Untamed Hawaiian Heat (Rift Hunters) (20 page)

She jumped when her dad cleared his throat, and turned her head to find him watching her. She forced a smile. “Sorry.”

His brows creased. “I get the feeling you’ve got something else on your mind besides the strategy Pearce and I have been working on.”

“I’m sorry, sir.”

He stopped walking and turned her to face him. “Oh, nani. I’m not mad. And you know you don’t have to call me sir. I’m not your superior.” He smiled. “At least not right now.” He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Now tell me, does this have anything to do with your Rift Hunter?”

“He’s not—”

Grant held up a hand. “Save it, young lady. It wasn’t hard to read the looks between you and him during the briefing.” He pulled her into his arms and squeezed her tight. “Mateo is involved too, isn’t he? You want to tell me what’s going on?”

Kiana closed her eyes. She should have known he’d pick up on the undercurrents between them. She backed up and met his eyes. “Actually, that’s partially what I wanted to talk to you about. I have a couple of questions about Mom.”

A shadow passed through his eyes, and he swallowed hard before answering. “What do you need to know,
ku’uipo
?”

She pushed her hands into her pockets and stared out to sea. “Did anything strange happen between the two of you when you met? I mean, was there a connection that was different from the normal physical attraction?” When he didn’t answer right away, she glanced up at him.

He regarded her before answering. “When I met your mother, I knew from the first moment there was something special about her, Kiana. I’m not sure if I can really explain what I felt, but it was like my soul took one look at her and said…”

“Mine.”

“Yes. That’s exactly what I felt it saying. As for the connection, I always thought I could sense something more between us than the normal. Unfortunately, I don’t know more about it. Every time I started to ask, she would say it wasn’t time. She told me my understanding of it would not come during our time together. Then she’d distract me.” He grinned, his eyes seeming to focus on a memory.

“Eww. I really don’t want to know. I have enough nightmares remembering walking in on you that one time.” She shook her head to rid herself of the thought.

He chuckled, his smile turning bittersweet as it always did when they talked of her mom. “What is this all about, Kiana? I know there’s more than you’re letting on.”

Kiana met his gaze. “It’s about Mateo and me…” She hesitated before adding, not sure how he would react to the thought of her in a ménage. “…and Tiaki.”

He studied her for a long time. “I see.”

Kiana felt her heart sink at the tone in his voice and looked away, not wanting to see the disapproval in his eyes. “Never mind. I’ll find out what I need to know…”

He grasped her chin and tilted it so that she had to look at him. “Kiana, look at me.”

Kiana bit her lip as she raised her eyes and gazed up at her dad.

“Oh baby. What is going on? Am I right to think you’re suggesting that something is going on between you and those two men?”

Kiana nodded, unable to speak past the lump in her throat. She swallowed hard to dislodge it. “What you described about something inside you saying, ‘Mine.’ I had the same thing happen, only with both Mateo and Tiaki.” She took a deep breath before continuing. “I’ve also experienced some strange symptoms with this magic Tiaki has shown us.”

“Strange how?”

“Mine reaches out to Tiaki
and
Mateo. At first I didn’t know what it was, but when I came to after being unconscious, something happened, and Tiaki told us about something he called a soul bond.” She paused, a frown creasing her brow. “Did Mom ever mention those words in conjunction with you and her?”

Her dad got a far-off look in his eyes as though he were going over every conversation he’d ever had with his wife. “Not that I recall. But she would often say things as she drifted off to sleep. It didn’t always make sense either. Just snippets of phrases, really, so it might be possible she did, and I just didn’t comprehend what she was saying. Is there anything else?”

“I also remember having strange dreams as a teenager. Sometimes they would come true, so I started telling her about them when they happened. She would always tell me I would understand when the time was right. Then she’d get a secretive smile on her face. Almost like she knew what they meant.”

“And I take it one of those dreams has come to pass recently?”

Kiana felt her face heat up as a blush spread across her cheeks. “No, but I remembered one of them a few days ago.”

“At the briefing?”

“Yes.” She looked away, recalling the vision she’d had when she’d almost blacked out at the briefing.

“And I take it the three of you were ‘together’?”

Kiana whipped her head around and met her father’s gaze, shocked at his emphasis on
together
. “I…”

“Kiana, don’t look so surprised. I’ve been around a long time. I know things like that go on.”

She swallowed to wet her suddenly dry mouth. “Yes, we were…together.”

“And now you’re wondering if it was a dream or if it’s really something that’s supposed to happen. Am I right?”

She nodded. “When I thought about what Mom told me about them, I thought you might be able to shed some light on what she’d meant.”

“I’m so sorry, ku’uipo, she never said anything about them to me. I really wish I had some answers for you.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Maybe there’s something in the files Tiaki uploaded to the archives that could help.” He grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the trail leading back to the base. “If you do figure it out, please let me know. Although I have a feeling they may have something to do with this magic. The things you’ve asked about have stirred up a few questions in my mind too.”

Kiana stepped carefully over some rocks. “I will, Daddy. Have you heard…” She broke off as a sudden swell within her magic sent such a wave of intense lust racing through her, she doubled over. Her dad’s arms slipped around her waist, steadying her.

“Kiana, are you all right?”

She fought to regain control of the flood of emotions assailing her. She straightened and glanced around, trying to figure out when she’d bent over. “Yes, I’m fine. Still getting used to the magic is all. It seems to have a mind of its own sometimes.” She started moving forward again when the impression of sucking a cock vibrated across her magic. She gasped at the intensity of it and prayed to God her dad hadn’t heard her.

“I’m not sure I believe you. Let’s get you to Niki so she can check you out.”

“Really, Dad, I’m fine. I don’t need to go to Niki,” Kiana said, avoiding eye contact with him, afraid he’d see the feelings blazing in her.

“I order you to report to the Med Center, Lieutenant Grant.”

Kiana met his gaze at the command, surprised he would resort to pulling rank on her.

His eyes softened. She saw moisture gathering in them. “This could be the residual effects of the blast or the poison that could have taken you from me.”

Kiana felt her heart tighten at the sight of tears in his eyes. She had been so wrapped up in everything going on with Mateo and Tiaki and herself that she hadn’t thought about what her dad might be going through. Since her mother had passed, she was all he had left. Another influx of carnal hunger shot through her, and she forgot to breathe for a moment. “Dad, I told you I’m fine. Niki assured me that Tiaki and Mateo were able to get the poison out of my system before it could do any harm.”

“Please, Kiana. I can’t lose you,” he pleaded.

She struggled to suck in a breath without alerting him that she’d felt anything else. “All right.” She cupped his cheek and wiped away the single tear that escaped.

By the time they made it to the Med Center, Kiana was on fire. Not only was her link with Mateo on overload from the barrage of emotions racing through it, her magic was fast reaching a boiling point. She would have loved to tell her dad she could get to the clinic on her own, but he insisted on going with her in case she collapsed.

She breathed a sigh of relief when Niki made him leave the room. After a couple of deep breaths, she finally looked up to find her friend watching her.

Niki walked over and started gathering her instruments. “What’s going on, Kiana?”

“I really don’t need you to examine me, Niki. I think what I’m feeling has something to do with that soul bond I told you about.” She inhaled sharply when her senses were bombarded by more intense emotions. The most prominent in the mix were desire, anger, and most perplexing of all…a sense of completeness.

Kiana reached out with her censors to locate Mateo. She was shocked to find both him and Tiaki in the Rift Hunter training room. Mateo hadn’t set foot in the building other than to get his weapons before his watches. He was always careful to give the training room a wide berth so he wouldn’t encounter Tiaki.

“Is it the same as what you described before?”

Kiana shook her head. “No. This time it’s more overwhelming. What I feel right now is so strong I doubled over from the intensity.” She glanced at the clock on the wall. The training session should have been over a long time ago. But that didn’t explain why Mateo was there. She glanced up at Niki. “Did you go to the training session this morning?”

Niki froze as though considering her question. “Yes, I did. Why?”

“Did Mateo attend it?”

Niki toyed with the instruments on the cart she’d pulled over to the examination table. “Not exactly. Tiaki was showing us a more advanced spell, an invisibility one, when Mateo came out of the shadows behind the unused mats.”

“Shit! What the hell did he do?” She fought the urge to race over to the training room to give him a piece of her mind.

Niki continued to fidget with the items on the tray.

Kiana reached over and stilled her hand. “Please, just tell me what you know, Niki. Whatever the hell is going on between the three of us is extremely important. I can feel it.”

Niki took a deep breath. “Mateo hit Tiaki with an energy blast, but—”

Kiana jumped off the table. “Oh my God! Why the fuck did he go there when he knew there was a training session? I knew something like this—”

Niki reached out and grabbed her arm. “Kiana, let me finish.”

Kiana stilled and waited for her friend to explain.

“The blast Mateo hit Tiaki with didn’t hurt him. It burned through his shirt, but then seemed to hover over his stomach before seeping into his skin. I dismissed the rest of the recruits and forced Monte to leave with me. It was obvious Mateo wanted to talk with Tiaki.”

Kiana breathed a sigh of relief that Tiaki was unhurt. Anger at Mateo for doing something so reckless sparked and then died as another wave of emotions rushed through her. It was quickly followed by the feeling of a cock slowly being worked into her ass. She gasped, trying to figure out what the hell was going on. “Niki, can I get you to tell Dad your exam is going to take a while?” she asked through clenched teeth. “I need to get to the training center, but Dad isn’t going to leave me until he knows I’m okay.”

“Sure. I’ll go tell him now; then I’ll help you get to the armory.” Niki disappeared through the door.

Could Tiaki and Mateo still be together in the training center? If so, they sure weren’t talking. A thought struck her as she waited for Niki to give her the all clear. Tiaki had taught them during one of their first training sessions how to sense magic in others.

Closing her eyes, Kiana called her magic. It danced up her spine as it rushed to do her bidding. She commanded it to seek out her mates. Standing up straighter, she focused her power to a pinpoint and called to the memory of her magic joining with Tiaki’s. She sent out a pulse to locate him. She smiled as she felt the pulse soaring through the base, searching for him.

Her eyes flew wide at the endless flow of emotions she encountered in Tiaki. His magic rushed to greet her pulse, sending a dizzying wave of pleasure that permeated it. Before she could regain her equilibrium, she felt her pussy clench as an orgasm crashed over her that was so intense, she had to grab the edge of the exam table to keep from falling to her knees.

What the
hell
was happening in that room? She fought to breathe as Niki came back into the room. When she could finally stand again, she glanced at her friend. “We have to go.” She needed to find out what was going on between Mateo and Tiaki.

* * * *

Kiana approached the training room, her heart pounding with uncertainty and anticipation of what she would find inside. She’d continued to receive bursts of intense emotion and pleasure as she’d raced to get there. Both were so strong, she’d been forced to stop several times on her trek to catch her breath as her arousal began to build anew. She’d tried to discern whose emotions she’d been feeling, but they’d been so entwined with the magic she’d been unable to. The only thing she knew for sure was that her magic had responded to her men with what she could only describe as euphoria.

She took a deep breath and pushed the door wide. Mateo leaned against the support beam closest to the door. Tiaki stood so close to him he wouldn’t have had to move much to kiss Mateo. His bare chest gleamed with sweat in the sunlight filtering into the room. Her gaze instantly flew to where his hand disappeared beneath the edge of Mateo’s shirt.

“How can you still deny this connection after what just happened, Mateo?”

“Nothing happened, Hunter. That was a mistake.”

“A mistake…” Tiaki fell silent. The words died on his lips when he caught sight of her standing in the doorway.

Mateo turned to see what had caught Tiaki’s attention and swore.

Kiana shook herself from the daze that had settled over her as she’d realized what Tiaki had said. She approached them. “What the hell is going on here?” She shifted her gaze between the two men, hoping to be able to read something in one of the gazes to give her a clue.

She felt her link with Mateo slam shut as though he’d just realized it was open. “Well?”

Mateo looked at Tiaki, his gaze dipping to his mouth and lingering for a long moment.