Her fingers began to fumble at the button on his jeans in a desperate attempt to free his cock.
“God, Kalama, if you keep that up I’ll toss you down on this deck and fuck you blind.” She closed her eyes at his words, her body shuddering at his words. He could smell the scent of her arousal, feel the desire pulsating off her. She was throwing off more heat than Kilauea. She rubbed her palm against the fly of his jeans, tracing the growing ridge of his erection.
“No,” came a husky cry.
Jack watched as Kalama’s eyes flew open and she stared down at him in confusion.
“What?” she whispered.
“That wasn’t me, baby,” Jack stared up at her dumbfounded. They had both heard the voice clear as day.
“Get away from him.” The voice came again, this time louder and full of anger. Without warning the boat pitched wildly, spilling Kalama out of his arms and onto the deck.
Jack jumped to his feet to try and help her only to be pushed back down as another wave shoved hard at the boat.
“What the hell? Kalama, are you all right?” The wind whipped harder around them, the storm building faster and faster.
“I’m fine.” She scrambled to her feet. Kalama glanced out over the angry sea as if an enemy were out there. Waiting, plotting.
A flash of lightning split the sea as a war cry pierced the air. Jack looked around him, searching for the source of the sound.
“Thunder. It was only thunder,” he said more to himself then Kalama.
“Kahekili, oh great god of thunder and storms, hear me,” Kalama whispered into the air.
Another wave, bigger than the other two, rose up and splashed against the boat and soaked the deck.
“We have to get out of here. The boat’s too small to withstand this onslaught and it’s only going to get worse,” Kalama said, darting to the controls. Jack made his way toward the steering wheel.
A wall of water washed over the side and knocked him off his feet.
“Never turn your back to the sea!” Kalama’s words were ripped from her mouth and tossed on the wind. “She can hurt you that way.”
“What? What are you talking about?” Jack grabbed the steering wheel and pulled himself upright. What he saw in front of him stopped him dead in his tracks.
The water rose up, forming a body. Long limbs and lush curves, silver hair and piercing eyes emerged from the glistening fluid.
“What the fuck?” Jack shouted.
Kalama turned and looked at the shape beginning to form in the water at the bow of the boat.
“Namakaokaha’i is here.”
“Just like your whore of a mother, taking something that should have been mine,” the voice hissed, snakelike and liquid.
“Auntie, we don’t have to fight,” Kalama said. “Give me the tiki pieces.”
“Your mother beat me once, trapping me in the sea for over two hundred years. I’m not going to let her survive this time. I will destroy Pele and her precious islands.”
Thrusting her hands in front of her body, Namakaokaha’i sent waves of seawater crashing at the boat. Kalama threw up her hands, blocking the wall of water. The rushing liquid pummeled her body but she held her ground, her muscles screaming in protest. Mustering all the power in her, Kalama pushed back at the wall of water. She had to protect Jack from her aunt’s wrath. And she had to survive.
“Jack, get behind me now!” Kalama shouted over the sound of the rushing water. He darted behind her, his face twisted in confusion and fear. The water died down around them.
“What the hell is going on, Kalama?”
“Stupid haole mortal,” Namakaokaha’i hissed. The woman waved a hand and the boat pitched once more. She let out a harsh laugh as Kalama and Jack landed on the deck.
Kalama pushed herself to her knees and shouted into the air, “Kanaloa, I call on you to help me. Uncle, please!”
Namakaokaha’i cried out in anger.
“This is our fight, guardian.”
Thunder rolled through the air and lightning split the sea. Kalama watched as the sea beyond her aunt shifted and turned black.
“I guess I get some help from the rest of the family.”
She pointed toward the churning waters behind Namakaokaha’i. The goddess turned to look. With a cry of anger, she launched herself away from the boat.
The black, churning water built and built until a whirlpool formed. Namakaokaha’i watery body seemed to melt before their eyes as she was sucked into the whirlpool. Kalama watched as her uncle Kanaloa, the god of the ocean, pulled her aunt under his mighty waves. She wasn’t naïve though. Kalama knew her aunt would be back. They had to race to find the last remaining pieces before her aunt returned or Hawaii would be lost.
“Mahalo, anakala,” Kalama whispered into the wind as the waves died down and the sea calmed once more. She rose to her feet and brushed some of the water from her clothes. They were drenched.
“Kalama, what the fuck was that?”
Chapter Eight
Kalama looked at Jack and let the minutes tick by. She wasn’t sure how to explain what had happened, especially given the handsome doctor’s vehement denial of magic and the mystical history of Hawaii.
“Well?” He finally pulled himself up from the desk and sprawled in the captain’s chair, thoroughly waterlogged and annoyed.
“You’re not going to believe me,” she said, taking a step away from him and looking out at the now calm sea.
“I just watched the ocean turn into some watery female and you stop waves from capsizing us with your bare hands. Try me.”
She took a deep breath and counted to ten. She’d never had to tell her mortal friends about her true identity.
“It’s complicated,” Kalama said as she turned back to face him. He raised an eyebrow at her words. “You’re going to think I’m crazy.”
“Just tell me, Kalama. I’ve seen enough crap today to at least listen with an open mind.”
She took another calming breath and blurted out, “I’m a fire guardian. That woman, the wall of water, was my aunt Namakaokaha’i.”
“Why do I know that name?” Jack asked.
“She’s the goddess of the sea, hence all the waves crashing over us and her trying to drown us.”
“Wait, your aunt is the goddess of the sea? Are you telling me the Hawaiian Pantheon is real?” Jack looked at her incredulously. She could almost see his scientific brain trying to process the thought. She was amazed smoke wasn’t billowing from his ears at the effort.
“Yes, Jack, they’re real. Kane, Kanaloa, Lono, and Ku. And of course, Pele,” Kalama paused for a moment, building up her courage to drop the biggest bomb on her poor volcanologist. “My mother.”
He stared at her. Simply stared, not moving, and not blinking. She watched him swallow. Minutes ticked by as Jack’s gaze never left her face. A huge knot formed in the pit of her stomach. His face was completely unreadable.
After what seemed like hours he finally spoke. “Pele. The same Pele who supposedly lives in my volcano?”
“Well technically, it’s her volcano. She just lets you and the USGS hang out there,” Kalama said, biting her lip when she realized how crazy the comment made her sound.
“Right. Okay, I’ll go with this for a second. Pele’s your mom. So, what does that make you?”
“Demi-goddess. My father was mortal.”
“Well that explains why the earth actually moved when you orgasmed this morning,” Jack said, finally cracking into a smile.
“That is a hazard,” she answered with a laugh. The tension between them melted away. Kalama let out the breath she’d been holding. Jack stood up and crossed the distance between them. Reaching out, he grabbed her elbows and gently pulled her close to him.
“I can’t wait to see what happens when we have full-blown sex. You might set off the Ring of Fire,” he said with a comical leer. “Can you explain to me what is going on? I can’t promise I’ll believe everything, but I’ll try.”
“The vandalism at the volcano, that’s the handiwork of my aunt. She and my mom have been at odds for centuries. Namakaokaha’i even chased Pele across the sea from Vaka Nui until Mom formed Hawaii as her safe place.”
“Why is she attacking the artifacts?” Jack wrapped an arm around her waist and yanked her closer.
Kalama laid her forehead on his chest and waited, breathing in the clean scent of him and enjoying the feel of his strong arm around her for a moment. She was a two-hundred-and-seventy-year-old fire guardian. She’d been raised to be strong in the face of anything the gods threw at her. The volcano and all of Hawaii was hers to protect. Her lineage demanded it. For once it was nice to pretend someone else would take care of her.
“It’s my fault in a way,” she whispered. “My aunt and mother fought because of my father. Namakaokaha’i never forgave my mom for taking him from her, or for having me. She thinks I should have been her child.”
“That’s not your fault. All of that happened before you were even born. You can’t blame yourself.”
“We have to find the tiki pieces, Jack. If she gets to them first, Hawaii as we know it will be destroyed.” Kalama raised her head and looked him dead in the eye. “That’s why all the incidents on other islands. She’s searching for the remaining pieces. Once she puts them all together she can command the lava. She’ll unleash the Ring of Fire and wreak havoc across the Pacific.”
“Then let’s get moving. I’m assuming whatever happened with the whirlpool has slowed her down a bit,” Jack wrapped his other arm around her and placed his palm on the small of her back.
“Yes, it should give us at least a day or two head start, depending on how far down my uncle takes her.” Kalama placed her hands on his pecs. She gently kneaded the sculpted muscle she encountered before moving them up to wrap around his neck.
“Good to know,” he said, leaning down slowly. “I’m going to kiss you first and then we’ll get moving.”
Her eyes drifted shut as she felt his lips touch hers. He gently rubbed his lips over hers. He was so warm, so soft, so intoxicating. A zing of sexual heat streaked through her. A simple kiss turned into so much more when his tongue took hers. She gasped, growing instantly wet and aching at the touch. Instead of fighting the hunger, Kalama gave herself up to the power of his demanding mouth. All the tension of their battle with Namakaokaha’i seemed to fuel their lust for each other. She let herself free-fall with the raging passion tightening in her belly.
“Jack, we need to stop,” she whispered, breaking the embrace, but pressing kisses along the edge of his jaw.
He stepped away from her, putting his hands on her shoulders. “You’re right. Later. We finish this later.”
He scrubbed a hand over his face and she watched him compose himself as best he could with the sizable erection tenting his jeans. Flashing a goofy smile, he turned and headed to the wheel.
He turned the key in the ignition but nothing happened.
“Not again. What is it with me and starting engines?” Jack asked with frustration.
“I don’t think you have any problems getting engines started,” she said with a laugh. He looked at her for a moment and then joined in her amusement.
“Good to know at least I can get you started.”
He tried again and still nothing.
“I think the engine is dead. We’ll have to weigh anchor and call for help,” Jack pulled out his cell phone as he spoke and punched some numbers.
Kalama set about lowering the anchor while he made the call. She looked out over the water and realized that the fight with her aunt had pushed them closer to Kaho’olawe. The uninhabited, protected island was within swimming distance.
“Sam can’t get out here for a couple of hours, so we can do one of two things. We can hold tight and wait, or call the Coast Guard.”
“Let’s wait. Auntie isn’t going anywhere right now. Come on. We can swim over to Kaho’olawe and have lunch. But you have to promise to never tell anyone you were over there. No haoles allowed. And no one is supposed to be there without permission.” Kalama tossed off her flip-flops.
“We probably shouldn’t go over then.”
“Look at it this way, if we get caught, I’ll call up a rainstorm or earthquake to take the heat off us.” She flashed him a smile and wiggled her eyebrows in what she hoped was a silly fashion. “Throw some towels and the sandwiches on that surfboard and we’ll haul it to the island.”
Kalama turned to face the water. Reaching behind her, she quickly coiled her long hair into a bun and secured it with a clip she always carried. With a slow taunt, she pulled the tank top off and tossed it to one side. She stripped out of her shorts next, fully aware of Jack’s eyes on her body.
“What is that?”
Peering over her shoulder to meet his gaze, she smiled, knowing full well what he was talking about. Starting at her right shoulder blade and traversing down her back in a straight line to her waist was a bold, traditional tattoo in stark black. It was several inches thick in length continuing down her back but only about an inch in width. The thick straps of her tank tops and her long hair trailing down her skin had hidden the ink from view. In all their intimate moments, Jack had never gotten her naked so she knew the tattoo came as a bit of a surprise.
The design was one that had been passed down for centuries from the Ancient Hawaiians and contained a series of interlocking triangles and lines. A powerful kahuna had tattooed it on her flesh two hundred years ago.
“It’s a tattoo, Jack. Tatau. You live in Hawaii. I know you’ve seen them before.”
He reached out and lightly ran a fingertip along the design. He followed the path until he arrived at the top of her bikini bottoms.
“How far does this go down?” he asked, his voice a husky whisper.
“You’ll have to strip me naked to find out,” she said with a laugh and darted away from him. Before he could react, she jumped over the side of the boat and dove into the water.
Chapter Nine
Kalama was seated on the sand by the time Jack made it to shore. Of course he’d taken longer because she’d left him with the task of paddling in on the surfboard with towels and their lunch. Hopefully Sam would be able to borrow a boat from his buddies and get them soon. Jack didn’t want to sit on Kaho’olawe longer than necessary.
Sliding off the board, he stood in the water breaking just on the shore and trudged up the beach. He didn’t believe her story fully. His scientific brain found it hard to comprehend the existence of magic, despite the incident on the boat. He simply couldn’t wrap his head around the tale she told about Pele and her sister. He also refused to believe she was anything but human. She might be a little nutty but that didn’t stop the overwhelming compulsion he had to strip her naked and make her body his.
“Nice underwear, Dr. Jack.”
Kalama laughed from her comfortable perch on the beach. She looked delicious. Her black hair flowed down her body in a wet curtain, the red streaks almost shining. The sun caressed her bronzed skin causing it to glow. An aroused twinkle danced in her eyes.
He slid the board up the sand until he reached her and then let it plop down. Grabbing a sandwich and tossing it to her, Jack set about laying down a towel for them to sit on. Kalama stood and brushed the sand of her body, drawing his attention immediately to her curves.
“Yours is pretty sexy too,” he said with a leer. The cool water of the ocean caused her nipples to pebble beneath the white of her bikini top. His mouth watered to taste one of those juicy buds for himself. “Although I must admit, I like what’s underneath even more.”
“I’m not really hungry,” she said, tossing the sandwich back down on the board. Her eyes never left his face. Taking a step toward him, she placed her hands on his chest. Jack’s breath caught in his throat.
Without further thought, he bent his head to kiss her. He lost himself in the velvet glide of her lips, the wet thrust of her tongue, the feel of her hands sliding ov
er his chest and around his neck to pull him closer.
Jack pressed his hips into hers and let the hard length of his erection show her just how much he wanted to be buried deep inside her warm body.
She dragged her nails over his skin as she slid them down his shoulders in a deliberate, slow trek to his biceps. The sensation burned through him with an intensity he’d never felt before.
“I don’t understand why I want you so much,” he whispered as he slid his mouth down her jaw, nipping along until she quivered with excitement. She pressed her body flush with his, rubbing those amazing breasts against his chest. Jack groaned against her neck.
“Me either, but I don’t really care. All I know it that I want you deep inside me,” Kalama said as she playfully licked his chin. She pulled his mouth down once more for a demanding kiss. Jack could taste the hunger when she drove her tongue into his mouth.
That same need roared deep inside him when he cupped her breasts, thumbing the already pebbled nipples into hard, aching points through the damp fabric of her suit. She groaned low in her throat and arched her back, thrusting her breasts deeper into his hands. Jack had never been so hungry for a woman, so desperate to be inside her.
“Off, take this off. Take yours off too,” she panted in his ear as she tugged at his briefs. He pulled the straps of her bikini off her shoulders, exposing more of her delicious curves. She reached behind her to release the clasp and pulled the garment fully from her body.
Jack sucked in a breath at the sight she presented. “Damn.”
“Like it?” Satisfaction purred through her voice.
“Hell yes.”
All she wanted was to turn Jack on to the very point he couldn’t stop touching her, couldn’t keep his mouth from her skin, couldn’t not bury himself deep inside her. She hooked her thumbs into the waistband of her panties and bared the rest of her body to his heated gaze.
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