Once a Hero...

by Jillian Burns

  Still dazed by passion, she clung to his shoulders. “Are you sure you don’t want to just stay here?”

  “Trust me. You’ll be glad you went. Now—” he grinned, took her shoulders and steered her toward her bedroom “—put a swimsuit on under your clothes, and wear a good pair of hiking shoes.” He held up a backpack. “Put whatever else you want to bring in here.”

  Kristen grumbled all the way back to her bedroom. All she wanted to do was crawl back in bed and make love with Luke until it was time to leave for home. It was kind of fun getting to be the grouchy one.

  TURNED OUT THERE WAS no easy way to get from where they were on the island to the Haleakala National Park. At least that was what the kind lady at the visitor’s information center had told Luke. She’d provided a map and a few landmarks, but that was it.

  What might have taken thirty minutes as the crow flies took almost two hours of backtracking north and then traveling all the way around to the south coast, driving down winding roads that twisted this way and that. Luke would’ve enjoyed the astoundingly gorgeous scenery more if he’d been sure of finding his destination.

  Misty volcanic mountains covered in lush greenery fenced them in on the north side and a coastline of sparkling Pacific Ocean to the south. When there was no one else on the road, which there frequently wasn’t, one could feel a sense of timelessness about the place. And Kristen at least seemed to be enjoying the drive.

  But at last Luke pulled the Jeep into the general-store parking lot the visitor’s guide had mentioned.

  Kristen jumped out of the Jeep and stretched, then met him at the store’s door and threw her arms around his waist. She looked up at him with her beautiful smile and a light in her blue eyes that made everything worth it. “I’m going to the ladies’ room. I’ll meet you at the counter.” She swished off. He loved that view. The cute little butt in the shorts.

  Luke made himself look away and went to check his directions with the store attendant. After he hit the latrine, he met Kristen at the counter. She had a few energy bars and an ice cream bar. He pulled out his wallet, but she covered it with her hand. “I got this. You want anything?”

  “Besides you?”

  She blinked up at him, eyes wide. “Why, Captain Andrews, aren’t you the brazen one.” The teasing smile faded and her face softened to a sensual yearning so potent he almost carried her off right then.

  But what else he had in mind would be so much better.

  Within a couple of minutes they were back in the Jeep, making their way up Piilani Highway to the Kipahulu area. From there they parked and the hike was supposed to be less than a mile. When they crossed a bridge and Luke saw the sign for the Alelele stream, he knew he was on track.

  Ten minutes later, the narrow path, closed in by thick forest, opened up, and he could hear the roar of the falls. When he pushed a large palm frond out of the way, the most gloriously beautiful sight appeared before him. White water cascaded about a hundred feet down a narrow black-rock formation into a clear, secluded pond.

  “Oh, Luke.” Kristen’s voice held a reverence as she stood beside him, taking in the scene. She spun to face him. “Thank you.” She reached up, cradled his face in her hands and kissed him briefly on the lips. Then she shoved him in the chest. “You snooze, you lose.” With a mischievous wrinkle of her nose, she climbed down the embankment, sometimes stumbling, using her hands until she’d reached the edge of the water.

  He scrambled down after her, catching up just as she pulled her second shoe and sock off and tossed them onto the grassy slope. She shimmied out of her shorts to reveal a tiny pink bikini bottom.

  His libido went on high alert. Kristen in a bikini. His heart racing, he yanked his T-shirt off and tossed it behind him, and then toed out of his running shoes. But he stopped when Kristen waded into the pool with her T-shirt still on.

  What the…?

  “Ooh, Luke, it’s fantastic.” The roar of the falls was so loud she had to raise her voice for him to hear her. She twisted at the waist and gestured for him to join her. “Come on.”

  Still in his shorts, he stared at her. This was unacceptable. He shucked off his shorts and then, on impulse, slid his briefs off, too.

  “Luke! What if someone else shows up?” She backed away as he waded in and got close—smart girl. Maybe she could read the determination in his face.

  “There’s no one else around. Take off your T-shirt, Kristen.”

  “I’m fine the way I am, thank you.”

  He kept approaching and she kept backing up until she was treading water to stay afloat, while he still had traction in the sandy bottom. “I want to see you. All of you.” He lunged for her, but she squealed and splashed away.

  Arms stroking through the water, she swam to the other side of the pond and turned around to face him. “You have already.”

  Chasing her in the water was fun, but he’d hoped to share this day differently. “Kristen. Come here.”

  Uncertainty crossed her features. She looked so vulnerable. He held his arms out. “Just let me hold you.”

  She gave him a tremulous smile and swam toward him. He swam toward her and once the distance closed between them he gathered her into his arms and twirled with her in the water.

  With a groan, he covered her mouth with his as he’d been wanting to ever since they’d left the condo. Her arms were around his neck and her legs wrapped around his waist. No way she could miss his erection. He loved the way her fingers curled into his hair as he moved his mouth over hers, deeper and deeper still, their bodies touching. But he wanted her skin touching his.

  He’d take the next best thing. He slid his hands under her shirt, caressing the soft skin of her back and cupping her cute bikini-clad bottom. His lips found their way down her throat, but the damn T-shirt was in the way. He lifted his head, frustrated.

  She pushed out of his arms and swam for shore.

  Damn, now he’d ruined it. “Kristen, wait.”

  But she didn’t get out, just grabbed the hem of her T-shirt and pulled it up and over her head and tossed it onto the rocks surrounding the pond. As she faced him, her chin raised, and even if the uncertainty had returned, she deliberately reached behind her and unhooked her bikini top. She pulled it off and tossed it behind her.

  As she stood so brave, yet so vulnerable, her arms held to her sides, Luke raced to shore to hold her. Her body wasn’t all curves and fullness, but petite and toned. Her breasts were small, the nipples tiny little buds, and the reconstructed breast would never quite match the one nature made. But that just made her beauty all the more unique and captivating.

  The reddened, raised scars were much more visible in the bright sunlight, even from this distance, but she was so strong, so courageous, he wanted to make her his forever.

  He’d never met a woman like her, and he knew he never would again. She was everything he loved and everything he wanted. Everything he needed.

  Reaching her, he took her into his arms and pulled her tight against him. He slipped his hand beneath her bikini bottom and tugged it down her legs and off, leaving it on the rocky shore. Then he carried her back out to the middle of the pool and beneath the spray of the waterfall itself.

  All the while he kissed her everywhere. Her ear, her neck, her shoulder. He lifted her arm and reverently kissed along each scar, under her breast, finally taking the nipple between his lips. She didn’t react and he realized she hadn’t last time, and moved his lips to the other nipple.

  Kristen gasped, dropped her head back and clutched his head as he licked and teased the nipple with his tongue. Her reaction drove him wild. Her stomach rubbed against his cock, and her hands were all over him, kneading, caressing.

  It’d been a week since he’d made love to her, been inside her, and he needed to be again. Now. Lifting her leg to his hip, he slid his fingers between her thighs and through the small folds, testing her readiness.

  She moaned and moved her hips, pressing into his fingers.


  “Protection?” he rasped.

  “I’m all right. You?”

  “I am, too. We’re okay, then?”

  “Mmm.” She nodded. “Now.” She wiggled her hips.

  He cupped her butt and lifted her over his straining cock. She hooked her legs around his waist and sank onto him, her eyes locked with his.

  He had to grit his teeth and hold her still a moment or else embarrass himself. She was so hot and tight around him. He closed his eyes until the need to move overwhelmed him.

  Groaning, he lost all control. Caught up in the exquisite sensation, he thrust into her over and over. She moved her hips against him, making unintelligible noises.

  As he neared climax he sought her gaze again, trying to hold on until she was ready. She met his look and nodded. He let go and shuddered, so in awe of Kristen. Lost in a profound connection with her.

  When he could breathe again, he opened his eyes and realized he was leaning against a rock beside the cascade of falls. Kristen was still clinging to his neck and waist, her head tucked beneath his chin. “You okay?”

  “Mmm, perfect. Let’s stay here forever.”

  And that was the subject neither one of them had brought up. “Kristen, do you…” He wanted to ask her if she ever saw herself living the life of an army wife. Although the medical corps tended to get stationed stateside in one place and stay there, there would always be a war somewhere.

  But wasn’t it too soon? They’d only known each other a few weeks. He thought what he felt was real, but he might as well be on Fantasy Island right now, given how close this place was to real life. She’d think he was crazy.

  “Do I what?” She lifted her head and gazed at him.

  “Do you want something to eat?”

  She blinked and something flickered in her eyes. Disappointment? Sadness?

  Whatever it was, he felt a sense of missed opportunity.

  She disentangled herself from him and the cool water hit what had been surrounded by warmth. He hissed and watched her swim for shore. Worried, he followed.

  Once she reached the backpack, she pulled a beach towel from it, dried off and then slipped on her bikini bottoms and her T-shirt. He wanted to tell her, No. Wrap only in the towel and let me hold you skin to skin, but he stayed silent and wrapped a towel around his waist.

  She pulled out her camera and started snapping pictures. The falls, the pond, their surroundings. And finally him.

  “Oh, no.” He shook his head, hating to have his picture taken. “Kristen.”

  “These will stay private, Luke. I promise. These are just for me.”

  “Will you let me take a few of you and will you send them to me?”

  Her smile was warm with a hint of melancholy to it. “I’d like that.”

  “All right.” He propped his forearms on his knees and looked into the camera as she clicked the button over and over, circling him and getting different angles. “Okay, that’s plenty.” He held up a hand. “My turn.”

  Pouting, she handed it over. He stood and had her sit on a rock with the falls behind her. He checked the viewfinder screen and then looked back at her. “I don’t suppose I could get you to take off your—”

  “Luke! No.” But she was smiling.

  “No, I only meant you could hold it up in front of you.”

  “Oh.” He could see her internal debate. Her face was so expressive. And he saw the moment she decided to do it. Once she had the shirt safely covering her, he started snapping photos. And once he was taking pictures she slowly blossomed into a seductive siren, posing more and more provocatively until finally she looked directly into the camera and he could swear she was telling him she loved him with her eyes.

  He clicked the picture and then looked over the camera directly at her, but her gaze darted away and the moment was gone.

  She retrieved her camera from him and returned it to the backpack, then pulled out a couple of energy bars, but she didn’t even open the packages. She lay back with her hands behind her head and closed her eyes. After several seconds of silence, she said, “Would you tell me more about yourself, Luke? Where’d you grow up? What’s your family like? What do you do when you’re not doctoring or staying on Maui?”

  He moved to lie beside her. As opposed to the last time she asked about him, he didn’t feel in the spotlight. He felt grateful she wanted to know. “I’m from a small town in West Texas. You’ve never heard of it.”

  “Tell me anyway?”

  “Rankin. Population about eight hundred. Closest big city is Odessa.”

  “And your dad drove a truck. What did your mom do?”

  “She stayed home until dad died. Then she went back to teaching. I think that was hardest on my baby brother. He was only three and suddenly he was going to a daycare all day.”

  “How many brothers and sisters?”

  “Two of each. I’m the oldest. Then my brother James. Then the girls and my baby brother.”

  “Wow. Five kids.”

  She said the word five as though it was dreadful. “You don’t want kids?”

  “Sure, but probably not five.”

  Crazy relief hit his gut. As if she’d ever want a life with a guy who couldn’t even sleep through the night without waking up, screaming, in a cold sweat.

  “Do you? Want kids?”

  More than anything he wanted a wife, kids, a home. Happy. Normal. “Yes.” Could she hear the desperate longing in that word like he could?

  He caught her nodding from the corner of his eye. “What about your brothers and sisters? Where are they now?”

  “Both my sisters married and teach in Rankin. My mom loves having her grandkids close by. My baby brother is still in college. And James is in the Army, too. He flies a helicopter and is serving in Afghanistan.” It was the one thing he dreaded most. He wasn’t sure he could remain sane if he saw his brother come into his hospital in Kabul. An image from his most recent nightmare flashed through his psyche, bloody and chaotic. The mangled soldier in his nightmare was his brother.

  He must’ve flinched or made some noise, because when he blinked Kristen had rolled to lie half over him, stroking his face. “Luke? It’s okay.”

  He wrenched her into his arms and held her tight, hiding his face in her shoulder. She held him until he got his trembling under control, then he rolled her beneath him and kissed her, so desperately, longing for what couldn’t be.

  They kissed and snuggled on the grassy embankment, taking all the time they wanted to explore each other’s body and touch and caress. They swam and made love in the water again until there was more shade than sun.

  When they got out to dry off, Luke dug the earrings out of the backpack, knelt beside her and gave them to her.

  “Oh, Luke.”

  He took the earrings out and gently put them on her. Before he’d finished, she started crying and he held her, his throat tight. But twilight was fast approaching. He hadn’t packed flashlights, so they loaded up and, holding hands, made their way back to the Jeep. As if it might break the spell, neither one of them spoke.

  Just as it got full dark, he started the engine, turned on his headlights and backed out onto the highway. They had a long drive home.

  Somewhere along the coastline on Piilani Highway they pulled up behind a slow-moving tour bus. Luke backed off, not in a hurry to get back anyway. He was hungry. Maybe they’d stop and have some dinner somewhere along the way. The more he thought about it, the hungrier he got. He turned to look at Kristen, opened his mouth to suggest the idea to her.

  “Luke!” Horror filled Kristen’s face and she pointed ahead of them.

  The tour bus swerved off the road and Luke had to stomp on his brakes to avoid a cyclist lying in the road. He stopped in time, but the bus wasn’t able to. With a devastating crunch of metal and human screams, it went down the steep cliff, tipped over and rolled down to the rocky shore.

  13

  KRISTEN UNCLICKED HER seat belt and jumped from the Jeep. Her stomach was
knotted in horror. She’d never witnessed anything like this.

  Luke put the Jeep in Park, punched the hazard lights button and followed her.

  The guy on the bicycle was already getting to his feet, brushing himself off. He wore a helmet and his bike had a headlight, but it was a winding road. He must have rounded the curve and the bus driver didn’t see him in time. Luke examined the cyclist, but he’d lucked out. Only a sprained wrist and some bad scrapes on the guy’s legs.

  While Luke helped the bicyclist move out of the road, she steeled herself to look over the edge of the cliff and down. Oh, my God. The bus was on its side, crushed in on all sides. People were screaming, some trying to get out. Others had been thrown from the bus and lay scattered like rag dolls across the shore. A few moving, most not.

  They had to help those people. But it wouldn’t do anyone any good to panic. Kristen ran back to the Jeep, dug her cell out of the backpack and punched in 9-1-1. She was shaking so hard it was difficult to talk. And trying to describe where they were… Thank goodness her phone had a GPS.

  Luke was rummaging in the back of the Jeep and came around to the front carrying a small first-aid kit. He pulled out everything from the backpack except the beach towels and the bottled water and stuck the first-aid kit in, then pulled the backpack on and headed for the cliff’s edge.

  “Luke! Wait!”

  He spun to face her.

  Just climbing down that cliff was going to be dangerous. Especially in the dark. “We need light.”

  He gave a quick nod.

  The only source of light was the battery-powered headlight from the bike. Luke disconnected it and stuck it in his backpack, also. Kristen moved the Jeep to face the ocean and left the headlights on.

  As she approached, Luke took her shoulders. “Wait here for the ambulance.”

  “No! I’m coming with you. He can wait here.” She pointed at the bicyclist. “He can’t manage the climb with his wrist anyway.”