Schroeder, Melissa - Getting Lei'd [Hawaiian Holidays 3] (Siren Publishing PolyAmour) (9 page)

Alex had picked the day. Well, he had picked it after they had argued. Alex had wanted to wait until New Year’s Day. Or Eve. The starting a whole-new life thing was important to Alex, but Damon couldn’t wait another week. He needed to know now. He couldn’t wait, not knowing, waiting to find out if they would actually have Mari for a lifetime.

 
Of course Alex wanted to wait. He hadn’t been waiting as long as Damon. And when Damon’s brother had started courting Mari several years ago, it hadn’t bothered Alex nearly as much. There was something very wrong knowing that a bastard like his brother had been able to even touch her, let alone take her to his bed.

He couldn’t stop the smile that curved his lips. His brother had been as bad as Damon expected. If Mari’s reaction to them was anything to go by, Damon was pretty sure his brother was a buffoon in the bedroom. Of course, he was a selfish bastard, so that made sense.

“You’re looking really smug.”

He turned around to find Mari watching him. She was wearing a T-shirt and he was sure, nothing beneath it.

“Just thinking about the last few months.”

She glanced out at the ocean. “Was the scandal that bad in DC?”

It was something she had not asked, and Damon was pretty sure that her friends Eddie and Sophia would have protected her.

“No, not really. You made some of the gossip columns. But it was all gone within a week.”

Damon didn’t mention that he was pretty sure that her father made some threats to make that happen.

“Where’s Alex?”

She made a face.

“Out for a run.”

He laughed. “You could have gone along.”

She shook her head and moved her gaze back to him. “I don’t want to run unless one of you is chasing me.”

Her bold honesty was nothing new, and neither was his reaction to it. He held out his hand, and she took it, allowing him to tug her onto his lap. His hand was shaking when he lifted it to her face to cup it. He gave her a gentle kiss, keeping his gaze on hers, watching the moment the tears filled her eyes. There had been a few of these moments for them, all three of them, and he was sure, but she seemed more melancholy the last day.

All he wanted was to make her happy. He wanted to hear her laugh, watch her dance, and hear the pleasure in her voice when she moaned his name. His cock hardened as she shifted against him, then her eyes closed, and he followed her into the pleasure of the kiss.

There had been many moments of passionate embraces, but these small moments of sweet kisses Damon loved more than anything. Both he and Alex had enjoyed them, and because of that, they both felt closer to her now than ever before.

She shifted against him again, and her breasts brushed his bare chest. Her nipples were hard, and the way she was squirming showed him she was aroused. Damon slipped his hand down to her breast, cupping it and brushing his thumb against her nipple. At the same time, he traced the seam of her lips with his tongue until she opened them, taking him inside. She moaned against his tongue as he pinched her nipple, but she pulled back from the kiss.

When she stood, he moved to follow, but she shook her head. Instead, she reached down and unzipped his pants. His erection sprang free. She wrapped her fingers around him and pumped.

“Mari, it won’t be dark very much longer.” His voice held no conviction though. How could it? Her hand was sliding up and down his cock. “People from the other balconies could see us.”

She smiled at him then, and he felt his breath back up in his chest. That cocky look and the glow of her entire body struck him. This wasn’t the sad little girl he had grown up with. This was Mari, the sex goddess they were in love with, their lover, their mate.

“Then you’ll just have to be quiet, huh?”

Without another word, she straddled him on the chair then slowly sunk down on his cock. Just an inch at a time, excruciatingly slow and somewhat painful. He knew he couldn’t take over. This was her show. She was in charge. And damn if that didn’t make her the sexiest woman in the world.

When she finally sunk all the way down on him, she arched back and sighed. Then she moved. Slowly, but surely, she moved over him, pushing him close the edge but not going fast enough to make him come. She braced herself by placing a hand on the back of the chair, changing the speed and angle of her movements. Soon, though, he could tell she was getting close to her orgasm. She looked down at him then attacked his mouth. He slipped his hand down between them and pressed his finger against her clit. She shuddered once, twice…Then exploded. He muffled any shout that would have escaped as he continued to kiss her. Her pussy muscles clamped down on his cock, spasming over his sensitive flesh, pulling his orgasm from him. He followed her into that bliss, his body bowing off the chair slightly with his orgasm.

She collapsed against him, her sigh of contentment feathering a breath over his neck.

“I will say that mornings with you and Alex are a good reason to get up.”

He smiled. “How about a shower?”

She lifted her head. “You’re not brooding anymore?”

That took him back. “You think I was brooding?”

She smiled. It was small, and one of the secret ones she used to give them when they were kids. But it did all kinds of different things to him now. Before, it had been his safe haven, his one bright light in the storm. It was now, too, but at the moment, his heart was turning over too much to take notice of anything else.

“You always brood. You get all moody and pissy, and then you don’t want to talk about it.”

He cleared his throat. “No. No, I’m not brooding anymore.”

Mari’s smile widened. “Good. And yes, I would like a shower, as long as you scrub my back.”

She slipped off him then held out her hand. He took it and followed her back into the hotel room, his earlier worries pushed to the back of his mind.

Chapter Seven

“So, we were thinking that maybe you should move here,” Eddie said.

For a second, Maribelle couldn’t think. What was Eddie talking about? “What?”

Sophia groaned. “God, Eddie you have no tact. I thought we were going to approach her better than that.”

Eddie shook her head. “You wanted to be sneaky.”

Mari laughed as she watched a blush crawl up into Sophia’s cheeks. Being a natural redhead, it was hard to hide it with her fair skin.

“It’s called being tactful.”

“I say sneaky.”

Sophia opened her mouth to argue, but Mari decided to cut them off before she lost too much time watching them argue.

“What are you two talking about?”

They looked at her at the same time. From their expressions, she realized her friends had forgotten she was there.

“Uh, what we were trying to do was get you to stay here with us.”

“Just move here, no job?”

Sophia threw Eddie a threatening look and stepped forward. “We need someone to set up a good menu, handle box lunches for people. We have some good cooks, but we need someone who will handle the planning. You have a good head for that.”

Move to Hawaii? No more beautiful falls? No more crazy DC traffic, snow and ice, no more family issues?

“You would love it. And you know you could keep your apartment there, find something furnished here. Just to try it out,” Eddie said.

It would be a change. That was for sure. She would never have to deal with the big jackets, and there was always a beach to go to. Not to mention there was a fair amount of great things to do, and no one here knew her. She wasn’t DC royalty there. She was just Maribelle Sawyer.

“You can take time—”

“No,” she said interrupting Sophia. “I think it would be a good idea.”

Sophia looked stunned. Eddie looked triumphant.

“Yes.”

She grabbed Mari and gave her a big hug. “This will be fantastic. Gotta tell the guys. They will be thrilled.”

She ran down the hallway, and Mari looked at Sophia. “Are you sure?”

Mari nodded. “It’s a big change, I know. And I am not a person who does big changes. But I think this is right. It feels right.”

The moment she said that, she realized how much that was true. The rightness of the decision settled in her chest. This is what she was supposed to do. She felt it in her bones. Her family would freak, and she was sure that soon she would, too. Still, she knew it was right.

She smiled at Sophia. “This is right.”

Sophia studied her for a second. The next moment, she laughed and pulled her into her arms.

“Fantastic.”

* * * *

Mari frowned as her mother’s cell phone went straight to voice mail again. It had been like that for three days now. When she had told her mother she was thinking of moving to Hawaii, she had taken it rather well, but now Mari was wondering about her easy acceptance of the announcement.

Millicent Sawyer did not handle change well. In fact, her parents still lived in the same Georgetown mansion, not because of their love of the house, although they did love it. No, it was because her mother would probably have a breakdown if her father even thought of moving.

“Something wrong?” Eddie asked.

“Mom’s phone is going straight to voice mail.”

“She’s probably mad at you. You know your mother was never going to accept you moving here.”

Mari shrugged. “I didn’t say for sure.”

Eddie looked around her kitchen then grabbed Mari by the elbow and pulled her back into her bedroom. “You said you were going to come here and work with us. You were going to handle the food part of it. What is keeping you from being sure about it?”

Her voice was soft and gentle, telling Mari that her best friend knew she was close to breaking down.

“The guys.”

Eddie nodded. “If I were you, I wouldn’t want to give them up either.”

“But they have lives there. And there is no way I can have a relationship with them in DC. Can you imagine that?”

“I can, but I know you can’t, sweetie. If they would move here with you, would you do it? Be with both of them?”

She shook her head. “I can’t think that.” Tears burned the back of her eyes.

Eddie rubbed her arm. “Why not?”

“I’m afraid if I do, I’ll lose them. If I ask them to be mine…what would they do? There is a good chance they will just walk away. I mean, why would the two of them want me?”

She hated the way her voice was whining, but she couldn’t seem to stop. Tears started to fall down her cheeks, and Eddie pulled her into a hug.

“You’ll never know if you don’t ask them.”

“Yeah, but is it worse not knowing or knowing they don’t want you?”

Eddie sighed. “Oh, honey.”

“I love them both so much, but I just don’t know.”

“What the hell is going on?” Damon said as he barreled through the door. “What did you do to Mari?”

Alex didn’t say a word. As she looked up, he was already reaching for her to pull her into his arms. She glanced at Eddie to see how her friend was taking it, and the little smile told her she wasn’t upset.