Beyond Hereafter (The Movie Trilogy Book 3)

by Kimberly Adams

  When he didn’t reply, I pulled my arm away from my eyes and met his.

  That hazel gaze danced down at me in the candlelight, playing up the flecks of gold. Tenderness, an emotion I knew all too well from him, replaced his menacing glare.

  “I never meant to scare you,” he hushed, and I felt my lower lip tremble uncontrollably. Tears slid down the sides of my cheeks from the corners of my eyes, and my arms closed over his neck.

  “You did scare me,” I whispered. “You scared me, and I know this isn’t the real you. I’ve seen the real you. You’re not this- this monster,” I coaxed, shaking my head. “Kiss me. Please kiss me…”

  His mouth lowered to my lips passionately, his tongue twisting with mine as his knee separated my hips. My dress got tangled from his movements, and Max was saying “cut” repeatedly.

  It didn’t matter. Keaton jerked my dress away, his relentless mouth dizzying as he took my breath away with every plunge. “Keep filming,” he rumbled from somewhere deep in his throat, and I could feel his hand between my legs.

  “You got it,” Max replied, resuming his post.

  “Be gentle with me,” I mewled, the trite dialogue tugging at my better judgement. Keaton had warned me not to criticize the movie along the way, but instead to wait and watch the scenes later to decide. It wasn’t our job to do anything but make it real.

  And shit was getting real.

  “Don’t move,” he ordered, essentially dry humping away the thin piece of fabric that separated him from full access to my body.

  “Wait…”

  It was too late. He was hard against me, his hips thrusting forward, and as unnerving as it was knowing that we were being watched- no, studied- it was absolutely…

  Erotic.

  I threw my head back and moaned, a little too enthusiastically, and he corrected me with a subtle nip to my ear. “Natural, V,” he whispered against my ear, pushing against me so convincingly that I let go of an authentic cry. “I’ll never let you go,” he said, sliding both hands over my arms to intertwine with my fingers.

  I couldn’t restrain the fire that he’d built inside of me. The friction was too much. I came, hard, letting go of all inhibitions and forgetting that the camera was rolling.

  He joined me, jerking his head back in a fierce growl, and I felt the moisture against my thighs.

  I couldn’t believe that we came- together- just by rubbing against each other, and it was clear to me that he was just as astounded.

  And then it became awkward.

  Someone sneezed. Max managed to say “cut” as his voice cracked, and he was gesturing to someone adjusting a lightbulb to move out the doors. “Come on, give them a second.”

  When we were alone, Keaton pulled away, taking my skirt with him to cover me up. “You did amazing, Vivian. Your acting lessons have paid off. You’re incredible.”

  “What?” I exhaled, still trying to control my erratic heartbeat. “We just- we dry humped on camera, Keaton, that’s not acting, that’s… that’s porn!”

  He chuckled, reaching for his pants. I drank in his hips and legs, recognizing that he’d clearly been working out rigorously in the time we’d been apart. He looked bigger than before he was in the coma. “You were wet for me, I could feel you. I couldn’t hold back. That’s never happened to me before.”

  I screwed my face up into a sarcastic scowl. “Um, thanks?”

  “I just mean that only you can do that to me. You drive me crazy, Vivian.”

  “Likewise, Keaton.”

  He sighed, lacing up his pants. “I know you’re not in the same place I am right now. I know we talked about it. I can’t help the way I feel about you.”

  I sat up and rose from the bed, squaring off with him. I had to look up because of our height difference, but I made sure to drop my hands to my hips pointedly. “Well, try. If I were doing any other love scene and the actors were coming all over me, it’d be porn. So try to be professional, okay, director?”

  I expected him to leave me standing there, but instead, he took a step forward and closed the space between us. “Let’s not forget who came first, my little actress.”

  My jaw dropped, and he flashed me the signature, panty-dropping-Keaton-Thane-smirk as he turned and stalked from the room.

  . . .

  I missed my baby.

  And as much as I tried like hell not to admit it, I missed Luke, too.

  I spent the evenings in my trailer on Facetime with Luke and Charlie, often making the silliest noises and faces imaginable just to see her reaction. When she was sleeping, Luke and I would talk well into the night.

  “How’s filming going with him?” Luke asked. I knew he was trying to tread carefully around any talk of relationships or feelings, and I appreciated him even more for that.

  I shrugged, pulling my blanket tighter around my shoulders. “A lot of action scenes. Keaton told me my acting has improved.”

  He nodded with a gentle smile. “You get better every day, Vivie.”

  I returned his smile. Luckily, after the first week of filming, Max realized that our love scenes would need to wait.

  “What in the hell happened after that first scene? You’ve lost it. Both of you. Fuck. Take the day off tomorrow. Go do lovers-in-France things. I need you two looking at each other the way you did during her audition in your office. All starry-eyed and drooly and shit. Fuck,” he cursed again, slamming the door behind him.

  I’d glanced at Keaton, but he’d refused to look my way.

  We’d decided to try to keep our relationship out of the public eye so the publicity for the movie wouldn’t suffer, but with every passing day things became more and more strained. The scenes that I dreaded couldn’t be avoided forever, and I knew we were quickly approaching them after two weeks of filming.

  I was afraid of losing control.

  His touch could still light me on fire, and even with the angst in my heart and the pit in my stomach, I longed for the way he made my body react beneath his strong hands. I read everything there was to read on the internet about abuse, co-dependency, alcoholism, and treatment, but at the end of the day when I crawled into my empty bed, I craved the memories of him cradling me in his arms.

  “Charlie looks more and more like you every day,” Luke interrupted my thoughts, scratching his stubbly chin with a smile. I could tell by his downward gaze that he was looking at my daughter’s sleeping face. “She’s so beautiful, Vivian.”

  “I need to talk to you about… things, Luke.”

  He recognized my tone, nodding into the phone. “Okay, honey.”

  I took a deep breath, curling onto my side and turning my phone horizontally. If I placed the device on the pillow next to mine just right, it almost felt like Luke was right next to me.

  “I’ve called my lawyer and started the process for custody arrangements. For Keaton. He’ll have very limited custody to begin with.”

  Luke drew in a shaking breath. “Okay.”

  I knew he had questions, but he continued to wait patiently. I gave him a soft smile, wondering how in the world he got all of the genetic patience in their family that Keaton and Robin seemed to be lacking.

  “How do you feel, Luke?” I asked quietly.

  He didn’t ask me to clarify; it was clear he knew what I was asking.

  He sighed deeply, his handsome face filling my screen.

  “How do I feel?” he repeated. “Vivian, I felt her move in your stomach. I was there when she was born. I rock her to sleep every night. I know, with absolute certainty, that I love this little girl. I love her so much.”

  The soft emotion in his voice nearly forced me to tears.

  “You’ll always be her uncle, Luke, but it’s different, you’re closer than-”

  “I know I’m her uncle. But I know you, and I know Keaton. He’s going to charm his way back in eventually, and you’ll take him back. I want what’s best for Charlie, and I want her with her family. I don’t know.”

  A sharp k
nock on the door made me drop the phone, and I cleared my throat, blinking away the moisture in my eyes.

  “One second, Luke, okay?” I managed.

  He smiled lovingly. “Go get the door, and then get some sleep. Call me later, if you’re up tonight.”

  I smiled back, ending the call.

  The rapping on the trailer door resumed, and I cursed under my breath, tightening the belt on my silken robe.

  “Who’s there?”

  “It’s Ash. Please let me in. I’m jetlagged and really fucking drunk.”

  Ash Salter. Keaton had won and casted Ash for Gaston, and our Gaston was clearly needing my assistance.

  I chuckled and sighed, smoothing my hands over my hair before unlocking the door.

  Punch-Drunk Love

  K

  The nights were the hardest.

  I was in fucking France, alone, with the love of my life just few feet away in her own trailer and I couldn’t do a damn thing about it.

  I wanted to drink. I wanted to go to her. I wanted to do all the things I wasn’t allowed to do, which only pissed me off more.

  After the first love scene, everything had gone downhill. We bumped heads, we got tangled, we moved right instead of left. When she poked me in the eye and I sat with an icepack on my face for twenty minutes, Max came over to lower to the chair next to me.

  “Keaton, I know this is how you roll. Love scenes first. But man, I need to go with my gut here. We are losing time and I need to move on.” He sighed when I didn’t say anything. “I called Ash to go ahead and fly over. He’ll be here tonight.”

  I tightened my grip on the ice pack. “Whatever. Fine.”

  “I know you’re the director. I’m just the assistant. But you have to agree this isn’t working. Right?”

  “I don’t have to do a fucking thing. And I’m done for the day.”

  Max tossed his clipboard aside as I stood up and left the room.

  That night, I contemplated texting Vivian. I needed to speak to her privately and break down some of the walls she’d erected after the first scene, but I couldn’t do it with an audience.

  After picking up and putting down my phone three times, I finally dialed the number I’d been dreading for weeks.

  Luke picked up on the third ring.

  “Keaton.”

  “Good, I’m glad you answered. I didn’t raise you to be a pussy.”

  He was silent. Finally, he sighed. “I just talked to Vivian earlier. Charlie is almost awake from her nap. Do you want to see her?”

  “Please,” I replied, waiting to accept his Facetime call. Charlie’s beautiful face immediately filled my screen, and I couldn’t resist a smile, sighing contentedly.

  “Hi sweetheart,” I whispered. “Uncle Luke said you were awake, but it sure looks like you’re sleepy.”

  “She’s stirred, but I don’t think she’s done sleeping,” Luke replied from somewhere behind the phone.

  I sat back in the oversized arm chair in my trailer, gazing at her face. God, she looked like me, with just a hint of Vivian to make her so goddamn pretty. “She looks like me.”

  “Trust me, I know. Especially when she cries.”

  I chuckled, nodding. “You’re right.”

  He released the call before calling me back without the video. “So, did you just call to see Charlie, or did you want to talk?”

  “I want to know why you did it,” I shot back, twirling the remote control to the television in my hand and wishing it was a shot glass. “Why you kissed her.”

  “I made a mistake.”

  He was nervous. I knew from the second he answered that he was anxious as fuck, just like he always was when he’d call me after doing something wrong.

  “This wasn’t just a mistake, Luke. You fucked up. You fucked up harder than you ever have fucked up before, and you fucked over the one person in your life who saves your ass every time you need your fucking ass saved.”

  “I’m sorry Keaton,” he rushed, his voice breaking. “I never should have touched her. Even when I wasn’t sure you’d pull through, I vowed never to touch her. She’s my friend. She’s my sister. I’m an asshole.”

  I clenched the remote control so hard that the plastic cracked. “Yes, you’re an asshole. I can’t forgive you for what you did. You took advantage of her after I hurt her, and you made it worse.”

  “I stopped. I could have kept going, but I stopped. She would have let me.”

  The distance between California and France could have been crossed instantly if teleportation was fueled by pure wrath. I knew the safest way to talk to him was over the phone before I’d even called, but I didn’t expect details. “So, I take back what I said, you are a pussy. Way to blame the girl.”

  “I mean, it would have been easy to take advantage of her, and I do love her. I love her hard, Keaton. But after that kiss… I realized, not like that. It’s not romantic love. It wasn’t right. I thought it was different. It was like kissing my sister.”

  “Because she is your sister. Or will be. Listen, just take care of Charlie. With your life. You owe me that much. I’ll deal with you when I get home.”

  “I deserve it, Keat. And I’d never let anything happen to Charlie.”

  I sighed, glancing at the movement out the window. “I know. Goodnight, Luke. I love you.”

  “Love you, big brother.”

  I disconnected.

  The shadow outside disappeared at the door to my trailer, and I opened the door on the second knock.

  Vivian stood before me in the tiniest pink negligee known to mankind. Ash Salter seemed to steady her on her feet, looking up at me apologetically.

  “Dude, I’m sorry. I meant to sober up and crash at your trailer, but I realized you both have your own, and it was only hers. Then we started drinking and... well, and you need to take her.”

  Ash thrust her forward, and Vivian giggled, tripping over her own slippered feet into my arms.

  “Take her? What are you talking about?”

  “Like, watch her. For the night. I’m fucked up and need to sleep in her trailer until they get mine here tomorrow, and she keeps flirting with me, and she’s too hot and I don’t trust myself.”

  She looked up at me with wide, guilty eyes, grinning wickedly. “He’s lying. He’s a liar. I was dancing, he asked me if I could dance and I was showing him.”

  I smirked, lifting my eyebrows as I looked down at her in my arms. “Oh, yeah? A little Dusty Springfield?”

  She giggled, and her breath reached my nostrils way before I judged from her laughter how much she’d had to drink.

  “I only dance for you like that. Want me to dance for you like that?” she taunted, her hands sliding down the front of my jeans.

  I kept my eyes locked in hers, grinning. “What in the fuck did you give her, Salter?”

  He gritted his teeth, shrugging. “Dude, I don’t know, I had so many fifths of liquor in my bag and she just kept downing them-”

  “Alright, dude, get the fuck out of here,” I retorted sarcastically, lifting Vivian into my arms.

  Ash split, and Vivian laughed even harder as I hoisted her over my shoulder with her ass in the air. “Keaton! I can’t- I can’t stop laughing,” she finally cried, flattening her palms against my back.

  “Good. You need to laugh more.”

  “I need… more drinks.”

  “No more drinks, firecracker.”

  “Fuck off, boss. More drinks.”

  I dumped her unceremoniously on my bed, crossing my arms over my chest. “No. You have to be on the set at six in the morning.”

  She pouted dramatically, her lower lip thrusting forward. Her full breasts pushed against the silken, plunging neckline of her negligee, and I tried like hell not to ogle.

  “You like what you see?” she purred, actually cupping both of her perfect breasts and pushing them together.

  I groaned, rolling my eyes. “If you’re acting like this with me, and you’re pissed at me, I can only im
agine the show that Salter just got.”

  She exhaled long and wet through her lips in a raspberry, giggling again. “What-ever. He didn’t want me. Unlike every other man in my life. Maybe I should stick with Ash.”

  I raised my eyebrows at her again. “I don’t want you like this.”

  She narrowed her eyes, pouting again. “Bullshit.”

  I leaned over to her, sliding my hand over her bare thigh, and she closed her eyes and moaned. “Not like this. I want to respect myself in the morning, and that’s hard enough to do since I have to live with the way I hurt you. So, tonight, you are going to touch yourself.”

  She grinned at my words, her hands sliding over mine and beneath the barely-existent skirt. “Now we’re talking.”

  She jumped at my invitation eagerly, and I sighed, already feeling my dick twitch in anticipation. “Good girl. Have at it. I’ll be over here minding my own business.”

  After a minute, she opened her eyes, confused to see that I was nonchalantly scrolling through my phone. “Aren’t you going to help me?” she begged, clearly trying to sound seductive.

  I shook my head. “No.”

  She sneered at me, which bubbled into an involuntary giggle.

  “You’re boring, Mr. Thorne.”

  She lifted her hand from beneath her skirt, and I almost fell to my knees when she touched her tongue to her wetted finger.

  “Mmm. You’re favorite dessert,” she teased. “You want to know how I taste, Keaton?”

  I sighed and set my phone down on the end table, moving to the bed. “I know exactly how you taste,” I whispered, just low and close enough to make her groan.

  “Please,” she begged, opening her legs wide for me.

  I wrestled with the biggest, burliest demon my conscience ever encountered, swallowing hard and adjusting my erection. “Soon. When you want me. Sober.”

  She burst into laughter, falling back onto the pillow on my bed. “You’re a good man. I don’t think that you... meant... to hurt me.”

  My heart raced, and I knelt at the bedside, cradling her beautiful face in my palm. “I will never touch you unlovingly again. Whether you take me back or not, Vivian Hale. Never again. Do you understand me?”