Determination

by S. E. Rose

  “You alright?” I ask her.

  She nods. “Oh yes,” she says against my lips as she kisses me again and I begin to move, thrusting up against her over and over. She grinds against me and I can feel her swollen clit rubbing against my pubic bone. I’m so close and I can feel her tightening. I gently lay her back trying to be careful with her injuries and I take control, not wanting it to end so soon.

  I slow the pace way down and she whimpers. “Please,” she whispers.

  “Focus on the pleasure, baby. I’ll get you there,” I tell her as I make small circles inside her. She groans, and I feel her walls clench around me. I keep doing this while I pull back and forth. I gently push her legs further apart, taking care not to touch her wound and then I quicken my pace. She grips my arms and I can feel her on the edge. After a few thrusts she cries out and her muscles clench me so hard, I lose all control and I come as I slam into her a little harder, chasing my release. I bury myself deep and I feel her muscles tighten once more. I keep myself buried deep and rub myself against that spot inside of her that I know will get her off one last time. I will myself to stay hard for just a few moments longer and am rewarded when she trembles and cries out again into the void of our room.

  I pull her back on top of me, keeping myself inside of her. I don’t want to leave the warmth of her body, not yet.

  “You were gone,” she whispers. “I couldn’t find you and then…I saw you in the water. You weren’t breathing. I jumped in and…” She trails off.

  “It was just a dream, a bad dream,” I say to her as I run my fingers up and down her spine.

  “I know,” she says, taking in a shaky breath. “It was just so real.”

  “Dreams are often that way,” I say, and I kiss her forehead. “I promise I’m not going anywhere.”

  “Good,” she sighs, and she wraps her arms around me and squeezes. “I need you,” she whispers.

  “I need you too, mon étoile,” I say back to her and she smiles against my chest. “Try to get some sleep, my sweetness.”

  We lie there for a few moments, and then I hear her breathing slow and her head nods slightly as she falls asleep on my chest.

  I must have nodded off at some point, because I wake with a start and the sun is shining through the blinds. Vanessa is fast asleep on my chest and I can feel my erection against her. I groan; she feels so good. I can’t help myself, I thrust into her and she stirs and moans. I continue this until I feel her body wake. She stills for a moment, clearly realizing that I’m waking her up from the inside out and then she begins to move back against me. After a few more thrusts, I feel her wetness begin to leak down onto me and I start sliding in and out of her at a faster pace. Eventually, I can’t take it any longer, as I feel an overwhelming need to be in control. I pick her up and turn her over, spreading her legs and I bring her to the edge of the bed. I slide into her as I clutch her hips and she whimpers my name.

  I lose myself and thrust wildly against her and she claws at the bed as she makes the cutest little noises. I lean forward and pull her hands above her head, holding her wrists as I do. I feel her tightening and then her muscles spasm and I can’t hold on any longer as I pour myself inside of her. I roll us over and we lie in the bed staring at the ceiling and catching our breath.

  “How’s your head?” I ask her, breaking the silence.

  “Sore, but I’ll make it,” she answers. “I think I need another shower.”

  I laugh. “That makes two of us.”

  We shower quickly this time. There’s a knock at the door and I open it as I button up a shirt. It’s Bryce.

  “I took the liberty of ordering us all room service. Since your bungalow is the largest, we’ll all eat here, and I’ll fill you in on what we learned overnight,” he says as he walks in without any other discussion.

  “Please, Bryce, come on in,” I mutter as I start to close the door only to have Jack, Baxter, and Dean trudge in after him. I roll my eyes as they head to the table in the sitting area.

  Vanessa sits down on a seat by us. “So, what’s the latest?”

  “A plane belonging to a subsidiary of a company owned by Saeed’s father landed here two days ago,” Jack says. “My tech guys at the NSA caught snippets of a conversation yesterday that sounds like it could be him talking to someone in French. We think the other guy is possibly one of the guys you saw yesterday, Vanessa.”

  “My guys were able to trace three iPhones that were in use between two and four off shore from Moorea. We think they may belong to those guys. We don’t know who they are yet, but we did pull up satellite imagery from that vessel and I think we’ll have face ID done by tomorrow.”

  “So, Saeed is here, on Moorea?” I ask.

  “We believe so,” says Jack. “We’d like to get you guys off the island today if possible. There’s a house in Hawaii where we can relocate you for a few days.”

  “But, if we stay, will that help you find him faster,” Vanessa muses.

  “No way, we aren’t staying here,” I tell her and she glares at me. “I’m not going to serve you up as bait to some international war lord crime boss.”

  “But, just listen, what if we throw him off his game. We know stuff that he doesn’t know we know.” She stops and looks at all of us. “Is anyone following me here? We have the upper hand, people. We can draw him in and then take him out.”

  “Who the fuck are you, and what have you done with Vanessa?” Dean asks, his mouth hanging open.

  Baxter breaks out laughing and I glare at him. “Your woman has a point. And, Vanessa, I think you’re a badass.” Vanessa offers Baxter a smile and I roll my eyes.

  Jack and Bryce exchange a brief look. “Well, if you’re willing to listen. We have a plan.”

  “You can’t be serious!” I roar at them. I’m not in the mood to listen.

  Jack holds up a hand. “Jesse, just hear us out. No one has to do anything.”

  I bite my tongue and motion with my hand for them to proceed.

  “We think we know where Saeed is staying. We have some satellite imagery that places him at a private house not far from here. We think he is aware of your location, Jesse. He may in fact have come here to personally deal with this situation since his employees have been less than successful,” Bryce says.

  “If he knows you are here, then he also knows you have security. So he is not likely going to just show up and say hello. We need to make him think you’re going out on your own. Our intel also shows that those men don’t know that it was you yesterday, Vanessa,” Jack chimes in.

  “Our plan,” Bryce continues, clearing his throat, “is to have you two take a rental car and head out to explore the island. We’ll draw some attention to you and then you can escape and try to lie low for the rest of the day, only we hope that by drawing attention we draw Saeed’s attention too. We’ll already be set up with security. When he takes the bait, we’ll swoop in and nab him.”

  “We have assistance ready from French Polynesia and we have some Interpol people that will arrive tomorrow,” Jack says.

  “Let’s do it,” Vanessa agrees. My mouth hangs open, not believing that she just agreed to this without a single discussion with me.

  “Uh, Vanessa, why don’t you and I go chat for a moment,” I mutter as I grab her arm and we walk out onto the deck. OK, I pretty much haul her ass out to the deck.

  “What?!” she demands when we get outside.

  “What? Are you off your fucking rocker? I’m not going to put you in harm’s way. No way in hell.”

  “Well, I don’t think it’s your decision to make, now is it?” she asks with a raised eyebrow.

  “It sure the fuck is. And I’m saying no, hell no,” I reiterate.

  She sighs and runs a hand through her thick wavy hair. “Jesse, please listen to me for a minute. I screwed up big-time yesterday and almost messed this whole thing up. I need to make it right. Sometimes in life you get to do something big and this is one of those moments. We can make an enor
mous difference in the world. We can—”

  “You already do. Your songs are legendary. You bring happiness to people for a living,” I cut her off.

  “Yeah, but do I really change the world for the better?” she ponders aloud. “I’m not sure.”

  “I am,” I state. “I know you do.”

  She rolls her eyes. “Please, we have to do this. I want to end this, and I think their plan will work.”

  “And what if it doesn’t? What if we get hurt or killed?” I try to reason with her.

  “Then we die doing something important,” she states matter-of-factly.

  “Vanessa—”

  “Jesse, I’m doing this with or without you,” she interrupts me and walks right back inside. I huff and follow her in.

  “I’ll do it,” she says as she walks over to where everyone is still sitting.

  “Great,” Jack says, but stops when he sees the look on my face. “Jesse?”

  I groan. “I’m not letting her go on her own, so I guess you, by default, have my assistance.”

  “Excellent,” Jack says and turns to Bryce. “Let’s get everything set up and we’ll meet back here at fifteen hundred and figure out tomorrow’s game plan.”

  He barks orders to Dean and Baxter and they set up a security perimeter around our room. We are essentially landlocked for the next few hours.

  “Do you think we can snorkel?” Vanessa asks after we stand staring at each other for about two minutes.

  “I don’t see why not,” I answer. I open the door and come face-to-face with Baxter.

  “We’re snorkeling,” I tell him.

  “Jesse, I…,” he starts, but stops when he sees the look on my face. “Alright, please be careful and don’t stray too far from the bungalows.”

  I nod and close the door, turning back to Vanessa.

  “Let’s go,” I say, and we throw on our bathing suits and climb the ladder into the reef. Fortunately, with the masks and fins we aren’t that recognizable. We snorkel for about an hour. I think we both begin to relax a bit as we watch small colorful fish swim in and out of the coral. There’s something to be said about nature calming a person down. By the time we climb back up to our room, I’m feeling a little better.

  We set our snorkel gear on the deck and then head to the shower. “Vanessa,” I start as we stand under the cascading water. “I don’t agree with you on this. I can’t control this, and you know how I feel about losing control.”

  “Jesse, I know,” she whispers and puts a finger to my lips to stop my speaking. “I’m sorry. I wish there was another way, but I couldn’t live with myself if I had a chance to stop this guy and I chose to pass it by because of fear. If we give into the fear, then they win.”

  I know she’s right. I know this is the right thing to do, but I still don’t like it, not one little bit.

  I lean in and kiss her. “You’re an amazing woman, you know that?” I tell her. But I don’t let her answer because I claim her mouth and tell her everything I want to say with my lips and my tongue instead of my words. My hands run over her body and I get lost in her touch, the feel of her wet skin sliding against my hands. I run my fingers down her belly and glide them into her sex. She’s so wet and I groan as I feel her hot, swollen skin. I dip my fingers inside of her and she moans against my lips. I fuck her with my fingers until she’s writhing against my hand and then I pull away and pick her up, carrying her out of the shower. She squeals and wraps herself around me. I place her on the counter, which is the perfect height for me to quickly sink into her. My rhythm is fast and unrelenting. I need a release and we chase it together until we both cry out in unison.

  I carry her back into the shower, so we can rinse off before dressing and ordering room service for lunch. After lunch, we sit on the deck, reading books and talking.

  We haven’t talked like this in a long time. We talk about nothing and everything. I learn about Vanessa’s few real friends. Two girls she grew up with in Ohio and one other singer that she befriended in her late teens. She tells me stories about growing up and we both laugh at the fact that I’m in her vacation photo. It’s all so strange. We have so much in common and the things we don’t seem to not matter, like puzzle pieces locking together in perfect harmony.

  Three o’clock approaches too soon and I hear knocking at our door.

  “Game time,” I say as I open the door and our entourage comes inside.

  Chapter 26

  Jesse’s Playlist: “Cool Kids” by Echosmith

  “Everything is set for tomorrow,” Jack says as he takes a sip of a local liquor that Vanessa has poured for us. “You’ll go to breakfast at oh seven hundred, and then go to the front desk to get your rental car. You’ll drive to this location,” he continues, handing us a piece of paper with an address and island map. It’s a tourist location for hiking. “Then you’ll play nice and take some photos with some locals that will be instantly linked to social media. From there, you’ll head here for lunch,” he says and hands us another sheet of paper. “We are hoping by the time you get to the plantation for an afternoon tour, the message has gotten to Saeed. We have arranged for you to have these two small islands just off the coast to yourselves for a late afternoon picnic. That’s where we hope to intercept him. I have men already out on the islands. They’ll stay there overnight and set up a full perimeter. We have this island and everything around it on high alert lockdown. Nothing is coming on or off this island without our knowing it.”

  “You two have any questions?” Bryce asks.

  We both shake our heads.

  “Alright, I downloaded some new security on your new burner phones. Vanessa, we did the old ‘rice’ trick on your phone and were able to salvage the data. I moved it over to a new phone this morning for you. Here you go,” Bryce says and hands her a brand-new iPhone along with new burner phones for both of us.

  “Thank you,” she says softly and takes the phone, running her hand over the screen.

  He nods.

  “We’ll let you both relax a bit this evening then, while we keep a sharp eye on the island,” Jack says. “Contact any of us if you need anything.”

  We nod, and they exit the room. Vanessa takes her drink and walks out to the deck and sits on the edge, swinging her feet over the side.

  I watch her for a long time, bringing my right ankle up to my left knee and leaning back in the oversized chair. I take a long sip of the pineapple liquor on the rocks and listen to the sound of the ice clinking against the glass. The only other sound is from the ceiling fan spinning overhead.

  She sits staring out at the reef, her glass sitting beside her on the deck. Her blonde hair glistens in the sunlight. I want to know what she’s thinking and the desire is so great that I don’t even think as I rise and walk out to take a seat next to her.

  She doesn’t speak as I sit down. In fact, she doesn’t move or even acknowledge my presence at all.

  “Penny for your thoughts?” I ask as I take a sip from my glass and then set it down next to hers.

  She sighs and turns toward me. Her big blue eyes are sad and it breaks my heart. She turns back toward the reef and then very slowly leans back until her head is lying on the deck and she’s staring up at a blue sky dotted with tiny puffy, white clouds. Her hair fans out around her and she looks like the most beautiful creature in the world.

  “I’ve had everything micromanaged for me since I was a teenager,” she begins. “Everything, my hair, my diet, my schedule, my clothes, what gets posted on my social media, who works for me…everything. I became this persona. Literally, I am just a public figure, owned and operated for the sole purpose of making others wealthy. I mean, I have money too, I know that. I’m not saying I’m ungrateful for all the privileges bestowed upon me. I really am. It’s just that sometimes I don’t know who I really am now. I wonder who I’d be if I hadn’t signed that first record deal and just had a normal youth. You know, gone to college, joined a sorority, dated some college athletes, or got
ten a fake ID.” She giggles for a moment. “I know that sounds silly, but deep down, I feel like I missed out a bit. I watched my two best friends have a normal life and I envied that. They of course envied me, but they only see the glamour. They don’t live near me. They don’t see the paparazzi following me everywhere and constant barrage of fans. They don’t see the toll dieting and daily workouts and scheduled meetings, interviews, and work have on me. I’m not even sure who I am anymore. Well, I wasn’t…and then I came here, and I met you and for a few days I didn’t think about all that other shit. I just was me, for the first time since I was a kid. And it was like a giant weight lifted off of me. I don’t want to do things because others want me to or don’t want me to; not anymore, Jesse. I want to take control, to dictate my own life, to be the captain of my own ship. I really, really want to do this because…well, it’s the right thing to do, but also it’s me making a difference as me; not because I’m famous, not because I need to maintain some crazy public persona, but because I, Vanessa the person, want to do something important with my life other than singing.” She pauses and looks up at me. I turn around and rest my arm on my knee. I look down at her and she gives me the faintest smile. “I want to matter.”

  I run a hand down her cheek. “You do.”

  She shakes her head. “No, you don’t understand, I want to matter.”

  I nod. “I understand. I see you and you are beautiful, mon étoile. I just want to protect you. I can’t explain it. I know it’s my fucked-up way of dealing with the world since my dad was killed, but…it’s all I know. It’s my way to keep myself sane, to be alright…to not lose my shit.”

  Vanessa sits up and we are only inches apart. She touches my jaw and gazes into my eyes.

  “Jesse, I understand better than you think I do. It’s what I want too. Control.” She says the last word slowly, rolling the sound around as though she’s contemplating both its meaning and phonetics simultaneously.