Intrigued By Love (Written in the Stars Book 5) Read online

  I gave an exaggerated sigh, not turning to look at my annoying sister. “I have no idea what possessed me to share my sexual preferences with you two. It must have been temporary insanity.”

  “Well you actually live the lifestyle people write books about. I’m fascinated. I’m not into it, but it doesn’t make it any less interesting. Plus, who knows, I may get offered a part where knowledge on the subject might come in handy.” Lina grinned.

  I highly doubted Lina would ever accept a role with kink as a plot point. Her acting specialties lay within the vein of action or drama.

  “It’s not my lifestyle anymore.” The thought of letting anyone other than Jax touch me with that level of trust or intimacy wasn’t something I was ready to explore yet.

  “It could be. Jax is here, and I’m sure he’d be more than happy to oblige your carnal needs.”

  “Kiana, you’re like a dog with a bone. How the hell Ani puts up with you is beyond me. She probably broke down and married you so you would stop nagging her.”

  “But I nag so well,” Kiana retorted. “If I recall, it was with your help that Ani arranged the proposal and elopement.”

  “After I couldn’t convince her to drop your ass, I decided she was a keeper and the only way to make sure she never left was to get her to marry you.” I shot Kiana a smirk over my shoulder. “Despite your laundry list of irritating habits.”

  I adored my sister-in-law Ani. She had a way of grounding Kiana and put up with her crazy ways. I really wished she could have been here for our spa day, but she was in the middle of finals for the classes she taught at the University of Hawaii and she couldn’t leave until all exams were taken, graded, and reported.

  “You think you’re so funny.” The pout on Kiana’s face reminded me of when we were kids and I’d get on her nerves with something she had no comeback to.

  “All right, children.” Lina laughed and gestured toward a group of spa attendants who approached us. “It’s time for our facials. You can fight afterward.”

  “I’m not giving up hope that you bang Jax while he’s here.”

  I shoved my sister toward the doors leading into the spa. “Keep hoping. Sex with Jax is not an option.”

  Lina smirked and said, “Famous last words.”

  Chapter Five

  Jax

  A little before sunset, I sat down on a secluded spot on the beach to clear my head, to figure out a way to get Kai to talk to me and stop treating me like some random guest at her resort. I was on a fucking timeline and I couldn’t lose this battle.

  An hour earlier, I’d gotten word from my parents they’d be flying in a few days before the wedding and wanted to speak to me about my inheritance.

  I’d ignored the message.

  I neither wanted their money nor needed it. Besides, Hollywood wasn’t where I saw my future. It was my parents’ world, not mine.

  I’d gone out on my own and with a few lucky breaks managed to build an investment portfolio that would rival the Lykaioses, who owned the resort we were at. Hell, my friendship with one of them, the middle brother Pierce Lykaios, was what had given me the push to break free of my controlling father and mother. Pierce had a sordid family history that made it necessary to take risks and occasionally work with the unsavory element of life to succeed.

  Taking his cues, I’d searched out any investment with high risk and even higher yield, mostly in international property development. Most of my business partners in the beginning were what one would call members of “organized families.” They needed a way to enter legitimate business opportunities, and I provided the means to achieve this goal. After I’d amassed enough capital, I’d switched gears and moved into an industry that had been my love since childhood.

  Yachting.

  Well, more shipbuilding. From the time I was a kid, I would spend nearly every summer with my grandfather refurbishing old yachts that he’d bought for a bargain.

  Pop, as I called him, had said manual labor helped him remember he’d come from a long line of men who worked with their hands. Pop had grown up working in the shipyards of Maine, helping with all aspects of ship building.

  Pops would have probably remained in Maine, if he hadn’t fallen for a Hollywood yacht owner’s daughter who was vacationing there. Instead of my great-grandfather trying to keep my grandmother away from a lowly dock worker, he’d taken Pops under his wing and brought him to California and taught him the financing business of films.

  Pops’s love for the water had never waned in all the years he lived in California, and he’d moved back with Gran to Maine when he’d retired and passed the reins of Burton Productions to my father. Almost as soon as he settled, he hired a crew of five and started building small sailing vessels that he’d only sell if the mood struck him. I was lucky enough to inherit the last boat we worked on together before he passed away.

  I’d started Burton Builders two years before I’d met Kai as a way to pay tribute to Pops and the home he and Gram had given me while my parents lived their movie-star lifestyles.

  Today, the company was one of the premier custom yacht builders in the world. The ship I had docked off the coast of this island was the pinnacle example of the product.

  “You’re going to have to stop watching my sister like a man starved, or I’m going to have to punch you,” Kevin said as he sat beside me on the sand.

  “Fuck off, Alexander. I came here to be alone.”

  “It’s just gross. The last thing a man wants to know is that one of his friends has seen and wants to see his sister in the biblical sense.”

  “You’re such an asshole.” I shook my head and grabbed the beer he handed me, taking a deep drink. “Besides, aren’t you the one who’s helping me build a house here for her to live in?”

  Kevin had a lot of contacts, some of them in French Polynesia, who knew all the ins and outs of building in the area. Without him, I would never have gotten even the permission to buy the land, let alone permits to build. Kevin and I had grown close over the years and he’d actually been at my apartment the day I discovered Kai had left me with that stupid fucking note on the kitchen island. He’d flown to Vegas to help with the proposal I’d planned; instead, he’d helped me see past the end of the bottle and kept me from drowning my pain in liquor.

  “Just for the record, she watches you too. Kai just doesn’t make it as obvious as you do though.”

  I’d noticed the desire in her beautiful eyes over the last few days. She’d never been able to hide her attraction to me or how her body reacted to my presence. What pissed me off was her refusal to acknowledge there was still something between us.

  I had to get the stubborn woman to speak to me, so we could get to the bottom of our issues and fix them.

  I had a little over three weeks left, and I couldn’t afford to lose another day.

  “Any suggestions on getting her to want to be alone with me for even a second?”

  “Honestly, no. I’ve never seen her avoid anyone. She’s usually so in your face and straightforward that this is freaking my parents out too. Maybe it’s time to ambush her.”

  “With your dad around? I don’t think so. The man may be in his sixties but he isn’t someone to mess with, especially when it comes to his oldest daughter.”

  I wasn’t a weak man by any account, years of mixed martial arts training and working on boats had kept me in shape. But I stood no chance against an angry father wanting to protect his baby.

  “Then I suggest you sneak over to her bungalow and make her listen there. It’s far enough away from the family that it will give you the privacy to get it out on the table.”

  “If this goes wrong, I’m totally going to blame you for suggesting it.”

  “Are you saying you’re scared of a five-foot-two sea sprite with a temper?”

  “That’s exactly what I’m saying.” I stood, handing Kevin my bottle.

  “Where are you going?”

  “To wait out Kai at her bungalow. Despera
te times call for desperate measures.”

  Kailani

  “Is everything set for the trip to the motu?” I asked Raquel as I skimmed the last of the transportation schedule for the family arriving tomorrow.

  It was near midnight and I was exhausted. Trying to balance time with my family and my duties as general manager were harder than I’d expected. No matter how efficient my staff was, the responsibility for the LB was on me. It was my job to check and double-check everything so the resort’s five-star rating remained a permanent part of its future.

  “Yes. One of Mr. Burton’s vessels will arrive a little before seven in the morning and the staff will stock the ship and be ready for everyone for a prompt ten o’clock departure.”

  “Do you want me to stay behind to handle my crazy aunts when they arrive?”

  Raquel folded her arms across her body and frowned. “I’ve got it, boss. Go play guide for your sisters and try to have some fun. Besides, according to your horoscope for the day, the next twenty-four hours will be one of your only chances to relax until mercury moves out of your sign.”

  “As if I needed an astrology prediction to give me that piece of news.”

  “Well then, what are you arguing with me about?” She lifted a brow with a smirk.

  Raquel was right. The spa day had been four days ago and I knew this would be one of my few chances to relax under the Polynesian sun until high season ended in September, which was over four months from now. This trip would also give me a chance to check out one of Jax’s new sailing yachts. I’d seen the renderings years ago, but it always was a thrill to see the actual product once it came out of production.

  It had fascinated me how he’d run a ship-building company from landlocked Vegas, but then again, a private jet had allowed him to visit production sites whenever it was required.

  We were lucky Jax had a client who lived in the Cook Islands and had agreed to let us use her new ship for a few days.

  “Before I leave, just another warning: my aunts and cousins are a bit over the top, but they’re harmless. Don’t let them steamroll you.”

  “Stop worrying. My family is no less crazy. I can handle whatever they throw my way.”

  I took a deep breath. “I trust you.”

  “Good, now go get some rest.” She yawned. “I’m going to hit the sheets too.”

  After shutting down my laptop, I rose. “I’ll see you tomorrow evening.”

  “Night-night. I’ll lock up.”

  Fifteen minutes later, I parked the little golf cart I used to drive around the resort at the front door of my bungalow. It was a beautiful two-story home, with a private beach and views I could lose myself in for hours. I opened the door, dropped my keys on an entry table, and went straight to the wine fridge. After pouring myself a healthy glass of my favorite cabernet, I made my way up the stairs to my bedroom and changed out of my work uniform before walking onto the second-story deck overlooking the star-covered ocean.

  Inhaling the warm night air, I took a deep gulp of my wine, letting the alcohol warm me, and stared at the gorgeous house lighting up the distant cove. It wasn’t the first time I’d studied the beautiful home.

  There were many nights I’d made up stories of the man who’d built the mansion, just as many of the locals would do. Sometimes even going as far as to think Jax lived up there and built the place for me. It was worse now because Jax was here, reminding me of the past, of what we’d shared. I knew it was childish to avoid him or pretend he wasn’t there when every nerve in my body was very much aware of his presence.

  Especially my libido.

  I desperately wanted to feel Jax’s hands on my body, demanding my pleasure, forcing me to accept my desires. It had been so easy with him. Hell, until he entered my life, I hadn’t put a name to the things I’d always craved with a man. I needed someone I felt safe enough with to let them control my body, someone who wouldn’t abuse the trust, who understood my need to let go. Jax had been the one to show me there was freedom in giving up control.

  My sisters loved to tease me about the kink aspect of the relationship Jax and I’d shared but it wasn’t something we labeled. It was a natural aspect of who we were.

  I doubted there was ever going to be another man who could make my pulse jump with one heated look or have my core clench with an innocent touch on my back.

  Setting my wine glass down, I rested my hands on the railing and closed my eyes. I could survive three more weeks. I had the willpower to do it.

  “I’d give up a fortune to know what you’re thinking about at this moment, Little Bird.”

  Chapter Six

  Kailani

  My pulse jumped as I whirled around to face Jax. He leaned against the railing closest to the stairs leading down to the lower patio.

  It was as if my thoughts, my memories had conjured him, but I knew the truth. It was his need to talk to me, to throw me off-kilter, to make me lose the control I liked in my life.

  The energy burned between us like a livewire, just as it had been since he’d stepped foot on my resort. However, here we were alone. There was no escaping him now.

  He looked so good. The rolled-up sleeves and open collar of his shirt gave a hint of the tattoos that covered his arms and body and made a woman glimpse the rebel under the polished businessman. The fact I knew every inch of him, the way he kissed, the way he possessed a woman, the way he fucked added to the anxiety now coursing through me.

  “Why are you on my balcony, Jax?”

  His slight smile touched his full lips, and he moved closer to where I stood. “You tell me what you were thinking about and I’ll answer your question.”

  I retreated until my back hit the pillar near the balcony rail, realizing too late that I’d just put myself in a more compromising position than if I’d stayed still and stood my ground.

  “Jax. This area is off-limits to guests.”

  What was the point of having a lone villa away from the resort if no one respected my privacy?

  “Am I only a guest to you, Kai? The last time we were alone, I thought I was the man you loved.”

  Closing my eyes, I tried to hide the pain his words brought forth as well as the tears that burned my eyes.

  Jax cupped my jaw, causing a startled gasp to escape my lips.

  I stared into his stormy gray eyes, seeing the intensity I’d imagined so many times over the last few years.

  He thumbed the wetness dampening my cheeks. “You wouldn’t cry if you didn’t still feel something for me.”

  “Feeling something for you was never the problem. It’s how you felt about me.”

  Confusion flashed over his face, then hurt before it disappeared and was replaced with his standard cool mask.

  “You were my world. My future. My everything.”

  I swallowed, not wanting to scream and tell him to fuck off. If it was true then why had he let me believe I hadn’t mattered, that his career, his ambition, his family were more important than me?

  Instead of voicing my questions, I set a hand on his chest and pushed, but the man wouldn’t budge. Instead, he grabbed hold of my wrists and pinned them above my head.

  A shiver shot down my spine and straight to my clit.

  He loomed over me. The heat of his body, so close to mine, added fuel to the fire of need he seemed to bring forth without trying.

  “You don’t believe me?”

  “It doesn’t matter. It was over two years ago.” I made my best attempt to sound disinterested, knowing good and well I was failing. “We both moved on.”

  His hold only tightened for a fraction of a second before loosening.

  “Is that right?” Holding my gaze, he asked, “How would you know if I moved on or not? You left without looking back.”

  I couldn’t tell him that I kept tabs on him. To see if he was seeing someone else or if he found someone who fit into the world he was born into.

  “Leaving was the only choice I had.”

  “Did you
ever think that I deserved to know the reason you walked out the door?”

  “It doesn’t matter. It’s in the past.”

  “Past? I think not.” He leaned in, grazing his jaw along the column of my neck and causing goose bumps to pebble my skin. “I know every nuance of your body, and the way you’re reacting to me right now says there is no past to us.”

  I bit the inside of my mouth in hopes the pain would help me focus and find a way to get him out of my villa, instead of how incredible he smelled, with hints of the sea, sunshine, and cedarwood.

  “It’s physical. You’re an attractive man.”

  “So, any man would do to scratch an itch?” His erection pressed along the V of my thighs. “Tell me, how many men have stroked your body, tasted your skin, or lost themselves between your legs?”

  His nearness was frazzling my circuits.

  “It’s none of your business.”

  “Did they know how you like the sting of a bite to your shoulder?” I couldn’t help but moan when he nipped the juncture between my neck and shoulder.

  My pussy flooded with desire, soaking my underwear.

  He shifted my hands from above my head and wrapped my palms around the iron railing on either side of the pillar behind my back. “Do they know how wet you get knowing your man is going to make you lose complete control by forcing you to restrain yourself?”

  My fingers flexed around the metal as my pulse jumped into hyperdrive. I shouldn’t be doing this. I shouldn’t let him make me remember.

  It had been so long since I’d felt this type of apprehension and desire.

  He shifted his hands to just under the swell of my bare T-shirt-covered breasts, causing them to swell and my nipples to pucker tight. Then he slid lower, down the sides of my abdomen, over my hips, and around the curve of my ass. “Did your other men know the kind of sexual experiences you crave?”

  He lowered to his knees, and while holding my gaze, he traced a line from my ankles to under my skirt, until he reached my thong. Gripping the sides, he snapped the material with his fingers and let it fall to the floor.