Until You (The Redemption, #1)(33)
“Kal—there are people downstairs. Don’t you need to deal with them first?” Say no, please say no. Your touch is magic.
“What people?” he teases, my breath catching as he tucks a finger into me, the heel of his hand rubbing at my clit. He chuckles against my lips, and it rumbles through me. “Let me finish what I need to finish and then I’ll make it up to you. Tonight. You know I make good on my promises.”
I nod, my breath stolen temporarily as he makes me forget about the many guests and the possibility of being caught, and shows me more hints of exactly what he’s promising. And I know from experience he definitely makes good on them. “Okay. Fine. Yes.”
“There’s my girl.” His lips find mine again as my body aches for more of his touch. “I’ll wake you when I come to bed, yes?” He presses a kiss to my forehead and smirks in the way only he can. “Until then, rest up because you’re going to need it.”
He walks back to the table, picks up his phone, and then disappears around the side of the boat where the stairs lead to the decks below and no doubt the bodyguards waiting to follow close behind.
It took some time, but I’ve gotten used to the bodyguards. To Kaleo’s paranoia over certain things. To the gun he often carries with him for protection. They all went hand in hand after I took the Makani last name when I married Kaleo and his shipping magnate family. When money was no object, but threats were a constant.
And my safety, my protection, is something that Kaleo takes with the utmost seriousness. Nothing is worth risking you, Ku’uipo. My sweetheart. That’s what he calls me in his native language, and it makes me smile, every time, without fail.
I glance over the railing and watch as Kaleo rejoins the party. His first step is toward his right-hand man, Rangi. They put their heads together for a beat, deep in discussion, before Kaleo steps back with a nod and heads toward the main group of our guests. The second he steps up to their circle, their body language changes immediately. Even after three years with Kaleo, it still marvels me, Tessa Miller, from a map dot town in Oregon, how the aura of money and power makes others react without question. Like how the men I’m currently watching give my husband the respect he demands and the attention someone of his authority requires without question.
All while I stand up here and get butterflies over the sight of and thought of him.
Is that why I stand here and watch their interaction I can see but not hear? Because while I’m pissed at him for pulling me away from my students at a crucial part of the course, I’m still hoping he can fix whatever needs to be fixed so we can salvage some of this time together. So we can enjoy each other without the worry that has been interfering over the past months.
“Mrs. Makani?”
I jump at the sound of one of the bodyguard’s voices. “Yes, Carlo?”
“Mr. Makani wanted me to bring this to you.” He moves across the deck with a glass in hand.
“What is it?”
He shrugs. “Just a little something to help you relax. To take the edge off, I believe were his words.”
I peer into the glass. Another one of Kaleo’s guava juice and rum drinks, most likely with a muscle relaxer dissolved into it. I appreciate my husband’s thoughtfulness, but that’s the last thing I want right now.
“Thank you,” I say, but Carlo remains standing there. “Yes?”
“He told me to bring back the empty glass.”
What? I chuckle. “Thanks, but I can manage my own dishes.” And yet he remains standing there, legs spread, hands clasped in front, staring at me.
“Christ,” I mutter. “I’ll be right back.” I stalk to our stateroom, irritated by Kaleo’s want for control over all things for some reason when normally it doesn’t bug me so much. Within seconds, I have the drink poured down the drain and am marching back to Carlo. “Happy?” I grit out.
His face is impassive when he meets my eyes. “I’m just doing my job, ma’am.”
“Yes. I know. I’m sorry.” I shake my head. “I love the man to death, but sometimes he drives me crazy.”
That comment gets a slight smirk from Carlo as he takes the glass from me. “Couldn’t agree more.”
I chuckle and the irritation lessens knowing Kaleo is just trying to take care of me when that’s something no one has ever really done for me before.
“Thank you,” I murmur to Carlo as he heads back downstairs, leaving me to glance over the railing one more time at the most incredibly sweet, irritating, demanding, loving man I have ever met.
Seeing Kaleo in his element—wheeling and dealing and trying to ensure success so that we never have to worry about anything again fills me with a kind of pride and love I’ve never known.
I’m one lucky woman.
The thought stays with me as I head to our stateroom, as I take a shower and put on something sexy, and as I doze off to the sound of music on the deck below.
Shouting wakes me up.
At least I think it does. All I know is that uneasy feeling returns, crawling over me as I scramble out of bed, knot a robe around my waist, and shuffle toward the deck.
Kaleo should have been in by now. He should have woken me up and fulfilled his promise. He should have—
A gunshot pierces the silence. I don’t even realize it’s my own yelp that follows thereafter because I’m scrambling to the only protection I can find, the solid railing that lines the perimeter of the top deck.