by Kahlen Aymes
"Oh. Cade." Her words were breathy and her eyes closed as a single tear fell out the corner of each one onto the pillow. "Thank you for being so good to me. I believe you, babe."
Her head lifted toward me as her mouth reached for me to return to kissing hers. Her arms around me felt so safe as she brushed my mouth with hers and whispered. "I should‘ve talked to you about it sooner. I 'm so sorry for wasting all this time, for putting you through this."
Finally, I gave her what she was seeking as my mouth took hers in another greedy kiss, my tongue plunging into her mouth and hers coming to meet it. She was so, so delicious.
"Don't cry my love, I understand. I would have bloody killed someone if the positions were reversed." I brushed her hair back off her face and my thumb traced the line of her jaw as I stared down into her blue eyes. "We're going to get through this, sweetheart, and nothing is going to separate us again, okay?" I kissed her deeply again and my hand slid up her thigh to pat her very luscious rump. "You've got to be on set soon, don't you?"
"Eew. Don't remind me." She hugged me and buried her face in my shoulder, kissing it with an open mouth and sucking a little. My lower body throbbed with need, and my heart pounded in my chest.
Her hands feathered down my back, sending goose bumps up my skin, until they reached my ass and her hands clamped down on the muscles and pushed me tighter into her center as she raised her hips into mine. Her eyes widened and she smiled as she did it. She was so fucking beautiful and I sucked in my breath.
"Stop torturing me, witch." I kissed her again, then rolled away from her and pushed her toward the edge of the bed. "You don't want to be late, but make sure Noah doesn't get any ideas. You're still Ryan's girl."
"I could never forget. Just don't you forget what you're going to do to me tonight. We have a lot of time to make up for." She smiled, her face shining with love and happiness as she went into the loo and turned on the shower.
"I won't forget, my love. Rather, I'll be plotting and planning all bloody day." I smirked as I got up from the bed. I was still in my clothes from last night. We had been so caught up in just being close to each other that I hadn't wanted to let go of her long enough to strip off my clothes before I fell asleep.
Hmmm. I decided to go take in the view even if I couldn't make love to her now. I went into the loo and leaned my shoulder on the wall. Watching her shampoo her hair, the lather running in waves down the gentle curves of her gorgeous body, my body ached and my mouth went dry.
"Ughhhh!" I groaned and she laughed at me.
I thought about my conversation with myself last night and I felt a new surge of determination. I wasn't going to allow anyone or anything to come between us again.
"NOW who's torturing you, Cade?" She laughed as she continued to wash her hair and skin.
"I know, but its exquisite torture; that." I nodded towards her naked body.
"I wish these hands on my body belonged to you." She ran her hands down over her breasts , stomach and hips, her eyes never leaving mine. She was so incredibly sexy, and she was teasing me.
"Mmmmm. Babe, we're going to confront Wendy, and bloody soon. I want to get this rubbish behind us as quickly as possible, okay? I can't take not touching you like this." I smiled and ran a hand through my hair. "My body's been aching almost as much as my heart has been." I was deadly serious.
"What if Wendy denies it in front of you?"
"How can she? You saw her."
"Yeah, but she can still insist the two of you got it on, and you just don't remember. I wouldn't put anything past her. I'm beginning to see her in a whole new light." Her voice held a trace of pain.
She was right, my mind was racing. How was I going to get to the bottom of this?
"The thing is, Brook; even if Wendy was attractive to me physically, her bloody personality turns my fucking stomach. I just can't imagine that I'd shag her even with someone else's dick."
I smiled when she burst out laughing. At least we were laughing about it. "Um, Ethan took me home that night, so I'll ask him to join, if that's all right with you? He can attest to how bloody drunk I was, and not fit for anything other than sleep. Maybe he knows what happened." I silently prayed that was the case, and that I hadn't slept with Wendy. The thought was so repulsive it made me shudder.
"Yeah, okay. He knows about us anyway, doesn't he?"
"I think he's known for months. Most of them have, but for sure since I screamed in Wendy's ear at the bar that night." I smirked.
"What?" Her head came up to look at me as she turned off the water.
"That wench wouldn't leave me alone, and I'd bloody well had had enough. I'm surprised it wasn't all over the tabloids the next day. Everyone heard it." I laughed at the memory. Fucking, Wendy! That bitch. I shook my head.
"Wendy has an in with the paparazzi, remember? They only print what she wants printed. I'm surprised there weren't pictures of the two of you at the bar that night. She would have gotten a lot of mileage out of being seen out with you."
She stepped out of the shower, her body glistening with the water droplets. I went to her with a towel and wrapped her in it as I bent to place a hot kiss on her shoulder.
"So um… What did you scream at her?"
She was curious and I could see the gleam in her eyes. She was enjoying this. I continued raining light kisses on her shoulders and neck sending shivers all down her body. She smelled so great, and her arms around me felt so wonderful.
"It's kind of fuzzy, but something along the lines of ; ‘Get the hell off me because I'm in love with Brook.’” My arms slid around her back and she lifted her face to kiss me.
"I love you," she breathed against my mouth.
I looked at the heavens with a smile on my face and raised one hand toward the ceiling. "Thank God. I was dying not knowing for sure." I teased with a crooked grin. She kissed my chest, and I ran a hand down her back.
"I'll convince you more, later," she promised. "I have to go. Noah is already calling me to see where the hell I am." She went to grab her phone as "I’m Too Sexy" played, but I stopped her by catching her in my arms.
I raised my eyebrow at the song and she shrugged. "What the fuck?" I asked at the ridiculous ring tone.
"I thought it appropriate considering." She giggled. “You know the model, thing.”
"Well I don't like it," I growled and hauled her with me to fall on the bed. "He better bloody well keep his hairy paws to himself!"
She burst out giggling and my laughter joined hers. "Caden Carlisle! How am I supposed to answer this call with you doing this silly shit?"
"He can sod off!" I laughed, so happy to be here with her, she was still squealing with laughter. "You've already got a bloody man, haven't you?" I tickled her ribs.
"Stop, I'm going to pee my pants!" she giggled.
"But, you're not wearing any pants, my love." I grinned at her and ran my hand up under her towel to cup her luscious rump, and give it a little squeeze. "See?" I smiled. "I quite like that part."
She laughed again. It was truly amazing how different I felt now, than I did just twenty-four short hours ago. The laughter died out of our eyes as we lay together stroking each other. She was so beautiful and I was drowning in those eyes.
I sighed as I brushed her wet hair back. "Brook," my voice got serious, my eyes intent as I looked at her, the smile faded from her face at my expression. "I can't lose you. These last months..." I shook my head, "have been unbearable, like part of me was missing. I'm so sorry for not clearing this up sooner. As soon as possible, I want that ring on your finger for the whole damn world to see. Promise me you'll never leave me, please."
I kissed her then, softly, tenderly, my breath mingling with hers. Her arms tightened around my neck and she pulled me closer to her luscious body, as she returned my kiss with love and passion, I deepened the kiss, my tongue laving hers.
Jesus, she tasted so sweet. My heart leapt in my chest.
These arms, these lips, those gorgeous b
lue eyes, this body close to mine, her voice breathing my name, were my heaven, salvation, peace; all I needed in the world.
"I promise, Cade..." she whispered as my mouth descended once again to take hers.
My mouth was more urgent as my tongue moved into her mouth. Her mouth opened to mine and she gave me her tongue and I sucked it further into my mouth. She moaned as I opened the towel and my hand moved down her naked body. I’d told her I wouldn't make love to her right now, but my mouth and hands had a mind of their own. My hand ghosted down to hover over her breast, grazing the nipple with my fingers and she arched up into it. I let my palm cup it and I felt the nipple, hard against my skin, and my body surged in response.
I dragged my mouth down across her chin and neck. A series of open mouth kisses across her silky skin, led to my mouth closing and pulling on the pink nub. My body throbbed and she moaned.
"Oh Jesus, Brook. I want you. I've been dying." My breath was coming in short bursts as I raised my mouth from her body and pressed my forehead into her collarbone as I struggled to get control of myself. I felt her hands in my hair stroking and her mouth pressed against at my temple, her breathing as labored as mine.
"I want you, Cade." My arms closed around her body and I moved to bury my face in the curve of her neck, her wet hair all over my face.
Her phone piped up again, playing “I’m Too Sexy” and I groaned and rolled over onto my back pulling her with me. “Seriously?”
"Well," she said against my forehead, "Isn't it a better alternative than ‘Beat it'?"
I burst out laughing. "Um, only just slightly." The look she gave me as she got up from the bed to gather her clothes admonished me, and I grimaced and then the corners of my lips lifted in a grin. "What? I'm jealous, so sue me. I don't like the thought of him getting all googly eyed at you." She knew I was teasing and shook her head at me as a small smile came to her lips.
I watched her dress and pulled out my phone to call Ethan. I prayed that tonight, everything would be resolved and I'd be making love to Brook all night long.
I ASKED ETHAN to meet me for lunch at this little place in Vancouver, called the Glowball Grill. Most of the cast had the day off and Brook was filming more of the photo shoot scenes with Noah. As much as I wanted to go over to the set to check on her, I knew I needed to get to the bottom of this thing with Wendy.
As I waited, several fans came up and asked for photos and autographs. I tried to be gracious, all the while hoping that they wouldn't hover throughout lunch. This was a very private conversation I'd be having with Ethan.
He was generally a goofball, but he was a great guy and I knew that I could depend on him to tell me the truth. He sauntered over and flopped down in the opposite side of the booth from me, after he gave an autograph to two girls.
"Hey, man. What's shakin?" He grinned.
"Thanks for meeting me. Would you like a beer?" I offered.
"Sounds good, Bro." He eyed me quizzically. "Soooo, this is heavy, huh?"
I was surprised at his intuitiveness. "What makes you say that?"
"Come on, dude. You're here for two weeks, and I haven't seen you with Brook outside of the set even once. Everyone knows you guys are tighter than a rattlesnake's ass." I grinned at his colorful American metaphor. "So if you're not hanging with her, somethin's up." He was matter of fact, but when I looked at him, he shrugged and his face broke into a huge ass grin. "So, what is it?"
The waiter came over and we ordered beer and our lunch. When he left, I sighed and began what I hoped would be an enlightening trade of information.
"Ethan, I need to talk about New Year’s Eve."
"Man, you were drunk off or your ass! I've never seen you so hammered." He laughed as he took a drink from his beer. "Plus, that's how I got confirmation of you and little Miss Halloway." He raised his eyebrows at me several times. "Even though I had serious suspicions before that, we all did. At my party that night—fuck, you guys were on fire!"
I smiled and ran my hand through my hair. "So confirmation came when? When I yelled at Wendy?"
"Well yeah, that, and how you were mumbling Brook's name during the entire cab ride to your place. Jesus, dude, you got it bad." He continued to smirk as he shook his head at me.
"Hmmft." I grinned and let out my breath. "The fact is, I'm in love with her," I said quietly.
"No shit!! Really?" He smirked at me. "I couldn't tell from the way you've been mooning over her for the past freaking year, man." A slow grin slid across his face. "And she's sizzling, isn't she? She’s got that innocent sex kitten thing going for her. I bet she's a tiger in the sack."
I felt myself tense and he could see I was getting prickly. "That's not bloody funny, Ethan." I couldn't help the strength in my tone, and I knew my brows fell over my eyes.
He put up his hands in front of him.
"Relax, Cade. A guy can't help but see what's in front of him. I do have a dick, after all."
"Yes, but don’t get any ideas," I emphasized. “She’s with me.”
"Hey, relax, I know that, man, I was kidding. She's got it just as bad as you, anyway. She hardly ever takes her eyes off of you when you're around. I used to feel so sorry for that dumbass boyfriend when he was on set."
"I was the poor bastard! Seeing him hang on her all of the time literally drove me insane. She was loyal to him and I just had to watch. I'm sorry, Ethan. I shouldn't be so possessive, but she makes me feel very possessive." I shook my head, determined to get back on the subject I needed to broach. "I've never experienced anything like it. I feel like a cave man when it comes to her. It’s crazy."
"No shit," he agreed. "It's no wonder, though. You had to see her with that douche for months."
"Um, yeah." I got to the point. "Last New Year's Eve, you know Brook was in New York?"
"Uh huh, that's why you drowned yourself in liquor. I remember," he said, taking a drink from his beer.
"Yes, about that. She came back to L.A. and went to my apartment. Apparently Wendy answered the door naked, but I don't remember anything about it. I'm hoping you can shed some light on what really happened." I felt my face tense up as I grabbed my beer and took a long pull.
"Oh shit, Cade. Um, I don't like the girl much, but she does have a sweet ass and nice pair of cans." He laughed as the waiter brought our lunch. He seemed to fidget a little in his chair, which made me a bit nervous.
I waited until the waiter left to continue. "She told Brook we shagged and what scares the bloody hell out of me, Ethan, is that I don't remember a damn thing about it. I'm praying that it isn't true, but...," I ran my hand through my hair and shrugged. "I was hoping you could help fill in the blanks. The pain it's caused Brook is really more than I can stand and it’s the reason for the distance you’ve noticed. Did you see how she broke down on set yesterday?"
Recognition dawned on his features. "Yeah, I did and I was wondering why, but I get it now. That cheating talk in our scene."
"Yes. A by-product of this situation," I said softly as I nodded.
"Jesus, man." He looked at me seriously for a moment.
"Dawson and I had a bet going on how long it would be before the two of you got together during The Future of Our Past; we knew you guys had a thing for each other. For Christ's sake, it shows on your faces and the sexual tension, well..." He laughed again and his tone turned teasing. "Dude, it's really kind of pathetic." He punched me in the shoulder, trying to lighten the mood. “I expected more Hollywood star behavior. You can have any chick you want.”
I was getting impatient waiting for his answer. "Ethan, you're killing me here. Can you just bloody tell me what happened on New Year's Eve?"
He rolled his eyes. "Sorry. Wendy left early after you wouldn't kiss her at midnight, remember?"
"I remember the yelling part, but not any kissing."
"Because there wasn’t any kiss. I said she tried. You pushed her away and then she split. You drank nearly half the whiskey in Ireland that night, it's no wonder you don't r
emember anything. I had to carry you home around 3 AM. Wendy was there waiting for you in your bed, and yeah, she was buck ass naked." He shook his head. "Boy was she surprised to see me." He laughed heartily.
"Why didn't you tell me before this?" I asked.
"For what? I knew things on the set were gonna be tough enough with both Wendy and Brook here, and I didn't think you'd want Brook to know about it. Shit, you didn't even know. No harm, no foul, I thought. I'm sorry, Cade. I guess I should have realized then this thing with Brook might not have gotten so out of hand."
I felt as if as the weight of the world lifted from my shoulders. "Yeah, well that's all in the past now. I appreciate that you're telling me now. What happened next? Did she stay after you left?"
"Would I let my brother get into a position like that with that bitch? No fucking way, Cade." He was laughing now. "You're lack of faith wounds me, man." He put his hand in his heart mockingly. He laughed as he shook his head. "Hell no, I told her that we weren't interested in any gang bangs and she should get her sorry ass dressed and hit the bricks. I waited for her to leave, put her in a cab in fact, and waved buh-bye as she drove off. Boy, was she pissed." He laughed again. "You were passed out cold, dude. You couldn't have even fucked a hole in the bed that night, Cade... you were so fucking gone. I made sure you were okay, and then I left."
"Thank God." I took a deep breath and ran both of my hands through my hair as I sat back in the booth. "I'm so glad I didn't do something stupid."
"In all seriousness, it's obvious how much you two dig each other. The fact that Brook's smoking hot is only a bonus, dude." He was smirking. "You struck the jackpot, you lucky bastard. I doubt you could screw anyone else even if you were wasted out of your mind."
"Yeah." I ran a hand through my hair. "She means everything to me."
Ethan lifted his hand in the air. "Waiter, could I get some Pepto Bismol? I think I'm gonna puke." He grinned again.