Wounded But Not Scarred (New Adult Rockers 2) (26 page)

“Yes.”

“So, let’s just eat something light
downstairs. Better yet, let’s go out to the pool and order something out
there.”

“Sounds perfect.”

I give her a kiss and then we start
our first official day as husband and wife.

I yawn and stretch as the plane
begins to make its descent into Kauai. I look over and see Blake studying me.

“What?” I ask self-consciously.
“Was I drooling?” I wipe at the corner of my mouth, embarrassed.

He smiles and shakes his head. “No.
I just like watching you.”

“Creeper,” I tease.

He shrugs. “Now you’re stuck with
me.”

I lean over to kiss him. “I
want
to be stuck with you.”

I feel my stomach drops as the
plane dips lower, and my eyes widen.

Blake chuckles. “Are you excited?”

“You have no idea.” I glance at my watch,
but I realize I can’t trust the time. We’ve traveled through so many different
time zones at this point. “What time is it?”

Blake looks at his watch and does
the math in his head. “I think it’s just after three in the afternoon. Island
time.”

I smile lazily. “Island time,” I
repeat. “I like the sound of that.”

Our plane touches down with a
series of bumps. We get off the plane, pulling down our hats and slipping our
sunglasses on. The air is muggy and fragrant, everything that makes me think of
a tropical climate.

We make our way to baggage claim
and collect our mountain of suitcases. I scan the drivers holding signs and we
see our driver. We didn’t give him our actual last name, but instead my
mother’s maiden name. We weren’t sure how easily we would be recognized or not,
and we want our honeymoon to be as private as possible.

We walk towards the Hawaiian man,
who is holding two fresh leis in his hand.

“Aloha!” He says cheerfully. “I’m
Kai.”

“Hi! I believe we are your
customers.”

“Fantastic. Let me take your bags
and you can follow me out to the car.”

The “car” as he refers to it,
happens to be a roomy Cadillac Escalade with freshly squeezed juice for us in
the back, and the AC blasting.

He easily fits our bags in the back
and then we’re off.

“So, I hear you two are lovebirds,”
Kai says conversationally.

“Just married,” Blake says happily.

“Congrats!”

We make our way around the island,
and I press my nose to the glass watching the amazing sights pass by. Kai
points out various things and tells us local legends. It feels so surreal
because as kids Blake and I used to talk about coming to Hawaii when we were
older. It seemed like such a fantasy at the time, and then after I left
Nashville, it just was another painful memory of my old life.

Neither Blake nor I had ever been
out of the continental US before, and we both are enthralled by what we see.

“Almost there, folks,” Kai says, as
we turn down a private road. Blake and I had found a sweet little villa to rent
thanks to our new friends Tim and Faith. I still can’t believe that we’ve
become chummy with my country idols. Faith was all too happy to pass on the name
of a great home where they'd vacationed before, and we were able to get a great
deal on the rental thanks to them.

“You sure know how to pick them,”
Kai says impressed. “
Kukuiula Kai
is one of the nicest communities and beaches.”

“Yes, so we’ve been told,” Blake
says winking at me.

“In fact, I think Tim McGraw and
Faith Hill have stayed around here before.”

I burst out laughing, giddy with
excitement and disbelief. “You don’t say!”

We come to a small gate with our
house number, and I give Kai the code. He whistles as we pull up the driveway.
“You two are going to have a great trip.”

We park outside, and I get out and
gawk at the house. It isn’t a large house, but every inch is tropical looking
and luxurious. Kai begins to carry our bags inside and I walk slowly through
the house, marveling at the exposed beams, open floor plan, and multiple lanais
that open up to a panoramic beach view. Just before the beach sits an
oceanfront pool.

“Hot damn,” Blake breathes.

“Hot damn,” I agree.

We tip Kai and then he’s gone.

“So,” Blake says, walking slowly
around, and running his hand along the mahogany trim. “What do we do first?
Unpack? Have a drink?”

I shake my head silently.

I walk out onto the lanai and Blake
follows me curiously. I turn around to look at him and slowly peel off my
dress.

“Whoa.”

I smirk at Blake and slip off my
shoes, and then slide down my underwear and unhook my bra. Without a word, I
turn my back to him, and dive into the refreshing blue waters.

“I’m stuffed. I can’t eat another
bite.” I stretch out in the chair, rubbing my belly with my hand.

“That was the best meal I ever
had,” Blake says to our private chef, Maka, who smiles and clears our plates.

We had been on our honeymoon for
nearly a week now, and for a honeymoon present, my father had given us a
private chef to come cook dinner for us six nights. This was Maka’s third
night, and he had just cooked us the most amazing dinner of seared tuna, poki,
lau lau and sweet bread. I had to have gained five pounds from this meal alone.

I move onto one of the lounge
chairs by the pool. “If I were to fall into the pool right now, I would sink
right to the bottom.”

Blake laughs. “Well, I’d be too
lazy to save you, so don’t roll off that chair.”

I sigh with happiness as I watch
the sky change from brilliant oranges and reds to soft pink and purples; the
sunsets were indescribable.

“What should we do tomorrow?” Blake
asks, coming over to sit next to me.

I chew on my bottom lip
thoughtfully. “Want to try zip lining? I really, really want to try it.”

“Hell yes!”

I love Blake’s enthusiasm. We have
spent much of the first week relaxing, besides a snorkeling trip and an
afternoon of shopping followed by a local luau. This week we were being more
adventurous with zip lining, biking down a volcano, and a day of exploring the
island and coastline. But there was something so relaxing and pleasurable about
waking up in the morning and walking right out our back door to the beach.

Blake and I had been waking up late
in the morning, and eating a light breakfast on the back lanai before spending
the day back and forth between our pool and private beach. Our house was so
private that we had made love on many of the lounge chairs, as well as in the
pool. Sometimes we would retreat back to our bedroom in the afternoon for more
lovemaking and a nap. Then we would rouse and spend more time at the pool
before having Maka come over and cook for us, or go into town for dinner.

“I could get used to this,” Blake
says, as if reading my mind.

“I was just thinking about how
peaceful this is. I love our routine here.”

“Me too.”

At that moment Maka walks back out
carrying a small plate. “Malasadas,” he says proudly, placing the plate down
with a flourish.

“Oh my goodness!” I cry, seeing the
small fried doughnuts covered with sugar. “Maka, these look delicious!”

He beams. Even though I’m stuffed
to the gills, I take one of the small doughnuts and have a bite.

“Oh my god,” I moan. The fried
delicacy melts in my mouth. I hold it out to Blake for a bite, and he too makes
a sound of pleasure, as he tastes it.

“Delicious,” he raves.

Maka bows slightly. “If that is
all, then I will say ‘aloha ahiahi.’ ’’

I’m pretty sure that means good
evening.

“Mahalo!” I call and wave as Maka
leaves the lanai. I turn to Blake, “Can we bring him home with us? Seriously. I
think we need a Hawaiian chef at home.”

Blake rolls his eyes and teases me.
“Wow. You’ve been famous for a few months and already you want your own
personal Hawaiian chef.”

I laugh and reach across to hold
his hand.

We each eat another doughnut and
then Blake rises, pulling me with him. “Come on. Let’s go for a walk on the
beach.”

I happily follow him, fixing my
gauzy maxi dress. We don’t bother putting any shoes on and we walk past our
pool and directly out onto the powder white sand.

Blake pulls me close to him once we
get down to the surf.

“Is this everything you hoped it
would be?” he murmurs.

“Everything and more.”

“I love you, Paige.”

“I love you, too.” I turn to face
him and reach up to cradle his face. I very slowly bring his face down to me
and kiss him. The kiss starts slowly, and then begins to build.

“Oh, Paige,” he groans, pulling me
tightly to him, and I feel the small shift as our kiss goes from tender to
passionate. Blake’s hands slide down my dress, and squeeze at my backside,
pulling me to him. I let out a little gasp and my body goes slack, allowing him
to bend me to his will. Blake feels me give myself over to him and he groans
again, kissing me harder and knotting his hand in my hair.

“I want you. Now.”

“Yes,” I gasp, “let’s get back to
the house.”

“I can’t wait. Here.”

I feel my breath catch in my
throat. Even though this is our own stretch of private beach, there are other
homes that border the beach. We could easily be spotted if someone walked out
on their connecting section of the beach.

Yet, I’m aroused by Blake’s proposition,
and I love his desire and need for me. It makes me feel sexy and beautiful.

“Yes.”

Blake makes an animalistic sound of
joy, and pulls me down on all fours. The sand is soft against my palms and
knees, and I moan as Blake pushes my dress up and yanks my panties down. I hear
the teeth on his zipper, and then he’s inside me, filling me so completely,
that I forget all about anyone who might see or hear us.

There’s only Blake and I on the
beach, our primal desire for one another so strong that we literally couldn’t
take another step before giving into our needs.

The waves crash against the shore,
swallowing up my wanton moans, as the last violet rays disappear from the sky
and the moon moves lazily into the horizon.

“Holy crap!” I yell, as the helicopter
dips and then straightens up.

I look over at Blake who is
laughing someone manically. “This is crazy!” he yells.

We swoop down again and I shriek.
It’s been nearly an hour, and I still haven’t gotten used to the feeling of the
helicopter. We approach the volcano and I can just make out the glowing lava.
The helicopter continues to lower and circle, and I’m in awe as we come closer
and we can see the glowing lava fields.

“This is amazing!” I cry. I fumble
with my camera, feeling every bit of a tourist as I take pictures. We circle
some more so that Blake and I can see from every angle, and then we’re moving
closer to the craggy coast, and I can see the lava moving sluggishly among the
rocks before pouring out into the ocean.