“Beautiful Sabine,” Koka whispered, his body shuddering in pleasure as it found perfect sanctuary in the groaning woman beneath him. Heart thudding after he’d spent the last of his energy, he tried to spare her his full weight without separating himself from the quiet joy of her sated body.
Finally, he eased away to lie beside her. He closed his eyes so he wouldn’t have to see the sexy blonde hair splayed across the pillow. If he looked too long in her eyes, he was going to tell her the depth of his feelings no matter how much instinct warned him otherwise.
But when he gave in and opened them anyway, it was to look once more at her red lace covered breasts above a sex-crumpled dress that he was going make Sabine wear every year on their anniversary.
He quivered under her exploring hand as she rose above him and leaned over to stare into his face.
“That,” Sabine declared, “was the best dessert ever.”
Koka laughed at her teasing and reached out his hand to brush back her hair. “That was not our real dessert,” he teased. To his delight, Sabine giggled.
“It wasn’t?” she asked.
Koka shook his head. “No. That was an experiment that went very well. When it becomes our real dessert, you will know. Such perfection will make you feel like singing.”
Sabine sighed and laid her head on his chest, rock hard muscles smooth under her cheek. “I’m humming now. That’s pretty close to singing. Can I ask why your name is Whitman? Or is that bad pillow talk?”
He stroked her hair as he gazed into her expressive face. It was one of the things he liked best about her.
“Pekala married someone from the mainland. His name was Whitman. They had two sons, both of whom followed the goddess and accepted Pekala’s genes for the face they presented to the world. My father and his brother both married island women, but the mainland name carried on. Some believed the job I took in Seattle was due to my dead grandfather’s influence. Really, it was because I wanted enough money to take care of Pekala and save for my restaurant at the same time.”
Sabine sighed over his story. “Do you miss your homeland?”
“The islands are part of me—so yes. However, Pekala says she is content here. And my daughter is mainland-minded. Pekala says Halia has my grandfather’s true mainland spirit. I think she is right. Halia does not plan to live on the islands. For now, I like being on the mainland and nearer to her.”
“Halia is your daughter?” Sabine asked.
Koka nodded. “Yes. She looks Hawaiian and favors her mother. She is turning out to be a good person. That makes me feel successful as a parent, since I was still a child myself when she was born.”
“I know what you mean about that making you feel successful. My children are turning out to be good people too. I feel very blessed until they buy me a Food Porn Star apron. Then I start to wonder where I’ve gone wrong,” Sabine said.
Koka smiled at her teasing. She just couldn’t seem to help herself. “Would you like to have your other dessert now?”
Sabine giggled. “Are you talking about cold, soggy glazed pears with melted whipped topping or something hot and fresh from the cook’s talented hands?”
Koka chuckled at her innuendo and harder as she ran a hand over his twitching interest. “You are a demanding woman, Sabine Blakeman. Perhaps I should be less surprised than I am.”
Sabine stopped her exploration to reach up and tap his cheek, putting some genuine force behind it. “Hey now, Todd. Submissive women don’t outbid evil bitches just to save a guy’s pretty ass.”
Laughing at her passionate and colorful declaration, Koka grabbed her wrist mid-tap the second time. He used his hold to push Sabine off his chest and to her back. It was so much fun to see her mild shock at his show of strength that he trapped the other wrist too. He pinned her to the mattress thinking of future sensual torture while she glared at him.
“Maybe submissive women get a hot dessert more often,” he said softly, diving into her mouth to taste her resistance to him teasing back. But surprising him once more, she arched her soft body and rose up to meet his mouth again. Kissing Sabine to subdue her quickly turned into a passionate exploration of tongues and teeth. A few minutes of it and his erection was straining against her again.
“I am not sure who just seduced who,” he marveled.
“Now be honest. Do you really want me to be submissive in bed?” Sabine asked.
Koka shook his head as he slowly released her wrists. “No. If you were submissive, what would I have to conquer? Ancient warrior blood runs through my veins. The truth is—I just want your desire—whatever that may be.”
Sabine stared at his serious eyes. “I think I started desiring you the first time you laughed at my teasing. However, for this sex thing to work out in your favor, you need to accept the fact that I like being on top as well as the bottom. I don’t know what kind of blood runs in your veins, but what you did—the whole flipping me over with perfect timing—that was incredible. So conquer away if you want to keep doing that.”
Koka hid his face in her neck as he smiled about Sabine’s cloaked praise. “I want you again, Sabine Blakeman.”
Sabine laughed at his semi-amazed tone. “Oh, is that what’s going on with that piece of iron poking my stomach? Wow, you had me worried there for a minute. I didn’t know what that was.”
Her belly laughter echoed off the walls as Koka tickled her to get revenge, but it was her thrashing legs that gave him access to what he really wanted. She melted and molded around him again as he slid inside her. His rough whispered words made his ancient warrior claim seem almost real to her. Oh the fantasies she was going to have about seducing this man.
“Na'u `oe, Ku`u Lei. No Keia La, No Keia Po, A Mau Loa.”
Sabine let her hands roam the bronze hardness of Koka’s shoulders and arms as she closed her eyes in pleasure of each stroke. “Right now, the hell I suffered for the last two years of my failing marriage seems like a small price to have paid for my freedom to do this with you. Does that make me a bad woman?”
Koka went still as Sabine’s eyes closed in bliss. His throat was clogged with declarations that demanded to be said, but he would make the choice hers. “Do you want to know what I just said to you in my language?”
Sabine opened her eyes at the seriousness in his voice, staring into his gaze as he rocked smoothly and steadily into her. “If I tell you I can’t make up my mind about hearing how you feel, will you be hurt or upset?”
Despite the fear in Sabine’s question, love still flooded his heart with hope. “No, I will not be angry,” Koka whispered. “I will be patient and wait for my sunshine to come out from behind her clouds.”
Beneath him, Sabine snickered at his poetic promise even as she dug her fingernails into his back while he pushed into her. Hissing at the passionate pain, Koka kissed her fiercely and had his way with her until she screamed.
Chapter 11
Blanche stared at what Sabine was sighing over and shook her head. “If you didn’t take on so many social losers for clients, you wouldn’t be holed up in here sighing over plans gone wrong to make them publicly presentable. At least your taste in men is improving. Speaking of men, drop what you’re doing. Anthony wants to see us both in his office.”
Sabine pulled her readers down to glare at Blanche over them. “I know you’re technically my boss, and Anthony’s technically yours, but lately you’ve both been crossing every imaginable employer-employee harassment line with me. Is this a trend I need to be concerned about in this company?”
Blanche laughed at the complaining. “Maybe I’m cranky and jealous of your new boyfriend. Now move your Sexy Chef charming ass because the company president wants to see us both as soon as we can get there.”
Sighing, Sabine pulled her readers off her nose and tossed them on top of her desk as she stood. “Oh . . . well, since the company president wants to see us both about my social life outside the company, we’d better go right away.”
Sabine felt at least a little satisfied when Blanche huffed as she choked on her shock.
“You were always sassy, but what is with your total snarkitude lately? You do one guest spot on a small, local TV show and now you’re too special to talk with Anthony?”
Sabine made a growling sound as she joined her boss and they headed down the hall. “Every conversation I’ve had with Anthony lately has started with ‘So how’s Todd doing?’ Well, I’m tired of answering that question. Todd doesn’t work for him. I do. He hasn’t asked me how I’m doing lately. No one has.”
Blanche shrugged. “That’s because we all know how you’re doing, Sabine. We hear you humming in your office all day. Sound carries well down the hall here.”
Sabine shook her head. “If I’m humming, it’s because my ex finally got the last of his belongings from the garage over the weekend. Now I don’t have to see him or his new wife’s fake breasts again until one of our kids graduates college. Hey, Anthony should ask me about Clarissa’s breasts. Technically, the retirement he gave me paid for them. He might want to know if he got his money’s worth.”
Beside her Blanche laughed as her eyes got huge.
“Sabine, that is an excellent deflection. I remember teaching you how to change the subject and you are now quite the master. But wake up and smell the PR goldmine of your situation, darling. You’re dating the most sought-after bachelor in Seattle. Inquiring minds—especially those in our company—want to know all they can about it. It’s okay to be jealous of the other women chasing him for his hot body, but you really need to get used to your boyfriend’s popularity. Unless Todd Lake loses those muscles of his or forgets how to cook, I don’t see that waning too much.”
Sabine settled for a dirty look instead of a retort. She refused to give in to Blanche’s torture and confess anything significant about the last two weeks with Koka.
“He and I are friends, Blanche. If you’re looking for dirt, all you’re going to find out is that Chef Lake is teaching me to cook. My ex and my kids would be laughing their asses off if they found out I was taking cooking lessons after all my years of burning macaroni and cheese.”
She told herself that burning last night’s dinner when she and Koka had stopped to make love didn’t make a single word of her statement less true. Koka was teaching her to cook. She had mastered grilled pineapple and pork chops. It was beside the point that she had also mastered how to make her cooking teacher moan in pleasure with just a few pleasurable strokes of her hand.
“Sabine—you stopped walking and stared off into space. Are you seriously that afraid of talking to Anthony?” Blanche demanded.
Sabine rolled her eyes. Great. There went her professionalism, sacrificed for memories of hot sex with an enthusiastic man.
“No, I’m not afraid of talking to Anthony. If you must know, I was thinking about the grilled pineapple and pork chops I made last night. I missed lunch today and my candy bar high wore off hours ago.”
Blanche glared in disgust. “You’re the only woman I know who gets more blissed out by the prospect of food than by dating the best looking bachelor in Seattle.”
Sabine laughed at Blanche’s comments, her sense of humor finally winning out over her annoyance. She thought of Koka wearing her Kitchen Diva apron and no shirt as he had tried to rescue their dinner. It had been sexy as hell, even if the moniker fit. Any woman would have enjoyed cooking around that kind of inspiration.
Anthony stood as they entered his office and waved two DVD cases triumphantly in the air.
“Guess what I have? Early copies of your guest appearance on The Sexy Chef. And these babies don’t have the commercials added either. Here Sabine—this one is for you.”
Dazed, Sabine walked forward and took her copy. “Thank you. Why did they send you a copy of my appearance?”
Anthony grinned at one of his favorite employees. “I bought an advertising spot. It’s not on this recorded version of the show—something to do with the network reserving the right to splice spots in as needed. I got these because they send a show sample to new clients so they know what customers will be watching when the spot runs. I asked for two copies of your specific show. Nice, huh?”
Sabine let her breath out slowly hoping to mask her exasperated sigh. “Yes. That was really thoughtful of you, Anthony.”
“No problem. So how is Todd doing this week?”
With Anthony busy loading his copy of the DVD into a player, he didn’t see the glare she gave Blanche who was laughing behind her hand.
“Chef Lake is fine. He’s giving me cooking lessons,” Sabine said, keeping her tone even. “I made grilled pineapple and pork chops mostly by myself last night. He’s a really good teacher.”
She pasted an all business smile on her face when Anthony turned and beamed at her. How the hell had her work associates gotten so involved in her personal life? Anthony’s nod and wink in her direction was like having her father approve of her high school boyfriend.
“So do you call him Chef Lake when he’s teaching you to cook? Why don’t you call him Todd?” Anthony asked.
Sabine schooled her face into the most stoic expression she could manage. “Actually, I don’t call him at all because his schedule is much busier than mine. Chef Lake usually calls me when he’s free and wants to get together for a cooking lesson.”
Anthony’s face twisted in confusion as the show began to play. When all of them turned to watch, Sabine’s face heated at the sight of her gigantic smile as she stared up into Koka’s TV face. She blushed as she watched herself paying close attention to everything he was saying and doing.
Was that actually a giggle coming out of her mouth every time he showed her how to do something? “Oh my God,” she said finally, bringing up a hand to cover her face. “I can’t believe I giggled like that on TV.”
But Blanche and Anthony didn’t comment or even look at her. Their gazes were glued to the screen where Koka was now feeding her a bite of grilled pineapple from his fork. She blushed quietly thinking about sitting in his lap while he did that same thing last night.
She curled fingernails into her palms and squeezed hard. It was nearly impossibly to keep her mind from drifting to every intimate moment she’d had in the last two weeks with the man on the screen.
When the show finally ended, Anthony raised the remote and clicked it off. He turned an inquisitive gaze to her.
“If you think that’s bad, Chef Lake is a lot more bossy off camera when he’s showing you how to cook something,” Sabine joked, trying to shake the shock from Anthony’s gaze.
“Are you sure you two are just friends?” Anthony asked.
Keeping the blankest expression in place that she could, Sabine nodded, hoping she wasn’t going to go to hell for lying to her boss. “Yes. Why do you ask?”
Sabine swiveled to face the woman at her side as the woman laughed loudly and swore.
“People who watch that show are going to need a cold shower afterward,” Blanche exclaimed. “Just how many times did his arm graze your breast? I stopped counting after twenty.”
Sabine didn’t reply to Blanche. She couldn’t. Lying was hard for her and it had taken all she had just to get one good one out to Anthony about only being friends. She opened her mouth, but was saved by Anthony butting in.
“All I can say is The Sexy Chef actually looked sexy for once. Usually he looks serious and all business no matter what his apron says,” Anthony said.
“Do you watch his show often?” Sabine asked, a bit surprised at Anthony’s comment.
Anthony shrugged. “Actually, I do. My wife tapes it. She loves trying Todd’s recipes.”
Sabine eased out another breath. “So do I. He’s definitely a great cook. That’s not just hype for the show. It’s really true.”
“What did you think of his producer?” Anthony asked.
“Edwina? She’s fine to work with. Tough-minded where Chef Lake is concerned, but she was nice enough to me,” Sabine reported.
&
nbsp; “I called her and asked if she thought Todd might cook for our Melting Pot fundraiser this year. I pitched them filming a live show during the event, but she didn’t seem very interested in the idea,” Anthony said.
Sabine blinked. “The fundraiser for the homeless shelter is too large an undertaking for one person. We usually get a catering service.”
Anthony nodded. “Ms. Winston said she would run a personal request by Todd even if the network didn’t want to do the live show. If you get the chance, give him a nudge in our direction, will you?”
Sabine blinked again. Give him a nudge? Was her boss really asking her to use her connection to Koka to get something out of him for the company?
“What kind of influence do you think I have over Chef Lake?” Sabine asked.
“The kind where the man kept touching you every three seconds of his show,” Blanche replied, answering for Anthony. “Unless he does that to every woman, it means he’s really interested in you.”
Sabine sighed. “I’m sure he doesn’t do that intentionally to any woman. The set kitchen was very small. And in case you’re trying to be tactful, don’t bother. It’s obvious that neither he nor I are miniature people. Those body brushes were the result of insufficient space.”
“And I thought my ex-husband was bad at flirting,” Blanche said. “Yours left you clueless about men.”
Sabine answered Blanche’s mean jibe with a glare. But when Anthony and Blanche both just continued to stare at her, she finally shrugged. “If cooking for the fundraiser comes up in any conversation, I’ll talk to him.”
Cringing inwardly at her capitulation, she promised herself that she would definitely talk to Koka about it, but not the way they thought.
Under no circumstances was she going to let him be used by Anthony, or the likes of Blanche, whose ethics she was starting to question. She would just have to come up with some kind of excuse for his decline that wouldn’t negatively impact her job.
***
Rising from the table, Koka gathered their empty dishes and carried them to the sink.
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