Changing Tides by Sarah Darlington Excerpt:
She was exactly what I
needed. For far too long I’d felt numb inside—like I’d been stuck in quicksand
up the knees. Since my breakup with Kelly, I’d been looking for something that
could make me feel better again. Maybe this
girl could be the temporary fix I needed. It was worth a shot. Besides, I had
nothing better going on at the moment.
Quick as ever, I discarded
my hat and sunglasses onto the floor. “Hey,” I said before she could walk past
me. So
she hadn’t been about to ask for my autograph or to take a selfie with me? What?
“Um,
hey,” I said again, a little louder, clearing my throat.
She stopped walking. “Um,
hey,” she repeated. “I can’t believe Nate West is on my airplane. No freaking
way, right? It’s surreal. Thanks for helping me out back there, man. I thought
most celebrities were assholes. Not the case at all with you. Seriously, that
was awesome. Well…Sherrie the flight attendant might not agree, but I
appreciated you sticking up for me.”
I laughed. She was blunt
and I liked it. “You’re the first person to recognize me all day.” I pointed at
my disguise on the floor. “I guess I need to reevaluate that.”
“Nah, your disguise was
perfect. It was your voice I recognized.”
“Oh.” No one had ever
used that line on me before. Maybe it wasn’t a line. I couldn’t tell. “Want to sit
with me for a little while?” I blurted out. “I’m bored. I’ve been out of the
country and I could use some American company.”
For a moment, she studied
me hard, obviously debating my motives. I had them, yes. And they weren’t all
innocent. But no matter what happened here, I desperately wanted this girl’s
company. Nothing else seemed to matter in this moment.
She merely shrugged and
plopped into the seat to my right. “Sure. I’d love to piss off that prissy
flight attendant a little more.”
Again she had me
laughing.
“You’ve got to know
though—” She stopped talking for a moment, shaking her head. I noticed, barely
creeping up the side of her neck from under her sweatshirt, the end of a
tattoo. Instantly blood rushed harder through my veins. I wondered if she only
had one or many. “I have a serious hard-on for you…as Lucian,” she started to
say. “Dammit. I swear…he…you…are sexy as hell as that character. And that’s
saying a lot since Kelly Patterson is your co-star and all. But whenever new
episodes air, I tune in every Sunday…like it’s my job to watch…not for Kelly,
but for you. That’s totally embarrassing but true.”
I swallowed, hard.
The girl stood, avoiding
any eye contact. “Sorry. Jeez, I’m rambling like a fool. I’m normally not so
pathetically tongue tied. I’ll go back to my seat now.” But she didn’t leave
for her seat, she remained close.
I squinted up at her, the
air between us growing thick with awkward tension or…possibly something…else.
Something hotter. Girls came on to me all the time. But this was different. I
felt more in this small moment than I had in way too long.
“Are you saying you
normally like girls?” I asked, matching her bluntness and needing to know for
sure what she meant.
Her eyes met mine. “Hell
yes, I like girls. I only like girls.”
“But you watch the show
for me?”
“Yes.”
“What’s your name?”
“Ellie.”
She was a lesbian. It
hadn’t even occurred to me earlier because, frankly, even if she dressed a
little like a boy, there was nothing boyish about this girl. Underneath her
sweatshirt and jeans, I was willing to bet big money that she had one
smoldering body. And the way she watched me right now with quick, rapid
breaths, like she wanted me to ravish her the way Lucian ravished that girl in
season two’s opening episode of Dragon Wars,
I never would have known girls were her thing. Lesbian or not, I suddenly had a
serious hard-on for her as well.
One I was ready to take
advantage of. Right now.
Praying to whoever would
listen, hoping Sherrie the flight attendant had puke or something equally
horrible in the back to clean up and wouldn’t be returning soon, I unbuckled my
seatbelt and stood to my feet. Much taller than the girl in front of me, I had
to duck my head on this tiny airplane and lean into her space. “Have you ever
been with a man before, Ellie?” I whispered, my gaze locked heavy on hers.
“No,” she said, her voice
soft but her eyes a force of nature. “Why? Are you offering?”
I gulped. Sweet hell. I
had no idea how to respond, so I simply told her the truth. “Yes.”
She stared up at me for
several long moments, the hum of the airplane taking over all my senses. Then
she suddenly burst out laughing. Embarrassment fluttered through me. Oh God,
for as confident as I liked to think I was, I was completely out of my element.
“It’s not really funny,”
I said.
She stopped laughing
immediately. “So,” she snapped, her hands landing on her hips, her eyes glaring
up at me and something beyond fierce taking over her body. “You’re saying you
want to fuck
me? Is that it Mr. Nate West? Right now. Right here.” She nodded toward the
bathroom she’d been in minutes ago.
“Yes.”
She gasped.
“And I hate the name Nate
by the way,” I told her. “Please, don’t call me it again.”
“Then what the hell
should I call you?” she demanded.
“Nathanial.”
“Does the lesbian thing
turn you on, Nathanial?”
“Nope. Only you do.”
“Does the virgin thing
turn you on? Because maybe I’ve never been with a man, but I’m nothing close to
a virgin.”
I smiled, confused as
hell right about now. She was acting mad…but if she was truly pissed off about
this conversation then why was she still standing in front of me, discussing
it?
“Yes or no, little
firecracker.” I dipped down closer to her until my forehead was nearly resting
on hers. “Haven’t you ever wondered what it feels like to have a man inside
you? Not just any man, but someone like me. To feel his powerful thrust—not
some plastic toy or whatever it is lesbians like to get each other off with—as
you scream out in ecstasy? I can give you that. I can even give you Lucian if
that’s who you’d rather be with. It’s your choice. Now please move aside, I’ll
be in that bathroom waiting. Come or don’t come—whatever you want. But I
guarantee if you follow me into that bathroom you’re going to come.”
Her mouth fell open. I’d
shocked her into silence with my cheesy line. She stepped aside and I moved
past her, heading for the bathroom. I was ninety-nine point nine percent sure
she wasn’t going to follow me, not after that tragically desperate speech, but
as I entered the bathroom and went to shut the door, I found her following me
inside.
![Tour Info [Sarah Darlington]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgld0UXbVQ3EuHVZRe94_1FwNIwB1kMNy9tMmhhjpLDRVSwwyc-LlyWA1YG-2IshRlfd_q4gLdEshf_rEaReKLemQVgLODSxwah85oOjZwqFjUKplds8ynb5g-1asfG80Ws-sCwz6pZms8/s990/FullSizeRender.jpg)
