DIRTY DANCING

Ashley Ladd

1

DIRTY DANCING

By

Ashley Ladd

DIRTY DANCING

Ashley Ladd

2

© copyright Elaine Hopper, February 2004

Cover art by Eliza Black, © copyright February 2004

New Concepts Publishing

5202 Humphreys Road

Lake Park, GA 31636

www.newconceptspublishing.com

Alex, aka Rob Alexander to his family and the government, cursed

the sputtering plane. She was going down in the middle of the South
Pacific, miles from any known civilization. The best he could do was to
find an island to land this baby and pray it was civilized. Otherwise he
might be stuck on it with some long lost World War II kamikaze fighter.

He scowled darkly--better than shark bait at the bottom of the ocean.

Becoming Robinson Crusoe wasn’t a fate much better. He hated coconut
and fish, and he didn’t see himself building a tree house or befriending any
simians.

He scoured his map, hoping his craft would make it to Fiji. Then he

spied a huge land mass not on any of his maps. Frowning, he studied it.
Could his equipment be that far off that this might be New Zealand,
Australia, or South America? Giant, there were bound to be people on that
rock. He was saved.

It was a rocky bastard, without a discernible strip of flat land long

enough to make a feasible runway. Nor did he see any buildings, not even

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so much as a grass hut.

He rubbed his smoothly polished head and twisted his lips. Fuckin’

shit. He’d found volcano central. That big mama looked ready to blow.

“You’re going to have to take me a little further,” he coaxed the dying

plane, patting the wheel.

The bitch spit and hissed at him as if to say, Fly off and die, asshole,

as she hurtled toward the craggy soil. Some loyalty.

If he was a praying man, this would be the time, but he wasn’t enough

of a hypocrite to beg God’s mercy after ignoring Him all these years. If this
was the end, he’d meet it like a man with his head held high.

What a helluva ride. He’d go out like he’d lived his life--in a blaze of

glory. He laughed in the face of death as the ground rushed to meet him.
How many people got to die the way they loved to live?

* * * *

A shooting star pierced the heavens. But no! The fiery luminary fell

to the ground not half a mile distant. The crash rocked the ground hard
enough, Vaiana feared it might set off another volcanic eruption.

“Come, sister,” Vaiana’s youngest sibling Taina pointed at the cloud

of billowing smoke. She pulled the reins on her dragon and pressed her
heels into his scaly sides to propel him into the air. “Perhaps a god has
fallen from the heavens.”

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“Or maybe a demon was cast out. Are you so eager to come face to

face with one?” Or it could be that one of the dragons had crashed and
burst into a ball of flame.

Taina was more impulsive than she. At seventeen rotations, Taina

thought she knew everything. Having seen thirty winter rotations, Vaiana
knew better and was much more cynical. She’d had to grow up beyond her
rotations after their mother ascended into the next life while Taina was but
an infant, leaving their father, the king of Manatua, with twelve irrepressible
daughters. The yoke of her mother’s responsibility had fallen on Vaiana as
the oldest child, since their sire had his hands full running his empire and
trying to prevent war with the neighboring kingdom of Oriata.

Taina glowered at her. “You grow old and boring like Papa. It would

do you good to stretch your horizons.”

Stretch her horizons? She had her hands full with her eleven younger

wild siblings and keeping their nightly excursions secret from their father
and his minions. Taina urged her mount to lift off in flight.

Letting out a pent-up sigh, Vaiana followed, doubting the wisdom of

rushing into a cloud of fire. They had been well versed in dragon
administration, and the first rule was not to enter their flame. “Our
guardians will see to it.” Princesses shouldn’t put themselves in harm’s
way. Hadn’t their father pounded that into their heads since the cradle? It
could be an enemy trick to kidnap them. They weren’t even permitted
outside the palace grounds so they would suffer their father’s fury should he

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discover their illicit outing. He was already having them closely monitored
to discern their secrets. Foolish bravado wouldn’t help their plight.

“Come back here!” she ordered in her most authoritative older sister

voice. Whereas the lethal note would quell most of her sisters, it merely
seemed to incite her youngest sibling to rebellion.

“Pooh on Papa! Like you obey his every command. I don’t see you

staying behind in your bed nightly.” Taina reined her dragon around and
prodded him into motion, winging low over the tree tops so as not to be
detected by the dragon watcher.

Taina had her, and she knew it. She narrowed her eyes at her problem

child. “Payback…,” she warned with her wickedest father-like grin. With a
few flaps of the dragons’ wings, they reached the source of the smoke over
the next ridge. A strange silver dragon lay broken on the rocky ground. It
didn’t look real without scales, and how stiffly it lay. Small fires spit from
several places on its body, as if about to explode.

Vaiana spied a man inside the monster’s belly, unmoving with closed

eyes, blood trickling down his broad forehead. Cursing under her breath,
she admonished her sister, “Help me free him from the dragon’s gullet,
before he is consumed in flame.”

“How could he be alive inside it? No one can live once a dragon eats

them.”

“Perhaps he wields strong magic. Perhaps he really is a god.” The

dragon had fallen from far higher in the heavens than she had ever seen a

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dragon fly. Normal dragons couldn’t breathe the thin oxygen of the clouds.

Taina nodded as she tightened the reins around her fingers. “As you

say, sister.”

They tethered their mounts to a tall tree and then found a sharp-edged

rock and smashed the strange, clear belly of the beast to free the trapped
man. He was heavy, at least six stone, they could barely drag him, strong as
they were. And yet he must be solid muscle as she didn’t detect a
superfluous gram of flesh on him.

“Look at his head,” Taina whispered in awe after they had transported

him a safe ways and laid him prone on a soft mound of grass. She caressed
it unabashedly. “So phallic. So shiny. So satiny,” she crooned.

Trust Taina to find a phallic symbol. She possessed an insatiable

sexual appetite.

Her sister’s hands rubbing the shiny head mesmerized her. No one on

Manatua except the old men, were bald, and even then, not completely
devoid of hair like this stranger.

“You have to feel how smooth it is,” the shameless young woman

said with a wicked twinkle in her eyes. “Like the head of a man’s pe--”

“Taina!” What if the stranger awoke and heard them? He wasn’t one

of their lovers. If their father or one of his guardians were to hear her speak
thus, they would suffer dire consequences.

The unrepentant girl giggled and waved away her fears with a flick of

her slender hand. “Since when did you become a prude? His eyes are very

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heavy, as is his breathing. You must feel its smoothness for yourself. He’ll
never know.”

Vaiana swallowed hard. After she assured herself the man was in no

danger of expiring on their watch, but was merely unconscious, she changed
positions with her sister and settled his head in her lap. Close up, he was
extremely beautiful for a man without a strand of hair. Long black lashes
swept chiseled cheek bones. A long, hawkish nose shadowed strong, firm
lips that looked as if they would enjoy pleasuring a woman.

“Check in his garments for clues to his identity and to which kingdom

his allegiance lies.” Perhaps he was another prince come to divine their
secret and usurp their father’s throne? Pity. If so, his extraordinary head
would wind up in her father’s guillotine like all the others before him. It
would make an unusual addition to her father’s misshapen collection.

Perversely, she thought it would serve him right if that was the case.

All their would-be suitors coveted their kingdom and its treasure. Not one
had loved any of the sisters. How could they? They’d never met prior to
being granted admission to their sleeping chamber to spy on them in the
hopes of winning the grand prize--a royal princess and next in line to rule
the kingdom of Manatua.

How could they meet their soul mates if they were to abide by their

father’s ludicrous decrees? He might as well arrange their unions.

But his obstinate nature and growing insanity prodded him to play his

morbid games. Ever since their mother’s tragic death, he had spiraled

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further and further into the morass of insanity. Perhaps she should pick a
powerful prince to help her rule her kingdom before her father slipped over
the edge of complete insanity. If only one presented himself soon. She
hadn’t seen one in the parade of pansies and stuffed shirts that her father
had imposed upon them. She couldn’t risk the fate of the kingdom and their
loyal subjects to such weak, greedy men. Far better she rule the kingdom
alone, or as a council with her sisters, than at the left hand of such a tyrant.
It wasn’t as if her sexual appetites weren’t being fulfilled quite
adequately….

She couldn’t wait for the sun to set over the horizon so they could

indulge in their nightly pleasure, although she was enjoying the feel of this
stranger’s head in her lap far too much for her sanity’s sake. “Well? Any
clues?”

Squinting, Taina held up a small shiny piece of parchment in the air.

“I cannot make out these strange hieroglyphs. He most likely speaks a
different tongue.”

Shame. This one had more potential than the others. But if he could

not converse in their language, she would never know.

She stroked the sexy head, her womb getting hot. She could get used

to having this man’s head in her lap, his body between her legs. He was
definitely the most unique being she’d ever seen from his lack of hair, to his
very strange manner of garments. All the men of her acquaintance wore
their hair in long, thin braids down to their waist.

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“He’s not awaking. We should take him to the old crone and see if

she can revive him,” Vaiana said, worried about his condition. His system
must have suffered extreme trauma from being consumed by the beast, and
then being hurled to the hard terrain. “But how do we lift him onto our
dragons?”

* * * *

Alex dreamed that a nymph stroked his head. Like silk, her fingers

stroked him lightly. It was a dream from which he never wanted to awaken.
Long tendrils of silky hair teased his face. Soft, luscious breasts pillowed
his head as those magical hands made love to his scalp. If this was the
afterlife, he wished he’d died sooner.

Moaning in pleasure, he opened his groggy eyes and discovered an

angel, not a mere nymph, caressing him. He blinked several times to clear
the fog from his brain. “Yo! Who are yous?” Freaky!

The dark-haired angel gasped and scooted back with a jerk, dropping

his head on the stony ground without warning.

Pain seared his head as sharp rocks tried to give him a lobotomy. A

string of curses tumbled off his swollen tongue. “Friggin’ hell! Why’d you
do that?”

Rubbing his throbbing head, he studied the beautiful Amazons

towering over him. Their midnight black hair was looped in long, complex

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braids with a few tendrils escaping around their round cheeks to soften the
otherwise severe style. Their dress resembled a cross between Polynesian
island and Arabian nights with large star fish covering their otherwise
unencumbered breasts, and sheer genie-style pantaloons draped over their
long, shapely legs.

His cock twitched at the sight, and he chafed at his inability to string

together a coherent sentence. He didn’t know why, since the women in his
neighborhood went around in G-strings and all manner of risqué dress. It
was a wonder those starfish didn’t fall off the ample mounds.

“Are you here to seek our hand in marriage?” the younger woman

asked bluntly, her slightly slanted eyes cold as ice.

Marriage? His palms grew clammy. Not in a million years. And

especially not to a couple of forest angels he knew nothing about, despite
how extremely sexy he found them. He could bed a different woman
nightly back home, and not one would care about winning a wedding band
from him. Marriage was almost passé in the city.

“Identify yourself,” the older woman asked suspiciously. “You are

not a royal subject. You have strangely shaped eyes, and your skin tone is
too light to be of Manatua.”

Twirling her locks, the younger woman sighed. “He is either another

doomed prince come to seek our fortune or an enemy emissary.”

Prince? Spy? Doomed? He sat up swiftly, hating being at such a

disadvantage to a pair of women. Blood rushed to his head, and the pain

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almost blinded him, forcing him to lie back down and shield his eyes from
the sun’s merciless glare. He must have lost his shades in the wreckage.
His eyes couldn’t stand the bright South Pacific sun without them.

Chuckling darkly, he shot back, “I’m not into games. Me a prince or

a James Bond? That’d be the day.” As friggin’ unlikely as him walking
down the aisle to be shackled for life.

“Then who are you? What brings you to our land?” The older

Amazonian anchored her hands on her hips regally and thrust her chin high.

“Just a lost pilot, lady, with the misfortune of crash landing on this

rock.” He looked around at the unfamiliar hostile environment, wishing he
was back in Queens in familiar hostile territory. Surprises didn’t settle well
with him.

The flapping of wings and a sudden breeze alerted Alex to another

presence. “Vaiana! Taina! Move back!” A deeply authoritative male
voice commanded.

The older woman leapt to her feet and stepped back, pulling the

younger woman with her. They curtsied with the grace of an aristocrat, but
all color drained out of their formerly rosy cheeks.

He looked toward the source of the male voice and froze. A man

dressed in kingly robes sat astride a flying dragon that hovered above them.

Dragon? Fire-breathing, mythical creatures that only existed in

movies and fairy tales? Alex blinked to erase the impossible mirage from
his vision but, it was still there when he looked again. This definitely wasn’t

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Heaven. Hell maybe.

“What are you doing outside the palace walls unescorted and dressed

such?” The man’s brows arched so high in his forehead they nearly
disappeared under his hairline.

“Father, we, uh, saw a shooting star … and we followed it,” the

younger woman spluttered.

“Then we heard a loud noise, like thunder,” the older woman added,

nodding.

“And you rushed here so fast you were able to arrive before my

contingent?” The man sighed, looking pointedly at the women’s feet.
“Another inexplicable mystery. You and your sisters will be the death of
me, and not one of you have married so that there will be a king to rule the
kingdom once I grow too old.”

Alex absorbed this bit of information. Dragons? Kings?

Daughters? Mysteries? Although this place resembled Hawaii with its
palm trees and soft ocean breezes, it couldn’t be any U.S. territory. Not
with flying dragons and royalty.

He was losing it. He obviously suffered from a concussion, or he was

on a morphine drip that was causing these delusions. Still, just in case, he
asked, “Is there a U.S. consulate? I’m an American citizen. They’ll
straighten out this shit.” All eyes turned on him blankly. Finally the King
spoke. “U.S.? American? Shit? I know not such words.”

“The United States of America is my country.” Who didn’t know the

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States?

A sunny smile dawned over the king’s bearded face, and he winked.

“Ah. A new kingdom. Did Oriata splinter from revolution again? I
presume you come to seek my daughter’s hand. I must warn you, they are
sly devils that have outwitted all their many previous suitors. A brave man
you must be.”

Alex struggled to his feet and swayed, his heart beating rapidly. “I’m

not a suitor, or a prince, or a spy. As I told your daughters, I’m a lost
traveler. My radio went dead, and then my plane crashed.” His lousy cell
phone was way out of reach, too. “If you have a phone, I’ll call for someone
to help.”

“Phone?” Everyone stared curiously again.
“A telephone.” When no dawning understanding came, he

pantomimed the instrument and tried different phrasing. “A communication
device. Like a radio.”

“Plane. Telephone. Radio. I know not these things,” the king said.

“Are they magical?”

Alex did a double take. Was this dude for real? He must’ve landed

in some Third World ghetto. Or maybe this was hell. No U.S. No
technology. Everyone but him was nuts. Or in the immortal words of Paul
McCartney, maybe he was the fool on the hill?

“Perhaps you’ve been touched by your trauma? Let us take you to

our healer for observation.” The king snapped his fingers high above his

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head, and his men hustled Alex onto the back of a nostril-flaring dragon.

* * * *

“What possessed you to sneak out of the palace?” Their father glared

down his long patrician nose at Vaiana and Taina.

Before either woman could speak, he continued, “Whatever possessed

you? My fortune is dwindling away replacing your shoes and your
undergarments!” he hissed. “How do you wear out your shoes and lose your
undergarments nightly? Where do you go? What are you doing? What is
in your heads?”

Vaiana squeezed Taina’s hand tightly, silently warning her to still her

tongue. If their father knew they rendezvoused with their lovers nightly,
and danced and made love till dawn, he’d have their heads.

“Either this stops now, or the whole lot of you will be manacled in

chastity belts until I award your hand in marriage and you become another
man’s headache!” he roared. “No other king has such problems with his
heirs. I should have remarried and given you another mother to help me
raise you. You girls are far more trouble than our fiercest adversary, and it’s
going to stop.

Chastity belts? He wouldn’t! He couldn’t!
The evil glint in his eyes assured her he would. “Father, we are

merely restless sleepers. We walk in our sleep….”

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“Where?” he bellowed. “To the farthest kingdom and back? And I

suppose you lose your panties on the way? What kind of a foolish old man
do you take me for? If I find your lovers, I will not only have their heads
but their dicks!”

Vaiana tried not to wince at the vulgar image and further inflame her

sire’s fury. He meant every word, and she couldn’t permit him to carry
through his threat. As long as they had their special wine, they and their
lovers were safe. It was time to make another visit to the old crone for more
of the magic sleeping elixir and birth control.

* * * *

“Tee hee hee hee,” someone cackled rudely, awaking Alex.
He squeezed open one eye to see who dared interrupt his sleep, and

recoiled, aghast. An old crone stirred a bubbling cauldron whose stench
almost knocked him out again.

He wasn’t entirely sure it was only the old witch’s brew that smelled

so nasty, like a vinegary mold. Her dirty, unwashed clothes might play a
large part in the stink. So could the decaying contents of the jars filling
several tumble-down wooden shelves.

As if she could hear him blink, she turned an evil eye on him. The

other eye, a faded wooden marble, remained eerily still.

“So the strange one finally awakes?” She hobbled over to him on a

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wooden peg leg that sounded like gunfire on the wooden planked floor.
“What you called, boy?”

Boy? No one had called him that in over a decade.
Before he could reply, she jabbed his skull with a gnarled finger.

“You got a disease? Where’d your hair go?”

Staring at the apparition, he jerked away. “It’s the rage where I come

from.”

“And where may that be? On the other side of the water?” She

squinted at him for several long moments.

He wasn’t sure how much personal information to divulge, if any.

From the look of her, she might perform some emasculating voodoo ritual.
“You could say that.”

“Name. Don’t keep an old woman waiting. I don’t got many

moments left in this world.”

He sat up and watched his hostess closely. “Alex.” He didn’t divulge

his full name, just the handle most people called him. Hopefully her voodoo
wouldn’t work without his full name if she decided to cast a hex on him.
“What am I doing here?”

“I’m the healer. The king’s men brought you here for me to doctor.”

She selected a vile-looking jar he presumed contained something like
mugwort, and thrust it under his nose. “Drink this.”

Time to abstain. He wasn’t going to drink that vile looking shit. He

held out his hand to ward it off. “Sorry. I don’t drink.” It just ranked

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lowest of the low on his chow hound meter.

The old witch laughed uproariously. “It’s healing herbs. If I wanted

to do away with you, I had ample opportunity while you slept away the past
three days.”

He blinked. “I was out that long?” He really hit his head hard in the

crash.

“And if you want to get your wits about you fast, and you’re going to

need them, I’d drink up.”

What the fuck did she mean by that? That he’d need his wits about

him? He stared at the glass suspiciously. Then he was almost thrown off
his chair by a ferocious roar followed a split second later by flame shooting
past the open front door.

Fire-breathing, flying lizards freaked him out … and he didn’t freak

easily.

“What? You never saw a dragon before?” She clucked her tongue

loudly and shook her straggly head. “I’d better make you a stronger batch.
You done hit your noggin’ hard.”

He grabbed the drink and downed the vile concoction. “What in the

fuck’s in this stuff?”

“Juice of dragon eye. Ground unicorn horn. Dolphin excrement--”
He spluttered it from his mouth and wiped his mouth on his shirt

sleeve. She was trying to poison him!

The old woman just shook her head and took the glass. “It’s your

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funeral.”

Princess Vaiana swept regally into the room amidst a jangle of shells.

Her pantaloons showcased her gorgeous long legs, and he wet his lips as he
scooted back into the shadows, his attention riveted on the exquisite beauty.
He’d learned the hard way in the New York gang wars a lifetime ago during
his rebellious teen years to sit back and size up the enemy before making a
move. Moreover, this potential enemy had a fiery monster at her command.

The graceful beauty sought out the crone and spoke in hushed tones

that carried to him in the quiet hut. “The elixir is almost empty. We need
more. Papa’s threatening to foist another spy on us.”

The crone tilted her gray, straggly head in Alex’s direction and

shushed her. “Be careful what you say. The walls have ears.”

Vaiana’s gaze followed the old woman’s, and she gasped. “What is

he doing here?”

“I’ve been nursing him. He just awoke after a long sleep.”
Caught, Alex emerged from his corner, squaring his shoulders. “If

you’re worried about me, don’t. I’m not the marrying kind. Plus, I’m eager
to get home.” Back to civilization where dragons were but a myth and
beheading only happened in the worst part of Queens.

The young beauty shot him a skeptical glance and whispered

something to the witch as she accepted a sack which she tethered to her
thigh with a strip of thong. Then she slipped out the door surreptitiously
with nary a backward glance.

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Since when did Princesses have to slither around in the dark? What

was the wench up to?

Curious, he peered out the window, awed how lithely she mounted

the winged beast, how expertly she took control of it. Mesmerized, he
watched the pair become a speck against the awesome sunset absent of any
of the pollution of his world.

“Not the marrying type, says you?” His hostess eyed him up and

down as if he was an unknown species. “I see you appreciate our princess
well enough.”

He puffed out his chest and met her gaze squarely. “I can appreciate

a woman’s attributes without getting hitched.”

“You might just change your mind if given a choice between

marrying one of the princesses and losing your head.” She laughed at her
sick joke.

He narrowed his eyes, thinking back over everything he’d heard since

arriving in this strange land. The old woman knew the princesses’ secret.
“What was that potion you handed Vaiana?”

The woman’s spine went rigid, and the tic in her good eye went

spastic. “Some herbs,” she murmured too nonchalantly to be innocent.

He crossed the room and gazed outside again, relieved when he didn’t

see any dragons circling the hut. “You know their secret. Why don’t you
tell the king and win his favor? Looks like you could use some of his
treasure.”

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She spat on the dusty ground in front of his feet and scowled. “I

don’t assist my enemies.”

“And yet you help your enemy’s daughter?” Stranger and

stranger….

“They’re my blood, my sister’s children. They deserve far better than

their lot.” She smacked her toothless gums together and then pursed her
papery thin lips.

He digested this surprising news, having difficulty picturing her sister

marrying royalty or being related to the gorgeous monarch.

Surprisingly, his energy ebbed back, and he felt stronger than he ever

had in his life. It must be the ground unicorn horn. Juice of dragon eye and
dolphin excrement surely didn’t have such magical properties. “Is there a
boat or any way to get off this … rock?” He’d nearly called it godforsaken
then thought better. His hostess might not appreciate such an insult to her
home and turn him into a toad.

“Boats? Sea monsters patrol our shores. Unless you want to end up

in one of their bellies….” She proceeded to cook a meal for them and set a
bowl of porridge before him and scooped some out of her bowl with her
arthritic fingers. “Tell me about this distant world of yours that never heard
of dragons or sea monsters. I could use a spot of entertainment to brighten
my dreary days.”

How could anyone have a dreary minute with dragons flying in and

out of the front yard? As he gobbled down his surprisingly delicious

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porridge like a starved man, he told her about New York City and the tall
buildings, the mass transit, and the gang wars as her ebony eye grew large.

“You may just be the new blood our kingdom needs to put things

right.”

Her comment rendered him speechless. Was she saying she wanted

him to marry one of her nieces and rule this primitive society that didn’t
even know what a radio was? “Look, this is all very flattering, but I’m not
staying. I have to get home.”

“You have a wife and children?”
“No….”
“You betrothed?” The woman leaned forward and gazed deeply into

his eyes as if she could read his mind.

“Not any more.” The only woman he had ever loved enough to ask to

marry him had run off with his stepbrother the night before their wedding,
making an idiot of him in the eyes of his family and friends. He’d sworn
he’d never let another woman get close enough to make a fool of him again.
That had been more than four years ago, and he’d taken pleasure where he
could find it without letting his heart get involved--which suited him just
fine.

A broom clanged to the kitchen floor. “Company’s coming,” the old

woman announced.

At that instant, the flapping of wings almost blew down the cottage,

alerting them to more dragons overhead. His heart beat rapidly, hoping it

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was the Princess Vaiana returning.

Her father swaggered in instead, followed closely by a contingent of

soldiers bearing ancient arms.

The old crone rose to her feet and bowed and motioned to Alex to do

the same.

“We came to check on our guest, Kaipua. I see he is looking fit and

ready for new adventure.”

The strange name fit her.
“And what adventure might that be?” Kaipua asked shrewdly,

sending sideways glances at Alex as she rose from her curtsy.

“I have decided he would make a fine husband for one of my

beautiful daughters--or a fine addition to my collection.” He laughed, the
insanity in his voice chilling Alex’s bones. “Is he ready to travel?”

“I do not advise so, Sire. Give me one more night to observe him, to

make sure he is free from disease and that his head is right.” Kaipua
stepped in front of Alex protectively, and then lowered her voice to address
the king again. “You want to be sure your future son-in-law is truly worthy
of your daughter. Who knows what kind of strange diseases he brings with
him from his far land? Let me give him a cleansing elixir to ascertain his
health.”

“So be it,” the king said with a sidelong glance at Alex. “Either he

finds out what they’ve been doing nightly, or I will chain every one of them
into chastity belts.”

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Outrage flashed across Kaipua’s darkened eyes, but she held her

tongue until the king had flown away. “I fear the king will throw away to
the key to their chastity belts if he finds out what they’ve been up to.”

His curiosity whetted, Alex followed the crone around her cabin as

she picked up stray clothes and dishes. “So you do know. What have they
been up to?” His imagination went crazy. Why did any father put a chastity
belt on his daughters? They must have been very naughty and troublesome.
His cock flexed thinking about a naughty Princess Vaiana. She was some
babe, and he wouldn’t mind helping her to be naughty--with him.

But if she already had a lover, she wouldn’t be looking for another.

Yet, if she truly loved him, why hadn’t she taken him to husband since her
father was so anxious to marry her off?

“I have my ways. I am their maternal aunt, am I not?” Kaipua turned

and let her glance rake over him. “You just might do--if you’d agree to stay
here for the rest of your days.”

The rest of his days. He didn’t know if he could survive without the

modern conveniences to which he was accustomed--planes, phones,
televisions, air conditioning, indoor plumbing.… Or if he could get used to
the winged beasts of the air, the only transportation, other than the foot
variety, he’d seen since landing on this island.

“I hardly know the princess….”
“What betrothed couple knows each other before the wedding

ceremony?” Kaipua looked at him as if he had sprouted another head.

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“Marriage to a princess is every commoner’s dream.”

And what made her think he was a commoner and not a prince? Not

that he knew much of his lineage as his mother had been a foster child
bounced around from home to home and his real father had taken off when
he’d been but a pup. He supposed he could have royalty in his line, but he
didn’t particularly care one way or the other. He was who he was. Besides,
his country didn’t have royalty, and they had survived very well without it.
“It’s not my dream.” The vision of Vaiana, naked and beckoning to him,
teased him. He tried to push the thought away before his lust for the
beautiful princess became full blown.

“Then I wish you well finding a way back home before the king

beheads you.”

How feudal! Alex seethed. It wasn’t as if he could click his ruby red

heels three times and magically wish his way home to Aunty Em. His plane
was wrecked beyond recognition. It was a wonder he had survived and
could still walk around.

“Okay. I’m dense but not that dense. How do I find out the

princesses’ secret? I take it they’ve thwarted every man who has tried.”

“They’re tricky all right, but I can help.”
Great! It seemed he was about to have a new aunt, as well as a new

bride. He leaned forward to glean the information before the king or one of
his men returned and he would be doomed to the gallows. “I’m game.”

“I thought you’d see it my way.” Kaipua hobbled over to the broken-

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down shelves and pulled one of her potions from it and thrust it into his
hands. “This is what the princesses use to put their unwary guests to sleep.
Do not, I repeat, do not, eat or drink anything they offer you.”

The little darlings were drugging their unwanted intendeds. He

should’ve known. They were sly little devils, and he was supposed to take
one of them to wife? He’d have to sleep with one eye open if he did, or risk
a dagger to his back.

He frowned. “Won’t they change their routine if I don’t accept their

offer of food?”

The old woman tapped her bewhiskered chin and looked heavenward.

Then a sly grin stole over her lips. “We will make a sponge to strap under
your chin to absorb any liquid they try to give you. Feed any food to their
dragon so they will fall asleep and not sound an alarm.”

“Even if I elude their trap, how do I follow them if they leave the

palace, without being noticed?”

“And leave the palace they will.” She rummaged through a decrepit

hope chest and dragged out an old cloak which she thrust at him. “I have
just the thing.”

He eyed the coat warily. “How will that help?”
Kaipua’s sly smile enveloped her entire face. She draped it around

her drooped shoulders and disappeared from view.

Awed, he gaped, his jaw hanging. How Harry Potter! And he

thought these people backward? Perhaps they were way ahead of his world.

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Something poked him from behind, and he whirled around but saw

nothing. “Who’s there?”

Kaipua cackled by his ear and threw the cloak off herself. “Tis I. If I

let you use the cloak of invisibility, you must swear on your life that you
will be true to whichever one of my nieces you take to wife, and that you
will rule the kingdom benevolently when it comes your turn.”

He would rule the kingdom? Not whichever princess he selected?

He felt like the grand prize winner on one of the popular reality television
shows. He could do this, although if he managed to pull this off with his
head intact, he would rule jointly with his wife.

The old woman packed the cloak in a knapsack in preparation for his

adventure and handed it to him. “May the gods go with you.” She captured
his face between her weathered hands and kissed him on both cheeks.

He wasn’t sure he believed in God but hoped He would smile

favorably upon him if one did exist. He didn’t think the sisters would be as
easy to fool as their aunt believed … if she was even telling the truth and
not setting him up.

* * * *

King Tapunui sat regally upon his throne as he gazed down his long

nose at Vaiana. “You may rise and approach the throne, daughter.”

Vaiana rose from her curtsy and stepped forward so that she was eye

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to eye with her sire on his dais. “Why have you summoned me, father?”

“Another prospect for your hand will come to your sleeping chamber

this eve. Are you sure you won’t tell me how it is that your shoes grow full
of holes and your undergarments go missing nightly? What black magic do
you practice?”

Vaiana could not, would not, sell out her beloved sisters or their aunt

to her father. Chastity belts would be the least of their worries if he was to
find out. Her aunt had provided them with more of the sleeping elixir which
would safeguard their secret.

When she remained stoically silent, her father released a pent-up sigh.

“It would be better for you to confide in me than for me to find out from my
own sources.”

She kept her silence. He would never understand. Could any father?

Especially a royal monarch who demanded that every subject obey his every
command?

“If only your mother had lived. How is a man supposed to raise

twelve spirited daughters on his own?” He massaged his creased forehead
and looked heavenward. “How did I offend the gods to deserve this?”

A volcano rumbled as if in answer.
“The gods are angry. Be sure you do not bring a curse down upon

our heads with your wicked behavior!” He dismissed her with a wave of his
bejeweled hand, refusing to look at her as if he found the sight of her
disgusting.

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Vaiana departed swiftly, anxious to inform her sisters of the turn of

events. She ran most of the way to the chambers she shared with her sisters.

Taina greeted her at the entrance. “Why are you out of breath? Did a

rogue dragon chase you?”

“Worse.” Vaiana locked the doors behind her and then beckoned all

her sisters to join them. “Father grows angrier. He is determined to find out
how we ruin our shoes and lose our panties. He is sending another prince
into our midst tonight to glean our secret and put an end to our dalliances.”

“But I’ll never see Heiva again. Father might have him beheaded!”

Eeva, the seventh daughter wailed.

Vaiana revealed the new batch of elixir. “Fret not. Our loving aunt

sends us new sleeping potion. But once we dispose of this spy, we must be
more careful. We must not lose our underwear nightly or come home with
holes in our shoes.”

“But Heiva loves to rip my panties off with his teeth!” Eeva wrapped

her arms about her slight form and pirouetted as if she was dancing in her
lover’s arms.

“All our lovers are wild,” Taina said, nodding emphatically.
“They will just have to be wild in other ways,” Vaiana demanded,

asserting her authority as the oldest sister. “Tis that or risk father beheading
them.”

The sisters sobered and nodded. “Why can’t we just marry our

lovers? Father wants to see us married,” Eeva asked.

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Taina cuffed her playfully on the shoulder. “Because they are our

sworn enemies, and he would rather die than allow us to look at them much
less marry them. You know how much he hates them.”

Heavy footsteps approached the chambers and rattled the gates. Then

heavy banging ensued. “Permit me entry, dear daughters. Tis I, your sire.”

“They’re here!” Eeva said in a stage whisper, inciting her sisters to

whisper amongst one another.

Vaiana motioned for her sisters to grow calm and quiet. “We must

act nonchalant, as if we have nothing to hide.”

They nodded, quelling the fear in their eyes and forcing a smile to

their lips. Then they followed Vaiana as she opened the gate to the king and
his entourage.

The unwitting traveler was escorted inside, the early evening sun

caressing his polished head. “Vaiana and Taina, you will remember our
esteemed guest, Robert Alexander.”

“What a strange name,” several sisters said in awe. Vaiana had never

heard anything like it, either. He must come from a strange place, indeed.

The sisters oohed and awed over the man’s muscles, despite the evil

eye Vaiana practiced on them. Her stomach twisted into knots each time
she caught one of her sisters ogling the enemy. Didn’t they realize he
wanted to end their fun? To change their way of life? A little testosterone
and they swooned, forgetting their mission.

The king strolled around their chambers, inspecting them. “I have

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already served our esteemed guest his dinner, thus he will not need to dine
with you this evening.”

The sisters exchanged worried looks, making Vaiana want to groan.

Had she not taught them anything? Their father was sure to notice their
culpability. They didn’t need to persuade the stranger to eat, just to drink a
swallow of wine. Strong, the potion would lull him to sleep within a
manner of minutes and keep him in his slumberous state for many hours.

Their guest intercepted their worried glances and quirked a brow high

at Vaiana. The man was too intuitive, much more so than their previous
suitors. They might have to skip tonight’s adventures and disappoint their
waiting princes. Ra'iarii, her prince, would not be pleased. She grew tired
of his possessiveness and lack of adventure, so she wondered why she
should care. Still, a night in his arms was far superior to a cold night alone
in her hard bed.

King Tapunui turned to Robert Alexander and led him to the guest

bed. “You shall bed here tonight. Do not touch any of my daughters, or
there will be severe consequences. Report to me their nightly escapades,
and the rewards will be beyond your wildest dreams of avarice. You will
win the hand of my daughter of your choice and rule Manatua side by side
once I step down from my throne. Fail, and the consequences are dire.”

The giant of a man nodded silently, his hands linked behind his back,

under the knapsack strapped to his back. He bowed to her father. “I shall
report my findings in the morning, your highness.”

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“Very well. I look forward to your report. I shall reward you very

well indeed if you tell me all I wish to know.” The king smiled
benevolently upon his newest hope for answers, pivoted on the ball of his
foot, and turned to his daughters. “I expect you to behave, even if you have
never granted me that wish. Believe me or not, but I am a doting father who
only wishes your happiness above all else.”

Vaiana almost believed him. Could he be mellowing in his old age?

Threats of chastity belts and beheading led her to believe otherwise. But
miracles sometimes happened….

The king closed the distance between himself and Vaiana. “As the

eldest, I expect you to see that our guest is treated with the utmost respect
and hospitality.” With that, he kissed her cheek and departed with his men.

She eyed Robert Alexander for several long moments, wondering

which of the sisters he would choose if given the opportunity. “What shall
we call you? Robert Alexander?” That seemed too long and formal, but she
knew not his customs.

“Alex,” he said hunkering down on his bed. “What do we do now?

Stare at the moon or at each other?”

“We eat our evening meal,” Vaiana said, miffed by his supercilious

attitude as if he didn’t have a doubt in the world he would discover their
secret, that it was just a matter of time.

He only had one night, and he would be sleeping it away. Pity that

her father would add Alex’s handsome head to his collection, but it couldn’t

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be helped.

She let loose her braids, finger combed her waist length hair, and

tossed it over her shoulders. “You are welcome to join us. It is not often we
have male companionship.”

“Thanks, but I already ate.” His bold gaze raked over her, and a

wicked glint lit his eyes. She didn’t need to be a mind reader to know he
wanted to get into her panties. The knowledge made her tingle with
unwanted desire, and she tried to push it away.

“But you are here to observe us. Isn’t your purpose served better

doing so up close than from across the hall?” She frowned, her brows
pulling together. Men were strange, and this one was the strangest one of
all, even surpassing her father.

Alex narrowed his eyes. “Brains as well as beauty. Your father is

right. You’re sly.”

She bit back a pleased smile. So he thought her beautiful and smart.

Too bad he would perish on the morrow. She could get used to such
compliments. She held out her hand to him. “Join us. Let me introduce
you to my sisters.”

She went down the line at their table. “Taina, the youngest, you’ve

already met. Then there’s Eeva, Aiata, Fetia, Iriata, Maeva, Miri, Poehina,
Nu'utea, Ranitea, and Erita.” Then she motioned to herself. “I am Vaiana,
the eldest.”

“Welcome!” Her sisters fawned and fussed over Alex as if they’d

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never seen a man before. Absolutely disgusting! If only their lovers could
see them, drooling over this unusual man. She would never lower herself to
such levels.

“Get hold of yourselves,” she hissed in Eeva’s and Miri’s ears. “He’s

the enemy.”

“Must we serve him the potion?” Miri’s lush lips tugged down. “He

would make a sexy and strong husband.”

“What would Vetea say if he knew you coveted another man over

him?” she whispered on a hiss. Vaiana tried not to show her shock. Were
her sisters ready to settle down? Were they tired of their nightly
adventures?

“If I was to become Alex’s wife, Vetea would have no say in the

matter.” Miri’s volcanic eyes adored Alex’s muscular form. “This one is a
man in a million. There is no other like him. Who wouldn’t want to be the
consort of such a man?”

Vaiana’s head pounded furiously. So her sisters were mutinying.

Why should she try to save their sorry butts when they didn’t want to be
saved? Didn’t they know that if Alex or any man found out their dearly
held secret, that he could only choose one of them? The others would be
bereft, probably locked in iron chastity belts.

She made room for him next to her where she could keep an eye on

him and ply him with wine and potion. She ignored her sisters’ covetous
evil-eyed glares in her direction. She ate several bites and sipped her wine,

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all the while eyeing him with her peripheral vision, disconcerted that he
spent most of his time studying her.

Taina finally distracted him long enough so she could slip potion into

his drink. “Wouldn’t you like to toast your marriage to one of my sisters?”

Alex turned his piercing gaze on her. “That’s still premature, isn’t it?

I only toast done deals.”

She bit back a curse. He had to drink the elixir, or they would be

stuck here all evening. The evening shadows grew long, and time grew
short. “Then join us in celebration,” she said in her huskiest, most seductive
voice as she topped his glass with wine.

“I don’t drink.” He didn’t deign to touch the wine goblet.
The incorrigible man thwarted her every attempt to trick him into

taking the magic potion. He certainly looked as if he’d enjoy a good pint of
ale or fine wine. Palpable, she could smell his lie, his suspicion.

She had no choice but to challenge him. “Are you scared of a little

wine? Surely your throat must be parched after so many hours without
drink. Perhaps you would prefer some pineapple juice or water?”

All her sisters stopped eating and stared at them, waiting for his reply.

Alex tossed her a half smile, as if accepting her challenge, and she drew in a
huge breath of relief. Finally. Their secret would be safe.

“A little wine shouldn’t hurt.” Alex took a sip of wine and smiled at

her.

Excellent! He’d be asleep within the half hour. She returned his

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smile, the knots in her stomach loosening.

* * * *

The sly devil thought she had him. The two sponges in his cheeks

absorbed the wine, and he spit them into the bushes at his earliest
opportunity. Then he pretended to yawn. Flinging his arms wide, he went
for the Grammy. “This tropical air really tires a guy out.” He stretched out
on the recliner, his feet dangling over the end. Obviously they had no men
over six feet tall like himself in this kingdom.

“Do you feel okay?” Eeva asked perching on the side of his lounger,

earning an evil glare from the senior princess. She looked genuinely
worried on his behalf.

“I’ll be fine, sweetheart.” He yawned again and pretended to fall into

a deep sleep, snoring to add to the authenticity.

They left him undisturbed for a good half hour before approaching

him. It was difficult to stay still so long and stay alert.

“You did it!” Taina whispered loudly to her oldest sibling. “He’s out

for the night.”

“Time to go,” Vaiana said, locking the chamber door, as she stared at

him intently.

Vaiana opened a secret passage under her bed and led her sisters into

it single-file. Taina pulled up the rear.

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He threw the cloak of invisibility over his head and slipped through

the passageway with the youngest sister just before the entrance slid shut,
making sure he didn’t touch any of the sisters lest he alert them to his
presence.

They walked for a good half an hour underground through the dimly

lit tunnel, giggling in hushed tones. Wherever they were headed, they were
excited. Considering that they lost their panties nightly, he presumed they
were anticipating a lot of pleasure.

Finally, they emerged into the moonlight, inside palatial grounds with

the most beautiful garden he had ever seen. Spears of moonlight filtered
through palm trees and danced on the silvery lake.

Then twelve of the most handsome young men he had ever seen

appeared and swept them off their feet.

Fast, rhythmic music infiltrated the sultry night, and the couples

began to dance. Fully clothed at first, and then the clothing started coming
off. First one star fish, then the next so that their glorious breasts swung
free as they got down and dirty.

He couldn’t take his gaze off Vaiana, exquisitely bathed in the silvery

moonlight. The vision of her pert breasts bathed in the silvery starlight
made his mouth water and his cock swell in his pants. What a hottie!

When she shimmied down on her partner who was hung like a flea, he

wanted to deck the dude and take his place. Yo! He could pleasure the lady
a whole lot better than this moron.

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Vaiana swayed seductively in front of her prince, lowering her

pantaloons inch by excruciating inch as his eyes smoldered with passion.
He didn’t blame the guy. Any red-blooded man would have the same
reaction over the luscious princess.

He almost came when she revealed an inch of her curly triangle of

hair. Her lover must feel the same, for he bit the rim of her panties and tore
them in two with a loud rip of the flimsy material. A wild man, he flung the
panties into the lake where they floated for several moments before sinking
to the murky depths.

They gyrated, performing aerobics he’d only dreamed about. If the

princess would wind her long, shapely legs around his back like that and
milk his cock, he’d die a happy man.

He didn’t like watching. He wanted to be an active participant and

get some of that hot stuff for himself. That was his princess, and he would
make sure that she was all his.

But he couldn’t reveal himself now, or they just might have some

medieval monster devour him or throw him in a dungeon for the rest of his
days.

The music swelled as did their lust, and soon, twelve couples were

down on the ground, making love, in every position he’d ever tried and
some he’d never dreamed of.

Then they played a game where the men blindfolded the women, and

a sly grin played on his lips. Here was his chance.

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He knocked out Vaiana’s prince with a swift, silent blow and dragged

him behind the bushes, covering him with underbrush.

Wrapping himself in the cloak, he wound his way carefully through

the throng of couples. He paused to admire the vigorous award-winning
standing up technique of one young couple. He wondered if he could thrust
so deeply, if he could make Vaiana scream and writhe with such pleasure.

He intended to try. “Where are you my lover?” Frowning, Vaiana

groped in the dark. He rushed to her side, wanting to taste this tempting
morsel before he made his final decision which lovely sister to take as his
bride, although since arriving on the island, he’d only had eyes for the
oldest.

When she started to lift her blindfold, he captured her wrists in his

grasp and lowered a kiss to her puckered lips and drank his first taste of
ambrosia.

Dynamite exploded the instant his lips touched hers and she melted

into his arms, moaning.

“Oh, Kalani. You’ve never kissed me such.” She moaned against his

lips and devoured them ravenously. Stroking her hands up his chest, she
fanned the wild fire blazing out of control in his loins.

Concerned she would try to run her fingers through his nonexistent

hair, or realize his chest was smoother than her lover’s, he held her hands
and pressed her back into the grassy ground.

Five-alarm sirens blared in his head. His cock swelled, demanding

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freedom to take possession of the luscious female before him whose legs
spread wide and whose clitoris swelled so eagerly.

Unable to resist her charms, her ripe breasts within suckling distance,

he pulled a dusky nipple into his mouth and caressed it with his tongue. She
tasted of pineapple and jasmine, not the cigarettes and exhaust permeating
the hair and clothing of her big city counterparts.

Transferring her wrists to one hand, he pushed his pants to his knees

and bent to lather her breasts with his tongue.

Her sweet feminine juices infused the warm tropical breeze, whetting

his appetite. Keeping her wrists shackled, he nipped and licked his way to
her pussy, delighted to find her warm juices flowing. The squirming
creature delighted him as no other, far more than his ex-fiancée. She hadn’t
seen anything yet.

He dropped gentle kisses on her satiny labia and ran his tongue along

the long, slick slit, enjoying her flavor.

“Take me!” She thrust her hips at him, and he wished she still wore

her naughty lingerie so he could rip it off with his teeth. A primitive growl
tore from his core, and he rose high above her. Thrusting into her
powerfully, he branded her his.

Much as she had protested any desire to enter the union of marriage

to her father, she clove to him, sealing their union. Her tight vagina gloved
him, milking his seed. Needing to possess her fully, he inserted his length
into her and drank deeply of her honeyed lips.

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Warmth as he’d never known flooded him, so that he never wanted to

return to his chilly existence again.

He longed to spend every night in the arms of this siren, to spend his

days by her side, basking in her exotic loveliness.

He looked forward to both the verbal and physical sparring. He

anxiously anticipated her feminine games which would keep his senses
sharp.

What a fool he’d been! He’d landed in paradise, had booty thrust

upon him, and he’d wasted energy trying to get back to the rat race of so-
called civilization.

Vaiana met him thrust for thrust, her delectable hips rising higher in

rhythm with his ardor.

Their breathing grew shallow, a sheen of perspiration glittering on

their heated flesh, and they erupted in a dizzying array of fireworks.

He held her trembling form tightly, as his seed poured into her, the

overflow spilling to the soft carpet of grass.

“You’ve never been such a wild man before. I love the new you.”

She licked her parted lips, lustily drawing him down to partake of more
fantasy.

So she hadn’t loved his competition? That was good to know.
Pulling her lower lip into his mouth, he sucked on it, then allowed his

hungry tongue to mate with hers in a passionate dance. He crushed her to
him, molding her against the curve of his thighs.

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The minx fit perfectly, as if they’d been cast in the same mold. He

was a believer.

A believer in what?
Love.
He’d fallen madly, deeply, and truly in love with the eldest princess.

He had no desire to savor her sisters’ beauty, despite their incredible
loveliness. His heart and soul belonged to this one. Whether or not a
kingdom and treasure came attached to her, he longed to alliance his life to
hers.

“I grow weary of this blindfold. I wish to gaze upon your glorious

body, to watch you make love to me.

He stilled her hands and lifted her high above him and then settled her

on his throbbing cock.

A sunny grin dawned over her rosy face, and she ground her hips

against his. Then slowly, excruciatingly so, she gyrated on his dick. She
sheathed him tightly and then flexed her vaginal walls, sending him to the
heights of ecstasy.

They rocked back and forth, clinging to one another as if on turbulent

seas. Wave after wave of desire crashed over him, and he thrust into her
deeply, crushing her to him.

Then an alarm sounded, and she stopped at the crucial moment,

leaving him in torment. “Time to return to our sleeping chamber or risk
Father’s wrath,” Eeva hollered.

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No freaking way! His timing sucked.
He caught Vaiana to him in one last crushing kiss, hoping it wouldn’t

be their last, hoping to win an eternity of her kisses. But time wasn’t his
brother, and before he could be discovered, he lifted her gently off him and
covered himself with the cloak, careful to get his breathing under control
lest she find him out.

As before, Vaiana led the procession, and he stuck by her side. When

she opened the secret portal, he slipped in ahead of her and stayed several
steps ahead, careful to keep a close watch on her so that she didn’t increase
her pace and step on him.

Vaiana felt a chill, as if a spirit walked by her side. Or maybe it was a

premonition that things were about to change.

After all her sisters were safely tucked in when she went to check

their guest. She breathed a sigh of relief when she found him sleeping
peacefully.

Pangs of regret washed over her about the man’s unfortunate fate. He

was truly beautiful, especially with the beams of moonlight dancing upon
his shiny pate and casting shadows over his chiseled features.

She could save him by confessing all to her father. But would her

father carry through his threat against their lovers?

Her flesh tingled. Kalaki had been a wild man last night. Biting back

a smile, she hugged herself. She didn’t want to give that up. She wanted to
explore these new wonderful feelings.

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Still, it was a pity to send such a beautiful man to his demise. She

didn’t want his blood on her hands, nor anyone else’s. The volcano god had
feasted enough on young men whose only sins had been to be duped by the
sisters.

Guilt washed over her. She had no intention of feeding the

gluttonous god again. It was time to stand up to her father. She nodded
firmly, resolved to do so at dawn’s first light.

The wake up gong found her still gazing upon Alex’s handsome face.

It shook the palace, swaying the palm trees and awaking the baby birds that
chirped loudly in greeting to the new day.

She suppressed a sleepy yawn, but didn’t mourn the sleep she had

missed on the glorious prior eve. When Alex stretched his muscular arms
high above his head, she bit back an insane desire to caress his muscles.

To hide all trace of her unwanted desire, she lifted her chin haughtily.

“Breakfast is served. I suggest you make the most of it….”

“Or it may be my last?” His deep chuckle rankled down her spine.

The man didn’t sound like one partaking of his final meal. Perhaps he
didn’t know the consequences of failing his mission, although his words
negated that theory.

Her brows knitted together in consternation. The stranger from the

distant land presented a puzzle. Didn’t he care that he was about to have his
head added to her father’s grotesque collection and his body offered up to
the voracious volcano god?

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Swaggering like one of their fiercest warriors, he followed her to the

banquet table covered with fresh pineapples, coconut milk, and poi. He
took his place beside her at the head of the table without instruction, as if he
belonged there, simultaneously exasperating and thrilling her when he
brushed against her thigh, sending trills of flame straight to her core.

He watched her covertly, making her nervous so that she could barely

eat. Nibbling her pineapple for show so that her sisters wouldn’t note
anything amiss, she didn’t feel any pangs of hunger.

Finally she gave up the show and put the food down as her stomach

was queasy thinking about the upcoming day’s events. She jumped to her
feet and hurried away from the table, ignoring her sisters’ frowns and
ignoring Alex’s raised brows.

Marching into her father’s private chambers, she demanded, “I need

to speak to you now.”

He raised his hand to silence her. “What can be so important

daughter, that you disturb me thus?”

She mustered her waning courage, refusing to back down from her

surly sire. Balling her fists at her sides, she stared him straight in the eye
instead of averting her gaze as was custom when in the king’s audience.
“I’ve come to right a wrong, to prevent yet more wrongs.”

The king settled back against his feather pillows, his arms folded

across his burly chest. His gaze darkened upon her, and he let her stew for
several moments before acknowledging her statement. “Let us adjourn to

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my court. First we must hear from our young guest if he has succeeded in
his mission.”

“But I must speak to you first!” Once the king made his decree, right

or wrong, it would stand.

“You will wait until court commences!” her father bellowed, fury

flashing in his sloe dark eyes. He rose to his feet, pulled on his robe, and
pulled his bell rope for his servants.

“But Father….”
“Silence!” He roared, shaking his head as he marched into the

corridor. Mumbling, he said, “Why was I cursed with daughters? Sons
would have been far less worrisome. They would not defy their father so.”

She rolled her eyes at his oft said grumblings. Powerful sons most

likely would have made him abdicate his throne long ago. He was blessed
to have daughters, not sons. Perhaps he realized this and made them
spinsters by scheme.

What a sly old coot! She was surprised the volcano god hadn’t

devoured him for his insolence long ago! He could have given his
daughters in marriage and ended their nightly escapades long ago had he
taken the course most fathers would have. He would have let their husbands
deal with them and passed along the worrisome headaches.

She had been blind!
Well her eyes were wide open now, and his games were going to end

today. So be it if she was forced to marry the stranger. It would be a far

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preferable fate to being kept under her father’s heavy thumb until she was
old and musty. Squaring her shoulders, she followed gracefully,
remembering her status as high princess before their loyal subjects, while
she seethed and her nerves jangled.

Her father took his throne and spread his robes about his legs. He

picked up his scepter and fingered the glittering gems intricately inlaid.
“Bring Robert Alexander before me.”

The elderly servant bowed low. “As you wish, Sire.” The man

scurried out on his gimpy leg.

A long sigh escaped the king’s lips, and he rubbed his furrowed

forehead. “If only my daughters gave me half as much respect as my
servants.”

“Father, I really must speak to you before you hold an audience with

him. I’m prepared to tell you what you so desperately wish to know.” She
felt true to herself even if she felt as if she were betraying her sisters.

The servant returned with Alex, and her father quelled her with a

stern glance. Then he beckoned Alex and the servant forward. “I will hear
what you have to tell me now. What news of my daughters do you bring?”

Desperate, her heart hammering against her ribs, Vaiana shielded the

traveler from mysterious lands from her father. “You must hear me out
first!”

“Silence!” the king roared glaring at Vaiana. “Another word from

you, and I will have you removed.”

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Vaiana curtsied and backed away, biting her tongue. It was out of her

power what happened to this man. She prayed to the gods for leniency,
knowing mercy was futile. Her sire wasn’t a merciful man.

“You may approach the throne, Robert Alexander.” The king

adjusted his crown and smiled benignly on the poor soul. “What have you
to tell me? Have you divined what my daughters have been up to? How
they wear holes in their shoes nightly? How they rip, and lose, their
undergarments?” He scowled upon the final word as if it pained him to
utter it.

“I have, your highness.” A knowing smile twisted Alex’s firm lips,

riveting Vaiana’s attention to them.

He couldn’t possibly know! He had drunk of the sleeping elixir! She

had served it to him herself. Her aunt’s magic had never failed before.

Her heart pounding in her ears, her full attention riveted on the man.
“There is a secret passageway in the princesses’ bed chamber. The

doorway is located beneath Princess Vaiana’s bed. They travel to a distant
kingdom and dance the night away in their princes’ arms.”

The king scooted forward in his seat and perched on the edge. His

lips twisted into a grimace. “That doesn’t explain how they get holes in
their underwear and lose them.”

“They dirty dance, and then make love till the moonlight starts to

fade.”

Alex’s accuracy stunned Vaiana, and she had to clamp her mouth shut

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lest her jaw drop wide. How could he know? Had her aunt told him? Or
was he possessed of magic himself? Perhaps Taina was right, and he was a
god.

Lightning flashed from the king’s darkened eyes. “Explain dirty

dancing.” He glared at Vaiana. She would be lucky if she didn’t end up as
a sacrifice to the volcano god. She steeled herself for her father’s edict,
accepting whatever fate awaited her. If she was to be the volcano god’s
bride, she would consider it an honor.

Alex cleared his throat uneasily. “It’s, uh, when the couples gyrate,

and grind their hips together. Sometimes the men put their face between the
women’s--”

The king raised his hand. “Enough! I can well envision the lurid

scenes. Can you offer any proof? How did you divine the princesses’ secret
without their suspicion?”

“I brought these back as proof.” Alex pulled Vaiana’s torn panties

from his pocket and passed them to the king’s servant. “Those belong to
your eldest daughter.” He slid a sideways glance at her which set her
aflame.

Her blood boiled at the sight of him fingering her most intimate

garments. But he had been there, so he had seen everything obviously,
including her naked, making love to her prince. Profuse heat tinged her
chest and crept into her cheeks.

“I spit out the tainted drink they served me, and I used magic to make

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myself invisible so that I could observe them unnoticed.” Triumph glittered
in Alex’s knowing eyes.

“Is this true, daughter?” The king beckoned her to approach the

throne.

“Aye, my father, ‘tis every word true. I tried to tell you so that you

would spare the life of Robert Alexander. It is not right that he would lose
his life because of us.” Alex was but a hair’s breadth away. His warmth
shot tingles up her spine and down into her pussy.

King Tapunui rested his chin on his scepter as if he derived divine

guidance from its depths. After several silent moments had passed, he
straightened to his full height as a smile curved his lips. “I have arrived
upon a decision. Robert Alexander shall take to wife the princess of his
choosing.”

Vaiana’s heart lodged into her throat, and she squeezed her eyes,

unable to gaze upon him on the chance he chose another. She felt a
mystical connection to this man, as if they had been together before.
Perhaps they had, in another lifetime.

“I choose your eldest daughter, the lovely Princess Vaiana.” Alex

turned to her and asked. “Is that okay?”

She let out the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. Joy

leapt into her chest, and she cast a coy glance at him. He licked her
suddenly dry lips. “More than fine.”

“You shall be wed before the sun sets on this day! Let us prepare a

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feast of suckling pig and roasted pheasant.” The king’s servants scurried
away to do his bidding.

King Tapunui turned to the newly betrothed couple and stepped down

to the throne so that he was on their level. “I shall leave you to get
acquainted before the wedding. You have my permission to retire to the
gardens so that you may be alone.”

Vaiana laced her fingers through Alex’s, thrilling at his touch that

somehow seemed familiar and yet couldn’t be. Elemental forces rumbled
through her, and she shivered. When they emerged into the bright tropical
sunlight, she led him to a secluded corner shaded by a mangrove of coconut
trees from which brightly colored parrots flitted to and fro. “Tell me how
you knew to avoid the sleeping potion. Aunt Kaipua told you,” she accused
without anger or rancor. Her elderly aunt was a very wise woman.

“Among other things,” he said, pulling her inexorably closer until his

firm lips hovered barely half an inch above hers.

She let it go for now. There would more opportune times to coax the

information from him, when he was fully under her feminine power. The
warmth of his breath tickled her neck, and she lifted her lips to his. She
should be feeling sorrow that she would never be with Kalani again, but she
was consumed with longing for her future husband.

Teasing her, he mumbled against her lips, “This will have to hold us

till tonight, doll.” He captured her lips in a masterful kiss, roiling the sea of
her desire to fever pitch.

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She knew that kiss! He had been the one to make her swoon the night

before, ergo, he had been the one that made such exquisite love to her, to fly
her to the heights of desire. “Dance with me?” she murmured huskily,
looping her arms around his neck and caressing the back of his smooth
head.

“I’ve never been the dancing type, but I can’t wait to rip your panties

off with my teeth.” A growl rumbled deep in the pits of his stomach, and he
ground his hips against hers, leaving no shred of doubt in her mind that he
was ready to do the best kind of dance with her.

“You don’t long to return home? You wish to stay on Manatua …

with me?” She said the last shyly, still uncertain of the depths of his
feelings. Dragons cried to one another overhead, and he glanced at the
spectacular silhouette they made against the bright noon sun.

He dragged her impossibly closer against him, so that their hearts

pounded together. His dark gaze adored her, making her squirm deliciously.
“There’s much more magic here. Your aunt, dragons … and you.”

She gave her lips, love, and soul to him, overjoyed that her secrets

were no more.

The End