Kabana Heat

by Titania Ladley

  Hâmau! That’s enough, hûpô!

  But it was no use. Nakolo had already crossed the line of no return, the one that finally brought him to the other side, that side of bisexuality he had denied and hidden his entire life. He tried to recall his rage, and prayed for its acidic comfort to boil within his blood and bring him back to the reality of his sorry life. It didn’t come. All he could do was lick her harder, finger-fuck her faster, deeper, and visually devour the man who stood only a few feet from him with nothing but tinted glass between them.

  He’d never told Kiona about his depraved fantasies. Hell, even if he wanted to, he probably wouldn’t get the opportunity now that Wulfrum had stolen her away. But he could dream, couldn’t he? He had that much coming to him after her betrayal. He could imagine how it might feel to have Wulfrum behind him, pounding into his ass while he ate Kiona’s sweet cunt just like he did now. The torture drove him to reach down and palm himself.

  “Kiona, are you sure you’re okay?” Mitch asked, his suspicious voice carrying down through the open sunroof. Deep, oh yeah, such a deep voice. Nakolo could well imagine it whispering in his ear during the throes of sex.

  “Um-hmm, y-yes,” she whimpered, and that was when he finally felt the spasms wrack his fingers. She ground her pussy into Nakolo’s face. Sticky juices trickled out, drenching his hand and chin. Her musky scent wafted up to fill the space of the car while her sweet folds covered his mouth. Her breath came out in ragged staccatos of suppressed ecstasy, and he heard her slap the rooftop just before she let out a final guttural, “Ahh…”

  A long moment of silence ensued. Kiona struggled to get her heavy respirations under control.

  “Uh, is there someone in there with you?” Wulfrum’s voice suddenly took on an edge of thick, knowing desire. It made Nakolo’s libido speed up, and he palmed himself harder.

  “N-no, of course not,” she laughed hollowly, shoving her dress back down with one hand. She shifted her feet and stood taller in the opening. Her puckered nipples pressed against the fabric of her dress, and Nakolo knew Wulfrum couldn’t miss them.

  Nakolo leaned back, lapping her juices from around his mouth. He stroked himself, and continued to obsess over Wulfrum’s fit torso and crotch through the dark glass.

  “What are you doing standing up in your sunroof? And whose truck is that?”

  “T-truck? I-I don’t have any idea.”

  Nakolo caressed her leg and trekked higher until he found one soft mound of her ass. He squeezed, and loud enough to be heard, he said, “Tell him, ku’u aloha. Tell him it’s your lover’s truck…and that you’re my woman.”

  Kiona gasped, and through the sunroof, she shot him a withering look.

  Wulfrum mumbled, “Goddamn it, I knew you had someone in there.” He bent down and cupped his hands around his snarling face, straining to see through the shaded glass. “Come on out, pal. It looks like we all have a few things to discuss.”

  “Mitch, no. Kulikuli! Just shut up, damn you, I’ll do it in my own time and in my own way.”

  “You mean he doesn’t know about the—?”

  “No, not yet. Please leave and let me do this my way. Get the hell out of here. Now. Pau! Aloha!” Kiona dropped down through the window and shoved open the driver’s door, forcing Wulfrum to step back. She sprang from the car and wagged her finger in his face. He didn’t flinch. He stood there with his arms crossed over that T-shirt-clad, wide chest of his, and sent her a baleful look. “Ahahana! This is none of your freaking business,” Kiona spat, her accent becoming heavier with her ire. “You hear me, Mitch? Now. I said aloha now!”

  Nakolo knew at that moment his suspicions had been right. There was something between these two, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. Well, he had ten fingers, and one was bound to hit the answer sooner or later. He stuffed his still-hard manhood into his jeans, zipped them up, and awkwardly climbed over the flattened driver’s seat.

  As he clambered from the low car and stood to his full height, only inches less than Wulfrum, he hooked his thumbs in his belt loops and drawled, “All right, pal. Here I am, Kiona’s lover in the flesh. Go right ahead. Talk. I’m looking forward to hearing what you have to say, you prick.”

  “Kol, please don’t make this—”

  Nakolo shot up a hand to halt her words, but his eyes never left Mitch. How could they? Nakolo had to admit the guy was a total hunk, even more so in the flesh. “Kulikuli, Ki. Just shut up for one goddamn minute, would you?”

  Kiona gasped. “Ooh, don’t you talk to me that way.”

  Nakolo supposed he was a bit star-struck, standing there only five feet from the Oscar-award-winning actor with the stunning aqua eyes, but he got his bearings just the same. He had always been a sucker for a pretty face, but he’d never had to field two at once—one male and one female, at that.

  “Quiet, Ki. I think I have a right to know what the fuck is going on here. Wulfrum, you have some explaining to do. Where do you get off butting into our lives…and interrupting our lovemaking? And furthermore, why did I see your hands all over my woman back at Jager’s house?”

  Kiona whirled, spewing all her wrath on the egotistical bastard star. He didn’t so much as balk when she shrieked, “Don’t you dare answer that, or say a word about—”

  “Why haven’t you told him yet?” Apparently, Wulfrum already knew the answer to his own question. He soaked Nakolo with an arrogant stare that reeked of an immature Ha-ha, I know something you don’t know attitude.

  “Told me what, you mother fucker?” Nakolo fisted his hands, preparing for the worst. Damn straight, he’d bust up that perfect face in a second if the man didn’t come clean with an explanation.

  “Mitch, if you open your mouth, I swear I’ll—”

  “You’ll what?” Mitch asked, his gaze finally swinging back to Kiona. “You won’t marry me?”

  Marry? Nakolo’s world tipped on its axis. That was the last word he’d expected to hear. Lovers, even best friends, but never marry. He shook the confusion from his head and dug a fingertip in his ear. “What?”

  “You heard me, I said marry me.” Wulfrum stepped back and draped an arm over the rim of Nakolo’s truck bed. Something about it both irked and turned Nakolo on. But he quickly shoved the confusing thoughts from his mind and tried to focus on what the cocky jerk had just said.

  “What?” Nakolo repeated. He strode toward Kiona and gripped her arms. Her face was pale, and he could feel her entire body trembling beneath his grip. Nausea stirred in his gut as he struggled to tamp down his rage. “You’re going to marry this man?”

  Her amber eyes filled with tears. She stared up at him, the wind tossing her wild mane and churning the waves of the Pacific Ocean in a breathtaking backdrop behind her. Nakolo’s own body quaked. He couldn’t stop his knees from buckling, and it was only by the fact that he held onto her that he didn’t collapse to the gravel parking lot.

  No. No. No.

  But he saw it there in her eyes, the lies, the betrayal, even the truth. She was marrying movie star Mitch Wulfrum.

  “Yes,” she finally whispered. “T-this coming Saturday.”

  “This Saturday? But…but you don’t even know him. How can you jump into it so fast? Or at all, for chrissake?”

  Mitch cleared his throat. “I, um, have to leave next week to shoot my next movie. It’ll take more than a month. Then I have a promotional circuit to fulfill. This weekend is the only time I—”

  “Mitch, shut up,” Kiona bit out.

  “Shut up? That’s all you can say to him? You’re going along with this?” Nakolo swallowed a lump of bile when she simply blinked at him. He let go of her as if she’d burned him, and stumbled toward his truck. “Fuck. This is crazy—pupule. What…why?” He spun back around, determined to make sense of the madness.

  No! He loved her. He could never live without her, much less see her marry another man.

  A man he himself had just lusted after.

  Was Nakolo just as deprave
d as Kiona where this man was concerned?

  Nakolo forced aside the niggling guilt and gaped at Kiona for a long moment. He watched as she buried her face in her hands and sobbed uncontrollably. Still, regardless of her betrayal, in spite of this huge master plan that had obviously been devised behind his back, he had an urge to go to her and comfort her.

  Wulfrum merely stood by, shuffling his feet, finally seeming to know it was time for him to keep his damn mouth shut.

  Kabana’s early evening heat beat down upon Nakolo, warming his skin. But that heat, that Kabana pride and fire that had always burned inside him, ultimately could not permeate the sudden chill that had just closed around his heart.

  She was going to marry someone Heloki would be proud of and welcome with open arms.

  And it wasn’t going to be Nakolo Huaka.

  No. Not with Heloki and Wulfrum standing as a united front intent on keeping their princess away from a lowlife like Nakolo.

  Not with all that money and fame Wulfrum could offer her. How in the hell could Nakolo fight that, except to work his ass off and one day hope to be worthy of her?

  But apparently, it was too late for that.

  “Kol, please, let me explain. I—”

  “Forget it, Kiona, forget it. I understand. Totally.” An icy tremble rippled through him, but he couldn’t tame his fury. He punched the side of his truck, denting the passenger door. Savoring the throbbing pain in his fist, he yanked open the door, scooted across the seat, and drove away with a squeal, the hot, syrupy taste of her pussy still lingering on his tongue.

  Chapter Four

  “Jesus Christ.” Mitch scrutinized the billowing tailpipe smoke, wincing at the pop and roar of the retreating old truck. He turned back to Kiona. “You always put up with that shit from him?”

  She gasped, watching as Kol squealed around a curve in the road, struggling to keep the tires off the shoulder…and away from the thirty-foot drop-off plunging straight to the sea. She reached out a quivering hand and planted it on the warm hood of her car. The sun dropped closer to the horizon, nearly blinding her. Muted orange rays slanted across the island from the west, blanketing lush land before reaching out over the choppy waters off the northeastern shore behind her. Its heat enveloped her, warming her flesh.

  But her heart had frozen solid at Kol’s dejected departure.

  Kiona shivered at the remembrance of that gleam of betrayal and pained anger in his dark eyes. Pressing a palm to her belly, she breathed slowly in and out to calm her jittery nerves and ease the dizziness that had suddenly seized her.

  “I…I’ve never seen him quite that upset before. I-I have to go after him.” She stumbled to the car door and dragged it open.

  Mitch seemed to come out of nowhere. He planted a firm hand over hers. “I’m going with you.”

  She shook her head vehemently, yanked her hand from beneath his, and sank into the bucket seat. “Oh no, you’re not. This is none of your affair.” Kiona slammed the door shut. They’d left the motor idling during their lovemaking, so there was no need to take time to restart it. She shoved the gearshift into reverse and prepared to lift her foot off the brake.

  Mitch pulled the door back open before she could press on the gas. She didn’t know how he managed to stand there looking so handsome and irresistible, but there was no denying his magnetism. Kiona had just experienced the man she loved with all her being racing right out of her life, and yet she couldn’t seem to take her eyes from the one she was to marry.

  Mitch’s turquoise gaze softened, and his tense body gradually relaxed. There was a light of seemingly genuine concern in his stunning eyes.

  Seemingly. He’s a professional actor, Kiona, and don’t you forget it.

  “Look, I’m sorry. The last thing I intended was something like this to happen.” He stepped closer and wedged himself between the open door and the driver’s seat. “But from what I’m gathering, this boyfriend of yours didn’t know about me any more than I knew about him.”

  She caught a whiff of his musky cologne, and she wondered if he’d quickly groomed himself before chasing after her. The thought of it pleased her somehow, and it drew her scrutiny up his lean body to his sun-streaked hair and flawless masculine face. A shiver went up her spine when he fixed his eyes on hers and squatted on his haunches, mesmerizing her with a roguish look.

  “Did he?”

  Kiona jerked her stare away, breaking the electrifying spell. She studied the vast ocean bathed by the waning evening light. How she wished she could just sprout wings and fly out there to some uninhabited island and wallow in her self-pity.

  “It all happened so fast, I never found the right time to tell him. And as far as informing you about Kol, well, I did just now at Jager’s place, didn’t I? It seemed irrelevant before that. Our contractual obligations made it very plain this would be a name-only arrangement, so I figured, why bother?”

  “Um, correct me if I’m wrong, but they were mostly your contractual suggestions as far as separate beds, name only, and all that crap. I swear Jager didn’t tell me about him, or believe me, I would have given more attention to that part of the agreement.”

  She shot him a heated stare. There was no stopping her voice coming out in a hissing, growling tone. “You signed, didn’t you? And name only was part of it. Isn’t that what it should mean? We lead our own lives whether we’ve currently got a significant other or not?”

  He lifted his wide, beefy shoulders. “I guess somewhere in the back of my mind, I figured that could easily be overcome if we ended up clicking. But I didn’t count on there already being a him to deal with.”

  “Right, being who you are, you figured whoever you got would be totally available for the infamous Mitch Wulfrum. But when you get right down to it, even that didn’t matter.” She couldn’t help it. Her voice rose with bitterness that seemed to bubble out of nowhere. “All you wanted was the trophy stage wife and you know it!”

  He held up his hands, palms toward her in a truce gesture. “Don’t get testy. Just trying to get clear on things.”

  “Yeah, it’s all clear as fog.” She flicked a narrowed, sidelong glance at him. “But I do wonder why Jager didn’t tell you about Kol.”

  “You can bet I’m going to corner the bastard and find out.”

  “Get in line,” she snorted.

  He let out a concurrent grunt and went on. “Look, just to reiterate, I might be an actor, but I assure you I’m not putting on. This all came as a genuine surprise to me. Figured it would be just you and me, babe.” He arched a dark-blond eyebrow. When he spoke again, that wide and delectable mouth of his twitched, as if he found something humorous in his next words. “I am kind of curious about something, though… We agree Jager might have been negligent, but why didn’t you tell me about Kol when we first met on the beach today?”

  Her mortification bubbled hot, making her cheeks flame. She knew very well what he implied. That she had avoided the truth because of their unexpected attraction. Okay, so it might be a teeny bit true, but she wasn’t about to admit to it.

  “That’s absurd. And the point here is, you—being the one to first plant this cockamamie marriage seed, by the way—didn’t bother to inquire with Jager if I was taken or not. Kind of odd if you ask me.”

  “Then we’re one odd pair. Besides, you were already cooking up something with Jager. He just put the puzzle pieces together and figured we’d be a good match to solve each other’s problems. And you accepted, didn’t you?”

  “No, he approached me about you after I cried on his shoulder about my father hating Kol. But still, we wouldn’t be here in the middle of this debacle if both of us hadn’t bought into this madness.” She swore under her breath for added emphasis.

  “Which naturally led me to believe you weren’t taken. But remember, that was all before I had the breathtaking pleasure of meeting you in the flesh.” When he winked at her, her belly fluttered. A flood of heat suffused through her loins. Ah, but that was nothing co
mpared to the fire that ignited when he reached out and trailed a finger from her jaw, down her neck and into her cleavage.

  Kiona didn’t know why she thrust out her chest and allowed him to touch her, to let him shift his hand around and cup her breast through the fabric of her thin dress. With Kol long gone and the urgency to explain to him she’d done this for their future, it was difficult to understand why her mind suddenly flashed with images of the three of them in bed together. Her nipple tingled and sprang to life when Mitch tweaked it through her bodice. She imagined Kol on her right side doing the same to her other areola. Kiona struggled to catch her breath, to remember it wasn’t supposed to be this way. She shouldn’t be conjuring up Kol while messing around with another man.

  She shouldn’t be with another man. Period.

  Name only, remember, you twit?

  Lono help her, she loved Kol with all her heart, truly she did. So how was it there seemed to be room for this?

  “Stop, please stop.” God, she hated the tone in her voice. It came out pathetically weak and unconvincing. “I-I need to go after him, to explain, or none of us will get what we want in this farce.”

  His eyes went ice blue. He withdrew his hand and stood up, towering over her, leaving her cold and strangely alone. Propping an elbow on the top of the open door, he ducked his head and drawled, “Of course. Go after him.” He stepped back from the door. “Tell him you’re going to be my bride in less than a week’s time. Tell him how you’ll become the highly visible wife of Hollywood’s most notorious rake, Mitch Wulfrum, in order to dupe your father, and as I’m now learning, to keep Kol as your lover on the side.”

  Her ire went up, spiking hot and fast in her bloodstream. “Yes. But you’re forgetting one huge point. I’ll also become that wife in order to smother those vicious gay rumors ruining the career of that particular notorious rake.”

  She couldn’t help it. She slammed the door shut, emphasizing her last word, and took off in a squeal of tires much the same way Kol had. When she looked in her rearview mirror, her husband-to-be was already climbing into his luxury rental car.