Free DaughterofFire by Courtney Sheets Page A

me and starting engines?” Jack
asked with frustration.
    “I don’t think you have any problems getting engines
started,” she said with a laugh. He looked at her for a moment and then joined
in her amusement.
    “Good to know at least I can get you started.”
    He tried again and still nothing.
    “I think the engine is dead. We’ll have to weigh anchor and
call for help,” Jack pulled out his cell phone as he spoke and punched some
numbers.
    Kalama set about lowering the anchor while he made the call.
She looked out over the water and realized that the fight with her aunt had
pushed them closer to Kaho’olawe. The uninhabited, protected island was within
swimming distance.
    “Sam can’t get out here for a couple of hours, so we can do
one of two things. We can hold tight and wait, or call the Coast Guard.”
    “Let’s wait. Auntie isn’t going anywhere right now. Come on.
We can swim over to Kaho’olawe and have lunch. But you have to promise to never
tell anyone you were over there. No haoles allowed. And no one is supposed
to be there without permission.” Kalama tossed off her flip-flops.
    “We probably shouldn’t go over then.”
    “Look at it this way, if we get caught, I’ll call up a
rainstorm or earthquake to take the heat off us.” She flashed him a smile and
wiggled her eyebrows in what she hoped was a silly fashion. “Throw some towels
and the sandwiches on that surfboard and we’ll haul it to the island.”
    Kalama turned to face the water. Reaching behind her, she
quickly coiled her long hair into a bun and secured it with a clip she always
carried. With a slow taunt, she pulled the tank top off and tossed it to one
side. She stripped out of her shorts next, fully aware of Jack’s eyes on her
body.
    “What is that?”
    Peering over her shoulder to meet his gaze, she smiled,
knowing full well what he was talking about. Starting at her right shoulder
blade and traversing down her back in a straight line to her waist was a bold,
traditional tattoo in stark black. It was several inches thick in length
continuing down her back but only about an inch in width. The thick straps of
her tank tops and her long hair trailing down her skin had hidden the ink from
view. In all their intimate moments, Jack had never gotten her naked so she
knew the tattoo came as a bit of a surprise.
    The design was one that had been passed down for centuries
from the Ancient Hawaiians and contained a series of interlocking triangles and
lines. A powerful kahuna had tattooed it on her flesh two hundred years
ago.
    “It’s a tattoo, Jack. Tatau . You live in Hawaii. I know
you’ve seen them before.”
    He reached out and lightly ran a fingertip along the design.
He followed the path until he arrived at the top of her bikini bottoms.
    “How far does this go down?” he asked, his voice a husky
whisper.
    “You’ll have to strip me naked to find out,” she said with a
laugh and darted away from him. Before he could react, she jumped over the side
of the boat and dove into the water.

Chapter Nine
     
    Kalama was seated on the sand by the time Jack made it to
shore. Of course he’d taken longer because she’d left him with the task of
paddling in on the surfboard with towels and their lunch. Hopefully Sam would
be able to borrow a boat from his buddies and get them soon. Jack didn’t want
to sit on Kaho’olawe longer than necessary.
    Sliding off the board, he stood in the water breaking just
on the shore and trudged up the beach. He didn’t believe her story fully. His
scientific brain found it hard to comprehend the existence of magic, despite
the incident on the boat. He simply couldn’t wrap his head around the tale she
told about Pele and her sister. He also refused to believe she was anything but
human. She might be a little nutty but that didn’t stop the overwhelming
compulsion he had to strip her naked and make her body his.
    “Nice underwear, Dr. Jack.”
    Kalama laughed from her comfortable perch on