Blooming in the Wild (13 page)

Only the sharp hiss of his breath in her ear made her realize finally that she was doing just that.

He bent his head forward over her shoulder, his low, deep voice following his warm breath into her ear. “You wanna take this into the other cave, Princess? ‘Cause I’d like nothing better.”

Bella’s face burned, and she was relieved that the fire had burned down to glowing embers so that everyone’s faces were visible only as shifting patterns of red and gold.

To cover her embarrassment at being caught, she cast him a slumberous look. “Payback’s a bitch, yeah?”

But instead of being angry, he chuckled. “Damn, you’ve got a mean streak. I like that about you.”

He rested his chin on the top of her head. “So, you’re a Ho’omalu, huh?” he asked. “And Frank’s a friend of these folks too?”

She nodded, feeling the roughness of his five-o’clock shadow catch in her hair. “My—my father is one of the family.”

“Oh, so you’ve spent a lot of time over here with him, huh?”

“No,” Bella found herself admitting. “I just met him, um, last month. When I came over for my best friend Melia’s wedding to David Ho’omalu.”

”Whoa.” He gave her a little squeeze. “You just met him? Did he, ah, not know about you?”

“He knew, but I didn’t.” Her heart pinched with the remembered hurt of learning that her mother had kept them apart Bella’s whole life. “He and my mom had a vacation fling here, and I was the result. But then he admitted that he’s, um, gay. So she…” She stared into the fire, her hand tightening on his fingers. “She cut him out of our lives.”

“Damn,” Joel breathed. “That was tough on you.”

She nodded, blinking back tears.

“So, now you have beaucoup Hawaiian relatives, huh?” he asked. “You like them?”

She nodded. “They’re the best. In fact, my other best friend, Claire, is marrying Daniel Ho’omalu soon.”

He whistled softly. “That’s a wedding epidemic. You’re not gonna marry one of ’em, are you?”

The pugnacious edge to his question surprised a giggle out of her. “No. They’re my cousins.”

Frank ended his song on a flourish. Joel let Bella go, arcing into a stretch behind her.

“That was great, Frank,” Joel said. “Well, I’m gonna lay out my bedroll.” He patted Bella on the hip. “I’ll get yours for you, Nani.”

Bella slipped off the log, turning to look down at him.

He looked at her from under his brows, his face edged in faint firelight, waiting for her to answer. And she knew with a sudden breathless surge of longing that if she so much as nodded, she’d find herself slipping into his sleeping bag instead of her own. They were in a cave full of other people, she reminded herself.

“I can do it, thanks.”

With a shrug, Joel flipped his leg over the log and stood up behind it. The mustachioed Vandal leered cheerfully at her from his broad chest.

By the time everyone was yawning, Bella’s small watch read ten o’clock. She used the latrine, took a cup of water outside to brush her teeth and wash her face. Rain still misted down through the trees, pattering on the lava shelf before the caves.

She thought longingly of bathing in the pool. With the intense humidity, her skin felt sticky. But she knew leaving the camp was a really bad idea, so she settled for washing off her face, throat and arms and brushing out her hair.

Camille and Li opted to sleep in the smaller cave. The rest of them laid out their beds in the big cave. Cassie and Tanah nabbed the flat areas of the natural shelf in the rear, and Matt unrolled his mattress on the cave floor below them.

Frank chose the flat area near the cave mouth, which left a large open area along the far wall. Bella unrolled her mattress next to the wall, and laid out her sleeping bag on top. She made sure her boxers and clean tank were where she could find them in the dark. Then she sat cross-legged on her bed, and waited for the others to settle down and turn off their lights so she could change into her sleepwear.

Joel was the last one into the cave. In the light of the lanterns, his hair was damp with rain. He spoke quietly with Frank and then walked purposefully back toward Bella.

Her heart thumped, matching the rhythm of the surf pounding on the shore, as he paused beside her bedroll and bent to pick up his own. Out of his sphere, away from that dangerous field of magnetism he seemed to wear like an aura, she’d had time to remember why lying down next to him was a bad idea.

“Oh no.” She shook her head. “You’re not—”

He cast her a darkling look before tossing his sleeping bag out on his unfurled mattress. “Oh yes, I am.” He dropped to one knee and leaned over to her. “Bella, I’m afraid of redheads that go bump in the night. I need you to protect me.”

She bit her lips against the snicker that wanted to erupt. Just when she was irritated with him, he made her want to laugh. Although her smile was quickly followed by a frown. She was more than a smokescreen, and he’d better not forget it.

She glared at him as he sat down to kick off his sandals.

“Ready for lights out?” Frank asked, kneeling before the big lantern. “Ready,” Joel answered. The two men exchanged a look, and the cave went black.

“Wow, that’s really dark,” Matt said over the surf.

“No starlight,” Frank called back. “Maybe get some later. Moon should be about half full too.”

Cassie let out a yelp. “Ouch. Tanah, you kicked me.”

Tanah mumbled something, and Matt answered; then the three of them laughed.

Bella waited for a moment to let her eyes adjust. Satisfied that it was truly dark and no one could see her, she patted her hand over her pillow for her tank and boxers. Finding them, she tugged her tank off over her head and pulled on the clean one. Her panties felt damp, so she wriggled out of them along with her shorts and tugged on the boxers.

She could sense Joel tugging off his sweatshirt beside her, and the waft of air as he dropped it beside his bedroll. Then she heard the tug of a zipper and felt him shift as he pulled his shorts off. The thought of him naked so close to her sent heat throbbing in her pussy. She clenched her hands into fists to keep from reaching for him.

“Damn, wet undies,” he muttered.

“Me too,” she blurted, then felt her face burn.

He was still for a moment. “Does that mean you’re not wearing any?” he asked.

“Maybe.” Let him wonder.

He groaned softly, and she was smiling as she lay down. She pulled the light cover of her bag over herself, propped one arm behind her head, and gazed out into the night.

Strangely, even though it was still raining, the trees outside the cave seemed to glow with a soft phosphorescence, their leaves glimmering in the rain.

Bella leaned up on her elbow, watching. It was beautiful, and bewildering. “Joel?” she whispered.

“Yeah?”

“Can you see that?”

“See what?”

“Out there.”

She heard the swish of fabric as he sat up. “Can’t see a thing.” He slid down in his sleeping bag, and when he spoke again, his voice was much nearer. “You’re safe, Princess. I’m here, and so is Frank.”

A cloak of inevitability settled over her, feather-light. He couldn’t see what she saw—the trees glowing with their mist of raindrops, as if they were bejeweled. It was just for her. A gift in the wake of the storm.

“I know,” she murmured. “I’m not worried.”

He moved again, and she felt his heat as he leaned up over her, a dark shape that blocked out the gentle light of the trees. Another thrill took her, this one a purely feminine one.

“Nani,” he murmured, the nickname a caress in his deep voice.

“Mm-hmm?” She waited, pleasure already melting through her as his arms bracketed her, the hot skin of his inner forearms against her bare shoulders. She wanted it, and more. Wanted the heavy weight of his big, muscular body pressing hers into her mattress, wanted his hardness between her thighs.

“I really liked that kiss you gave me, out on the rocks.”

“Did you?”

“Oh yeah. If I kiss you good night, you gonna sucker punch me?”

“Maybe.” Her lips parted, waiting for that blissful moment when that warm, wicked mouth would settle on hers. “Aren’t you supposed to be brave and tough, ready for any challenge?”

He sighed, his breath gusting across her lips. “You’re right. Better live up to my rep, huh?”

His warm lips brushed hers, a soft touch that zinged through her entire body. “Besides, I wanna know that trademark move you told me about.”

“Don’t hold your breath,” she advised. “I save it for guys who deserve it.”

He was smiling as he kissed her. And Bella discovered that, as exhilarating as it had been to kiss him on the rocks, having him kiss her now, when he leaned over her in the dark, was much, much better. Or maybe it was simply better because it was now.

Whichever, the man didn’t just kiss; he made love to her mouth. He sipped and tasted and explored with those lips, and then did the same with his tongue, before rearing up farther over her and cocking his head to seal their mouths together in a deep, seamless kiss that made Bella writhe under him. Her arms slid up around his neck, holding him to her as she kissed him back.

He pushed her sleeping bag down, his palm sliding hot and slow down across her shoulder and back up to settle over her breast, scantily covered by her light tank. Still devouring her mouth with his, he palmed her breast, cupping it and then squeezing her nipple gently between the edge of his thumb and forefinger.

Bella moaned into his mouth, arching up against him as sensation shot through her, sweet and yet painful, arrowing straight down to her pussy.

Joel lifted his head, his hand still busy. “Shh-sh, quiet, baby.”

Bella wanted to bite him. She wanted him to bite her, or at least use that mouth on her, all over. But they were surrounded by others and although the rain and surf were loud, she wasn’t about to have sex here. Darn him for having tempted her this far.

“Let me go,” she hissed.

He groaned silently, his chest vibrating against her through her sleeping bag. Or maybe he was laughing. “Okay. As soon as you let go of me.”

Which was when Bella realized she was hanging on to him like a vine, her arms around his neck, her fingers digging into the firm silk of his back, feeling the muscles flex beneath his skin.

She pulled her arms back, her cheeks hot.

“We could take this outside,” he offered softly, his hand still on her breast. He pinched her beaded nipple, and she grabbed his thick wrist, wanting to hold him there but pushing him away instead.

“No way. Frank is right by the entrance.”

He sighed. “All right. Wanna come over here and snuggle instead?”

She rolled her eyes at the grin in his voice. “No. I’d have to use that move on you.”

“Oh, I think you already did, baby.”

And just like that, he was gone, dropping back onto his own bedroll, and leaving her there, alone and wanting. And she suspected he knew it all too well, damn his arrogant hide.

To Do: In the event of an accident, the tour director works smoothly with those in authority
.

Joel was having a really great dream—the best of his entire life. He knew it was a dream, but he went with it, enjoying it for what it was…tropical bliss.

He lay in a soft bed of leaves and flowers on the bank of the grotto pool, naked. Her shoulders back, head high, Bella paced toward him like a young queen. Her crown was red hyacinth, a lei of creamy yellow plumeria hung around her neck, and her breasts were bare, as was her torso and her slender waist, the flat plain of her belly. She wore only a tiny kapa-cloth skirt around her lush hips, baring most of her strong, curving legs.

She stopped beside the bed he had made for them, surveying him as if deciding whether he was what she wanted. But he knew he could make her want him—knew it as surely as he knew that if he didn’t have her here, now, he would go crazy, wild with rage and desire.

Smiling up at her, he held out his hand to her.

“Come to me, Princess.”

She cocked her head, those ebony eyes heavy with desire and a teasing light. Her soft mouth curved up in a mysterious little smile. “Malia paha. Maybe.”

He palmed his turgid cock, enjoying the pull of his hand on the exquisitely sensitive shaft, watching her watch him. “This is yours. All for your pleasure. Let me fill you, make you feel the way you deserve.”

With a sigh of surrender, she pulled the tie of her skirt, and it slipped to the ground around her feet, leaving her bared to him. He groaned aloud at the sight of the sweet little triangle of black curls at the apex of her thighs. “Ah, Princess. No ka oi, ka nani.”

Sitting up, he took her hands and brought her down into his arms.

She rolled away from him, onto her side, and he moved behind her, spooning his body tightly to hers, wrapping one arm over her waist to slide his hand down and cup her sweet mons and driving his cock into the crevice of her lush ass. She was all silk and heat in his arms, the perfect package of feminine dynamite, primed to blow and take him with her.

Joel woke with a start, his eyes flying open. For a short, charged moment, he lay there in the darkness of the cave, unable to separate the dream from reality.

He held Bella in his arms, just as in the dream. Warm and lissome and alive. He was spooned around her, had his cock in the crevice of her ass, her sweet mons filling his hand. He could feel the heat of her pussy through her thin cotton boxers, and his fingers were damp with her arousal, which had soaked her little shorts.

She moved sinuously in his grasp, a soft whimper of need and want in her throat, and he realized that she was still asleep, and as turned-on as he was. Joel groaned silently. If he were the gentleman his mother had raised him to be, and the one Frank had reminded him he’d damn well better be, he’d get the hell back onto his own sleeping bag. But he couldn’t make himself let go of her—not when she was primed and ready and his own balls were so tight they ached, his cock quivering with the absolute need to get inside her.

Closing his eyes, he moved his hand, enjoying the feel of her in his palm, the satiny heat of her thighs clenching around his hand as he stroked her through the thin shorts. She made that little whimpering sound in her throat again, and he reached farther, finding the edge of her knit boxers and thrusting his fingers underneath.

“Bella,” he whispered urgently, rubbing his face on the rumpled satin of her hair. His whiskers caught in the strands. “Baby, wake up.”

Heat roared through him as his fingertips found the slick, swollen petals of her labia. Rigid with desire, unreasoning now, he thrust his longest finger slowly, slowly into the tight sleekness of her pussy.

She gasped, and her arm fumbled over his. He froze, thinking she wanted to push him away, but then realized she was awake, and pushing at her little shorts. Oh, hell yeah. She was as primed as he was by that kiss.

Easing his fingers out of her, he grasped her waistband, pulling the shorts down over her ass and letting her push them farther, then pedal her legs to kick them off. Ah, all that firm, luscious roundness in his lap. He gave her a quick fondle, and then thrust his hand back where they both wanted it.

Her delicate, springy curls filled his palm, and the slick heat beneath welcomed him in, her pelvis tilting up to make it easier for him to slide one, then two fingers deep into her tight little channel.

She made that sound in her throat again, and he played her, sliding his fingers in and out, making her quiver and buck in his grasp.

Joel felt the exact moment when she really woke. The soft hiccup of shock, and the sudden stilling of her sinuous movements. Ah, hell, was she going to think he’d been molesting her?

“It’s all right, Princess,” he soothed, just loud enough for her to hear him over the surf. “Just let yourself go. I’ve got you.”

She was still for a moment, and then, oh glory, yes, he felt her small hand cover his and press, urging him on. He lifted his head far enough to press a kiss to her bare shoulder, and then he hooked his fingers inside her pussy, pressing them up against the spongy pad of her g-spot, and swirled his thumb over the slick little knot of flesh hiding in her curls.

She sucked in a long, shaken breath, and he felt her begin to quake around his hand.

“Shh-shh,” he breathed. “Not a sound, baby. Come real quiet.”

His voice seemed to send her over the edge, and she bucked in his arms, her breath shuddering in and out, her pussy squeezing his fingers rhythmically as she orgasmed. Ah, so sweet, and damn near as good as coming himself.

But not quite. If he didn’t get to soon, he was a dead man.

He held her until she relaxed against him, and then he let her go, just long enough to yank his own shorts down and free his cock. It slapped her on the ass, her satin skin a caress, a tease.

Hooking his hand under her upper thigh, he lifted it enough to let his cock slide into the soft crevice between her thighs and then let her leg drop back, enclosing him in the furrow of her body.

“Okay?” he gasped, his teeth clenched. He was about to blow, and even if he didn’t dare get inside her without a condom, goddamn it, he had to at least have a touch of her.

“Wait,” she whispered, turning her head. ”Are you—I mean, have you been tested?”

“Yes. I’m clean, I swear,” he managed.

For one agonizing moment, he waited. Then she moved, arching her back so that he slid along that wet, slick crevice.

He filled his hand with her again and began to work her clitoris in a fast, hard cadence, caressing her and his cock, pretending it was deep inside her, instead of sliding back and forth in the almost, nearly, so-close torture of her labia.

He hadn’t had to make do this way since high school. But with her, it was enough. And as release roared up through him, his come jetting in long, sweet pulses onto her thighs, he felt her tense and shudder again as well. Then both of them collapsed, wet with perspiration and his come.

Joel buried his face in her hair, a tumbled silky swath under his cheek. Had he made any noise? He didn’t think so, but he was breathing as hard as if he’d been running a marathon, his heart pounding, bursting with the urge to laugh.

“Ah, Princess,” he whispered when he could speak. “You are one naughty wahine.”

She stiffened in his arms, just as he’d known she would, and grabbed his wrist, trying to yank his hand from between her thighs. He let her go, slowly, because she felt so damn good. Then, grinning like a fool, he sat up and pulled his T-shirt off over his head and gave it to her, patting her bare hip.

Bella took the bundle of soft cotton Joel handed her and used it wipe the warm, sticky fluid of his semen from her thighs, belly, and then her sleeping bag. She touched the damp spot on her bag, left after she tossed the shirt aside, and then yawned, a huge, toe-curling yawn that consumed her just as her two orgasms had only moments before.

Shock and pleasure and resentment tumbled inside her, warring with sheer cringing embarrassment. What had she done, and right in the cave with everyone else? And with
him
. What if someone had heard them? Heard her? Had she made a noise? And was she a total slut because knowing others were sleeping only feet away had been all twisted up in her incredible arousal and two orgasms?

She wanted to blame it all on Joel, absolve herself of responsibility for her wanton behavior. That she couldn’t just pissed her off.

“Can’t believe I let you do that,” she muttered as his arm brushed hers, his skin still hot and damp.

Her body felt wonderful, still soft and pulsing with pleasure, her clitoris tender where he’d massaged it with his calloused thumb. And yet needy, somehow. Face it, she wanted much more than his fingers inside her.

“Yeah, well, you can hate me in the morning. Go to sleep.”

“Oh, right. There’s a wet spot on my sleeping bag.” She blushed in the darkness. This was the kind of conversation one had with a boyfriend, a lover, not a casual acquaintance on a camping trip. Although there hadn’t been anything casual about the feelings he stirred in her from the first moment they met.

“All right, here.” He moved away and came back with another T-shirt, which he smoothed out on her bag, managing to get his hands on her several times while he did it.

She shoved his hand away from her ass. “Mahalo, now go away.”

“Can’t help it, Nani. You feel as pretty as you look.” But he moved away and lay back down on his own sleeping bag with a long sigh. “Night.”

And that, she supposed, was that. Bella lay down, gazing sleepily into the night.

The trees swayed quietly outside the cave, their leaves whispering as if they were laughing. Of course they approved of what she’d done. They wanted her to take it even further. They wanted…

With the thought half finished, she fell asleep.

The first thing she saw when she opened her eyes at dawn was Joel. He sat on his sleeping bag, wearing only a pair of shorts and looking out into the morning. He looked big and tough and dangerous, with his muscled arms locked loosely around his knees. In the morning light, she noticed that his arms and legs were lightly dusted with reddish hair, and he had an old scar above his near elbow, a streak of white across his smooth, tanned skin.

She imagined slithering across the short space between them and nuzzling her face against the long line of his spine, following it up with a trail of kisses, inhaling his scent while she smoothed her palms over the broad curve of his back, learning those long muscles. Her hands clenched on her sleeping bag.

As if he felt her gaze, he turned his head and looked down at her. His hair was flat on one side, his cheek creased from his pillow, and he had a morning beard shadow on his wide jaw. But he still looked good enough to eat, and his eyes were full of a look that made her insides melt and the modern woman in her bristle. It said very clearly—
mine
.

One corner of his mouth kicked up. “Too late for second thoughts, Princess,” he murmured. “The deed’s been done.”

Rebellion flared inside her. “Huh. Wasn’t much of a deed.”

He raised a brow at her. “You came twice, so I’m not sure what you’re complaining about. And you know damn well the rest is gonna happen, sooner or later.”

She sat up, tossing her hair back. “
Malia paha
, hotshot. Maybe—if I say it will.”

His eyes narrowed. He braced his near hand on her bag and leaned toward her, close enough that her body reacted, swaying forward to meet him.

A shadow fell across their faces. They jerked apart to see Frank standing in the mouth of the cave, the dawn gilding his outline. He wore shorts and a Tshirt, and a fearsome scowl on his face. He held up a finger for silence and beckoned sharply to them.

Joel was off his bedroll in one smooth motion, gliding out into the morning after Frank. Her good mood dissipated like a popped bubble, Bella hastily grabbed her shorts from on top of her bag, stepped into them and yanked them up, the sibilant hiss of fabric loud in the quiet cave. One swift look around showed three still humps in the sleeping bags at the back of the cave. She grabbed her shoes and tiptoed out after the men, pushing her hair back out of her eyes.

It was a lovely morning, the air washed clear by the storm, a few clouds of misty lavender and peach clustered high on the mountain, the sun already rimming their tops with gold. The sea was a sheet of calm silver, the surf a quiet wash of low tide.

The two men stood a short distance away, past the fig trees.

Frank gestured down at the shore. “Look at it,” he hissed. “Look at my boat.”

Bella stepped past Joel, wincing as she stepped on a pebble. He caught her arm to steady her. “Oh, hell, Frank. What happened to her?”

Premonition filled Bella. The catamaran was listing heavily to one side, and, instead of bobbing on the surface, washed dully in the surf, bumping against the sandy bottom.

“Somebody wrecked my boat.” Frank’s jaw was so tight he gritted the words out, and he clenched his fists as if he could wrest vengeance out of the morning air. “Holes in two of the pontoons.”

“Oh, Frank.” Bella pressed her hands to her face, horrified.

Joel let out a long breath. “Holy hell. I’m sorry, man. So sorry.”

His big hand closed on Bella’s shoulder and squeezed lightly. “Nani, go get our phones, would you? Mine’s in the outside pocket of my bag.”

Of course they would have to call for help, for rescue. Their phones would be working now that the storm was past. Bella hurried back into the cave. She grabbed her phone, rummaged for Joel’s and tiptoed back outside.

The men were already halfway down the shore toward the bay. She followed them across the strip of sandy beach, stopping at the water’s edge. She didn’t want to compound their problems by dropping phones in the water. Shoving Joel’s phone into her pocket, she opened hers and pressed the On button.