by Kahlen Aymes
My heart was still pumping, but I wasn't sure if it was due to the lovemaking or the emotions that were washing through me. "I love you so much, Brook."
I rolled her to the side and turned her toward me so we were facing each other. I couldn't keep my hands off of her as I brushed up and down her arms and torso.
"Do you get tired of me telling you I love you?" I was drowning in her beautiful eyes.
Brook was very still, contemplative as she met my eyes, then her hand came up to touch my jaw with her fingertips.
"Never. I never hear it enough. I love you, too. You know that." Her thumb brushed across my lower lip. She was so sexy, even though we had just made love, I could feel my body already tightening, ready for more.
We lay there entwined and holding each other in the dark, with only the sound of our breathing.
"I know you don't know if you can come to London yet, but what do you want for Christmas?" I wanted to get her something special.
She shook her head. "I have everything I want. You've given me so much already and I don't need expensive presents, Cade. I have you. That's enough." Her dark pink lips broke into a soft smile. "What about you?"
"Everything I want is right in this room, in this bed. I never want to leave." My hand went to the back of her head to twine in her hair, at the same time as I pulled her closer to me with my other arm wrapped around her waist.
"The only thing I could possibly want is to put my ring on your finger for good."
I shivered as her arm slid under my arm and around my body, her fingers tracing patterns on my back.
"I wear it every night when I'm at home. It's on my finger every day at some point," her soft voice vibrated on my skin, the words held so much meaning. “I sleep with it on.”
I leaned down and kissed her temple then her cheek, as my heart thumped in my chest.
Her stomach growled loudly and she giggled. "Oops, sorry. I had too many people to talk to tonight, I forgot to eat." She blushed. “How embarrassing.”
"Well, there is that basket of stuff that the hotel sent up. Let's see what's in it." My mouth lifted in a grin. "I can't have my girl fainting on me. How would I take advantage of you later if that happened?"
"Hmmph.” Brook snorted. “I should have known you have an ulterior motive. Is that all you think about?" she teased.
"Yes." I nodded and smiled even wider.
Brook laughed out loud as she moved to the edge of the bed. I was enjoying the view of her naked body, but then she bent to pick up my discarded shirt to throw it on. Of course, the buttons were gone so she just held it closed in front of her as she went to the basket of snacks.
"There are some strawberries, grapes, cheese, crackers and of all things, Twinkies!" Her head came up as she looked at me. I pulled myself up to the head of the bed and was leaning back on some pillows, completely naked, my legs crossed at the ankles.
She smirked at me and her right eyebrow went up. "What do you want?"
"You decide, but dessert sounds good." I loved sweets, though I didn’t indulge often.
"Oh, so that narrows it down to the Twinkies then." She brought the basket to the bed and took out a bottle of Perrier mineral water, some strawberries and the snack cakes.
I stared at her body through the open front of the shirt as she crawled up onto the bed and then onto my lap to straddle my legs.
My hands moved to her hips as I pulled her closer. "Mmmm. Now, this is what I call a midnight snack." I leaned in to place a soft kiss on her lips.
"I thought you already had that earlier," she said suggestively.
“Yes. It was delicious," I agreed, holding open the shirt slightly to let my eyes run over her naked form. I felt my dick getting hard underneath her.
Her eyes sparkled as she searched my features. "Hey, sustenance first." She ripped open the wrapper on the Twinkies and held one up to my mouth. I took a big bite off of the end as I watched her face.
She dipped her finger into the cream filling and licked it off with the tip of her tongue. Openly flirting with me, her eyes never left mine.
Brook picked up a large red strawberry and brought it to her lips and took a large bite. The juice ran down the edge of her mouth and I bent to kiss it off.
"That's the best strawberry I've ever tasted," I whispered against her mouth.
She pulled off the stem and then stuffed the rest of the strawberry into the Twinkie. My eyes widened as I watched her.
"Try it. I bet it tastes like strawberry shortcake." She wagged her eyebrows at me. She was so adorable.
I opened my mouth and she put it to my lips so I could bite off the end. It was delicious.
"Yeah. You're a genius," I said with my mouth full.
"Duh." She smiled and I laughed out loud.
She continued to feed me more of her invention until it was gone, and then brought another strawberry to her mouth.
Slowly she bit into it and I found myself mesmerized by her mouth moving on the fruit. She held out the rest of the berry to me and I took it in my mouth.
Suddenly the humor in the situation was lost as desire rushed through me.
"Mmmmmm." My body was coming to life under hers and my hands moved her hips to rub back and forth across my erection. She moaned against the new strawberry at her mouth, her head falling back and her lids falling to cover her eyes.
I bent my mouth to take the other half and then kept my mouth on hers in a deep, strawberry scented kiss. I picked up another one and took a bite, then pushed it against the skin of her neck, pulling down across her breasts and on to her nipples.
I bent to lick the juice from her skin as her nipple hardened under my tongue. She pulled the rest of the berry from my fingers and brought it to her mouth, her blue eyes burning into mine.
She gasped as I lifted her body onto mine, and I slid inside her, my arm around the back of her waist to guide her thrusts on me.
Her body fits mine so perfectly. I didn’t think anybody I’d ever been with fit so well.
I pulled her down onto me as I again bent to share the strawberry she was eating. I sucked the juice from her lips and then thrust my tongue into her mouth as hers came into mine.
Her arms wrapped around my shoulders and her hands wove into my hair as the passion between us flared anew. So hot, intense and delicious.
That night, I gained a whole new appreciation for strawberries.
I CAME OUT of the bathroom, wrapped only in my towel. My hair was dripping wet as I padded across the floor to my suitcase to select something to wear on the trip back to the States. I glanced at the beautiful man sleeping in the bed and my heart became heavier in my chest.
Our series of European premieres ended last night in Paris. It was a fun day, the interview extremely so, since we couldn't speak French and no interpreters were used. They gave us questions fed live through Twitter with the hashtag #CadeNBrook.
We teased each other and joked and laughed with the host the whole time. Thank God, Cade could speak French and could translate. The host was clearly smitten with him, judging by her wide eyes and rapt expression. Some of the answers we gave were complete and utter bullshit, but seriously some of the questions were beyond intrusive, designed to unearth any secrets about your relationships.
Cade was still pressing me to answer whether I felt he was sexier than Ryan Gosling or Zac Efron, since I’d managed to evade it during the interview. That was one I had pressed to pass. He said he was still waiting for my answer.
Like there was any contest. He damn well knew the answer, but he just wanted to hear me say it.
So, here we were. I would be flying with Jeanne, Noah, Denise and Martin; and Cade was jetting back to London for Christmas. The past six days had been like heaven. We'd spent every night together, completely alone, always ordering breakfast from room service.
I sighed, thinking back on our time together. He was so incredible, his lovemaking so passionate and amazing. He took my breath away each and every time he to
uched me. I felt my throat begin to ache as I packed up my suitcase. I was going to miss him.
Don't cry, Brooklyn. Don't cry and ruin the perfection of these days. I kept talking to myself in my head.
Cade began to stir in the bed, and I went to sit next to him. My fingers itched to touch him, so I reached out and brushed his hair off of his forehead. He sighed then his eyes opened, and a soft smile came to his lips.
"Good morning, gorgeous girl." His hand came out and he took mine to his lips, kissing the inside of my wrist.
"Good morning, yourself." I leaned down to kiss his mouth and the stubble on his chin scratched a little on my face. I gripped his chin with my hand as I bent to kiss him again. "You're so yummy." I tried to keep my voice light, but the tightness in my throat was undeniable.
I got up to resume my packing, but struggled with keeping the towel in place. I'd laid out the clothes I planned to wear; typical of my casual style, especially for traveling. I had an oversized white tunic T-shirt and black leggings, with some Vans that I could slip off during the flight.
Cade turned on his side and propped up on his elbow as he watched me.
"Brook." His voice was matter-of-fact and commanding. He wanted to talk. He wanted me to look at him, but if I did I might lose it.
"Uh huh?" I glanced up from my suitcase, briefly.
"Come here, please." His tone was serious.
I did as he asked, and he lifted the covers next to his naked body to beckon me back to bed.
I felt the tears start in my eyes as I dropped my towel and crawled in beside him. His arms engulfed my body as I curled into his side, my head fitting perfectly onto his shoulder. He kissed my forehead and moved his bent fingers to lightly scratch up and down my arm, as I fought the emotions threatening to overflow. I turned closer in and buried my face in his neck as I lost my battle with the tears, the hot wetness dripping onto his skin.
His arms tightened around me.
"It won't be so long this time. Maybe we can see each other for Christmas or New Year's Eve, hmmm?"
"Mmm, huh." I didn't trust myself to speak without my voice breaking.
"Oh, babe. I hate this part, but I wouldn't trade one second of the time we have together. It's so incredible. You're my whole world, Brooklyn."
I nodded, still plastered against him, my fingers clutching into his naked skin anywhere I could touch. I brought my lips to his neck and I sucked lightly on the skin as the hand around his waist slid up to the back of his neck. I raised my chin and kissed his jaw.
"Brook, I'm going to ask Denise to get me a flat in L.A. I'm tired of not being close to you."
My heart leapt at his words as I raised my head to look into his face. He reached out to brush the line of my jaw with the tips of his fingers.
"But, you'll miss your friends and family, right?"
"I miss you more. I can't stand leaving you all the time, and I can't stand seeing you cry."
I hugged him tighter and turned my face into him again as more tears flowed from my eyes. I wanted to be stronger, but I wasn’t.
"I've been thinking about it for months actually. If something happened to you and I was in London, it would be twelve or fourteen hours before I could get to you. That bloody terrifies me."
Hope leapt in my chest and my heart beat faster, but I knew it was a big sacrifice for him to make.
"I love that you want to do that, but we still have to be apart, regardless. Look at these past few weeks, you've been in L.A. and we've still barely had any time together. I'd hate for you to make those kinds of changes with no guarantees we'd be any better off. Plus, the press would go nuts. The studio wouldn’t be supportive."
"I'll take my chances. If we have an opportunity come up, it's a hell of a lot easier to sneak across town than for one of us to fly bloody half way around the globe, yeah?" He smiled the beautiful smile that was uniquely him, and bent to pull my upper lip in between both of his. My mouth opened to him and he brought a groan out of me when his tongue dove into my mouth. My mouth was clinging to his when he finally pulled away.
"You are," I said.
"What?" His brows went up and his mouth twitched.
"I said you are." I smiled through my tears. "I think you're sexier than Ryan or Zac."
He laughed and brought his mouth down to mine again in a brief kiss. "I know." I felt his breathy smile against my lips as the words left him and I couldn't help but laugh a little.
"Of course, I'm not exactly objective. I've never made love with either of them or seen them naked. Maybe I should do some research, just to be fair." My mouth quirked at the corners and I had to bite my lip to stop from laughing.
"Um, no. That won't be possible. Ever." His fingers brushed against my cheek, wiping at the remnant wetness.
I pulled myself up so that I could prop up on his chest and look into his face. "Okay. I can live with that." I stared into his blue eyes, and his expression was a mixture of amusement and sadness.
"I'm going to miss you so much," I breathed the words against his mouth.
"I'll think about you every second, sweetheart. You know that."
"I know." I smirked at him as I echoed his earlier words, while his fingers brushed the last remnants of tears from my face. His touch was so tender, like a butterfly’s wings on my cheeks.
Cade rolled on to his side and took me with him, both of us ending up lying on the pillows facing each other. He stared into my eyes and took my hand to his mouth as he kissed each of my fingers and then the palm.
"How long until your plane, my love?"
I felt my brow crinkle and I lowered my eyes, the pain in my throat beginning to throb again.
"Um, three hours." I drew a shaky breath as I raised my eyes back to his. The pain clearly visible in the liquid depths, his brow dropped lower over his eyes. His hand was shaking as he brought it to the side of my face.
"I know you've already taken a shower, but I need to make love with you one last time," he whispered against my mouth, his hot breath fanning out on my cheeks. "Just one more time." His aroused body pressed into mine, and I had no thoughts of denying him.
The tears fell from my eyes as his mouth met mine in one of the most tender kisses he'd ever given to me. His lips moved on mine so slowly, his tongue gently exploring and seeking mine. Each touch was feather light as his fingers moved on my face and then down my neck and across my shoulder.
My arms slid around him as he moved above me and he stared intently into my face. Propping himself up on his elbows, he brushed the hair back from my face as he nuzzled my nose with his and finally bent to take my mouth with his as the tenderness gave way to the desperation, hunger and need that flowed through both of us.
Every touch was exquisite, completely and utterly communicating the overwhelming love we felt between us. My heart ached, yet love made me euphoric, the entire time as we made magnificent love to each other, worshiping with each touch, kiss and thrust of our bodies.
The coming separation left a tangible and poignant veil of sadness hanging between us. So thick, it made it hard to breathe.
Cade's gorgeous eyes welled with tears after he'd once again brought my body to shivering climax. The experience left us both spent and breathless as we lay together, still entwined.
"I'm coming back to you, Julia. Soon, so very soon, so don’t forget to remember me." His velvet voice was so dazzling, with his American accent firmly in place. He was Ryan once again as he smiled softly down at me. His thumbs traced delicately along both sides of my forehead as he bent to kiss me one last time. I folded my arms and legs around him as I fought the sobs building in my chest and poured everything I had into that kiss. I desperately needed to show him how much I would miss him. How much I loved him.
I knew he was hoping to ease my grief at leaving him today by reminding me that we would soon be together for three months, when we went to Vancouver in March to begin filming the second movie in the series.
We stayed in bed for several
more minutes, getting control of our emotions and holding each other close, trying to stretch the time we had left. Finally, he spoke.
"I love you, baby. Always."
"Me too."
"Do you want to take another shower? You're leaving sooner, so you'll need to go first, my love."
"Uh uh. I'll shower when I get home. I want to smell you on me today, to take you with me. I don't want to wash you off of my body… not yet, Cade."
His eyes widened and darkened as he watched my face, and his arms tightened ever so slightly around me.
"Do you think that's gross?" I finally asked against his mouth.
"No. It’s sexy as hell. It makes me love you all the more, if that's even bloody possible."
AFTER I GOT back to Los Angeles, I worked on my mom to get her to let me make the trip to London for Christmas.
"Brook. We always do the family trip and this may be the last year that both you and Nathan will be available. I don't want you to miss this, and you always loved to ski."
"Mom, that's what I'm saying. I'm not really available this year. I want to be with Cade. Can't you understand? Please?" I flopped down on her bed as she put clothes in her closet.
"Where would you stay?" She was skeptical.
"Mom. You let Cade sleep with me in my room and you're worried where I would stay in London? With him, of course." I was feeling so exasperated by the fruitlessness of the conversation. I shook my head at her.
She sighed. "I'm not a hypocrite, baby. What will his parents think of you if you shack up with their son? They are, after all, proper English parents, right?"
I rolled my eyes at her. Okay, seriously?
"Well, they'll think I love their son more than anything. They pretty much know that already anyway. If you'd feel better, I can stay with his parents. Lillian already invited me when they were here for the premiere."
She sat down on the bed next to me and I turned to prop my head on my arm.
