Chapter 4
4
K ai found a charter that would take them all the way to Hawaii, but he wasn’t sure how trustworthy the captain and crew were considering they had all still been drunk from the night before. What appealed to Kai about the situation was that they would be less likely to question the strange requests during the trip. Even now, as Kai, Hollyn, and Akamu walked on board, the captain greeted them with a wobbly gait toward them and a wave of his hand.
“Welcome…ab…aboard!” He rubbed his eyes and smiled as he said, “You’ll be bunking…down…er…below with your woman.”
He looked back and forth between Kai and Akamu, but Kai put his curiosity to rest when he threw his arm around Hollyn. To her credit, Hollyn didn’t complain. She leaned into Kai, and the feel of her body against his had his own body reacting instantly. She really affected him.
Akamu spoke up in that moment. “I’ll be sleeping on deck.”
The captain looked like he was going to argue, but before he could get up enough steam to gather his thoughts, Akamu insisted, “I don’t like being enclosed below deck. I’ll be spending the trip up here.”
The captain nodded and led Kai and Hollyn down into the crew’s quarters. He showed them to a small, closet-sized room with bunkbeds. He also showed them the crew mess area, which was made up of a two-burner stove and a tiny refrigerator. A tiny two person table folded down from the wall and two bench-style seats flipped down on either side of the table. He also showed them the tiny room that sufficed as a bathroom. Hollyn didn’t look impressed, but she took Kai’s hand and squeezed it in what he took as approval for this plan.
They all went back up to the deck where the captain introduced them to his two deck hands, and the three shipmen prepared to launch the charter. Hank and Matty gave curt greetings as they moved around the boat. Hank called out to someone waiting on the dock beside a thick rope that was being undone from a large piece of T-shaped metal protruding upward from the wood. The man on the dock wrapped the rope into a few tight loops around his hand and with a practiced swing, launched the rope to the waiting hands of Hank, who caught it expertly and began quickly winding it around a circular holder on board. A second line was thrown to Matty at the back of the boat.
Once the ropes were secured, Hank called out to the captain that everything was ready to go. As the boat began to move, Hank watched the distance growing between the boat and the dock and Matty kept the captain apprised of other water hazards, including boats. The whole thing seemed like a rehearsed dance of sorts, and Kai couldn’t help but be impressed. The coordination of the boat launch required a level of trust between the captain and his deckhands that Kai knew came from working together for a significant amount of time. But that also meant that they were a well-oiled machine that Kai didn’t know yet if he could fully trust. He planned to watch their movements closely. He wasn’t going to take any chances now that Hollyn and he were so close to finishing the mission.
Kai turned away as the deckhands pulled a few large tubes up over the railing. He imagined they were used to keep the side of the boat from crashing into the dock as it rocked in the water next to it. As long as the deckhands were doing their jobs, he would keep his distance and secretly watch them, but he needed to recruit Akamu to be another set of eyes.
He found the other man setting up a hammock on the foredeck. He seemed to be watching the surface of the water with interest. Again, Kai wondered about how much he could trust Akamu. What if he were right about Kai’s abilities? He’d always been a great swimmer. He had been on his high school swim team, and he had considered going to college, had even been offered a scholarship, but he knew that was not his path. Academics had never come easy for him because of a learning disorder—dysgraphia, but he’d known exactly what he’d wanted to do anyway, and he could do it without much writing. He’d wanted to fly, and fly he did. He’d become a pilot, and it had been a career he’d loved—until he’d watched his plane crash into the Atlantic. Now, as they sailed in the Pacific, he wondered if he’d chosen the wrong profession. Maybe he should have been an ocean diver or a ship’s captain instead. Maybe he was meant to be on—or in—the water.
He shook the thought from his head as Akamu turned his reluctant attention to Kai.
“My King!” He started to go down to his knees, but Kai caught him and forced him to stay standing.
“Don’t you dare!” He let go as Akamu seemed to understand the situation. He explained anyway as he said, “I don’t need the crew of this ship looking at me with interest, now do I?”
“You are right. It is imperative that we draw little attention to you. There are some who would not like to see your return.”
Kai couldn’t hold back his reaction. He stilled, and tried to make sense of Adamu’s cryptic warning. “What do you mean? Should I be prepared for a fight?”
Akamu rubbed his hand over his chin and tightened his eyes with concern. “I probably should have mentioned that the current king will not like to see your return. You should have inherited the kingdom, but your disappearance left an opening for your half sister’s husband to take the throne. He will not give it up easily.”
“What if I don’t want it?”
With confusion marring his features, Akamu asked, “Why would you not want such an honor?”
Kai shook his head. It suddenly didn’t feel like an honor. The idea of the conflict he was sailing into made it feel more like a burden that he didn’t want. He didn’t feel like anyone who needed to be king of anywhere. The only thing he wanted right now was to get the last piece of the amulet to make sure Hollyn could live her life in peace…and maybe explore whatever was stirring between them.
“Let’s talk about that another time. I need your help with something else.”
“Anything for you, my king.”
“First, you can’t call me king. It will call too much attention to us. Second, you have to help me keep an eye on the ship’s captain and crew.”
“Of course. I will work on how I address you, and you can rely on me to watch every move they make.”
Kai nodded with a deep sigh. He wasn’t used to putting his trust in others, but he truly had no other choice now. He needed Akamu’s help, and he needed someone else to sail the boat.
“Thank you. At some point, I’m going to need some more details about what the situation will be once we arrive. But right now, I just need to get some rest.” Kai admitted he was running on pure fumes at this point. He hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in he didn’t know how long, and it was starting to catch up to him.
He shook his head and turned to go back toward the stairs that led to the bunks below. He truly hoped he could count on Akamu because he didn’t think he could go too much longer without a little downtime.
If only he’d had his plane, they wouldn’t be in this mess, and they’d be at their destination in no time. But right now, all that mattered was getting Hollyn squared away. Once she was safe, he could think about the next step. Until then, he needed to keep a little distance between them.
He fought the urge to turn and search for her. He couldn’t stop thinking about her and how she’d felt in his arms. He could still hear her moans as she orgasmed, and he had to remind himself not to seek her out for more of what they’d shared in her aunt and uncle’s bathroom. Even now, he had to adjust himself and think about something other than her curves in his hands, her soft lips against his, and the slick welcome she would give him as he slid into her sweet pussy.
Dammit! He needed to get a grip on himself. They’d be sharing a cabin, and yet somehow, he needed to resist taking things further. Until he knew what they were walking into, until he knew she was completely protected, he couldn’t lose his head to lust.
Yet, as he caught sight of her leaning on the railing, her hair whipping in the wind behind her, and her cropped top hugging the full breasts he’d cupped, he knew he would likely be fighting a losing battle.
She was irresistible.