21 LEILANI

The other men departed earlier and only Kahekili, Ivan, and Gábor were left in front of the house. It was a clean looking building with many flowers and a green cross on the wall indicated that this was a hospital of some sort. All the windows were open with their shutters raised vertically; ready to be lowered when it rained or was too windy.

"Lani." Kahekili called out and then looked over his shoulder at the two men explaining. "Er name eez ‘Royal child' or ‘Ewenly'. Old family, Grande chef."

"You mean ‘heavenly'?" Ivan inquired as a reply from the house.

"Oia." A pleasant sounding voice greeted the men.

 "Oui, ewenly. She eez om," replied Kahekili. His accent amused Ivan. They walked up three steps and looked around at the neat and clean veranda surrounded with delightfully scented flowers. This was how they imagined paradise to be. A pleasant voice answered in Maori and a beautiful woman of indefinable age peered over a wall of flowers and looked at the three men on her doorstep then came into full view.

When Kahekili called her skinny, he must have been joking. She was gorgeous. Wearing a bikini top and a sarong that covered her from the waist to her calves, she looked like an image one sees on postcards of women of the Polynesian Islands. A slender, fit body, about thirty years old, with high, firm breasts like that of a young woman and a figure that would cause models to have a fit, appeared from behind a wall of flowers. Her figure with a flat belly, mature, curvaceous hips, flaring into round buttocks over long legs was perfect. The images of big women burst like soap bubbles. POP. This woman was a picture out of paradise; at least as the visitors imagined it had to look like, but she seemed too young to be a doctor.

She greeted them with a curious, friendly look. Angelina Jolie came to mind in both men. Both men felt immediately attracted to her, as did she to them.

These were handsomely intriguing men, she thought. She had no partner at this time and wasn't looking for one, but seeing these two she'd reconsider. The last man she was with, a French National, hadn't panned out and good-looking men were hard to find these days, but now there were two on her porch, westerners, just the kind she preferred but was weary of. They were too set in their ways, thinking they knew everything.

The silver-haired man reminded her of a colleague she broke up with just three months ago and brought up a sting of caution. Handsome and imaginative, he was fun to be with but too fickle. She still liked him but was no longer intimate with him. The younger and man, equally attractive, had to be about her age. A suddenly remembered dream made her heart beat harder and she squinted.

Both men looked interesting although a bit windblown, but that just made them more intriguing. The older one had deep lines in his face, startling blue eyes and seemed to have experienced hard times, a warrior perhaps, while the younger appeared troubled, but keenly observant and the measuring look he gave her was that of a friendly cat, capable of great care and attention.

Seeing these men triggered a memory about a very erotic dream she recently had with such clarity, it caused a bodily reaction out of her control. Feeling heat rising to her head and flushing her face, she lowered her eyes. Sexual energy rushed through her; a heat wave flooded her entire body and pooled in her loins. In this dream, she was in a zoo and observed a mountain lion as it slept on a rock, and there was no fence. She sensed someone beside her and felt safe.  No fear, but curiosity rose in her about this animal and like on cue, the cat opened his eyes, lifted his head and looked directly at her. Though she wore a coat, she felt a shiver pass over her body and then that heat of excitement pooled in her genitals and liquefied when the feline fixed his eyes on her. She felt an indescribable erotic anxiety, exposed and vulnerable. The cat rose to his feet and padded with sinuous grace towards her, never taking his eyes off her and his steps seemed to create a shockwave whenever his feet touched down.

Breathlessly she stood her ground as the large cat came closer. Whoever it was at her side assured her that she would remain safe. The cat was only interested in checking her out. Unexplainably she felt no fear but wondered what the cat would do. Transfixed, she waited, and then the cat was right in front of her. A realization, that she was naked beneath her coat, hit her. The large cat looked at her, his muzzle sniffing at her crotch, and for some reason, she somehow felt compelled to open her coat and expose herself. Her hands parted the coat wings and the animal inched his head closer toward her crotch. His nose close to her loins, puffs of warm air caressed her flesh, raised goose pimples on her skin with an arousing effect. Then he rose to his hind legs and placed his paws softly on her shoulders, his breath near her ears and the side of her neck, caused another trembling of her body.

Her breath came staggeringly over her lips and then felt his wet tongue licking under her ear and throat. Although it was very pleasant, anxiety took hold of her, and a touch of concern weakened her knees. This was, after all, a predator. Sensing his teeth brushing her shoulder, his muzzle descending to her breasts, his tongue sweeping over the swelling of her breast made her nipples grow and harden. Sexual arousal swept over her body. What did the cat want? What did she want?

Pushing gently against her, she leaned back and then sank to the grass as he kept pushing her down until her shoulders touched the grass beneath her, and then it positioned his body over hers, covering her. The warm, silky contact of its body seemed to melt and flow around her.

Allowing him to spread her out on the ground, he began licking her face again. His tongue felt soft and warm and excruciatingly arousing on her skin. When he lapped her neck and breasts, and then advanced to lick her belly and thighs, causing an intense desire, she overcame her fear what this cat could do, and in fact, she now lusted to be devoured by this creature. She felt getting wet between her legs and an unstoppable urge to be satisfied sexually held her in its grip. Her secretion began to flow much more intensely as she had ever experienced before and dizzy, she surrendered herself to the experience, even yearned for it. Her body secreted fluids and the mountain lion proceeded to lap her loins; causing a burning desire in her to give herself totally. She closed her eyes and spread her legs, letting its tongue explore more of her, and it did. It did it so thoroughly that she wanted it to last forever, revelling in the sensations her senses transmitted through her entire being.

Excited, her body moved to his tongue, enjoying the stimulation that seemed to happen in every cell of her anatomy. Intense heat waves rushed to her core, pooled there, and grew like a balloon then tensing, it sought release. She heaved her pelvis rhythmically to his ministration. Feeling herself getting out of control, craving for more, the sensation that of extreme pleasure, demanding satisfaction, she surrendered to her emotions, and then something changed. His tongue seemed to grow, and penetrate deep into her, invading her heaving pelvis, and there it expanded until it took over her entire body, touching her nucleus and became one with it. Writhing, she suddenly dissolved into a shuddering, and powerful, prolonged orgasm that shook the ground she was on. A liquid, warm and viscous flooded her center, and then coated the spot between her thighs with her slippery substance. It was total bliss.

When she opened her eyes again, the cat has changed into a man, covering and moving in her while her arms held him tight, her hands on his buttocks, moving with him frantically, coaxing him, wanting to feel his climax deep in her and then she did. His organ seemed to swell out of proportion and then with a roar he came. She felt his release flooding into her and that triggered another orgasm in her again, and again, and then again, in waves. A scalding sensation spread from her genitals through her entire body and transformed her into a convulsive, pulsing mass of bottomless joy.

At that moment she knew, this act would give her a baby. Crying and laughing she rode the pleasures until exhaustion put an end to it. She passed out for a few minutes. Coming back to her senses, she opened her eyes, and became conscious of several strangely familiar figures witnessing her union with what or whoever and expressed their glee with a thunderous applause.

Startled, she had woken up, panting and disoriented for a minute, she realized where she was, in her bed, alone. Heavy, warm rain had soaked her bedding and lightning lit up the interior of her bedroom before the sound of rolling thunder hit her ears. The shutters rattled against the windowsill. It was just a dream and a wet pillow that she held between her legs. Perhaps the past twelve weeks without a regular outlet for sexual energy brought forth the dream and now these two men in front of her reminded her of it.

Leilani shook off the image and the involuntary arousal ebbed away, but an excited trembling inside her persisted. Moving her eyes over them in a questioning mode, they paused on Gábor for a second or two, noticing the wedding ring on his finger, she lifted and dropped her shoulders in a letting go mode with an almost undetectable twitch around her lips.

The younger man was very attractive, just like the other, but married. Her eyes roamed to the older man. This very intriguing blue-eyed David Carradine look-alike with wild, uncombed and long silver-white hair next to him was just as intriguing and handsomely roguish and without a ring. Both men attracted her immensely; both provoked an association of a large predator and intense virility and she liked them both. Were they manifestations of her dream?

 "Ia Orana." Her lilting voice was as welcoming as self-confident, perhaps a bit shaky, but a smile played on her lips as she greeted them.

"Ia Orana, Leilani," replied Ivan and Gábor. It was the first time Ivan used Maori. Kahekili said something in Maori to Leilani and she turned to Ivan and Gábor. "You speak English?" Leilani had a British accent.

 "Sometimes by necessity," Ivan answered. "My friend Gábor speaks Hungarian, a little German and some French and I speak Russian and enough Spanish to make a fool of me. I could possibly learn to speak the Polynesian language in time for breakfast with the right tutor, and prove myself a fool on the same day." He smiled at her and she smiled back, understanding.

"Perhaps, but it's Maori.  You know my name, what's yours?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. My name is Ivan Cherenkov, and my friend here is called Gábor," replied Ivan correcting his oversight to introductions.

"Maeva. Welcome. What can I do for you?"

Her eyes rested for a few seconds on Ivan. He took note of her inquisitive look, her clear, blue eyes, her long hair flowing over her shoulders, down her back, and a red flower over her right ear. She was gorgeous indeed, he thought, looking over her body. Noticing his obvious interest she wasn't offended at all. Used to being looked at by men, she looked him over, in the same way, smiling approvingly at what she saw; she listened to Ivan as he spun his story.

"We are looking for a black man you have in your care, and we need to talk to him about his accident. We understand he fell overboard the cruising vessel "Emerald Seas". We are insurance agents for the company and want him to contact his vessel and tell them he is okay, or we could return with him to Papeete and unite him with the crew."

How the hell did Ivan come up with a story this fast, Gábor pondered. He'd never heard Ivan lying before and was surprised at how easy it came over his friend's lips.

"And how did you know that this man is here, on this island?"

"We didn't. We just hoped the currents would sweep him toward this island, and if he didn't sink or the sharks didn't get him, he would be here." She looked at Ivan sceptically, but Ivan didn't give her the time to think through her suspicion. "This is the first island we had on our list because it was closest to the area where the accident happened. When we arrived here from Papeete, we ran into Kahekili here, and he told us you had him in your care, blind luck. We are glad he survived because the company would have to pay out a lot of money if he had died."

"The man is badly hurt and he lost a lot of blood. Your company would still have to pay a lot of compensation if he got hurt on the job, I would think. At the moment, he is asleep and weak. It took a lot of stitches to close some ugly cuts, heaven knows how he got them, and I think he had a coconut encounter of the third kind, and suffered a concussion with possible mental disorientation due to the trauma and loss of blood. He needs to be in a hospital A.S.A.P."

"We could take him," said Ivan.

"Would that make your day?"

"It certainly would give him the care we could give him," replied Ivan with a dangerous undertone.

"Life's a beach. I may get back on you for that." She must have watched some old movies in Britain.

‘Honey, I wish you would and as often as you want, but you haven't been on me yet,' thought Ivan ruefully and let his eyes roam over her again. Gábor did the same and admired her figure like his friend did. He thought of Helena and compared the two women. Their character was similar, but their looks were not. Leilani was a beautiful native Polynesian as Helena was a beautiful Caucasian, but in any case, they were of the same mould. This doctor had a resolute streak in her like Helena and her wits were comparably alike too. Her frame had very feminine lines with hips that had the flair of a woman who had born a child or two but regained her youthful fit and trim body. Leilani did ignite his sexual interest and he chastised himself for his attraction to her.

He had Helena and she was the woman he loved, but without a question, Leilani was a desirable woman. It seemed to Gábor Ivan caught on fire and that was perfect. She would look good with him. The doctor swallowed the lie about the insurance agents claim and Ivan continued. "When can we talk to him?"

"He is sleeping now, and will not come around for at least a few hours," she repeated. "That bloke can count himself lucky to have survived with what happened to him. When he wakes up, depending on how he is, I will see what I can do for you. Will that be okay with you, Ivan, or is there anything else I can do for you?" She looked at Ivan and had a smile on her face as if she had just talked to a petulant student from medical school. Leilani cocked her hip.

Ivan smiled back and said with a smooth voice: "You could accept an invitation to have dinner with me."

Leilani's smile widened. "Perhaps. Where?"

"Troll's. Horseshoe Bay."

She wrinkled her forehead. "Never heard of that place and I don't know of any bay here by that name."

"It's in Canada. Great little place with a great view and candles for a fireplace. A must see," he threw at her. She tossed her head back and laughed. Ivan fell in love instantly, and Gábor admired her teeth and her carefree being.

"May I ask you a question? What leads you to issue an invitation for dinner in Canada? Does the place at least look like an Igloo? I happen to know it is very cold there."

"Well, you issued three questions at me and allow me to answer in sequence. It's easier to sort it out that way," he explained.

"One; Yes, you may ask me as many questions as you like and I'll promise to give you all the answers you desire without any hesitation."

"Two; I issued the invitation because you are a beautiful woman and Kahekili had told us you're a widow and I think that's a shame. No woman as beautiful as you will remain for long without someone chasing them, so I humbly would love to offer my services as a personal guardian."

"And to the third question; No igloo, but I could drum up some polar bears for entertainment purposes. That's as close as I can get to give you an impression of the place. We could huddle together to keep warm." Leilani laughed and captured both men instantaneously.

"Now, this is what I'd call falling with the door into a house. You are a man with a good sense of what a woman would like to hear, but I have presently a patient in the back room to take care of. How about next week?"

"Uh… dah… hum… is that a multiple choice question? I wasn't prepared for this question. Would you like to ask another, easier one?"

Leilani's laughter beautified her face even more and it was a heartfelt, all out merriment.

"You are a great comedian, Sir. I needed a good laugh like this. I accept."

Gábor laughed, and so did Helena and Leo through the link, Kahekili too, who was still with them. Not a man of long courtships, Ivan went right for the jugular vein.

"Let me check my calendar and I'll get back to you on that date for next week. We may have to settle for Papeete for the time being. It's a nice dump, and it's closer. It also allows you to look after your patient in case he needs more medical attention."

During the whole time, Gábor held the link with Leo and Helena. He did not want to get into the dialogue between Ivan and Leilani, and he was enjoying the closeness with his family. He felt them as they felt him, close; and separated only by distance.

Helena remarked on Leilani. "I like her as you do too. She is a very pretty woman."

"Yes, I do. She is pretty and has intelligent eyes," added Gábor. Now he jumped into the interaction between Ivan and Leilani.

"Sorry to interrupt," he said to Leilani, "but we have to find a place we can stay for the night and I also want to know what we can do to take Mr. Lundy to Papeete. Do you have a hotel on this island?"

"Leilani az one more fare and it eez not used in zee momao. I zink she wood let you yoozeet, no?" Kahekili spoke up.

Leilani nodded and turned to Gábor. "You are welcome to use my daughter's flat. Vai sometimes uses it, but she sleeps in the main house now. There are two beds in it and you have a bathroom to take a shower. Sorry, the water's not hot. Tonight we can eat in my kitchen. You are my guests. Okay with you Kahekili?"

"Aita e peapea, no problem. I will get somzing from zee fare and come back in littel time,"

"Is your daughter living here with you? We wouldn't want to inconvenience her and occupy her room," said Gábor. Mentioning her daughter Vai, the mystery of who or what Vai was, lifted.

"Oh no, it's no problem. Her place is in the main fare. You will meet her when she's back. She went to the magazine to get some things and she'll be back in a little while. I presume you came with a boat. Do you need anything from your boat and if you do, may I come with you to see it? I want to know what you came in from Tahiti and if it would suit the needs of my patient when we're taking him there."

"Yes, of course, but we can change the plan," Ivan answered.

Gábor looked at Ivan a bit worried. If she found the boat too small or too unsuitable to transport an injured man, she would not allow Lundy to leave out from under her care. After all, she would be responsible for him.

"Is there no airplane that could take him to Tahiti?"

What was Ivan thinking about? Gábor wished Ivan were in the link to be able to follow his ideas.  They had Lundy in their hands now and the boat was here. They could not fly out of here and leave the boat. He needed to know what the hell Ivan had in mind. Ivan looked at him with a look that said: Trust me.

Leilani turned to Ivan. "There is no plane for a week. I wanted to have him go to Tahiti for treatment there when we found him, but the plane left the same morning we found him. That's why he is still here. The radio we have to talk to Fakarava is not in service and besides that, we must report that the man is here. But now that you are here, you will do that I suppose. Our police officer will be back in two days from Rangiroa and he was going to do all that legal stuff. We are very isolated here and his injury is very serious, you know."

Her eyes scanned over Gábor, smiled and then looked at Ivan again. So that is why Ivan asked the question about an airplane; to get the info if there was one available or not without asking directly; getting the information without asking for it. Ivan is a sly fox, Gábor thought. He was glad to have him for a friend.

Stepping off the veranda with the men in tow, Leilani proceeded toward the beach. The sun was just about at the highest point and it was hot. Walking beside her without hats they wished they had some protection.

As on cue, Kahekili caught up with them with two pandanus hats in his hand and handed them to Ivan and Gábor. They were the typical hats worn traditionally by the men in Tahiti and they now looked like two tourists on vacation. "Zat will keep zee sun from burning your head, no?"

They arrived back at the beach and there were now about thirty people there. A few women had something in their hands and when they got closer to the men, they greeted them with "Maeva" and put lei around their necks with big smiles on their faces and some children giggled. Helena piped up from her silent background observation.

"You just got laid boys. Was it for you as good as it was for them?"

Leo wondered what his mother's remark was all about. Helena seemed to have learned how to conceal her real thoughts. Leo did not know how she could do that. Gábor chuckled and Ivan looked at him questioningly. Obviously, he did not link in. Other woman and some young kids came up to them and talked French to them and Gábor had to dig for his mostly forgotten French vocabulary.  Leilani played the translator when it seemed important, but all the kids wanted to know was where they came from, what they'd been looking for, and how they liked it on this island. Gábor answered as much as he could, and after a while, he'd had enough. He had better things to do than answer a bunch of kids who were too curious about him and Ivan. The four went to the dinghy, and with the help of laughing kids and adults, launched the boat, and Kahekili again navigated the boat skilfully through the surf and coasted alongside their boat. Leilani looked at all the gear stowed and remarked on it.

"You have stocked up as if you'd be staying for weeks."

"We did not expect to find Mr. Lundy so fast and wanted to be prepared for a longer search. Have the French Search and Rescue Team searched this area at all?" asked Ivan.

"We have not seen anybody except you. Where did Mr. Lundy fall overboard?"

"About ten to fifteen nautical miles east of here," answered Gábor.

"The currents are not very predictable in this area because of the islands, and it is possible they are searching another area; it would not surprise me if they gave up the search for a man without a life preserver or raft. There are many sharks in these waters. I lost my husband to them four years ago. Mr. Lundy is a very fortunate bloke to have survived with blood on his face." She turned to Ivan again, asking. "Were you aboard that cruiser too?"

Ivan continued his "Story" and told her that his Agency had sent Gábor and him to see what they could do because they happened to be in Tahiti on vacation and this S&R was just a good way to have a little adventure while they were here. They were paid to look for Lundy, he added.

"So you don't know what happened on that cruiser?"

"No. Do you? Did he tell you what happened to him?"

"When Vaitui brought him here, he was fantasizing and talked about a lion and something about dolphins saving him, but I think he was delirious, dehydrated and in shock. There are no wild animals like lions or tigers on the South Pacific Islands and as for dolphins, well, it could be possible, and they're known to do that."

"If, and I mean if dolphins saw him in the water, they could have been protecting him against sharks and perhaps brought him to this shore. I believe they are as intelligent, or maybe more so, than humans. They just have a different intelligence. But intelligence is, no matter whether a dolphin, a bird or a human, still intelligence."

Gábor's ears perked up. He liked this woman's way of thinking. She stopped as if catching herself from making a fool of herself, and then apologetically added.

"I'm sorry. I sound as if I am lecturing you. I mean to say it's possible that the dolphins saved him."

Gábor didn't want to elaborate about the dolphins saving Lundy in the same way as they'd saved Leo, and he liked Leilani's point of view, which he'd just recently adopted himself, and judging by the look on Ivan's face, he did too. She would be fun to talk with, about the issues they'd worked on since they'd come to see Leo in a completely different light.

Leilani looked the vessel over and asked: "Are those two barrels full?"

"One is. The other is almost empty now. I think if we fill up the tanks, the drum will be empty. Let's see." They went to work, and in minutes, the tanks were full with perhaps only two gallons of fuel left in the drum.

"Kahekili, can you use this fuel in your engine?"

"I need to mix wiz zee oil, mais oui, merci, zenk you."

"Take the container too. It's yours if you want it."

"Maitai roa."

The three men lifted the big drum into the dinghy and the tender looked spacious and lighter. Leilani checked the 6.5m twin-hull, solid bottom inflatable with a critical eye and thought it would do now that the fuel drum was off the boat.

"If you get the gear stowed a bit better and leave some of the things you don't really need, it could be good enough to transport Mr. Lundy to Papeete, but the sea has to be calm, otherwise the jolting could become a problem. I can bring some cushions to make it more comfortable for him."

Ivan and Gábor exchanged cautious glances at each other. It looked as if things were going to work out okay. Once they had Lundy in the boat, they could observe and possibly talk with him.

"We need to get back to the clinic. I want to be there when he wakes up. He needs medication."

Grabbing a few items, Ivan put them into the dinghy, then looked around a bit on the boat and nodded to Gábor. "Ready."

Leilani turned to Kahekili and spoke a few sentences in Maori with him and he started the engine, cast off the lines, and turned his boat toward the shore. Ivan and Gábor had taken the sleeping bags and some more small packages with them, intent on presenting them to Leilani for her hospitality.

When they arrived back on the beach, they noticed the surf was a bit less than when they arrived in the morning. The weather had calmed down it seemed, and if it would be like this for a day or two, it could be a pleasant passage. The tender was a good craft, but not really designed for open water, far from land. Papeete was just over two hundred nautical miles from Niau, and with a loaded boat; the expected speed would be perhaps twenty to twenty-five knots at best, considering the sea conditions.