by Anna Lowe
“Time to head back?” Jake whispered when she eased away.
She let her eyes rove over the crooked roof, the uneven steps, the unpicked fruit sagging from overladen branches.
I don’t want to go, she wanted to say. I want to bring it all back. Those innocent, happy times. The simplicity. The love.
But all that had been a long time ago. Georgia Mae was gone, and Ella was all grown up.
We can have a life like that again. With Jake in a new home, her fox insisted, filling her mind with images of the desert Southwest.
“I just need a minute to call Hunter,” she murmured before her fox got carried away.
Jake spent a few seconds studying her before he gave a satisfied nod and let her step away.
She dialed and paced impatiently until Hunter picked up the phone with his usual, rumbling, “Hello?”
She kept it short and sweet, speaking out loud for some parts and sending other thoughts directly into Hunter’s mind. Their mental connection was tenuous over such a distance, but if she really concentrated, she could get her thoughts through.
“I need you to check out the jerk who came to see the property,” she started, adding, the jerk of a shifter who came to see the property.
“A shifter?” Hunter barked over his end of the line. “What kind?”
“The kind I don’t trust.” Some kind of feline. Didn’t Silas mention a meeting with a delegation of lions?
“I’ll check it out,” Hunter said.
A minute later, she ended the call, feeling slightly more settled than before. “Ready to go,” she said, coming back to Jake.
“Are you sure?” He nodded at the house.
She turned in a slow circle, taking it all in one more time. Maybe she, Kai, and Hunter ought to reconsider selling the place.
“Ready,” she said at last.
One of the owls hooted in farewell as they walked to the Jeep. The bird wasn’t a shifter, but it had been a friend of Georgia Mae’s, and its nods and flutters told Ella all she needed to know.
Home. This is home.
Okay, she would definitely talk to Kai and Hunter about keeping the place. But they’d have to get to that after things settled down, which could take a while.
She sighed and stepped into the Jeep, casting one more look around before driving down the road. A truck sped by as she waited at the intersection to the main road, followed by a rental with a white-knuckled tourist at the wheel, and finally, a rusty local pickup with the radio turned up loud enough to hear a soulful island tune. She turned onto the road behind it and fiddled with the radio knob until she found the same station.
“Nice song,” Jake murmured.
“Over the Rainbow,” she said. “Israel Kamakawiwo’ole.” She’d heard that version more often than she could count, but she’d never tired of it. Somehow, that song managed to make her dream of both her homes — the desert and Maui. Before long, her fingers were tapping and her inner fox humming.
She caught Jake smiling at her, and she couldn’t help grinning back. It was a nice picture – him in the passenger seat of the car, the wind playing in his hair, looking more settled with every winding mile.
Each song that came on the radio had her humming louder. They all seemed like one-time favorites, and the familiar chords made long-forgotten lyrics pop into her mind. Jake hummed and fiddled with the puzzle box, and her fox kept busy seeking peeks at him. It was nice seeing Jake like that. A little more relaxed, and somehow more lovable with every second that ticked by. It felt good to be two ordinary people driving into the sunset, humming and puzzling along. So good that she found herself wanting to stretch out the drive and hide from reality for a while.
The sun was kissing the horizon when they hit the West Maui coast, and before she knew it, she’d flicked the blinker on for a left turn into Puamana Beach Park.
“What’s up?” Jake asked, looking around.
She motioned. “The sun is setting. It would be a shame to miss it, right?”
He nodded and spoke quietly. “Yeah, that would be a shame.”
She pulled into a spot facing the water and sat back in the seat of that ridiculous pink Jeep, reaching for Jake’s hand without thinking.
What are you doing? part of her mind screamed.
But Jake reached out at exactly the same time, and it was too nice to let go.
Really nice, her fox sighed.
“Kind of like real honeymooners, huh?” he murmured, squeezing her hand as the sun dropped lower, sending pink streaks over Lanai and Molokai.
She nodded. “Pretty close.”
It was more than close, at least in one overly hopeful part of her mind.
We can take Jake back to Arizona, settle down on the ranch, and live happily ever after, her fox sighed.
So easy to imagine, especially with the sea breeze promising fair sailing and the sun shooting rays of brilliant color across the sky. But Arizona was so far away…
Don’t forget. We have the honeymoon suite, her fox said in a naughty tone.
Ella kept her eyes on the horizon. God, it would be so nice to make the most of that place. Just for one night.
Just one night, her fox breathed.
Every morning, she crumpled the bedsheets to make it appear as if she and Jake were actually sleeping together, and another morning of that might just kill her.
I have a much better solution, her fox said, far too innocently.
I don’t want to hear it. Ella shook her head.
But her fox plunged ahead with visions of steamy sex that made her ache with need. Visions of herself and Jake, finally giving in to carnal desire. She saw the two of them wrapped around each other in bed, missionary style, panting hard.
She took a sharp breath and stared straight ahead.
I’ll cover security today, Kai had yelled in the background of Hunter’s phone call earlier that day. You guys take the night off before the big day. And make it count, honeymooners.
Kai had been joking, but her fox kept up the sultry images, chipping away at her resistance. She imagined Jake and her on all fours, her clutching the sheets, him pumping hard from behind. Or her on top in reverse cowgirl, riding him hard. Or her spread wide on the bed, with Jake sliding over her body, exploring with his tongue. Lower and lower until he touched down on her sex, making fireworks shoot off in her mind.
Heat surged through her body, and she nearly groaned out loud.
“What did you say?” Jake asked, hauling her out of the fantasy.
She cleared her throat harshly, not daring to look his way. “Guess we ought to go,” she murmured, revving the engine back to life and heading back to the road.
Damn it. Quit doing that, she ordered her fox.
Doing what? the beast asked far too innocently.
“Whoa,” Jake said, hanging on to the dashboard while the tires screamed through the left turn.
“Sorry,” she muttered, feeling her cheeks heat. She kept her mouth shut and her eyes on the road, hoping the breeze would cool her off before they got back to the resort.
“Wasn’t that on the list?” Jake asked as they flashed past a sign.
“Wasn’t what on the list?”
He motioned behind him. “Lahaina Second Friday. What is that anyway?”
“It’s a big street party in Lahaina.”
“Street party…” He considered.
She’d never been, but she’d heard about it.
Great music, Nina had said.
Great dancing, Tessa had added with a huge smile.
In other words, a terrible idea for a shifter in her horny state.
“Pretty good thing for a couple of honeymooners to do,” Jake said.
She stared at him. Was he serious?
His eyes twinkled in the dim light. “We do have the car for twenty-four hours.”
They did, but no. Not a good idea. Didn’t he know that music and dancing could lead them down a long, tempting road?
The look on Jake�
��s face said he didn’t mind that one bit.
“I’m a mess. And you are too,” she tried.
But her heart wasn’t having that, and Jake wasn’t either. He checked his watch. “We can grab a quick shower and come back. Plenty of time.”
Ella pursed her lips. A good thing Jake wasn’t a shifter — he would have sensed her eagerness all too well. “Maybe we ought to get back to checking out things at the resort. The reception is tomorrow, after all.”
Jake tilted his head one way then the other. “It is one of the last things on Lily’s list…” He left the words hanging as if it was all the same to him. But she could feel the hope rise within him — and damn it, within her too. An evening out with Jake would be much nicer than rushing back into a lie. And the day had been a good one, Gideon Goode aside.
Her fox nodded eagerly. We definitely need to finish Lily’s list.
She looked at Jake, then at the dimming coastline, and finally into her heart. She wanted an evening out with him far too much, and damn it, this time, she just couldn’t resist.
Just this once, she told her fox. And just dancing.
Just this once, the beast echoed immediately.
“I guess duty calls,” she said. “I mean, finishing Lily’s list and all.”
Jake grinned. “Duty calls.”
And so it was that instead of turning the car keys back in to the rental desk at the resort, they took turns rushing in and out of the shower before heading back to town. Parking was a nightmare, as Ella knew it would be, and the walk to the middle of town was long. But the stars shone overhead, and cheery people lined the streets, tourists and locals alike. The sound of a band drew them on, and she looked around.
“God, I haven’t been here in ages.”
Lahaina was a touristy place, and she had never really spent much time there, having grown up on the other side of the island. But it was surprisingly nice, even with the tourists, T-shirt stands, and kitschy souvenirs. The music drifting down the street from ahead pulled her on, and the timeless atmosphere of the town made her mind drift.
Just the two of us, her fox purred.
Just dancing, she reminded the beast. Nothing else.
Like Kai said, her fox reminded her. It’s our last night off before the reception. Gotta make it count.
Which is exactly what she was afraid of doing. But, damn. The night was so warm, so full of possibility…
“Kind of nice,” she said.
“Nice,” Jake grunted, making her head turn.
His shoulders were bunched, his back stiff. Ella looked around and cursed herself. The noise, the crowds, the flashing lights had made Jake switch from eager to tense.
“Maybe we should forget it,” she murmured.
“No.” His voice was tight, his eyes all over the place.
Ella squeezed Jake’s hand, trying to settle him down.
So, distract him, her fox tried.
“Lahaina was once a whaling port. There are lots of stories from the old days.”
Jake nodded without saying a word.
So much for distracting him.
I meant with a kiss, her fox snipped.
She shook her head at her fox — no way — and tried again. “That’s the Wo Hing house. It was kind of like a clubhouse for immigrants from China, way back when.”
“Neat,” Jake said in the same terse tone.
The music grew louder and the crowds thicker as they approached the center of town, and Ella paused, ready to turn around. But Jake plowed forward, as determined as a man heading into battle.
“We really don’t have to,” she said, following reluctantly.
“Yes, we do,” he said, stomping on.
She let out a slow breath, wishing Jake didn’t have so much to prove. So what if he was a little shy of crowds and noise? Lots of soldiers experienced that when they first came home. Hell, she had headed straight for the quietest corner of Arizona and all but disappeared into the desert for months. Everyone needed time to adjust.
“Wow,” a woman said, and Ella followed her gaze.
“Wow,” she whispered, stopping at the scene ahead.
The square behind the courthouse was festooned with hundreds of white lights, some hung over antique lampposts, others strung through the branches of the huge banyan tree.
“Honey, did you know this tree was planted in 1873?” the woman said to her partner, reading from a guidebook.
Ella nodded to herself. Yes, she knew. But somehow, she’d forgotten how beautiful it all was. Over the decades, the banyan had sent branches in every direction like dozens of explorers mapping the seven seas. Each branch shot down fresh roots before projecting outward in another long arch, creating a thick canopy overhead. Dozens of myna birds flicked in and out of the leaves, chirping as if they were part of the band, and kids ran around the thick tree trunks, playing hide-and-seek.
It was beautiful. Really beautiful. She might even have been tempted to sway to the music if Jake hadn’t been so keyed up. He hesitated, and she started to turn around. “You know, let’s go back to the hotel.”
Jake sucked in a deep breath and straightened abruptly. His teeth were clenched and his jaw tight as he grabbed her hand and tugged her toward the center of the action.
“What are you doing?” she asked, jogging along beside him.
“Dealing with it,” he barked.
Ella’s eyes went wide when she realized what Jake meant. He was heading right to the middle of the crowd where couples danced in a tight knot of bodies. Where the lights shone brightest and the music blasted loudest. He staked out a spot, gritted his teeth, and swung her in a stiff pantomime of a dance.
“Do you mind?” he asked, as grimly resolute as a man heading into a war zone.
Mind a dance? No, she didn’t mind. It wasn’t so much a dance as a barely contained rage. But Jake was just as tenacious as he had been with that puzzle box, so all she could do was hang on. Cords of muscle stood out in etched rows along his arms, and his grip was so tight, it hurt. His breath came in ragged pants, and his eyes were squeezed tight.
“It’s okay,” Ella murmured, smoothing her hands over his shoulders. “Just me and my husband out for a nice night.”
Jake’s mouth curled into a brief smile before losing its humor again. But a teensy, tiny bit of his tension eased, so she rested her cheek on his shoulder and danced on.
“Oh,” she mumbled, faking cheeriness. “This is the song we heard on the radio this afternoon.”
Jake jerked his head up and down in a nod and lurched on.
She turned, putting her right cheek against his chest where she could hear his heart jackhammering away. So she closed her eyes and imagined a scene that would settle him down.
“You know, the ranch where I work puts on dances too,” she whispered.
“Yeah?” Jake asked, not quite tuned in.
“Yeah,” she said. “Twin Moon Ranch. They have good, old-fashioned barn dances under the stars. A little like this, but with a lot more space.”
“That would be nice,” Jake said in a flat tone.
She rocked her cheek across his shoulder, trying to communicate the peace and tranquility of that Arizona scene through her touch and thoughts. Jake might not be a shifter who could read her mind, but some of it might rub off.
She pictured fireflies flickering in the night. Couples dancing under colorful party lights. Other couples moved to where the music was fainter and danced under the stars, each pair dancing any way they liked. Lovers would whisper in each other’s ears and smile. Kids would mimic them then collapse into giggles. Older folks watched from folding chairs set along the sides, sentimental smiles stretching on their faces as memories took them to times gone by.
Our mate would love it there, her fox whispered.
She nodded in spite of herself and whispered, “It’s really nice. They have outdoor dances. No walls, just like this.”
Jake nodded, and she did her best to imagine herself and Jake int
o that familiar scene on the edge of the endless Arizona plains. Plains that stretched on and on until they crashed into mountains that looked purple in the indigo-tinted night. So much space — enough to erase hurries, worries, and time. Enough for every person to find peace in his or her individual space.
Someone bumped her right elbow, snapping Ella back to Maui, and she glanced at Jake again. Was he doing any better?
It was hard to tell with his face turned away from hers, but his chest rose and fell in a steadier rhythm, and his tight muscles slowly unwound. She steered him away from the bandstand, maneuvering to a quieter spot where they could pretend to be alone. She spent a lot of time looking down at his chest, trying to figure out how that big and hard a range of muscle could create such a cozy place. And when she looked up, she smiled into his eyes.
“Nice dance,” she whispered.
“Yeah. Great,” he muttered, still not happy with himself.
“Maybe not yet, but it’s getting there,” she said, making him smile.
“You think so?”
His hands shifted slightly, and she nodded. “Better, for sure.”
With one of Jake’s big hands around her waist and the other at her shoulder, she felt warm. Protected. “I definitely think we’re getting the hang of it.”
“Not so sure,” he mumbled.
Ella shrugged. “I’m no dancer, but it feels good to me.” She jerked her chin upward, and his eyes followed. The branches of the mighty banyan tree formed an amphitheater, and with the party lights shining like so many stars, it seemed as if the outer reaches of the universe had hunched down for a closer look at what was going on. “How about you?”
He snuggled her a little closer. “Doesn’t feel too bad.”
She play-smacked his arm, trying to help him lighten up. “Not too bad?”
That coaxed out another smile, and he held her closer still. “This part is nice. Really nice.”
“That’s more like it, McBride,” she muttered, pretending to be annoyed.
Jake grinned then closed his eyes again, and his next few steps were lighter, less forced. They danced through another song, not entirely aware of one ending and the next starting until they really were dancing, not just clinging to each other like a couple of shipwrecked sailors in a storm. The lights twinkled, and Ella’s smile grew bigger.