by Eden Butler
“It’s a matter of reputation, Lily, not actions. No matter what has occurred or who is at fault, your reputation has been tarnished at the firm. Ellis simply wants me to intercede so that there is no idle gossip to interfere with the necessary work our staff completes.”
“Lincoln, I don’t think…”
“This is the way things are, Lily.” He grabbed his cell, pulling up the Uber app. “Ten a.m. It would be in the best interest of the firm and your career to make the meeting.”
He didn’t let her interrupt again. Lincoln walked down the drive, his back to Lily and Keilen, waiting on the pavement for the car to arrive. He didn’t care much what either of them thought of him or let himself worry if Lily would show in the morning. He’d need the time anyway, to do some investigating and prepare for what needed to be done.
Lily might be home, she might think staying was best, but once Lincoln was finished with the task at hand, Oahu would be the last place she would want to be. And when she left, he’d be waiting, ready to bring her back to him and the life she deserved.
Chapter Fifteen
“Dance with me.” Keilen’s voice was low, but Lily still heard it over the din of noise and voices in the middle of the room. “We haven’t danced for a long time.”
“The music is too fast.” Lily was a little drunk, but still knew that you needed a slow song to do the kind of dancing Keilen wanted.
“Then let’s go somewhere else.” He pulled her close, resting a hand on her lower back as Mekka started gyrating and dancing like a drunken fool when someone changed the MP3 player to old school Run DMC. “No one will miss us.”
“No one?” she asked nodding at Zinnia as she sat on Ano’s lap listening to Leanni speak with her hands gesturing wildly. “She might need back up.”
“No, she’s good.” He led her from the kitchen, passed Mekko and some girl Lily had seen lining up shots along the bar just an hour before. “I heard Ano fussing at his tutu when Zee went to the back bathroom. I think he may have told her to back off.”
“But she’s still bossing orders.”
“Nah,” he said, opening the back door for her. “That’s her just chatting. Leanni gets this heavy line down her forehead when she’s fussing.”
“You have experience with that?”
Keilen stopped, eyes wide in mock concern as he adapted an eye-batting innocent expression. “Not me, no. I was the perfect child growing up.”
Lily stopped, tugging out of his reach when Keilen tilted his head, motioning her toward his property. “Now I know you’re lying. I do recall you screwing up epically senior year.”
“It was the best senior prank ever pulled off at Kaimuki High. It took Mr. Williams a month to get that old Chevy off the roof of the school, and it made me a legend.” He lifted his chin, looking too pleased with himself as he pulled Lily away from Ano’s property.
“It made you unable to walk with your class at graduation, if I recall.”
“That’s right,” he said, pretending to be truly amazed as he stopped midway between his back stairs and the edge of his property toward the beach. “I forgot how obsessed with me you were.”
Lily shook her head when Keilen motioned toward his patio. She didn’t know what he planned, but could guess. There was a guarantee she’d regret whatever that plan was in the morning. “We can’t go to your house,” she said, stepping away from the curved walkway that led to Keilen’s place.
“Why not?”
“Because then we’ll be alone.”
He took three steps toward her, resting his hands on her hips. “Is that a bad thing?”
“It could lead to very bad things, Dr. K.”
“I’m waiting to hear why that’s bad.”
She glanced over the horizon and smiled, taking Keilen’s hand as she jogged toward the beach. “When was the last time you swam at night?”
“Not much time for that when you’re on call.”
Lily ambled across the beach, walking backward, tugging Keilen along until she came to wet sand and the slick rush of slow moving waves.
“You’re not on call now, are you?”
“No. Not just now,” he said, head tilted as he watched her. There was a look on his face that moved somewhere between curiosity and fear. By the way his mouth twitched, Lily guessed curiosity was winning out.
“Good. I’m glad to hear that.” Lily smiled, feeling buzzed and a lot eager to see Keilen’s eyes light up when she chucked her clothes.
“What are you doing?”
She dropped his hand, stepping further back into the current. The water was cooler than it should have been for the autumn. “Giving you a show.” He kept his eyes on the slow slip of her fingers through her buttonholes. When she deliberately teased him with a flash of skin and the curve of her breasts, she was rewarded with a hard swallow and the flick of his tongue against his upper lip.
“Makamae, you only need to smile to do that.”
She stopped unbuttoning her shirt, a little overcome by the endearment and how sweet it sounded coming from him.
“That means ‘darling,’ doesn’t it?”
Keilen nodded, stepping out of his shoes.
“You think I’m your darling?”
“I think,” he said, loosening his belt as Lily pulled her shirt over her head. “I think you definitely could be.” He walked forward, reaching for her hand when she began to slip the elastic waistband of her dress over her hips. “Let me,” he said in that rich, deep voice he seemed to only affect when he wanted to make Lily go a little stupid.
Keilen moved his palms over her hips, bunching up the fabric between his fingers as he slid it over the curve of her ass and the backs of her thighs, licking fire and heat over the surface of her skin. Lily hummed, smiling when Keilen blinked, a long, slow movement that made him seem content.
With his hands on her, that sweet smell of his skin wafting in her senses, Lily forgot her earlier protests of those bad-thing plans. She forgot happy endings weren’t in her future. She forgot everything and decided to just feel. He felt so good against her, his skin warm and smooth. “If I’m makamae, then what should I call you? There must be some pet name I can use.”
His smile, his laugh, the way he seemed unable to keep from touching her reminded Lily of that night at Tommy’s and the long kisses, the slow dance that had gone on for hours. Propriety was no match for nostalgia, no matter who was affected by it. Lily slid her arms over his shoulders, to fold her fingers together as they continued to walk backward into the water.
“I only know the big ones, like ‘my love’… ko 'u aloha…”
“No,” she said, pulling his belt from the loop at his waistband.
“Or just ‘beloved,’ ke aloha…”
“Or lolo,” she tried, laughing when he shook his head.
“That’s another one meant for you.”
“What was it Luka used to call you?” She tapped a finger to her chin, in mock thought and smiled, liking how he laughed at her. “Oh. That’s right. Buggah.”
“Ha. I forgot about that, but no, you can’t call me that.”
Keilen stopped to shed his slacks, joining her in the water clad in only his boxer briefs. They went into the water waist deep and Lily let Keilen move them, picking her up so that her forgotten skirt floated on the surface of the water. She leaned against him in that skirt and her black lace bra, loving how he shuddered, how his grip tightened on her thighs when she brushed against him.
There were a few beads of sweat on his face, collecting on his upper lip, and Lily cupped the cool water in her palm, dripping it over his fine features before she kissed him, taking advantage of his closed eyes.
Surprise moved across his face—eyebrows lifted, mouth opened, and when Lily went in for another kiss, Keilen groaned, responded with his tongue against her bottom lip and his hand lowering to press her against him.
“You taste like the ocean now,” she said, smiling against his lips when that low groan lifted,
became a little desperate and eager.
“Nani, I’ll taste however you want if you keep kissing me like that.”
He took over then, rubbing her down his body, holding her face between his large palms as the current stirred and shifted them together, bodies moving with the tide as the waves got rough.
Lily didn’t care. She was half naked and a little drunk, kissing the boy she’d dreamt of for years. Let the storms come. Let them swallow her whole.
“Nani again,” she said, breaking the kiss when she realized what he’d called her. “That’s ‘pretty,’ right? I’ve heard Ano call Zee that.”
He looked down at her, smile sweet as he watched her. “Beautiful. It means beautiful.”
Lily’s chest constricted, tightened with the intensity of his stare and the swell of emotion that warmed her heart. She couldn’t take it for long, that look. It felt too honest, too raw. So, she did what was customary for her. Lily deflected.
“See, there you go calling me pet names and I still don’t have one for you. Unless you change your mind about buggah…”
“No,” he said, sliding his fingers into her damp hair. “I rather you say to me, na'u `oe so I can say it back.”
“What does that mean?”
He hesitated, only for a moment, the smile lighting up his face lowered, as though unsure if he should tell Lily the truth. She held her breath when he moved his thumb across her lower lip and then Keilen nodded, decision apparently made. “It means ‘you’re mine.’”
“That…” Her breath shuddered then, and she shook against him. “That’s what you want me to say?”
“That’s what I want you to mean.”
The kiss, when it came, reminded Lily of the first one he’d given her, all those years ago on Tommy’s dance floor. There was no Kiki there to force her to say stupid, inappropriate things. There was no Kona smiling like he knew what Keilen wanted to do to Lily once they left the bar. There was only the press of Keilen’s naked chest against her and the warm, smooth glide of his fingers on her back, pulling her close, sinking into the sandy ocean as he lowered his head and moved his mouth to hers.
She had meant it, that ‘your mine’ promise a thousand times in her dreams. She’d spoken it proudly to him anytime he moved through the hallways and half glanced at, half ignored her. She’d wanted to say it a million times before that night on the beach, but had never had him close enough; had never believed he’d want to hear anything similar from her.
But there she stood, under the rich moonlight, letting Keilen Rivers steal her breath, ravage her mouth like a predator she warmly welcomed. She’d say it a thousand times just to keep him close. She’d say it a million more because it was true.
“Keilen?” she said, holding his head still when he didn’t seem able to break away from her kiss. He grunted low, the only response he gave her. “I mean it.”
He didn’t answer. Instead, Keilen stared down at her a little breathless, stretching his neck so that Lily saw the steady quickening of his pulse as he watched her. A look, it seemed and a small confession, could shift this man’s world and leave him dumbfounded. It was a power Lily would have never believed she could wield. But there she was, holding him, that perfect fantasy, between her trembling fingers, living in a daydream on that dark autumn night, meaning the things she’d spoken with a bravery she never really had.
And he believed her. Maybe she believed it too.
Chapter Sixteen
They kept the windows open. There was no AC yet; that had broken long ago and despite the autumn season, Oahu was still warm. Keilen dripped water over the newly stained hardwood floors, something he didn’t seemed concerned about. In fact, his attention was on Lily and the thick towel he rubbed over her shoulders and at the ends of her wet hair.
“Leave it,” she said, stopping him when he pulled the towel away to dry her legs. “I’m not worried about drying off. It’s so hot and the breeze is steady. It feels nice when it moves around the house.”
“I’ll open the patio door. It’ll keep the breeze circulating.” Keilen moved away from her, his wide shoulders flexing as he walked to the patio and pushed open the glass doors that led to the back of the property.
He was beautiful in the moonlight, his black hair slicked wet with ocean water and small droplets sliding over the deep curves and defined symmetry of his back.
Lily could watch him move in the dark, a shadow made of beauty; a danger you could not see coming and could not bring yourself to worry over until it was on you. He was light and dark just then—midnight and daybreak in his features, in the slow seduction of movement he managed without any thought.
“You’re beautiful,” she said, stepping off the bar stool next to his kitchen island, dropping the towel in the four steps it took to reach him. He didn’t reach for her. Keilen seemed too stunned by her words and the slow progression of her touch when it finally came to his face. “I’ve always thought so.” She moved closer, reach slow, but sure, fingertips gentle when she moved her touch over the strong contours of his face; the broad brow and high-arced cheekbones, to those luscious, tempting lips.
He stood still, seeming to like the attention of her touch over his skin, closing his eyes when Lily stretched on her toes to hold his face and kiss him.
“I’ve always thought you were…”
“Awkward,” she said, her laugh taking the edge off the self-directed insult. “Clumsy. Awe-struck?”
“I was going to say…sweet.”
“You wouldn’t have known that.” The reminder of how she’d been in high school no longer embarrassed Lily. She’d long-since exorcised the adolescent torture she’d endured. There hadn’t been time for self-pity and scars left by mean girls and high school bullies. It did no good to lament on the past when you’re focused on feeding an eleven-year-old on a hundred bucks a month in food stamps.
“You think I didn’t notice you?” Keilen asked, pulling her hand back to his face when she tried lowering it. It was a sweet gesture that took away the last remnant of nervousness remaining from her now sober mind. “I did. You were so sweet and shy, at first. You always looked, and I always noticed.”
“You did not.” Lily laughed then, because his expression was too open, honest. It was impossible for her to believe he’d paid enough attention to see her watching him behind those lockers.
“I did. Even my cousins teased me about my little fan girl.” Keilen’s smile stretched, and he grabbed Lily around the waist when she made a half-hearted attempt to walk out of the patio. He turned them both, slipping his large arms around her waist, nuzzling her neck and she pressed her back against his chest.
From this position, with the doors open, they could see the lifting waves and hear the splash of the current as the winds rustled harder, faster. “I was flattered,” he told her, smoothing small kisses on her shoulder, then up her neck. “You were young, so quiet, and anytime I looked around, there you were. It made me feel, I dunno, like I mattered to someone.”
“Keilen,” she started, glancing over her shoulder to look in his eyes. “You mattered to a lot of people. Everyone loved you.”
“Everyone loved what I did on the football field.” He pressed her closer, slipping his fingers to the nape of her neck, pushing her wet hair away from her skin. “But there was only one person who looked even when I wasn’t playing. Off season, summer, anytime I spotted you in town, at Zippy’s, on the beach, there you were with that pretty smile, watching. Waiting.”
Despite how they’d been around each other, how intimate their time together had been, Lily still felt the brush of heat warming her cheeks at his words. She had been waiting. Until she couldn’t wait anymore. Until she returned from school and found Keilen waiting for her. The turnabout had been incredible to her.
“You never spoke to me until…until that rugby match and even then that was only to ask if I was okay.”
Another kiss, this one slower, warmer, near the back of her ear, and Lily didn’t bo
ther hiding the quick trembling that took over her limbs. Keilin caught it too, inching one hand up her ribs as though he wanted to keep her still. “How could I? You were too young then, until that night. Until you were directly in the way of the thundering meatheads. Couldn’t let anything happen to my little fangirl, now, could I?” Lily decided to ignore the pet name, though she liked it much less than all the sweet terms Keilen had used on her at the beach.
“Then,” Lily started, wanting to hear him recall it, wanting Keilen to finish the image of them together. If only for a second. “You stopped me and looked at me and I just couldn’t let go.”
“You weren’t so little then.” Another kiss and he shifted his palm, his thumb grazing the underside of her breast. “I wanted to kiss you that night. But you got away from me and Luka and Kona took me to a party out on Lanikai Beach. I was so pissed at them.”
Lily leaned back, loving the way he felt against her, the strong planes of his body, the scorching heat coming off his drying skin. She didn’t want to move for fear Keilen might step away from her.
“Then,” he supplied, lifting that hand up further. “I saw you at Tommy’s and my God, Lil you were a woman. Such a woman. So confident, still so sweet. I knew the second I kissed you that one night would have never been enough for me. And now…time has made you even more beautiful…” Keilen paused, shifting their bodies so she felt everything, so the hot pant of his breath teased against her neck, so that he held onto one breast while his free hand dipped to the wet fabric of her underwear. “But in these eyes…” He moved his head, catching her gaze. “There’s still that shy girl. She won’t ever leave you, I don’t think, but there’s someone else. Someone strong and fierce. Someone I want so badly.” Keilen leaned closer, licking her bottom lip, catching the low moan she made when he pinched her nipple. “Someone I want to be inside of right now.”
“Keilen.” The name was weak, came out on a low moan, and Lily didn’t care if she sounded pathetic. She was, only for him. She didn’t care if she sounded desperate, only he could make her feel that way.