Page 58 of Fast Fury

He loved how affectionate she was, how comfortable she was with touching him. He craved it from her. “Because it’s your lasagna, yes.” He’d try some, see how it settled.

“Good.” She glanced toward the darkened hallway that led to the bedrooms. “What can we do for her?”

“Just let her sleep. She was exhausted. And she’s pretty private, doesn’t want anyone to see her grieving. Not even me.”

Abby made a sad face. “It’s just so horrible and wrong.”

Kai nodded. “Hani made a lot of bad choices in his life, but he still had a good heart underneath all the bad shit he did.” As proved by his dying words. “He didn’t deserve to die like that.”

“No.” She gave him a squeeze and got up, returning a few minutes later with two plates filled with piping hot lasagna. She sat beside him, raised her glass of water in a toast. “To Hani. May he rest in peace.”

Touched, Kai tapped his beer to her glass. “E ho‘omaha me ka maluhia,hoahanau,” he murmured, and took a sip.Rest in peace, cousin.

A sudden lump formed in his throat as it hit home that Hani would never get to know Abby. He would have loved her, given the chance. And though she and Kai had only just gotten together, he already felt like Abby was The One. She was under his skin and burrowing deeper each passing day, and with every little thing she did to help and show how much she cared, she stole another piece of his heart.

They ate in silence together. He was surprisingly hungry, even had a second helping before finishing his beer and heading to the kitchen with their plates. Abby had already hand-washed the other dishes, leaving them drying in the rack beside the sink. While she wrapped up the leftover lasagna and put it in the fridge, he loaded their plates into the dishwasher and turned it on so histutuwould have one less thing to worry about tomorrow.

Then he took Abby’s hand and led her out to the lanai, where they sat cuddled up on the bench in the corner while the breeze blew around them, filling the air with the delicate music of the wind chimes. For a moment, Kai could almost believe it was Hani’s spirit passing by.

At length he told Abby about the Hawaiian belief that deceased loved ones continue to fulfill the obligations ofohanafrom the next realm. He talked about what Hani had been like as a child and as a teenager, the things they used to do together. “We used to love pulling pranks onTutu. April Fool’s Day was almost as good as Christmas around here. Changing the sugar for her coffee out for salt. Covering the toilet seat with plastic wrap. Stuff like that.”

“So basically, you were both holy terrors.”

He smiled fondly. “Yeah. We got into our share of trouble. And it was me who always got us out of it.”Except for tonight.His smile vanished, a sick feeling swirling in his gut. Shit, this was hard.

Abby stroked his arm. “What else did you guys like to do together?”

“Swimming, surfing. Fishing. Man, Hani loved to fish more than anybody I ever knew. And he was lucky at it, too.” He listed off a half-dozen other of his favorite memories, including the day they’d gotten inked together. Talking about Hani helped dull the pain a little, but then he reached a point where he just felt hollow inside.

“It’s late. You must be tired,” she murmured, rubbing his arm.

“Yeah. Let’s go to bed.” He needed to hold her against him in the darkness. Didn’t think he could bear it otherwise.

She tilted her head back to meet his eyes. “You sure you want me to stay?”

How could she ever doubt that? “God, yes.” He needed her on a level he couldn’t put into words. If he had her beside him in the darkness tonight, he could get through the night.

Inside they got ready for bed. He was stretched out in the guest bed wearing only his boxers when she stepped into the room wearing a thigh-length pink sleep shirt and a shy smile that turned him inside out.

“Are you sure this is okay?” she whispered, casting an uncertain glance at the wall to her left. “I don’t want to offend her.”

“Yeah, I’m sure.” It wasn’t ideal that histutu’sroom was right next to theirs, but hell if he was going to worry about it right now. He held out an arm in invitation. “C’mere.”

She crawled in beside him, and the moment the length of her body slid against his, he let out a deep sigh, wrapping his arms around her back. She was soft and warm, giving him the solace of her embrace. And it helped. A lot.

As they lay there her breath created a warm little circle on his chest, her quiet exhalations stirring nerve endings in his skin. Cradled against her abdomen, his cock hardened.

Abby skimmed her lips over his breastbone, her hands wandering over his back, his ribs. Kai nuzzled the top of her head, stroking his hands down the length of her body, relearning her shape. Impatient to feel all of it without a thin cotton barrier in the way.

She kissed his chest, a slow, erotic press of her lips right over his heart before trailing more of them toward his left nipple. He dragged in a breath and slid a hand into her hair as her tongue teased the hard little point, groaned deep in his throat when she closed her lips around it and sucked. She took her time, teasing first one then the other, slowly working her way up to his neck while her hand trailed down his ribs to his hip, grasped his pulsing erection through the thin fabric of his boxers.

Kai dragged her mouth to his, growling in relief and hunger at the feel of her hand around him. She stroked him, squeezed as her tongue caressed his, lighting his entire body on fire.

The sleep shirt had to go.

He peeled it up and over her head, dumping it aside before locking one arm around her hips, the other around the back of her head. Abby pushed at his shoulder, still kissing him, and he obeyed her silent command, rolling to his back. She sat up on her knees, giving him a gorgeous view of her creamy skin glowing in the faint light coming in from the lanai. Her round breasts were sheer perfection, nipples hard and flushed a deep pink.

Before he could touch them, she gripped the waistband of his boxers and tugged them down over his hips. He helped her get them off, closed his eyes in bliss as her soft hand curled around his naked length, her teeth nipping at his jaw gently. He shuddered at her touch, the sensual way she stroked him.

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