by Reina Torres
Her heat pulled him in, wrapping its lips around the thick head of his erection. She’d never felt so open, or as vulnerable as she had in that moment. His eyes moved over every inch of her body and he liked what he saw. She felt it in the way he thickened inside of her, the heavy slide of his first gentle thrust. Another and he was deeper inside of her. And finally, she felt him bottom out with a groan.
She was pinned to the bed beneath him.
Caged by his arms.
Splayed open by his muscular hips.
And when he began to move, she felt the world spinning around them, giving her a rush like she’d never felt before.
He thrust into her body and she welcomed him home, bathing him in her release again and again until he found his.
She felt him pulsing inside of her, felt the sweat on his skin blend into hers as he pulled her against him and held her close.
She may have told him that she couldn’t open her heart to him… and she’d meant it with all of her heart and every bit of her mind, but hearing him whisper her name over and over in her ear as his body spent itself inside of her, she couldn’t imagine how she’d ever truly lived without loving him.
Because she was.
She would be.
And it was going to rip her apart when he left.
Twelve
Morning began before the sun rose.
Train sat bolt upright as a rooster crowed.
Over.
And over.
And over, again.
Just when the sound had faded and he started to lay his head back down on the pillow beside Ku‘uipo, he heard the noise again.
Throwing back the blanket, he reached out and grabbed his sidearm off the nightstand.
“I’m going to find that feathered-”
Ku‘uipo grabbed his hand and pulled him back. She turned and cushioned her cheek on her pillow so she could look up at him. “Where you going with that peashooter, Mister Figueroa?”
Another cackling call split the air and he gestured helplessly. “I’m going to find the rooster and make it stop!”
Her laughter shook the mattress beneath him and he considered calling for a doctor to make sure she hadn’t lost her mind.
“What’s so funny? That sound is brutal!”
Sitting up, she let her blanket fall away and he was momentarily shaken by the way her rumpled nightshirt was stretched across her beautiful breasts.
“The sound is brutal, only when you’re not used to it. Don’t tell me you haven’t heard the roosters at the hotel?”
“I haven’t,” he shook his head, “but then again, I room with Baron and he snores like a bear, so I wear earplugs.”
Her shoulders shook with laughter and he loved the look of her tousled hair fallen around her shoulders. “So, I guess you like the hotel better?”
Setting his handgun down on the nightstand he lunged across the bed and wrapped his arm around her middle. “I think you know that’s not the truth.” He was just about to kiss her when she turned away. “What?”
Shuddering, Ku‘uipo waved him off. “I don’t want to torture you with morning breath.”
He let her go and she scrambled off the bed headed for the bathroom. She stopped just shy of the foot of the bed and turned back. “I bought a pack of toothbrushes at Longs the other day, you’re welcome to use one if you want.”
He thought he saw a glint in her eye and launched himself off the bed. “Last one in the bathroom has to share the shower.”
Train was almost to the door when she grabbed him around the waist and pulled him to a stop.
Laughing, he looked over his shoulder. “You do know that either way, we both win!”
She rolled her eyes at him. “Yeah, I know, but I stopped you because I forgot to tell you something.”
He licked his lips and waited.
Sliding over to his side, she lifted her chin and pointed at a colorful rug on the ground. “There’s an old board under that rug. It barely held me the last time I forgot and stepped on it in the middle of the night. I don’t want you to put your foot through it.”
“Oh, so you weren’t going to tell me that you planned to ravage me in the shower?”
She gave him a pensive look and then shook her head. “No.”
He couldn’t help the feeling of disappointment that fell over his shoulders. “No?”
“No, sorry.” Moving around in front of him, she smoothed her hands over his bare chest. “But if you’re nice, I’ll let you ravage me in the shower.” With a wink she jumped over the rag rug and made it into the bathroom first. “You snooze,” she laughed and reached for the bottom of her night shirt, “you lose!”
Before she pulled it over her head, he was standing before her, his hands cupping her breasts. “Oh, I think I win.”
Staff breakfast was about to hit the table when they watched a darkly tinted SUV pull into the driveway. Ku‘uipo got up from the bench and moved off toward the lobby doors.
Before she reached the front of the hotel, she could see Uluwehi and Efrain at her sides. Uluwehi muttered under his breath. “This doesn’t feel good.”
She only brightened her smile. “Come on, men. Gird your loins!”
As they stepped out into the early light of day, Ku‘uipo waited for the SUV to come to a stop in the driveway. The three men that exited the vehicle were somewhat familiar to her. She knew who they were, but she didn’t exactly want to spend her morning with them.
“Gentlemen? I don’t have a lot of time this morning to chat. Is there something I can help you with?”
“Actually,” Carl Donner’s smile was bright white under his inky black mustache, “we wanted to see if we could help you.”
“Oh, that does sound lovely.” She looked at Uluwehi. “We can certainly use donations and if any of you would like to volunteer to lead some seminars for our interns, that would be incredibly sweet.”
All three smiles faltered.
“Don’t think we haven’t heard of your troubles, Miss Ornellas.” Jason Yuen may wear a pricey Aloha shirt, but he certainly didn’t understand the concept of the word. “We’re very concerned that your inability to bring this venture to fruition will have a negative effect on the hospitality industry here on Kaua‘i.”
“Negative effect? I’m sure you’ve all seen the press from the wedding. Not only were the bride and groom deliriously happy with the ceremony and reception, we were able to highlight the best part of our island hospitality. Coming together to make their vacation the best it could be. Teamwork and aloha.”
“The fire isn’t the only trouble you’ve had, young lady.” The man with the silvering hair at his temples had a smile that looked as tailored as his suit. “Two of your staff are being investigated. Staff members that you, yourself, hired.”
Uluwehi started to speak and she knew what he was going to say. He had been the one to select them from the applicants, but she was in charge.
“I doubt that every Human Resources officer bats a thousand, sir. And you are?”
“I’m another interested businessman. Interested in making sure that this,” he gestured at the hotel behind her, “doesn’t go up in smoke… along with the reputation of the other Lihue hotels.”
Donner’s smile grew brittle. “What Mr. Jenkins is trying to say…” He turned to look at the man as if waiting for him to interject. When he didn’t, Carl continued. “That this may just be a case of having your heart in the right place, but that you were over-reaching.”
Jason jumped in as well. “We’re ready to take this whole thing off your hands.”
“I’ll even pay to let you stay here as an employee. It’s a very generous package.” He pulled a thick envelope from his interior coat pocket. “Here, take this and look at it.”
Jason knocked Donner’s hand away, sending the envelope to the ground. “You said you weren’t going to bring that!” Fighting with his briefcase, Jason managed to produce his own thick envelope. “It’s only fair that you co
nsider both offers.”
“Both?” Mr. Jenkins pushed forward from the back of the trio. “I’m shocked, gentlemen. I’m beginning to think you tried to pull the wool over my eyes… together.” He pulled another envelope out, but this one came from beneath the coat that he’d draped over his arm. “But lucky for Miss Ornellas here, I’ve brought my own generous retirement package for her to consider. An offer, I might add, which I’m sure will make the other two pale in comparison, even considered together.” He even went so far as to nudge Donner aside with his shoulder as he held out the envelope.
Ku‘uipo made no effort to take any of the envelopes.
Jason, obviously upset at the slight, gave her a hard look. “Let’s look at the bottom line, okay?”
She nodded, because she didn’t trust herself to speak.
“Your little ‘training hotel’ is a train wreck waiting to happen. You can’t keep things from literally burning to the ground. If you allow these things to keep happening, no one is going to stay here and when it comes down to it, they’re going to take it away from you.”
“The clock is ticking down,” Jason reminded her, “we’re just trying to make the transition painless for everyone involved, but if you allow this to come down to the wire and it becomes public knowledge that you failed…”
The two men shared a look around Mr. Jenkins before Carl finished up the thought.
“Then that’s not going to be good for anyone… including the industry that you say you care so much about.”
They weren’t even trying to sugar coat things. Then again, she didn’t care about that in the least. They were warning her, but she knew they were praying that she’d fail. They’d told her when it all started that she had no business trying to run something when all she had ever been was a worker, a manager. She wasn’t anyone with real executive experience.
It was their holier-than-thou attitudes that were the reason she’d been so determined to make this work in the first place.
Mister Jenkins came in with an argument of his own. “And I think you’ll see in my offer,” he pointed to the biggest envelope, “that we have appropriated a large budget for security. We won’t allow these kinds of… mishaps when we’re in charge. Do you have a plan for security, Miss Ornellas?”
She did. And she had. The interns had all taken turns, trained by police officers from the local station, but they were still learning. That was, she wanted to shout, the whole point.
Ku‘uipo felt Efrain set a hand on her shoulder.
“Do you mind if I fill them in on your new security measures?”
She knew just as well as he did that there weren’t any new security measures, and a quick look at Uluwehi told her that he didn’t know of any either. They’d both covered it well, she hoped.
But she also had to trust Efrain. She knew he cared about her and he wasn’t going to try to hurt her dream. All she could do was hand off the conversation and see where it went.
Smiling at him, she gestured toward the other men. “Please.”
“I’m afraid that I haven’t had a chance to meet any of you gentlemen before, but I’m Efrain Figueroa. I’m in the Army, based out of Schofield on Oʻahu.”
She watched the men and so far, nothing really seemed to interest them.
“I’m here, on island with other soldiers from my unit. We’re going to be training the security personnel here and we will also be patrolling the property in shifts.”
That got their interest.
“Really? Soldiers?” Carl’s forehead pinched between his brows. “Isn’t that a little much?”
Uluwehi shrugged and smiled at the older man. “Just a few moments ago the three of you were concerned about a lack of security here on the grounds. Now we have some of the best training our guards! You should be asking Mister Figueroa to train your security too.”
Ku‘uipo saw Uluwehi turn to look at Efrain and she couldn’t resist the urge either. Although, she bet that the look she gave him was a mixture of gratitude and maybe a little heat.
Efrain looked at the three interlopers and shook his head. “Sorry, gentlemen, I’m going to focus all of my attention here with Miss Ornellas… and her staff.”
Uluwehi dropped an arm over her shoulders. “If you’ll excuse us. We’re late for staff breakfast and you three wouldn’t want to put us behind in our schedule. Right?”
They didn’t wait for the men to answer. Uluwehi swung her around and gave her a gentle nudge toward the front door.
Efrain was the last to follow, giving the men a measuring look before he turned on his heel. She could see him reflected in the glass of the front doors and knew she would owe him, right after she throttled him for… well, maybe she’d just show him how grateful she was.
Later.
In her bedroom.
And the shower.
Again.
It was almost too good to be true.
Train pulled the car into the Kailani Palms parking lot and set it in park, but when he saw Baron reaching for the handle on the door, he activated the lock.
“What the fu-”
Shado laughed at Baron’s outburst. “Dude, he just locked you in like a kid.”
“Dude,” Baron shot back at him, “you sound like a kid.”
To emphasize the issue, Shado flipped off the older soldier. “Better than acting like one.”
Train watched as Shado turned his gaze toward him. Baron and Mace copied the gesture.
“Guys, look, I know I said this was important, but you should probably know that this isn’t just about helping these people. This is personal for me.”
“I told you,” Mace gave Baron a shove in the backseat, “he’s a goner.”
Baron shook his head, his eyes sliding away from Train to stare out the window. “This isn’t okay.”
Shado shrugged from his place in the passenger seat. “It’s not about fair, Mal. Don’t tell me you didn’t see it when Train met her. One look at her and it was a forgone conclusion.”
Baron’s lip had curled at the use of his given name. It would only have been worse if someone had called him Malcolm. Leaning forward, Baron shoved at the back of the passenger seat. “Shows what you know, Danno. Train was a lost cause when he heard her name. Up until then it was pure masculine appreciation for the female form. Once he knew her name was… what it was,” Baron shied away from the pronunciation, “I knew it was going to happen.”
Mace laughed. “You think it was her name that hooked him?”
Baron gave his friend a shove that sent him into the door with a satisfying grunt.
“You don’t live with him,” he explained to the others. “You haven’t been forced to watch that movie over and over.”
Train turned in the driver’s seat, hitching his leg up against the center console. “I don’t force you to do anything.”
“But you don’t watch the damn thing in your room.” He sighed. “You think you’re him. You think you’re in love with her. You think everything’s going to be happy ever after.”
Train heard it. Heard the grumble in his friend’s tone. “I’m not talking about ‘happy ever after.’ She lives here. This is her life. And we’re stationed on Oʻahu. This isn’t about-”
“Like hell it’s not. You think that’s where the line is, man.” Baron’s voice was tight and his face was a livid red. “You think you’re going to just walk away from her. Ajax thought the same thing. And then what did he do? He did it again. He went and convinced her to give it another try.”
Train felt something pinch between his eyebrows and something ached in his chest. “If this is about Ajax moving out, I don’t get it. You were happy for them. You like Hi‘ilani.”
“I like your girl, too. They’re nice. I’d probably like her as a friend, but I’m not going to get that chance.
“Like you said, her life is here, and you’re a good man, Train. You’re a better man than I am. You’re not going to take being so far away from her. Not when you can be w
ith her.
“And you deserve to be happy, but I don’t want to lose part of the team and that’s what you’re planning to do.”
Train turned away, staring out the window at the torch ginger plants that were starting to grow over the height of the rock wall. “That’s not what I’m planning to do.”
“Look, you think what you’re going to think, but you’re the kind that wears your heart on your sleeve, Train.” Baron jiggled the door handle. “Can I get out now?”
Train glared at him and the two locked gazes across the car. “If you didn’t want to help, Mal, why did you stay? You could have gone back with the commander and the others.”
“If I didn’t want to help,” he spat back the words, “I would have. Your girl has a deck stacked against her and we,” he looked at Mace and Shado in turn, “we even out those kinds of odds. That’s what we do. It’s not her fault you’re a damn romantic with an Elvis complex.”
Baron rolled his eyes and blew out a frustrated breath. “Now, can we get out of this car before we die?”
Shado snorted loud enough to start coughing and had to hold himself up with a hand on the dashboard. “Wow, drama queen much?”
Train unlocked the doors. “Don’t be an ass to her.”
Baron laughed and climbed out of the backseat gasping for air like he’d been smothered just seconds earlier.
When they were all outside, Baron looked over the top of the car and pointed at Train. “Don’t break her heart. If my luck holds, the house at Scofield is gonna be all mine pretty soon.” He looked at Mace and Shado in turn. “Maybe I’ll let y’all fight over who gets to rent the other rooms.”
Train shrugged and started walking for the door. When he held the door open, he turned back over his shoulder. “Just remember earplugs.”
The door was closing before Baron registered his friend’s words.
“Earplugs? You better hope I don’t suffocate you in your sleep!”
Train held up a one-fingered salute to his friend as the others followed him.
At dinner, Baron’s mood had improved. He sat back against the wall and nodded off with his belly full after a long day working with the interns.