We snuggle up together with my head on his chest, my arm thrown over his torso, and our legs entwined in each other. Hudson presses play, and the movie begins, the sound coming in close to us. There must be surround sound in the cabana somewhere.
While we watch the movie, Hudson runs his fingers along my flesh, down my arm, and across my back. He doesn’t take it any further, but the entire time, even when we are eating the snacks and sipping on the drinks, he’s touching me in some way. The movie is about a couple who love each other but—ironically, similarly to us—the timing is off. This is the final movie in the series, and instead of getting their happily ever after right away, they go their separate ways. When this happens, tears flow down my cheeks. I knew it was coming since I’ve read the books twice, but it’s hard to watch, especially since I can relate. As the story continues, they meet other people, date, fall in love, live their lives, but you can see it in their eyes—they miss each other.
Finally, their lives bring them back together, and although it isn’t easy, they find their happy ending. When the credits roll at the end, I sit up, wiping the liquid from my face.
“That’s us,” Hudson says, his glassy eyes meeting mine. “We’re right for each other in every way, but our circumstances won’t allow us to be together.”
“I know,” I rasp, fresh tears filling my eyes.
“They found their way,” he says, taking my face in his hands. “We can find a way. Please, Sawyer. Don’t let this be the end of us.”
“I can’t do it,” I cry out. “Abby’s dad traveled for work, and it ended with him cheating on me and forgetting we exist. He chose a life on the road over us. I can’t do it again. I’m sorry. I’m sorry…” I shake my head, sobs wracking my body. I hate that it has to be this way, but I don’t know what else to do.
“Please, Sawyer,” he begs. “Don’t punish us for the shit your ex did.”
He tucks a stray hair behind my ear and gives me a kiss. His lips are strong yet soft, and I sigh into the kiss, loving how good he tastes. “Please, Sawyer. Don’t push me away because you’ve been hurt. I’m not him. Give me a chance to prove it to you.”
“And what if it doesn’t work out?” I ask, shocked I’m even considering this.
“You can’t live like that, always wondering what if. That’ll drive you insane and stop you from loving.” His words come out melancholy, and I know he’s referring to his past, to his late wife, and how he lost her far too soon. And that thought has me pushing past my insecurities, my fears, because if Hudson can experience a loss that devastating and still be willing to take a chance on love, then I can too.
“Okay,” I murmur. “I’ll give us a chance.”
“You will?” he asks in shock.
“Yeah. I don’t know how the hell it’s going to work, but I’m willing to take the risk… on you… on us.”
“Fuck, yes. I promise, you won’t regret it.” His lips connect with mine for a desperate, bruising kiss, and I wrap myself around him, needing to feel our bodies against each other.
Our clothes come off, and Hudson lays me out on the pillow bed, devouring my mouth before he moves down my body to ravish every inch of me. He nips and sucks on my flesh. I pull his face up to meet mine and crash my lips against his. His fingers glide between my legs, and he thrusts a couple inside me, fucking me deep and hard. His thumb massages my clit, and he breaks our kiss, peppering tender kisses along my jaw, my cheeks, my chin, my neck. It’s as though Hudson is determined to learn every inch of my body before we part ways.
His lips clamp down on my nipple, and I shudder as an orgasm rips through me, waves of pleasure rolling through me.
“Fuck, I love the way your pussy tightens around my fingers when you come,” Hudson says as he pulls them out and makes a show of licking my release from them.
“Get inside me,” I groan, reaching forward and taking his dick in my hand. I pull him over me and stroke him up and down, getting him hard. “Do you have a…?”
“Yeah.” Blindly reaching for his shorts, he pulls a square foil packet out and hands it to me so I can put it on him.
Once he’s covered, his hands land on either side of my head, and he enters me in one fluid motion, our bodies becoming one. Hudson makes love to me slowly, languorously, his heated gaze staying locked on mine. As he pushes in and out of me, filling me deliciously, my heart gallops in my chest, my need for him growing like a tree’s roots latching on and spreading. I’m suddenly overcome with raw emotions as I wonder how I’m ever going to walk away from him come tomorrow. Even though we’ve both decided to take the risk and see where things go, I can’t help the fear that this could be our last time together. No matter how much we want us to work off this island, the odds are stacked against us.