28 TEMPTATION

With the dolphins on the bow, crossing and occasionally breaching at the sides as if they intended to escort them to Tahiti, Vai trailed her hand in the water. When she took her hand out of the water, the dolphins breached a few times and then they saw them move farther away from the boat. Gábor pushed the lever forward making the inflatable plane on the water, they were moving at twenty knots on a smooth ocean.

Lundy lay down and closed his eyes and a few minutes later, a gentle snoring told them he was asleep. Leilani took some items from the packs the two women had brought with them, and Ivan dug up two blankets.

 Making themselves comfortable at the stern of the boat with some of the clothing and jackets they leaned against each other, Leilani's head on his chest and with Ivan's arm around her shoulder, both went to sleep in seconds. Vai sat down beside Gábor on the bench, draped in her drying sarong that covered her from her breasts to her knees, the edges of the fabric left a gap and revealed her right thigh in a tempting manner. He felt the moisture of the fabric on his thigh, initially a cool sensation, slowly heating up. Neither spoke for a length of time and the initial nervousness that had Gábor on the edge because of Vai's proximity dissipated as darkness fell like a cozy blanket and the breeze created by the speed of the vessel felt warm on their faces and their body.

The first stars appeared, Vai's shoulder touched Gábor's arm slightly, and a gentle, peaceful smile played around her lips. She seemed to be content and happy. With the flower garland she had placed back on her head, she looked like a princess. Her beautiful profile allowed Gábor to contemplate her looks and his eyes moved from her face over her breasts, lingered for a few seconds, taking in the sight, then glanced at her hands resting on her thighs. Slender long fingers with short clipped nails, barely visible in the shadows seemed to caress her skin.

She sat to his left; her left leg crossed over her right and exposed a little more than half of them. He looked at her exposed knee and part of her thighs. They were magnificent in tone and shape, like those of Helena and he had always admired the looks of well-shaped thighs on women. Those were the first things he noticed on females, followed by hips and buttocks. But all that was only physical traits; if there were an adverse personality behind it, his interest would be gone in a flash. Vai's personality matched her looks, yet it had not turned into arrogance. She was friendly, natural, curious, and unpretentious and he reflected on what Leilani said about her old culture. These people seemed carefree and really enjoyed life, something the western culture had put into a straightjacket and made it depend on what they had instead of what they were. Their friendliness and open, unpretentious expression of their emotions had opened something in him and his eyes lingered on this young, but ripe girl, so close to him, that her body heat made him feel warm and cozy.

Unaware of the passing time that he spent on gazing at her legs, he let his mind wander. Vai noticed his looks from the start but did not want to interrupt his reverie. In reality, she enjoyed him looking at her. It was what she wanted, for him to see her. After a minute, she turned towards him.

"What is Leo like?"

He woke from his dream state and realized that he was still looking at her legs. Her question jolted him back into reality. Leo was still a sore topic for him and she being so close that their legs touched, made him uneasy and excited all the same, and he reacted.

"You will meet him and then you'll know first-hand. From me, you will only hear a biased account." It sounded gruff to her, but she smiled and she did not give up easily. He felt irritated because of his ambivalent emotions; on one side, there was a strong attraction, an awakening desire for Vai, which he shouldn't have.

The other was his sense of loyalty and love for Helena. Vai was very attractive and her sexual emanation powerful. Gábor felt inexorably drawn into her like a planet captured in the gravitational field of the sun, unable to escape. He felt torn. Never before had he felt this kind of attraction to another woman with the exception of Helena and now there was this young female.

"What I mean is; does he look like a cat, with a tail and all furry? Perhaps I should tell you; I love cats, so I may just adopt and pet him." She meant it to be a half joke, but it annoyed Gábor and he snapped at her.

"Get your own pet instead. Leo only looks like a cat." He was edgy. Her close presence made him nervous and aroused him at the same time. He liked her and felt very much attracted to her like he felt when he met Helena, but now he was married and the situation was getting uncomfortably close. Her warm thighs against his made him want for Helena, but he didn't move, although there was enough seating area. He felt paralyzed; his heart beat hard and heavy in his chest. Apologizing, he put his hand on her shoulder. The contact with her flesh felt electrifying and extremely pleasant for both.

"I didn't mean to be harsh, but it is still hard for me to talk about Leo." Vai just smiled. In fact, she seemed amused about his gruffness. She deeply felt a love she could not control and did not even want to and she was not afraid of his outburst. She realized how much she wanted him to like her. His thigh touching hers excited her and she felt a heat in her loins, spreading through her. With his hand on her shoulder, she felt loved. How would having sex with him feel? That thought persisted and again, the desire to be with him surfaced.

"Get over your insecurities Gábor. I have no problems seeing Leo for what he is and I haven't even seen him yet. Leo is what Leo is. The problem is in you. Please, get over it."

Her soft, calm, and gentle voice soothed him. Her eyes on him were without fear and showed trust. He lowered his hands into his lap. Vai would have loved them better where they were before. She didn't move from the seat as he both feared and hoped at the same time. Strangely enough, he didn't feel attacked but reminded of what he needed to work on. This girl was like a therapist; pointing at the issue without antagonism, but with a clarity that was enlightening and allowing him to work through his own issues at his own pace. He suddenly wanted to have her close to him and felt a friendship akin to the one he enjoyed with Helena. Unexpectedly he began to laugh.

"Thank you, Vai. You are so much like Helena. You seem to know exactly what my problems are and you are not afraid to throw them at me when I need it. Yes, Leo looks like a cat and he has a tail. In fact, he is a beautiful cat with the intelligence of any human I know. Perhaps not as well read as many people who think that by reading books they have all the knowledge in the world, but he understands concepts, sees connections where no-one else does and if he is ever going to be let loose in a school, boy, watch out. A low self-esteem complex is going to hit the educational department. He is six now, but he has the intellect of someone of twenty or thirty. Wait until you meet him and see. You will like him."

Vai noticed the shift in him and a loving smile appeared on her face. With her slender fingers, she pushed a stray strand of hair out of her face and her teeth flashed in the dim light of the moon. A thin veil of a cloud obscured the image of the sky, but that smile made up for it. He relaxed and opened up to her. It wouldn’t hurt being friendly.

"I already do Gábor," she said. Vai wanted to tell him something that was on her mind but decided to wait. This was not the right time.

"From the moment you spilled your guts, as you people in North America like to say, I felt a connection to Leo and your family. I could use a good friend too, and dolphins can't live on land. On land, cats are my favourites."

They sat silently side by side for perhaps ten minutes on the upholstered bench, the backrest slightly back for comfort, and their backs against it. Vai sat to his left, each dwelling in their private world. A feeling of extreme pleasure to be near him rose in her chest. To be as close as possible to him made her want to sing and dance and she hummed a Polynesian love song. Gábor listened to the harmony and the magic of the moment enchanted him. Here he was, in the South Pacific with his family and friend and two beautiful women. He had seen people celebrating their visit, singing, dancing and feasting with them and made him forget about his pressing concerns about what to do with Lundy.

Life was just a perception. It was up to the individual whether it was to be suffered or enjoyed. At this moment he perceived it as pure pleasure.  Steered by the autopilot the boat rode smoothly on the ocean swells, up and down, gently rocking and dipping the bow into the waves, with an occasional harder entry into the water, sending spray to port and starboard. The engines droned softly, composing a soothing melody, the water sung as it moved under the boat and Vai seem to be in tune with it all. A half-moon in an almost cloudless sky created a romance story scenario and it affected them both.

Unexpectedly Vai stopped humming, turned around to look for her mother. Leilani and Ivan lay in each other's arms and slept, their last night's activities and lack of sleep had caught up with them. Vai turned back and then kissed Gábor on the cheek, bent to Lundy and adjusted his blanket that covered him. He was sleeping too and there were only Gábor and her awake. She turned back to Gábor and kissed him again out of an impulse near his mouth and leaned back to see his face and thought to detect a smile on it.

"They are sleeping." Her soft voice was quiet, almost a whisper. "They must have had an exhausting session last night, good for them," she smiled. She was happy that her mother had found love again.

"Tell me about Helena." He turned, confirmed her observation and felt anxiety and a sense of caution arising in him. From the corner of his eyes, he saw her pareu had split open wider and uncovered one of her legs, the other edge still covered the other thigh just inches from her crotch, the slightly wet material clinging to her figure like a glove, showing her perfect body. It looked more like paint than clothing. Gábor knew she didn't wear anything under her sarong and it made him feel hot.

Memories of how curious he was during the dance, as her naked thighs flashed from under her grass skirt and how she looked behind and under it prompted his fantasy. The mysterious attraction surrounding a woman's body flashed in his mind and ignited his sexual appetite. Strangely enough, he had seen her naked form already, but that was different then. Then her mother was there with Ivan and with them around they were very effective barriers to any romantic developments between him and Vai, but now they were in tight quarters and the couple present was fast asleep. Nobody could deter this young woman from advancing on him and he knew, deep inside, he'd welcome it. Becoming aware that it was more his desire to experience her body, what it would feel like touching and caressing her and how she would react to his touch and feel on him was not curiosity how she looked. He felt an insistent stirring in his shorts and tried to ignore it, but it wasn't possible. His penis filled and it scared him.

"What do you want to know?"

"How did you meet her?"

"We worked for the same organization. She was the physiotherapist there and I was her colleague."

"When and how old were you when you met?"

"We met one late summer seven years ago. I was forty-two."

"I figured you to be about forty-eight but you look younger. And she?"

"Twenty-eight, almost twenty-nine."

"We had Leo a year later," he added. "Why do you ask?"

"She's not much older than me now. You didn't say when I asked you on the beach when we visited the dolphins. She must love mature men. I love older men too, you know?"

"There are thirty years between us, Vai. I could be your father," he deflected, but his biology didn't care much about age.

"Age makes no difference if you love someone. I'm old enough to know that and it seems so does Helena. Don't you?" Vai replied and looked into his eyes, her lips parted.

"Touché," he replied.

Suddenly the memory of her naked body returned vividly in his mind, her young, mature breasts, protruding nipples, flat belly, the flaring hips, and her triangular shaped pubic hair almost within reach. Droplets of water clinging to her curly tendrils like jewels, the pouting outer labia, puffy with a peek of her darker pink and wet inner lips had conjured images of bedroom scenes.

His heart raced and the same emotion he experienced and shared with Helena sprung up. He tried to remain calm but felt his blood flooding his penis. His newly revived libido announced its purpose and didn't seem to care with whom to fulfill that purpose. The memory of that moment almost erased his basic moral concepts and the instinct of a primitive male flashed through his entire being, but then he caught himself.

"I guess. How did you figure my age?" he asked, just to say something.

"You must have had Leo when you were forty-two, perhaps forty-three and Leo is six, you must be about forty-eight or forty- nine. Logic, no?"

"Close enough."

"You look much younger. I thought you were about thirty-five, forty at the most. You are in very good shape," and her eyes roamed over his face and his body, lower to his lap, and she noticed the bulge there. ‘I'm having an effect on him as he has an effect on me.' A heat flashed her face and her belly, spreading to her sex and her nipples hardened. Having sex with him could be a very pleasant experience, she thought. The size of the bulge seemed to get larger, but that wasn't what attracted her. It was something much more powerful. A feeling of belonging with him, being in his life regardless of anything erased any reasoning in her. Recalling the minute on the beach after the visit to the dolphins, his hug and how his erection excited her sent a heat wave through her. She had felt the pressure of his shaft lingering on her sex long after they had returned to the clinic.

Suddenly she felt herself getting wet between her thighs and her heart beating harder. Yes, she wanted him. It has been a very long time since she had sex and she could imagine it would be very good with him. It was not as much sex that pulled her so irresistibly to him, but his complete being. She looked again, with joy and growing excitement she noticed the bulge growing at his crotch, and found herself getting aroused and in her imagination, she felt him moving into her sex. He must have feelings for her too and her heart soared at the thought of him having a sexual interest in her, perhaps even love. There was something sensual and intimate about it and Gábor caught her eyes as she looked at him. What was it? Longing or affection perhaps?

Vai raised her eyes to his face. He felt the heat from her warm body radiating and washing over him. Her irises were dark orbs in her face, fringed by an emerald ring.

"Thank you, Vai. You look more like twenty-five in this light."

Their voices were almost a whisper. "Really? You mean it?"

Her eyes were searching his face. "I do. You are very mature for your age. You are a beautiful young woman." It slipped out and he saw her blush and her eyes lit up.

"Sometimes I wish I were, so people would not treat me like a kid. I'm nineteen and they still think of me as a teen with the exception of the boys who see in me a potential mate."

"You are desirable. When is your birthday?"

‘God, what's the matter with me', he thought. Gábor tried to regain control.

"You just missed it. May 1st. I turned nineteen. I've been officially a grown up woman for over a year now," she said smiling.

"Mine is three days later, May 4th. Every year on the same day since I was born."

A smile spread over Vai's face. "Really? The same day? Incredible. You look very fit. Hard to believe."

They both laughed. "You want to see my passport?"

"I believe you," she chuckled. "I don't think anybody would ask you for an ID-card when you want to buy a bottle of Rum. They do with me. It makes me feel as if I am still a child when they do. I'm glad you don't question my age."

"I don't think of you as a child," he said defensively with his voice low and a sounding a bit throaty, the electric tension returned that the laughter had eased.

"No, I don't feel that from you. I feel you're taking me seriously and you treat me like a woman likes to be treated," her voice a soft murmur.

Gábor nodded and swallowed; his hands resting on his thighs tingled. He looked at her and, his eyes drifted lower to her legs like magnets. She had turned a bit more toward him and her legs were now side by side, the hem of her pareu had crept up considerably higher and exposed most of her thighs. The dim light of the instruments and the light of just a half moon revealed her naked flesh, her slightly parted thighs, and the shadows ignited his fantasy. Was it her pubes he saw or only his imagination that made him see things? Did the fabric move without her doing it? The mystery and fascination of what lies between a woman's thighs ignite all men's fantasy and desire, and it was having a very strong emotional impact on Gábor. His phallus strained in his pants. He swallowed hard and tried to focus his attention on the compass.

Vai seemed to be sexually aroused and he thought he could smell her female essence. The musky odour of her sex affected him like an aphrodisiac and made his blood boil in his veins. His nostrils flared and he inhaled the heady scent. The slight touch of her naked thigh touching his made it nearly impossible for him to keep his mind on the instruments. He felt her smooth skin, hot and delicious against his and he didn't want to miss a millimeter of it. His reason told him he should move or perhaps he should tell her to sit on the tube, but he remained silent.

The autopilot was holding the course, and he felt heavy, mesmerized by her nearness. His heart was beating a wild rhythm, thumping in his chest, his penis hardened uncomfortably in his shorts and he crossed his legs to cover his bulging penis. Vai, perhaps unconsciously, adjusted her position to re-establish the body contact. She enjoyed the touch and lowered her head to conceal her interest in his outline, gazing under her eyelashes at his crotch. She wondered what his penis looked like, how big it could be when it was fully erect and how it would feel in her hand, in her sex. How big was it and how would it feel in her? She dreaded a large penis. The man's penis her mother had sex with a few times and then with her too, was a monster cock, too long and she never allowed him to go deep. She didn't enjoy the intercourse; it was hurting and was not very enjoyable. Even her mother didn't like it. But he thought women wanted big cocks and couldn't imagine otherwise. She did it with him, not for love, but only because she felt the need for sexual relief and out of curiosity, and he was more than willing. No love or affection was involved on either side. He was a tool, no matter how hard she tried to generate some emotion for him; he was interested only in his own pleasures and she gave up bothering or caring any longer.

Vai had seen Gábor on the beach in his bathing trunks and noticed his arousal when she looked at his injury from the rocks, and later when they hugged on the beach she had felt his hard rod poking her sex and wished it was inside her. Now here perhaps, with Ivan and her mother asleep, she could find out what it was like with him. She was curious what he looked and felt like, in case he would consider making love with her.

She moved her body slightly, and turning toward him, her pareu loosened and slipped a little from her breasts. Vai didn't bother tightening it. Let him look, she thought and could feel him looking at her breasts, gazing at them, hypnotized as a deer caught in the headlights of a car at night. Seeing the dark areola and a stiff nipple as he looked down, he couldn't take his eyes off them. She was aroused as much as he was.

Gábor tried to contact Leo to get his mind off Vai, but he must be sleeping he figured because his mental call went unanswered. He was alone with a beautiful, extremely sexy young woman, a half moon, a drugged into sleep man, and two others, dead to the world in deep sleep; he felt trapped in a trance and his desire was growing out of control.

They were silent for a few minutes and he took a few calming breaths, but somehow it did just the opposite, so he stopped. He felt strongly attracted to Vai and did not know how to handle the situation. The last time he had sex was two, almost three days ago. He used to have sex with Helena daily before the dark times, sometimes two, and even three times per day when they had the time. Only recently they had picked up on lost opportunity and both of them delighted in their revived pleasure. It still wasn't as it had been before in the early days, there was still some hesitancy and fear of pregnancy, but it came closer to what it was with every time they were intimate. Now he desperately fought the urge to give in to the attraction and desire he felt for Vai.

He glanced again at her. She looked mature and very sexy in the silver light, her nipples crowned her swelling breasts, protruding perhaps from the night breeze, but they were there and he felt a strong desire to feel them in his mouth, lick and suck on them and admonished himself for it.

Her beautiful face from the side and she seemed lost in thoughts. Then Vai tossed her hair, turned her head to look at the sleeping couple in the back, and then faced him and she seemed to have made a decision. The pareu edge moved, and in the soft light of the moon, he could see the rounding of her breasts clearly, the medium size areola and her nipple partly covered under the fabric caused his breathing to be faster and heavier.

"Can I ask you a personal question?" she asked her voice low and with a tremor in it that indicated her aroused state.

"You can always ask," he said playfully, but it sounded like a come on.

"How old were you when you had sex? Did you have many women?"

"That is very personal. Why do you want to know?"

He tried to avoid this slippery topic. Undauntedly she continued.

"Just curious. I had real sex with only two men. I was fourteen, almost fifteen and that is normal here, some girls are as young as only twelve. How many women did you have?"

Vai's question sounded innocent, but it affected Gábor's equilibrium. And what was real sex?

"I've had sex with perhaps twenty or thirty women. I never really counted, and don't really want to talk about it," he replied uncomfortably and hoped it would deter her curiosity. It didn't work.

"At your age, you must have had much experience with women. What is the age in your country for girls to have sex?

"Some as young as twelve, much too young, they are still children, but the legal age is eighteen."

"Here too, but my view about age differs from yours. Did you wait until you were legal?"

"No," he admitted. "I was sixteen when a schoolmate of seventeen seduced me on my sixteenth birthday in the gym while practicing judo holds. She called it my birthday present. I still remember and see her face. She was not as sexy or beautiful as you are. I think I was an easy victim."

It slipped out against his will and he cursed himself silently. He tried to sound funny, but he felt himself slipping deeper into her and his whole being yearned for her as he only yearned for Helena.

He looked at her naked legs and fought a powerful desire to lay his hands on them, to just feel the heat and texture. His penis responded instantly and the bulge in his shorts was obvious. Vai did notice, her arousal grew too, her heartbeat increased; her sex drive activated made her sex tingle. It began to secrete some fluids and her breathing got shallower and faster, her hands twitched and she fought the urge to touch herself or better yet, let him. She wished he would make love with her right now.

Obviously, she had an effect on him. His desire for her must be as strong as hers was for him. Why was he resisting? Because of loyalty perhaps? He could love her and he needn't worry that she wanted to take him away from his wife. She would be more than happy to be his lover beside her if she'd agree.

"How do you see me Gábor? What do you feel for me?" she asked in a husky voice. Her lips parted, revealing her white teeth, her breath heavy.

She made no effort to cover herself, hoping he would make a move on her, her heart beating in her throat, face flushed and hot in the dark

"You are a very attractive, beautiful and sexy young woman. Some man will be a very lucky man to be with you and love you."

"Could you love me?"

"Vai, I could be your father," he repeated lamely.

"But you're not." That was true enough.

"I don't think Helena would like it," he said with a lump in his throat.

"You don't know that." Another truth.

"I'm sure there are many men who would want you, Vai," he said in a last ditch effort. Why was it not possible for him to say the right words, to make her understand and not keep on tempting him like this? Was she a magician of some sort? Vai seemed to have come to a decision.

"I don't want many men to love me. Only one," she stated. "I want that man to be you, and you are keeping me at a distance while I'm trying to get closer to you. I know you love me, I feel it, and you know it too. Why are you fighting it? I loved you the moment I saw you and I feel you love me too. Why don't you admit it? It's okay. I'm not a child anymore."

Her right hand somehow had come to rest on his thigh during the conversation and Gábor felt heat spreading up to his groin, blood filling and stiffening his penis almost painfully. He knew he should move her hand away, but it felt too good and he suffered silently.

"I have a wife, I'm married Vai, and I love Helena."

"That's good, but what's your point? I'm not asking you to stop loving her." Her eyes held his. Her face was closer than before; her eyes searched his face, his eyes. Vai's moist lips parted and showed her white teeth, her breasts rose with each excited breath and swelled under the fabric. His excitement intensified and his penis throbbed. He knew he was hopelessly lost into her. He had lost all his defenses. No, she was not a child and he was still a man.

"What do you want?" The words hardly made it over his lips.

"I love you and you know what I want. And I know you want it too. I want you to make love with me. Love me. Please." Her body had turned slightly towards him and the edge of her pareu opened wide enough to clearly expose her thighs and the crease where her legs met with her belly, some of her pubic hair was uncovered and he couldn't stop gazing at that magic spot. From memory, he knew what he would see there if the fabric moved just a little more and his breath accelerated, his mouth watered, but his throat was dry. He did catch a stronger whiff of her sex. It was intoxicating and Helena's words came to his mind:

"She is beautiful and very sexy. I wouldn't blame you for taking her. I could see her as a very close friend, not a threat. I can imagine you being intimate with her, Honey. Do as you feel."

 "I can't Vai. Helena would…"

Vai put the other hand on his and his protest died in his throat. He did not move.

"In my mind, I keep getting this picture of me and Helena loving you. We can share your love. It's possible to love me too and not lose Helena, Gábor. That's what you are afraid of, to lose her, isn't it?" Her hand stroked his hand gently and electric currents ran through his veins. He couldn't move and swallowed hard. His entire body felt paralyzed with the exception of his throbbing penis. In the past, he had never had any problems resisting temptation, no matter how seductive a woman was, but not now. Not Vai.

"Vai, please don't" his voice pleading her.

His penis straining in his shorts to get some fresh air, his voice a hoarse whisper, he suffered sweet torture. Her hand on his thigh burned. He was helpless against her femininity. He knew his resistance was no longer in effect and if she made another move on him, he would cave in and it scared him.

Vai struggled with her own dragons. She knew what she was doing was brazen by western standards and disregarded his concepts of love and loyalty to his wife, but an inner voice insisted she continue on this path. The same voice told her that his wife would like to see him free to make his own decisions with whom to share his love and affection as long as he would be happy and not leave her for it. Putting aside her reservations she felt deep inside she decided to act. Coercion was necessary to jolt him out of his out-dated mindset and moral imprisonment. His mind resisted, his heart insisted, but he needed a push to break through his imprisonment of the mind.

How could she tell him that there was no need to worry? He could love Helena and her too. His aroused state was obvious; he was ready. The erection in his pants was undeniable even in the dark. Of course, she had noticed and turned a quarter turn away from him to lean back against his chest and turning her face to him, she took his hand, draped it over her shoulder, and guided it to her warm breast under the fabric of her pareu, the contact made her gasp.

"Feel me. The love we feel is the same love that connects us all. Only the bodies and thoughts are different. Love is for all; it is to be shared. It is that which makes us all one, one heart, one mind" she whispered, her seductive voice caressed his ears. He felt her breast and the rubbery nipple, an involuntary reflex spread his fingers and encompassed her entire soft fleshy mound, and a sigh escaped his mouth. She felt wonderful in his hand and she moaned to his touch. Gábor felt his heart in his throat and swallowed hard. He felt her heart beat hard and fast, just as his own. Holding her soft and firm flesh with the hard nipple in his palm, the heat of her breast burned his hand.

"Touch me. Feel me," she whispered. Her hair had the scent of the sea and the warm breeze had dried it. He glanced down. From this position, he saw her breasts clearly, one covered by his hand and an electric current ran from her through him and he cupped her breast, just holding it. It was the perfect feel and size. He was getting hot and horny; his breath near her ear excited her.

"You don't have to tell Helena if you don't want her to know, Gábor," she breathed.

"I will know and we have no secrets from each other. She'll know." He tried to warn her.

"I was hoping you'd say that." Her voice sounded sincere and her breathing picked up the pace.

"Why are you doing this?" he almost pleaded for mercy.

"I'm in love with you. I fell in love with you the very first moment I saw you. I want to experience you, be with you, not own you, as romantic as it may be, but it would be impossible because nobody can own another, Gábor," Vai said softly and looked into his eyes. Her irises were wide and dark and he saw the passion in them, a deep longing, and a promise. Her breast in his hand seemed to swell with each breath. He remembered Helena's words: "love is to be shared, not owned" and "if you can't be with the one you love, love the one you're with" and he had wondered what she'd meant. Were Helena and Vai synchronized in some way? Did she want him to get involved with other women? Did she give him permission to act on his attraction to Vai? If not, would she forgive him if he had sex with Vai? Helena's words echoed in his head in a never-ending recording. She would approve of him mating with Vai. "She is beautiful and very sexy. I wouldn't blame you for taking her. I could see her as a very close friend, not a threat. I can imagine you being intimate with her, Honey. Do as you feel." "I love Helena." ‘Famous words of Don Juan before consuming the next one thousand women' shot through Gábor's mind.

"And there is no place in your heart for anybody else? Loving me does not mean you have to stop loving Helena. I don't want to take you away from her. I want to join with you. And isn't love just love?" her eyes held him, her voice sexy and hoarse. Wasn't that what he told his clients when they came to him for counselling for similar issues? Was this the same issue he needed to learn? The phrase "Doctor, heal thyself" all of sudden had become his own counsel. And how did this young woman learn this wisdom?

"Love is just Love", -"Love the one you're with," Helena's remark echoed in his head. Did Helena encourage him to have an extramarital affair with Vai? Was it just coincidence or a hint? Vai's breast in his palm heated up and her breath picked up the pace. His own breath was deep too. His resolve to be faithful to only one woman teetered. Truth was; Helena never requested it.

"I even can imagine you being intimate with her Gábor, and I still would love you."

As Vai's large, liquid eyes gazed into his he saw her desire for him that surely must be on his own for her. Her parted lips excited him and the image of her lips on his penis flashed in his mind. With her uncombed long hair, she looked like a wild woman, not a child. Far beyond childhood, Vai was beautiful and extremely sexy. The image of Helena and him making love, imprinted in his mind, now included Vai.

"Whatever could happen, it would not change a bit how I feel about you. I want you to know that…take her… do as you feel."

"I want you. Please love me too, please," Vai whispered, her open glittering mouth just centimeters away from his, her face turned up, her irises wide. Vai held Gábor's hand, but not too hard that he couldn't take it away, and with each excited breath, she took, her breast filled his hand. "Whatever could happen, it would not change a bit how I feel about you. I want you to know that," reverberated in his mind.

Her hot, nubile breast felt firm, yet soft and smooth to the touch and with a mind of their own, his fingertips explored and caressed from the lower soft edge of her breast, to her side and to her puckered areola. He felt her stiff nipple and instinctively closed his fingers on it. His entire body shook and vibrated as if he had a violent fever. She gasped and her breath quickened. Vai pushed her breast into his hand and moaned.

"Ah, yes, touch me," and her hot breath on his face bathed him. He felt his body heat rising and his resistance melting like snow on a stove. And when he felt Vai's other hand taking his free hand and placing it on her satin smooth, warm thigh, close to her sex, all restraint shattered. Helena, forgive me, his mind cried, as his mouth closed hard over Vai's soft lips, creating a seal, he kissed her deeply, almost violently.

In an instant, her mouth opened wide, her eyes closed in rapture and with a moan, her left arm wrapped around his neck, sucking his tongue hungrily into her mouth whimpering as they ate each other. Her tongue exploring his and both of their hands started to move on their own over each other's bodies; his towards her core that his male instincts found irresistible while Vai's right hand on his thigh moved to his package which held a promise for her. Unerringly her fingers searched for his belt and released the buckle. The primal man in him wanted to feel her hand and more on him, while his reasoning mind screamed stop! Stop! STOP, and with the last effort that he still had, he stopped her advance by grasping her hand. Vai desisted, their lips separated, and she looked at him wide-eyed.

"Vai, this has gotten far enough. Your mother and Ivan are behind us and could wake up any moment." She regarded him with a strange look.

"If that is all that is holding you back, I am happy to tell you that, knowing my mother, she is someone that can sleep through a cyclone. And looking at her new man, hmm, I think he is too tired out to see the sunrise," she stated. "I want you Gábor and I promise you, I'll be quiet, but I'm not going to give up on making love with you, preferably now."

With that, she kissed him again. The intensity of her kiss, his own raging fire in his loins, he let go of her hand and let her do what he wanted too. The feel of her hand all over him in the same matter as his hands resumed exploring her body had nothing to do with reason. She was as crazy for him as he was lost to her passion.

He forgot where or who he was, nothing existed anymore. No Ivan, Leilani or Lundy, only a female and a male, and this all-consuming desire to possess this girl in any way possible. None of his vows mattered at this moment; hell, he couldn't even remember his own name. The very same desire he'd had for Helena would make him repeat the same vows to Vai now. If anyone would have caught him with Vai he wouldn't have cared and neither would she. They were out of control.

27 CONFESSIONS

With five in the boat, it was a bit crowded and they had to make space for Lundy to lie down. The best place to keep out of wind and spray was in the front, the rest had to sit or lie where they could. Ivan started the engines and they moved out, a concerned Kahekili waving after them. It would be two hundred nautical miles to go with light winds and at a twenty-knot speed, ten hours of nothing to do but talk. They all hoped the weather would cooperate. With Gábor at the helm, Vai beside him on the left, Ivan sat on the tube of the inflatable opposite Leilani; they wearily looked at each other. Neither one of them knew how to begin a conversation, but then Leilani broke the uncomfortable silence.

"You were going to leave without Lundy and take the chance of having your story uncovered," Leilani said, facing Ivan. Ivan shrugged his shoulder.

"I had to make a choice about what was more important; my self-respect or living a life of infamy over the betrayal of a friendship and commitment I've made to my friend and his family. I chose integrity over false happiness if I would have abandoned them in their need.  Life seldom is what is seems. Sometimes we win, sometimes we lose. My self-respect and loyalty may cost me my happiness, but what other choice is there?"

Leilani's eyes scrutinized his face for a long time while Vai cowered near Gábor as if she were afraid he'd jump over the side.  Leilani turned to Gábor.

"I want to apologize to both of you. I was too hasty in my judgment about you two. What you told us about what you went through with your family is unprecedented in human history as far as I know. I think there would not be one person in the world that would have done anything different what you all did. My pride and self-importance had the better of me when I felt lied to, I'm sorry for that. I see now why you had to do what you did."

Turning to Ivan she continued. "I'm very impressed with your integrity Ivan. Vai had to point out to me how authentic you two men are and how real and dedicated you are to each other. That is a quality I value very much in any person and don't find it often. When you decided to leave, disregarding the consequences of a possible discovery of your secret, my daughter reminded me of the values I cherish and forgot over my injured ego. When you left without my patient, Vai saw your true worth. That was the tipping point of my decision to bring him." Her eyes held his. "I believe you were sincere and acted with integrity to Gábor and his family. You are very brave, I must admit, but I must know if I can trust you if I decide to commit to a relationship with you. Never in my life has a man made a complete fool out of me in one night and I'll be damned if I'm going to take it without having my chance to get even. I have to know who you are and that is not possible without being around you and observing you. I want the whole truth. You owe me that."

She looked at Ivan while she delivered her line of a request for honesty. Ivan felt her probing eyes and searched his mind for the right words to express how he felt and how to formulate them clearly. He was in turmoil emotionally because he really felt love for Leilani and desired to have a relationship with her, yet at the same time for his friendship with Gábor, he would sacrifice his own happiness if it came to that point. Then he decided just to speak from his heart.

"Leilani," he began in a low voice only she and Vai could hear, "I'm sorry to have presented you a lie about us being other than whom we really are, but at that time I didn't know you from a fish in the ocean. I had no idea that I would fall in love with you. Our objectives were to have him," and he indicated toward Lundy, "with us and to find a way to buy his silence in order to protect my friends. I made that commitment before I met you and I fell in love with you after that.  When I fell for you, I felt rotten to have lied to you and I wanted to confess but was not sure how to or how you would take it.

My first commitment is to my friends and their safety and even if I lose you, I will not break that vow. As you said, I will not betray my friends and live with that for a life with you. I wouldn't be able to live with that shame of betrayal. I believe I would be losing your love and respect in the long run also for abandoning my friends in need and thinking only of my own happiness.  If that is offensive to you, then we made a mistake and in that case, I thank you for the most beautiful experience I have had in more than thirty years, and we call it off, very much to my regret. We'll take you and this man to Papeete and what happens then, I don't know, but I will not desert my friends in need. The ball is in your court now, it's your call."

Leilani, quiet for several minutes, thought and contemplated his words. These were hard words and Leilani's ego wanted to bristle at them, but the words also spoke of integrity and deep honesty. Was that not something she wanted? Most of her life she knew people who played games, to get her to sleep with them, and she fell for it a few times because they rubbed her ego the right way. She needed intimacy like any woman. Her late husband was an acceptable man and their two children were a product of their intimacy, and he also had a love for others and that wasn't the problem, but he played games she had to learn to live with, to keep the family together according to western principles. The temptation on an island with a ratio of four women to one man was indeed a challenge as she noticed with Vai. Women competed for every man since the western world ideas had taken over the old ways where nobody had claims on another person before. Everybody was accessible with some exceptions for chiefs in some cases. Ever since the new moral concepts were introduced, all the old customs went underground and turned love and affection into sin and something to be guilty and ashamed about. Still, many women shared men, and several women sired a number of children with a common father, others had no idea who the father was.

After her husband died she had been with a few men, some married men for a night or longer to satisfy her biological needs and for fun and pleasure, but it never got beyond the sex and she hadn't felt guilty because it was out in the open. She had an outlet for a while with one colleague, but that fizzled out because of his restless nature and the urge to have many partners. His French background created an attitude of ambivalence and made her feel unworthy when he left her in the middle of a date with her to follow a buxom blond.  She couldn't blame him with that many women looking for a man and women did the same. The old traditions were still alive in many parts of Polynesia and many practiced it including herself, but not while she was married. She had many opportunities but held back the desire to be with any of them, plus the studies in England were hard. When hormonal pressures became unbearable, she flew home for a week. Money wasn't a problem, but Dominique often was.

Hinanu had moved because of him and in the end, she also grew tired of his sermons and hypocrisy. She spent the time with Vai and her husband when he was around and returned to pick up her studies when she returned to the college in London. Vai was the highlight of her visits and she had been very close to her and told her about the college she studied at. Vai thought she might take up veterinary science there too.

 When she was home from London a year before she graduated from Cats collage, Vai had told her about her cousin and her sexual experience with him. Dominique had a fit and cited the bible, Sodom and Gomorrah and the end of the world. A week later a shark got him and he went to meet his god.

That was the end of his world. She had returned to London after the funeral and finally relented to two men, twins, who had pursued her since she had entered Cats Collage and were after her like bears for honey. Both were nice, studied dentistry and played tennis with her when they had the time. Their main objective had been her and they teased her relentlessly, calling her "Iron Maiden" and "Alaskan princess", but they were handsome and fun to hang out with. One night after a night on the town, she decided to see where their play would lead and even after three years knowing them, she couldn't keep them apart. They had played games with her and they were inventive. Gert and Uli, both from Germany, were the lucky ones when she gave up which one to date, so she dated both of them and they got together a few times for a threesome. Dominique was soon forgotten.

She had that with another female before she was married and lived on Hiva Oa. It had been with a young woman by the name Rebecca from Israel at the insistence of Dominique. He introduced Rebecca and said he couldn't keep up with her, but didn't want another man with her and thought another woman would satisfy her lust.

Leilani was young and curious, not stupid. Dominique lusted after Becky; that much she knew. Rebecca had been two years older than her and just as horny as she was and it was fun. When Dom conked out after he had her and Becky, the two women laughed and continued with each other until they had enough and fell exhausted into a deep sleep. Dom found them embraced and rumpled, took them again then and whenever he had a chance.

Leilani thought it was only Becky and she that Dominique had sex with, but Becky found out that he slept with whoever was available. Then Leilani got pregnant and Dom married her, still sleeping with other women, produced five more children with five different women yet claimed Christian morals. Rebecca was still beautiful and one of her best friends, but they were not seeing each other since Becky had moved to Bora Bora two years ago.

In London having had two men, she felt for the first time what it was like to have sex with two men at the same time and enjoyed it, but the bigotry of the western culture was not her cup of tea and after her graduation she returned to Tahiti, working in the hospital before taking the job on Niau to be with Vai. Seeing her on weekends was not enough. The men around Niau were all too happy to be with any woman who had a need. Her daughter Vai started her periods when she was twelve and had become sexually active late, almost fifteen, just before her father died, and it was with a cousin of age thirteen who became her first encounter, borne out of curiosity and hormonal pressure.

Then she accepted a married man who had been pursuing her and Vai for a long time, he was persistent, and she felt the pressure of her own need.  He had been with Vai a few times too, she knew, but neither she nor Vai loved any of the men here. She thought them to be immature and ignorant in many ways, and Leilani looked forward to seeing Vai going off to Europe to find someone more to her liking. Even Leilani had considered it. Sophistication was important to her.

When Leilani noticed Vai's flirting with Gábor, she understood Vai, but knowing the ideology of Western ways of committed relationships, of underground promiscuity, she had to remind Vai that Gábor was Taboo and Vai relented; nevertheless, Leilani felt Vai desired Gábor and could see herself alongside his wife as a mistress. This may not be unless his wife agreed.

Yes, Gábor was a very attractive man, even to her, but she thought westerners were one-woman-men, at least outwardly, and Gábor seemed to have found the perfect woman. Leilani would do what it took to keep Vai from getting involved with Gábor and possibly getting hurt.

She had observed Gábor when he talked about his son and wife and there was a strong love that was undeniable. She felt a powerful emotion surging through her when she saw Gábor and Ivan. She would accept both as partners, but being Europeans, westerners, as she called them, the two could be bliss or they could be hell.

Their charisma was about the same and if they were Polynesian men, she would invite them both to join her. Curious about Gábor's wife, she would ask more about her when there was time.

Now she'd met Ivan, a deep thinker, funny with a zest for life and integrity. He was a great lover and also very handsome with incredible stamina and he had turned her inside out during their sexual encounter. She had several orgasms and so did Ivan in one night of passion.

He had satisfied her very well indeed. She'd never experienced anything like it before with any men, and that alone would have been enough to consider a long-term relationship with him, but when they revealed to her the lie about why they came to Niau, her trust in him hit a low point.

What would stop him from lying to her again? Why did he tell a lie, she asked herself? Did he not trust her? She was sure his love was genuine. Nobody could be that good of an actor through five orgasms in one night without giving himself or herself away.

When they left, she felt paralyzed and couldn't think clearly. She'd found love and she was going to lose it. She was desperately trying to find answers to the "Why's." She wanted to know Ivan and already had felt she could be with him until she died. He was funny, a strong character, good looking, and seeing him stand by his friend bore witness to his strong principles, something she valued highly.

In her desperation, she asked Vai what to do and Vai had the best answer she couldn't have found on her own. Caught in her own concepts of love and that of conformity, she could not see a solution. Vai had a clearer sight. She was the unofficial kahuna on Niau.

"These two men are authentic and have integrity Ma. They are real. He is willing to give up your love for his commitment and Gábor is straight as an arrow; I like...no, I love him very much. You will never find other men like these; not here, not for a long time."

Leilani looked at her daughter and realized Vai had fallen in love with Gábor. She would have to keep an eye on her, but what she'd said about them being authentic had hit the nail right on the head. They were real. That was the key. If this man's integrity was that strong, she could trust him to have the same commitment to a relationship with her as long as she could understand that she may never present him with an ultimatum to make a choice between her and his principles. The same integrity he had for his commitments was the same that could serve their relationship. She hugged Vai then and told her to pack some things quickly for a trip to Papeete and she rushed to Lundy, roused him out of his bed, and helped him dress for the trip. She changed into long pants and a buttoned shirt grabbed the bag with Lundy's belongings and helped him to walk to the beach, hoping Ivan and Gábor hadn't left yet. When she saw them pushing the dinghy into the water, she realized she'd just about made it in the last possible second. When she called to Gábor and he turned toward her in surprise, she knew her destiny had taken a turn that would change her life. Deep in her heart, she felt it was the right choice.

Leilani's eyes softened when Ivan confessed his love to her and when he spoke of his commitment, they hardened again and softened one more time as she struggled with her own demons. Ivan thought she'd made her choice and his heart felt like a stone in his chest and he was about to shut-down emotionally. He saw the angry furrow between her eyes and then noticed they seemed to soften as she lifted her chin, and a gentle look replacing the stern expression along with a soft smile, like sunshine after a storm, spread over her face. His hopes soared. No woman had ever taken him on an emotional rollercoaster ride before; this one did.

He had not had a woman for more than ten years, and that one time, ten years ago was a drunken mistake, when in one of those dark hours of the soul he succumbed to a drink, and it led to a few more. Aided by the sympathetic neighbour’s wife and husband, all three of them ended up in bed. He didn't want to recall all that happened that night, it was hedonistic, it was not bad, but he had missed the element of love. When he had left the next morning with the woman encouraging him to visit them again, he swore to never touch alcohol in those quantities again in the presence of a woman and had not done so since. The woman was attractive, but he wanted more than just the satisfaction of hormonal relief.

Her husband was game and if he wanted to, he could share the woman with him, but Ivan didn't want that and only when Gábor and Helena had moved into the neighbourhood, did he become aware of the pleasures he missed. He envied Gábor for his fortune but respected him too much to encroach on his wife and let his feelings go into hibernation mode.

Last night Leilani had awakened his dormant desires and his heart blossomed like the Northern Canadian polar region after a harsh winter. Watching her dancing, her dazzling smile that seemed to be only seeing him triggered in him feelings he had buried for many years and thought he'd lost forever. Then he felt like dancing and the muscles he'd trained hard in the martial arts remembered that they had other functions too and came to life. He danced for Leilani and seeing her laughing and applauding reminded him of love he once knew and thought dead. He tried to dance like the Polynesian men and in the middle of it Leilani whispered to him that she wanted to go to the beach with him. They left and when they'd found some boulders, Leilani turned to him, threw her arms around his neck and kissed him with open mouth. He was ready for it long before this moment and with her body pressed against his, her hands pulling his bottom to her loins, his legs between hers, he felt her pelvis rubbing hard and urgently on his rigid swelling. Her splayed thighs felt hot and the musky odour of her sex strong in his nostrils, there was no holding back.

 "I must have you," she moaned and kissed him hard. In a flash, he dropped his pants and entered her without any foreplay. Dancing had been foreplay enough. Leilani was soaking wet and his long abstinence paid off.

They made wild, passionate love on the sparse patches of grass, standing up, sitting, and alternating being on top then reversing and later from behind for deep penetration, and after both were satisfied for the third time, they returned to the fare and silently went into her bedroom and continued there until the sky turned grey and Leilani re-evaluated her views about westerners retentive sexuality.

Ivan snuck to his quarters and Leilani fell into a deep and exhausted sleep with a happy smile on her face until Vai woke her. Ivan wasn't aware that Leo didn't sleep. He was still in his mind, curious and eager to see what would come out of Ivan's adventure. He remembered well Ivan wanting to know what Tahitian women looked like and so Leo got an education in sexual practices through the mind-link and was not sure what to do with it, but Helena was off the hook to get books about the Birds and the Bees.

In the morning he relayed to Helena what he'd experienced, but left out the juicy details. She was happy for Ivan, but when he felt guilty about the deception to get Lundy and the urge to disclose their secret, she panicked. Helena did not want to convey to Gábor the bad news right away and waited until he woke up. She was not so sure if she should be happy or concerned about it. Wondering if they should remind Ivan to guard his thoughts a bit so they were not "readable" Helena did bring up the topic.

Ivan was embarrassed and apologized.

"I guess we have to take some lessons in mind control as soon as we get back to you guys and now that these girls here know about you, we might as well include them as well, but not before you meet in person," Leo relayed Ivan's half apology to Helena.

"We agree. Who knows what they think of a cat who reads minds," returned Helena.

Leilani's eyes were still on Ivan's while he thought about what lay in the past and she knew nothing of all that, but since the ball was in her court now, she would play it. She decided to take the bull by the horns.

"Since the ball is mine to play, here is what I would like to do with it."

She stood up and leaned over and down to Ivan's face and lifted it a bit, kissed him on the lips with her tongue slightly extended so he could feel it on his lips and just for a second he returned the kiss and then they separated.

"Does this mean I'm forgiven?" He dared to hope.

"Ivan, I have met many people who have lied and deceived me and none ever regretted or apologized for it, even when I found out. I'm not innocent in that area either. I've done my share too, and you've made me aware of that with your confession. Who am I to judge? I've got some old fish in my fridge too and it is time for me to clean them out." She took a deep breath and looked Ivan in the face.

"You see, my husband died four years ago as you already know. He was the proverbial French rooster and produced seven children, two with me, and the others with other women. Other than Vai and Hinanu, there's Yohan, Jules and Vaihere, a half-sister and two half-brothers were born, one after Hinanu and another after Vai.

There's also a boy on Rangiroa, and another on Fakarava, each born to a different woman, but he disputed them as his. He wanted to be a Christian and lived like a hypocrite. He couldn't accept my adherence to our Polynesian culture, but he relished in it. At the same time, he wouldn't have liked to see me doing it.

Hinanu, Vai's older sister, lives on Tahiti now with a French man and will move to France very soon. I think I will visit her when we are in Papeete. She is twenty-two now, twenty-three in July and Jacques is forty. He is happy to have a young woman and she appears to enjoy his attention. I haven't seen them for almost a year now and this is a good opportunity to do so, another reason why I came on this trip. You may want to ask about the children of Dominique and how it is possible I lived with a man who obviously did not adhere to marital vows. You see, with that many women and so few men, the men have a big choice with women and partnerships are much more relaxed here than in the Western societies. It has moved underground, pretence is the norm. Additionally, I'm from the Marquesas originally and polyandry was normal, which means a woman could have several partners there, yet on Tahiti, it was the other way around.

Polygyny, a practice where a man may have more than one vahine was normal. When a man or a woman desired a partner, they traveled to the other islands, but if that was not feasible for one reason or another, they shared partners. The missionaries tried to limit that and it created an undercover activity where affections to another, not your primary partner, became a sin according to them. Dishonesty and deceit are the results of these restrictions.

Dominique grew up in Papeete with a traditional family that was Mormons on the surface and allowed them to practice multiple partners some time ago. That allowed them to play the old ways and be Christians. Dom soaked that up and later turned Catholic, but he still wanted to have all that pleasure our old culture provided. Does that explain his "promiscuousness?"

Ivan, listening to Leilani who spoke in a low voice more to him than Gábor, nodded. The conversation had a private character. Lundy couldn't hear a word and Gábor focused more on the sea than paying attention to them. It was their session to clear up their problems.  Vai sat beside him, occasionally glanced in his direction, but remained silent. She seemed to mull over something while Leilani conversed with Ivan about her culture and her preferences.

"We all have sometimes a desire for another partner and in our old culture we have promoted sexuality and have never considered it a sin. It was all for fun and pleasure. The word adultery means nothing to us, we didn't even have a word for it and affection was shared freely without shame or guilt, but I want to be your number one sweetheart, you're "here hoe". If you want to love someone beside me, I want to know. I want to let you know that if Gábor weren't married, I'd have both of you two.

But whatever the situation is, he is married, you two are Westerners and I was long enough in London to know about your relationship arrangements; one man for one woman is your custom and I'm not going to attempt to interfere in that. As it is, you could be my ‘here hoe'. Just have respect and be honest with me. I can do a relationship with one man and I will give my attention entirely to that person if he is showing me the same courtesy.

It doesn’t mean I want to imprison you to be exclusive with me, but I want to feel free being with you because I want to. If you desire to be with someone else, I’ll have the same freedom. I will not tolerate unequal rights or privileges. What is good for the gander is also good for the goose I heard someone say in England."

She took a deep breath. "If you are not taking me for granted, don't neglect me, or leave me alone for long periods of time like Dominique used to do. I enjoy but don't need a diversion. My husband couldn't be without sex for a week but expected me to be without it for months. Fidelity is not as important to me as trust, honesty and authenticity. I need to have reliability in my mate, not blind devotion. If I'm treated with loving kindness and respect, I can tolerate much. If you can trust me, I will trust you, and we can build a life together, even if there is the occasional affair

To expect fidelity, like many Westerners do, is not realistic, but if I can trust you to be there for me when I need you, I will be there for you no matter what. My preference is for a man who has the courage to ask for what he wants from me and is not sneaking behind my back to get it somewhere else because he was too much of a coward to ask for what he wants. I hope you are that man and if what I experienced in your friendship and commitment to Gábor is any indication, you could be that man. One thing I won't tolerate is someone lying to me and I promise: you will never hear a lie from me."

Most everything Leilani said challenged Ivan's family and relationship values and hearing that she was not big on fidelity but trust struck him odd at first, but it seemed to be the reality all over the world that people were forcing themselves into a matrix that contradicted human nature, but then he understood what she said. She demanded equality and authenticity, values that established the same rights in partnership between people. That honesty was a prerequisite for her, was a given and Leilani appeared to be straight and honest in all that she did.

"It sounds like a reasonable offer and request. Would you be interested in finding out more about me?" Ivan asked.

"Only if you're interested to find out more about me. It is a reciprocal thing, Ivan. The moment I laid eyes on you, I felt attracted to you, but I never thought myself to be this much of a fool. Is your offer for dinner in Horseshoe Bay still valid?" her voice had gained strength and had more joy in it than before.

"I cleared up my appointments with the harem of the Sheik in Kuwait when you showed up on the beach. What about baked salmon with sour cream stuffing? Lena is an expert at that, but "Troll's" has the better view."

"Splendid, but who is Lena?"

"Gábor's better looking half."

"Are you in love with her?"

"Neither one of them knows. I want to keep it that way."

Vai, Leilani, and Gábor laughed heartily and Lundy's eyes were on Ivan and Leilani, but no expression showed on his dark face. He did not hear the conversation because the wind carried the words aft and he was near the bow under the splashguard to stay dry and out of the wind.  Vai turned to her mother with a wicked grin on her face.

"I bet you look forward to an encore of Ivan's performance last night."

"That might slow him down lusting after Helena, she might be disappointed and perhaps will miss your not so covert flirts."

"I thought you weren't noticing."

"You were as sneaky as a WW2 Russian Tank T-34."

"My walls were shaking all night long," said Vai.

"What do you know of our glorious war machines?" Ivan threw a life vest at her and Leilani clapped her hands. Gábor was determined to find out what that performance was.

Lundy sat up, asking. "Where are we going?"

"To another hospital, Jonathan. How do you feel?" Leilani asked.

"I feel dizzy and my head hurts."

"Why don't you lie down and rest until we get to Tahiti?"

"Are we going to see dolphins?"

"That's not likely. We are going a bit too fast. When we get to Tahiti, we may see them. Rest now."

"I'm dizzy, not tired."

"Do you want to read something then?"

"I want to see the dolphins." Leilani locked eyes with Ivan.

Ivan shook his head gently and then looked at Vai. She returned his glance, lifted a shoulder as in a shrug and she laid a hand on Lundy's arm.

"I will try to call them, okay?"

Lundy's big dark eyes looked at her and she regarded him with compassion for a few seconds then turned towards Gábor.

"Could we stop for a minute or two?"

"Sure we can. But are we not a bit too far away from land?"

"We can try. They may be out this far and they may be looking for food in the area. It will be dark in a very short time and then we will see nothing."

Throttling the engines, the boat slowed and then came to a stop.

With the engines turned off, they drifted on a gentle swell, the water was nearly flat, and it looked in some places like liquid lead. The red sun sunk under the western horizon; leaving an orange sky with pink clouds and turquoise, clear patches. It was not much of the usual splendour; it just sank below the horizon and left a darkening sky behind.  Vai whistled sharply four times and waited for a while, then again, but nothing happened. She tried again with the same result and Jonathan looked disappointed. Vai looked at him and silently put her arm on his shoulder.

"They are not around now, but we can try tomorrow in Tahiti, okay?"

She just finished her sentence when the water broke and several fins sliced through the water and then there were the dolphins. Everybody started to clap their hands and holler like children, Vai jumped into the water with an elegant dive, and the dolphins immediately swarmed around her.

Gábor thought he recognized the one with a scar on the fin that lifted him up when he was in the water. Vai said it was a male. She used the dolphin stroke and the dolphins swam alongside her and rubbed themselves on her. Others replaced the previous ones, letting her ride them for a while, then Vai held on to the one Gábor thought he'd recognized. He swam with her for a good distance then came back toward the boat. Gábor saw Vai on the back of him in a kneeling position. Her sarong clung to her, outlining her curves and she looked like a mermaid as they approached the boat.

Suddenly and unceremoniously, the dolphin bucked her off into the water, no more than two meters away and several others leaped out of the water and somersaulted. Vai climbed back aboard, water dripping on Gábor, who looked at her and then at the dolphins, still clapping his hands. Vai had a broad smile on her face and the two men hugged Vai and thanked her for the show. Lundy beamed at Vai.

"I knew you could talk to the dolphins. I want to talk to them too," said Jonathan.

"When you get better Jonathan, but now we must go," Leilani said and she arranged the place for Jonathan to sleep and gave him some pills.

"Take these, they will let you have a good sleep, and when you wake up we will be in Tahiti where you will be taken care of."

"Will you be there too?" He looked at each one of them and a little longer it seemed, at Gábor. Then he took the pills and washed them down with some water.

"We will visit sometime." Gábor started the engines and putting it into gear; he accelerated into an ink dark ocean, leaving a twin wake at the stern.

26 TRUTH

With the dinghy back in the water, and the gear stowed away, they started the engine. With the wind at their back, they returned to Tupana village relatively quickly. It was just noon when they landed on the beach and pulled the boat up. Kahekili must have seen them coming because he was there and assisted them with the inflatable and their gear, to haul it back to Leilani's house. He looked at Ivan and Leilani, then Gábor and Vai and smiled.

"You look good togezer." Zee ori continu en zee fare, non?"

Leilani said something in Tahitian, Vai, and Kahekili burst out in laughter, and Kahekili clapped Ivan several times on the shoulder. Vai looked at Gábor with an indescribable face expression.

"Very impressif, mon ami".

Gábor started to get curious as to what Ivan did that was so impressive, but he didn't ask. Ivan had a sheepish grin on his face and looked for something on the floor. Kahekili helped to put the engine onto a stand, connected a fresh water hose to a faucet, and with the lower leg of the engine submersed in a five-gallon bucket, he let the water flow. He started the engine and ran it for a minute to purge the salt water from it and then stored the engine in the shed.

Leilani and Vai went into the kitchen to cook rice and fried fish with vegetables, Leilani put some on a plate along with some water, and Vai took the tray to the sick bay. When she came back, she asked if they wanted to see Lundy.

"After we have something to eat," said Gábor and stepped outside to catch Kahekili before he left. His wife had cooked too and she had called him to eat.

"Kahekili, is here a shop one can buy provisions?"

"Oui, on zee acer side of zee town. You need somzing?"

"I want to repay Leilani for her kindness and I know she will not accept money, so I want to restock her food supplies."

"Gábor, don't bozzer. She will not take a zing. You are amies. You give mani zings, new dance, mani good fun. No bozzer."

Kahekili turned, walked to his fare and Gábor stood alone on the road. Gábor walked back into the house, sat down, and ate with the others. Finished with lunch, they washed the dishes and to the women's delight, the men helped. Leilani kissed Ivan and asked Vai to get some medical supplies from the cabinet while they were seeing Mr. Lundy.

Together they walked toward the fare and entered. Lundy was sitting up in bed and not looking good. His eyes were bloodshot and a kind of restless roaming of his eyes indicated a confused mental state.

"Who are you?" he asked and his eyes stopped on Ivan.

"Cherenkov, Ivan Cherenkov, don't you remember me? I talked to you yesterday."

"You did? About what?"

"Insurance. You fell off a boat and we came to take you back to your boat."

"A boat, yes. I remember. Fishing with my friend."

"Do you remember falling into the water?"

"A big fish playing with me, I remember."

"Do you recall dolphins?

Lundy's eyes started to water.

"Yes, I love dolphins, they talk to me. What about them?" Lundy's face relaxed and his eyes stopped roaming.

"Do you know where you are Mr. Lundy?"

"In a room, in a hospital, I‘m told."

"You are in a hospital, Mr. Lundy."

"Yes. I remember I told you."

"Do you know where you're from?"

"San Francisco. I'm from San Francisco."

"That's correct. You are from San Francisco, Mr. Lundy."

"Yes, yes I know. San Francisco. Are you a doctor?"

Ivan ignored the question.

"Do you remember the name of the ship you were on as crew?"

"What ship?

"Mr. Lundy, if you are well enough tomorrow we will take you to Tahiti and you can go back to San Francisco when you feel better. You have a nasty scratch on your face. Do you remember how that happened?"

Lundy began to shake and looked aggravated. Leilani took his hand and patted it.

"It's okay Jon, you're safe here."

Jon relaxed and talked half to her and half to Ivan.

"No, but I have sometimes when I sleep, pictures of a lion hitting me and then dolphins swimming, with me. I love dolphins. They are my friends. I'm afraid of lions. Dolphins don't eat people."

He had a far-away look on his face and his eyes had calmed down.

"I want to see my friends, not lions."

He closed his eyes and the three left the room. Vai gathered the dishes and took them back to the house.

"Leilani, what do you think? Could we take him to Tahiti? He seems to be more confused than yesterday." Ivan inquired.

"He needs surgery. Besides his mental state, he is in a better state than two days ago and the weather is calm. If it holds, it is possible to take him, but I want to come too and if possible Vai as well. We must take him to the hospital there and they can look after him much better than I can here. What worries me is his trauma to his skull. I'm pretty sure there is a piece of bone that causes his amnesia. I think the memory may not come back. His mental confusion is profound. It would take a miracle if he ever gets back who he is."

Vai had finished the clean up and stood as they entered the living room. The lights inside the house lent her face and figure a golden glow and Gábor stared at her as he did when he saw Helena for the first time. He tore his eyes from her and asked Leilani.

"Why do you want to come to Tahiti? It will take at least ten hours to get there with five people aboard, and it would be uncomfortable."

Gábor had a big lump in his throat. If the two women insisted on coming, it would complicate things. Vai would want to meet with Helena and possibly Leo. She was just too attractive and he was well aware of her distracting effect on him. The temptation of Vai was a very palpable reality and he feared it could become a problem. To expose himself to her company for that long a time was not wise.

"I am his doctor, you know. He is in my charge and unless you have a higher authority to tell me otherwise, we come along or you sail alone without him. I'll put him on the plane."

That was clear enough and Gábor admired her decisive mannerism. She was a woman with a steely character, something he valued highly. Nevertheless, he was in a bind. They had offered to take Lundy and the doctor had all the rights to accompany them on the trip, he was her patient. His objection was about Vai. Was Vai like her mother? Ivan was a level headed person and yet he'd fallen head over heels for Leilani, but Ivan was a bachelor, not married as he was. In addition, there was the issue with the story Ivan came up with and they'd better clear that up before sailing to Papeete. Gábor was not sure how to go about that. He'd had no practice in how to fix a lie, especially when it was not his own. How could he help Ivan? Leilani would wonder about the insurance agency and the whole mess with the police investigation and his son that went overboard.

Then he caught himself. He'd decided to include Leilani and Vai in their little secret a few hours ago, so he might as well get on with the truth.

"Leilani, we must talk to you. It is very important to me that you listen and try to understand what this is all about. Can I trust your discretion? I want you to know that I trust you to do the right thing and whatever you decide to do, I will agree with and I'm sure my friend Ivan will too. I know that Ivan is in love with you and that he must be seeing something in you too that makes him trust in you. I must have your word that none of what we are about to tell you goes any further than this house and you will not tell anybody else about what you are going to hear before you consult with us first. Do I have your word of honour?"

Leilani and Vai didn't utter a sound while Gábor spoke and they got the idea it was very important. For a minute Leilani looked at him speculatively. This sounded serious, she thought. Vai looked expectantly at Gábor. Then both women nodded.

"On my honour," they said as one.

Leilani listened with furrowed eyebrows and her mouth closed as Gábor began at the beginning with Leo's birth, the changes he went through, how they'd tried to hide him from people, the fear of his discovery, and the shame they felt about hiding Leo as if he were a monstrosity. His own rejection of Leo, the undercurrent of resentment and blame for the woman he loved because of the child she had borne and thought it was an animal she gave birth to.

Not with one word did he talk about the dark times he and Helena went through. Not even Ivan knew about it. The shame for avoiding Helena out of fear of producing another "animal" was still deep in him. He talked about his self-rejection, hinting that possibly his genes may have created Leo's being and his loathing for himself. Their plan to hide Leo away before society found out what he was, as well as his parents who had created this…this something, equally despicable, becoming the outcasts of humanity, had come to this point. They had loved Leo then too, not as one would love a human child, but as a pet. The problem was he was their flesh and blood.

Then the discovery through Ivan that Leo was intelligent and only needed to learn to formulate words to communicate, something his parents never even considered possible. Leo still needed time to advance in that field. The plan remained to have Leo live on an island and give him an education and a chance to speak a human language and get to know how to deal with people, but they needed time. They figured it would take five years for Leo to be ready to go to school with other humans, but Leo was progressing much, much faster. Chronologically he was only six, but in maturity at least eighteen to twenty years old. In Canada, by law, Leo had to attend school by the age of six, but in order to accept Leo, he needed at least to be able to communicate, and he had to be a human. The authorities had a child on record. They had a large cat instead. What happened to the child? The plan, that Leo had to disappear, was born. He had to disappear by falling over the side of the ship and they would declare Leo lost at sea. Ivan would secretly pick him up and take him to a place where they could hide until Leo was ready to resurface. Unfortunately exactly that happened, but not as they had planned. Something they wanted to fake became real when Lundy discovered and attacked Leo. Gábor had tried to keep the man off Leo and in the scuffle; both Leo and the black man fell overboard, before they reached the rendezvous-point where the "Accident" was to take place. Gábor claimed the person Lundy had attacked was their son and Lundy knew it was a huge cat he fell overboard with. If Lundy remembered what happened to him, Leo's identity was exposed and with it his parents. The authorities would accuse them of attempting to dispose of their own child because of a birth defect.

COLD-BLOODED FREAK PARENTS KILL INNOCENT CHILD WITH BIRTH DEFECT.

That is what the headlines would read. And if they presented Leo to society, their cruelty would kill him. That headline would read:

FREAKY PARENTS REAR MONSTER.

They must ensure Mr. Lundy's silence until Leo was ready to face human society. They came here to talk with him, pay him for his silence or...

At this point, he had talked for over an hour and, drunk a gallon of water, and two bottles of beer. He was exhausted and barely noticed the two women silently crying. Their shoulders were jerking spastically and a pack of paper towels lay in heaps on the floor.

Ivan was sitting with a grim face on the sofa and for a long time no one spoke and in the silence, the soft sobbing of the women was the only sound, even the sound of birds seemed to be absent. The world held its breath. Vai with tears in her eyes, asked:

"What happened to Leo?"

"The crew searched for them, then the Coast Guard's S&R came and began looking, and we had to remain aboard for the investigation. Later we sailed to Tahiti where they let us go. We bought that boat you saw by the beach and did our own S&R and we think the dolphins rescued Leo and Lundy by depositing them here."

"What makes you think the Dolphins have rescued them?" asked Leilani.

"They showed up at the boat as we were sailing along the reef northward, bumped the boat a few times, then swam toward the south and returned, bumped the boat again and Helena got curious as to what they wanted and we followed them.

When we spotted an apparently human body on the reef, we investigated and found it was Leo, our child. After he regained some strength, he recalled the dolphins pushing him through the water and when he was on the coral reef, he saw Lundy walking up the beach before losing consciousness. That's how we knew Lundy was here."

Vai's eyes were fixed on Gábor and a strange light was in her eyes, like someone who's found something she's been searching for a long time, and it seemed she wanted to say something, but then she clamped her mouth shut and listened.

"We took Leo to a place where he can hide and left him in Helena's care, so we could come back here to find Lundy."

"So Leo is safe then?" Vai seemed to be excited.

"Yes. He is okay and they are waiting for our return."

Vai looked relieved and looked at him with wide eyes.

"So what can you do?" asked Leilani with a tiny voice. "You can't kill this man. I won't let you. He has a right to live."

"No, we won't kill him, although it has crossed my mind several times," confessed Gábor.

"We have money," said Ivan, "and we're hoping to buy his discretion at least until Leo is ready. Now with his amnesia, it may not be necessary. If he remembers nothing, Leo is safe and if he does remember, we may be in the position to buy his silence, but for how long?"

"Where are Leo and your wife now?"

"On an island near Tahiti. But please don't ask for the exact location. It's better for you if you don't know."

Leilani's face had lost all expression after Gábor's admittance of considering killing Lundy and she looked at the two men with a facial expression that was difficult to interpret. The light had gone from her eyes and signs of despondency settled in. It broke Gábor's heart.

"It's safe to assume you are not insurance agents and so who exactly am I dealing with? The Mafia?"

Leilani's voice was brittle. A sense of fear and hopelessness settled in her soul. Ivan's heart constricted and Gábor felt his spirit sink. Never in his life did he feel such deep despair and utter dejection, and then he braced himself. Gábor spoke quietly, but with firmness, facing the music.

"I'm guilty of having put my friend into a situation of being dishonest and possibly destroying his happiness. I am the father of Leo and I'm proud to have given life to him. I am also the mate of the woman who gave birth to Leo and whose life and honour I would defend with my life. The rest is academics and of no consequence to anyone but my friend and my family."

Mentally he erected Chinese Walls around himself and both women felt it with a shudder. Gábor's eyes were hard and his body seemed to have turned into a fortress.

He stood up, towering over the two women. There was something final and defiant in his tone and at that moment, Vai got a glimpse of his mental strength. She felt his pain and anguish and wished to comfort him, but a wall of steel surrounded him, impenetrable. And there was something else she wanted to tell him, but this was not the right moment and he wouldn't have heard it even if she'd shouted.

Leilani looked for a long time at Gábor, there was a measured look on her face, and she turned to Ivan who seemed to have found something on the floor to look at with blind eyes.

"And you. Where is the man I met last night? Who are you?" Her voice sounded as if it was coming from the grave, disheartened, without hope and it was obvious she felt hurt by their lies and deception. She had welcomed them into her place, and they had fooled her. She had fallen for a lie. She had let her guard down, trusted them, and fallen for a man as she had in the past a few times, but this time it was worse than ever. She hated herself.

Ivan rose to his feet. "I don't know who I am. I can tell you who I'm not. I'm not a man proud of some things I've done in my life. One is that I lied to someone who didn't deserve it, but I'm damned proud to be a friend to that man standing in your kitchen. He had had enough pain to deal with in this life, and so have I. I'm very sorry to have caused you pain and I didn't mean that. It wasn't my intention to deceive you. I didn't expect to fall in love with you, but I did. I'm truly sorry to have caused you pain."

He walked over to Gábor and put his arm around him and said quietly: "I think we're finished here. Let's go back to Leo and Helena. They're waiting. We've lost this fight."

Somehow they made their way to their room and packed their gear in silence. Ivan took a few items from his pack and put them on the bed and they left silently. They walked through the house, passed the two women who stood like they were rooted to the ground, and without a word they stepped down from the veranda onto the road and strode toward their boat.  Both men felt as if they had lead in their legs.

Vai felt numb, paralyzed, and just wanted to run after them and stop them from leaving, but she couldn't move. Leilani felt frozen and she too felt like stopping them, convinced that this was a bad dream and she would wake up in bed with Ivan's arms around her. The sun was still about two hand spans above the horizon when the men got to the beach, and there was Kahekili working on his boat's engine. He looked at them and noticed their somber faces. He didn't say a word, but when they stepped up, he lifted his head and looking at them straight in the eyes, he saw a deep sadness. He pointed at the engine.

"Pas bon. Like life. Sometime good, sometime no."

They took off the cover and looked at the motor. Ivan pulled the starter cord and the engine turned over but did not fire. He removed the spark plug from the cylinder head and with the cable from the distributor still attached to the plug, he touched the housing and told Kahekili, "pull" and there was no spark.

Next, he opened the distributor cap and looked inside and there was the rotor arm, loose on the post, and the c-clip normally holding the rotor arm in place, in the dish. He replaced the rotor arm, clipped the c-clip in its groove, closed the distributor cap, and instructed Kahekili to pull the starter cord.

This time there was a spark. He reinserted the spark plug and tightened it, replaced the cable and Kahekili pulled the cord. The engine came to life at once. All of this took at the most twenty minutes. Kahekili grinned and the three pushed the dinghy into the water. Gábor walked to the backpacks and grabbed them when a voice stopped him.

"Aren't you forgetting something? You're not planning to sail without us, are you?" He turned toward the direction of the voice and saw Leilani, Vai, and Lundy standing in the shadows and looking at him, with some packages at their feet. Vai still had the sarong around her and Leilani was dressed in long pants and buttoned shirt. His heart dared to soar and he shouted to Ivan.

"Three more to go, Ivan." Ivan turned around and froze. Then slowly he sauntered back to them, grabbed two of the packages and rumbled, "You almost missed the boat," and followed by the three people marched toward the waiting man and his boat in the swells.

Gábor also grabbed two bags and followed them with mixed feelings. On one side was the possible rekindling of communication between Ivan and Leilani as well as the transport of the injured man to Papeete, on the other the anxiety that Vai's presence for ten hours would cause. He was happy to be near her as much as he was afraid of her. Her mother had aroused his libido the moment he met her and his male instincts assaulted his sense of loyalty to Helena, but then Ivan took Leilani in a storm and let him settle his restless desire for a beautiful woman. Soon he would see Helena, but this young woman went under his skin. Being exposed to her charm and primal emanations for ten hours at least caused him some uneasy feelings. He felt a strong attraction to Vai and decided to be very reserved with her.