Like Magnets, We Attract

by Jaye Valentine

  "You could always hit the tide pools; morning tide always washes up something good down there,” Kawika said, all innocence and wide brown eyes when Noah fell back on the bed snickering.

  * * * *

  Kawika's favorite beach was deserted on a late Thursday afternoon. The sand reflected back the day's heat, and Noah stretched luxuriously, feeling it seep into sore muscles even through the towel. He'd been out in the field since just after midnight taking measurements, and between lack of sleep and heavy hiking it felt damn good to be dozing in the warmth. And if he worked hard enough at it, he could almost pretend that Kawika wasn't out in the water behind him taking advantage of the afternoon surf.

  Two weeks later and Noah was still a little stunned that what he'd thought of as a one-time encounter had somehow become so much more. Kawika's sister Nalani's salmon had indeed been everything promised, and he was still vaguely humbled by the ease with which he'd been accepted at the family gathering. That hadn't been the last invitation either: barbeques, huge family breakfasts, even outings to the local Dairy Queen. So far the only one he'd refused had been a day out on Kawika's uncle's fishing boat.

  Through it all, he had to keep mentally head-shaking at the unexpectedness of the whole situation. Kawika was everything that he wasn't, content with life in ways Noah couldn't even begin to imagine possessing. He fought against what he couldn't help feeling was a cliché of the laid-back Hawaiian surfer dude because Kawika was so much more than that, but the fact of the matter was that Kawika was equally happy spending a night with Noah, or crashing at his parents’ or one of any other myriad relatives, or sleeping in his car. It was all okay.

  "Hey lazy. You going to sleep here?"

  The drip of cold water on his chest brought him abruptly upright, almost nose-to-nose with Kawika's smiling face. Dropping his surfboard, Kawika sprawled down next to Noah, nudging him over ostensibly to get a portion of the towel, but ending up half in Noah's lap, skin cool from the ocean.

  "Yeah, maybe,” Noah said, grinning as he squirmed around enough that Kawika ended up between his bent knees. He leaned forward, nuzzling under the wet dark curls plastered flat to neck and head. “You got a problem with that?"

  Kawika shivered and arched his neck, allowing Noah easier access. “Not if you keep doing that. Was hoping maybe you'd swim with me first, though."

  His shiver had nothing to do with either cold or arousal, and he fought to keep his voice light. “Instead of sex? I feel like I should be insulted."

  "Plenty of time for that too."

  When Noah fell silent, Kawika craned around until Noah could see his face. “It's been two weeks,” Kawika said, “and you haven't gone in past your knees. You're in paradise man; you have to swim.” Kawika laughed, shaking his head, sending water droplets flying. “It's the law."

  "Told you before, I'm not much of a swimmer."

  Kawika shrugged. “So? I'll be with you."

  There were a hundred answers Noah could've come up with, any and all of them more face-saving than blurted-out truth. “I'm kind of scared of the water.” This time, when he dropped his face against the rapidly warming skin of Kawika's back, it was to hide the warm flush he felt spreading across his cheekbones. The nudging fingers against his chin forced him to look back up.

  "Been swimming since I could walk. I won't let anything happen."

  Words that were no doubt meant to be comforting only deepened the embarrassment, and Noah let his eyes slide to the side without answering.

  "Hey, pretty one.” Kawika's voice was quietly teasing. “You let me fuck you, but you don't trust me to teach you to swim? Don't be stupid."

  "It's not that easy,” Noah muttered miserably.

  "It can be. You just need to ease back and let yourself trust me.” Kawika stood up in one easy fluid motion, holding out his hand. “Come on. Please?"

  Noah drew a shaky breath, fists clenched against his thighs. The heavy rolling in his stomach seemed timed with the waves smashing against the sand, but after a second breath he managed a nod. “Yeah, okay, I'll try.” Up to his knees, he was okay. Not happy, but okay. When it reached his waist, water splashing up to darken his blue swim trunks to black, some of it reaching his chest, it was suddenly not okay at all.

  Sensing his tension, Kawika gripped Noah's hand a little harder and gave a reassuring grin. “Little bit further. Just enough to get your hair wet or it doesn't count."

  "No.” Shaking his head, Noah took a step backward on the shifting sand. “I'm not putting my face in the water. No.” He felt his voice rise on the last word, and he bit his bottom lip hard, determined to keep everything else inside where it belonged. Except he obviously wasn't doing even close to a decent job hiding his fear because Kawika's arms suddenly wrapped around him, holding on tightly.

  "Shhh, hey, it's okay. No deeper than this, I promise. It's okay, you're doing great."

  The soothing roll of words went a long way toward slowing Noah's heart rate. “I'm sorry. This is so fucking stupid."

  Kawika rested his chin on Noah's shoulder, arms tight. “Be still. Just feel the rhythms in the ocean, eh? Feel it without fighting it."

  "That sounds really New Age-y,” Noah said, managing a wan grin.

  "Nothing new about it. It's always been there."

  When he let himself, Noah could feel the last of the afternoon sun on his shoulders, the solid weight of Kawika's arms around his chest, the ebb and flow of the waves slipping between their bodies.

  "See, it's good.” One hand went to the nape of Noah's neck, thumb rubbing in a slow circular motion. Noah sighed and nodded, relaxing into the touch. They stayed like that for several long minutes until Noah felt the last of the tension drifting away. Hands moving to his shoulders, Kawika turned him until they were facing each other. “You're stronger than you think. You need to trust yourself too, though. Me and you."

  Noah's disparaging snort was cut off by a hard press of lips, Kawika nudging him back toward shore, step-by-step with the mere force of the kiss. When they'd waded in far enough that water only swirled gently around their feet, Noah was caught completely off-guard as Kawika kneeled in front of him.

  Smiling widely, Kawika's hands ran up Noah's legs, coming to rest on his hips. “Proud of you, pretty one. I think maybe you deserve a reward...” Hot breath against wet, clingy material, and then Kawika was mouthing his cock through the thin nylon.

  Noah gasped, legs splaying unconsciously wider as he struggled to keep his balance in the shifting sand. “Kawika, you can't ... not here—” Any further protest was cut off when his bathing suit slid down past his knees to float gently around his ankles. His laugh held a note of desperation. “You're in the water. And I'm gonna fall!"

  "Not gonna let you fall."

  "More worried about you drowning if a wave hits us.” Noah choked back a gasp as that impossibly hot mouth closed around his cock, his fingers sliding through Kawika's thick black hair. He knew his hips jerked erratically, and he couldn't help looking around them, waiting to see someone else on the deserted little inlet. He yelped when he felt fingers pinch his ass, bringing back his attention in no uncertain terms, forgetting that someone might hear.

  Noah closed his eyes, not immune to the tongue pushing against the head of his cock, or the way Kawika seemed to time little tricks to the water washing in and out against his calves. Water splashed up the backs of his legs and he shivered, thrusting deeper into the warmth of Kawika's mouth to earn a stifled groan. He gentled the hand he'd let unconsciously tug at that thick, dark hair, feeling the pull of the tide against his feet and the orgasm building hard and fast.

  "God!” Noah felt his knees buckle a little, and he slumped over Kawika, kneading Kawika's shoulders for a few seconds as he caught his breath.

  "See? Told you I wouldn't let you fall.” Kawika was half in the shadow cast by Noah's body, dark eyes wide and a brilliant, wicked smile on his face. Noah bent down and pulled him into a hard kiss.

  "Too late for that,�
� Noah said quietly. He hadn't meant to say that, but even worse was he hadn't realized the truth of the words until they'd left his mouth. Too late to pull them back, too late to laugh them off as a joke. Noah swallowed hard, all too aware of the puzzled crease between Kawika's eyes as Kawika sought out Noah's gaze.

  "Too late?"

  Noah shook his head, forcing a smile. “Never mind. I was, uh, was thinking about something else."

  "Kinda insulted that you can think right now, honestly. Maybe I should leave you to the sharks after all.” Splashing as he got to his feet again, Kawika reached up to ruffle his damp hair.

  Noah rolled his eyes and ducked away after a few seconds. “Can we get out of the water now?"

  "Still not selling you on it, huh? No surfing lessons in our future? We keep you in the mountains with Pele instead."

  Noah's stomach did a flip, but he couldn't decide if it was the thought of a shared future or trying to keep afloat on what amounted to a seafaring skateboard that did it. He lurched away from the tide line toward his towel, flopping down again, face buried in the crook of his arm to block out the sight of the ocean if not the sound. Noah felt Kawika's warm weight settle over him, Kawika straddling his hips and leaning forward to rub his shoulders. Noah started to speak, to tell Kawika why he'd never be able to distance himself from the illogical terror that water provoked in him. To tell Kawika he was so used to being alone, so ready to be left he wasn't sure he knew how to try anymore.

  "Not a lot of point in learning to surf just so I can go back to Ohio.” He groaned, even though the fingers kneading his shoulders had stilled.

  "You're moving back to the mainland?"

  It was impossible to miss the tension in the question and in the body gone rigid above him. He kept his eyes shut tight, feeling a drop of sweat run down his nose where it was buried in the crook of his elbow. “My fellowship is only for six months. I could apply to stay, but I don't really think I belong here. Everyone is so connected to this place, and I don't want to feel like I'm an outsider for the rest of my life."

  "You could try making a connection yourself. You spend all your time making sure nobody gets close, you're gonna wind up lonely. That's how it works."

  "I didn't ... I didn't mean you, Kawika."

  "Yeah you did,” Kawika replied, and Noah surprised himself by being able to picture the sarcastic half-smile even though he couldn't see it. “But I'll show you a connection."

  The laughter warmed Noah, even if he knew it was mostly for show, and he relaxed when he felt hands at his hips, pulling his shorts down. Kawika settled back over him, and Noah's breath sped up when he felt that hard cock press into the crease between his legs. They moved together lazily, Noah not really ready for another round but Kawika pinning him down, thrusting against his wet skin.

  "Gotta keep you close, pretty one,” Kawika whispered in his ear, mouth moving to the skin below it to press a kiss into his beard. “Can't let you get away.” The warm hands that slid down his arms were still darker than his own skin, even after weeks of being dragged out into the sun every day. He liked the contrast, but not as much as he liked the strength in them, fingers twining with his, holding him still, spread out under Kawika.

  Noah drew a ragged breath. The soft words, combined with the possessive feel of hands on his body, the warm, heavy weight of Kawika over him, all came together in a flash of near-pain. It was so far beyond anything he'd ever let himself hope for that he felt numb with the shock of it.

  Kawika gentled his thrusts. “Hey, it's okay. Did I say something wrong?"

  "No,” Noah muttered, voice strained. Instinctively stretching his arms, he hid a smile when Kawika tightened the hold on him. “It's everything right."

  Apparently reassured, Kawika pressed another kiss between Noah's shoulder blades before moving again. “Gonna fuck you properly when we get back to the house.” Kawika's laugh was a warm huff of air across damp skin, and Noah shivered. “When we don't have to worry about sand."

  "I'd take my chances."

  "I wouldn't, not with your gorgeous ass. No sand burn.” Kawika sounded breathless, thrusting faster, his weight pressing Noah into the towel and the soft sand below it. The slip of skin-over-skin, the way he could hear his name as an undercurrent to every throaty moan nearly roused him again, but it wasn't quite enough. Instead he lifted his hips, and Kawika's fingers squeezed his hard.

  "Jesus, Noah,” Kawika said, voice so strange as to be almost unrecognizable, and then Kawika was coming hard, at least judging by the sharp cry and the hot, wet splash against Noah's leg. Kawika lay still for a minute, a heavy weight on Noah's back, and when he started to roll away Noah grabbed for Kawika's arms, using their linked fingers to draw them back.

  "Stay,” Noah ordered, a little panicky before he felt the soft brush of hair on his shoulder, and the sated, lazy press of lips against the back of his neck.

  "I won't go anywhere if you don't,” Kawika said, but Noah ignored him, wrapped up in the fantasy of belonging and the arms of the man he hadn't expected to love.

  * * * *

  It was stiflingly hot, hotter than it had been since his arrival, not a trace of a breeze running through the usually cool house. Noah moodily nursed his beer and the beginnings of a headache, both with the same cranky intensity.

  "It's hot, heh?” Despite his words, Kawika looked comfortable enough as he propped the kitchen door open behind him. “Hasn't been this bad in years."

  "Just my luck."

  Kawika grinned as he hooked a chair out with one foot and dropped down next to Noah. “You don't seem so happy today,” he said, sliding the bottle out of Noah's hand and taking a drink.

  The fact of the matter was Noah was feeling downright pissy, but that was hardly going to endear him to Kawika, especially if he had to go explaining why. His supervisor from the university had approached him that afternoon and come right out and asked if Noah was going to stay on with the project or go back to Ohio. He should've expected the question, but instead it had caught him by surprise and left him stammering, staring awkwardly at his feet and sounding like a complete idiot. He hadn't answered the question.

  "I can take you to bed, cheer you up."

  "Maybe tonight, when it cools down a little?” Noah sighed, not really holding out much hope for the thought.

  Kawika pulled a mock-disappointed expression, running a hand through the sweat-damp hair at the nape of Noah's neck. “Still a lot to learn about living here, pretty one. You don't ever let the heat stand in the way of sex."

  "Oh, I've got no problem admitting how little I know about living here.” His laugh held as much exasperation as amusement. “You know, I was up on the rim early this morning taking some temperature counts. It couldn't have been three-thirty, four o'clock and there was this entire family, down to a baby in a backpack, marching around on the edge of a steam vent carrying flowers. Flowers, for fuck's sake, on the ridge of a volcano. I almost had a heart attack, waiting for one of the kids to slip off into the vent, but by the time I got up there to say that maybe, just maybe there were better places for a morning hike, they were gone. Nothing left but this huge pile of flowers.” Noah paused to take a breath, not realizing until then just how much the situation had irked him. He shrugged sheepishly. “Sorry. It just kinda pushed my buttons, I guess. It's dangerous up there. I hate to see people fucking around like it was the playground at McDonalds."

  Kawika looked startled, and then laughed softly. “They were leaving gifts for Pele. People have been doing it for centuries."

  Noah rolled his eyes. “Jesus, not that whole ‘appease the goddess of the volcano’ thing? It's 2009, not 1609."

  "It's not to appease her,” Kawika said stiffly. “It's to honor her presence here, to acknowledge that she creates even as she takes away. Maybe you could learn something from the people who have been living with the volcano for centuries."

  Noah jerked away from the touch of Kawika's hand, pushing back from the kitchen table and stalking
to the fridge to get another beer. “I don't get how perfectly rational people can talk like there's so much truth behind something so obviously mythical."

  Kawika frowned. “And beliefs are meant to be logical? You believe that Jesus Christ rose from the dead? Or that there's a great Karmic wheel of life? Or that Mohammed walked the earth?"

  "I don't, actually."

  "And there is the problem, I think. You don't believe in anything.” There was a flash of sadness in Kawika's eyes before he looked away. “Or anyone."

  "That's not true.” I believe in you. He hadn't managed to say that last bit out loud. Noah sighed, scrubbing a hand across his face as he sat back down. “Look, I'm sorry Kawika. I didn't mean to be insulting or condescending or any of those other asshole things I'm sure I was. Forgive me?"

  Kawika gave a long searching glance. “Yeah, of course,” he said with a wry grin. “You are who you are, pretty one. I need to accept that.” He reached across the table and hooked one of his fingers through Noah's, a small smile growing on his own face as curly black hair flopped into his eyes. “Just don't be so quick to call ‘jinx’ on everything."

  "Or Pele will get me?” Noah asked, teasing.

  "Why you think Pele wants your skinny ass?” Kawika said with another, wider grin. “Now, my fine Hawaiian self, I could see the draw, but who says she wants some stringy haole anyway?” He leaned forward and pressed a smacking kiss to Noah's temple, stealing the new beer out of Noah's hand as he sat back in his chair.

  "So she's got a thing for guys who sleep in their cars, huh? Makes two of us, I suppose.” Noah sighed dramatically and got up again, retrieving the last of the beer. He was slower with the bottle opener this time, looking out the window over the sink into the tangle of guava trees at the edge of the little rented yard. “You know, you could just stay here. I mean, if you don't need to be on your uncle's boat or closer to a decent surfing spot in the morning. I know I'm practically in Pahoa, so it's kind of a drive."