“I fell asleep pretty much right away, too,” he said, leaving out the fact that after holding her in his arms last night, his cock had been as hard as a rock, and that had to be taken care of before he had any hopes of sleep. But he wasn't about to tell her that. Nope. That was information she did not need to know.
As they drove, the road began to narrow. An umbrella of tall trees lined the road. Their branches arched high over the path, blocking out any view of the sky above.
“Everything is so green. Is the whole island like this?” she asked.
“No, one part of the island is more desert-like. It's hotter and dryer. They don't get anywhere near the rainfall that we do. But up in the mountains where we're going now, it's the wettest part of the island. During the winter months, the temperature also drops, and a few of the mountains on other islands do get covered in snow, but none of the mountains on Oahu.”
“That’s really neat. Do you explore the other islands at all?”
“I do, and I’d like to take you to see them while you’re here if you’d like. Each island is unique and different, yet beautiful.”
“That might be nice. We’ll see how today goes, and I’ll decide after that.”
“That’s fair.” He needed to get her past the point of hesitation, but he understood why she wouldn’t just say yes. He was a stranger to her. It didn’t matter that she was his fated mate. She didn’t know that. To a human, the termmatemeant nothing. He had to woo her and all that fun stuff. He had to prove that he was a man of worth and that if she chose him, she would be his world. Nothing and no one would come before her in his eyes.
He drove past curve after curve until they reached the top of the summit. “It’s a short walk from here,” he said, putting the Jeep in park and hopping out.
He popped open her door and lifted her easily from the front seat onto the ground.
“You’re spoiling me. You know that, right? I could have hopped down myself,” she laughed.
“Yes, but that wouldn’t be very gentlemanly of me, would it?”
“I suppose not.” She sighed. “It’s beautiful up here.”
* * *
Emmy stepped awayfrom Kingston before she did something to embarrass her damn self … like beg for him to kiss her. She didn’t know what it was about it, but geez! Her hormones seemed to flare to life whenever he touched her. It was like nothing she had ever experienced. Not in her entire damn life.
Every touch of his sent a surge of heat straight to her core and made her want to climb him like a fucking tree or push him down to the ground and ride him till the cows came home. Either one was fine with her.
A light breeze sent goosebumps creeping across her skin. Kingston’s nostrils flared, and his eyes started to glow once again. He turned his head quickly, acting as if he knew exactly what was happening to him.
“We should get going. We have about twenty minutes until the sun comes up, and I want to make sure we are in place. Trust me, this is something you must see for yourself.”
“Lead the way,” she said.
They hiked quietly along a winding trail for what turned out to be a full five minutes. She was happy she had decided on hiking clothes and shoes before she left the hotel. The walk wasn’t bad. A lot better than she had expected, thanks to the well-used path.
“This seems like a popular spot for hikes.”
“Yeah. Tourists love this area, but then again, so do the locals. I promise it’s worth the short walk. Some people choose to hike the full trail, which is about a seven- to eight-hour trek. I didn’t imagine you would be up for that first thing this morning.” Kingston turned one last corner before the path opened in front of them.
“Ha. No. Thank you for not suggesting we do that. I like hiking, but that sounds ridiculous. Like something straight out of a nightmare.”
Gone were the soaring trees blocking the view. A lone tree stood in the rocky clearing.
“Wow. Talk about a view,” Emmy gasped. “It’s stunning.” She could see the top edge of the sun starting to push above the ocean to the east.
“I figured you’d like the views.”
“I do. Very much so.” She pulled out her phone, wanting to snap a few pictures as the sun continued to climb higher and higher with each passing minute. As the light from the sun hit the valley below, the view changed drastically from one second to the next. “It’s truly magical.”
Not paying attention to where she was or what she was doing, she stumbled over a large rock and nearly fell flat on her face.
Kingston grabbed her and pulled her into his arms with a quickness she hadn’t seen coming.
“Careful, babe. I wouldn’t want you dying up on this damn mountain.”