Page 37 of Fast Fury

Kai held her gaze, the latent heat and tension building between them. Quick as a striking shark, he scooped her out of the water, holding her across his chest, one arm beneath her thighs and the other around her back.

She squealed and locked her arms around his neck, clinging to him. “Don’t throw me again!”

Chuckling, he cuddled her closer, loving the feel of her pressed to him, the way she buried her face in his neck. “Okay. But only because you feel so good up against me like this.”

Abby relaxed a little, hummed in appreciation and nuzzled the side of his neck, the drag of her lips across his skin sending a wave of desire through him. “You feel good too. And I gotta say, it’s a real novelty being swept off my feet. Last guy who tried it hurt his back and could barely move for a week,” she added with a little laugh.

He squeezed her tighter to him, giving her another display of his strength as his muscles flexed against her. Yeah, he was a big guy, and he worked hard to stay in this condition. Knowing his body turned her on was a big ego boost. “Well then he must have been a wimp, because you don’t weigh very much.” He could hold her all day.

“Very gallant of you to say so.” She opened her mouth on his neck, sucked gently, making the breath lock in his throat. “Mmm, you’re all salty.”

Suppressing a growl of longing, Kai slid the hand around her ribs up to cup the back of her head and bring her mouth to his. She settled into his hold and cradled the side of his face with one palm, her mouth soft and warm and inviting beneath his own. Every stroke of her tongue against his sent another rush of blood between his legs.

More than anything he wanted to pluck the bow at her nape undone, peel the cups of her bikini top down to reveal her breasts, finally see if they were the shade of pink he imagined before driving her wild with his mouth.

“Hey! If you two can bear to stop sucking face for a few minutes, it’s time to eat,” one of his buddies called out from shore. “Dinner’s in fifteen, and we’re not saving any pork for you if you’re late.”

Kai ended the kiss reluctantly and pressed his forehead to hers. He was hard and aching, ravenous to get Abby naked and under him. “Not gonna lie, kind of regretting bringing you here, because now we’re gonna have to hang out with them until we can go to bed.”

She kissed him softly, her lips curving. “I don’t know. I’m kind of loving the whole anticipation thing.”

He was too, in a way. And she was totally worth the wait.

He carried her out of the water, ignoring her protests, only setting her down once they’d reached the tent. She hurriedly slipped her cover up on, then grabbed her bag and walked hand-in-hand with him up to the house where she had first shower.

He was waiting for her in the hallway when the door opened, releasing a cloud of Abby-scented steam. She appeared a moment later wearing a turquoise sundress that clung to the curve of her breasts and hips, the hem flaring out in little ruffles around mid-thigh.

Kai caught her, lifted her off the floor and turned, pinning her to the wall for another scorching kiss, letting her feel what she did to him, how much he wanted her. Reining the hunger in, he released her slowly, taking savage satisfaction in her dilated pupils, her rapid breathing. “I want you so damn much,” he said, his voice low, gruff.

Her fingers clenched around the tops of his shoulders and she moaned softly. “How long until bed time?”

“Hours,” he groaned, and released her before he could decide to hell with it, carry her into the bathroom and take the edge off for them both.

It took an act of will not to take his own edge off in the shower. Clean and dressed in shorts and a T-shirt, he found Abby helping his buddies get the last of the sides set out on the long picnic table in the backyard. He could tell they all liked her from the way they teased her, and she gave it right back, earning even more respect from them. Yet another way she was different from Shelley. Shelley never would have fit in here, would have been clingy and demanding.

When they’d all filled their plates, Kai snagged her around the waist and pulled her into his lap in the lawn chair he’d taken. “I want your first bite of kalua pork to be from my fingers,” he murmured, low enough that only she could hear him over the trill of birds in the nearby garden.

Her eyes flicked up to his, arousal and amusement gleaming there. “You don’t need to keep seducing me with food. I’m already at a steady simmer.”

“Well, can’t hurt.” Pure male satisfaction slid through him as he selected a bite of the succulent pork and brought it to her lips. Abby’s cheeks turned an adorable shade of pink and she glanced around for a moment, but then dipped her head and parted her lips, accepting the morsel from his fingers.

“Mmmm,” she moaned, closing her eyes as she chewed. “Oh, it almost melts in my mouth.”

His cock swelled at the enjoyment on her face, made worse by the sweet pressure of her ass in his lap. He selected another bite and raised it to her mouth, watching with erotic fascination as her lips closed around it. Abby adored food the way some women adored jewelry or clothes, but there was something so erotic and primal about feeding her the thing she loved by his own hand.

“Am I interrupting?” a dry voice said from beside him.

Kai glanced up at their host, Jonah, who had a plate piled high with food in one hand, and a beer in the other, a wry expression on his face. “Nah, man. Sit down,” he said, his entire body tightening when Abby’s tongue flicked out to lick at his fingertips before she withdrew and slid off his lap to take the chair next to him.

Clearing his throat, Kai put his plate in his lap to hide the evidence of his arousal, his entire body strung taut as he tried to make casual conversation with his friend. No woman had ever turned him inside out the way Abby did. No woman had ever made him ache like she did.

It had taken him a long time to see that Shelley was broken, and that no amount of reassurance or effort from him would ever have changed it. Abby was almost her polar opposite. She wanted him, but didn’tneedhim. Not in the fragile,please take care of me and fill the black hole of need inside meway the others had. She was strong and independent, could take care of herself.

It was a double-edged sword, because, well, he wanted her to need him in some ways.

More than anything, right now he wanted to wrap her up in his arms and breathe her in, lay her down and claim her with his body, watch her face as he took her to the edge of release and pushed her over it. He wanted to lie beside her in the dark and hold her while she drifted off to sleep, and wake up next to her in the morning.

Somehow, he managed to force his mind off getting Abby alone in their tent and enjoy time with his buddies. They built a fire and sat around the crackling flames while Jonah played his guitar for a while, the smell of it taking Kai right back to his childhood and the countless campouts he’d had with Hani. Abby was so quiet at one point he looked over to check that she was still awake, and saw her frowning in confusion at him.

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