“That must have been tough.”
“It was, but it got worse. Cecelia’s parents came with her to the funeral. They talked to my aunts and a few others, but my dad just got in his car and left me there at the funeral home. No one even considered how I was going to get back. Cecelia’s parents realized what had happened and waited to give me a ride home. But, what they didn’t know was that after they dropped me off, the front door was locked. I slept on the floor in the garage that night because I couldn’t get in the house.”
Nate pauses for a long time, staring out into the sea. “I went home with Cecelia the next day after school, and her dad went over to my dad’s to tell him where I was. He came back with a suitcase.”
“I’m so sorry.”
He turns to me with tears in his eyes. “I did almost the same thing to my girls. I didn’t make anyone sleep on the cold garage floor, but I checked out and let you and others take over.”
“Cecelia was your everything. I knew that. It was hard for all of you. I’m glad I was here and able to help.”
“She was my north star for so long. On tours in Afghanistan, she was how I pulled through to come home. She’s the reason Lancaster Holdings is what it is. She drove that from the back. I was just a smart guy who followed directions. She’d heard about Mason, Dillon, and Cameron starting a new investment company. She pushed me to meet Mason, and SHN was our first and only investor. So yeah, when I lost her, I was lost.”
“That’s normal. It makes complete sense. She was the steady in every storm you’d had, and then during the biggest storm, she wasn’t there to pull you out. I did a crappy job until I figured out what each of you needed, but eventually I did.”
Nate nods. “You became the sun for us. You brought color back to our lives. I don’t want to scare you, but I need you. I need you to stand behind me and sometimes hold me up, to stand next to me so I can lean on you when I need support, and in front of me so I can follow you as you light the way. I’ll sell Lancaster Holdings. I’ll move wherever you want to go. Please don’t leave us.”
I pull him into my arms and hold him tightly. “I’m not going anywhere.”
The storm shutters are closed, so it’s dark, but I can see some light seeping through. Nate and I were up half the night. We had an incredible fish dinner on the beach by torch light, and we made love—tender, intimate, and gentle—for the first time.
I can’t determine whether I like the naughty Nate who gives me screaming sex better or the slow and steady Nate who pulls long, slow orgasms from me.
“Thank you for last night,” he says when he wakes. His arm is still underneath me, and he rolls onto his back. “I think I’ll need a nap today to make up for the lack of sleep.”
“You were amazing,” I say, trying not to gush. He got it up four times. I’ve never known an adult male who was able to do that.
“It’s all because of you.” He looks down, and his dick is hard again.
“How is that possible?”
“I’ve always had a high sex drive, but you send me into overdrive.”
I stand and walk to the bathroom. “I need coffee and some protein.”
He chuckles. “I have protein for you.”
I roll my eyes. “I was thinking eggs and bacon.” In the mirror, my eyes look like a racoon’s, and my hair is a complete mess. “I should take a quick shower first.”
“Whatever you need.”
As I turn from the mirror, I see another love bite. “Nate!”
“What’s wrong,” he asks as he rushes in.
“This!” I point to the hickey on the side of my boob. “Every one of my swimsuits will show this.”
He smirks. “Why do you think I put it there?”
I growl at him and wonder if I have any makeup that can hide it.
He shrugs. “I love how beautiful your skin is, and how easy it is to mark.”
“Can you just spank me instead?” I get in the shower. “At least those fade quickly.”
“Hmmm... I think we can come up with a few things that might be fun and less obvious.”
“I can’t even wear two of the dresses I brought.”
“Wear the strapless dress today and no panties,” he suggests.
I shiver with anticipation. “We’ll see.”
When I get out of the shower, I can see that Nate has brought me some coffee. I smile as I dry my hair and pin it up in a ponytail. I put on the dress he mentioned and slip into a pair of wedge sandals before walking into the kitchen. I can hear Nate talking to someone, and I realize it’s Jim. That guy is everywhere.
“Good morning, Lilly,” he says as I come around the corner.
“What brings you here?” I ask, looking back and forth between the men. “Everything okay at the estate?”
“Everything is fine. But there was an attempted breach at the estate on Maui last night, and another at the house in Sausalito.”
I turn to Nate. “Do we need to head back? What do you think they’re looking for?”
Nate and Jim shake their heads. “We were fine last night. No one at the house was even aware it happened, but we’re at a loss as to what they could be looking for.”
“Cecelia’s journals aren’t super complete toward the end. I don’t have her last one.” I look at Nate. “Do you?”
Nate looks at Jim. “Could it be that easy?”
“I have no idea. Would you know where it is?”
He nods. “It’s in the suitcase she took to Las Vegas. But where that is, I’m not sure.”
My eyes grow big. “It’s in storage. I put it there with her clothes when you asked me to pack up her stuff. There are some pretty cool vintage Chanel and Oscar de la Renta pieces that are already worth something. I thought the girls might want them later.”
Nate comes over and kisses me hard on the lips. “Again, you may have found the answer.”
Jim gets on the phone. “The last journal is in the storage unit. We need to get a look at it.”
He looks at me as he listens, and then puts his phone on speaker.
“—storage unit?” someone says on the other end.
“Bash, I just threw you on speaker.” Jim looks at me. “We weren’t aware of a storage unit.”
“I didn’t want to bring attention to it, so it’s under my name at the Municipal Storage on Golden Gate Parkway in Milpitas. It requires a key, and the spare is in the spare key bowl in Cecelia’s desk—top drawer on the right. If it got moved or you can’t find it, cut the lock off, but if you can’t replace it, the clothes and items there need to be moved back to the house.”
“I can replace the lock if I need to,” Bash says.
I give them the locker number and tell them the code to get into the building is Nate’s birthday.
Nate’s mouth drops open.
I give him a shrug. “It’s something I figured the girls would know.”
After they hang up with Bash, Jim and Nate fall into an involved conversation about what might be in the journal that could motivate these break-ins, and I can see they’re not going to get anywhere with it anytime soon.
“I’m going to have someone drive me to a souvenir shop,” I announce after a moment. “I’ll be back.”
“Don’t go without a detail, and don’t lose them,” Nate says, his eyes sharp.
“I promise.”
I find Timothy, who agrees to take me to a souvenir shop in town, but he kind of wants to do me one better. He points out all the interesting things Nate and I could try. “We have a Jeep you can use to do some off-roading and see a few things around the island.”
“I like the sound of that,” I say. But unless we have a team with us, I know it won’t be happening.
After we park, I walk in with Timothy and a bodyguard from Jim’s team. The woman who greets us wants to show me a pearl in a clamshell.
Timothy shakes his head. “Ms. Duval is a guest of Mr. Anderson.”
She nods. “What can I help you find?”
&
nbsp; “I need a one-piece swimsuit, and I wouldn’t mind a few pretty dresses, plus some fun things for two girls, ages eleven and sixteen.”
She nods. “We have some nice dresses in the back.”
“Thank you, but I don’t need to spend a lot.”
She looks me over. “You wear a size two pant and a size six blouse?”
I nod. “You’re very good.”
She pulls out a beautiful Wedgwood-blue dress with red hibiscus and yellow plumeria flowers. It has spaghetti straps, but it will hide the love bites. I spot a nice red and a navy Hawaiian shirt for Jackie and Patty. I also find a pretty pink dress for my mom.
She then walks over to the bathing suits. “You’re looking for something to stay put for diving?”
Sure. That sounds much more reasonable than the fact that my boyfriend left a love bite on my ass and my side boob, making my bikinis difficult to wear.
I try everything on and walk out with the dresses, refrigerator magnets, grass skirts for the girls, and a Hawaiian shirt that matches my dress for Nate.
When I return, the guys are still in deep conversation, so I change into my new swimsuit, sit on the deck under an umbrella, and read a fun romance on my Kindle—my guilty pleasure.
A little while later, Jim sticks his head out the back door. “I’ll see you tomorrow when you return to Maui.”
“Have a safe flight,” I say as I wave goodbye.
Nate sits down next to me. “Nice swimsuit.”
I look at him over the rim of my sunglasses.
He laughs. “I’m sorry. I know I shouldn’t have done it, but I also see how other men look at you. And honestly, your skin is so delicious.”
I cock my head to the side. “No one is brave enough to look at me. You’ve somehow put a neon sign above my head that’s only visible to men who think I’m attractive.”
“I like that. Do they come in daughter sizes too?”
“You think you’re so clever. If you don’t think I can still attract a man in this swimsuit, we could place a wager on it. No sex for a week if I can’t get a man—who is not employed by you or by Patrick—to stare at me.”
He leans in close. “Withholding sex is only penalizing yourself, and I have no doubt that even in a potato sack, men would still look at you and wonder what you look like when you come.”
I shudder. We need to get out and do things or else we’re going to end up having sex here on the pool deck.
“I’m up for some lunch,” I announce. “What about you?”
“Should we eat in our room?” He points out the tent in his pants.
“I think we need a break from sex this afternoon.”
Nate’s face falls.
“I saw a tuna poke food truck on the way to Waimea Falls. I think we should play tourist.”
He shrugs. “If you insist.”
“I’ll get changed into shorts, and you can let Trevor know the plans.”
Nate nods but grabs my hand and pulls me close. His arms wrap around my waist, and my lips crash into his. I moan, tipping my head back as he laces his fingers into my hair and trails kisses down my throat. “I want to leave love bites up and down your creamy neck.”
He lets go, and I stumble a bit. His kisses make me dizzy with desire, but I want to be able to tell the girls about places we visited, not just that we “hung out together.”
I slip my sandals on and head upstairs to change for the third time in less than four hours.
Once I’m in shorts and a cute T-shirt, I go back downstairs and we’re ready to go. We get in one of the Escalades and hit the tuna poke food truck. We all load up on fresh tuna marinated in a soy sauce blend and topped with scallions and macadamia nuts over steamed sticky rice.
We sit down at some picnic tables and enjoy our lunch before making the trek up the mountainside to Waimea Canyon. It’s a one-way road, so I know if we don’t stop when we see something, we won’t be able to come back to it. So, I make them stop a few places where I want to take pictures. I drag Nate along so he’s in every single one. And Trevor is kind enough to take them. As we’re taking probably our eighth photo, Nate kisses my temple. “You’re going to owe me for this.”
“I’m sure you’ll think of something.” I swagger off and he spanks my bum and growls. My panties get wet at just the hint of naughty Nate.
When we finally get to the crest of the mountain, I’m shocked at all the chickens everywhere. They’re loud but have incredible colors. “Holy cow! Where did they all come from?”
“When storms hit the island, they got loose. They’re wild chickens now,” Nate says.
“Some of them are beautiful.”
Nate and I walk up to the lookout point with Trevor close behind. People don’t recognize Nate, so it’s not like we’re at risk of being crowded. The canyon is almost like a small version of the Grand Canyon, with centuries of the river cutting away at the jagged rock. There’s dense greenery behind it.
“Look at the falls.” I point across the canyon. It’s beautiful.
Trevor takes another picture, and we enjoy the view. On our way out, there’s a woman under a tent selling fresh fruit, coconut meat, and coconut water. We pick up several items to snack on.
“You may need it for energy later,” Nate teases.
On the way down the other side of the mountain, it’s a more desert-like climate. “It’s so interesting how these areas are so close, yet so different,” I marvel.
When we finally return to the Anderson estate, it’s late in the afternoon. Nate goes up to lie down and rest. I’d feel sorry for him, but he’s the one with the cock that’s constantly erect.
“Miss Lilly,” the cook greets me. “How was your afternoon?”
“Outstanding. We got up to Waimea Canyon. Lots of tourists, but beautiful.”
“When do you think you’d like to have dinner? I thought we’d serve a rack of lamb from the Andersons’ farm, along with some vegetables we’ve grown in our organic gardens.”
“Mr. Lancaster will be thrilled. Will Mr. Anderson be joining us?”
“I’m sure he’d like that. He arrived this afternoon but didn’t want to ruin your getaway.”
“What time does he like to eat?”
“Seven thirty. Does that work for you and Mr. Nate?”
“Should be perfect.”
I make my way back to our bedroom and find Nate sleeping peacefully. He does need the rest, so I set the alarm on my phone to give us an hour before dinner to get ready. I slip out of my shorts, take off my bra, and crawl in next to Nate. He pulls me close, and I drift off to sleep.
When the alarm sounds, the sun is beginning to set, and Nate struggles to open his eyes. I crawl on top and begin kissing him.
“Patrick is joining us for dinner in an hour.”
He moans. “I wanted to eat you for dinner.”
I grin. “You can have me for dessert.”
I rub my apex against his hardness, and he adjusts himself to give me the maximum amount of pleasure. Pulling the light blanket back, I help him out of his boxer briefs and nestle myself between his legs. “Maybe this will get you in the mood for dinner with your friend.”
I stroke him a few times. His cock is heavy in my hand. I lick the slit at the top and roll his balls, licking and kissing them.
Nate groans.
“What do you want?” I ask.
I sit up, and the T-shirt does nothing to hide how hard my nipples are.
I lean down again and slowly inch my mouth over his cock, watching him. He gets to the back of my mouth, and I relax my jaw and push him past my gag reflex, slowly swallowing the head. He’s blocking my airway, but I can ease up a little to get some air as I begin to hum.
Nate’s hands go to my hair, and he pulls me deeper, his hips moving. His balls hit my chin and my nose is pressed against his lower abdomen.
I pull up and catch a breath before I take him again.
“You’re so fucking sexy,” he moans.
Chapter 33
Nate
I don’t know how to describe it, but Lilly has this sixth sense about what I need. And not just between the sheets.
She knew I needed to talk to Jim. She didn’t put any pressure on me to tell her why he flew in this morning. And she was independent enough to do her own thing.
When we got back this afternoon, she knew I needed to rest and that if she came up with me, we wouldn’t. But she also took the time to check in with the staff and found out Patrick had returned. I want time with her alone, but she knows we need to be kind to our host.
So, here we are getting ready for dinner. Lilly hasn’t told me what will be served, but she assured me it was one of my favorites. We’re dressing nicely, despite staying in. I’m wearing the same shirt and pants I wore the night we went to the Fairmont. Lilly’s wearing a beautiful sundress that hides the love bites but shows off all her curves.
When we’re both ready, we walk down to the kitchen to find Patrick talking to the chef.
He extends his hand when they’ve finished. “Nate. So wonderful to see you.”
“We’re grateful to have this getaway. Thank you.”
“I have some good Kauai rum. Any interest in a before-dinner tasting?”
I look at Lilly, who shrugs. “Why not?”
We follow Patrick to the living room, where he’s set up three sets of brandy-type snifters.
“One of my latest passions is rum,” he explains. “My family estate was founded as a sugar plantation. We’ve been playing, over the last ten or so years, with different recipes. We’ve settled on a Jamaican type, and I think we’re going to go with it. Here are our options. This first one is a light rum.”
Patrick pours three glasses, each with maybe a half-ounce. After he hands the taste to each of us, we look at him, waiting for directions. I’m not sure if this is like a wine tasting where you might swirl it in your mouth and spit it out.
Showdown: Tech Billionaires Page 29