Disclaimer: I do not own "Red Eye."

Lisa had decided long ago that writing sex was easy.

The local bookstore was stocked with Camus, Joyce, and "Forbidden Nights". Camus lay dusty, Joyce untouched, but every week girls who saw their future and wives that saw what they felt had been denied snatched up the romance section like the books were life vests on a sinking ship. When she was younger, she had tried her best to read them and, though she laughed, she couldn't help but look forward to her own fantasies.

There was a knife on her breast. And it wasn't like the stories. It wasn't hot, or fun, or tempting. He shoved past her skirt, then shoved some more and it hurt, so much. Stories didn't do this. It hurt it hurt it hurt.

He left her broken. That day he said he'd kill her. That day she did it for him. Quiet Lisa. Hidden Lisa. Shattered Lisa.

Then Jackson came. He traipsed in on a Bay Breeze with bright blue eyes and made her smile. Circumstance brought them together.

She soon learned that there was no such thing as chance. Not when you had people like Jackson to manage the pieces.

He snatched her heart on the red-eye flight and brought up thoughts that left her whimpering. He slammed her up against a bathroom wall, ransomed her father, spooked her with smiles, charmed and manipulated and charmed again. He was a monster.

It was in the depths of the monster's den that she found her light.

She took back the pieces, stumped the king. The pen is mightier then the sword, and Jackson Rippner was no exception. One quick jab was all it took. In the chase that followed, she got her strength back.

Aside from his rage, he was almost impressed.

Aside from her hate, she was almost thankful…but not quite.

So when she came home from her job one night eight months later, she couldn't say she was surprised when he came up from behind and placed his lips on her collarbone.

It wasn't long. It wasn't sweet. It was tender kisses and vicious scratches and the feelings they could never say.

He said he'd kill her. She couldn't help but laugh in his face. After he left, she chopped off her hair, grabbed some cash and drove off into the night.

One month later he sat down across from her in a diner. They shared a slice of pie doused in whipped cream. Backs scratched from dirty bricks by the dumpster.

Three weeks later he found her in a department store. He told her she was too fat for that dress. The walls were so thin. She bit down hard enough to taste.

Find. Fuck. Repeat.

Five months later she found him on her bed. He reached out without a word, pausing right above her rounded belly. She placed her hand on his, pulling him close. He kept it there, and Lisa felt her baby squirm. For one crazy moment, Lisa thought she saw a flash of light in his eyes.

Sex was easy. Hate was easy. Making life was easy. Love…