Wet For Her Warriors (Book 5 of the WILD -- Warriors Intense in Love & Domination -- Boys of Special Forces) (11 page)

“Duh. I live with
a sixteen year-old male. Besides,” —she lifted her brows expectantly— “at the
risk of being dork fan girl at large, that movie has
Alan Rickman
.”

He grimaced
again, this time in a way that made her giggle. “Really? He’s always the bad
guy.”

“Watch it! Snape
was
not
the bad guy.”

Their moment of
humored relief was just that, a moment. His mien descended back into grim
territory before he muttered, “And…you’re a Hogwarts fan, too. Figures.”

Change of
subject, take two
.

She hitched herself
up onto the lanai rail then straddled it and leaned against the support post.
She’d worn a full ankle-length skirt for her errands, so the fabric made it
possible to reclaim her regular spot from the days she used to hang out here to
watch the sunset with the Franzen kids. “All right, you’ve got the four-one-one
on where I just was. Where were
you
today, Sergeant Bommer?”

He kept up the
scowl, though his eyes began to smile again. “We’ve traded McClane and Potter
references, Hokulani. I’m just Tait from now on, okay?”

“Fair enough.”
She let a little smile sneak across her lips, too. “But you still haven’t
answered my question.”

He dipped his
head in a semi-knightly bow. “I was at the esteemed Kekaha Boys Academy.”

The smile
dissolved. She nearly fell off the railing. “Leo’s school? Why?”

“There was a
fencing match today.”

“I know. The
match he ordered me not to attend, to the point of threatening to fake malaria
if I did.”

He shrugged.
“Don’t take it personally. He was having heebs about the match. The only reason
I got an invite was because of the strategy we discussed during yesterday’s
ride. He went up against some Dursley who’s been antagonizing him.”

“Parker Smythe,”
she supplied. “Though ‘Dursley’
would
be a great surname for the kid.”
She wished his tribute to the boy wizard’s world, even the scheming bully from
it, made her feel better about referencing Leo’s nemesis.

“Yeah, him.” A full
smile finally took over the man’s face. At the same time, the sun broke into
the lanai, highlighting every mesmerizing curve of his mouth. “The strategy
worked, by the way. Leo won. You know, he’s really good.”

“So his coach
tells me.” She tossed a perturbed glance. “But as mentioned, the brat threatens
to disown me if I show up at any of his matches.”

He slipped a roguish
quirk over his grin. As if he needed any help making those lips more enticing. “That’s
because Kalea is usually there, too.”

“Kalea? His
little friend from the rec center social nights? Ohhhh, how nice. She’s so
sweet and—what?” She fired the question in response to the way he scratched his
temple and pursed his lips, holding in a laugh. “
What
?”

“Errrmm…she’s
not such a ‘sweet little friend’ anymore.”

She jolted to an
upright position—though wasn’t sure she was ready to fire her next words. “What
do you mean?”

He folded his
arms with unnerving calm. “I mean that after we got off the horses yesterday, the
kid wanted to talk about condom choices.”

She fell back
against the pole. “Oh my God.”

“Chill out; it’s
okay. It was handled.”

She widened her
eyes again. “Handled? The
condoms
?”

“No. The talk.”

“So you just
talked
to him about condoms?”

“Well,
yeah…among other things. I gave him a bunch of pretty heavy shit to think
about. Manhood. Accountability. The responsibility of being a girl’s first
lover.”

“Ohhhh, God.”
She planted her head in her hand. He did
not
help her tension by
laughing again.

 “Lani.
It’s
okay
. He’s a bright kid. He got the message. I’m fairly sure you won’t be
encountering a stampede of Trojans in his drawer for a few more years to come.”

She swung her
gaze out toward the water. Though the sunset wouldn’t be in full bloom for
several hours, the rays on the water, brilliant orange and amber upon the cobalt
waves, were a welcome soother for her whirling thoughts. “
Mahalo
,” she
finally murmured. “Thank you…for being there for him.” She threw over another
sarcastic smile. “Can’t say I appreciate the image of finding condoms in my
little brother’s room, but I’m still really grateful.”

He lowered his
arms and braced his hands on the back of a patio chair. “I’m probably the one
who should be thanking you, missie.”

“Huh?”

He hitched a fast
shrug. “I wasn’t the most lined-up guy when we first got here. But Leo’s been good
medicine.” His features grew reflective as the wind kicked up, tugging at the
edges of his hair. “Actually, with the exception of the night I barely remember
and that crap-fest of a hangover, the last five days have been great therapy.”

Warmth surged
through her chest, even gathering a little behind her eyes. She climbed off the
rail, rushed over and pulled Tait into a hug before she could talk herself out
of it. “I’m glad,” she rasped into his shoulder, which smelled so clean and
masculine, like cedar-infused soap.

“Me, too.” She felt
the words, equally sincere, vibrate through him. To her ongoing surprise, he
returned her embrace, swathing her in strength that was so like Kellan’s but
heat that was different, too. Kellan was a volcano explosion, searing and intense;
Tait was like magma, forceful and fierce…and demanding permanency. And making
it so tempting to accept.

She was in
trouble. Her heart fast-forwarded by at least ten beats. Her muscles softened
against him. And other places in her body, those intimate and secret places,
puddled with hot, enlivened need.

Stupid move,
Hokulani. Stupid, stupid, stupid
.

So why did it
continue to feel like one of the best things she’d done in her life?

He finally
pulled away, though kept his head dipped so she met his gaze through the fringe
of his sinfully long lashes. Could this ordeal get any harder?

“For the record,
what’s going down between you and Kell is solely between you two. It’s none of
my business; never should have been. You can thank Leo for that, too. He’s got
a damn good head on his shoulders. If even half that sense comes from you, then
I’m going to trust that you’re okay with your Slash-olate chip cookie.”

She gave him her
first gut reaction, an incredulous giggle. “My what?”

The ends of his
lips curled up. “Come on. You know what a Slash-olate chip cookie is. A tasty
nibble for a while, but no way in hell will he stick around to be the whole
meal.”

Her mirth faded.
The crack should have pissed her off. Yeah, she wanted
to be angry, not
struggling against the sadness that filled her heart, instead. “Who says I have
room for a ‘meal,’ Sergeant?”

His eyes darkened
to dark bronze as she called him by rank again. The rest of his face went taut,
too. He’d gotten her firm message, which should’ve made her feel better, but dipped
her deeper into frustration. Nothing she could do now; the damage was delivered.
She steeled herself for the “T-Bomb” he’d pull out of his personality missile
silo in retaliation.

His actual
reaction was more devastating.

His heavy sigh
delivered the first shock. It did nothing to prepare her for what she
confronted in his stare, fixed on her with unalterable focus.

A sadness as
profound as her own.

“You deserve the
whole meal, Lani.” He brushed a strand of hair off her face, tucking it behind
her ear. His murmur was musical as the waves against the sand. “And yeah, I
know what I’m talking about. Leo and I haven’t only been discussing horses,
swords, and condoms.”

“
Aue
.”
The mutter left her on a shaky rasp. It did nothing to allay the frantic
thunder of her heartbeat at the base of her throat. “What the hell has he
said?”

“Nothing that
didn’t stem out of his love.” He let his fingers slip down, trailing rich
warmth on her skin, until they rested in the dip between her throat and
collarbone. “And nothing I don’t agree with. You’ve had to be so strong for so
long. Don’t you see? Someone should be serving you steak and lobster every day,
making you smile every minute.”

Ohhhhh, hell.

Her senses
swirled. Her body swayed. She steadied herself by grabbing his free hand. His
fingers, long and steady beneath hers, were the anchor she needed to form her
reply.

“I know you mean
that. I can even feel how you do.” She squeezed him tighter. “But steak and
lobster isn’t as easy as that. If it was, it wouldn’t be special.” She let her
lips lift a little. “I was lucky to see that version of special until the day
my parents died. They were smart enough to enjoy every bite of their steak and
lobster. And the truth is, watching them all those years, seeing how happy they
made each other, made me vow I wouldn’t accept anything less for my life.”

The corners of
his eyes tightened in curiosity. “Even after the plane went down?”

“Especially
then.” Surprise jolted her again. “Leo even told you about
that
?”

“The kid’s a
real Chatty Cathy when he wants to be. But I’ll deny it if you tell him I gave
up his game.”

“Your secret’s
safe. But I’m still perplexed. Leo’s always been so shut off about all that. It
hurts him to talk about it.”

He skimmed his
hand back up to her nape, releasing her to bracket the other side, too. “You
sure about that?”

She twisted her
lips. “What does that mean?”

“Okay, rephrase.
You sure it hurts
him
to talk about it?”

He didn’t back
down from the statement, sweeping his strong thumbs to her cheeks, cranking up the
force of his gaze. His eyes became a gold-drenched x-ray on her soul, exposing her
truths like hairline fractures, only with more pain. It hurt. Too much.

She yanked away from
him and stalked back into the house. “Weren’t you in the middle of telling me
how you’re going to mind your own business from now on?”

“Something like that.”
He followed her at a leisurely stroll, goading her annoyance all over again. “Back
before you talked about yearning for steak and lobster but are okay settling
for cookie crumbs.”

She spun a glare
at him. “Says the guy who’s become the booze industry’s patron saint over the
last six months.”

“And fooled most
of the world while doing it.” His gaze didn’t flinch. “Which makes me a unique
expert in the ways people cover up their pain and loneliness.”

She tucked in
her chin and cocked her brows. “I’m not lonely, Tait. I’m
busy
. There’s
a heartless bastard who wants to buy my childhood home out from under me. At
the same time, I’m trying to keep the place running while playing mother,
father, and big sister to a teenager who loves me one day then hates me the
next.” She jabbed both her thumbs backward at her shoulders. “In case you
haven’t noticed, the space up here is packed these days.”

At first, all he
did was pull in one slow breath and let it out with equal measure. Damn it, the
man’s serenity tapped its bottomless source as he made his way back to her with
deliberate steps. Or maybe he was siphoning his self-control off of hers. As he
came closer on those endless legs, looming larger by the second, she couldn’t
feel anything but the nettles which had been her nerves and the thunderstorm
which had been her heartbeat.

Both sensations worsened
as he raised his hands and framed her face again. Gods, it felt more wonderful
than before. His torrid lava touch infused every inch of her limbs. Her lungs
began to ache from holding her breath, working in concert with the soul that
never wanted this moment to end. Just when she thought they’d burst from the
effort, he slid his hold down, across the tops of her shoulders, until he
grasped her by the crests of both arms.

“So that load
feels pretty good, hmm?”

Yeah. It was
official. He was leeching his composure straight off hers. “Wh-what the hell
does that mean?” she managed. “Were you listening to anything I just said? You
think I
like
all this pressure?”

He turned his
hands over to brush her skin with his knuckles. “I haven’t known you long
enough to even guess at everything you ‘like,’ dreamgirl. But my job requires
observing a lot about people in a very little amount of time, and I know what
the stiffness in these shoulders tells me.” He raised his gaze, amping it to
x-ray intensity again. “I know what the shadows at the back of your eyes tell
me.”

“Oh?” She cocked
her head, making a stab at an open challenge. “Enlighten me, Mr. Peabody.”

He tilted his
own head, matching her angle so their stares met again. “I think the weight has
become so normal for you that giving it up would be strange…even terrifying.
It’s like the big silver dome on your food tray, keeping everything and
everyone out, because it’s safer that way. Nothing to feel, nothing to get
rotten…nothing to get hurt.”