She should have known that this would put her in way over her head: no one would have a body that finely tuned and not know how to use it. Her only hope was that he would think she was just staying in character and creating a good cover; that he wouldn't know that she'd stopped acting two songs in, and that nothing about her response to him - hands warm and strong on her hips, his lips grazing her ear as he whispered instructions - was an act. Sure, the rapid pulse and the weak knees and the lust and maybe something more in her eyes . . . he'd buy that as good undercover work, right?
It had seemed like a fine idea at the time, to go undercover into one of Honolulu's most notorious nightclubs. The ecstasy being peddled in that club was putting at least one person in the emergency room every weekend. This weekend had presented the first fatality and the governor was insistent: shut it down, before it affected tourism.
Kono knew she could hold her own. Clubbing and surfing had gone together, hand in hand, for many years. She still went out some weekends. Their cover had to be believable; if there was any hint of a cop, the entire operation would fold up and move on to another club, and they'd have to start all over again.
There had been a brief discussion of who would go in with Kono, until Steve laughed softly - a different laugh, dark and with an undercurrent that Kono had never heard before - and said, "I'll go."
Danny, of course, had sputtered and ranted and waved his hands about in his usual Danny-esque fashion while Steve just stood quietly, looking on in bemused affection.
"You done?" he said, when Danny finally wound down.
"Yeah," Danny sighed. "You do know you can't shoot people for bumping into you, right? And if some guy puts his hand on Kono's ass, you can't rip his arm off and beat him over the head with it. 'Cause that's going to blow your cover."
"Kono will be fine," Steve said.
It started before they even left for the nightclub.
Chin had dropped off the transmitters - disguised in a watch and a cuff bracelet - on Kono's desk, and headed out with Danny to drive the surveillance van over to the nightclub.
Kono was using a small mirror to put the finishing touches on her makeup - smoky eyes, natural lip - when Steve came out of the locker room and sauntered toward her office.
She'd thought that he looked dangerous - and delectable, if she were being honest - in his cargoes and Kevlar. And thigh holster. Holsters. But this . . . inky dark jeans fitting like a second skin, rucked up at the ankles over a pair of battered Doc Martins . . . a simple gray t-shirt, accidentally-on-purpose ripped at the neck and bottoms of the sleeves, stretched tight over those biceps and revealing more ink than his usual utilitarian polos . . . this was the kind of dangerous that would attract exactly the right attention in the club.
"Hey, Boss," she said, willing her voice steady. She thought maybe she'd managed, except for that slight smirk he was wearing.
"These ready?" he asked, gesturing toward her desk. He picked up the watch and strapped it on himself, then reached for the wide, studded, soft leather cuff bracelet and placed it around Kono's wrist. His hand engulfed her delicate bone structure and she shivered as he fastened the bracelet into place. He stilled for a split second, and Kono thought that she might have heard a quiet, sharp intake of breath, but maybe not.
"What's the range on these?" he asked, his head still bent over Kono's hand.
She had to clear her throat a little. "Not far. Danny and Chin are going to have to park within a block. They went ahead to find a spot."
He nodded. "Okay. Ready?" He looked intently into her eyes, nodding in satisfaction when he saw no hint of fear or hesitation.
"Don't look so surprised," Steve teased gently, as he effortlessly and confidently matched Kono move for move.
"Did you pick up this skill in the Navy, boss?" Kono asked, only slightly breathless as he pulled her flush against him.
He grinned and started to answer, but then his attention was focused on one of the club entrances. He threaded his hand through Kono's hair, and bent just slightly to speak into her ear and his watch at the same time.
"Our guy just came in," he murmured, his lips grazing her ear, then brushing lower, across her collarbone.
Kono closed her eyes in embarrassment as a sound somewhere between a whimper and a moan escaped her.
Steve smirked as he dropped his hands back to her hips and grazed his lips gently just under her ear. "You still on board with attracting his attention?" he whispered, as the music shifted into a fast, grinding beat.
Kono was never one to back down from a challenge, and she wanted to wipe that smirk off Steve's face. She wrapped her arms around his waist, slipped her hands into his back pockets, and kissed him, boldly and without hesitation. It was his turn to bite off a strangled moan, one hand splayed across the small of her back, and the other tangling in her hair as he fell into the kiss.
He pulled back and looked into her eyes again, their mark forgotten for the moment.
He carefully and deliberately moved the hand wearing the watch back to her waist. "How long, Kono?" He said her name tenderly as the music shifted to a slower pace.
She looked down but he captured her face in his other hand and tilted her eyes back up to his.
"I knew when you faced off against Sang Min with nothing but a clenched fist," he said, smiling as her eyes widened in wonder. "So, how long?"
"When you got Danny and Gracie a weekend with dolphins," she said.
He smiled; that wasn't what he'd expected but that was Kono . . . always unexpected. He kissed her again, holding her against him. She broke off the kiss and threaded her fingers through his hair. It was much softer than she would have thought, and even as she spoke into the transmitter on her wrist, she absently rubbed her fingers through the short strands.
"Our mark is moving into one of the private rooms. West wall," she gave the information to Danny and Chin.
"We're up," she said, grabbing Steve by the hand and heading toward the west wall of the club.
They paused in the hallway just opposite and outside the doorway of the room where their mark had disappeared. They pretended to be oblivious to the occupants of the room, as Steve pressed Kono gently against the wall and kissed his way down her neck. Kono sighed as her head dropped back against the wall with a thunk.
"Can I help you?" a voice said from inside the room.
Steve took Kono's hand and they went through the open doorway.
"Word is if we wanted something to . . . enhance our evening," Steve said, brushing his hand up the back of Kono's arm, "you're the man to set us up."
"Depends," the man said, "how much . . . enhancement are you looking for?"
Steve shrugged. "Just a little something extra," he said, emphasizing the first syllable of extra.
"I have a little treat, provided you're not in an undesirable occupation," the man said, leaning back in his seat and eyeing up Kono.
"We're just regular partiers, looking for a good time," Kono purred.
"That so? Then here, sweetheart, have a sample, right here and now," he said, holding a pill in one hand and a gun, which had materialized seemingly out of thin air, in the other.
Steve moved protectively in front of Kono, but she pressed her hand to his shoulder, ensuring that her transmitter would pick her her voice perfectly.
"Darling, you know I love samples," she said, "It's not like I don't know exactly what I'm doing." She sauntered easily up to the dealer and he dropped a pill into her upturned palm.
"Go ahead, baby," he said, leering at her. "You take that right now so I know you're not a cop. Maybe it's just baby aspirin; who's to say?" He held the gun casually, but it was pointed at her.
Without so much as glancing at Steve, Kono tossed the pill back with a swig from a water bottle she boldly swiped off the table right in front of the dealer. She turned back to Steve and nodded imperceptibly at him as his eyes locked on hers in alarm.
"Go ahead, love," she said, running her hand up his arm, her fingers tracing over his ink. "Let's finish up here and head someplace more comfortable."
"Okay, so can you set us up with enough E for the weekend?" Steve said.
"I can set up you with enough E for a lifetime," the man bragged.
"Wrong answer," Steve said, and launched himself at the man, catching him off guard, twisting his gun out of his hand and pressing him face down onto the floor. "Danny, Chin, move in," he said, as he cuffed the dealer. "Seriously? Stop trying," he said, shoving his face none too gently down.
Chin and Danny were in the room in an instant. Steve shoved the sputtering dealer at Danny. "Read him his rights and throw him in a hole, Danny," he said. "Chin, we're taking Kono to the ER."
Kono laughed and held out her hand, showing them the small tablet nestled safely in her palm.
"Seriously, you people need to get out more," she said, laughing at their shocked expressions. "What next, Boss?" Kono looked at Steve; her tone was light but her eyes sparkled with challenge and mischief.
"I think we should stick around; stay in cover. Danny and Chin, see if you can find out how many other people are involved; maybe we can grab them before they realize what's going on," Steve said.
Danny smirked and Chin smiled knowingly - did Steve really not realize that the way he ducked his head and rubbed the back of his neck was a dead give-away? Still, they dutifully trotted the dealer off to the van, with Chin yanking on his handcuffs perhaps a little more forcefully than necessary when he caught him leering at Kono.
Back at the palace, they helped themselves to a beer pilfered from Steve's office.
"Do you think they have any idea that they completely underestimated the sensitivity of those transmitters?" Chin asked, clinking his bottle against Danny's.
"As if we needed to overhear their conversation to know they had a thing for each other," Danny said. "I was wondering if we were going to have to throw them in lock-up until they figured it out."
"When did you know?" Chin asked.
"Well, I saw it coming the day you introduced us . . . those aviators he was wearing may have hid his eyes but they couldn't hide everything," Danny replied. "But for sure, the night of her graduation."
"Yeah? Same here. I saw something when he crashed that truck through the wall when she was with Sang Min, but definitely the night she missed her graduation, and we had our own little ceremony for her," Chin nodded.
"It was Steve in the dress blues, right?" Danny said, his eyes crinkling in a smile.
"Nah, brah, it was the backup. Nothing gets Kono more hot and bothered than sidearms," Chin explained, "And Steve gave her his own gun . . . nobody gives their weapon to someone unless they're special."
Danny pondered for a moment.
"They really are their own special brand of crazy, aren't they," he said, kicking his feet up on his desk.
"Perfect for each other," Chin agreed.
"Should we ask them to pick up the other guys our dealer gave up?" Danny asked.
"That would involve turning on the transmitter," Chin observed. "We'd overhear whatever is happening on their end. You want to risk it?"
"I'm good with picking up the other guys on Monday," Danny said quickly, as Chin nodded in agreement.
"So," Kono said, tracing her fingers over the ink on Steve's biceps, "why do you think we haven't heard from Danny and Chin?"
"Maybe they don't have any more leads," he said, mumbling against her neck and smirking at her sharp intake of breath.
"Hmm . . . maybe," she agreed, her breath hitching as the music - and Steve - switched into a slow, grinding beat.
"I think," he said, nuzzling her hair - how had he never noticed how completely intoxicating it was? - "that we should stay together, you know, just in case they need to call us in."
"Solid strategy, boss," she said, her smile brilliant in the flashing lights of the club.
In the early hours of morning, just before dawn, the club owner sighed as he added a watch and a studded bracelet to the lost and found box in the club office.