Tuesday, September 7, 2010

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.

17 comments:

  1. What a beautiful scene! Your description is so lovely and intricate. The cave sounds breathtaking. A perfect place for lovers.

    Really well done. Thanks for sharing this Doug!

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  2. Thank you very much, Lisa. I'm glad you read this chapter. The cave exists in real life and is used in the way I described. West Hawaii secret. Don't tell anyone.

    Aloha,

    Doug

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  3. Lyrical, steamy, fragile and seductive. Not sure how one scene can encompass all four, but you managed it, Doug.

    Keep up the good work. We will see this story on the bookshelves someday.

    kd

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  4. Very passionate scene with no hint of the terrible future ahead except for the fact she couldn't see herself in his eyes... as subtle as they come.

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  5. Oh, forgot to mention I liked it a lot!

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  6. Dear Madison,

    I'm happy you noticed the sentence about the eyes. You're an observant reader. my favorite kind. Keeps me on my toes.

    Thanks for reading the Time and tides.

    Yours,

    Doug

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  7. Hi Kady,

    Your support and encouragement keeps me smiling and chugging on. Thank you for reading the chapter and giving me your feedback.

    See you in the FB chatroom and at a soon to be announced writer's conference in AK:)

    Aloha,

    Doug

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  8. Thank you for the honor of reading it.

    And surely I'll see you at that conference or party or whatever it will be...but in AR, not in AK. :-) I'm not going to Alaska for any reason. Too far north for my blood. :-) brrrrrr

    kd

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  9. Kady,

    Oops! Thought AR stood for ARizona. Silly of me. And AK? That's obviously the abbreviation for the state of Akron, Ohio. I'm not going to Alaska either. Not until they kill all of the mosquiteers. (The helicopter was invented by a guy who got carried off by an Alaskan mosquito.) Little known fact.

    Yours,

    Douglas

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  10. I enjoyed reading this chapter Doug. It sweeps you along like a wave. Seductive, loving, tender, makes you desire what the lovers are sharing.

    O
    xxx

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  11. Ah, Onanda, you did not disappoint. I can go to sleep now with your thoughts on my mind.

    Have a good day as mine ends.

    Aloha,

    Doug

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  12. ALoha Doug,
    This chapter can live alone, apart from the rest in time and context. Wish I could wish the lovers be well.

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  13. Dear Lauraine,

    Woke to find your comment floating there on the sea with me. It buoys me now as I begin my day. Sunrise is coming.

    Thank you for reading Time and tides. I appreciate the beautiful words you left me.

    Mahalo nui loa,

    Doug

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  14. Time to share it with a wider audience.

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  15. Larry! Thanks for dropping in an reading. The wider audience is in the works.

    Come disc golf this Sunday!

    Aloha,

    Doug

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  16. I probably need a cigarette. And I don't even smoke.

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  17. Workman,

    When we meet at Cafe Natur the drinks are on me.

    Takk fyri

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