by Cathryn Cade
Daniel poked his head out of the shower and scowled at her. “Get in here, hūpō, foolish one.”
She scurried into the shower and stood gratefully under one of the three jets of hot water streaming from high faucets. Daniel was nude, his trunks discarded in a corner of the long bench seat.
Slowly, Claire reached up and unhooked her bra, staring at his gorgeous body. He tipped back his head under the spray, his eyes closed. “Like it?” he asked.
“Yeah,” she said, tearing her eyes away from him. “What’s the bench for?”
He opened his eyes, and his cock began to swell, rising toward her. “I’ll show you…after we get you nice and warm.”
He did.
As she dried herself off with one of Daniel’s thick towels, Claire smiled to herself. Sex with her big Hawaiian was everything she’d hoped and much, much more. He should be illegal. Her body ached, not only with weariness but with the aftereffects of another bout of Nalu. ”Big Roller”, hell. She’d been right; he was a tsunami. She wasn’t sure she was going to be able to walk in the morning. But that was okay, because she planned to sleep most of the day, anyway.
In her mind’s eye, she saw him, felt him once again, kneeling before her as she lay back on the shower bench, her legs over his shoulders as he thrust that incredible cock into her with savage power, only his grip on her shoulders keeping her from being slammed into the shower walls. His face when he came, that look of savage exaltation—she shivered with remembered delight.
If she wasn’t careful, she was going to fall completely for him. That would be stupid. “I should get back to Nawea,” she said, and then yawned hugely.
“Why?” he growled. “You’re here—sleep in my bed.”
And with that flowery declaration, he tossed his damp towel onto the rack and sauntered off to his bedroom.
Claire looked after him, clutching her own towel. She could see the broad expanse of his bed through the open doorway. Covered with a silver-gray duvet and sheets, it looked very inviting. Especially with him standing beside it, completely nude.
She shivered again, this time with a chill of foreboding. She needed a little distance. She could do the sex, but sleeping with him, that was too…intimate. What if he liked to snuggle? That would break through every line of resistance she had.
He looked back at her, and she reached deep inside for resolve. “No, thanks. I’ll sleep at Nawea.” Without waiting to see his reaction, she turned away to hang up her own towel. Her undies were a soggy heap by the sink, so she ignored them to pick up her shorts. Stepping into them, she pulled them over her damp skin, and then tugged on her top. Looking in the mirror, she finger-combed her hair back from her face.
She turned to Daniel, now standing in the doorway, one arm braced on the doorjamb. He’d pulled on a pair of shorts, but he was scowling, that look that said she was not only incomprehensible but irritating.
Oh, dear Lord, he was gorgeous. She wanted to bury her nose in his throat and sniff him some more, then taste the saltiness of his skin again. “See you,” she said breathlessly. “Thanks for the dive.”
He sighed. “I’ll walk you back.”
Chapter Fifteen
Monday, June 17th
Daniel opened his refrigerator early the next morning and looked at the contents with displeasure. Fruit, yogurt, eggs and some bread. He could cook, but he didn’t want to. He thought about the big breakfasts Leilani always cooked, and his stomach rumbled with hunger. He thought about a pretty blonde on the other side of the breakfast table, and his groin tightened. Yeah, that part he’d better not get too accustomed to.
Especially since she wouldn’t even stay the night with him. He’d actually been looking forward to sleeping beside her, maybe waking up with that sweet ass tucked into his groin, just right for some early morning hana ai.
He looked around his kitchen. Maybe she didn’t like his house. Well, the hell with her, then.
Slamming the refrigerator door, he strode back into the bedroom for a clean tank top to pull over his blue-and-gray swim trunks and toed into his leather sandals. He needed food, and then he had hunting to do.
Outside, it was a soft, gray morning. Clouds had moved in, covering the sun. It was still plenty warm, but as he trod the path to Nawea, Daniel scanned the sky with an expert eye. The national weather site on his computer had been right. They’d have showers by lunchtime.
Leilani was up and hustling around her big kitchen in shorts and tank top. She looked up from the skillet she was stirring to smile at Daniel as he came in. The smells of coffee, sausage and eggs filled the humid air.
“Good morning. Coffee’s on, and there’s fruit ready. Mek plate.”
“Mahalo. Tired of my own grinds, yeah?”
She laughed easily. “I made malasadas with coconut cream.”
He groaned. “Ah, ono. My favorite.” He poured a mug of hot, strong coffee and sat at the big butcher-block island, helping himself to the platter of chunked pineapple, mango, papaya and banana.
“Frank is gone already,” she told him as she scraped the scrambled eggs into a big bowl. “Has an all-day dive trip today, up to Honaunau and Kealakekua.”
“You were up early making lunches, yeah?”
She nodded. “Hope the rain doesn’t make the tourists ask for a refund.”
He shrugged. “It’ll be done by early afternoon. They’ll still get some good snorkeling. Any of your guests up?”
As if on cue, Bella appeared in the doorway, yawning. She wore a white top over a pair of red-and-white board shorts. With the tan she’d developed in the few days she’d been here, she looked even more Hawaiian—more Ho’omalu. He didn’t know Daro real well—he was one of the cousins from Maui—but she had her father’s eyes, large and thick-lashed.
“Morning,” he said over his coffee cup.
She smiled at him, traipsing across the kitchen to fill a cup with coffee.
“Cream in the yellow jug,” Leilani said over her shoulder.
Bella brought her coffee over to the island and perched on a stool beside Daniel. He glanced down at her tanned, bare legs and wondered absently why it was that he hadn’t fallen for her, island girl that she was.
He froze, his mug halfway to his lips. What the hell? He hadn’t “fallen for” Claire Hunter. It was just sex—okay, mind-blowing sex, but still, purely physical. That was all it was, and he’d make damn sure that was all it ever became. No more asking her to sleep over, either. He’d be safer snuggling with a moray.
He took a gulp of coffee and then grimaced as he quickly swallowed the scalding liquid. Great, burned his throat as well as his mouth. He realized both Leilani and Bella were staring at him. “Yeah?”
Bella pursed her lips, her eyes twinkling. “I said, Claire seems to be sleeping in this morning.”
He shrugged, avoiding her eyes. Luckily, Leilani chose that moment to set a stack of plates on the island, indicating the covered dishes there with a graceful wave of her hand. “Breakfast is ready. Help yourselves. I’ll put the rest in the oven to keep warm for the others.”
“Thanks, Leilani.” Daniel motioned for Bella to go first, but she shook her head, so he rose, filling his plate with scrambled eggs, crisp hash browns, sausage links and two plump malasadas, the puffy island donuts filled with jam or creamy pudding. He usually ate whole-grain bread, but Leilani’s malasadas were not to be missed.
Claire walked in as he sat down, her tanned skin glowing, her blue eyes still sleepy. She stopped to stretch in the doorway, her top separating from her shorts to display a strip of silky midriff. He’d had his hands and mouth all over that skin last night.
“Morning,” she said huskily, her smile slipping past him to include the women. “Mm, something smells good, Leilani.”
Daniel took a big bite of malasada, watching from the corner of his eye as she walked over to pour a cup of coffee and serve herself a plate of food. She’d braided her hair over one shoulder and changed to a little white T-shirt that
clung to her breasts, and a pair of blue plaid shorts that did interesting things to her ass.
She sauntered over to the island and perched on the stool on Daniel’s other side to eat. He ate steadily, trying to ignore the added pleasure of having her beside him.
Bella nibbled on a portion of a malasada and some fruit. “It’s cloudy,” she said in a disappointed tone.
“It’ll clear off this afternoon,” Leilani said. “Daniel’s always right about the weather, yeah?”
Bella grinned at him. “Really? You could make a fortune with that.”
“NOAA can call me anytime,” he said dryly. “But they never do. Rather trust their fancy instruments.”
She laughed. “Well, I’ll consult you while I’m here.”
He looked at her. “You know you can come back here anytime. You’re family now.”
She ducked her head, and he froze, wondering what the hell to do now. Wahines cried over the damnedest things.
“Mahalo, Daniel,” Bella said, swiping her wet cheeks with one hand. “That means a lot to me.”
Claire nudged him with her elbow, and he looked over to see her smiling at him. He relaxed. Must’ve said the right thing. “Ah. Good. Mahalo for breakfast, Leilani. See you girls later. I gotta get to work.”
He strode back out into the morning with a feeling of having escaped clinging seaweed. Wahines, whoa, a moke never knew when they were going to erupt, with tears or whatever.
He turned resolutely toward his house. He needed to let his breakfast settle for at least twenty minutes or so, just enough time to check in with Tony, see that he was headed back here.
Then he’d swim south, to Na’alele.
The newlyweds returned late that morning, dropped off by the tender from their borrowed yacht. Everyone came down to the dock to see the graceful white yacht bobbing at anchor a little way offshore, too deep-hulled to come into Nawea’s shallow bay. The little raft slipped into the bay on the waves and nosed up to the dock.
Melia looked blissfully relaxed and tanned, and David smug as only a man returning from his honeymoon could be. They both wore a minimum of clothing, Melia a big hat and light sundress over her maillot, and David a pair of swim trunks.
Claire hugged her friend exuberantly. Bella waited impatiently for her own hug. “Have fun?” she asked teasingly.
Melia blushed as David set down the bags nearby, grinning indulgently.
“It was wonderful,” she said. “Nothing to do but sunbathe and eat and swim.”
“That’s all you remember?” David asked with mock horror. “I must have been doing something wrong.”
Melia blushed even brighter pink while Claire and Bella laughed.
“Give him another year or so. He’ll figure it out.”
Claire turned, her heart beating faster. Daniel stood there, his dark eyes narrowed against the sun. It was amazing, she thought hazily. David might be smoother of face and form, but when his older brother was present, he was all she could see.
“Hey, brah,” David said easily. “You got your boat here, yeah?”
“Brought her in yesterday. Welcome back, Mrs. Ho’omalu,” Daniel said to Melia, one of his rare smiles creasing his face.
“Mahalo, Daniel,” Melia replied. “Have you been taking care of my girls?”
An odd silence hummed. Claire’s mind was a beautiful blank. Daniel’s heavy brows drew together.
“Everyone has,” Bella said cheerfully. “Nawea is so gorgeous, I could stay for weeks.”
“Well, tell me what you’ve been doing,” Melia urged. The three women walked up the dock and across the lawn, leaving the two brothers on the dock.
Claire looked back before she walked into the house, and paused. Daniel and David still stood on the dock. Daniel was speaking, gesturing toward the sea. Both he and David looked grim. That was weird, considering David had just come back from his honeymoon and Daniel seemed to be engaged in working on his latest sculpture.
She’d walked over to his house earlier with a plate of macadamia-nut cookies from Leilani, who informed her with a twinkle in her eyes that they were Daniel’s favorite. To be honest, Claire had hoped the delivery might turn out like her first. But when she’d arrived, although his door was open and she could hear music from somewhere in the house, he hadn’t answered her call. Slowly, looking around curiously at the spare rooms with their big, comfortable furniture and a few of his sculptures, she’d followed the sound of Hawaiian ukulele and drums back through the big foyer to an open door.
There she’d stopped in her tracks, staring. Daniel was there, but this was Daniel the sculptor, the artist. He was stalking around a huge block of wood, his gaze intent on something only he could see. As she watched, he leaned over, the powerful muscles of his back bunching and sliding under his smooth golden skin, and swept his hand along the side of the block, leaving a long, curving black streak behind.
Goose bumps sprang up on her skin, and in spite of the warmth of the morning, Claire shivered. He was so gorgeous, as sexy as he’d been when he hulaed with his family. This was a dance of a different kind—he danced with the wood and whatever creature was captured inside.
She’d stood watching him for several moments, the music lilting and pounding as the soft light poured down. At last she’d turned and slipped away. She held the moment to her like a secret piece of the puzzle of Daniel Ho’omalu. No matter what happened, she would always remember him like this.
The girls spent the rest of the day hanging out. Melia wanted to know all about Bella’s meeting with her father. She wept with Bella, and hugged her, and then Claire, for good measure. “I can’t believe all of this was going on, and none of you told me,” she said, pouting a little.
Claire looked at Bella, who grimaced apologetically. “We didn’t want you to have any shadow on your wedding. You had enough to think about. David promised he would tell you later.”
“Well, okay, but no more secrets,” Melia told them severely.
Bella smirked at Claire, who blushed hotly. Melia’s eyes widened. “What?”
“Yes, Claire, tell us all about what you’ve been up to,” Bella said sweetly.
Claire poked her, and Bella giggled as Melia immediately poked Claire. “Tell. Me. Now.”
Claire looked around her bedroom, wishing she could hide under the bed on which the three of them curled up together, Melia against the pillows, herself cross-legged and Bella lying across the foot, head propped on her hand.
Melia’s eyes narrowed. “All right. This has to be about a guy, or you wouldn’t be so embarrassed. And it’s not Zane, ’cause he’s too young. Jack…hmm, saw you dancing with him at the wedding, but…” She sat bolt upright, her green eyes wide, her mouth an O of shock. “Omigod, Claire! Daniel?”
Claire squirmed as Bella hooted with laughter.
“Well,” she mumbled. “He’s…totally hot.”
Melia blinked. “Really? I mean, he’s a great guy, the best, but…most women think he’s a little scary.”
Claire rolled her eyes. “Yeah, he thinks so too.” She smiled to herself, remembering the way he’d warned her to leave or take the consequences.
She looked up to find both her friends regarding her with fascination. “What?”
Melia shrugged. “The Ho’omalu men…yeah.” They shared a look of secret understanding.
“I’m starving,” Bella said. “Let’s go see if it’s time for lunch.”
“Oh, goody,” Melia agreed. “I wonder if Leilani has pulled-pork sandwiches.”
She did, along with fruit salad and her special coleslaw. They helped carry the food down to the beach lanai, in the shade of the palms.
Uncle Hilo had arrived while the three friends were inside. He stood with David and Daniel on the dock.
Claire watched them, puzzled and a little uneasy. Daniel stood with his legs planted solidly apart, his back to her. His stance telegraphed dangerous tension. So did David’s. She looked at Melia and found her friend watching he
r husband.
“What’s up with them?” Claire asked her quietly.
Melia shook her head. “I don’t know, but it looks like business. Let’s go bring the drinks down, and maybe they’ll be ready to eat by then.”
David stood with his brother and uncle on the end of the dock. The warm wind ruffled their hair as the line of rain clouds moved in across the sea, whitecaps ruffling the water. Hilo had just arrived, dropped off by Tony, who had headed back out to continue his sonar patrol of the area.
Daniel told Hilo and David about his conversation with Dennis Ho and his search of the shoreline, both to the north and south.
“There is something out there,” he said stubbornly. “I can feel it. But this morning I even searched Na’alele Caves. Nothing.”
“I’ll help you look again,” David said. “I’ll suit up with dive gear and come with you.”
Daniel shook his head. “I appreciate it, brah, but you’d be a liability, just like I would’ve on the mountain with you a few weeks ago.”
David scowled, but he nodded. It was true, his skills lay with his ability to call upon the power of Pele’s volcanoes, and even the earth built with her lava. If anything happened to him underwater he could not tap the power of the seas like Daniel. He might drown, just as Daniel could die in a fall on the mountain or be burned to death in the volcanoes.
“E akahele, Daniele! E Manō maiā Kanaloa, akā…” Hilo said gravely. “Be careful, Daniel. Your power is from the sea, but still…those Na’alele Caves are dangerous. Unstable.”
“I’ll be careful, kapuna. I saw a fresh cave-in this morning, in fact. The biggest chamber is blocked off.”
David nodded. “Pele is stirring. As soon as I stepped back onto the island, I felt movement under the mountain.”