Sins of the Flesh (Half-Breed Series Book 2) (3 page)

He gathered me close. “I’m serious. There’s a price on your head. You need to be in peak condition, have strong energy reserves, just in case.”

Eventually there would be a demon who decided to make a quick buck by bringing my head back to Hel. With roughly seven-billion humans in the world, I was hoping they’d have a hard time finding me. Hoping.

“Okay. I promise I’ll take your guidance on partners. But no women or married men. Not too young or old. And I’m not tying anyone this trip — it’s just too worrisome.”

“Uh huh.” It was the sound of someone who had suffered mightily and was at the end of their patience. “Tying is what keeps you from having to spend so much time finding partners. It’s long-term energy as opposed to a quick fix. Amber, you can’t live on quick fixes, not if you want to do something with your life beyond have sex a dozen times a day.”

“A dozen times a day sounds wonderful if the sex is with you.” I ran my lips over the ridge of his collarbone, nipping with my teeth as I reached the curve of his neck. Maybe if I distracted him, he’d quit with the lecture.

The attempted seduction worked. Irix rolled me on top of him, gripping my ass to keep me in position. Our lovemaking was slow, giving me time to reacquaint myself with every inch of his body. Then I fell into the best sleep I’d had in months, nestled in his arms.

Chapter 3

W
hat’s that?”

Irix and I were on our balcony at sunrise, my hair lifting in the breeze as we sipped a sinful concoction of mango juice and seltzer.

“A palm tree?”

I shook my head, smiling as I looked at the sky. He’d been pointing at a Pandanus tree, not a palm. A member of the Screw pine family, the bracts and roots were perfect for weaving and rope making. But that wasn’t what I’d meant.

“No, the smoke cloud inland. If you lean over the balcony, you can see the plume in the distance. It’s concentrated and dark. Do you think something’s on fire?”

It was Irix’s turn to shake his head and look at the sky, a grin on his face. “Oh no, darling. It’s actually a smoke creature. Very useful when preparing meats or trying to keep insects at bay.”

If I had a pillow handy, I would have tossed it at him. “You know what I mean. Do you think it’s a forest fire? Or the dormant volcano about to erupt? Or just someone burning garbage?” I didn’t know anything about fire. I was all about plants. Not that I could really do anything about it, but I did worry this fire might be taking out a national park, or some other landmark.

Irix squinted at the dark cloud. “It’s probably just the sugarcane fields burning.”

I frowned. “Are you sure?” I didn’t mean to be rude, but he’d told me he had never been to any of the Hawaiian Islands before. I was still worried about the forest preserve.

“Pretty sure. They burn cane fields in southern Louisiana, and they have hundreds of acres of cane here. We can always go check it out later.”

I knew Irix wasn’t suggesting we take a bus. He had a thing about stealing — especially cars. It bothered me but was something I’d chosen to just accept. I was in love with a demon, and he was bound to be... well, demonic. If grand theft auto was the extent of his evil, I was counting my blessings.

“Let’s go now. I don’t know how long the smoke will be visible enough for us to locate the fire.”

“Nope.” Irix finished his drink. “Later. You have a paddleboard lesson in ten.”

Huh? I was a decent swimmer but not a watersports maniac like my stepsister Nyalla. What in the world would have given him the idea I’d want to learn paddleboarding? And there was another question in my mind.

“I take it you’re not joining me in this lesson?”

His smile conveyed a world of meaning. “No, I need to do something else. From eight to ten every morning, Enakai at DreamWaves will be teaching you to paddleboard while I head off to seduce both tourists and residents.”

Just because my ‘nutritional’ needs fell pretty low on my to-do list, didn’t mean Irix’s did. I could tell from the tone of his voice that it wasn’t just for him. I know sharing his energy was his way of showing how much he cared, that he wanted to take care of me until I was able to truly stand on my own two feet as a half-demon, but it still made me feel guilty. And jealous. Which was ridiculous. He was an incubus. These were one-time-only sources of energy, where we had so much more going on between the two of us. Still, it was hard to get past twenty-one years of culture that told me monogamy was the only proof of love.

I needed to get over it. Falling off a fiberglass board into the surf for a couple of hours would probably keep my mind away from obsessing about what Irix was doing with these tourists and residents. And two hours wasn’t much time to be separated from him. I needed to not be the clingy, anxious girlfriend, or I’d drive him away. Glancing at my watch, I summoned a casual smile and stood to kiss him. “Ten minutes, huh? Well, I better get going then.”

***

DreamWaves was a shack on the beach with a thatched roof and a row of boards lined up out front like a tall, colorful fence. I eyed them, looked at the gentle waters of the inlet, and then went in. Better get this over with. Maybe after today, the instructor would tell Irix I was hopeless and he’d have me do manicures or a massage each morning instead.

Mmm, massage. My mind immediately wandered to images of a tanned man applying warm oil to my skin using long firm strokes. Now, that was more up my alley. Although, this whole paddleboard thing might not necessarily be a wash. If the instructor met my criteria, I could get some morning action in. Hmm, maybe if I worked my pheromones, I wouldn’t even have to get on the damned paddleboard.

The moment I laid eyes on the instructor, that idea went right out the window. I did a quick back and forth between the business card Irix had given me and the woman waxing a board in the shack.

“I’m looking for Enakai? I’m the paddleboard lesson.”

“Just call me Kai.” She pronounced it ‘Kah-ee’. “Aloha! You must be Amber?”

She was tan. Really, really tan with muscles that stood out, beautifully defined. I doubted she had more than an ounce of fat on her. Her pointed chin, high forehead, and exotic dark eyes all created a face and figure that would have dropped jaws back home in Maryland.

“Yep, I’m Amber. And I have to ask, is that ‘Aloha’ thing only for the tourists? I mean, do you all run into each other in the grocery store and say ‘Aloha!’? Do you say ‘Mahalo’ to the cashier?”

Her lips twitched. “It’s for tourists. Yes, I speak Hawaiian, but I greet people with ‘hi’ and tell them ‘thanks’. I also listen to Rap and don’t own any floral-print shirts beyond what I have to wear at work.”

I thought so. “I have to warn you that I’m going to be the worst student you’ve ever taught. My boyfriend arranged this, probably not realizing I’m more at home on a four-wheeler than the water.”

Her eyes flashed disappointment, but she quickly hid it behind a warm smile. “You’ll eat those words by the end of the day; I promise. Paddleboarding is addictive.”

Kai reached down to grab a board by the centered slot, tucking it under her arm and picking up two paddles with the other hand. “Take that one over there, and we’ll get started.” She went to walk past me, and we did that little dance thing, trying to get out of each other’s way. Then we both stopped, waiting for the other one to move.

I laughed, met her eyes, and the world tilted. Wow, she had the most beautiful eyes — almond-shaped and dark brown, like sunshine on melted Godiva chocolate. They widened, and something in them flared — a spark of attraction. I sensed it, knew in an instant how her skin would feel against the tips of my fingers, how her lips would taste.

Then she laughed and broke the spell, turning her head and darting around me to the door. Had we... had she...? Damn, it was like my heart was trying to beat right out of my chest.

“Hurry up. Get your board and let’s go.”

I took a deep breath to clear my head and curled my fingers around the edge of the slot in the board. Then I lifted and nearly fell on my face. Kai was walking out the door, her back to me as she rambled on about today’s lesson, while I yanked and pulled, finally muscling the board upright. Supporting the underneath part with my other hand, I staggered out the door and hustled to catch up.

“We’ll start out in a calm, sheltered section to let you get the hang of things before braving the chop.”

I opened my mouth to question how this was going to work on a beach filled with splashing kids and adults but was too winded to speak. Shit, this board had to have weighed a hundred pounds. No wonder she was buff if she slung these things around all day. CrossFit my ass; just lugging this thing across the soft sand was a day’s workout for me. I practically ran in an attempt to keep up with her, struggling to avoid banging my board on the heads of sunbathers and their young children.

I should have known the swank resort would have roped off a section of the beach for watersports. Kai led me to a large rectangle, vacant except for a man at one end teaching a snorkeling class. They looked up, the man waving at Kai before his eyes settled on me with interest. “We’ll be out in thirty,” he called.

Kai waved dismissively. “Don’t worry. I’ve just got only one for now. We’ll work at this end of the water.”

She tossed her board into the gentle surf. I groaned in relief, dropping mine with unseemly haste at the water’s edge and stretching to get feeling back into my numb arms. What was I supposed to do now? Should I get in? Wait for instruction? Go grab a Mai Tai and sun myself by the pool?

“We’re going to work on getting on and off the board here, where it’s shallow enough to stand and there aren’t any waves. Once you get a feel for the board, we’ll move out into calm surf.”

I looked at the item in question, bobbing gently in the water. “And if I’m still here next Monday?”

She barked a short laugh. “Not happening. You’ve got two days of paddleboarding, and then we’re moving onto surfing lessons. Now tighten those bikini straps and wade on in there, girl. Time’s a wasting.”

I walked in, pushing the board until both it and the water reached my waist. Might as well get going and get this whole thing over with. I was going to fucking kill Irix when I saw him next. Paddleboard lessons were one thing, surfing was another. Surfing? Riiiiight. Couldn’t I just go hike in the rainforest instead?

“Grab the board with a hand on either side, and ease yourself onto it. Be careful to distribute your weight evenly.”

I did as instructed, but the board wasn’t cooperating. Each time I went to ‘ease’ myself onto it, the damned thing flipped over on its side.

“Weight evenly distributed.” Kai shouted like my high school soccer coach. “You’re too far forward.”

Actually, forget the soccer coach, this woman was beginning to remind me a lot of Irix. I glared at the board and this time tried to keep my weight farther back.

“Too much! That’s too far!”

Too late. The board shot upright then came down on my head with a reverberating ‘thunk’.

“Here, let me show you.” Kai waded in, the picture of grace in the water. Grasping her board, she slid onto it like a snake across sand. “See?”

No, I didn’t see. The woman was fucking weightless. How had she done that?

“Can you show me again?”

Kai slipped off the side and repeated her motions. I placed my palm flat on top of the water and pushed, sending a surge of energy into it. The water responded, jerking upward under Kai’s board and flipping it over. I hid a smile as Kai surfaced, spitting water and smoothing her wet hair back from a very shocked face.

I know it was petty of me, but I was a tad frustrated at my ineptitude. Kai looked down at the board, perplexed, then shot me a suspicious glance.

“Sorry,” I told her meekly, ashamed of my impulsive action. To my surprise, she threw back her head and laughed, her dark eyes still laughing as they met mine.

“You
do
realize that now this is war?”

“Yeah, yeah. Paybacks are hell, and all that.” I grinned. Okay, maybe a week of water sport lessons with this woman wouldn’t be so bad after all.

Half an hour later, I was managing to climb onto the board without falling off the other side or tipping the damned thing over. By the end of the lesson, I could actually kneel and stand on it with a reasonable amount of stability. Kai kept me in the roped-off area, forcing me to do what seemed like calisthenics on the board, supposedly to improve my balance.

Deflated and exhausted, I dragged my board out of the water and tried to haul it up with arms that felt like limp noodles. I was part elf, damn it. I was genetically predisposed toward speed and dexterity. Something like this should have been a cakewalk. Why had it taken me so long to ‘get it’? I had a dreadful premonition that I wouldn’t be acceptable at paddleboarding by the end of the week, let alone this surfing thing.

It didn’t help that I could sense Kai’s disappointment. She’d expected better of me. I’d expected better of me. I know I should have taken some pride in what I’d accomplished, but I was too much of a perfectionist to do so.

“Here. I’ll carry the boards, and you take the paddles.”

I dropped my board in relief, feeling even more inadequate by the fact that Kai could manage two of these heavy boards while the paddles would probably be a stretch for me.

“You should wear a rashie tomorrow.”

I jerked when she ran a finger along the side of my ribs, feeling like I’d been jolted with some rather erotic electricity. Looking down, I saw my abraded skin. Road rash, or, rather, board rash.

“I didn’t bring one.” My voice came out weak and breathless. Her hand stayed against my skin, and I dreaded the moment she took it away.

“I... I, uh, have one I can loan you.” Her eyes darted to my breasts and lingered, her fingers still warm on my ribs. “It might... you’re bigger than I am there, so it might be... tight.”

And now I couldn’t breathe at all. I stood there like a total idiot, wide-eyed and wanting her hand to follow her eyes. Instead, she jerked it away as if scalded.