by Ladew, Lisa
The man didn’t respond though. He went on shaking West’s hand, his face still slack. West blinked in confusion but pushed on. “Maybe you could go back to your seat and try to relax a little? I’m sure you’ll get your drink as quickly as possible,” he said, knowing it couldn’t possibly work.
But the man pulled his hand out of West’s and retreated down the long corridor between the seats and sat down, about five rows in. The flight attendant gave him a grateful look. “Thank you.”
“No problem,” West said distractedly, looking after the man, who was sitting in his seat, his hands folded in his lap, and his entire manner calm. West shook his head at the man’s strange behavior and went back to stand in line for the bathroom. By the time he returned to his seat, he had forgotten all about it.
***
They touched down at the Honolulu airport four hours later to beautiful, hot weather, palm trees, and amazingly blue skies. Katerina squealed in excitement and clutched West’s arm as they walked into the airport. “Hawaii, I’m really in Hawaii,” she said. West looked around for the first surprise he knew was coming. He spotted it before Katerina did, but only by a moment.
“West, there’s a woman holding a sign with my name on it,” she said, trepidation creeping into her voice.
West smiled. “We better go see what she wants.”
West could feel Katerina’s indecision but he hoped she knew that there was no way the reporters could have followed her here, or even known she was here. Besides, the woman was obviously not a reporter. She was tall and slim, in a beautiful, flowing purple dress with white flowers on it. Her hair was long and black, her features distinctly Polynesian, and she had a pink hibiscus flower behind one ear.
West steered her that way and Katerina went up to the woman. “I’m Katerina Holloway.”
“Welcome to Hawaii,” the woman said in a beautifully melodious voice. She reached behind her onto a chair and grasped a white flower lei and held it up, meaning to drop it over Katerina’s head. A smile broke over Katerina’s face like sunshine over the ocean and she bowed her head to receive it. The woman gently placed the lei around Katerina’s neck and then kissed her on both cheeks. Katerina picked up one of the flowers and smelled it. The woman reached behind her and picked up another lei. West had ordered one of each kind of lei they had, and one after the other, the woman dropped fifteen leis over Katerina’s head until they rested on her neck and shoulders like a field of tropical flowers. She turned back to West and the joy on her face beamed through his heart. He patted his pocket again and considered the moment nervously. No, he decided. Too public. He didn’t want her to feel pressured.
The Polynesian woman turned to West and gave him his one lei, an open ended, green, leafy Maile lei. She then bade them both goodbye and walked away. Katerina looked around. “Why didn’t anyone else get a lei?”
“Because you have to pay for them these days. It used to be that the Hawaiian government gave one away to everyone who arrived by airplane, but they don’t do that anymore. I called ahead and ordered those,” he said, nodding at her flowers.
“Thank you,” she said, pressing her lips to his cheeks. “You think of everything.”
They retrieved their bags from the baggage carousel and walked outside to heat and traffic. West immediately flagged down a cab and helped her into it. “The Royal Hawaiian,” he told the driver.
“The Royal Hawaiian,” Katerina repeated. “It sounds so elegant.”
“You’re gonna love it,” West said. He had brought Stephanie here on their honeymoon, but they had stayed at the Waikiki Hilton. West had liked the Hilton, but didn’t want to take Katerina there. This was his new life too.
The cab whizzed over entrances and on-ramps and finally settled on the highway, zipping along to Waikiki. Katerina leaned over and whispered, “I didn’t realize this was such a big city.”
West nodded gravely. “Honolulu is a big city, over a million people, but once we head north to the rest of the island, you’ll see. It’s just like on television - small towns, long beaches, and palm trees. I’ll take you out there whenever you want. And maybe we’ll go to another island. We could see the active volcano, or do anything you want to do.”
Katerina hugged him, then looked around from the back of the speeding cab, trying to take in all the sights. She rolled down her window slightly to smell the tropical air and marveled that she was here. She was in Hawaii, even though her life was in a shambles. But no, not too much of a shambles. She looked over at West, the strong, amazing man next to her, and snuggled into his arms. Sure she had no job, no prospects, and no ideas, but she had a future. She must be doing something right if West was still around, still loving her.
West smiled at her and she thought she saw a secret in his eyes. A good secret, she hoped, as a tiny worm of disquiet squirmed into her heart.
Chapter 23
“Oh my God,” she breathed as the cab wound its way through the lush garden in front of the Royal Hawaiian. “It’s so beautiful,” she cried unable to tear her eyes away. “And it’s pink!”
West smiled indulgently at her but she barely noticed. She was fumbling with the cab door latch, wanting only to be out in the ocean air. The bellhop came up immediately and made their bags disappear. West took her hand and invited her into the hotel. Katerina looked up until the very last moment, at the dark, stylized windows. She almost felt like she was at a villa in Italy, but it was pink, and it was Hawaii.
Inside was even pinker, if that was possible. The ceilings and walls were a delicate shade of pink while the carpet was a rich, deep plum with Hawaiian patterns. The chairs and settees were upholstered with gorgeously varied pink and red colors. The overall effect was amazing, especially when Katerina realized that the entire large lobby was open on both ends. The ocean breezes could move right through the building. She wondered if there even were doors to close. But what did they do in a hurricane? She shook her head at the thought. Leave it to her to wonder about the worst thing possible when all around her was beauty staring her in the face.
West held her fingers loosely, and watched her face as she took everything in like a child. She had never seen anything as beautiful as this grand, old hotel. Rich green foliage peeked at her from the back garden. Huge palm trees, birds of paradise flowers, anthuriums, and red ginger torches lined the grounds. California was tropical, but California was nothing like this. This rich, overflowing greenness. This incredibly lush and abundant plant life. She’d never seen anything like it.
“West, I love it,” she whispered. “I want to live here.”
West beamed at her. “Say the word, we don’t ever have to go back if we don’t want to.”
Katerina gaped at him. She’d been kidding. Well not kidding but … she hadn’t meant it. Her mind opened up like a flower in the morning light. They could live here. Neither one of them had a job to go back to. West had money, although she didn’t have a clue how much. They could get jobs here. They could get an apartment.
A new thought struck her. They could live anywhere in the world. They could be one of those nomadic couples who spends six months in Mexico, then six months in Brazil, then jets off to Europe at the drop of a hat. And the press wouldn’t follow her. Couldn’t follow her. Her former powers would become a non-issue. They would be forgotten. She would be a nobody. Life opened up before her, and Katerina finally understood why West had quit his job.
“Maybe I will …” she said to him with a coy smile and he opened his hands expressively. Anything you want my dear.
“Want to check in? We could go see what our room looks like. I think we have a view of the ocean.”
Katerina grabbed his hand and jumped up and down. “Yes!”
They walked to the front desk and were immediately greeted by a smiling woman with a large pink flower in her hair. “Aloha, may I help you?” she said.
Katerina smiled at the aloha. So people actually said that here. West checked them in quickly and they headed for th
e room. West pushed the door open and their bags greeted them. Katerina walked through the short hallway into the large open room and gasped again. West never stopped surprising her. The room was a large suite. Everything was white. The carpet, the couches, the bedspread, the walls and the ceiling. On the far side was the largest balcony, called a lanai in Hawaii, that she had ever seen. There was even a couch out there, a large sitting couch with huge, plush pillows on it. She ran to the lanai and threw the doors open and salty air flowed past her, entering the room.
She walked outside and was greeted with the most expansive swath of blue, blue ocean she had ever seen. This wasn’t like Northern California’s ocean. It wasn’t dark, choppy, and a bit foreboding. It was the lightest blue, the color of a robin’s egg. The waves came in gently, making her think even a baby could play in them. People lined the beach and frolicked in the waves and everywhere Katerina looked she saw nothing but happiness and leisure. Two things that she was greatly looking forward to for the first time in her life.
Katerina turned back around to find West, to pull him over here, to exclaim to him that he just had to look at this beautiful beach, but he was right behind her, on one knee.
Katerina sucked in a violent breath as West took her hand gently. “Katerina, there’s something I want to ask you. I’ve been wanting to ask you this for several days now but the moment has not been right till now. I know we’ve only known each other a few months, and I know this is hasty, and I know you may say no, but I have to ask anyway. I wouldn’t be true to my heart if I didn’t. And if you do say no, it’s completely OK. I’ll ask you again when you say I can. But Katerina, I love you more than you will ever know. You make my heart full and whole and the worst day with you is still leaps and bounds better than the best day alone. I don’t want to ever be alone again. I want us to be together always, and I know that if we are we can accomplish anything.”
Katerina’s hands flew to her mouth as tears sprang from her eyes. Was he? He couldn’t be …
West reached into his pocket and pulled out a slim ring box. He opened it and Katerina saw a beautiful and unique looking ring with a pale yellow stone in the center.
“Katerina, will you be my wife?” he said, holding up the box.
Disbelief stole over Katerina. She hadn’t seen this coming, she had never imagined it. She looked inside herself. Did she want to marry West? Of course she did! She loved him with everything she was. He was the most gentle, thoughtful, caring, amazing human being she had ever known, and he had accepted her when no one else had. He had made the last few dangerous and terrifying months bearable. He’d kept her safe. He’d even made it fun and as good as it could be at times. No one else could have done that for her. Not even Jordan. Of course she wanted to be with him forever. Of course she wanted to be his wife.
Katerina opened her mouth and tried to speak, but only a small noise came out. So she nodded her head up and down and watched as a beautiful and radiant smile of relief and love crossed West’s face. He slipped the ring on her finger and she looked at it and then turned to the ocean and screamed, a joyful, happy scream of jittering excitement. If only her mom were alive to see this. She knew her mother would have loved West like her own child. Would have thought West was perfect for her only daughter.
West laughed and stood up, gathering her in his arms. He nuzzled her cheek and kissed her neck. “We can have as long of an engagement as you like,” he said. “I don’t want to rush you. I just wanted you to know how I really and truly feel about you. That I can’t live without you, and that I don’t want to.”
Katerina leaned back in his arms, the warm, salty breezes caressing her face, curling her hair. “We could get married tomorrow, West, or in a year. It doesn’t matter to me.”
“You don’t want a big wedding?” he growled as he kissed her neck.
“Big? I don’t have any family. There is no one who I could invite. Just Jordan.”
“Then my family is your family now. Maybe I’ll ask my brother and my dad to fly out here to meet you.”
Katerina twirled a finger in the back of his hair. It was getting a touch too long and unruly and she loved it. “That would be wonderful, I mean, well, as long as you think they will like me …” she finished, a touch of anxiety in her voice.
“They will love you. How could they not? You’re perfect,” West said into her neck as he laid kisses along her collarbone.
Katerina looked out over the sweet, blue ocean and sighed in happiness, even as her body quickened with desire. She couldn’t believe her good luck, her good fortune. Damn the last few months. If nothing else, they’d given her West, and that made up for all.
West trailed kisses across her chest and suddenly her body fired with want and need for her man. Desire to lay with him and be with him and let him do naughty things to her that would make her forget … forget those bad men whose names she didn’t even want to think of right now.
West’s hand crept up under her shirt and found her right breast, kneading the soft skin there. She felt her nipple harden to a point in an instant as he gently pinched and teased it. She moaned into the trade wind and brought her head forward, pulling him up to her by his ears. Their mouths met in their first kiss as an engaged couple. Heat surrounded them and consumed them as they generated their own internal fire.
West probed the seam of her lips gently with his tongue, then ever-so-lightly dipped inside her mouth. Katerina opened to him willingly, spurring him on, inviting him in. He made a deep noise of longing in the back of his throat. “I can’t wait until you are my wife, Katerina. Until the day I can swear before God to love you until the day I die.” As he spoke he lifted her gently and deposited her on the couch on the lanai, pushing pillows out of their way. Katerina sank into his words, loving them, loving him, thinking she couldn’t wait either.
Katerina looked around, but when she saw the privacy blinds between each of the balconies she dropped her gaze back to him. No one could see them. They could make love out here, in the open air, the ocean breezes kissing them, and as long as they weren’t too loud, no one would ever know.
West’s other hand snuck under her shirt as his perfect kisses made her weak with longing. She lifted her shirt over her head and quickly undid her bra, then dropped her gaze back to his eyes as he devoured her with a simple look. He came towards her again, his gaze smoldering, running a hand along her neck, down to her breast, ever so lightly tracing a circle around the buxom flesh there, his eyes never leaving hers. Katerina smiled playfully at him, still internally wowed at her amazing luck. Had there ever been a more romantic moment? Had there ever been a more wonderful man? The weight of the ring on her finger made her notice it again, and again. She was engaged. And she was normal again. A regular person who didn’t know anything about anyone but what they told her.
She looked into the depths of West’s soul through the windows of his eyes and saw the truth and the love there. It almost folded her heart in half with its weight. She couldn’t help it, tears leaked from her eyes even as her body began to throb under West’s touches.
“Oh hey, what’s wrong, baby?” West asked, pulling her into an embrace, her bare breasts against his shirt.
“I’m just so happy,” she said.
He pulled back and smiled at her, a soft and gentle smile that lit up her world. “I’m glad,” he said. “We don’t have to …” he trailed off as he tried to lift her from the couch, being Mr. Thoughtful as usual.
Katerina pulled him back down. “Are you kidding, Mr. Shepherd? You don’t get away from me that easy,” she told him, pulling at his shirt with her fingers. He whipped it over his head and she smiled at his speed. She ran her hands over his strong chest and ab muscles as he bent to kiss her once more. His firefighter’s muscles, she thought, then caught herself before guilt could enter her mind. Now they would be pilot’s muscles, or surfer muscles, or … God help her as she thought a new thought for the first time in her life - daddy muscles? Were they going to star
t a family? Something she never dreamed or knew she wanted until this moment. Or let herself know that she wanted. Married. She was going to be married to this amazing man and yeah, they were going to have a dozen children … or two. Whatever.
She pulled West down on top of her and covered his mouth with her own, passion suddenly spearing through her. “West,” she whispered.
“Yes, Katerina?” he replied into her mouth as his hands worked their magic on the willing flesh of her chest. He then ran his hands up her neck and gently lifted her hair in that way she loved so much, then ran his fingers back down to her breasts, spreading tingles of excitement throughout her.
“West,” she said again. She knew what she wanted to say to him, but her mind blocked her tongue from acting. She wanted it rough and hard and dirty and soft and tender and languorous. She wanted him, and she wanted to tell him she wanted him in that way he liked so much, and she wanted to not be embarrassed about it. What was her problem? She pushed the words out, made herself do it. He was going to be her husband and no one else could hear them.
“West, fuck me please, I want you inside me.”
West groaned into her mouth, a deep, throaty sound that made her heart skip a beat. “Oh Jesus, Katerina. Say it again, let me hear it from your innocent lips. I can’t stand it.”
Emboldened now, she dropped her hands to the bulge in the front of his pants first and squeezed hard. “Fuck me, West. Fuck me hard and fast and slow and soft and every way in between.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said, and suddenly her shorts were gone. She quickened at his rough touches, loving them, knowing he was all man, and all brawn, and strong enough to do what he wanted with her, but gentle enough to only do what she wanted.
He stood, looking into her eyes the entire time, and dropped his jeans to the floor, stepping simultaneously out of them and his shoes, then pressing his body weight deliciously against her on the couch. She could feel his thick cock nudging at her thigh and she wiggled underneath him in anticipation. He knelt between her legs, pressing the head of him to her very entrance, where she could feel herself throbbing against him. His heat surprised her. She wanted him inside her. Wanted him in a dozen ways.
