Shattered Edge

by A. M. Hargrove

  In the morning, I slipped out of bed and made a few calls before she woke up. Middleton Enterprises, the family held corporation owned a private jet, so I reserved it for a four day trip. Then I checked the top ten romantic vacation destinations and decided on Amanyara on the island of Turks and Caicos. Luckily, Ocean Pavilion 115 was available as it had the best ratings of all the rooms there. It would be difficult to hide my excitement, but this would be the surprise of her life. Now, my next mission would be to get Lexi or Alana to secretly pack a small bag for her. She wouldn’t need much as my intentions were to spend most of our time in the privacy of our pavilion. On Monday, I would start my search for her engagement ring.

  ********

  She suspected something was up. My behavior was like that of a little kid’s on the night before Christmas. It was a very good thing that I was on call this coming weekend. I’d found the perfect ring...or at least I hoped it was. If she didn’t like it, she could exchange it for one that she preferred. My heart did a loop-t-loop in my chest every time I thought about slipping it on her finger. I would imagine her eyes getting all soft and shimmery and then her lips would curve into that sexy smile I adored so much. The wait was gonna kill me.

  When Monday morning hit, I left the hospital worn to a nub. The proverbial shit had hit the fan all weekend with all sorts of accidents pouring in. We couldn’t seem to catch a break at all. After texting Terri, I dragged my ass to bed not even spending the time to take a shower. It was late afternoon when I woke up, and I finally felt like a human being again.

  The first thing on my list was to call Terri. She answered immediately.

  “Welcome home.”

  “Thanks babe. I missed you.”

  “Hmm, me too. You up for some company?”

  “Yeah. How soon can you be here?”

  “Fifteen. Do you want me to stop and pick up something for dinner?”

  I thought for a second. “No, how about we order in?”

  “Sounds good to me.”

  I quickly checked the house to make sure there were no signs anywhere of our upcoming trip. My phone started ringing, so I picked it up, thinking it was Terri again.

  “Hey, you on the way?”

  “Justin, John Remington here.”

  My surprise at it being John had me silenced for a moment.

  “Justin? You there?”

  “Yeah, sorry, John. You caught me by surprise.”

  “Sorry. Listen, we have a problem. You know that little issue at the hospital...the sexual harassment case?”

  “Um, yeah. What about it?”

  “Destiny is countering your charge with one of her own. She’s contending that you sexually harassed her.”

  “What! That’s crazy! I did no such thing! I never laid a hand on her or ever said anything other than work related things to her. That is until she started to get so annoying. Then I told her she was being unprofessional.”

  “Well, she’s charging that you took unfair advantage of her as a female.”

  I kicked the bar stool and pounded my hand on the counter. “That’s bullshit!”

  “Do you have any witnesses to anything that she did?”

  I tore my hand through my hair. “I don’t know John. At the time, I was so pissed off at her, I wasn’t paying attention to my surroundings.”

  “Well, think about it. And then get back to me. Don’t worry about it yet.”

  “Wait! There was an incident when I came out of surgery and I complained about her to another surgeon.”

  “Great! Get me his name and number. Anyone else like that would be great.”

  “Oh, the OR nurses. I complained to them too because she interrupted my scrub routine one day when she tried to put her hands down my pants.”

  “Christ. What a demented mess that chick is.”

  “I know!”

  “Well, just get me everyone’s information. I’ll need it.”

  “Okay, I’ll send it by email.”

  “Excellent. And don’t worry about this. I think I’ll be able to bury her.”

  “Thanks John.”

  I ended the call and shouted out “Fuck” about the time Terri was walking through the door. I slashed my arm across the countertop and the stack of newspapers went flying.

  “What’s wrong?” Terri asked as she came up to me and put her hand on my arm.

  “That crazy bitch Destiny.”

  “What’s happened now?”

  So I filled her in. When I was finished, my fists were clenched as was my jaw. She grabbed my shirt in her hands and in her calm voice she said, “Justin, you’ve done nothing wrong. You have nothing to hide. Honey, let’s get that information to John and then let him do his job. Okay?”

  “I hope you’re right. But yeah, let’s go do that.” We walked to my office and she held my hand in her smaller one. I couldn’t help but think how much size didn’t matter when it came to strength. Terri was strong. She’d been through so much crap and here she was, calming me down. I put on the brakes and looped arm my around her. “You never cease to amaze me. In everything you do. Here you are, just having gone through a major loss in your life...a horrible tragedy...and you’re the one giving me comfort. How do you do it Terri? How did you get to be so strong a person?”

  “I don’t know. I don’t think of myself that way.”

  “Oh honey, you are. I admire you so much for everything you are. But hell, I can’t even describe the kind of strength you possess. It’s unreal.” Then I kissed her. I wasn’t planning to, but whoever plans kisses? This one just happened. And it made me sing. “Babe, we keep this up and John won’t be getting what he needs until tomorrow,” I said in a husky voice. I was hot for her and wanted her bad.

  “Hurry! Let’s get this taken care of so we can have some fun!”

  I loved the way my girl thought. No wonder I wanted to marry her. I laughed at the thought and she caught me.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “I was thinking how you’re able to change my mood with just a few words.”

  “Is that so? I think it’s you who changed the mood with that super sexy kiss.”

  “Whatever it was, I like it.” I grinned.

  We sent the information to John and later that night we laughed again because neither of us had thought a thing about eating dinner.

  ********

  Thursday rolled around and my imagination was filled with what was going to happen this weekend and how it was going to play out. I tried to play it cool, but it was a losing battle. Thank God I didn’t have to work. I was picking Terri up at one. I told her I was taking her to lunch. As far as I could tell, she didn’t have any idea.

  Alana was meeting me at eleven to hand over her packed bag. Then I was gathering up some last minute items...some special things we might need for our four days. Sunscreen was one of them, but I also wanted some body butters and things we could play with. They would be stashed in my bag where she wouldn’t find them.

  Finally, it was time to head her way. She was ready and waiting so I helped her into the Range Rover and off we went. She began to get suspicious when I got on the interstate.

  “Where are we going?”

  “I told you honey. I’m taking you to lunch.”

  “Hmm. But where?”

  “It’s a surprise.”

  I didn’t take the normal airport exit. I took the next one. She was truly confused now.

  “Justin, I don’t know of any restaurants up here. What’s going on?”

  “You’ll see.”

  We drove in the back entrance of the airport and when we went through the private security gates and had to show our ID’s, the light bulb flicked on.

  “You’re taking me somewhere, aren’t you?”

  Her voice was edged with excitement and her eyes were sparkling.

  “Maybe,” is all I would say.

  “Oh my God! We’re going somewhere in the Middleton jet, aren’t we?”

  “Perhaps.”
/>
  When we pulled up to the G5, she started screaming. If she hadn’t been buckled into her seat, she would’ve been jumping up and down.

  “Holy shit! We’re going on a trip!”

  I couldn’t stop laughing at her. “You should see your face.”

  Her eyes were about to bug right out of her head.

  “Lunch, huh?”

  “Well, yeah. We will be eating on board.”

  She punched me in the arm.

  I pulled the car to a stop and we got out. Jerry came to greet us. He handled everything at the airport for us.

  “Dr. Middleton. Hope everything’s well with you.”

  “Yes it is, thanks. Jerry, meet Terri Mitchell.”

  After they exchanged greetings, Terri and I climbed the stairs and were greeted by our flight attendants, Roy and Kathie. They were a married couple that worked solely for Middleton Enterprises. Then I introduced her to the pilot Mitch, the copilot Mark, and the flight engineer Ryan. Roy and Kathie took our drink order and Mitch told us we were ready to taxi to the runway.

  We took our seats and buckled up. Her hand grasped mine and she said, “I don’t think I’ve ever been this excited in my life. By the way, where are we going?”

  CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

  Terri

  The plane took off and Justin would not give me a clue. I hounded him for details and he just smiled.

  Once we reached ten thousand feet, Roy and Kathie brought us lunch. This was no ordinary airplane lunch. We started with shrimp cocktail and prosecco. Then we had a mixed greens salad with candied pecans, pears and blue cheese crumbles. As for the main course, they brought us a grilled halibut with a lemon butter sauce, risotto and grilled vegetables. It was all served with a lovely chilled white wine, but I only had a few sips of it. I was so excited, I hardly let go of Justin’s hand during the meal. When we were finished eating, I looked at him and said, “This isn’t flying, it’s soaring.” He laughed.

  “Follow me. I want to show you something.”

  We got out of our luxurious reclining seats and headed toward the back of the cabin. He opened the door and we walked into a stateroom. It was a bedroom, with a large bed, desk that had a computer station and there was also a TV, stereo and God knows what else. It also contained a bathroom that included a walk in shower.

  “You all know how to live right.”

  “We were lucky Terri. We were born into money.”

  “I’ll say. You don’t act like it though.”

  He held my hand and we both sat down on the bed. He faced me and asked, “What do you mean?”

  “Well, you obviously can afford to buy whatever you want...go wherever you want. Your home is lovely and it’s filled with fine furnishings. Your parent’s home is...well, Justin, there are no words. Your brother has that damn yacht and there’s no telling what else you all own. But none of you act like it. I mean you understand humility and generosity. You live and breathe it. Your parents did an amazing job of raising you. That’s what I mean.”

  He gifted me with a slow sexy half grin and said, “I’ll be sure to pass that on to my mom.”

  I poked him in the ribs with my elbow, but then I noticed his smile was gone and his eyes had darkened. He moved off the bed and knelt at the foot of it. With his hands on my thighs, he pulled me to the edge and whispered in that deep husky voice that made my skin tingle and my belly tighten, “Terri, what have you done to me? You have captivated me beyond anything I could’ve imagined. My body responds to you in ways that I can’t begin to understand.” He unbuttoned my pants and unzipped then. “When I’m with you, there always seems to be this urgent need to feel your skin against mine. All of it. Thoughts of you arouse me, even when my mind should be occupied with other things.” He began unbuttoning my blouse. “In surgery for instance. I should be focused on putting the pieces of someone’s bone back together, but images of your naked body flash through my mind, and instantly I’m hard for you.”

  I was so aroused by his voice, his hands, his words, that I reached over to his shirt so I could unbutton it, but his hands stopped mine. “Not yet,” he whispered.

  “I’ve been hard since you got in the car earlier. Feel me.” He put my hand on him and I wanted so badly to unzip his pants.

  “Let me touch you Justin.”

  “In due time Terri.”

  He slipped off my pants, then my blouse. My bra and panties followed.

  “Now, just the way I prefer you. Perfectly beautiful and naked.”

  He kissed me and his fingers sought out my sex. “Always ready for me Terri. So drenched.”

  “Yes,” I breathed into his mouth.

  He whispered back to me, into mine, “I’ve missed you this week. When I haven’t seen you, you know what I’ve craved, don’t you? Do you want that Terri? Do you want my mouth and tongue on you?”

  I couldn’t answer him. But he didn’t wait anyway. He spread my legs and I watched as he lowered his head. His mouth was warm and his tongue was like fire as it stroked me. Long and slow at first, it was pure pleasure. I moaned as I threaded my fingers in his thick waves and held him tightly to me. His tongue and mouth soon had me in a frenzy as his long and slow pace turned into a fast and ferocious one. It didn’t take long before the first bursts of my orgasm were upon me, leaving me calling out his name.

  He stood up and rapidly stripped off his clothing. Then he placed a couple of pillows underneath me and lifted my legs. Still dazed with the bliss of my orgasm, I was more than pleased when I felt his hardness sliding into me, filling me.

  “Ah, Terri, you’re so ready for me baby. And tight. I love the way you feel around me honey.”

  I was back in euphoria again, unable to form a coherent word. He was slowly sliding out, hovering at my entrance and quickly moving back in again. At that point he would swivel his hips ever so slightly to add just the perfect amount of friction that had me catching my breath every time.

  “Come with me Terri. I love to watch you when you come. You’re amazing.”

  I felt my world exploding again, as I fell into the land of absolute pleasure. My heels dug into his ass and my hands were gripping his forearms. He was coming right there with me, calling my name as he did.

  “Damn I wish those could go on forever,” I said afterward.

  “Hmm, me too,” he agreed as he pulled back from me. Then he pulled the covers back and we crawled under the sheets. He pulled me onto his chest and smiled. “I love the way you look right after we’ve had sex. Your lips are puffy and so kissable.” He gave me one of those toe clenching, finger curling kisses. “You’re hair has that bedroom look to it. And I would bet an ass load of money that if I could see your nipples right now, they would be perfectly little hardened nubs that I would just have to put my mouth on and suck.”

  “Keep talking like that Justin, and you’re going to have to start all over again. Besides, I have a confession to make.”

  “What?”

  “I love it when you’re hair is all messed up and you have that after sex glow too. It makes me just want to kiss you all over.”

  “Hmm. Is that a fact?”

  “Oh yeah.”

  “Well, I just might have to let you then.”

  Those eyes of his turned that deep shade of sexy again and I ran my hand down his abs. I felt his body jerk so I kept going. When I got to my goal, sure enough, he was as hard as a brick. I pushed the covers back and started to lick and tease him, and it wasn’t long before we made a return trip to orgasmia.

  We fell asleep for about an hour and I woke up to Justin tickling me. “I thought we should get up and take a quick shower. We’re going to be landing in an hour, so we’ll need to be in our seats in about thirty minutes.”

  Exactly one hour later, we were landing somewhere and I still had no idea where. The plane taxied to a stop and there was a large SUV waiting for us. We deplaned and we were somewhere tropical.

  “So, when are you going to tell me?”

  “W
hen we get there.”

  The driver hopped out and took our bags, welcoming us to Turks and Caicos.

  “Aha!” I exclaimed.

  Justin laughed.

  Our driver, John, looked at us in confusion. Justin explained.

  “Oh, I’m so sorry to have spoiled your surprise.”

  Justin replied, “No worries John. She still doesn’t know where we’re staying.”

  John gave Justin a knowing look so I knew it was some place special.

  And it was...very special. This place, Amanyara, was stunning. Very private, very exclusive and no doubt, very expensive. It didn’t offer rooms, it offered pavilions. They were suites that had their own pools. Ours was the best, or that’s what they said when we checked in, and it was right on the ocean. It was fabulous. I’d never seen anything like it. Very private, you could walk around naked for the entire time and no one would be the wiser...which is pretty much what we did. We sunbathed nude, we did everything nude. The only time we wore any clothing at all was when we went to dinner because we had all our other meals delivered to the room.

  Valentine’s Day was Saturday. Early that morning, right before dawn, my alarm on my cell phone went off. I was disoriented because I didn’t set it and the room was so dimly lit, I couldn’t make anything out. I sat up in bed and turned on the bedside light. I was alone in the room. Propped on Justin’s pillow was a dozen long stemmed red roses and a thick embossed note card with his name, “Justin Daniel Middleton.”

  I opened the card and written inside was:

  My Dearest Terri,

  Happy Valentine’s Day! Come and meet me outside

  to watch the glorious sun rise on this

  very special day.

  Always yours,

  Justin

  I clambered out of bed and put on a robe. Making my way to the outside, I saw tiny lanterns lighting my way to where he waited. He sat on a blanket on the beach and in the distance you could see the horizon lightening up.