The Mountainous Exchange...

The feeling of a soft caress was what woke me up.

"Ana..." a soft but yet deep voice calls out my name, I instantly knew who it is...

Opening my eyes, I look up towards his voice, just for my eyes to meet his lovely blue marbles.

"Hey..." I greet him.

"Hello to you too, " he replies with a smile that is continuously growing.

"Now," he begins. "Are you up for any food?".

I smile at his words.

"You are making it sound as if we are on some sort of a night out or like a date..." I say, cautiously stretching my numbed limbs out.

"That's because we are... possibly...".

I let out a giggle mixed with a sigh.

"I hope you remember you are still a stranger to me..." I say, giving him a slightly provocative look.

"I'll be sure to change that..." he begins before moving closer to me. "Very soon," he adds in a whisper, causing me to quietly gasp at the way his warm breath collided with my skin.

"Now, tell me, are you hungry?".

At first, I shake my head. "No, I'm fine.". Moments pass before I was proven otherwise. A loud rumble, that demanded edibles, was heard from me.

I instantly blush in embarrassment, to which James chuckles.

"Don't worry, the flight attendants should come by quick," he said lowly.

Seconds pass before just that happens. I quickly let down my tray table.

"What would you like to eat, we have chicken and beef sandwiches," the youthful flight attendant asks me.

"Chicken, please" I request. Within seconds she hands me over a sandwich with one of the kindest smiles I have ever seen.

"Thank you very much.".

"You are most welcome," she pauses for a brief second, diverting her eyes from me to James. "And for you, sir?".

James says his choice and gets his sandwich before the flight attendant continues her way, row by row, handing out food. Another flight attendant, this time a 'he', comes around with a cart packed with beverages.

Getting around to both James and me, we both order a cup of water.

With both of us been given food and a drink, we begin eating.

Very soon, I find the box where the sandwich laid in empty. Downing the rest of my water and neatly folding and placing the cardboard sandwich container, along with the unused napkin, into the empty plastic cup, I turn my attention to what is on the other side of the triple-paned window.

I am absolutely amazed by the view. Snow-covered mountains dominate the what seems to be a never-ending terrain of ruggedness and steeply narrowed ridges. The mountains stretch out to the very horizon as the widely dispersed clouds mask some peaks out of view. All the valleys below us are so well defined, with a couple of bigger villages visible to the naked eye. I also notice the worrisome height the plane is cruising at.

The sky above us is so blue with the sun being located somewhere over the plane.

"So beautiful..." I mutter under my breath.

Then I feel body behind my cover closer to me.

"Wow..." he whispers under his breath. I notice the way he pulls out his phone before taking a picture of the landscape presented in front of us. His actions remind me that I too have a phone, so I quickly do the same.

I smile with contentment at the picture on my phone. This is really that one rare chance where we get to see the never-ending beauty of nature and her sheer power and one of her many talents, building terrains.

Blinking out of my trance, I find myself lying against my seat and a couple more seconds pass before I feel my eyes begin to close.

I fight my urges to rest, I want to see more of nature's work of art, but in the end, I give myself up to the sleep slumber, and slowly but surely find myself drifting away into sleep.

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It felt as if only seconds have passed before I was awakened. Slight jolts, that from time to time turn into more serious jerks are the reason for my awakening.

Opening my eyes, I am greeted by a white landscape stretching to the very horizon, giving an impression of the very boundaries of the earth.

My annoyance rises when my ears block up. We are descending. And moments later, the seatbelt sign comes on.

The engines quite down ever so slightly as I can now feel us physically lowering, as indicated by the swirling sensation in the pit my stomach.

Slowly but surely, more and more clouds come into view, one cloud being that bit bigger than the previous.

With our decent increased, so did the turbulence.

Thankfully it was not long before it slowly died out.

Deflecting my attention elsewhere, I find my eyes looking upon a small monitor above the seats, I see that we are about twenty minutes from Belgrade.

I then look at James, he's asleep. I smile to myself at the way he gapped ever so slightly as his head rested back against the seat's headrest. I can just about hear that silent snorts he produced as he slept, which just furthermore added to my smile.

I spend numerous minutes looking at his face, watching each and every breath he took. He still looks very handsome, even when he is resting.

I know it is not nice to stare at people, especially when they are asleep... but his fine beauty makes it very hard for me to get my eyes off of him. This is also the only time I could actually look at his face and secretly admire his handsomeness without his eyes causing me to feel all sorts of things.

From his cheeks, my eyes went down to his jaw before they followed the shadow of his shaved beard as it chased the curve of his defined jawline down to his chin. His shaved, shadowed moustache arched sexily above his lips, right below his nose.

The only eyebrow I could see is his right one due to the position of his head. His brow is bushy ever so slightly, yet, by the looks of it, well maintained and just full-on alluring.

Suddenly, his head tilts sidewards, towards me, from there I get a nice view of his face. My eyes dart back to his eyebrows. They look masculine but yet hold some sort of softness with the way they are tilted upwards and trail outwards, following a straight line before pointing down ever so slightly.

It wasn't long before I decide to give myself another time of rest and lay back onto my seat, but this time I gently move that bit closer to James. Eventually, I find my way back onto his shoulder.

Just as I am about to close my eyes and let sleep take me over, one of the flight attendants begins speaking.

"Ladies and gentlemen, can we ask that all the tray tables and stowed away, your seats are put back in the upright position, that your seatbelts are fastened and if you can switch off all of your electrical devices as we are getting ready for landing. Next, I will announce any connecting flights that have changed gates for any passengers aboard this plane, so if I can ask for your close attention, please...".

The soothing voice of the flight attendant continued talking and within five minutes she was finished.

I sit back up before looking out the window, just to see the drastic difference in our altitude, compared to the last time I looked out the three-layered pane. I decided that it might be a good time to wake up James. Just one question... how do I get about doing so?... Where should I press him, how hard should I press him. How hard should I shake him, if I am going to be shaking him awake? I am worried about a very stupid reason...

I manage to stop my thoughts midway. I take in a deep breath. It's James we are talking about. The person who literally woke me up with his touch not so long ago...

Suddenly, the cabin darkened, I look out the window and see that we are flying through some clouds. Putting all my worries aside, I go back to the task at hand, which is waking up James.

Before I begin anything, I take in a deep breath before clearing my throat.

"J-James?" I say gently. Nothing happens. "James?". Again, no response.

I proceed on moving closer to him. "James?" This time I whisper, as I really closed the space between us. My head went from being about half a meter away from him to about a couple of centimetres. But there was, once again, no response.

"James?" I raise my voice by a bit, hoping it will be loud enough. But all he did was furrow his brows before continuing his sleep.

I knew that I had to physically touch him to wake him up, but I was hoping it would not get to this point...

I feel my hands shake as they become pale and cold. Now dizziness and some sort of excitement begin brewing in me. I thought this only happened in books and films!? How, in this holy world, am I going to touch his face!?

Then my mind shouts at me, 'Ana, stop. over. reacting...'.

I take a deep breath before beginning any hand movements towards his face. The closer my hand got to his face, the more nervous I become.

'He touched you too, there is no reason why you can't to the same...' my mind says.

I swallow whatever is in my mouth. Then a gentle gasp came from me when my fingers feel his warm, smooth cheek.

From there, I keep my touch as sensitive as possible before I begin my gentle strokes.

"James, wake up, we are about to land...". I see him move ever so slightly before she pushes himself closer to me.

He produces a groan before carefully stretching himself out.

"Already?" he questions. But it's his question that causes me to giggle.

He tiredly raises his eyebrow at me.

"What's so funny?".

It's not the question, but yet his tone that causes my smile to drop, his voice held some sort of intimidation mixed with dominance. It's the dominance that really got me flustered.

I see him close up to me, before tilting his head ever so slightly.

"Stop biting your lip..." he says in a harsh whisper.

His words cause me to break our eye contact. I was biting my lip?... I have read way too many romance books... not to mention how many romance movies I have watched.

I shake upon his touch, his hand touches mine as I realise I still have my fingers in his cheek. He smiles at my sudden realisation.

I gently slip my hand away from him, but just as it was about to exit his personal space, he takes it into his grip. If anything, his actions surprised me.

"You know, I could get used to this. You touch me, whisper to me. You in bed with me...". I gape at his words.

I manage to break free of his hold, but not that I meant it intentionally. "James, there are children and other people on board this flight..." I begin. "How can you say that so freely!?" I add with a whisper.

"Because I can..." he replied. "Also, the only child I see now is you..." he adds with a chuckle.

I widen my eyes. "Oh, is that so?".

He hums and nods in unison.

"And that makes you my daddy?" I ask, knowing in what context it will be taken.

His eyes look at mine, as that smile that was on his lips a few seconds ago simply disappears. He suddenly closes up to me.

"Now that... that is not nice to say," he says teasingly.

I note how he moves even closer to me. "Also, I prefer sir...". I can't believe what he said, did I hear him correctly!?

Seconds pass before he winks at me and moves away from me.

"Okay, that's fine by me. Christian Grey..." I say but can't believe the words that just came out of my mouth.

He replies by furrowing his eyebrows in confusion.

"Christian- who?".

I freeze.

"You- wait... you don't know who he is?".

I see him thinking before shaking his head. "Am I supposed to?".

I give him an honest answer by shrugging. "You just remind me of him. Except you seem more loveable...".

"Is that so?" he questions.

"Yes. But don't take it that I am into you just because of the words I said. Because I'm not..." I say.

"I don't have to take it any way..." he begins. His words cause me to look at him and when I do, I am met by his gaze. Till then, I never noticed how darker his eyes have become...

"What do you mean by that?".

"I don't mean anything by that..." he replied, leaving me confused.

He chuckles at me before diverting his eyes elsewhere.

"Look..." he begins. "We are about to land...". Unaware, I turn and find myself looking out the window.

All the buildings, roads, fields, everything is covered in snow...

The way I left my country, that is how I am welcomed back.