Kabana Heat

by Titania Ladley

  Slowly releasing his hold on Mitch’s rock-hard rod, Nakolo slipped his hand out of Mitch’s pants and replied, “Proving your fiancé here is gay just like they say.”

  “Fuck you.” Mitch tore out of Nakolo’s clutch and pushed through the water. It left Nakolo to ponder the sudden disappointment and loneliness that beset him. Mitch dragged himself out of the pool dripping wet and sodden. “Your boyfriend here has lost his fucking mind. And I suggest you get rid of him or the deal’s off.”

  “What? You can’t do that!”

  He shook his head, spraying water on her, then wrung his shirt out. His eyes were cold, two sharp icicles slicing right through her. “I can and I will. I could sue you for breach of agreement, goddamn it.”

  She raked Mitch from head to toe, her perusal briefly stopping on the bulge in his pants. Kiona flicked her narrowed eyes at Nakolo. “What have you done? Both of you? Fighting with each other like two immature teens.”

  Nakolo shrugged and swam to the stairs. He stood in the pool and took one step at a time, carefully, deliberately, without taking his gaze off Mitch. “What have I done? Hmm, let’s see. Well, for starters, the woman I love more than my own life unexpectedly announces—right after I’ve just brought her to paradise in front of another man, mind you—that instead of marrying me one day, she’s going to marry a movie star. So next, I get pissed and call him on it. If that makes me immature, then so fucking be it.”

  “Kiona, you either tell this…” Mitch’s lip curled in disgust. “This animal to get lost, or I call Jager and we void the whole contract.”

  “Contract? Now we have a contract?” Nakolo climbed from the pool and plopped down in a nearby patio chair, uncaring of his naked state. The wind whispered around him, tossing his long hair, drying his heated skin. “Kiona, you either explain to me exactly what the fuck is going on here, or I’m leaving and never coming back.”

  Mitch snorted and fell into the chair next to Nakolo. “And this is a bad thing?”

  “Shut up, Mitch,” Kiona hissed. She pulled a seat out from the round glass table and collapsed into the soft vinyl cushion. Leaning back, she stared up at the starlit sky and sighed. “I’ve been trying to explain it to you for hours, Kol. I’m marrying him as a cover-up, to satisfy Heloki, and so you and I can be together without Father’s interference.”

  Nakolo sat up ram-rod straight. “What?”

  “Name only,” Mitch supplied, propping his sopping wet loafers on the tabletop.

  “Fuck you. She’s a gorgeous woman. I don’t believe name only for one second.”

  “Please, Kol, don’t be so cavalier. Try to understand, I did this because I love you.”

  “Love. Great. Maybe I should go,” Mitch mumbled, starting to rise.

  Nakolo shot him a damning look that had Mitch halting his movements. “Like hell you will. I want to hear every detail—from both of you.”

  Mitch groaned and dropped back into his seat. “Yeah, right. All the gory details.”

  “I don’t want to lose you,” Kiona cried to Nakolo, her large dark eyes glittering, pleading with him to understand. “And yet Father’s hell-bent on cutting you out of my life. Don’t you see? This is the perfect solution for all three of us.”

  Nakolo studied each of them in turn, trying to imagine the three of them cohabiting together on an irregular basis. Mitch gone most of the time, off doing blockbuster movies, while Nakolo and Kiona happily play husband and wife. Then suddenly, bam. Mitch comes back invading their home, and then what? Kiona hops over to Mitch’s bed while Nakolo sits around waiting for him to leave for the next damn movie shoot so Nakolo can have his woman back?

  Like fucking hell.

  He tried desperately to hold onto his anger, but the more his mind fantasized about their beds merging into one big king-sized community bed, the harder his cock got. And the more he found himself warming to what he heard.

  “Think about it. Mitch can live his life as he sees fit while keeping his career intact. Whether it’s true or not, I don’t know, but at least to the public, he’ll appear as a heterosexual movie star with a loving wife. For me, yes, I’ll admit this will help me to get my trust fund, but that’s money I need for my future—our future,” she added, leveling a pleading look at Nakolo. “You already know it’s money Heloki’s been holding over my head since I was a child. And most importantly,” she added, leaning over to frame Nakolo’s face in her hands and brush a light kiss across his lips, “we get to stay together, and Dad will never have to know. He’ll back off as he always does when he thinks he’s won, and assume I’m living with Mitch in wedded bliss. Only it will really be you living with me—well, except for those rare occasions when Mitch retreats here. Of course, it’ll be necessary for me and Mitch to keep up appearances whenever we’re in public, like in Hollywood for special PR functions and so on. You know, to look married.”

  “Wow.” Nakolo’s wary gaze swung from Kiona to Mitch and back again. Some sort of odd light of hope flickered deep in his pounding heart. “I don’t know whether to be pissed that you planned this all behind my back, or ecstatic that you fucked Heloki over.”

  She slid her hands down and gripped his upper arms. Giving him a little shake, she murmured, “Please understand, I did this for you, for us. I knew you’d say no and stop the whole thing if I talked with you about it first. But this way, with the contract signed and sealed, you can’t back out on me. I’m sorry I chose to do it that way, but it’s our answer, babe, it is.”

  “Look, pal,” Mitch said in a gravelly voice that made Nakolo shiver. “I understand your position, but the papers are already signed. It’s a valid contract.” He got to his feet and rounded the table so he stood beside them, forcing Kiona and Nakolo to look up at him.

  Those famous blue-green pools held Nakolo’s gaze, and he could swear something feral lurked there, something for both Nakolo and Kiona. Nakolo shoved down the bubbly euphoria of it and instead focused on the bizarre plan they’d come up with behind his back.

  “So the two of you, along with that damn Jager, cooked up this scheme? You marry in name only, Kiona finally gets her money, and Mitch Wulfrum, wealthy fucker that he is, gets to thumb his nose at the paparazzi and say, ‘See? I told you I’m not gay. Who could be, with such a smokin’ babe on their arm?’ That right?”

  “Yeah, mostly. I want to suppress the gay rumors, and what better way than to marry, and be seen in Hollywood with a gorgeous woman such as Kiona?”

  “Why thank you.” She grinned, her straight white teeth gleaming in the moonlight.

  Her sudden glee made Nakolo’s heart reluctantly swell with his own joy. He wanted nothing more than her happiness. As he sat there looking at her, feeling the heat of her body so near his, he longed to run his fingers through her thick tresses and kiss that plump little mouth. Yet he wondered what it might feel like to be doing that very thing while Mitch watched…or better yet, while Mitch gave them both some hot attention. The image it conjured up in his mind had his cock rising back to attention and his anus clenching. After that scorching but incomplete round with Kiona in the pool, followed by his first highly arousing touch of a man, Nakolo imagined his balls were not only blue, but fucking navy.

  With a grumble of annoyance, Nakolo rose and located his jeans. He jammed them on and said in a clipped tone, “Yeah, but what about the fact that you are gay—or bisexual?”

  “Kol!”

  Mitch stalked across the patio and shoved his face into Nakolo’s so they were nose-to-nose. His chest was puffed out, his eyes narrowed as they locked on Nakolo’s wary gaze, never wavering as he spoke. “It’s okay, Kiona, really. I’m used to shallow-minded, cruel people attacking me with slanderous accusations. It goes with the territory.”

  “Right. Slanderous.” Nakolo leaned slightly back and crossed his arms, acutely aware his forearms and his dick were both mere inches from Mitch. He longed to step closer and become engulfed by that seductive, manly heat again. But first, he wanted the man to fac
e what had just happened between them. “Go ahead, deny it. Deny that you didn’t enjoy me touching you just now in the pool.”

  Kiona gasped, but wisely didn’t say a word in response.

  Nakolo inhaled to calm his rapid heartbeat, fully prepared and determined to get the facts on the table. After all, this was a man with a plan to marry—to steal—the woman Nakolo loved. But Nakolo was through with letting the other men in Kiona’s life slice him right out of the fucking picture. In this case, he’d sensed something that might be the key to some leverage. No way was he keeping it to himself, even if it meant shocking Kiona with the truth about his own secret desires. It was a risky trump card, but it seemed she was determined to marry another man anyway, which didn’t bode well for Nakolo’s future with her.

  Unless the look he’d seen in her eyes when she’d spied Nakolo’s hand down Mitch’s pants, turned out to be what he suspected…

  “What…what are you talking about?” Kiona gripped the edge of the table and pulled herself to an erect sitting position. Her shocked gaze swung from man to man.

  But was that also lust she attempted to conceal in her expression? Gods of Hawaii, please let it be true.

  There was only one way to find out. His usual frankness. “I think you already know. You saw me fondling him in the water. And whether he’s prepared to admit it or not, we both enjoyed it. Do you understand what I’m saying, Ki?”

  “Jesus.” Mitch’s face went pale. He groaned and dropped his head back, staring up at the night sky. “Jesus fucking Christ.”

  “Y-you’re telling me you’re…” She let out a long, slow breath, her sparkling eyes latched onto Nakolo’s. “You’re gay?”

  “Bi-curious might be the best way to put it, at least for now. Until it can be…explored more.” Nakolo shrugged mentally. What difference did the truth make now? She was marrying another man. But God, it felt good to finally admit it out loud!

  She pressed a trembling hand to her heart. He heard her swallow. “Are you serious?”

  “As shit.”

  “Speaking of shit, I think I’ve had enough for one night.” Mitch spun on his heel to leave.

  Kiona scrambled up, her seat scraping on concrete, and raced toward him. She clasped both hands around his arm and tugged, managing to halt his flight. “Please. Please don’t go. W-we have things yet to discuss. Apparently, a lot more than I ever dreamed of.”

  “Dreamed? Are you telling me you’re okay with what your boyfriend just accused me of?”

  There was a long pause. A wave rolled in, slamming against the rocky shore below. Nakolo held his breath, waiting for what seemed like eons as the song of the sea played in the background.

  “Yes.” Finally, that one word came out soft, almost tender. It spoke to Nakolo more than anything she’d ever said to him. “I’m wondering if he’s right.”

  Mitch yanked his arm free. His jaw set. He spoke through his teeth. “So we’re back to that, are we? Believing the tabloids?”

  Kiona planted her hands on her hips. Her robe gaped open, the edges of the terrycloth barely covering her nipples. She ignored Mitch’s distracted, penetrating stare that seemed to drop to her cleavage like a lead ball.

  “It has nothing to do with tabloids and everything to do with what I just saw with my own eyes. I’ll admit, it seemed like the fantasy came out of nowhere, but yes, it surprisingly turned me on to see the two of you so close. Kol naked, with his hand down your pants. The look of reluctant lust on your faces. Both of you climbing out of the water with indisputable erections.” She inhaled, and then exhaled. “Oh yeah, a lot of women would find that very arousing.”

  Just hearing her words and watching their interplay made Nakolo go hard again. The two of them were beautiful, the perfect female and male specimens. He’d touched them both, and he knew intimately the night-and-day differences between them.

  His balls drew up and blood drained into his cock, making him ache to be sandwiched between the two. But he held to his spot, forcing himself to watch this heated, red-blooded exchange.

  Across the patio, Mitch sought out Nakolo’s gaze. The touch of it was like a firm yet reluctant caress. He looked back at Kiona and dragged a hand down the sleeve of her robe. “You’re telling me you want this?”

  She didn’t answer at first, only stood there and shuddered at his touch while her attention shifted to Nakolo. “Babe?”

  “Hmm?”

  “Please tell me I didn’t read this wrong.”

  He couldn’t help chuckling. Nakolo crossed the space, stopping right in front of them. His gaze moved in a slow trek from Mitch’s strikingly handsome face, to the deep cavern of Ki’s cleavage. Diamonds of water glistened there, making Nakolo long to rip the robe off and slurp up every drop while Mitch watched. Instead, he hooked his thumbs in the waistband of his jeans and considered her words. He wondered how it was he could have felt such intense betrayal and anger for these two stunning creatures only moments ago, and yet now crave them both without thinking of his own self-respect.

  He lifted one hand, cupping her jaw and tipping it up, forcing her to look deep into his eyes. “No. You don’t have it wrong. I figure I could already be on the losing end of this deal by letting you marry him, anyway. So why not? Why not finally admit my secret?”

  “To be with a man?” she asked breathily, her chest rising and falling.

  “Yes. To be with a man I know has the same urges I do.” He glanced over at Mitch and finally saw the surrender he’d been seeking, the softening of the expression, the light of passion at last igniting in the eyes. Nakolo knew exactly how that felt. It was so damn freeing, and so fucking exciting, he felt giddy as hell.

  Nakolo shifted his perusal back to Kiona. “While we’re making love with you at the same time. The three of us, together. Crazy as it sounds, it’s a dream come true for me…as long as I’m not being pushed out of the picture. As long as this marriage includes me too.”

  Just then, a cloud passed across the moon. It cast Mitch in shadows that emphasized his masculine features. Through the muted light, he looked directly at Kiona, holding her eyes to his. “Is this what you want? Really? A threesome?”

  “Remember today?” she asked, her mouth curving into a sly grin.

  The tension lines across Mitch’s forehead gradually softened. “In the car?”

  “Yes,” she replied on a whisper. “I knew you knew. I could tell you got a charge out of it. It…it really excited me like never before. And Kol?” She flicked her stare to latch onto his. “You knew Mitch was there, and you enjoyed him watching us. It turned you on too. Didn’t it?”

  “Damn fucking right.”

  She nodded, her lips spreading into a beaming smile. “I could tell by your sudden…enthusiasm.”

  “I could tell by the way you came all over my face while trying to talk in a normal tone to him.”

  “Whew.” Mitch raked a hand through his damp hair leaving it roguishly disheveled. “I can’t believe what a sudden jagged turn this conversation just took.”

  “You like it jagged,” Nakolo accused. “Just like you liked watching the ecstasy cross her face today when you knew someone else was getting her off.”

  Mitch shrugged. “What red-blooded man wouldn’t?”

  She let out a tinkling laugh. “Listen to you two. Can’t you see this is the answer to our dilemma? Think about it.” Standing between them, Kiona planted a warm palm against each of their chests. Her eyes danced with euphoria, the light of dusk making their golden pools twinkle. Nakolo’s nipple tingled at the feminine touch while vividly remembering the masculine one, the man standing only two feet from him.

  With Kiona connecting them.

  Her sweet scent engulfed Nakolo, thrumming through his system until it took hold of his loins and squeezed. Bathed in silver moonlight, her blue-black, damp hair framing her face, Nakolo wondered how he could do anything but let her have her way.

  “Oh, I’m thinking all right,” Mitch replied, stepping away
. “Thinking I need time to give all this craziness some serious thought, and probably consult with Jager on a few legal issues. Look, I’m going to get out of here, go get some dry clothes on. And go choke the life out of that fucking asshole Jager as soon as he arrives on the island,” he mumbled good-naturedly, stalking toward the sidewalk that led around the side of the house.

  Nakolo studied the slicked-back blond hair brushing the collar of the wet shirt, the wide shoulders tapering down into a fit torso and narrow hips. He gulped. And that tight ass that had fit perfectly against Nakolo’s cock. He didn’t want to see Mitch leave under such bizarre circumstances. Had Nakolo read Mitch wrong? Maybe Mitch had just been taken off guard in the pool? Maybe his erection had been all for Kiona, and had had nothing at all to do with Nakolo and the male-to-male, electrifying connection Nakolo himself had experienced?

  His gut twisted with dread. If that was the case, it would mean he’d eventually be cut out of their marriage. He was just about to call out and plead with Mitch to come back and let them finish hashing this out, when Mitch crashed right into a bulky man.

  “Sorry. Excuse me.” Mitch tried to sidestep Heloki’s rotund frame.

  “Kupaianaha!” Heloki’s thick-lipped mouth fell open in the full moon of his tanned face. “You’re…you’re Mitch Wulfrum.”

  “Yes, yes I am.”

  He thrust out a beefy hand and grinned. “I’m Heloki ’Alohi, Kiona’s father. Jager has told me so much about you—as has Kiona.”

  Yet she didn’t tell me a damn thing about Mitch. He’d almost forgotten how much that still smarted. Nakolo ground his teeth together. With his fists newly clenched at his sides, he shot her what he hoped was a heated look. But she’d become so staggered by her father’s sudden appearance, she didn’t notice.

  Mitch hesitantly took Heloki’s large hand and pumped it. “All good stuff, I hope?”

  “Auê! Yes, yes!” Heloki chuckled and slid his hands into the pockets of his khaki trousers. His trademark floral Hawaiian shirt stretched over the ample abdomen and glowed red, orange, and white in the moonlight. “I was pleased to hear the story of your whirlwind courtship when she flew to L.A. on company business recently. Ah, and though a bit hasty, word of your engagement thrilled me. I’m so honored to meet you. You’re one of my favorite stars. And I tell you—”