Getting Lei’d

by Schroeder, Melissa

  “What?”

  She realized then she’d been staring at him for several minutes. She shook her head and hoped she wasn’t drooling.

  “You have a problem with the way I’m dressed? Alex too?” she couldn’t keep the skepticism out of her voice. She glanced down at the black retro bathing suit that reminded her of what a movie star would have worn in the fifties.

  “Hawaii agrees with you. Nice little glow to your skin and you seem...happy. It’s been a long time since you were happy.”

  Her heart did a little jerk, but this was different from the feelings from before. This had more to do with love, the kind that could ruin a good time in Hawaii. She moved away from that.

  “I like it, as I said. But, my life is back in DC.”

  He nodded and looked out over the water. Of course, it didn’t sound that great going back. Now she wanted to live in a place that allowed her to go to the beach every day, and be near Sophia and Eddie and their husbands. She was going to miss them.

  “Is this where they have the big surfing contests?” Damon asked.

  She nodded and tried to get out of her thoughts. Lord knew she was lucky to have them for this short amount of time. She needed to be happy with it.

  “Yeah, I really enjoyed it when I tried it. I was amazed that I was any good at it.”

  “Why do you do that?” Damon asked.

  “What do you mean? Do what?”

  “You put yourself down all the time. Why?”

  She shrugged. “I wasn’t putting myself down.”

  “Yes, you were. Living with that bitch all these years has made you doubt everything you do.”

  Shocked at his vehemence, she stared at him. He was still watching the waves, not looking at her, but she could see his jaw flexing. There was part of her that wanted this, needed this validation from someone outside of her family and her two best friends. But, at the same time, she a sliver of guilt wormed its way into her gut.

  “Damon, you can’t talk about my mother that way.”

  “Someone has to.”

  He glanced at her then, and his expression softened. “I don’t mean to put your mom down, lord knows she put up with me enough times crashing at your place in college. But, she isn’t that nice to you, Mari. You both don’t realize how much she criticizes you.”

  She knew it was true, but it was the way she and her mother communicated. “I don’t care what you think.”

  She turned away from him and searched out Alex. Damon said something under his breath. He waited five long seconds, then said, “You see her as she sees you. You need to stop that.”

  She turned and stared at him, amazement spreading through her. Damon had never said anything so strongly to her before. “I had no idea you found me so deficient.”

  He made a noise that was close to a growl. “That’s not what I said. I said that you think that way, you and your mother. I don’t know how to get it across to you that your mother is a poison when it comes to you.”

  “I said I can’t have you putting down my mother.”

  He shook his head. “I know, call me the bad guy. I just can’t hear you put yourself down. You’re bright, beautiful and have more personality than most women have in their pinky finger. It’s your mother that makes you think that you have faults.”

  She could feel the tears burning the back of her eyes. The mixture of feelings that moved through her caused her to pause before she said anything else. She had waited so long for someone else outside of her family, and her two best friends, to acknowledge. But, she also couldn’t let anyone put her family down.

  “My mother loves me in her own way.”

  He said something else under his breath.

  “Don’t do that. I hate when you get pissy like that.”

  He shot her a warning look, but he said nothing else as he stood and marched out to the ocean. The sick feeling in her stomach now expanded, and she felt her head start to pound. What the hell was she doing?

  Wait. She didn’t start the fight. She refused to take the blame this time, to allow him to tell her she should do something. She had spent a lifetime doing that, and now, she was refusing. After a month in Hawaii reassessing what she needed, she had realized that she had been trying to gloss over other people’s emotions to make things easy. Not anymore. Still, a fight on a public beach would just not be the thing to do. She might be ready to take a stand, but she would not make a spectacle of them. Her mother had raised her too strictly to go against the grain like that. Instead, she took a deep breath, grabbed her Kindle, and lost herself in a story.

  * * *

  Damon looked out over Waikiki Beach as he sipped his coffee. It had been three days, and his mood hadn’t gotten any better. He hid it well, knowing that with Mari, he had to take small steps. Pushing her to stand up to her mother was just not something she was going to be comfortable. Small steps. It was bad enough that they were going to confront her with the possibility of being their lover on Christmas. Tomorrow.

  Alex had picked the day. Well, he had chosen it after they had argued. Alex had wanted to wait until New Year’s Day. Or Eve. The whole starting a whole new life thing, but Damon couldn’t expect another week, not knowing, unsure.

  Of course, Alex wanted to wait. He hadn’t been waiting as long as Damon. And, when Damon’s brother had started courting Mari several years ago, it hadn’t bothered Alex near as much. There was something very wrong knowing that a bastard like his brother had been able to even touch her, let alone take her to his bed.

  He couldn’t stop the smile that curved his lips. His brother had been as bad as Damon expected. If Mari’s reaction to them was anything to go by, Damon was pretty sure his brother was a buffoon in the bedroom. Of course, he was a selfish bastard, so that made sense.

  “You’re looking really smug.”

  He turned around to find Mari watching him. She was wearing a T-shirt, and he was sure nothing beneath it.

  “Just thinking about the last few months.”

  She glanced out at the ocean. “Was the scandal that bad in DC?”

  It was something she had not asked, and Damon was pretty sure that her friends Eddie and Sophia would have protected her.

  “No, not really. You made some of the gossip columns. But it was all gone within a week.”

  Damon didn’t mention that he was pretty sure that her father made some threats to make that happen.

  “Where’s Alex?”

  She made a face.

  “Out for a run.”

  He laughed. “You could have gone along.”

  She shook her head and moved her gaze back to him. “I don’t want to run unless one of you is chasing me.”

  Her bold honesty was nothing new, and neither was his reaction to it. He held out his hand, and she took it, allowing him to tug her onto his lap. His hand was shaking when he lifted it to her face to cup it. He gave her a gentle kiss, keeping his gaze on hers, watching the moment the tears filled her eyes. There had been a few of these moments for them, all three of them, and he was sure, but she seemed more melancholy the last day.

  All he wanted was her happiness. He wanted to hear her laugh, watch her dance, and hear the pleasure in her voice when she moaned his name. His cock hardened as she shifted against him, then her eyes closed and he followed her into the joy of the kiss.

  There had been many moments of passionate embraces, but these small moments of sweet kisses Damon loved more than anything. Both he and Alex had enjoyed them, and in that, they both felt closer to her now than ever before.

  She shifted against him again, and her breasts brushed his bare chest. Her nipples were hard, and the way she was squirming, he knew she was aroused. Damon slipped his hand down to her breasts, cupping it and brushing his thumb against her nipple. At the same time, he traced the seam of her lips with his tongue until she opened them, taking him inside. She moaned against his tongue as he pinched her nipple, but she pulled back from the kiss.

  When she stood
, he moved to follow, but she shook her head. Instead, she reached down and unzipped his pants. His erection sprang free. She wrapped her fingers around him and pumped.

  “Mari, it won’t be dark very much longer.” His voice held no conviction, though. How could it? Her hand was sliding up and down his cock. “People from the other balconies could see us.”

  She smiled at him then, and he felt his breath back up in his chest. That cocky look, and the glow of her entire body struck him. This wasn’t the sad little girl he had grown up with. This was Mari, the sex goddess they were in love with, their lover, their mate.

  “Then, you’ll just have to be quiet, huh?”

  Without another word, she straddled him on the chair, then slowly sunk down on his cock. Just an inch at a time, excruciatingly slow, and somewhat painful. He knew he couldn’t take over. This was her show. She was in charge. And, damn, if that didn’t make her the sexiest woman in the world.

  When she finally sunk all the way down on him, she arched back and sighed. Then, she moved. Slowly, but surely, she walked over him, pushing him close the edge, but not going fast enough to make him come. She braced herself by placing a hand on the back of the chair, changing the speed and angle of her movements. Soon though, he could tell she was getting close to her orgasm. She looked down at him, then attacked his mouth. He slipped his hand down between them and pressed his finger against her clit. She shuddered once, twice…Then exploded. He muffled any shout that would have escaped as he continued to kiss her. Her pussy muscles clamped down on his cock, spasming over his sensitive flesh, pulling his orgasm from him. He followed her into that bliss, his body bowing off the chair slightly with his orgasm.

  She collapsed against him, her sigh of contentment feathering a breath over his neck.

  “I will say that mornings with you and Alex are a good reason to get up.”

  He smiled. “How about a shower?”

  She lifted her head. “You’re not brooding anymore?”

  That took him back. “You think I was brooding?”

  She smiled, it was small, and one of the secret ones she used to give them when they were kids. But, it did all kinds of different things to him now. Before, it had been his safe haven, his one bright light in the storm. It was now too, but at the moment, his heart was turning over too much to take notice of anything else.

  “You always brood. You get all moody and pissy and then you don’t want to talk about it.”

  He cleared his throat. “No. No, I’m not brooding anymore.”

  Mari’s smile widened. “Good. And yes, I would like a shower, as long as you scrub my back.”

  She slipped off him, then held out her hand. He took it and followed her back into the hotel room. His earlier worries pushed to the back of his mind.

  Chapter Eight

  Mari frowned as her mother’s cell phone went straight to voice mail again. It had been like that for three days now. When she had told her mother she was thinking of moving to Hawaii, she had taken it rather well, but now Mari was wondering about her easy acceptance of the announcement.

  Millicent Sawyer did not handle change well. In fact, her parents still lived in the same Georgetown mansion not because of their love of the house, although they did love it. No, it was because her mother would probably have a break down if her father even thought of moving.

  “Something wrong?” Eddie asked.

  “Mom’s phone is going straight to voicemail.”

  “She’s probably mad at you. You know your mother was never going to accept you moving here.”

  Mari shrugged. “I didn’t say for sure.”

  Eddie looked around her kitchen then grabbed Mari by the elbow and pulled her back into her bedroom. “You said you were going to come here and work with us. You were going to handle the food part of it. What is keeping you from being sure about it?”

  Her voice was soft and gentle, telling Mari that her best friend knew she was close to breaking down.

  “The guys.”

  Eddie nodded. “If I were you, I wouldn’t want to give them up either.”

  “But they have lives there. And, there is no way I can have a relationship with them in DC. Can you imagine that?”

  “I can, but I know you can’t, sweetie. If they would move here with you, would you do it? Be with both of them?”

  She shook her head. “I can’t think that.” Tears burned the back of her eyes.

  Eddie rubbed her arm. “Why not?”

  “I’m afraid if I do, I’ll lose them. If I ask them to be mine…what would they do? There is a good chance they will just walk away. I mean, why would the two of them want me?”

  She hated the way her voice was whining, but she couldn’t seem to stop. Tears started to fall down her cheeks, and Eddie pulled her into a hug.

  “You’ll never know if you don’t ask them.”

  “Yeah, but is it worse not knowing, or knowing they don’t want you?”

  Eddie sighed. “Oh, honey.”

  “I love them both so much, but I just don’t know.”

  “What the hell is going on?” Damon said as he barreled through the door. “What did you do to Mari?”

  Alex didn’t say a word. As she looked up, he was already reaching for her to pull her into his arms. She glanced at Eddie to see how her friend was taking it, and the little smile told her she wasn’t upset.

  “I didn’t say anything. She just got a little emotional about a decision she has to make.”

  “What decision?” Damon demanded.

  “I’ll let her explain.” She moved to pat Mari on the back, but Damon stepped in her line, and her friend chuckled. “Call if you need anything.”

  She left them alone. She could hear the voices of the others attending the Christmas Eve celebration and the music from the stereo. But, neither man said not a word.

  She pulled herself out of Alex’s arms, immediately regretting the loss of heat. Not to mention, she didn’t want to face the guys after being so weepy. Men did not like weepy women.

  “What’s she talking about, Mari?” Alex asked.

  She looked from one to the other, but it was hard to tell what they were thinking.

  “They asked me to come here and handle the food and beverage of the new business they want to build.”

  The beat of silence was very telling. Neither of them looked very happy about it.

  “When were you going to tell us?” Damon asked, his tone angry.

  “I hadn’t decided just yet. I was trying to call my mother, but she isn’t answering. I told her a couple days ago, but now I can’t get a hold of her.”

  “You called your mother, and you didn’t tell us?” Alex asked, and he sounded more hurt than mad.

  “I wanted to give her a head’s up. You know my mother. She can’t handle changing her hair color, let alone her baby girl moving to Hawaii.”

  “And you were just going to do it, not tell us?” Alex asked.

  “No, I was going to talk to you, but I hadn’t decided.”

  “Of course you have. You were just along for fun, huh? Nothing but two willing guys to fuck,” Damon ground out. She couldn’t seem to grasp what was happening. Why the hell was he so angry? Why did they just assume that she was leaving without them?

  “I am not going to take that kind of tone from you, Damon. You always assume the worse.”

  There was a loud noise, people talking, shouting, then the door burst open. A very harried Sophia almost stumbled into the room.

  “You are going to die when you see who just showed up.”

  She frowned but allowed her friend to tug her by the hand out of the room. Anything was better than having the two men she loved mad at her. When she stepped into the living room, though, she wanted to go hide. Her parents stood surrounded by the guests for the night.

  “Maribelle, I have come for answers,” her mother said.

  Stunned, she could barely take in the scene. Her brain wasn’t working, so she asked, “What the
hell are you doing here?”

  She thought she heard someone laugh, pretty sure it was one of Eddie’s husbands, but she ignored them.

  “Alex? Damon? Are you going to talk some sense into her? My baby is trying to leave DC.”

  “She just told us about it,” Damon said. “I think it is a horrible idea.”

  Her mother smiled. “See, your best friend says to stay in DC.”

  She tossed Damon a look, and he gave her an equally nasty one. When she turned around, she looked at her father first, who was eying the two men behind her. She realized then they had moved in behind her as if to back her up. Anyone with any sense would see it as more territorial than just being a friend.

  And now she knew what she had to do. She had to tell her parents and all the people in the world who were important to her just what these men were to her. She also had to ask them the thing she had been afraid to do. It was now or never, and Maribelle was sick of living in purgatory. She wanted a taste of freedom and heaven.

  “Damon isn’t just my friend, Mom.”

  Her mother looked past Maribelle’s shoulder at Damon, then back at Maribelle. “I don’t understand.”

  “Damon came here with Alex, and well, I was going to ask them to move here with me.”

  “What? You want to live with two gay men?”

  She sighed. “They aren’t gay. I want them to live with me. As my husbands.”

  She glanced at her father, who gave her a nod. Well, that was beyond odd. She didn’t think a man would be happy to know his daughter had become a sex toy for two men.

  The scary part came next. She turned to face her lovers and saw them looking at her, their faces had no expressions.

  “Okay, so apparently, I’m into big scenes at family functions, but I was planning on asking you this. I know it might not be what you want, and it might have just been a fling for you two. But, I planned to see if you wanted to live here, with me. They always need willing workers in your fields here, and you could get a job fast. I want to be with you, but I can’t do it in DC. I want to stay here, in Hawaii. With you.”