This will be the last excerpt posted from The Bones of the King. Your comments have helped refine the shape of the final draft and I appreciate the time and consideration you gave to the reading it and then commenting. Thank you.

This chapter is a taste of Kaiulani and her prince in better times and a farewell of sorts.

Aloha,

Doug


The Bones of the King - CHAPTER 54 Time and tides

Kaiulani listened to the crash of breakers echoing off the walls of the lover’s cave and pulled al Shar into her in time with the sound. Each thrust was deep and all consuming and she felt herself slowly building towards the inevitable, like a wave piling up on itself, moving powerfully inshore above the shelving sand of the coast.

She had not intended this when the limousine had pulled away from the hotel, but was intensely glad the moment had arrived. They had driven north for a few miles, the prince content to let her talk and give orders to the driver. She took him to Hapuna beach and made him leave the bodyguard and driver behind. They walked down the winding walkways that opened up onto a wide, flat stretch of some of the most beautiful sand and sea in the islands. They swam in the surf that rolled in from the west in an ageless rhythm and Kaiulani decided that there was something she could show the man who had everything. If he were not moved, she decided, she would know that he was not the one for her.

They walked north along the beach until the sand ended, then took a narrow but well used path along the coastline under huge kiawe trees whose gnarled roots had found purchase long ago in the dusty volcanic soil. They passed ugly scars of new house lots that had appeared like a plague on the land and walked across the black flows and basalt bones of the island. The place she took the prince was called, simply, the lover’s cave, for that was who used it most often, or at least, that’s what you heard most people talk about it being used for. If a young couple was seen leaving the north end of Hapuna, it was a fair bet they were headed to the cave. It was a fact of life, a given for those growing up in West Hawaii. The lover’s cave was a milestone in the rites of passage from teenager to adult, from virgin to vixen, for many a young woman she knew.

The sea had sculpted the cave out of blue stone over thousands of years, each stroke of nature’s chisel taken only when a storm drove the sea up the stony shingled beach and into the opening. Over time the relentless push of tons of water and loose stones had worn down the rock and exploited the weakness of each crack and crevice for more purchase and penetration. With the passing of eons a smooth passage had been created, carpeted with hundreds of tiny shells and glistening with salt crystals and the emerald glint of olivine deposits. During the days and nights when the sea was at normal levels the cave was dry and cool and a person looking out from the opening had a perfect view of the ocean and the distant horizon. The secluded and secret spot beckoned lovers. The siren’s song of the sea crashing on its doorstep and the encompassing darkness within its cool depths seemed to urge visitors to mimic its formation with their passion. By the time she reached it, following the almost invisible trail around a rock outcropping and down a wave eroded shelf, Kaiulani knew she was going to surrender to al Shar if he would have her.

She was not disappointed. The prince, lean and supple and well muscled, took her in his arms after they entered the cave. She had stared up into his eyes and tried to see her future mirrored there, but it was too dark. When he lowered his lips to hers she pulled him tight to her and felt his body stiffen against hers. He removed her bikini top as he kissed her and she felt the air caress her nipples and then his tongue warmed them as he nuzzled her breasts. Her pareu and suit bottom joined his on the floor of the cave and they stood naked for a moment, each taking the measure of the other before coming together in a rush.

Al Shar lifted her with powerful arms and entered her as she wrapped her strong legs around his hips and pressed her breasts to his searching lips. She leaned back, grasping his shoulders with both hands and pushed herself down onto him. She rode him until his knees buckled and he lowered her onto the shells and pounded into her. His love was like the sea, deep and mysterious, endlessly changing yet steady as a heartbeat. Kaiulani arrived at that special place that only women can visit and cried out in ecstasy. She was lost on the wind, riding the waves of pleasure as he slammed into her, meeting his thrusts with abandon, screaming when she felt him come, pulling him to her as his tide ebbed and hers ran wet and hot to meet the sea.