years." Silas leaned down, biting her ear as he murmured, "From the day you hacked into the Swiss bank, you were already on my hunting list. Cairns was no accident; it was the place where I intended to capture you personally."
Sugar was completely stunned. Three years?
"You... you've been plotting against me for three years?" Sugar felt a chill run down her spine, yet within that chill was an indescribable tingle of electricity.
"That wasn't plotting; it was a lure." Silas suddenly pinched her chin and kissed her with a ferocity that was both savage and domineering.
Outside the cabin, the clouds shifted unpredictably; inside, the air became as thick as honey. Sugar felt like a small boat tossed about in the waves Silas had stirred up.
Just then, a polite voice from a flight attendant came from the front of the cabin: "Mr. Thorne, shall I prepare dinner?"
Sugar was startled like a rabbit and tried to jump down, but Silas held her down firmly. He didn't even look up, his voice rasping out a single word: "Get out."
The sound of the flight attendant's footsteps vanished instantly.
Sugar was so embarrassed she wanted to crawl into a hole. "Silas Thorne! Don't you care about your image anymore?"
"When have I ever had an 'image' in front of you?" Silas stood up, lifting her horizontally in his arms, and strode toward the massive double bed in the rear cabin. "Since Miss Valentine has such great stamina, we'll spend the next ten hours of the flight discussing... how exactly you plan to compensate me for the rest of your life."
Looking at the excessively large bed, alarm bells rang in Sugar's head. "Wait! Silas Thorne, I haven't even bought insurance yet!"
"It doesn't matter." Silas pressed her into the soft bedding, the corners of his mouth curving into a wicked, predatory arc. "For the rest of your life, I am the only insurance you'll ever need."