Kabana Heat Read online

  He cut himself off when his gaze fell upon Nakolo standing off to the side, shirtless, wearing nothing but jeans. Black beady eyes glowered across the space at Nakolo. Ire rushed along Nakolo’s nerve endings. No one boiled Nakolo’s blood like his ex-boss. Still, he kept his interest trained on his foe and wondered how he could hate the father so fucking much while obsessively loving the daughter.

  Heloki’s attention shifted to Kiona, his mouth twisted in disapproval. “What is he doing here?”

  Kiona sighed. “I don’t think that’s any of your business.”

  “My business? This is highly inappropriate, young lady. Mr. Wulfrum is your fiancé. Show him some respect and see that this…this scum leaves the premises.”

  “Whoa, wait a minute.” Mitch held up his hands palms forward. “With all due respect, sir, I hardly think that’s necessary.”

  It seemed the tide picked up on the beach below. Nakolo could hear it roaring right along with the fury thrumming through his system. It was only Mitch’s sudden, unexpected interjection that kept him from exploding.

  He couldn’t be actually standing up for Nakolo—could he?

  Heloki raked Mitch from head to toe and back again. “You’re defending your bride-to-be’s former lover?”

  He’d said it to deliver news he assumed Mitch didn’t know, but Mitch didn’t skip a beat. “I’m defending a seemingly decent man who hasn’t uttered one word of disrespect to you. Or me, for that matter.” He shifted his stance even as Kiona stepped forward to block Heloki’s view of Nakolo. Mitch hooked a possessive arm around Kiona’s shoulders and pulled her close. “Look, I love your daughter, and she loves me. I think that’s all that matters, don’t you?”

  Kiona jerked her head up and gaped at Mitch. Wisely, she clamped her jaw shut and composed herself before Heloki noticed.

  Heloki peered around Mitch to snare Nakolo with a vengeful look of glee. “I suppose you’re right, but it really is tactless. You don’t want to get tongues wagging, now do you?” Heloki nodded. “He should leave. And never return.”

  “That, Mr. ’Alohi, I believe would be up to Kiona.”

  “Yes, that’s right.” She slowly slid her arm around Mitch’s waist. Nakolo was almost certain the move was meant not only for Heloki’s sake, but for Nakolo, as well. He liked to believe it was intended to turn him on in their new game of voyeurism. Well, it worked, damn her. A hot glow spread through his belly and settled in his groin.

  “But, Father, marriage to another or not, the fact is, Kol will always be a good friend of mine.”

  “That’s ridiculous. You can’t remain friends with an old lover when you’re about to marry this decent man here.”

  “No, it’s true. We’ve been friends for years, and will remain so. I won’t let go of that, and Mitch knows and approves.” She peered up at Mitch and sent him a cool smile. “He encourages whatever will make me happy, don’t you, sweetheart?”

  Mitch mimicked her fake smile. “Of course I do, darling.”

  “So there you have it, Father.” Her smile faded. “And please remember, it will be our business from now on. Not yours.”

  It irked Nakolo that they spoke of him as if he didn’t exist. He sidestepped toward the edge of the patio gaining a better position to witness their exchange, while at the same time, making himself more conspicuous.

  Heloki’s dark eyebrows arched into a single bush at the center of his forehead. “And you, my kamali’i, should remember your trust fund is my business.”

  Damn the bastard, why did he continue to hold that over her head?

  Kiona pressed her lips together. “What have you come here for, Father?”

  “I’ve been trying to reach you all evening. Then I come here and knock at the front door, but you didn’t answer. I assumed you were swimming, so naturally, I walked around back.”

  “I’d like to ask that from now on, you honor my privacy. If I don’t answer my door, please don’t intrude further.”

  Nakolo watched as Heloki’s blubber started to tremble. “You didn’t answer your phone, either,” Heloki barked, leaning forward in that manner of his that always foreshadowed a meltdown. “Jager called from L.A. earlier to tell me Mitch had arrived, and I simply wanted to meet the man who is going to be my new son-in-law. Is that so bad?”

  “No, of course not. But did you ever stop to think perhaps I didn’t have a signal at the time, or maybe I was busy and couldn’t get to the phone?”

  Nakolo could see the silvery sheen of sweat breaking out across Heloki’s wide forehead. “Busy with your lover, Nakolo?”

  Mitch sighed. “Mr. ’Alohi, I hardly think that’s any of your—”

  “Look, I’m sorry,” Kiona interjected, cutting in on Mitch’s scolding comment. “Malia did tell me you were trying to reach me through her. And I did see you’d called my cell a few times, but it’s past business hours. I figured it could wait until tomorrow.”

  “Did it ever occur to you it might be personal?”

  “Look, I said I was sorry. It’s been a long day, and I’m very tired. I’d hoped to deal with whatever it was you’d wanted tomorrow. For now, as you can see, I’m home safe and sound with my fiancé, planning this weekend’s wedding. So what could be so important you’d see fit to stop by unannounced?”

  Heloki’s big body trembled with renewed rage. “Unannounced? I am your father, you ungrateful little—little bitch!” Kiona gasped, but Heloki barreled on. “I am the man who raised you and loved you even when your selfish mother chose to abandon you. I am the one who has sacrificed and sweated to build and shape the company, to bring you up and give you all these fine things—this house,” Heloki spewed in a booming voice, flinging out a fat hand toward the home he’d helped her build. He then wagged his finger at her, leaning closer so his nose nearly slammed into Kiona’s. “Don’t you ever forget it. And do not ever talk to me with such disrespect again!”

  When Kiona flinched, cowering closer to Mitch, Nakolo couldn’t keep his trap shut any longer. “Goddamn it, get away from her.” Nakolo’s nostrils flared and his pulse pounded in his temples. Unable to hold himself back any longer, he charged at Heloki. “What the hell is wrong with you, you son of a—”

  “Kol, no!” Kiona started toward him, but threw up her arms and halted her steps when her father retaliated.

  Heloki drew back a stout fist. He swung at Nakolo, but he missed his mark, doing nothing but stirring the air and tumbling forward off the sidewalk into the flowerbed.

  Just in time, Nakolo was spared. All in one smooth move, Mitch tugged Kiona behind him while yanking Nakolo toward him so his back crashed into Mitch’s hard chest.

  With his arm tight around Nakolo’s shoulders, Mitch growled low in Nakolo’s ear. “What, are you crazy? The man’s wealthy, no doubt with lots of local influence. He could have your ass tossed in jail with one snap of his fingers.”

  “Not before I choke the life from that prick,” Nakolo snapped, jerking against the strong hold while fully aware of Mitch’s soft cock pressed against his ass.

  Kiona berated her father, looking down on him while chattering and slipping into her Hawaiian dialect.

  Mitch and Nakolo continued their quiet exchange.

  Mitch chuckled. He replied in a soft, gravelly voice meant for Nakolo’s ears only, “I don’t know why, but I like that in you, the macho temper when it comes to protecting your woman. But you end up in prison, there’re a lot of other men who’ll like you too—and I guarantee it won’t be nearly as pleasurable as our encounter in the pool.”

  He’d murmured that last part so tenderly, Nakolo wondered if he’d imagined it. Nakolo replied in the same tone. “Ha. Not quite the time to discuss our mutual attraction to each other.” Nakolo elbowed Mitch and broke free.

  Kiona bent and tried to assist Heloki to his feet. “Please, please just go. We’ll talk tomorrow at the office.”

  Heloki swatted her hand away. “I can get up by myself.” With the help of a nearby patio chair, H
eloki dragged his bulk up and brushed the soil off his knees.

  “Father…”

  “I’m going, damn you, I’m going.” He waddled a few steps up the walk, then turned back to face her. His eyes narrowed, glittering in the lunar light. “But I warn you, the minute I hear or see any evidence you and that lowlife are more than just friends, the trust fund goes to charity.”

  Chapter Six

  Upon Heloki’s abrupt departure, Kiona had raced to her room and plopped down on the bed, Kol on her heels. All she wanted was to moan and mourn the day she’d been born to a woman with no maternal instincts, and a father who insisted on running every aspect of her life, right down to what toilet paper she bought.

  Now she jerked herself up off the mattress and crossed to Kol, where he stood with one ear pressed against the closed door.

  “You can listen all you want, but Mitch is an actor, remember? What he says, and how he says it, isn’t necessarily always the truth.” She whispered it to him as they stood there like two kids, their ears perked, as if trying to eavesdrop on the grownups after being sent to bed too early.

  Following the Heloki debacle, Mitch had asked to stay and use her phone and computer. He currently occupied the office area of her living room returning calls and sending emails. And chewing out Jager for various faux pas related to the current situation the three found themselves entangled in.

  Mainly, he demanded Jager tell him why Kol had been factored into the situation without Mitch’s prior knowledge.

  Would Mitch back out of the deal? God help her, she hoped not!

  “Yeah, how could I forget?” Kol winked. “His handsome face is plastered all over every tabloid and TV station in the country.”

  “True, he is handsome.”

  Kol’s mouth thinned, though she didn’t know if it was from jealousy, or the cold hard facts of this entire awkward matter. “Very,” he mumbled.

  How that one word of admittance coming so easily from Kol could give her such a charge, she didn’t know. But it did. Her pussy throbbed as images of their two hard-muscled, glistening bodies flashed in her head. One slightly taller, blond, and athletic, the other dark-haired, deeply tanned, and cut like a diamond. She could vividly picture Kol’s bulging arms wrapped around Mitch from behind…his hard-on pressed into Mitch’s ass.

  Whew.

  “But he lied to you—to us. Believe me, he is bisexual, whether he’ll admit it or not. I sensed it, even felt his arousal in my hand.”

  “Oh, God,” Kiona moaned.

  His warm hand came up to cup her jaw, and his eyes bore into hers. “That turns you on, doesn’t it, babe?”

  She glanced away, unsure if his tone was accusatory or heavily laced with desire.

  “It’s okay. You can be honest with me. I won’t be mad.”

  Kiona knew it was true. She was also certain of Kol’s love for her…as well as his shocking but oh-so-hot yearning for another man. That gave her a strange sense of security in admitting her true feelings.

  “Yes,” she finally whispered. “It turns me on like crazy. I-I want it so badly. I want to get to know that half of you I never knew existed, and see it finally getting satisfied. I want to be between the two of you, beside you, watching, touching, experiencing it all. I can’t explain it, but today? Today when you were eating my pussy and he was right there next to the car? ’Û, did that ever excite me!”

  His eyes twinkled with the light of hope and passion. He bent his head, his lips grazing hers. “I know. You drowned me in your juices, remember?” His wide mouth curved up in a soft smile. “I love you, Ki. So much. I never thought I could ever admit my secret to you, and now here we are. I can’t think of anything more fucking thrilling than you being cool with it—hell, all this enthusiasm is way more than I could ever ask for. Thank you.”

  “Don’t thank me too soon,” she warned. “We still don’t have Mitch’s agreement.”

  “He signed the contract, right?”

  “Yes, but with you now included in the bargain, he could easily cry breach, as he said before.”

  He sighed, dropping his hand. “But maybe this is what Jager’d planned all along? We both know he’s got a sly way about him. Hell, Jager’s probably making excuses to Mitch while talking him into going along with it.” He shook his head. “No, I don’t think he’ll keep crying breach after Jager’s done with him.”

  Hope fluttered in her chest. “Do you want Jager to persuade him?”

  Kol thrust a hand through his long hair. “Do you want me to want it?”

  “Yes.”

  He smiled, and something mischievous and joyful glowed in his eyes. “Would you still love me if I said I want Jager to convince him something fierce—almost as much as I want you?”

  “I will always love you.” She held her hand to his jaw loving the feel of the soft whiskers that always shadowed his jaw every evening. “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you all day. It’s why I did this.”

  “Yes, I get it now.” He turned his head and rooted at her hand, planting a butterfly-soft kiss in the palm. “You wanna know what else I think?”

  “Always.”

  “I think Mitch’ll still marry you, even knowing you and I will remain lovers.”

  “You think?”

  He nodded emphatically. “Oh, yeah. He has too much at stake not to. Besides, I see the way he looks at you with obvious lust—no acting there for sure. Huh, and the attraction between him and me? The coward denies his sexuality, but holy hell, I could’ve sliced the heat with a butterknife. He wants both of us, whether he’ll admit it or not. He might be coming off as odd and wishy-washy—probably worrying about tarnishing his near-stellar image if he makes a bad career move by letting me stay on—but he’ll go through with marrying you, at least. I guarantee it.”

  “And…and you’re okay with me…with us all…sleeping together if it comes to that?”

  Kol blinked. Beyond the door, she could hear the deep sound of Mitch talking on the phone.

  “Only if I’m included.” His eyebrows suddenly furrowed, dipping into a black angry slash. A stormy gleam lit his eyes. “You don’t plan on sleeping with him alone when I’m not there, do you?”

  “No, no, of course not.”

  His gaze latched onto hers, challenging. “You promise?”

  “I promise.”

  He let out a pent-up breath. “You know this is fucking hard on me.”

  “Of course it is,” she assured him, rising on tip-toe to brush her lips against his. “But it’s the only way for us all to win.”

  He drew her into his arms nestling his half-erect cock against her abdomen. “We’ll take it one day at a time, how’s that?”

  “Sounds like a great plan. We’ll see what comes of it.”

  “Comes? I think he’ll come all right. Like I said, he’s got the hots for you, babe.”

  She grinned, winding her arms around his neck. “And for you. Which makes me very horny,” she purred, kissing his neck.

  He leaned back against the door, dragging her pussy up and over his rigid manhood, and groaned, “You’re a naughty, gorgeous diva he won’t be able to resist.”

  “After all those compelling gay rumors,” she said with a giggle, “the last thing I was expecting was for him to be attracted to me. Yet he does seem to be pondering the possibility of a two-man, one-woman threesome.” Kiona considered that, once again assailed by a powerful wave of desire. She clenched her pussy, rubbing harder against him so that her clitoris throbbed in delicious response.

  “Mmm,” was all Kol could say. He clamped his big hands on her ass and levered her up higher.

  “But that doesn’t necessarily mean a man is lusting after that other man. From what I understand in a few articles and erotica books I’ve read,” she went on, kissing him randomly across the mouth, cheeks, and nose, “a lot of men prefer the kind of ménage where there’s no physical contact between the two males.”

  Kol pulled back, shrugging with reluctant
agreement. The look of disappointment that crossed his face didn’t go unnoticed. He wanted there to be male-male contact, and the concept of that only made the excitement in her loins pulse harder.

  “Actually, I take that back. I’m as certain of this as I am of your love for me, Kol. Like you, I believe deep inside, Mitch Wulfrum is bisexual. He revealed an obvious attraction to you, as you insist he also did to me. When you were in the pool with him, I saw the magnetism with my own eyes. Hell, I felt the electricity in the air.”

  He brushed a lock of her hair off her forehead. His eyes, they were so volatile and ever-changing with his moods. They now twinkled with desire and some sort of new gleam of exhilaration she’d never seen before. Had he really been suppressing that side of himself all his life? What torture that must have been.

  “Are you saying for sure you want it that way?” Kol asked, a hopeful tone lacing his voice.

  Kiona shimmied down his body and found her footing. She crossed the plush-carpeted master suite and fell onto the king-sized bed. Fixing her gaze on the ceiling, she sighed lustily, “I…I’m not sure what I’m saying. But it sure is an exciting idea in theory.”

  A rap sounded at the door. Kiona rolled her head to the side and watched as Kol gripped the knob and yanked the door open. “What?”

  Mitch stepped into the room, his glance first cutting to Kol, then, with a slight flush to his face, he looked directly at Kiona. “I was just thinking when I was talking to Jager… Why can’t you just do without the trust fund?”

  The sudden question made her blink and stammer. “I-I… Well, it’s—”

  “Hmm, interesting thought.” Kol shut the door and followed Mitch as he trekked to the bed. “But a stupid one. She’s been waiting for her money for over a decade.”

  Mitch ignored Kol and sat on the edge of the mattress, his hip so close to hers, she could feel the warmth of his flesh burning through his still-damp jeans. His dazzling eyes lit on her, caressed the length of her body in one warm, long sweep. She could smell the faint scent of chlorine mingled with the aroma of soap. Behind him, she could see Kol’s face taking on that feral animal’s expression as he stood back and watched Mitch and Kiona converse on her bed.