To Hell and Back

by Leigha Taylor

  Cole spots Carson first and taps Chloe on the shoulder, pointing in our direction. She sends a huge smile our way and the couple heads over to talk with us. Cole shakes Carson’s hand and Chloe gives him a huge hug. It’s like a sister being reunited with her long-lost brother and I find that I’m not the least bit intimidated by her touching him. Carson introduces them to me and I receive a hug from Chloe as well. Her brown eyes shine as she takes in the two of us, telling us in her soft southern drawl how beautiful we are as a couple. I find myself wishing she had been cast in this movie from the beginning, but I push all thoughts of the last week aside. She’s here now and that’s all that really matters.

  For the next two hours, we all dance and eat and sing along to the band. They’re actually really good, and everyone cheers when Cole grabs a guitar and joins them for a couple of songs. I find out that he’s a songwriter and even co-wrote a song that won a Grammy last year. He’s really sweet and tells us he loves his job because it gives him the freedom to be with Chloe wherever her work takes her. He and Carson make plans to play tennis the next afternoon, so Chloe asks if I’ll help her run some lines. I’ve done it so much with Carson that I can practically recite the whole thing, so I tell her it’s a date.

  When Chloe finally pleads exhaustion, she and Cole say their goodbyes and head for the hotel. The party dies down quickly after that and everyone goes their own separate ways. Carson teases me mercilessly about worrying over nothing as we head back to our trailer.

  “I believe I had a right to be concerned,” I defend myself. “Personal experience tells me that not everyone is like Chloe Brooks.”

  “Yeah, I guess you’ve got me there. Now get your sexy ass inside so I can get you naked.”

  God, I love this man.

  Chapter Twenty

  Brielle

  Chloe and I have a fantastic time when she comes over to run lines. Incredibly, she has learned most of them already, so we end up laughing, talking and eating popsicles until the guys return. We each eat several of them and the guys have a good laugh when they see our multi-colored mouths. The rest of the week is pretty much the same, the four of us hanging out in our down time and Cole and I watching our loves as they film their scenes together. We grit our teeth watching the romantic parts, but we both know it’s all part of the job and that they’ll be coming home with us. I’m actually really sad to see them leave the day after her final scene is shot, but we hug and promise to text and Skype each other as often as we can.

  About a week after Chloe leaves, the final scene is shot and the movie wraps. Many of the members of the cast and crew say their goodbyes almost immediately, heading on to other jobs or returning to their families. Tom and the editing crew will continue to work from here and Carson and a couple other key cast members will stick around in case they’re needed for voice overs or additional film. A few people I’ve never seen before arrive sporadically throughout the next week or so. Carson tells me they’re all on the production end of things.

  While I’ll always love our little trailer, I’m starting to feel like it’s time to move on. Everything is different now. Even Daisy and Sara have gone. They’re working together again, this time in Manhattan. They took a job with a musical doing a short run there. Neither of them likes to stay in one place for long. We all cried buckets of tears the day they left and Carson and I are planning to spend a weekend in New York while they’re there. I’m looking forward to seeing the city for the first time, but I truly miss my friends and it’s the two of them I really can’t wait to see.

  Carson

  It will only be another month or so before Tom and the editing crew finish up here and head back to California to finish production. We have everything we need on film already and I can do voice work from anywhere. I gave up my apartment in California before coming out here and I’m not in a hurry to go back. We both like it here, so we’re going to stay put until the next thing comes along. It’s definitely time to say goodbye to the trailer, though, so I’ve lined up a realtor to take us to see some rental houses.

  The first two houses we look at are huge and completely over-the-top for just the two of us. We definitely don’t need six bedrooms, six and a half bathrooms, and a bunch of other rooms we would never use. Who rents these places? I ask the realtor to skip any other McMansions she has on her list. She looks a little disappointed, but consults her tablet and moves on to the next listing.

  The next couple of places are a lot more reasonable, but neither of them feels right to either of us. We’re starting to get tired and hungry, but our realtor talks us into looking at just one more place before we quit for the day.

  We pull into a short drive that leads up to a yellow ranch-style house. It’s simple, but has beautiful landscaping and a huge bay window in the front. This one, finally, looks like a real home. I catch the dreamy expression in Brie’s eyes and I squeeze her hand as we walk through the doorway. I can tell she feels the same way I do.

  The front door opens into a large living room. There are gleaming hardwood floors and creamy white walls. It’s an open floor plan, so the space flows from living area to kitchen to dining room. The kitchen is a chef’s dream and Brie laughs when I tell her it may even inspire me to learn to cook, or at least learn not to burn water. Everything in this place has a great feel, but I know Brie is sold on this one when we walk into the master suite. There are French doors leading out to a small patio in the back of the house. The backyard is small, but well-maintained, giving us a nice view from anywhere in the bedroom. There is an en suite bathroom and I start to have wicked thoughts when I see the huge garden tub and the large shower.

  I think Brie has been reading my mind because her eyes widen at me and she blushes. Either that or she’s having the same thoughts. I’m good both ways. My first priority in this house will be getting her in that tub with me.

  We sign the rental agreement for this house on the spot and, since it’s empty, we’re able to move in right away. It takes only a couple of hours to pack up everything from the trailer. Three hours if you count the time it took us to say a proper goodbye to the bed we have shared all this time.

  The new place is about twenty-five minutes from the set, but we make several stops on the way. The house comes partially furnished, but we stop to buy linens, groceries, and even some little things Brie says will make us feel more at home. All in all, we arrive at our new address three hours after leaving our old one.

  I sit at the large maple dining table and watch my angel cook the first meal in our new kitchen. She makes omelets with spinach, tomatoes and mushrooms, serving them with a cold, crisp tossed salad. Every little move she makes is sexy as hell and I can’t take my eyes off of her. This confident woman has come a long way from the scared girl I first met.

  Dinner ends and we do the few dishes side by side. We’ve been together just over six months and I can see spending the rest of my life with this woman. I could spend every day eating meals and doing household chores next to her and never tire of it.

  When the last glass is dried and put in the cupboard, I pick her up and carry her to the en suite bathroom. She giggles when she realizes I’m making good on my promise to get her in that tub as soon as possible. She starts the bath water and adds some sort of fizzy stuff she picked up today. It smells like jasmine in here, mixed with something else I can’t quite put my finger on. As the tub fills, we both drop our clothing in record time and she jumps into my arms, wrapping her legs around my waist. The curve of her ass rests on my erect cock and I’m suddenly not sure if we will make it into the tub.

  After a few kisses, Brie slides down off me and sinks to her knees on the soft rug covering part of the cold tile floor. Taking me into her mouth, she slowly presses forward until almost my entire length is enveloped by her tongue and throat. She’s been practicing this for a while; I guess she read about it in Cosmopolitan magazine. I’m more than happy to be the subject of her experiment.

  As Brie moves back and forth
on my swollen length, I feel my legs begin to shake from the pure ecstasy I’m feeling. I try telling her to stop before it’s too late, but she only wraps her hands around my hips and pulls me in tighter. It’s not a minute later that I’m calling out her name as my orgasm rolls through me.

  When I’ve finished, she stands up with a smile on her face and says, “That ought to make sure we at least manage to get in the tub.” The little seductress is reading my thoughts again.

  I sit down in the hot, sweet-smelling water and Brie climbs in after me. She sits with her back to me and I wrap my arms around her, playing gently with her nipples under the surface. I bring my hands down between her thighs and finger fuck her through two orgasms before pulling her up and bending her forward. Leaning against the side of the tub, she wiggles her ass at me, inviting me in. Her legs are close together and it gives me an incredibly tight fit as I thrust inside of her. I pump faster with hard, firm strokes until we are both panting and water sloshes over the sides of the tub. Fisting a hand in her hair, I arch her back toward me until I can tell by the sound of her cries that I’m hitting the perfect spot within her. We both race toward orgasm, finally coming together in waves before sinking down into the now lukewarm water to catch our breath. We’ve christened our new home, but I’m still hoping to christen the bed before the night is over. I just can’t get enough of my angel.

  ***

  It has been two weeks since we settled into this new place, and Brie and I have enjoyed every second we’ve spent here. We’ve made love in every room of the house and on the patio already. We’ve danced in the living room, sung along to heavy metal in the kitchen and she even sat on the bathroom counter one night, helping me shave my face. We’ve really made this place our home and I’m sorry to have to leave it, but I have some promotional work to do in New York next week and I’ll be gone for three days. I called Daisy and Sara to see if they could come stay with her while I’m gone, but their show runs every night and they can’t get away. Brie assures me that she will be fine. She’s in the final stretch of the creative writing class she’s been taking and she tells me she’s looking forward to the time alone to think and write. I originally thought she would come with me, but we talked about my schedule and she isn’t interested in sitting in a hotel room while I run from place to place. I can’t help but be a little uncomfortable with leaving her all alone. It has been a while since she had a nightmare, but the thought of her waking up panicked in an empty bed breaks my heart.

  In the end, we agree to talk, text and Skype as much as we can while I’m gone. I’m coming back sometime in the evening on my birthday, so she’s talked about having a romantic night in to celebrate. Whatever she plans, I’m sure it will be great. I have a feeling I will miss her about thirty seconds after I walk out the door.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Brielle

  I look around to ensure everything is perfect. This will be the first time I’ve really gotten to do something for him and I want to do it right. Carson has been in New York the last couple of days doing promotion for the movie and I can’t wait for him to get back. I was a little disappointed he had to work on his birthday, but it ended up giving me the time I needed to set up a special night.

  I’m adjusting the arrangement of roses for the third time when I hear footsteps outside. I’m too excited to wait for him so I run to the front door and throw it open. Everything inside me goes still and cold and it feels like several minutes before I think to push the door shut again. I’m too late and his strong hand stops the door’s motion with a thud that seems at once too loud and too far away. The expression on his face tells me I’m right to feel this terror inside, and I know without a doubt I’m going to die.

  Hank pulls me outside and slams the door behind us. There is a beat up Chevy I don’t recognize sitting in the driveway and Sheila gives me a little wave from behind the wheel.

  Hank starts walking me toward the car and suddenly stops, turning to face me. “So this is where you and your little prick live, huh? Ooh, Brielle is fancy now. Fucking a movie star and all, the little slut thinks she’s moving up in the world.” Hank spits this out about an inch from my face; his grip on my arm grows tighter and more painful with every word. “You’re not moving up, little girl, you’re moving back in. At least until me and Sheila have what we want.”

  “Hank, what is it you want? Just tell me here and now. I’ll see what I can do,” I plead. If there is something he really wants maybe it will be worth more to him than beating or killing me.

  Lightning fast, the back of Hank’s hand connects with my cheek. “I’m still your father, you little bitch, and you will respect me. You don’t dare call me Hank again, understood?”

  I nod and blink at him, too stunned to speak. I guess I’ve already forgotten just how bad this can be.

  “Now get in the car and shut the fuck up!” he roars as he tosses me in the back seat before climbing in beside me.

  “Say hi to Sheila, you disrespectful little brat. She’s gonna be your stepmom soon, you know.”

  My stomach roils at the thought that Hank has found someone to marry. From the little I saw of her, Sheila seemed almost as fucked up as Hank, though, so maybe I shouldn’t be surprised.

  “Hi, Sheila,” I manage. My cheek throbs when I open my mouth and it’s just as well since I don’t have anything else to say. I’ll go along with this quietly and see what Hank wants. I just want to stay alive and get back to Carson.

  “So, I bet you’re wondering how I found you, huh? You can thank Sheila for that one. She found the trashy little magazines under your mattress when she was throwing all your things away. She decided to try being an artist and is using your old room for a painting studio. She threw them all away but one. Decided to put it in the bathroom for a little light reading,” he laughs at his poor attempt at a joke. I hear Sheila snicker from up front. “I go in to take a shit and there’s the face of that little asshole who came to see you staring up at me from the magazine rack! Carson fucking Malone, teen heartthrob if you believe that gossipy bullshit, was fucking my daughter. So Sheila googled him. Turns out he has been pretty successful and all. Probably loaded, we thought. Then she reads that he’s just wrapped up making a movie. There are some pictures from the set and Sheila’s looking through them while I watch a game one night. Next thing I know, she starts to hollering for me. She points to a picture of the director and right there behind that fucker is a girl that looks kinda familiar to me. My daughter. On a goddamned movie set! So, then I know you’re still with that little prick.

  See, I didn’t bother to go looking for you. Sheila took over taking care of me and so I didn’t really give a fuck what you were doing. I heard from Davis how sorry everyone was about your ‘anxiety’ stuff and not being able to go to school and all. So I told him and everyone else you had to get away for a while. Told them you moved in with your mom’s cousin in New York and were doing therapy and blah, blah, whatever. They bought it and I didn’t have to give a flying fuck or go through all that weepy daddy shit.”

  I’m just sitting there, taking all of this in. I have nothing to say to any of it. Apparently Hank isn’t done listening to himself brag, so I’m spared having to respond.

  “Well, me and Sheila got to talking and we figured you owe me. All those years you spent sneaking around and fucking every boy in town, I kept an eye on you and a roof over your head. I put food on the table. You didn’t appreciate any of it. I had to watch you and punish you constantly to keep you on the straight and narrow, keep you doing your chores and homework. I figure the least you can do is pay me back for some of that, right, Sheila?”

  “You tell her, honey,” Sheila pipes up. I wish I had the strength to hate her but I just feel sorry for her.

  “So me and Sheila decided to see just how good your pussy really is. We’re gonna ask your sugar daddy for some money. If he actually wants you back, he’ll give it to us. If not, then you’re just going to have to be our housekeeper and wo
rk off your debt. I’m hoping for the money. Much better than getting stuck with you again,” he laughs and Sheila joins him.

  There is one thing Hank hasn’t explained and I have to ask. “Dad, how did you get our address?” We haven’t lived there long enough for many people to know where we are and I can’t figure out how Hank found us this quickly. He obviously couldn’t ask his friends on the force if they thought I was “recuperating” in New York.

  “Got lucky, there. I called up the production people for the movie company and started asking around. They eventually put me on the line with some girl I didn’t think was gonna know her ass from her elbow. In the end, she was very helpful. Said she knew who you were but didn’t wanna give out any information. I told her I was your dad. I said we’d had a falling out, but I needed to find you. Told her your mom was real sick and that you needed to come home and see her. I faxed her a couple of pictures of you and your birth certificate and my driver’s license. After that she couldn’t help me fast enough. Told me you’d recently moved but she thought she could find out where. Dumb little thing called me back less than an hour later and told me where to find you. People are always suckers for a sob story, Brielle. So, we’re gonna go back to my house and I’m going to call that actor of yours. Then me and Sheila are going to have a wedding, honeymoon, and whatever else we want, all of it on his dime. When that’s done, you can go and I don’t care if I ever see you again.”

  I just sit there feeling sick. I can’t let Carson get caught up in all of this. I don’t have my phone with me; it’s still on the kitchen counter at home. The only way Hank can get ahold of Carson is if I tell him the number and I’m not going to do that. Sure, it sounds easy enough. They swap money for the hostage, me. But I don’t trust Hank. Something tells me his rage will catch up with him somewhere along the way and I’d rather Carson not be in the line of fire.