Sins of the Flesh (Half-Breed Series Book 2) (5 page)

“Must be rough on asthma sufferers.” I reached down to touch the greasy, feather-light powder. Ugh, more than asthma patients would be suffering. The particulate matter was large enough that even healthy lungs would be irritated. The ash was mostly leaf debris, the greasy feel melted wax that coated the canes, protecting them from the flame. It clung to my hands in a dark smear.

“It is. You really don’t want to be living near the fields if you’ve got respiratory issues.”

I touched the canes, quickly analyzing them. This fire had burned exceptionally hot and fast, which explained the smoke at sunrise. The sugar cane company must wet down the areas they wanted to keep safe, such as the irrigation pipes clearly visible in the field. There also must be some way of containing the fire.

“Are there firebreaks? How do they ensure the fire doesn’t jump and spread across the roads into the other crops or residential areas?”

“Firebreaks plus their own water trucks around the perimeter and the local fire department on stand-by. Honestly, the cane fields are pretty much one huge mass of acreage. There are only a few spots where they border residential or business areas.”

I nodded, my curiosity satisfied. “Thank you for bringing me out here. Things like this are kind of my passion.”

There was an odd electric feel in the air. Kai grinned, her elbows propped against the hood of the Jeep as she leaned backward. My gaze roved over her athletic form, lingering at the inch of golden-brown skin between her shirt hem and waistband.

Stop. Just stop. I wasn’t about to seduce and leave a potential friend with a lifetime of hunger and sorrow. If Kai revealed herself to be the kind that could easily have a fling without hurt, then fine. But if she was a woman who wanted more — well, I wouldn’t do that to her. Couldn’t do that to her.

“No problem. Do you have time for lunch? I know a place nearby.” Her voice was casual. Hopeful.

I hesitated, knowing full well there was strong attraction between us and not sure how I wanted to proceed. I liked Kai — really, really liked her. And I was going to be in her company for an hour or two every day this week. I didn’t want things to be uncomfortable between us, and I especially didn’t want to hurt her. I was still working on the whole succubus thing and didn’t trust myself. It was one thing to remain professional and in control with randy college boys and Lotharios, but could I do it with someone I liked as a friend?

I breathed deep and made a decision. Irix wouldn’t be back for hours, and I was eager to spend more time with Kai. I enjoyed her company and respected her local knowledge. Kai might never make a world-class paddleboarder out of me, but she was smart and a blast to hang out with.

“Absolutely. I don’t need to be back until dinner.”

Her dark eyes danced, and with a nimble push, she was off the car hood and climbing into the driver’s seat. “How do you feel about fish burgers?”

I slid into the seat beside her. “I feel like I want to eat one.”

She grinned, and there was a spark of heat in her eyes. “Good, because we’re going to Paia.”

Paia was a one-street town. In fact, I think it might have been a one-block town. Little mom-and-pop shops lined the main street. Every outlet seemed to sell locally sourced organic products. The tiny town had a hippy-funky-surfer-dude feel to it.

“Lots of celebrities come to Maui.” Kai parked the Jeep. “We have laws that prohibit paparazzi, so it’s not uncommon to see Woody Harrelson, Owen Wilson, Oprah Winfrey, or Steven Tyler. Heck, the CEO of Oracle owns one of our islands.”

What was this place, Monaco? I shifted on the seat, uncomfortable with the thought of someone actually owning an entire island in the U.S. I got the feeling Maui had been chopped up and auctioned off. Water rights. Industry. Land. Where was the public interest in all of this?

Climbing out of the Jeep, we stood in front of a nondescript one-story building on a street corner. From first glance, Fish Market Restaurant looked like a butcher shop or small grocery.

Inside wasn’t awe inspiring either. Long wooden tables with shark-tooth inlay lined the dining area in neat rows. I sat on the hard wooden bench facing a chalkboard menu that hung over a kitchen pass-through, under which sat a veritable hedge of brilliant Birds of Paradise plants. Kai faced the other way. Twisting about, I saw a wall lined with huge paintings and photos of eclectic sea-themed characters. Stuffed fish dangled from the ceiling, and I squinted at them, wondering if they were real or not.

“Ono or Mahi?” Kai asked.

“Huh?” I replied intelligently.

“Two Ono burgers and two drafts,” she told the waiter. “Ono means ‘sweet and good’.” She told me. “It’s a firm fish, mild but with a distinct flavor so it doesn’t need a ton of spices. On the mainland, they call it ‘wahoo’.”

Wahoo. I’d occasionally encountered it in restaurants in Maryland, although it was more common in Florida and the Caribbean. I was eager to try it, putting myself in Kai’s capable hands as my island expert. Once the fish burger arrived, I forgot all about celebrities owning homes here, my disastrous attempts at paddleboarding, and environmental issues. It was good — very good. This fish burger put Kobo beef to shame. I tried to eat at a moderate pace and shove my demon-self aside for some elven manners.

“So, you own Dreamwaves?” I asked.

“Oh, Lord no.” Kai laughed. “The owners are really nice, though. They’ve got contracts with quite a few of the resorts on Maui. I’m just a lowly employee. Aaron and I handle the Sarafina Resort. He does scuba and snorkeling, where I do parasailing, surfing, paddleboarding, and ocean kayaking.”

“How’d you get stuck with all that?”

She sighed. “There’s a lot more snorkeling and scuba. Most of what I get is surfing with a few of the others thrown in here and there. I help him out if he gets too booked, but it’s a pretty overall.”

“Sounds like a dream job.”

“Tell my mother that.” She grimaced. “My brother and I are both disappointments. I hang on the beach all day, and he pays the bills by supplementing his firefighter’s income with odd jobs. Not exactly the doctors and lawyers Mom wanted.”

“Do you like it? Your job, I mean?”

Her eyes met mine, and I saw contentment in their depths. “Yeah, I do. I really do. I can’t imagine doing anything else and being this happy.”

“Good. Life is too short to do shit you hate.” It was, especially for humans. We sat for a few moments in silence.

“So... thesis, huh? Are you going to be Doctor Amber by summer?”

“Hardly. It’s my undergraduate degree. I thought about applying to grad school, but I’m eager to get out there and
do
something.”

Kai laughed. “Yeah, you strike me as the ‘doing something’ kind.” She took a swig of beer. “So what kind of somethings are you planning on doing after graduation?”

“A friend of mine in New Orleans wants me to do a joint project with her on plant species transitions in changing wetland areas. There’s a grant, and I’m pretty sure we could get it. I love New Orleans. I’ve got so many friends down there. My boyfriend has an incredible house in the Quarter I could stay at.”

Shrewd eyes met mine. “But?”

But. That was the silly thing about life. There was always a but.

I took a deep breath. I hadn’t told anybody this — not even Darci. “I applied to DiMarche and Sons for a six-month internship in their Napa Valley vineyards.”

Kai’s eyes grew big. “DiMarche wines? Holy cow, I drink their stuff. Everyone drinks their stuff.”

DiMarche wasn’t high end; it was the good, solid quality wine that ran in the middle of the market price-wise. They weren’t so snobby that they turned up their noses at boxing their wine, but they weren’t so cheap that high-school kids were sucking it down. If I went to a college party and saw DiMarche on the booze table, I knew the hosts weren’t going to be setting up beer pong later.

“I don’t know if I’ll get the internship. Part of me hopes I don’t so I won’t have to make a choice.”

Kai shrugged. “Can the New Orleans gig wait until the internship is over?”

“Yes, but....” How could I tell her that humans had short lives, and I wanted to spend as much time with my friends as possible before I watched them age and die?

“And the boyfriend? In spite of his ditching you this afternoon, it must be serious if you’re vacationing together in Maui and you’re thinking about shacking up with him in New Orleans after graduation. Won’t his opinion play into this?”

Oh wow. More difficult questions. I had no idea how long Irix would be here this time. My heart ached at the thought — loving a man with painful, long periods of separation.... I couldn’t be with him in Hel, and he couldn’t be here fulltime. So my life was my own.

“I haven’t asked him yet. He’s been... deployed for the last six months, and he will frequently need to go away for long stretches of time.”

Kai caught her breath. “Military. Yes, that’s tough. I feel ya, girl.”

I shook my head to clear the angst and indecision. “So how about you? Boyfriend?” I hesitated a second. “Girlfriend?”

The response I got was a bitter laugh. “The last girlfriend I had was practically in the stone age. And boyfriend... well, that was a few months back, and it didn’t exactly end well.”

My heart ached at the pain in her voice. What could I possibly say in response to that? “I’m sorry. You’re a beautiful woman. There must be lots of opportunities to meet people in your job. Although I guess that would lead to short-term or long-distance relationships.” Gah. I was such an idiot. Normally my elf-half had all the smooth platitudes and niceties down, but for some reason, I was stumbling over what to say to Kai.

She hid a sheepish smile behind her beer. “Yeah, there has been some interest from the resort guests, but I have a strict no-tourist policy. Trust me, I’ve been tempted — really, really tempted. I don’t want a one-night stand though.”

Well, that was the answer to the question I’d been mulling over all day. A one-night stand was all I could offer. One night of incredible passion, but nothing more. There was a tendril of something between us — an attraction bittersweet and fragile, like a hibiscus about to bloom. I looked away, breaking the connection. I couldn’t give her what she wanted, and I wasn’t the sort of succubus who would take advantage of our attraction for my own selfish gain.

“Well, we better get going if you’re going to have time to clean up and get ready for dinner with loverboy.” Kai’s smile was brittle, overly cheerful as she scraped her chair back.

I paid for lunch after a small tussle over the check that cleared the tension between us and had us laughing as we left. On the ride home, we chatted about music and food, about the cost of car repairs and crappy Internet download speeds. It was so easy being with Kai, as the wind whipped loose strands of my hair around my face and the sun beat down on my skin.

The Jeep pulled up to the resort entrance. “See you tomorrow morning,” I called, hopping from the car.

“I’ll probably see you around the resort this afternoon, and definitely at the luau tonight.” Kai took a deep breath. “And if you want, I can find out where the next burn will be tomorrow morning and take you close enough to see. It will be early, though.

Ugh. Early. But I was really interested in the agriculture on the island, and Kai seemed a lot more into it than Irix was. He’d still be sleeping, curled up in pillows and blankets when I returned. And then I’d wake him up in my own special way.

“Okay. But how do you know where tomorrow’s burn will be?”

Her grin turned mischievous. “Well, they send out notices to the nearby neighborhoods. And my brother
is
a fireman. He’s working the field burn tomorrow.”

“Do you think I could get close?”

Kai snorted. “Sure, if you want to go up in a burst of flames. These fires burn hot and fast, sweeping through the fields like some biblical plague. The fire itself is over pretty quickly, but you can see the flames from a safe distance. We’ll go in around four in the morning. After the flames are out, there won’t be much to see until sunrise when the smoke clouds are visible, so maybe we can grab breakfast afterwards. Nothing too heavy since you’re on a paddleboard at eight.”

That would work, outside of having to get up at such an ungodly hour. Luckily I’d have jet lag in my favor for once. I bit my lip in indecision. I was here to spend time with Irix, not go haring off looking at fires with my paddleboard instructor.

“Let me find out what my boyfriend has planned. I mean, I’m pretty sure he doesn’t have anything going on at four in the morning, but....” Sheesh, this was awkward.

Kai blinked, as if she’d totally forgotten about my ‘boyfriend’, then recovered quickly. “Invite him along. It’ll be fun. I’ll bring coffee, and once the fire dies down, we can go to the beach and watch the sunrise.”

How could I say no when she was offering to drive us out early in the morning
and
bring coffee?

“Deal, but I’m buying breakfast afterward.”

Irix had his incubus ‘duties’ later in the morning, but this would be a neat thing for us all to do. We’d spend the morning with Kai as our tour guide, and then I’d head off for paddleboarding torture while Irix took care of his sexual needs.

Which reminded me that I’d neglected to take care of my own sexual needs today. I’d completely forgotten about it with Irix sharing his energy. It wasn’t fair to expect him to cover my requirements as well as his own. I quickly calculated my odds of grabbing a horny tourist between now and Irix’s arrival. It would be cutting it close, but if I worked fast, I could get in a quickie and have the whole night free for romance with my demon.

I made a beeline for the poolside bar, eyeing the possibilities with intent. A few businessmen, their ties loose and shirt collars unbuttoned, chatted at a nearby table. A cute blond guy was soaking up the rays, earbuds in as his toes wiggled to the beat. And there was the hotel staff. I was willing to bet they didn’t all have Kai’s ‘no tourist’ policy.

The thought of Kai brought an image of her into my mind — waist-deep in water, the end of her braid skimming the surface as her head tilted upward to watch me on the board. Warmth shot through me, and the businessmen at the next table all turned their heads.