Love, Hate & Us

by S. P. West

  “No, you first,” I find myself saying in answer.

  Brody lets out a long sigh. “I know that you don’t want to be here.”

  You’re wrong there, Brody, I can’t think of anywhere I’d rather be than with you.

  “But can we at least pretend and try to get along for the time we’re on the island?”

  “You sound like you don’t want to be here.”

  “This was stupid,” he says bitterly, unbuckling his belt. “What the fuck was I thinking? I’m going home.”

  He almost falls over as the jet lurches, and I reach out a hand to him, helping to steady him as the plane starts to taxi down the runway.

  “Guess you’re stuck with me,” he mutters, pulling his hand away. I feel bereft as he breaks our connection.

  “I don’t mind.” I smile. “It’ll give us a chance to talk.”

  “I thought you were done talking,” he says, taking off his cap and piercing me with those gun-metal gray eyes that I love so much.

  “I was wrong.”

  “Yeah, right.” He scoffs. “You sounded pretty final to me.”

  “And you were the one who stormed off.”

  “After you told me we were over for good. What was I supposed to do? Hang on like your little lapdog, hoping that you’d change your mind?” He looks out the window as we climb higher and higher into the sky. “I love…d you too much to hurt you anymore. That’s why I walked away,” he says quietly, watching me through the reflection in the window.

  “You don’t love me anymore?” Of all the things that he just said, that is the one thing that I zeroed in on. Loved. Not love you, but loved.

  Brody turns his head to look at me again, a small smile on his handsome face.

  “I’m trying hard not to.”

  “What if I don’t want you to stop loving me?” I say quietly.

  “Then I’d say that you need to quit playing games with me. I don’t want to live my life with you not in it.” He directs his gaze to the ceiling of the cabin, taking deep breaths of air as he tries to calm his emotions. “When I picture my future, it has always been with you by my side. Even when I was being a dick.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Grandma always said that if you love someone, then you have to be prepared to let them go. I’ve only ever wanted you to be happy, B. That’s why I’m prepared to let you go.”

  “Don’t let me go. Please.”

  “I can’t fight for someone who doesn’t want to be with me anymore.”

  “And I’m telling you that I want to be with you.”

  “Maybe we’re not meant to be together.” He shakes his head sadly. “Not if we keep hurting each other the way we do.”

  “Are you actually listening to me? Or have you gone deaf? Because I’m telling you that I want to be with you.”

  “You’re saying that to make it easier on me.”

  “No. I’m saying it because I love you, Brody. I have loved you my whole life.”

  “A few hours ago you wanted me out of it for good.”

  “I should have spoken to you, and I should have listened to you about Joely. I was wrong and I’m sorry.”

  “But you didn’t trust me. You didn’t believe me when I was telling you the truth. You chose to walk away. I know I hurt you, Brooke, but finding out that you don’t have faith in me…I don’t want you to live your life constantly worrying and thinking that my head will be turned by another woman. That won’t make either of us happy, will it?” I shake my head no in answer. “I can’t live my life thinking that you don’t trust me. It breaks my heart to think that one day I could come home and you’d be gone because I said or did the wrong thing, and instead of talking to me about it, telling me how you feel, you ran. I want you to tell me. Tell me what you’re thinking, because if I don’t know, then I can’t do anything to fix it.”

  “This is your pilot speaking, it is now safe to remove your seat belt.”

  As soon as the announcement is made, Brody stands, and starts to make his way to the back of the cabin.

  “Where are you going?”

  “To see if this thing has a bed or something. I’m beat.”

  “That’s it? This conversation is over?”

  He stops, and spins on the spot to face me. “For now. I’m sure that we’ll have plenty of time to talk when we get to wherever we’re going. Right now I need to get some shut-eye.”

  “There’s a bedroom at the back of the plane,” I say, pointing at the closed door at the back of the cabin.

  “Sweet.” He grins, walking toward it.

  “Brody?”

  “Yes.” He comes to a halt, the door half open.

  “I love you, and I’m sorry.”

  “I know,” he says, shutting the door quietly behind him.

  I’m tired.

  Really, really tired.

  The seats are comfortable enough, but not enough to sleep in. My gaze keeps going to the door at the back of the cabin as I contemplate whether or not I should join Brody there. The only thing that’s stopping me is the thought he might reject me.

  Time to pull up your big girl panties, Brooke.

  “Can I get you anything?” Mia, the stewardess, asks me as I unfurl myself from the seat.

  “No, thank you.” I stretch, hours of sitting in that damn seat has my body feeling stiff as a board. “Actually, Mia.”

  “Yes.” She smiles.

  “Do you know how much longer we have left of the journey?”

  “About two and a half hours.”

  “Thanks,” I say, returning her smile.

  “No problem.”

  The jet shakes slightly as I make my way to the back of the cabin, and quietly open the door to the darkened room. From the light of the cabin, I can see that Brody is lying on his back, the sheets just barely covering his naked body, his bare, chiseled chest on full display as he rests his head on one arm. My panties are suddenly soaked. Gently closing the door behind me, I strip off my clothes and slip, naked, into the bed beside him.

  Instantly an arm snakes around my middle, pulling me into the warmth of his toned body. His hard length moves against my ass—up and down, up and down, as he not so subtly thrusts his hips against me. The hand that was wrapped around me slowly creeps down my body until it comes to rest on my pussy. My hips automatically undulate as he starts to stroke my clit oh so gently. From behind, he starts to push against me harder.

  A loud gasp escapes my lips as one long finger enters me, swiftly followed by another.

  “I was wondering when you were going to join me,” he growls in my ear.

  “I thought you were mad at me.”

  “I am,” he says, nibbling on my earlobe as he fucks me with his fingers. “But I still love you.”

  “Do you?” I try but fail to suppress a loud moan. If poor Mia hadn’t guessed what we were up to by now, she surely would have heard that.

  “Always,” he answers, removing his fingers from me. Before I have a chance to protest, he places his cock at the entrance of my pussy, pushing forward tortuously slow as I wiggle my ass against him. “I’ll always love you, Brooke.” He pants. “I don’t know how to stop.”

  “Then don’t.”

  “But you don’t want me.” He pulls out, holding himself there.

  “I’ve never wanted anyone but you.”

  “You don’t trust me.”

  “I do, Brody. I was wrong, so, so wrong.” Wetness seeps between my thighs, while tears form in my eyes. I don’t doubt that Brody loves me, but there’s something so final in his words.

  “What do we do?” He blows lightly against my neck.

  “Don’t give up. Don’t let go of me. I need you, Brody, I love you so much.”

  “I love you, too.” Brody whispers, pulling me backward so that I’m lying on my back. “I want everything with you. Babies...” He shifts down the bed, placing a soft kiss on my belly. “A ring on your finger.” He continues to kiss up my body. “I want to grow old
with you.”

  “What if I can’t…”

  “We’ll adopt.”

  “But we might…”

  “We won’t.”

  “How can you be so sure?”

  “Because I love you and you love me.” His voice is choked with emotion as he stares down into my eyes. “I lost you once…I don’t think my heart would survive losing you again.”

  “Oh, baby…” Tears start to fall down my cheeks.

  “Don’t cry,” he says as he gently wipes the tears away.

  “I trust you. I love you. Now, please, make love to me.” I smile, even though I’m crying.

  “As you wish.” He grins, placing a kiss on my forehead as he lines himself up at the entrance to my pussy once more.

  Thump. Thump.

  “Baby.” He breathes as he pushes into me.

  Thump. Thump.

  “Oh God.” My bottom lip is raw as I bite down on it in an attempt to not scream too loudly.

  “Fuck. I can’t hold on. I gotta…” He buries his head in my neck as he pounds into me.

  Thump. Thump.

  “Brody.” I’m teetering on the edge of an abyss; any moment I’m going to freefall into sweet oblivion.

  Thump. Thump.

  “Ummm, Miss Elderhouse? Mr. McAllister?”

  “Did…do you hear that?” Panting, I lift my head toward the source of the sound.

  “Ignore it.” His deep voice rumbles as he brushes his fingers over my clit, giving me the push I need to plummet over the edge.

  “Oh God! Oh God!” The scream that comes from me could probably be heard throughout the plane, but I don’t care. All I care about is Brody thrusting into me with a brutal force as he chases his own orgasm. I arch my back up, shifting my hips, and triggering yet another orgasm as Brody comes hard, filling me with his seed.

  “That was…that was…I…love…you.” He grins, and collapses on top of me, as I giggle into his hair.

  Thump. Thump.

  “Sorry to disturb you, Miss Elderhouse, but I checked with the pilot, and we will be landing in the next twenty minutes, not two hours.”

  “Okay,” I yell. “We’ll be out in a minute.” Brody rolls off me, snatching up his jeans from the floor, amusement written all over his face.

  “She totally heard us, didn’t she?” He chuckles as he pulls his pants on.

  “I think the whole plane heard us.” I place a pillow over my face as I try to cover my mortification that someone overheard us having sex. Poor Mia. I don’t know whether I’ll ever be able to look her in the eye again.

  “Hey.” He chuckles, pulling the pillow out of my grasp. “Are you hiding?”

  “Do you think that I can stay in here until we land and then sneak off the plane?”

  “Nah. You need to do the walk of shame.”

  “You’re so not helpful.”

  “But you love me.” He smiles brightly before pulling his tee over his head.

  “I suppose I do.” I sigh.

  “Suppose?” He raises a questioning eyebrow.

  “Yeah.” I grin.

  “Well that’s good enough for me.” He bends down and places a gentle kiss on my lips. “Now get that beautiful ass out of bed and come do the walk of shame with me.”

  Brooke

  “Babe.”

  “Uh-huh?”

  “What are we going to do when we go home?”

  “You mean leave the island?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Can’t we stay?”

  “I wish we could.” He laughs. “But we’ve got to go home at some point.”

  Brody and I have been on this tropical piece of paradise for a week now. The whole experience has been amazing. We didn’t venture out of our villa for the first three days, and only then it was for food. I couldn’t tell you how many times we’ve made love, but I can tell you that you really need to have a towel when having sex on a sandy beach. Just saying.

  We’ve continued to reconnect and rebuild our relationship. Our time here has shown me that what we have is special…too special to throw away. I want to spend the rest of my life with the man lying on the lounger next to me. I realize now that I don’t want to live without him. He’s mine and I’m his. Brody and Brooke forever.

  “We’ve got another couple of weeks here. Can’t we talk about it next week?”

  “Stop putting it off.” He chuckles, leaning up on his elbows.

  “I know.” I sigh. I’ve already made up my mind that I don’t want to leave. Ever. I think that Brody will have to carry me off the island, over his shoulder.

  “Emmerton or Scottsdale?”

  “Do I have to choose?”

  “Yup.”

  “I just want to be with you,” I whine. “Isn’t that enough?”

  “We have a few choices.” He grins. “I could sell the house and my business, start again in Scottsdale; or you could tell Jake you quit, and move back to Emmerton. Or we start over, somewhere new.”

  “Could we stay here?” I ask hopefully, as I stretch on the lounger.

  “We could.” Amusement dances in his eyes. “But I would need to be making at least two hundred thousand a month.

  The sip of Mojito that I’d just taken comes spewing out of my mouth as I start to choke.

  “What?” I cough as Brody hits me on the back.

  “This place is expensive.” He laughs.

  “It can’t be that much, can it? Couple of hundred a night at the most?”

  “Higher.”

  “Two thousand?”

  Brody shakes his head.

  “Three?”

  “Nope.”

  “Four?” I ask, pushing my sunglasses on to the top of my head.

  “Try Ten.”

  “TEN THOUSAND A NIGHT!” I yell, looking around guiltily in case anyone heard me.

  “Shhhh.” Brody places a finger to his lips as he grins wickedly.

  “Ten thousand?” I whisper. “But…but.” I’m aware that my mouth is opening and closing like a goldfish’s. “I’ll never be able to repay him.” I slump back onto my lounger. “How are we going to pay Jake back, Brody?”

  “We’ll work something out.”

  “I was so mean to him before you got on the plane.”

  “I’m sure he’s forgiven you already.” He pats my leg.

  “It’s not funny, McAllister!”

  “Why don’t you call him?”

  “I tried last night. Zane said that he was away somewhere and wouldn’t be contactable for a while.”

  “You’ll have to wait until after we get home, wherever home will be.”

  “I still vote here.”

  “You would.” He smiles as he stands, putting on his sneakers.

  “Where are you going?”

  “It’s a secret.” He taps the side of his nose. “You’ll find out tonight.”

  “What are you up to, McAllister?”

  “Nothing that you need to worry about.” He places a sweet kiss on the end of my nose. “All you have to do is relax. I’ve booked you in for some of the spa treatments they offer here. You have ten minutes until your first appointment, I’ll see you later,” he says, walking off in the direction of the main complex.

  “Brody?”

  “They’ll be here in minutes, Brooke,” he yells over his shoulder as he starts to jog away, leaving me wondering what the hell he’s up to.

  I swear I’m walking on a cloud of bliss.

  For the past few hours, I’ve had beauty treatments and pampering that I never thought existed. They even did my hair and makeup for me, teasing my auburn mane into perfect curls that flow down my back. The makeup is subtle, yet makes me look like a movie star. I feel amazing. Brody is going to have a fit when he sees me.

  A sharp knock on the door brings me back to reality.

  “Hello?” I call out, wondering why on earth Brody would knock.

  “Miss Elderhouse?”

  “Yes.”

  “I have a message for
you.”

  Cautiously, I open the door to find the resort’s assistant manager standing there with a huge smile on his face and a dress bag over his arm.

  “Hey.”

  “Miss Elderhouse, Mr. McAllister has requested that you meet him on Turtle Beach in one hour’s time, and that you wear this dress.” His grin doesn’t disappear as he hands me the bag.

  “Thanks,” I say, as I wonder what the hell is going on.

  “No problem. If there is anything else that I could help you with?”

  “No. Thank you.”

  “Okay,” he says, turning away.

  “Wait!”

  “Yes?”

  “Do you know what’s going on?”

  “I’m afraid I don’t.” The twinkle in his eyes tells me that he knows full well what is happening, knowing Brody, the poor guy has probably been sworn to secrecy.

  “Oh. Okay.”

  “Have a nice evening, Miss Elderhouse.” He smiles as he backs away from the door.

  Taking the dress bag into the villa’s bedroom with me, I set it down on the bed, and with great care pull the zipper down to reveal the contents inside.

  “Oh, wow.”

  Inside is a simple, floor length, halter-neck dress made out of cream silk and lace, threaded through with an iridescent metallic thread that shimmers as it catches the light. It’s stunning and it must have cost Brody a fortune.

  My stomach is full of butterflies as I put the dress on. I’m not blind to what’s happening, the dress kind of gives it away. I think…no, I know that Brody is going to propose tonight.

  Oh, my God…I’m getting married.

  Maybe we’ll have a simple ceremony at home, just us at the courthouse, then we can come back here for our honeymoon.

  I twirl around and around, this way and that, marveling at how perfect the dress looks on me. The only thing missing is something for my hair, but that’s soon fixed by placing one of the exotic flowers that the hotel provides every day.

  There. Perfect.

  With one last look in the mirror, I take a deep breath to calm my nerves before leaving the villa to go find my man.

  Brooke

  It’s dusk as I walk toward Brody, barefoot, in the sand.

  Torches line my way, forming a corridor of light that ends in a semicircle, and where Brody stands. He shifts nervously from one foot to the other, constantly checking his watch. It’s only when he turns and finally sees me that the tension leaves his face, replaced by the sexiest smile I’ve ever seen.