Deleted Scene from Come Fly With Me

 

Brodie couldn’t get to sleep because of bloody Bain and all his talk of Katya being sexier than ever and hitting her sexual peak. He had eyes, damn it. He didn’t need his brother pointing out how good she looked; he could see it for himself. Age had made her sexier. Honed her beauty. Given her confidence. Not that Kat had needed more confidence when it came to touching him. He groaned, rolled over yet again and punched at his pillow to make it softer, then grumbled when it didn’t work.

Sexual peak? Aye, he wished he’d never heard those words. What did it mean anyway? That she’d want more sex? She’d wanted a whole lot when they were teens; any more than that could kill a man…but he’d have a helluva time before he died. Brodie well remembered the fun they’d had learning about sex together. They’d laughed, and panted, their way through every stage of the process, from fumbles in the dark behind the Savage’s shed to trying to make love in the shower without slipping and breaking their necks.

Damn it! He had to stop thinking about Katya and sex. He rolled onto his back and looked down his body at his painfully hard erection, tenting the sheet. This wasn’t good.

“You’re a fool,” he told his dick. “This is just conditioning. You’re used to being up around her and don’t realize that things have changed. It’s pathetic.”

Almost as pathetic as a thirty-year-old man talking to his dick.

His head fell back onto his lumpy pillow. This couldn’t go on. The situation with the land had to be sorted so that they could go their separate ways and put some distance between them. Sure, Invertary was small, but they could live their lives in different corners, only nodding to one another when they met in the street. Couldn’t they?

One thing was for sure, he wasn’t going to get any sleep until they’d resolved their differences. Plus, arguing with Katya only made him hornier. He climbed out of bed, threw on some jeans and an old cable knit jumper, and he was on the road in minutes. Of course, driving to Katya’s parents’ house in the dark brought back more memories of them sneaking around. Those thoughts were all the encouragement his errant dick needed. It insisted on standing to attention, as though something exciting was going to happen and it didn’t want to miss it.

“You’re not getting any,” he told it. “So you might as well calm down.”

His dick didn’t believe him.

Brodie parked his SUV behind the overgrown rhododendron at the bottom of the Savage drive and crept up the path to the back of the house, where Katya’s old bedroom sat. Its window still had the same purple curtains that’d been there when they were teens. Feeling like he’d stepped back in time, Brodie grabbed a handful of gravel and tossed it at the glass.

A few seconds later the old sash window was pushed up and Denise stuck her head out. Brodie had forgotten about Katya’s best friend. And that she was staying with the Savage family too.

Could this night get any more frustrating?

Denise glared at him, a swath of wild hair making a halo around her face. “Pebbles on the window? Are we in a teen movie? Because I didn’t get that memo. If I had gotten it, I wouldn’t have slept with the window open a crack. And I wouldn’t have been rudely awoken at two in the morning by a face full of gravel. What’s so important that you’re trying to kill me in my sleep? I don’t see any blood. I don’t smell smoke. And you’re standing fine, so I’m assuming no broken bones. Whatever it is, it could have waited six bloody hours until the sun came up and normal people set about their day. Are you hearing me?”

“I’m sorry?” Brodie wasn’t quite sure what answer would calm the crazy lady down.

A hand appeared on Denise’s arm, moving her to the side.

“Deal with your husband,” Denise grumbled. “A woman needs her beauty sleep. I can’t be dealing with an emotional outburst in the middle of the night. And if he throws stones anywhere near me again, I’ll brain him with a brick.”

Katya’s face appeared in the window and Brodie lost the ability to breath. Damn but she was stunning. Her sleep-mussed hair swirled around her face and shoulders, making him want to thread his hands through it. On top of that, she had that soft look people get when they just wake. He’d forgotten how good it looked on her.

His dick twitched. His dick hadn’t forgotten. His dick was a dick.

“Brodie? What the hell?” Her voice was rough from sleep and sexy as hell.

Maybe coming to see her in the middle of the night wasn’t such a great idea after all.

“I want to talk to you about the land,” he said, sounding a little hoarse himself.

“And it couldn’t wait until morning?”

“You’re being too nice to him,” Denise’s voice wafted out the window. “Throw that mug at his head, see how he likes it.”

“Could you come down here to talk?” Brodie kept an eye out for any flying objects.

“I’m not climbing down the drainpipe.” She frowned at him, like he was an idiot. Which, honestly, was fair given the circumstances.

“How about you use the backdoor?”

“How about you come back in about eight hours?”

“I might have changed my mind by then. You sure you don’t want to hear my idea now? It’s about the land.”

Aye, that got her attention. “I’ll be right down.”

“Shut the damn window first,” Denise snapped.

While Katya made her way down the stairs, Brodie adjusted himself in his jeans. It felt like his dick was trying to escape through the zipper to get to Katya.

“This is not a sex situation,” he hissed at it.

“Good to know,” Katya said as she stepped outside and quietly shut the door behind her. “I see you still confer with the smartest part of your anatomy.”

Really, there was nothing he could say to that. Folding his arms over his old cream jumper, he tried to look as mature as possible. Which mainly consisted of standing straight, frowning slightly and trying to keep his eyes on Katya’s face.

It was hard. She wore a tight tank-top over a pair of soft cotton pajama pants. And she wasn’t wearing a bra. Had her boobs grown since they were married? They definitely looked bigger? He bet they were softer too. They’d feel heavier in his hands. They definitely weren’t as perky as they’d been ten years earlier, but they were fuller, curvier, better. His mouth started to water and he had to grab handfuls of his sweater to stop from reaching out.

“Eyes up here,” she snapped.

Damn it, he’d thought he’d been looking at her face. How long had he been staring at her boobs? This was embarrassing.

Of course, she taunted him by putting her hands on her hips and thrusting out her chest. Okay, maybe the thrusting part was in his mind. Still, those breasts were glorious.

“Brodie,” she ground out. “What did you want to talk about?”

He opened his mouth, intending to start a mature discussion about the land. Instead what came out was, “Are your boobs bigger now?”

Did he just say that? Out loud? Please, let a sinkhole open up beneath him and swallow him whole. The only upside of this whole situation was that his brothers weren’t there to see him make a complete arse of himself.

“Seriously?” she snapped.

He shook his head. “I’m sorry. That’s not what I meant to say. I came here to see if we could come to some sort of agreement about the land before things got out of hand… But…” His eyes couldn’t keep away from the front of her top. “Hell, Kat, they look good.”

“I’m not going to discuss my boobs with you, Brodie. And I can’t even believe I have to say that.”

He dropped his arms to his side and sighed. “I know, I know. I feel like a dirty old man even for noticing.”

“How about you focus with your head instead of other parts of your anatomy for a change?”

“I’m not sure I can. They’re really distracting. Could you put on a coat or something?”

“I swear, Brodie, I’m about ten seconds away from punching you again.”

“Right. You’re right. Here.” He pulled off his jumper and handed it to her. “Put that on.”

“Have you lost your mind? Now you’re topless. How is this better?”

He looked down at the abs he’d gained from working long hours on building sites with his brothers. “Staring at my chest doesn’t have the same effect on me as staring at you.”

“I’m dealing with a lunatic,” she complained to the sky. “And I’m not wearing your jumper. This is ridiculous.”

“I know exactly how pathetic I’m being, but it’s conditioning. I spent a lifetime focused on your boobs and apparently, it’s a hard habit to break. Have some mercy and cover up.”

“Fine.” She gritted the word out, snatched the sweater from his hand and pulled it over her head. “Better?”

Hell no. How was it possible for her to look sexier in an oversized jumper than in a tight tank? This wasn’t going to work. Any discussion they had needed to happen in daylight, with them both fully dressed, and in a crowded public place. Maybe with her behind a screen?

“This was a dumb idea,” he said. “Put it down to sleep deprivation. You’re right, I’ll come back in the morning and we’ll talk then. Keep the jumper.” There was no way he could wear it now without thinking of Katya’s boobs in it.

He took two steps towards the front of the house, when the kitchen light came on. Katya grabbed his arm and tugged him back into the shadows.

“It’s my mum,” she whispered. “And you’re shirtless. At night. With me. She’s going to think this is a repeat of my teen years. She’s going to think we’re back together.” She looked horrified. “Quick, duck in here.” She jerked him back into the wood shed, and shoved him into the small space behind the pile of neatly stacked wood. Then she wedged herself in beside him. “Don’t say a word, and don’t move a muscle. She will never shut up about this if she catches us.”

“This is crazy,” he hissed back. “We look more guilty by hiding. I should just leave. If she sees me, I can explain why I’m here.”

Katya rolled her eyes. “Right, and what exactly would you say?”

“The truth. That I came here to have a conversation about your boobs—I mean our land. The land. Damn it.”

“Yeah, I can see how well that would go.” She sucked in a breath. “She’s opening the back door. Why is she opening the back door?”

“Hello?” her mother called. “Is someone out here? I have to warn you, I have a gun.”

“There’s no gun. She’s holding a teapot,” Brodie whispered against Katya’s ear.

Delia also had old-fashioned curlers in her hair and wore a red satin dressing gown that wouldn’t have looked out of place on Marilyn Monroe.

Katya’s hand covered his mouth as she pressed herself against him, pushing them deeper into the corner of the shed. Suddenly, Brodie wasn’t all that interested in what Delia was wearing because his world had narrowed to the sensation of Katya’s soft curves against his skin. He didn’t know where to put his hands, so he fisted them at his sides and prayed they’d stay there. Quietly, he inched to the left in an attempt to put some space—any space—between them. Instead, he bumped into a pile of firewood.

For one horrible second, that lasted an eternity, the wood wobbled. Brodie held his breath as Katya froze against him. Then, as though in slow motion, the wood tumbled to the floor. The noise deafening in the silence.

“Fraser!” Delia screeched as she ran back into the house. “Someone’s outside! They’re trying to break in. Fraser! Get down here. Call the police.”

“I’m done.” Brodie grasped Katya’s waist and lifted her to the side. Then he sprang over the fallen wood and ran as though his arse was on fire.

It was only once he was in the car that he remembered his jumper. All he could do was hope Katya managed to hide it before her parents and the cops came. Otherwise, he’d have Fraser Savage on his doorstep at the crack of dawn.

And Brodie didn’t want to live through that experience again.

***

There was nothing for Katya to do but pretend she was Spiderman and scale the drainpipe to her old bedroom. By the time she got there, Denise had the window open waiting for her. She reached out and helped tug Katya inside.

“Nice sweater. Bit big though,” Denise said as she shut the window. “Have to say, from what I saw of Brodie while he sprinted for his car, he looked better without it.”

Katya smothered a groan as she pulled off the jumper and stuffed it under her bed. Racing to the bedroom door, she pulled it open and called downstairs. “Is everything okay? I heard mum shout.”

“Everything’s fine,” her father barked. “A cat knocked over some wood and your mother freaked out. Go back to bed, that’s what I’m doing.”

Katya closed the door and rested her forehead against it. “I need to find a place of my own as fast as possible.”

“Especially if you plan to do the dirty with your ex without anyone knowing,” Denise said.

“You know the walls are thin here,” her brother Stephen called from the room next door. “I can hear everything you’re saying and I accept bribes for silence.”

“Go to sleep,” Katya called back. “Or you’ll be accepting pain instead.”

“Sisters…” came the grumble before silence.

Katya went back to the single bed she’d slept in as a child and flopped on top of the thin mattress. Staring up at the glow-in-the-dark stars she’d stuck to the ceiling as a tween, she groaned. “I wasn’t doing the dirty with Brodie. I have no intention of ever doing anything with him  again.”

“Then why was the man running around topless?” Denise fluffed the duvet on top of the mattress on the floor before climbing back under it.

“He…thought I might be cold.”

“Mm-hm, you’re telling me he was just being chivalrous?” Denise couldn’t have sounded any more skeptical if she’d tried.

“Yes.” And that wasn’t convincing either.

“It would be easier to get blood out of a stone. Just skip to the good bits. Was there touching? Kissing? Was it good?”

Katya raised her head to glare at her best friend. “Nothing happened.”

“Right.” Denise raised an eyebrow. “And that’s why you and Mr Half-Naked hid in the wood shed.”

“We were hiding from mum. You know what she’d be like if she’d found us together in the middle of the night.”

“Ah ha!” Denise pointed at Katya. “So you admit you were together. Tell me, does he smell like the forest? He looks like he’d smell like a forest. And that chest! Even in the dark it made me want to lick him all over.”

“I can still hear every word you’re saying.” Stephen sounded pained. “And now I want to be sick.”

“Go to sleep,” Katya snapped before glaring at Denise. “Both of you.” She stood up, pulled back the duvet and climbed into bed.

“So, if nothing happened,” Denise whispered, “what was so urgent that he had to wake you in the middle of the night to talk about it?”

Katya closed her eyes and mentally groaned. Apparently her boobs were the important topic, but there was no way she was sharing that with anyone. “The land, but we were interrupted before the good part.”

“I bet you were.” Denise sniggered.

“Okay. I’m finished with this conversation and I’m going to sleep.”

“Thank you, God,” Stephen said.

Katya put her head under the pillow and tried really hard not to think about Brodie’s strange visit. Unfortunately, her breasts weren’t in agreement. They ached. Desperate for touch. His touch. Which wasn’t going to happen as she would never go down that road again.

As she turned onto her side and tried to get comfortable, her body protested. It needed. And it wanted Brodie. But that was just muscle memory and would fade as soon as they managed to put some distance between them. Of that she was certain. After all, she’d been through it once already, when she’d left him years earlier.

“You know,” Denise said into the darkness. “Voices carry at night and I could have sworn I heard the word boobs several times.”

Katya groaned, put her pillow over her head and prayed for sleep.

***
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