She managed to nod and then slid her arms around his waist and laid her cheek against his chest once more. She just wanted to stay in his arms and hold him and be held.
“Oh, Kekoa, look at your hands!” Amy cried out.
Kristen turned her head to see Amy tending Kekoa’s bleeding palms. Guilt ripped her up inside.
“What the hell happened down there?” Luke asked, guiding Kristen to a seat and lowering her onto it. He took one of Kekoa’s hands and scrutinized it. “Tell Amy where to find the first-aid kit,” he ordered Kekoa and then took his other hand to examine it. “This cut should probably have a couple of stitches.”
“No stitches,” Kekoa replied quickly, after describing the wall where the first-aid box hung. “Just patch me up, Doc.”
Luke stilled and stared at the wounds as if he saw something else, then he blinked and seemed to come back. What was that about?
She unzipped her BCD and slipped it off her shoulders. While Luke treated Kekoa’s hands, with Amy assisting like a veteran RN, Kristen unclipped her belt and then went to inspect the damage to her partner’s hands.
“Kekoa, I am so sorry.” She gently touched a finger to the gauze wrapped around his palm.
“I’m fine.”
“So, what happened?” Luke asked again.
“My reef hook didn’t hold.” Kristen plopped into a seat, exhausted. “The current swept me away, but Kekoa’s quick thinking saved the day.” She smiled at her dive partner.
Kekoa held her gaze unsmiling. “You would have done the same for me.”
“It sounds positively horrifying,” Amy said. “I don’t know how you can talk about it so casually, Kris.”
Kristen didn’t want to think about it anymore. She’d faced death before and one thing she was good at: taking life one day, one hour, even one minute at a time. “I’m starving. Let’s head back and get some lunch.”
“Oh, that sounds good.” Amy packed up the first-aid kit and followed Kekoa as he moved toward the cabin. “I know just the place. It’s a little bistro by the marina. Do you like the food there, Kekoa?”
“Yes, but I can’t join you,” he answered. “I have other business.”
“Oh, no.” She pouted. “Well, that blows.”
Kekoa turned back with a raised eyebrow. “Blows?”
“Er…I mean, I’m disappointed.” Amy bit her lip.
Without another word, Kekoa turned, entered the cabin and started the engine.
Poor Amy. Kristen had tried to warn her. Kekoa was such a traditional guy. His father was a chief. His Ohana was practically considered royalty, and they were all about honor, ancestors and bloodlines. It was bad enough he wanted to start a tourist business. They would never approve of him dating someone they hadn’t vetted as a proper wife. They especially would not approve of a cocktail waitress.
Kristen was at a loss as to what to say to Amy, although she could usually be distracted if Kristen mentioned shopping. “Hey, isn’t that bistro right next to the little shop with all the cute earrings?” Kristen asked her.
“I guess so.” Amy stared after Kekoa. “I think I’ll go home, though. I don’t know how you get up so early every morning and work so late at night.”
Kristen sometimes wondered herself, but she didn’t say anything. She knew Amy wasn’t really tired. If only she could help her friend somehow. But talking to Kekoa would make things worse. She stood and put her arm around her friend. “I’m sorry, Amy.”
Amy pasted on a bright smile. “No worries.” She flounced off around the cabin to the front of the boat and stood at the railing with her chin up and her hair blowing behind her as though she was queen of the world. Kristen knew that was an act. She almost followed her, but then thought it best to leave her alone for the moment. Let her deal with her feelings in private.
Kristen turned to Luke. He’d been quiet throughout the exchange. He sat with his elbows on his knees as the boat changed direction and headed for shore. His face held no expression. What was he thinking?
Maybe he thought she was an incompetent diver. That she had caused her dive partner to get hurt. Maybe he wished he hadn’t come today and gotten mixed up in all this? Depression seeped into her chest. It seemed as if the whole outing had become a disaster.
And she realized now, only when it seemed it was not to be, how much she’d wanted something to happen between herself and Luke.
She wanted to make love with him.
Which was huge for her. Because she hadn’t been intimate with anyone since she’d lost her right breast.
4
KEKOA PULLED BACK ON the throttle, killed the engine and let the Ho`opono drift into dock. He checked behind him, but Kristen had already disembarked, grabbed the stern line and secured it to the moorings. Her man, Luke, jumped off and secured the towline.
Despite the accident today, Kristen was a good partner, a sensible woman.
Unlike the redhead who appeared in his line of vision, taking Luke’s hand to help her step off the boat in those ridiculous shoes. She didn’t even dress sensibly. Everything about her irritated Kekoa. Including the erotic daydreams he couldn’t seem to prevent. He pictured himself untying her halter and cupping her full breasts, rubbing his thumbs over her stiff nipples.
No. It was shameful to have such thoughts about her when he was practically engaged to another woman. The marriage between himself and Mahina had been arranged when they were both children. He didn’t want to marry Mahina, and he was pretty sure she loved another. But they were both bound by honor to unite their families.
And if he weren’t?
He closed his eyes and remembered Amy’s tender ministrations to his hands earlier. Her perfume was like her: exotic and sensual. Even now it lingered in the air here in his cabin. If he were a different man, he’d have her in his bed before the sun set tonight. But it was just as well. If she were his woman, he would never allow her to work in that bar and flirt with other men all night.
“Hey, I forgot my basket.”
He spun on his heel to find the object of his thoughts standing just inside the door to his cabin. He looked out at the dock as Kristen and Luke drove away in a Jeep.
Amy took a step and grabbed her basket off the console. “Kris said to tell you goodbye,” Amy continued. “She tried to get your attention, but you must have been busy with boat stuff.”
Boat stuff? He remembered the first time he met Amy. He’d dropped in to the Tradewinds one evening to give Kristen the new brochures he’d had printed up. Amy had brought him a drink and hung around to talk.
At first, he’d admit, he’d been so attracted to her he’d wanted nothing more than to invite her back to his place. But the longer they talked, the more he could see they had nothing in common. She loved beach volleyball and shopping, the latest celebrity gossip.
How could he be attracted to someone like that?
“Well. Thanks for letting me come along today.”
He nodded. “Mahalo. For the muffins. They were very good.”
She gave him a small smile and then turned to duck out of the cabin.
“Amy.” He caught her arm and pulled her back. Perhaps he yanked too hard. She bumped into his chest. Her dainty upturned nose was mere millimeters away from his. She had a sprinkling of freckles across the bridge. Hupo! Fool. He’d just hardened. Over freckles.
Her eyes were wide and staring into his. Without thinking it through, he kissed a freckle, and let his lips linger. She gasped and her chest moved against his. He groaned. A man could only resist so much. He took her mouth with his and moved it over hers with a desperation he’d never allowed himself before. He sucked her tongue into his mouth and played with it, then slipped his tongue into her mouth.
Her arms slid around his neck and her hips pushed against his. Her stomach rubbed his cock until he thought he might burst. Before he realized it she had his shirt unbuttoned and was kissing her way down his throat. He tried to untie her halter, but gave up. Too slow. He grabbed t
he bottom, lifted it above her breasts and bent to lick one rigid nipple.
Her delighted cry spurred him to pull it between his teeth. He palmed her other breast and squeezed the nipple between his thumb and finger. “Amy,” he rasped as he moved to draw on her other nipple. “Nou No Ka `I`ini.” I desire you.
He unzipped her shorts, yanked them and her panties down and then lifted her onto his console. Just as he’d imagined her. Whimpering, she grasped the back of his head and hooked a leg around his hip. While he scrambled to pull down his swimsuit, she produced a condom out of what seemed to be thin air and expertly rolled it on him.
He gripped her hips and pushed into her hard and fast, and she gasped and closed her eyes. She was tight and hot, and the sensation nearly brought him to his knees. He wanted to savor the feeling of her surrounding him.
She opened her eyes and their gazes met. And for a split second he thought he saw fear or uncertainty cross her features. Then she was kissing him, and his body begged him to move. He pulled out and pushed back in and she made a little sound at the back of her throat. Soon she was moaning against his lips to the rhythm of his thrusts.
This was no slow seduction, but raw need surging through his veins. She reached between them and fingered her clit. As she dropped her head back and cried out, it sent him over the edge. He buried his nose in her spicy-smelling neck and erupted like burning lava from an active volcano.
Gasping for breath, he tightened his arms around her, needing an anchor to the earth.
It could’ve been minutes or hours that passed until he slowly regained his senses. Whatever had possessed him gradually left his body and he became aware of his surroundings. They were in his cabin. Both of them half-naked in full view of anyone on the pier who might happen by. And she was running her fingers through his hair and he was holding her tightly against him, still inside her.
What had he just done?
He dropped his arms from around her and stepped back. Checking the dock to see if anyone was watching, he turned his back to Amy and he pulled himself together.
Movement behind him told him she was doing the same.
Every curse word he knew flew through his brain. How could he have lost control? He’d not been raised to disrespect women this way. Drawing a deep breath, he turned to face her, his mouth already open to apologize.
But she reached up and covered his mouth with her hand. “Don’t.”
He took her wrist and removed her hand. “Don’t what?”
A small, knowing smile curved her lips. “Don’t ruin my day with whatever you were going to say.” She pulled her sunglasses down from the top of her head onto her nose, grabbed her basket and left his cabin without looking back.
As he watched, she stepped off his boat without a helping hand from anyone, sauntered down the dock and got into a rusted-out Toyota.
Kekoa rubbed his stomach. What had he done? And what was he going to do about it now?
“NOW YOU’VE BEEN officially lei’d.” Kristen dropped the silk plumeria lei over Luke’s head and grinned up at him.
He probably looked like an idiot, but he didn’t care. He shook his head and tried to look bored, but inside he was smiling. “I’m not buying this.” He took it off and placed it back on the rack with the hundreds of others in the tacky souvenir shop off Kihei Road. Kristen had insisted they stroll along visiting all the tourist traps…er…shops after lunch at the marina.
“Oh, you’re no fun.” She wrinkled her nose at him, shoved his shoulder and then moved on to the next shelf of items.
No fun? She had no idea. It’d taken everything inside him earlier to recover from the damned flashback on the boat. He’d never experienced a flashback before, but he didn’t know what else to call what had happened to him. One minute he was looking at Kekoa’s hands, the next he was back at the hospital in Kabul and that private with his legs blown off was looking up at him saying, “Just patch me up, Doc.”
Now he was having nightmares while he was wide-awake? What was he going to do?
“Luke?”
He snapped back to the souvenir shop with its grass hula skirts and coconut-shell bras and…the most beautiful girl he’d ever met. She might not be conventionally gorgeous, but there was just something about her. Something bright and warm and captivating.
To have her smile at him like she was, he’d dutifully look at shark-tooth necklaces, wiggling dashboard hula girls and child-size Hawaiian warrior helmets made with feathers similar to a kid’s Indian headdress.
“Oh, look!” She gasped. “Pineapple hard candy and powdered poi. I have to get these.” She grabbed up a bag and a small white jar and took them to the checkout. Luke followed, wondering what the heck powdered poi was, but confident that Kristen would tell him.
“Have you ever had poi, Luke? Don’t let the purple color fool you, it’s delicious.”
Inside the glass display case next to the register were finer pieces of jewelry. Luke scoped out the earrings and then studied Kristen’s ear for a piercing hole. She wasn’t wearing any jewelry, but her ears were pierced. He made an impulsive decision.
“Thank you,” Kristen told the shop owner as she returned her wallet to her purse and stepped outside.
“There’s an outdoor café,” Luke said. “How about something to drink?”
“Okay.” Kristen smiled at him and, like it did every time, it hit him in the gut. As soon as they were seated and had ordered, he excused himself. But instead of heading for the restroom, he doubled back and ducked into the shop.
He had no idea what she might like, but something bright seemed safe. He made his purchase and slipped back to their table with it tucked safely in his pocket.
He couldn’t wait to see her face when he gave them to her. But then, he felt as though he could stare at her for hours or days, and never grow tired of her expressions, or her chatter.
“Luke?”
He blinked, and stared at her. “I’m sorry. What were you saying?” He focused on her blue eyes, which were slightly confused.
“I just wondered where you went just now.”
So, she’d noticed him going back to the shop? “Where I went?” He cleared his throat. “I, uh…” Should he just come clean? “What do you mean?”
“Oh, nothing. It’s probably just me. But you seemed to be somewhere else mentally there for a minute.”
“Oh.” Relief mixed with embarrassment. She must think he was the slowest jerk on the island. “Yeah. No, sorry about that.”
She tilted her head and looked so confused. “Let’s start over, okay?” She opened her bag of candy and popped one in her mouth. “Want one?”
“No, thanks.” He just wanted to watch her as she sucked and moved it around her mouth. He was mesmerized.
“Luke?”
“Yes?” His voice was all scratchy. He grabbed his bottle of water and took a long swallow.
“I’m glad you still wanted to get some lunch after the way things ended on the boat.”
“I was only worried you might not be up to it after the scare you had.” This morning he’d had to amend his original impression of her as delicate. Anyone who would dive down eighty feet in shark-infested waters, almost get swept away in a deadly current then be worried about some guy she barely knew, well, as his mother used to say, she had more brass than a marching band.
“And I was afraid you’d think I was an incompetent diver.”
He covered her hand with his own. “No way. Just the opposite.”
She dropped her gaze to their joined hands, slowly turned hers and rubbed her thumb along the top of his. White-hot need blazed through him. He could see the hunger she wasn’t even trying to hide in her eyes. He inhaled his surprise. Her thumb still caressed the back of his hand, burning a path along his skin. He wanted to feel her touching him everywhere. If he closed his eyes, he could imagine what it felt like to have her fingers trail up his arm to his shoulder. Her hands would explore his chest until he pulled her into his arm
s and their bodies collided, skin to skin.
What would she look like without clothes on? Her wet suit, and even her shorts and T-shirts, left much to the imagination. But she’d be tanned from surfing in a bikini. Her hips were slim, her stomach flat. Her breasts were small, but shapely.
“Luke?”
He blinked and was back at the café with her sitting beside him, her clothes very much on, and felt his face heat. One touch of her hand and his mind went straight to picturing her naked.
Her free hand lifted, cupped his jaw and turned his head to face her. Desire was still there in her eyes. He leaned in, angled his head and gave her the barest hint of a kiss, a test, a query. When he pulled away, she followed, pressing her lips to his with a sense of urgency that answered his question.
Yes.
With a tiny moan she sat back. “I was thinking…” She was staring at his mouth.
“Yes?” Her fingers were so delicate compared to his. He took her hand and kissed her knuckles, then kissed her palm, his lips nibbling to her wrist.
She made a little sound in her throat. Her eyes were half-closed, unfocused. “I, uh…”
Her wrist and arm were so slender, he kissed his way up.
“Luke, can we go?”
“Okay.” He stood, pulled her chair out for her, and they both practically ran to his Jeep. While he drove, she casually put her hand on his thigh. He glanced over at her and she was watching the road ahead with a perfectly innocent expression.
Except a secret smile played over her features and she slowly caressed her way up to an inch or so from his crotch and then down to his knee. Then back up again. He was instantly and painfully erect. Her touch was the most erotic thing he’d ever experienced.
In record time he was pulling into a space in the parking garage, unsnapping his seat belt and going around, taking her hand as she jumped out of the Jeep. The elevator took forever and then they were at her door and she was fumbling with her keys.
Once a Hero... Page 5
