Chapter 10 #2
"You do that just by smiling." She sighed softly and lifted her chin so she could look up into the sky.
"Feeling your hand around mine. Holding me close.
Every moment we spend together makes me happy.
Lifts my spirits. I probably shouldn't say all of this.
Edward would say I'm not keeping your feet on the ground. "
"Probably, but I'm okay with it. I'm sure you'd hold my feet to the fire when I need it."
"We already know I'm horrible about that when it comes to marshmallows."
They laughed softly together as they finished walking back to the cabin.
He took out his key when they reached the cabin again and took out another beach towel to lay it down across the picnic table.
Kawehi looked at him with a hint of playful suspicion in her gaze. "You're not going to ask me to lie down on the table, are you?"
Her words warmed his skin and other parts of his body.
"No. But I think you might want to lean forward while I'm putting on the lotion for you."
She tilted her head to look at him and the moonlight cast a silver glow across her features. "I don't know if I should be relieved or disappointed."
"You can feel however you want to feel. If you want to lie down later, I won't stop you."
"Okay." She put her bag down on the tabletop and sat down at the table. She'd changed into a strapless top so all she had to do was lean forward. "So sore..."
He pulled the cooler over behind her and sat down on the top. The top of the container flicked open, and they both chuckled at the sound of the lotion as it squished out onto his palm. "It's cold."
"It's cold at first, but then it's perfect."
He grinned as he smoothed if across his palms. "I hope you're ready."
She twitched under his hands at first, but as soon as he started moving his hands across her back and to her shoulders she relaxed into his touch.
"That feels amazing." She sighed and seemed to melt again the table in front of her.
Her voice sounded like heaven in his ears.
He continued to move his hands over her back and added more lotion to his hands as he moved down over her shoulder blades.
"I think I reached all of the skin back here," his voice was soft as he couldn't be sure that he wouldn't groan out loud if he spoke any louder, "do you want me to do your arms? "
She turned to the side instead of answering in words. Leaning one elbow on the towel covered tabletop, she offered him her arm with a soft smile. "I almost begged you to keep going," she sighed. "It felt so good with your hands on me, I didn't want to move."
"I could sit beside you on the bench."
She shook her head. "You're doing me a favor. I'm not going to keep asking you to get up and move just so I can lay there like a bump on a log."
"I don't mind. You sounded like you were happy."
"I'm still happy."
He smoothed one hand over the back of her hand, and he felt that moment of shivering as the after-sun lotion touched new skin. He started to move that hand up over her forearm and use the other hand to help, but Kawehi held his hand in hers and he wasn't about to pull his hand free.
By the time he moved his hand over her elbow she sighed out loud. "It feels like heaven."
You feel like heaven.
He had to keep his teeth closed tight together so he didn't say the words out loud.
"You keep this up," her shoulders shook with laughter, "I'm going to have to keep getting burned at the beach just so you can do this again."
"You don't have to get burned for me to put lotion on you." His breaths were faster, shallower, his toes digging into the sandy soil under the picnic table. "I'm happy to do this any time you want."
"Oh," she moaned slightly as he worked his thumb in circles on her upper arm, "so when do I get to return the favor?"
He still felt that fullness in his chest where only his heart had been earlier, but he was also feeling another ache against the front of his boardshorts.
That was going to cause another problem soon. While there was a string bow at the waist, the rest of the front closure was Velcro.
"Dom?" Kawehi turned her head to look at him, her eyes hooded as if she was nearly asleep. "You, okay?"
"Yeah." He sat up straighter and tried to adjust the position of his erection against the front of his shorts.
"I'm always messing up the flirty thing," she sighed. "Sorry."
"Oh you got the flirty thing right," he cleared his throat softly. "I just didn't trust myself to say a word."
"Oh?" Her voice sounded a little sleepy, but there was also a slight lift in her tone that sounded like humor. "What could you say that would be so bad?"
"It was more that I wasn't sure if I should say what was in my head. I'm trying to keep things... easy between us, but it gets harder by the moment."
She turned toward him, putting both of her feet down on the ground beside his. "Talk to me."
He held her hands in his and smiled. "I still have one arm to do.
" He reached over and put more lotion in his palm and as he held her hands in his, he spread the lotion on her arm.
"It's not an emotional issue for me, Kawehi.
When I'm with you, especially when I'm alone with you, I want to hold you, kiss you.
.. get closer to you. I'm just worried that you'll feel that coming from me and I don't want you to think I'm pushing. "
"Pushing? Hardly." She tipped her head to the side slightly as he worked the lotion over her arm, just past her elbow. "I'm worried that with your hands moving over me like that I might tip you back off of that cooler and kiss you senseless."
"Yeah?" He looked at her, trying to see past the locks of hair that were moving in the breeze. "I wouldn't put up a fight if you did."
Kawehi leaned back and her hair fell back over her shoulders as she smiled at him. "If you did put up a fight, I wouldn't have a chance at stopping you. But really, I don't want to fight you at all, Dom. I just want to-"
She leaned forward and he tugged her to her feet, wrapping an arm around her.
KAWEHI
His kiss was a revelation.
She knew that being kissed by Dom was amazing, but standing under the moonlight, his lips moving over her own as the breeze cooled her skin, made her feel as if the wind was kissing her as well.
Kawehi managed to wrap her arms around his waist, leaning against him as he deepened their kiss. The whole world was almost silent around them as she opened her mouth beneath his, tangling her tongue with his.
It didn't take long at all for her to realize that he was just as interested in her as she was in him. The hard line of his erection pressed into her belly and in moments she was nearly breathless.
She moved her hands over his back, flattening her palms against him and then curling her nails into his t-shirt.
"D-dom?"
He broke off their kiss, looking down into her eyes with his own. "Yeah?"
"Can we go inside?"
His smile took her breath away.
"Come with me."
He kept one arm around her, steering her toward the door of the cabin.
Earlier, it had looked like a gingerbread cottage when she'd seen it, but now she didn't notice a single thing about it except how cool it was inside and the way he gently ushered her inside but never took his hand from her hip or his arm from around her back.
As soon as they were inside, Dom pushed the door closed and reached out to put the lock in place. He turned back toward her and met her lips with his as she had stepped in toward him.
He hesitated for a moment when her hands reached for his t-shirt, her fingers curling under the hem and her short nails moved over his skin. He tilted his head to the side, putting their cheeks against each other. "I hope you're not trying to tickle me."
"Not at the moment." She leaned closer and felt her breasts press against his chest as her lips moved down to his neck. "I'm just trying to get as close to you as I can."
They both broke apart for a moment as Kawehi dragged his t-shirt up and over his head.
He reached between them and slipped his hands under the hem of her sleeveless top.
It was fitted to her skin, but he could still move his fingertips against her belly.
The sensations he created against her skin made her feel like she was burning up on the inside.
His hands shifted as she moved her own across his shoulders and down over his upper arms, making her suck in a breath as his fingers slipped open the button at the waistband of her shorts.
She moved back, her eyes finding his for a moment before she looked down.
The front of her shorts was open, the button undone, but the zipper below it was still in place.
"We..." he licked at his lips, "we don't have to go any further."
Kawehi's hands joined his but held still as she looked deeply into his eyes.
"Even if he'd fought me on the divorce and I doubt he would have since he left me alone, disappearing to god knows where, I doubt we'd still be fighting it in court two years later.
If you don't want to keep going because of Nick or any other reason," she explained, "I'm fine with stopping, Dom.
But I'm ready. And I want you. If you think it's too soon-"
"Hardly." He smiled at her. "I want you, but it's more than physical, Kawehi. I want everything with you."
Her mouth dropped open. "I... I don't know if I'm ready to give you my heart yet."
"I'll follow your lead," he assured her. "I just want to give you-"
"You can't just keep giving me pieces of yourself, Dom. It's not fair to you."
"I want to be with you," he leaned in and brushed a kiss over her cheek.
"If I feel like it's not fair to me, then I'll deal with it.
If I want to say something, I'll say something.
But what I need you to know is that I'm right where I want to be.
If you just want me to hold you and watch the waves come in onto the beach, we can do that.
If you want to go back home. I can take you there. "
She shook her head. "I don't want to leave to get away from you, I just can't give you everything you're giving me."
"I'm a big boy. I can take care of myself."
She nodded. "I know. You're trained to fight men. Defend your country. But this is different. I don't want you to give me so much of yourself and then someday, wake up and think that I've... that I've conned you into... something."
"Those aren't your words."
Kawehi pulled back, confused. "What?"
"You're saying them, but I think someone else put those words in your head."
"You mean, Nick."
"Yes, the asshole. I think he put all kinds of nonsense in your head so you're not sure what's you and what's him. He might have left you here, but he didn't take all of the damage he did to you."
Kawehi took a step back and lowered her hands to her sides, gripping onto the fabric of her shorts. "I thought I was ready for this. I mean. The physical part, absolutely, but I'm not sure if I can do that if I'm not... ready for all of it."
He put his hands out and gave her a smile.
"Let me take you home. I think being here with the cabin is a little much.
It would probably have been worse if we were in the bigger cabin, like the one we were outside of earlier.
Those cabins have a double bed and bunks, but no linens so it's more of a camping thing, but all we have in here are beds. That can't be easy."
She looked around and nodded.
“And we have neighbors.” She lifted her hands to her cheeks and felt them heat. “They’re really close.”
He reached out and stepped closer, placing a kiss on her lips. “This is all going to be at your speed, okay? We’ll go back to your house. If you want me to stay. I’ll stay. If you want me to go, I’ll go. Anything between those options works, too. This is all about you, okay?”
She set her hands lightly on his shoulders and lowered her chin toward her chest. Kawehi felt him place a kiss on the crown of her head.
“I keep having these… worries that you’re going to lose patience with me, but then I know you’re not like that. Maybe you’re right. Maybe these thoughts I have in my head are Nick and not me.”
His arms circled around her in a gentle embrace. “I’m here. With you. It’s not about patience, Kawehi. It’s about caring. You’re probably not ready to hear, in words, how I feel about you, but you need to know I’m not going to be scared off. I’m not going to lose patience.
“I know how amazing you are and that’s not going to change. I’m giving you time to get on the same page physically as I am. That’s not a hardship for me.”
She lifted her head, blushing even more. “If I was Maile, I’d make a joke about knowing how hard things can be,” she covered her mouth with one hand. “I wish I was better at flirting than I am.”
He placed a kiss on her knuckles where they covered her mouth. “You don’t need to be anything else than who you are. That’s more than enough for me.”
She lowered her hand slowly, smiling at him.
“I’m beginning to learn that.” She sighed, happier than she’d been before. “And I might just start believing it about myself.”
“Good.” He drew her closer for a slow, gentle kiss. “Now, let’s get you home.”