The Undisputed Series

by Teague, A. S.

  “Fuck me, Sidney, but you are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.” He murmurs, pressing wet kisses into the curve of my neck.

  I arch in to him, my nipples brushing his bare chest. I turn my head and whisper in his ear, “No, fuck me.”

  With a loud groan, he thrusts into me, and wastes no time doing exactly what I ask.

  An hour later, Breccan and I climb aboard a boat docked right in front of our villa and we’re handed large glasses of margarita and welcomed aboard by a man who introduces himself as Saul. He points me to the front of the boat, but Breccan hangs back, whispering with the stranger. Breccan catches me eyeing them suspiciously, so he turns his back toward me before continuing his quiet conversation.

  A moment later Saul claps him on the back and Breccan makes his way to my side. After we settle in to the bench on the front of the boat, we take off, destination unknown.

  “Know him?” I ask lightly.

  Breccan’s only response is a quick shake of his head.

  I squint at him, but decide not to press the issue. I settle in to the seat and sip my drink, a drink that is so delicious, it’s ruined all future margaritas for me.

  As the boat cruises the water, Saul points out various landmarks from his position behind the steering wheel.

  Breccan wraps his arm around my shoulders and pulls me close in to his side, but doesn’t speak for the duration of the ride.

  The boat finally pulls in to a cove and docks, and Saul helps me off.

  “I could have ridden on that boat all day.” I beam at Breccan.

  He smiles back at me, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. When he doesn’t say anything, I frown. “You okay, honey?”

  He dips his chin, but still doesn’t speak. After placing his hand on the small of my back, he leads me toward a small, brightly painted hut with a big sign that reads: Dolphin Encounter.

  My heart begins to gallop as I realize that we’re about to check off another item on the list. I glance up at Breccan, but he’s not paying me any attention, his eyes distant as he stares at the building.

  I swallow hard as we reach the counter.

  “Good morning!” the attendant says brightly. “You must be Mister Carlisle.”

  Her face gives her away, and I know she’s resisting the urge to check him out. I can’t blame her, I find myself fighting that urge all the time. A few months ago, I would have been jealous, worried that Breccan would appreciate the attention. But he made himself very clear on the plane, a lesson I’d actually enjoyed learning, so I don’t let the jealousy creep in.

  Turning her head toward me, she keeps her friendly grin in place and says, “And you must be Miss O’Neil.” Coming around the counter, she continues chattering, her eyes never leaving me to wander back to Breccan. My lips tip up as she says, “We are so excited to have you here. We’ve got a full day for you planned. We’ll be starting with jet-ski rides. We’ll guide you out to a coral reef where you will get to snorkel and see the marine life our coast has to offer.”

  My eyes dart to Breccan and he’s smiling at me, proudly. Raising my eyebrows, I mouth the word wow to him as she continues.

  “After that, we’ll come back here for a light lunch and then do a zip-line tour through the jungle.” She gestures behind us at the lush vegetation and a thrill shoots through me. “Our guests always see howler monkeys that come out to greet you as you zip past them, forty feet in the air.” My eyes widen at the thought of being that high above the ground, but I don’t have time to dwell on it.

  “And finally, we will end the day with our dolphins. We’ve got eight here in the cove that love the interaction with people. I can’t wait for you to meet Margie, she’s probably my favorite.”

  When she finishes, she finally looks at Breccan and gives him a quick wink. His lips press together in a firm line and tersely he says, “Let’s get started.”

  With a quick shake of her head, the attendant turns toward the jet skis.

  When Breccan begins to follow her, I grab his arm and whisper, “You sure you’re okay? You were kind of short with her, and she was very nice.”

  His eyes narrow and he clips, “I’m fine. Stop worrying!”

  “Uh! What’s your problem?”

  He shoves a hand through his hair, “I shouldn’t have snapped at you. Guess I’m just tired.”

  I nod, not fully accepting his excuse. I’ve seen him tired, and he usually isn’t short with people. But I try to push the thoughts aside, ready to enjoy the day he’s planned for us, and lace my fingers through his as we make our way to the water.

  It’s several hours later when the girl from this morning, whose name is Megan I’ve since learned, leads us to the area designated for the dolphin encounter.

  The day’s been wonderful, even more so because somehow Breccan arranged for us to have the entire excursion to ourselves. The nerves I felt about swimming with dolphins melted away with each activity that we’ve done leading up to this.

  Megan’s busy chattering away, telling us about each of the dolphins, how they’ve come to live in Costa Rica and the methods used to train them.

  “I’m nervous,” I whisper, staring at the water.

  Breccan doesn’t respond, and I glance over to see him staring in to space and rubbing his hands on his swimming trunks.

  I place one of my hands over his, and his head jerks in my direction. “Did you hear me?” I ask.

  He pulls his hand from under mine and rubs the back of his neck. “Oh, uh, no. What did you say?”

  He’s still not looking at me, instead his eyes dart from side to side, landing anywhere by my face.

  I plant my hands on my hips, having had enough of his strange behavior for the day. He loosened up from earlier this morning as the day wore on, but now it seems like whatever was bothering him is back. I’m frustrated that he’s potentially ruining the best part of the day, but more than that, I’m worried that something’s wrong.

  “What is going on with you?” I hiss.

  He squeezes his eyes shut and draws in a deep breath. “Sorry baby. It’s nothing.” Bending at the waist, he places a kiss on the top of my head and then tugs at my hair. “Let’s go swim with Flipper.”

  He throws an arm around my shoulders and begins pulling me toward the trainers before I have a chance to protest. I decide to let it slide, again, but resolve to get to the bottom of whatever is going on with him when we get back to the villa.

  Hesitantly, I wade in to the water until I’m waist-deep. Breccan follows me in along with two men in wet suits.

  A whistle in between one man’s lips, he shakes both mine and Brec’s hands. The other man introduces everyone and then the first guy blows the whistle.

  A split second later, two dolphins burst out of the water fifty yards ahead of us. After a synchronized backflip, they dive back in to the water and I squeal in delight.

  “Ohmygod! Did you see that?”

  Two more sharp blows on the whistle and the first two dolphins are joined by two more and for the next few minutes, Breccan and I watch them perform tricks.

  I’m mesmerized by their grace and impressed by their agility. The dolphins charge out of the water, their large bodies performing feats that I would think impossible, and I’m struck by the beauty of it all.

  I continue watching the show in silence, unable to form words even if I’d wanted to.

  Connor would have been so bored.

  I giggle at the realization that this is something Connor would have hated. Unless the dolphins suddenly started playing Minecraft with their flippers, he would have been ready to bail ten seconds after this started. I glance over at Breccan to see that his eyes are glazed over and laugh harder.

  Two peas in a pod, they were.

  With a final flip of a tail, the performance ends and the water stills. The two men in wet suits make their way over to us and asks how we liked it, and when Breccan doesn’t speak, I answer for us.

  “Amazing. One of the most beautiful thin
gs I’ve ever seen,” I gush.

  The man with the whistle around his neck gives me a smile and a quick nod of his head. “Glad you liked it, Miss. You ready to interact with them?”

  I nod my head vigorously, eager to see what’s next. “Do I get to touch one?”

  “Of course, You’ll get to pet them and feed them.”

  Hesitantly, I ask. “They won’t bite me, right?”

  The man laughs and shakes his head. “Nope.”

  I let out a sigh of relief and turn to Breccan. He’s still got a faraway look in his eye and his lips are moving, almost imperceptibly.

  “Brec?”

  At the sound of my voice, he shakes his head and plasters on a fake smile. Clapping his hands, he rubs them together. “Let’s do this.”

  For the next half hour, we meet each of the dolphins that we saw in the performance. We feed them sardines and pose for pictures.

  Unable to stop smiling, my cheeks begin to ache.

  “We’ve got one last dolphin for you to meet, Miss O’Neil.”

  He gives a sharp blow on his whistle, and at the edge of the roped-in area, a dolphin breaches the water. It races toward us, diving and then surfacing, again and again. Once it reaches us, it stands up in the water, it’s flippers appearing to wave at me. I smile broadly and wave back.

  “This is Margie.”

  I remember Megan mentioning the name earlier as her favorite, and I can see why she likes her so much. She’s the largest of all the dolphins we’ve seen today, yet agile and graceful despite her size.

  “Sidney.” Breccan’s voice cuts in to my thoughts, and I tear my gaze away from Margie to look at him.

  He reaches out and takes my hand in his, pulling me close. A crease etches his brow, and worried, I ask, “You okay, honey?”

  The crease remains in place, but one corner of his mouth tips up and he nods. He reaches for my other hand and turns me until we are face to face.

  “Always worried about everyone else,” he murmurs.

  He clears his throat, then swallows hard. “When I saw you in that club, I knew there was something special about you. And even though I was an asshole and I couldn’t remember everything from that night, I knew that I’d met someone remarkable.”

  He pauses, and I take the opportunity to reassure him. “It’s okay.”

  “No, it’s not okay. You are way too amazing to ever be forgotten.”

  Warmth spreads across my chest and I squeeze his fingers, whispering, “Thank you.”

  “What I didn’t know was that I’d met the woman who would show me what life was really about. All those years, I spent thinking I had everything I needed.” He shakes his head, a bitter laugh tumbling from his lips. “I didn’t have shit.”

  I pull my hand from his and use it to cup his jaw. “I love you.” I tell him simply. He covers my hand with his and tilts his cheek to my embrace.

  Pulling a deep breath in through his nose, his chest heaves as he releases it and continues. “Sidney, you are the reason I am the man I am today. Your unwavering trust in me, something I know can be so hard for you, validates me. I know you think that it’s you who’s leaned on me the last couple of years, but I would have never been the man you needed me to be if it weren’t for you being who you are. Your selflessness, your love and faith in me. Your refusal to give up, even when no one would blame you. God, I admire you so much. And I don’t think I tell you that enough.”

  My eyes fill with tears as he speaks, pouring his heart out in ways that I’ve never heard from him. I’ve always known that Breccan loves me, and I’ve not once doubted that. But there have been times over the last two years that I’ve wondered why he loves me, and how he’s able to put up with me at times. Hearing him tell me that he admires me when I can’t be any less admirable, causes my chest to swell.

  “We met because of Connor.” He gestures around us “And we’re here now because of him. And because of that, because he gave you to me, I will forever search for ways to repay him. And no matter what I do in his honor, in his memory, it will never be enough.” He taps a finger between my breasts. “Because you, Sidney, are the most important part of who I am.”

  A choked sob escapes my lips, the tears streaming down my cheeks when Breccan drops to his knees, the water rising to his chest.

  Desperate to tell him that he’s wrong, that it’s him who’s all those things, I open my mouth, but nothing more than another sob comes out.

  “Sidney O’Neil, you are absolutely the best thing that has ever happened to me. And I cannot imagine spending the rest of my life not trying to show you what you mean to me. Will you marry me so that we can spend the next sixty years going on adventures of a lifetime––together?”

  Without hesitation, I shout “Yes!” and throw myself in to his arms. He catches me easily, just like he always has, and I pepper his face with kisses.

  The sound of a dolphin laughing breaks in and Breccan stands, placing me back on my feet at his side.

  “Margie. The ring please,” he says, his face split wide in the most genuine smile I’ve ever seen.

  At his words, Margie slides back under the water and disappears.

  Panic mars his beautiful face and he shouts, “Hey uh! What the hell?” he asks one of the trainers, as the man begins frantically blowing on his whistle.

  While the trainer continues to blow his whistle, the other man tells Breccan, “Don’t worry. She’ll surface in a minute.”

  “Don’t worry?” Breccan roars. “That damn fish better come back up with my ring or you’ll be the one worrying.”

  At the sound of the whistle, the other dolphins spring to action, soaring and diving all around us. I glance at Breccan, and his face, that just moments ago was pure elation, is now a mix of murderous glare and panic.

  A giggle escapes my lips despite my best efforts, and before I know it, I’m bent at the waist, gasping for air through the fit of laughter.

  “You can not seriously be laughing right now!” Breccan barks, which only causes me to laugh harder.

  “I’m sorry,” I squeak out. As I stand upright, Margie springs from the water directly in front of us, a box attached to her front flipper.

  “Thank fuck,” Breccan breathes, as he tries to snatch the box from Margie. It won’t come away from the string its hanging from and one of the other men in the water swims over to us to help. After fumbling with it for a few seconds he finally gets it free of Margie and hands it to a seething Breccan.

  The dolphin gracefully slides back in to the water and swims away, using her fluke to splash Breccan in the face.

  “Oh shit!” I squeal.

  “Jesus Christ, could this have gone any worse?” he groans, and I laugh all over again. His eyes cut to mine and I give his arm playful slap.

  “Oh, it wasn’t that bad.” I tell him.

  His eyes nearly bug out of his head. “That fucking animal almost lost your ring! I spent a month designing the damn thing!”

  My heart leaps at the thought of him having a ring specially designed for me. “Well, do I get to see it or not?” I quip.

  “I don’t know. You still think that shit was funny?”

  I nod my head. “Yep. I can’t wait to get home and tell Reb.”

  His eyes narrow. “Don’t you fucking dare. I’ll never live this shit down. You better tell her it was the most romantic fucking day of your life.”

  I roll my eyes, but concede and nod. “Fine. I’ll tell her that it was straight out of a romance novel.”

  He doesn’t say anything more, but lifts the lid on the box revealing the most stunning piece of jewelry I’ve ever seen.

  One hand flies to my mouth as I gasp, while the other tentatively reaches out to touch the ring. I want to feel it, to make sure that it’s real and I’m not imagining it.

  The emerald-cut diamond is huge and set in a platinum band, flanked on either side by amethysts––Connor’s birthstone. There are round diamonds set in the band that appear to wrap the e
ntire ring.

  “You like it?” Breccan asks gently, and my gaze snaps to his face. He’s studying me carefully, his face unreadable.

  I nod, my lips pressed together, and he pulls the ring from its box and slides it on to my finger. The weight of it feels strange, but also so right, as if my hand had been made specifically for this ring, and not the other way around.

  I hold my hand away from my body, admiring the way the setting sunlight reflects off the stunning gems. The purple stones shine the brightest of all and I press my hand to Breccan’s chest, feeling the strong beat of his heart beneath my fingertips.

  “It couldn’t be any more perfect.” I whisper, standing on my toes and pressing my lips to his.

  He wraps his arms around my waist, lifting me from my feet, and my legs instantly go around his hips. My core pressed against him, I feel his arousal grow between us as I deepen our kiss, gliding my tongue slowly along his.

  My arm around his broad shoulders, shoulders that I’ve spent so much time leaning and crying on, I clutch him tightly. I try to convey how much this day has meant to me without words, hoping that he’ll understand everything I’m trying to tell him.

  He rolls his hips in to me and breaks our seal to whisper in my ear. “The staff have agreed to give us some privacy.”

  Dazed from the intensity of our kiss, I look around and notice that we are alone in the water. Heat pools in my belly as I whisper, “Make love to me, Breccan.”

  His chest rumbles with a growl and he wastes no time stripping us of our bathing suits.

  I’m clinging to his chest, my legs wrapped tightly around him in the warm waters of the ocean as he enters me.

  Slowly, he begins to move and as he does, a sense of peace washes over me.

  Yes, this is exactly where I’m supposed to be.

  Chapter Four

  July

  Breccan and I spent two more days in paradise before returning home last month. The trip was amazing, and not just because I’d come home with a fiancé instead of a boyfriend, although that was the highlight of the trip.