Rolling in the Deep: Hawaiian Heroes, Book 2 (25 page)

Claire nodded and gave him the traditional thumbs-up signal that she was fine and ready to go. Daniel quickly put his own mask back on, and she followed him into the water. She shivered—definitely cooler without the heat of the sun.

Once she was in the water, though, she was comfortable with the wet suit to keep her core warm. The underwater world looked very different with only the glow of Daniel’s dive light to illuminate it. They swam through the reef that closed in the little bay. Fish darted away from the light, into crevices. A long eel turned to face them and then ribboned gracefully away into the night sea.

The sound of Claire’s own breathing was loud in her ears—too loud. She’d hyperventilate if she didn’t settle down. She concentrated on blowing out slowly and taking a slow breath back in.

Daniel stayed on the seaward side as they headed south. They swam along, propelled by the power in their legs and the long, stiff flippers, using their hands occasionally. Once, their hands brushed, and Claire slipped her hand into his, their fingers entwined like seaweed. He kicked harder and towed her along with him. She realized that he’d been waiting, letting her set the pace. She looked over at him, a powerful shadow cruising beside her in the inky water.

Out here the reef was deeper, dropping off to a sandy bottom below them, dotted with lava boulders.

“Look down there.” He flashed the light down to show her, pointing out a large fish resting in the sand. The fish stayed still, gills fluttering in and out, big eyes flicking up at them.

A short distance to the north, as promised, they found the mantas. If Claire lived to be a hundred, she knew she would never forget this magical night. The mix of adrenaline and excitement, tinged with fear. Daniel at her side, holding her hand in his, a bulwark against the night sea.

And the huge, beautiful creatures that swooped and soared, seemingly flying lazily under the water, flapping their wide fins, huge diamond-shaped bodies coasting as they passed through the lacy clouds of plankton swirling in the glow of their dive lights. Their upper sides were black, two huge hornlike protrusions thrusting out of their heads, and a long tail trailing behind them. Their undersides were pale, almost white, patterned with spots that reminded Claire of the pinto horses that grazed in a pasture near Astoria.

The manta ignored Daniel and Claire as if they weren’t even there, going about their business of gathering plankton into their huge, open mouths.

Claire hung in the water beside Daniel, filled with awe. She didn’t realize she was shivering until he tugged on her hand and turned her back the way they had come. She swam alongside him, her mind full of what she’d seen. Occasionally, though, she couldn’t help looking into the blackness of the sea beyond her partner, checking for other large shapes.

She was relieved to return to the little bay. When they surfaced, she clung to his arm, letting him help her with her flippers and lead her up onto the tiny strip of beach.

“Oh, Daniel, that was so w-wonderful,” she stuttered. “C-can we do it again? B-Bella would love to see them.”

He grunted, concentrating on unbuckling her harness. “Come on. Let’s get you dried off. Damn it, why didn’t you tell me you were cold?”

“B-because,” she said, following him up the path to the house. “
D-duh
. I didn’t want to m-miss anything.”

“Well, next time we night dive, you’re wearing a full wet suit. Forgot you don’t have body mass to keep you warm, like I do.” Indeed, he was dripping wet but had nary a goose bump on his golden skin, while she was covered in them. However, Claire knew her shivers were partly nerves. It had been a wonderful experience, but eerie.

He set the gear down on his lanai and led her to the front door. “
E hele mai
. You can take a warm shower.”

He was growling at her again, but she didn’t mind in the least. He was also taking care of her. He’d shown her a wonderful sight, made sure she felt safe, and now he was pampering her. Much like he had on their snorkel through Nawea Bay, come to think of it. She followed him through his house to the bathroom, smiling to herself.

In the bathroom, she stopped dead and stared. Daniel disappeared around the corner of the huge shower, walled in blue-green glass the hue of the sea. Water hissed on, and steam began to waft out. She clutched her arms around her middle, shivering and dripping but unable to stop looking about.

By the shower entrance, a whale carved of some gray wood breached, as if he were about to leap into the shower itself. And on the wide stone countertop, a family of silvery dolphins played, leaping in graceful succession, their faces as wise and merry as those that had paraded with their boat. There were plants too, tucked into niches so they seemed to grow from the walls themselves, and another sculpture over by the toilet enclosure. It was the most beautiful bathroom she’d ever seen.

Daniel poked his head out of the shower and scowled at her. “Get in here,
hūpō, foolish one.
”

She scurried into the shower and stood gratefully under one of the three jets of hot water streaming from high faucets. Daniel was nude, his trunks discarded in a corner of the long bench seat.

Slowly, Claire reached up and unhooked her bra, staring at his gorgeous body. He tipped back his head under the spray, his eyes closed. “Like it?” he asked.

“Yeah,” she said, tearing her eyes away from him. “What’s the bench for?”

He opened his eyes, and his cock began to swell, rising toward her. “I’ll show you…after we get you nice and warm.”

He did.

As she dried herself off with one of Daniel’s thick towels, Claire smiled to herself. Sex with her big Hawaiian was everything she’d hoped and much, much more. He should be illegal. Her body ached, not only with weariness but with the aftereffects of another bout of Nalu. ”Big Roller”, hell. She’d been right; he was a tsunami. She wasn’t sure she was going to be able to walk in the morning. But that was okay, because she planned to sleep most of the day, anyway.

In her mind’s eye, she saw him, felt him once again, kneeling before her as she lay back on the shower bench, her legs over his shoulders as he thrust that incredible cock into her with savage power, only his grip on her shoulders keeping her from being slammed into the shower walls. His face when he came, that look of savage exaltation—she shivered with remembered delight.

If she wasn’t careful, she was going to fall completely for him. That would be stupid. “I should get back to Nawea,” she said, and then yawned hugely.

“Why?” he growled. “You’re here—sleep in my bed.”

And with that flowery declaration, he tossed his damp towel onto the rack and sauntered off to his bedroom.

Claire looked after him, clutching her own towel. She could see the broad expanse of his bed through the open doorway. Covered with a silver-gray duvet and sheets, it looked very inviting. Especially with him standing beside it, completely nude.

She shivered again, this time with a chill of foreboding. She needed a little distance. She could do the sex, but sleeping with him, that was too…intimate. What if he liked to snuggle? That would break through every line of resistance she had.

He looked back at her, and she reached deep inside for resolve. “No, thanks. I’ll sleep at Nawea.” Without waiting to see his reaction, she turned away to hang up her own towel. Her undies were a soggy heap by the sink, so she ignored them to pick up her shorts. Stepping into them, she pulled them over her damp skin, and then tugged on her top. Looking in the mirror, she finger-combed her hair back from her face.

She turned to Daniel, now standing in the doorway, one arm braced on the doorjamb. He’d pulled on a pair of shorts, but he was scowling, that look that said she was not only incomprehensible but irritating.

Oh, dear Lord, he was gorgeous. She wanted to bury her nose in his throat and sniff him some more, then taste the saltiness of his skin again. “See you,” she said breathlessly. “Thanks for the dive.”

He sighed. “I’ll walk you back.”

Chapter Fifteen

Monday, June 17
^th

Daniel opened his refrigerator early the next morning and looked at the contents with displeasure. Fruit, yogurt, eggs and some bread. He could cook, but he didn’t want to. He thought about the big breakfasts Leilani always cooked, and his stomach rumbled with hunger. He thought about a pretty blonde on the other side of the breakfast table, and his groin tightened. Yeah, that part he’d better not get too accustomed to.

Especially since she wouldn’t even stay the night with him. He’d actually been looking forward to sleeping beside her, maybe waking up with that sweet ass tucked into his groin, just right for some early morning hana ai.

He looked around his kitchen. Maybe she didn’t like his house. Well, the hell with her, then.

Slamming the refrigerator door, he strode back into the bedroom for a clean tank top to pull over his blue-and-gray swim trunks and toed into his leather sandals. He needed food, and then he had hunting to do.

Outside, it was a soft, gray morning. Clouds had moved in, covering the sun. It was still plenty warm, but as he trod the path to Nawea, Daniel scanned the sky with an expert eye. The national weather site on his computer had been right. They’d have showers by lunchtime.

Leilani was up and hustling around her big kitchen in shorts and tank top. She looked up from the skillet she was stirring to smile at Daniel as he came in. The smells of coffee, sausage and eggs filled the humid air.

“Good morning. Coffee’s on, and there’s fruit ready. Mek plate.”

“Mahalo. Tired of my own grinds, yeah?”

She laughed easily. “I made malasadas with coconut cream.”

He groaned. “Ah, ono. My favorite.” He poured a mug of hot, strong coffee and sat at the big butcher-block island, helping himself to the platter of chunked pineapple, mango, papaya and banana.

“Frank is gone already,” she told him as she scraped the scrambled eggs into a big bowl. “Has an all-day dive trip today, up to Honaunau and Kealakekua.”

“You were up early making lunches, yeah?”

She nodded. “Hope the rain doesn’t make the tourists ask for a refund.”

He shrugged. “It’ll be done by early afternoon. They’ll still get some good snorkeling. Any of your guests up?”

As if on cue, Bella appeared in the doorway, yawning. She wore a white top over a pair of red-and-white board shorts. With the tan she’d developed in the few days she’d been here, she looked even more Hawaiian—more Ho’omalu. He didn’t know Daro real well—he was one of the cousins from Maui—but she had her father’s eyes, large and thick-lashed.

“Morning,” he said over his coffee cup.

She smiled at him, traipsing across the kitchen to fill a cup with coffee.

“Cream in the yellow jug,” Leilani said over her shoulder.

Bella brought her coffee over to the island and perched on a stool beside Daniel. He glanced down at her tanned, bare legs and wondered absently why it was that he hadn’t fallen for her, island girl that she was.

He froze, his mug halfway to his lips. What the hell? He hadn’t “fallen for” Claire Hunter. It was just sex—okay, mind-blowing sex, but still, purely physical. That was all it was, and he’d make damn sure that was all it ever became. No more asking her to sleep over, either. He’d be safer snuggling with a moray.

He took a gulp of coffee and then grimaced as he quickly swallowed the scalding liquid. Great, burned his throat as well as his mouth. He realized both Leilani and Bella were staring at him. “Yeah?”

Bella pursed her lips, her eyes twinkling. “I said, Claire seems to be sleeping in this morning.”

He shrugged, avoiding her eyes. Luckily, Leilani chose that moment to set a stack of plates on the island, indicating the covered dishes there with a graceful wave of her hand. “Breakfast is ready. Help yourselves. I’ll put the rest in the oven to keep warm for the others.”

“Thanks, Leilani.” Daniel motioned for Bella to go first, but she shook her head, so he rose, filling his plate with scrambled eggs, crisp hash browns, sausage links and two plump malasadas, the puffy island donuts filled with jam or creamy pudding. He usually ate whole-grain bread, but Leilani’s malasadas were not to be missed.

Claire walked in as he sat down, her tanned skin glowing, her blue eyes still sleepy. She stopped to stretch in the doorway, her top separating from her shorts to display a strip of silky midriff. He’d had his hands and mouth all over that skin last night.

“Morning,” she said huskily, her smile slipping past him to include the women. “Mm, something smells good, Leilani.”

Daniel took a big bite of malasada, watching from the corner of his eye as she walked over to pour a cup of coffee and serve herself a plate of food. She’d braided her hair over one shoulder and changed to a little white T-shirt that clung to her breasts, and a pair of blue plaid shorts that did interesting things to her ass.

She sauntered over to the island and perched on the stool on Daniel’s other side to eat. He ate steadily, trying to ignore the added pleasure of having her beside him.

Bella nibbled on a portion of a malasada and some fruit. “It’s cloudy,” she said in a disappointed tone.

“It’ll clear off this afternoon,” Leilani said. “Daniel’s always right about the weather, yeah?”

Bella grinned at him. “Really? You could make a fortune with that.”

“NOAA can call me anytime,” he said dryly. “But they never do. Rather trust their fancy instruments.”

She laughed. “Well, I’ll consult you while I’m here.”

He looked at her. “You know you can come back here anytime. You’re family now.”

She ducked her head, and he froze, wondering what the hell to do now. Wahines cried over the damnedest things.

“Mahalo, Daniel,” Bella said, swiping her wet cheeks with one hand. “That means a lot to me.”

Claire nudged him with her elbow, and he looked over to see her smiling at him. He relaxed. Must’ve said the right thing. “Ah. Good. Mahalo for breakfast, Leilani. See you girls later. I gotta get to work.”