Untamed Hawaiian Heat (Rift Hunters) (11 page)

“One of them? Them who?”

The man’s gaze flickered back and forth between him and Monte as though he was trying to figure out how much they knew. He finally clamped his mouth shut and leaned back, seeming to have decided they didn’t know what he was talking about.

Mateo sat down on the edge of the table, causing the man to shrink back in his chair even more. “Okay, we’ll start with something simpler, then. What’s your name?”

Monte circled around behind the man.

The man tried to look behind him but thought better of it. He must have decided Mateo was the more lethal threat in the room and stayed where he was.

Mateo stood and leaned across the table, putting his hands on either side of the caved-in middle. “Look, asshole, you have one of two choices here. Either you can cooperate with us, or we’ll make you.”

The man glanced down at the half-melted metal of the table. A look of fear passed through his eyes. “Ferran.”

“What did you mean by them, Ferran? Who are
they
?” Monte asked, pacing back and forth behind Ferran.

“Like you don’t know. I saw the other one fighting Thanos.”

Mateo glanced up to find Monte staring at him, his eyes wide. “And what exactly do you think that man is, Ferran?” Mateo asked. His sensors buzzed to life, telling him Kiana was waking up. His eyes widened when he realized he could faintly feel Tiaki coming to as well. Kiana pushed back against Tiaki like she always did when Mateo held her that way. He gripped the edges of the table until his knuckles turned white. Lust ripped through him when he discerned the way Tiaki’s cock hardened in response to Kiana’s subtle invitation.

Monte laid a hand on Ferran’s shoulder and grasped the bolt securing the cybernetic implant to it.

Ferran fidgeted in his seat. “A-a R-R-Rift Hu-Hunter.”

Monte released his hold on Ferran’s shoulder. “Now we’re getting somewhere.”

“And what were you hoping to accomplish by setting mines at the entrance to this valley?” Mateo flicked his gaze up briefly when Monte began to circle back to stand beside him.

“Can I talk to you for a minute, Mateo?”

Mateo stepped to the side of the room and waited for Monte to establish the silent com link through their cybernetics.

“Look, I’m not even going to pretend to understand what happened with your fist when you hit the table. Or what I witnessed Tiaki and Ash do the other night. It’s obvious you possess whatever power he was wielding. If we’re going to make this guy crack, maybe we should use that to our advantage.”

Mateo turned sharply and went back to the table, intent on getting this over with. He took a deep breath and leaned forward until he was mere inches from Ferran. The sensation of being kissed and caressed trickled through his link with Kiana, throwing him off his game. He clenched his jaw and growled, “Why were you setting the mines, Ferran?”

“To take out as many of you as possible before she arrives.”

Mateo narrowed his eyes. “Who is
she
?” He gripped the edge of the table, the power rushing through his blood, hot with anger and lust, burning to be set free. He didn’t have to look at his hand to know sapphire flames were licking at it.

Ferran shifted his eyes back and forth between his hand and his face. “Ask your friend. If you don’t know, I’m sure he does.”

Mateo gritted his teeth. His patience was wearing thin, and not just with this asshole. He desperately wanted to close off his link with Kiana so he wouldn’t have to experience what she was feeling. It was bad enough dealing with what Tiaki stirred within him. He tried to close off their link, only to find it impossible to do so. Something was keeping it open.

Even worse, he sensed another presence. He prodded it and was stunned to recognize it was Tiaki.

Mateo almost groaned aloud when a ripple of Tiaki’s and Kiana’s combined magic filtered through his link, causing the energy in his blood to pulse, sending another wave of lust straight to his groin. “
Who is she
?” he roared. Dark sapphire flames engulfed his hand as he fought the urge to rush to his hale noho to… His entire body shook with a hunger that grew by the second. He refused to reflect on whether the hunger was to join them or to drag Tiaki off her.

Ferran cowered as far back from him as possible. “Eris.”

Chapter Nine

Kiana slowly opened her eyes. Her body ached all over, although not as much as she’d expected when the memory of what had happened flashed through her mind. She started to move and became acutely aware of the very male body curled around her from behind. She glanced down at the arm curved possessively beneath her breasts.

Tiaki.

Just saying his name in her mind stirred something in her soul…something inevitable. His presence in her life felt natural. It had from the moment he’d fallen at her feet. She hadn’t even needed the explanation he’d given Pearce and everyone else about where he was from.

He belonged with her and Mateo.

She still wasn’t sure what to make of that. She aimed to find out, though. Tiaki must have had an idea of what was brewing between them. Whatever it was, this magic they were able to wield had something to do with it if the reaction she and Mateo had had when they’d connected with him was any indication.

Right now, she needed to find out what had happened after she’d lost consciousness. She started to move Tiaki’s arm, but he tightened his hold and pulled her more firmly against his body. She went still, his hard cock pressed intimately against her ass.

“Where do you think you’re going?” he asked, his voice a husky whisper at her ear. From sleep or desire, she wasn’t sure.

“I need to go check on my men and find out what happened after I became incapacitated.”

Tiaki released his hold on her and sat up. “You’re not going anywhere until I have a look at your leg. I want to make sure the poison Mateo and I had to take out didn’t do any lasting damage.”

Kiana rolled onto her back and almost gasped aloud at the sight that greeted her.

Tiaki had taken his shirt off before lying down beside her. His skin glowed a warm brown in the early morning light filtering though the gaps between the tightly woven grass bundles that made up the walls of the hut. The muscles of his chiseled chest rippled as he took her leg in his hands.

The tattoo on the left side of his upper chest looked like something had ripped through his skin from the inside, like it was made of paper. The edges of the design were peeled back, miniscule tears formed around the outer rim as though something huge was about to step through and didn’t have enough space. At the center of the opening, there was a planet surrounded by brilliant red stars shimmering against a deep purple sky so dark it was almost black. Curling through the rift and twining around the jagged edges of the tear, she could see a swirling pattern of energy gently pulsing.

She reached out a fingertip and traced the tendrils. At the touch of her finger, it sparked and twinkled even brighter. Her eyes widened. Tiaki’s magic. She glanced up to find him watching her.

Tiaki held her gaze for several long moments before he gained control of the desire she glimpsed burning in them. He gently lifted her leg and leaned closer to look at it, stroking her skin with his warm, strong hands.

She shuddered at the contact. She knew the puncture wounds were gone, since she’d done a full body scan before she’d opened her eyes. There was no need for him to give it such a lengthy inspection, but she couldn’t seem to form the words to tell him so.

She gasped when he bent his head closer and skimmed his lips across her skin, his hot breath scorching her. He shifted his position and traced a lazy pattern along her leg as he stretched out beside her.

Leaning on his forearm, he closed the scant distance separating them until his breath feathered over her lips. “You gave us quite a scare the other night.” He punctuated each word with a brief kiss.

Kiana tried to clear her mind to respond, but she felt the magic inside her responding to his proximity. It spiked higher with each brush of his lips. “I—” She was cut off when his mouth covered hers, consuming her with the same hunger she felt building inside her. She’d been dying to taste him again. Recalling the kiss she’d shared with him and Mateo threw fuel on the fire he ignited inside her now. She opened her mouth and met his tongue with a ravenous desire that should have scared her. Yet it didn’t.

Tiaki moved his hand from her leg to the hem of her tank top. She trembled in anticipation when he pushed it up to expose her breasts. He kissed his way along her jaw, leaving a path of fire blazing in his wake.

She arched her neck to give him better access.

Accepting the invitation, he backed up long enough to pull the shirt over her head, teasing every inch of skin as it was exposed. Placing a kiss at the indentation of her collarbone, he lifted his head just enough to hold her gaze as he released the last button.

Kiana’s breath caught in her throat. His eyes had turned a deep blue; the desire reflected there was fathomless and all consuming.

A forgotten remnant of a dream seeped into her consciousness, of seeing those eyes in her dreams when she was younger. A memory of them flashed by, of unleashed passion as the owner of those eyes took possession of her…body, heart, and…soul.

Tiaki held her captive with his gaze as he threw her shirt on the floor. All thoughts of the dream vanished as he glanced down at what he’d uncovered and inhaled sharply.

“
Ātanga
—beautiful. Such a treasure to behold,” he whispered, then leaned down and brushed his lips across the tops of her breasts.

Kiana speared her fingers through his hair. The texture caressed her hands and teased her sensitive breasts as he nuzzled them, heightening her desire.

He caressed the skin peeking over the edge of the lacy cups of her bra.

She arched beneath him, offering herself. “Please.”

The word came out so soft, she thought he might have missed it. Then he was pushing the material aside and baring her nipples to his gaze. He moaned. She felt her skin flush with the rise in her desire. She closed the distance between them, brushing the sensitive flesh across his lips, urging him to take possession.

He needed no further invitation. Taking the bud into his mouth, he sucked, swirling his tongue over it. He moaned again as though it were the sweetest thing he’d ever tasted.

Kiana twisted restlessly under his ravenous assault. She was on fire and didn’t care if she burned to a crisp as long as he didn’t stop. It wasn’t enough. She needed more. She trailed her hands along his shoulders and back, scoring his flesh lightly with her nails, wanting to mark him.

Tiaki pushed her pants down over her hips. How she’d missed him unbuttoning them, she wasn’t sure and didn’t really care. All she wanted was more of him…pressing against her…in her. She lifted her ass and helped him take them the rest of the way off. She didn’t want any barriers between them.

He returned to her lips and feasted on them like a starving man.

Kiana met his tongue thrust for thrust, twining her arms around his neck. Lost in the pleasure he’d unleashed. She broke free of his kiss, gasping for breath when he plunged a finger into her drenched pussy. Oh God, I’m dying…she thought when he added another.

Tiaki worked his fingers inside her snug, slippery channel, breathing hard as though holding a tight leash on his own desire.

Kiana cried out, her magic surging inside, enhancing every sensual stroke of his fingers. Reaching out, searching for something. Her breathing came in shallow pants as her climax neared. Briefly she wondered if she’d survive this tempestuous assault on her senses, and then there was no thinking. A tidal wave of exquisite pleasure crashed over her as she screamed Tiaki’s name.

She was vaguely aware of Tiaki moving to shed the remainder of his clothes. She floated in a sea of sensation, realizing she’d never felt this way with anyone else except…Mateo.

Mateo. Oh God! What would she say to him?

She scanned with her link and sensors to locate him, unable to mask the emotions roiling inside her. She wasn’t surprised to discover Mateo heading for their quarters. The anger she felt through the emotion link burned with a frightening intensity. Another emotion she couldn’t define pulsed through the link as well.

She pushed against his chest in a plea for him to move, even as she relished the slick heat of his skin as he pressed her down on the pallet. “Tiaki, Mateo…”

“Mateo, what, Kiana?”

Kiana and Tiaki both gazed at the entrance to the hut. Mateo stood there, silhouetted in the opening, his face shadowed. He stepped in and let the flap fall shut behind him.

Kiana sat up and reached for her pants, grateful Tiaki had moved to lie beside her of his own accord. “Mateo—” she started but fell silent when he held up his hand.

“Imagine my surprise when I returned to camp a few hours ago, exhausted from chasing those OS assholes halfway across the island, only to sense him”—he gestured at Tiaki—“curled up next to you like he has the right, while I’m bringing in the prisoner we caught so we can find out what the fuck the OS is up to. The only thing I wanted to do was come check on you, but before I get the chance to do so, I’m bombarded by lust. What the hell is going on, Kiana?” Mateo asked, his tone low and husky with emotion.

Kiana glanced over at Tiaki as he pulled his shirt on. She didn’t know how to explain what she felt whenever Tiaki was near. How he caressed something dark and forbidden inside. When those feelings combined with what she felt for Mateo, she feared the intensity of them might consume her. She buttoned her pants, then scooped her shirt off the floor.

“Maybe we should take a few minutes to collect ourselves before we discuss this,” Tiaki suggested as he tugged the bottom of his T-shirt down.

Mateo stepped closer to him. “Like hell. You’ve only been here a week, and you’ve already tried to fuck my woman twice.”

Kiana finished buttoning her shirt, then sat to put her shoes on. “I refuse to have this discussion while the two of you are acting like Neanderthals.” She stood and moved toward the doorway.