by Lux Miller
“Of course, Makua. But they have beef potstickers there if you wanted to take a chance on adventure, while safely keeping both feet on the ground. And I’ve heard their sake is second to none.”
I wiggle on an unassuming pair of panties, then pull out a long piece of fabric that’s at least four times as tall as I am. I smirk at Luca as he watches me wind it around my body, crisscrossing the fabric until I’ve created something that resembles an elaborate dress that secures all of my curves behind fabric. He shakes his head at me and wags a finger, “Are you sure you didn’t get a bit of New Orleans voodoo in your blood, too?”
I shrug as I slap his shoulder, “Not unless you put it there. I mean, I guess my father was from New Orleans. At least, that’s what I’ve been told. He never really said much about his life before my mother. He met my mom in Hawai’i on vacation and fell in love with her. From what he told me, he just abandoned everything and gave up New Orleans cold turkey. Phoned his employer and just told him that he wasn’t coming back.
“Then, when my mother died, he was too heartbroken to remain in the islands that reminded him of her. Everywhere he looked, he felt her loss, so he packed us up and took me to a strange city in a strange land. He may have outrun her ghost, but he couldn’t outrun his own demons. Despite his attempt to restore happiness to us, they found him anyway. He paid with his life… and I paid with my innocence.”
Luca is silent for a moment as Mike gives a nervously quick bow of his head before walking out of the changing area. Luca looks down at me, and the look on his face has morphed from playful and carefree to one of thunderous anger. “Mark my words, Emily. You’ve paid for the mistakes of enough men, myself included. Never again will you pay someone else’s debt.”
I blow out a startled breath and grab both of his hands, squeezing gently. “I am at peace with my past, Luca. Without it, I wouldn’t have you. But given the opportunity, I wouldn’t change anything I did. Life can be a cruel mistress, but this…” I motion back and forth between us, “...this is worth every step along the broken road.”
Before he can argue or try to be heroic and macho, I lean up on my tiptoes and kiss him. As I drop back to flat-footed, I laugh. “The only thing I regret is not coming ashore sooner, because I’m literally so hungry that my stomach’s hurting. If we don’t get to this place to eat soon, I’m going to cost you a fortune by the time you finally feed me. Get dressed. As nice as your body is, I don’t need any other woman staring at my man.”
Luca nods and smiles as I step away from him, slipping my feet back into the sandals I wore earlier today. “I mean it, Luca. Don’t make me stab a bitch out here…”
Luca snorts as he drops his towel and yanks on boxer-briefs, followed by a pair of slim cut, fitted jeans that leave absolutely nothing to the imagination. He pairs it with a turquoise button-down that he leaves untucked, except for in the very front. Once he’s slid on a black belt and a pair of black loafers, he tucks the tails of his shirt behind the belt buckle, then runs his hands through his still-damp hair, giving his head a shake to ‘style’ it.
I blink at him with my mouth hanging slightly open and nod. “I foresee all of that on the bedroom floor tonight. If you feed me sushi and sake and then make me go home with you looking all fine like that, we’re going to be screwing half the night.”
Luca nods with a smirk. “Trust me. I can’t wait to get my hands on those knots holding this contraption that looks like a dress closed. The minute we’re behind closed doors…” Luca lowers his voice and whispers in my ear, “...I’m going to eat your pussy for dessert until you scream my name. Then I’m going to fuck you senseless and fill that sweet little snatch of yours so many times that it’ll ooze back out. Your cunt will be so full of my cum that it can’t possibly hold any more. And then I’ll fuck you again…”
I stare at him with my mouth hanging open as he steps away, grinning like he’s just won the damn lottery. He holds his arm out to me and nods, “Now that our expectations for the night have been set, shall we?”
The ride to the Banzai Sushi Bar is almost uncomfortably quiet as Mike drives us down Kamehameha highway to the North Shore. He lets Luca and I out on the curb and disappears with the car to go park. Luca nudges me with a smile, “Does Mike know what your new term of endearment means?”
Shrugging my shoulders slightly, I glance up at Luca and raise one eyebrow. “I don’t think so. Not exactly, no. Do you?”
Luca pulls his smartphone out of his pocket and wiggles it around in the air over my head. “I have a good idea. Not sure how accurate the internet translator I used was… and it took me a while to figure out what the heck you were actually saying… but from what I can gather, it loosely translates to a term of endearment for a parent.”
I nod slowly. “More or less. It’s an informal thing, because actually saying father is a mouthful when you’re being proper, but this just feels natural. Should I stop? Is it too much?”
Luca shakes his head as he slides his arm across my back, resting his hand on my opposite hip. “I think it’s perfect. He basically raised me. You’re my wife. Cruel fate has taken so much from all of us. And you have been instrumental in putting back together my broken men left in the wake of the underground war, including me.”
I smile softly and squeeze Luca’s hand. “We’ve only won one battle, baby. We’re still facing the war.”
I hear a choked voice behind me, gruff and tempered. “War is tolerable when the love of a woman is on the line.”
I turn around and find myself staring at Mike, who looks borderline emotional. When our gazes meet, he straightens his posture and motions to the restaurant as he clears his throat. “I did some research on the menu here. I’ve got some wagyu beef and an eight hundred degree lava rock calling my name. Forget dumplings… I wanna do something wild. It might mean I have to eat outside, though, if the two of you don’t mind a bit more privacy.”
I break away from Luca and throw my arms around Mike, squeezing the burly man tightly. He stiffens at first, but his resolve melts the longer I hold onto him. Finally, he sighs over my head and wraps his arms around me as well. I grin and pull away when he finally reciprocates the affection and nod. “At least have Sake with the sashimi. And dessert. Promise me you’ll order dessert.”
I can feel Luca’s eyes boring into me across the table once we’re seated, so I finally look up at him. “What?”
Luca shakes his head. “Just trying to figure out how I ended up with such an incredible woman.”
I smirk and shrug my shoulders. “Your little brother convinced you to spare my life.”
Luca raises an eyebrow. “I’ve never really considered things that way, but I guess you’re right. Dante’s smarter than he looks, after all.”
I bust out laughing, nearly spitting out my water. I shake my head quickly and grab both of Luca’s hands across the table. “Luca… Dante is dangerous. He’s a six foot four wall of muscle who’s fucking terrifying with a gun. And he’s a brilliant tactician. I understand why you fought against him following in your footsteps, but his blood is as corrupted as yours. This is his destiny as much as it’s yours. He was born and bred Mafia just like you. He cut his teeth on your mistakes. He’s a dangerous ally, Luca… but he’s a vicious enemy. And one whose fury I’d never want to invoke.”
Luca nods as our food is brought to the table. “Apparently, the piccola ladra that I married has transformed herself from a mouthy little fireball to an outspoken criminal mastermind with the favor of the destroyer.”
I open up the chopsticks that the waiter brought to the table with our dinner and nod as I scoop up a piece of sushi gingerly. I pop it past my lips, and my eyes drift shut as it literally melts in my mouth. I hold up the glass of Japanese Harmony and tip it in Luca’s direction, then take a big swallow. I’m not sure what burns more going down… the spicy sushi or the whiskey, but I nod at Luca as my eyes water. He chuckles and follows suit, tasting a piece of the sushi followed by a big swallow of
Sake. I gulp in air like I’m a fish out of water as my mouth burns. And I can’t help but laugh, “I’m not sure if I’ve earned her favor yet, but I’ve certainly earned her ire.”
NINE
I’m nudged awake with Luca’s voice in my ear, telling me, “It’s almost time, Emily. We’ll be making our final approach to Hilo momentarily. You gonna finish that?” I blink my eyes at him sleepily as I sit up and stretch my arms over my head. I glance down at the half-finished cocktail that’s stowed in the arm of my chair and shake my head.
He grins and picks it up, then polishes it off, leaning down over me as he kisses the top of my head. “Have a good nap?”
I nod slightly as I return my chair to the upright position and fumble around for my seatbelt to fasten it as the overhead sign flashes. “Did I really fall asleep? I didn’t mean to fall asleep…”
Luca chuckles as he buckles his own seatbelt. “I did keep you up pretty late last night. I was about convinced that Mike was going to bust in there and yank me off you after about the third time. I’ve never seen you that… wild.”
Heat rushes to my cheeks, and I know that I’m probably the color of a tomato. What Luca says is true. I was so incredibly turned on last night by the time we made it back to the rental house that I damn-near jumped Luca before we’d even made it over the threshold of the front door. Apparently, eating an enormous plate of spicy, raw fish and washing it down with several shots of Japanese whiskey is not only an aphrodisiac, but an extreme one that wields you absolutely powerless to ignore it.
Luca held to his promise almost exactly. After tossing me onto the enormous bed, he’d reached under the dress I’d fashioned out of a sarong and literally ripped my panties off. As in, I’ll never be able to wear them again, because they’re torn straight down the middle from when he turned into a feral beast and pounced me. He didn’t bother to remove my dress until after he’d damn-near licked my pussy raw. Despite my mewling and begging for him to stop and me yanking on his hair, Luca kept his face buried between my thighs until I was so hypersensitive that I got off again almost the moment he stripped down and pushed his throbbing cock inside me.
It didn’t take long at his breakneck pace for him to come too, but he didn’t stop there. Despite us having both reached intense orgasms, Luca kept himself balls-deep inside of me while he flicked his thumb across my clit relentlessly, making me try to crawl up the bed until I got dizzy and began to see stars. Only when my entire body had gone rigid did he let up and kiss me, but he didn’t let me out of that bed until this morning.
Eventually, he’d managed to work off the rest of my clothes, and we spent hours touching, licking, and enjoying each other’s bodies as he held true to his other promise. This morning when we untangled ourselves from each other to get dressed to make the island hop, there was cum running down the inside of my thighs. Between the initial release of pent-up sexual energy and two times he woke me up during the night to fuck again, I suspect Luca must’ve gotten off at least five times.
I had no clue a man could even achieve that kind of feat, and from the mass of sticky, slimy fluid that gushed from inside me the moment I stood up, I suspect Luca likely ejaculated every time. There was so much that I joked I should pop a champagne cork in there to keep myself from ruining the seat on the airplane. But thankfully, despite the initial bursting of the dam, I haven’t had any problems with leakage since boarding the aircraft.
Luca even joked that we should totally sneak off and do it in the bathroom, and I just had to stare at him blankly like he was freaking crazy. My clit is still sensitive from last night’s festivities, and I don’t see how he could possibly even get it up again after all the fucking we did last night. Much to his dismay, I shut down his idea of trying to cram two people into an airplane bathroom just to give him some kind of distinction among his peers for joining the mile high club.
Needless to say, all of that screwing last night didn’t leave much time for sleep. Between my sleepiness and the stiffness in my muscles and joints from the rest of yesterday’s strenuous activities, I apparently fell asleep shortly after takeoff. I remember ordering a Mai Tai and taking a few sips, but the rest is just a hazy memory, a fuzzy picture in my mind that doesn’t even seem real. But as the plane descends down over the main island of Hawai’i and closer to my childhood home, a sudden rush of nostalgia washes over me.
This is the island of my people. The place where I was born, and the home where I spent my childhood. As the island below comes into view, I feel both a surge of happiness and gut-wrenching fear. What if everybody I knew has moved on with their lives? What if every person that I grew up with is no longer here? If they are here, will they remember me? Will they care? What if I’m not Hawaiian enough now? Will they reject me and tell me to go back to the mainland?
I shake my head to clear my thoughts. If anybody’s still here, they all probably assume I’m dead anyway. As the plane slows to a crawl on the runway at Hilo International Airport and makes a turn towards the gates, I turn to Luca. He looks to be relieved to be on the ground, and I can’t say I blame him. I’m not too fond of the concept of air travel myself, but since the ferry only runs between Maui and Lana’i and we didn’t book an inter-island cruise, getting between the islands is only possible by plane or helicopter. I suspect I’d like a helicopter ride even less than this, so airplane it is.
Luca unbuckles his own seatbelt, then leans over and unhooks mine, stealing a kiss as he does. I laugh as he pulls away and stands up to grab our carry-on luggage from overhead. I told Luca he was crazy to rent two places for our stay, but he insisted on keeping the house on Oahu for the full two weeks we’re going to be in Hawai’i even though we’ll only be spending about six days there total. The other week will be spent here on Hawai’i. I’m hopeful to find someone here who remembers me, but I’m not going to hold my breath.
Luca grabs both of our bags and nudges me out of my seat. I slowly walk off the plane and through the gate, finally releasing the breath I’d been holding since we disembarked. The little girl in me was secretly hoping to see a crowd gathered here with signs welcoming me home, but there’s only one person standing in the terminal with any kind of sign. And he’s definitely not here for me, because as I step into the terminal I heard an excited squeal behind me followed by hurried footsteps. A young woman brushes past Luca and I and practically dives into his arms, knocking them both to the floor where they proceed to kiss each other and giggle.
I turn my gaze up to Luca, who smiles as he pulls out a map of Hilo. I stand up on my tiptoes, putting my hands on his shoulders to try to boost myself up enough to see if he’s got anything circled on it. He chuckles and turns to face me, handing me the map. “There’s no big secret or anything, Emily. We’re not staying right on the beach here, but the lady I spoke with at the rental agency told me that big islanders are typically a more serene people, and that they traditionally live in the forests.”
I nod slowly, impressed that’s he’s done so much research into this trip. “You know, Luca. Some people might take a look at all of the research you’ve done into this trip and think that you did something so fundamentally disastrous that you’re going to be kissing my ass from the doghouse for years to come. I have to admit, though. I’m impressed that you really took the time to find these things out. It’s sweet, and while some people may see it as a weakness and try to exploit it as such, I find it incredibly sexy that this meant enough for you to bother. Most men would hear ‘Hawaiian vacation’ and be content to see their wife in a bikini, then gorge themselves at a commercially-produced luau. You’ve actually taken the care to make this trip matter. So… thank you, e ku’u ali’i.”
Luca stops dead in his tracks and whips around to face me. “You speak the native tongue?”
I shrug my shoulders. “I’m not fluent by any means, Luca. But I remember enough that I could probably talk to someone in Hilo. Outside of here might get a bit dicey because of regional inflections in words and such.
I remember dozens of solo words and phrases, but I couldn’t sit down and translate a letter or follow someone’s conversation. Thankfully, everyone speaks English too.”
Luca shakes his head quickly. “Now I understand why you react the way you do to me speaking Italian.”
I laugh and tilt my head to the side. “And how is that?”
Luca blinks at me slowly. “Like I hung the damn moon, and you can’t wait to jump me.”
Blushing, I smack his arm. “Luca! It was one phrase! You can’t possibly be turned on by that! You don’t even know what I said. What if I called you a shithead?”
Luca laughs and tugs me against him. I shake my head slowly as I feel the semi he’s sporting. “Then I’m going to change my name to shithead so you’ll call me that all the time… oooh, especially when we’re making love.”
I wiggle away from him and smack his arm again, several times in rapid succession. “You are such a pervert, Luca! Always thinking about sex… how can you even get it up after last night?”
