Going Hard: Divemasters, Book 3 (12 page)

W
ith their enhanced
security in place, Tosin, Kahori, Archer, and Miguel didn’t dally before heading home to the
Divemaster
. Archer hated being away from the ship during such an important transition, and Miguel seemed half-excited, half-terrified to meet the woman who was as close to an in-law as he’d probably ever have.

He shouldn’t have worried. Marta greeted them along with the rest of their friends when they charged up the gangway into their waiting, open arms. Relieved hugs were exchanged all around.

It felt nice to have them to return to when all that was left for Kahori on the island was a ruined home or becoming an obligation for her uncle to take care of. Before she could depress herself with thoughts like those, or worry about her
pāpā
, she’d been whisked off for a checkup by Dr. Kleveno.

Tosin had some dives to do with the family members of Sabine’s trial patients, so Kahori found herself wandering, alone, after a while. When she stumbled on a lovely seating area beside the pool, she curled up in a lounger and took a nap since Tosin hadn’t let her do much sleeping the night before.

Kahori yawned and stretched some time later. Soft voices drifted to her on the light breeze. She blinked and scrubbed her eyes seeing Marta and Sabine not far away. She was about to get up and join them when she realized their posture was slightly tense, so she listened before approaching.

Marta took Sabine’s hand. “Do you think this is right? Especially so soon? It’s only been six months since Heinrich left us. Would he be upset with me?”

“For loving someone else? A very decent, generous, and devoted person?” Sabine hugged Marta. “Never. He would have hated for you to be lonely.”

“You know no one will ever replace him in my heart, right?” Marta asked.

“Of course,” Sabine whispered. “I’m sure Banks understands that too. Remember, I lost my parents, but that didn’t stop you and Heinrich from taking up the job where they left off. There’s room enough to love an infinite number of people in our lifetimes. We should do that. You two taught me that.”

Kahori didn’t mean to eavesdrop. Neither did she want to shatter such a critical and dear moment between the two women. Unfortunately, their unconditional support and sage advice got to her. She sniffled.

Marta looked over and smiled. “Oh, hello, sleepyhead. Feeling better now?”

Kahori nodded. “I’m sorry to interrupt, I just…” She waved at her chair and then to them.

“Join us for a moment, would you?” Marta asked.

Kahori respected her elders, so of course she didn’t decline. She slipped into an empty seat at the table where the women were sipping iced tea. They poured her a glass as well.

“I’m very sorry to hear about your father.” Marta put her hand over Kahori’s and squeezed.

Kahori couldn’t speak, and not because of the giant gulp she’d taken of her drink in an attempt to swallow the fear that kept rising up within her.

“I know it’s hard—we both do—losing someone so important in your life, whether in a tragedy or because you have to find your own way. But I think most parents would agree that they want their children to grow into the best versions of themselves. To venture beyond what was possible for themselves. I don’t know you yet, honey. And I may never meet your father. But it was obvious to me after a moment or two, that you’ve found your future with Tosin. I’d think awfully hard before throwing that away. Sometimes you don’t get a second chance.”

Kahori agreed.
When
her
pāpā
came home, she would talk to him about Tosin and the changes she needed to make in her life to be happy regardless of how things turned out with the sexy divemaster.

“And that’s all I’m going to say about that.” Marta smiled then hugged Kahori.

The women moved on, discussing everything from jewelry to experiment results to favorite destinations. She’d never had these kinds of independent female role models growing up. But now that she saw how strong and career minded Waverly and Sabine were, and the way their guys supported them, Kahori had a new goal.

Restless as she considered how to broach the topic with Tosin, she excused herself from Marta and Sabine then wandered the ship. Every place she turned, there was something amazing she’d never seen before. And when she was nearly back to Tosin’s room, where she planned to wait for him to finish his session—anytime now—she noticed Waverly and Archer slipping into that funny black door she’d wondered about on several occasions.

It didn’t quite shut behind them, so she hurried to catch up.

“Hey, Archer. If you’re back, does that mean Tosin is finished too?” She poked her head in the door, which she realized had been kept open by Waverly’s bra lodged in the opening.

Things only got more bizarre from there.

The interior of the space looked nothing like the rest of the ship.

Dark leather chairs that looked almost like thrones faced an open area dotted with black-painted equipment. She recognized a St. Andrew’s cross, a suspension harness, and—worst of all—a spanking bench like the one she’d been forced to bend over at the club on her disastrous outing.

Waverly and Archer were already pressed up against some contraption she couldn’t make sense of as they tore at each others’ remaining clothes.

Holy shit.

Kahori squeaked in surprise.

Both of them whipped around to look at her. Surprisingly, neither seemed very upset to see her there.

“Hey.” Archer grinned. “Did you and Tosin have the clubroom booked? I’m not going to lie, I didn’t bother to look at the schedule when Waverly propositioned me.”

“Tosin? Clubroom?” she stammered.

“Uh oh.” Waverly nabbed her shirt off the floor and flung it haphazardly over her nakedness.

“Fuck.” Archer was already on the move. He hit an intercom on the wall and said, “Tosin. Clubroom. Right fucking now. Kahori is here.”

“Don’t let her leave until I get there,” came the immediate reply.

Not… “Hey, what’s a clubroom?”

Or… “Why would she be in there? I hate that kind of thing.”

Or anything else that would alleviate the betrayal and fear bubbling up within her.

T
osin didn’t dally
. Neither did he run.

More than ever before in his life, it was critical that he stay calm and handle the situation carefully. Prove to Kahori that not everyone who enjoyed structured playtime would disregard the needs of their submissive partner.

He had to believe that, deep down, she knew that already.

It was his job to unlock her emotions, and smother her fear, so that her brain could catch up with the rest of her.

When he reached the clubroom’s onyx door, his hand hovered over the handle. He was surprised to see it trembling. It was too late now to pray that he hadn’t gone about this all wrong.

Tosin drew in a deep breath, then opened the door.

“You liar!” Kahori ripped free of Archer’s light restraint and flew at him, her fists pounding on his chest. “You’re into the same things as that guy at the club. At least he didn’t try to lure me in with pretty words and gentle sex before showing me what he really liked.”

“I never deceived you, Kahori.” He kept her from assaulting him by braceleting her wrists with his thumbs and forefingers. He didn’t apply a lot of pressure. Didn’t need to. She responded to him beautifully as always, completely in tune with his intentions.

“How can you say that? You listened to me confess about that club. How contrived it was, how unappealing to me. And yet this…
You went to enormous lengths to have a place like this onboard so it must be important to you! Why waste your time on me or make me fall for you when you knew we’re interested in two totally different things?” She railed at him and he let her get it all out before explaining what he’d been attempting to do. “Here I was, feeling guilty about fucking you when I can’t leave my home, abandon my
pāpā
, and the whole time you were hiding…
this
!”

Archer shook his head—probably mentally labeling Tosin an idiot for that kind of supposed gaff—then snuck out the door with Waverly, shutting it gently behind him.

“You weren’t ready for this.” Arrogant, maybe. But it was the truth. “From what I’ve seen so far, you haven’t yet accepted that you enjoy being topped by a responsible lover. You don’t understand the subtleties of the relationship because of very valid fears. I was working on showing you the more subtle flavors first before I asked you to try something the equivalent of mainlining hot sauce.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” She propped her hands on her hips, practically daring him to enlighten her. So he did.

“Remember in the cave, when I instructed you how to blow me? Or in the underwater lodge, how hard you came on my cock when I commanded you to?” He would never forget it. “You like letting go. Giving me complete control. But you don’t know me well enough to look beyond your history with a dumbass, reckless user who doesn’t know how to treat a prized partner to realize that with someone else, it would be a different experience entirely.”

Kahori had gone silent.

“A power exchange doesn’t have to be this blatant. There are lots of shades to enjoy on the spectrum of BDSM. I was simply trying to figure out what colors would be our favorites together. But if you’d like to test my theory about which hues you’ll come to love, I’m happy to try that out, too.”

“Who are you?” She squinted, as if trying to detect some hidden marking on him that would have declared his alpha tendencies.

“The same man you claimed to love.” He held his hand out to her. “We’ve hardly met. You can’t think you know all of me yet. I’m certain I’ve only scratched your surface. But if you like, I’ll introduce you to another side of me.”

“Why do you keep speaking in riddles?” She wasn’t saying no. She also wasn’t leaving despite the clear path to the exit. He took that as a good sign, both that she was interested, and that she wasn’t freaking out.

Deep down, she knew he would never hurt her. She trusted him enough to hear him out.

That had to be a good sign.

Tosin wanted nothing more than to reward her bravery and be the man she didn’t even know she so desperately needed. He smiled at her, hoping she could see that enjoying what went on in this room didn’t detract from the genuine devoted exchanges they’d had outside of it. “Sometimes sweet is sexy. But sometimes I like going hard. I think you’ll like it a hell of a lot too if you give it a chance. You were interested enough to check it out on your own. But I think you might not have understood that any sex can be good sex with the right person or a disaster if you don’t have a true partner.”

Kahori wrung her hands in front of her. She took a tiny step closer to him.

So he held out his hand to her and asked, “Will you let me show you?”

“Will you stop if I realize it’s honestly not for me?” Her eyes begged him so prettily as she asked, though she must already know the answer.

“Of course. Would you like a safe word?” He rubbed his palms up and down her arms, chasing away the goose bumps there as she proved yet again how spectacular she was and how strong their bond had grown in a matter of a few intense days. “If you say it, at any time, everything stops. I’ll take you out of here and we don’t ever have to mention it again. Believe it or not, with you, I don’t
need
this. We have something harder to find. This is a means to an end, a shortcut where everyone understands the rules. What you and I were building was something more intricate, more subtle, and…well, just
more
in every way.”

Kahori squeezed her eyes shut as she considered what he was offering. Then she opened them and stared directly at him as she nodded.

“Thank you for trusting me.” He held his arms open and she flew into them. How hard could he push her? “Your safe word will be
glowworm
.”

She smiled softly at that, as he’d intended.

So he decided to trust his instincts, though the scheme swirling around his brain was either the best or worst idea he’d ever had. A smarter man would start slow and gradually introduce her to elements of his lifestyle. He leaned toward the ultimate test right off the bat. If she couldn’t handle it, there was no sense in torturing them both with further outings to the clubroom.

“Help me, Tosin. What should I do? I don’t like feeling clueless.” She waited for him to take the reins. So he did.

“I’m only suggesting this because I think you’re strong enough to handle it…” He hesitated. Once the words were out of his mouth, he wouldn’t be able to reclaim them.

She looked up at him expectantly.

“Let me conduct a little experiment. I want to fuck you on that.” He pointed to the spanking bench.

At first she recoiled. “How could you? I told you—”

He shushed her then, wishing they were far enough along in their explorations for him to have been able to gag her, blindfold her, prove his point without letting her work herself into a darker place first. If he did this right, he could mitigate those memories.

Replacing them with something decidedly not terrifying or horrible.

He hoped.

“Exactly, Kahori. What better way to show you how different I am and how much pleasure you can take from this place if you let go of the past?” He nuzzled her temple. “I know what I’m asking of you is difficult. Feel free to use your safe word, now or at any time. It won’t change how I feel for you.”

But this could destroy the budding love she had for him. Might have already done the damage like a late spring frost.

“May I see it first?” Kahori asked, a natural.

He led her to the apparatus and let her explore. Though she seemed wary at first, by the time she ran her hands over the custom-built frame and the deeply padded surface covered in the softest leather, she nodded.

“This seems much more comfortable than the one they had at the place I went to.” She surprised him then with her bravery and daring. “Would you tie me to it? So that I don’t freak out and fall?”

She couldn’t know that bondage was his favorite aspect of BDSM.

It was just another way they were ultimately compatible.

“Of course.” He kissed her gently. “But why stop there? I think I’ll spank your perfect ass before we get to the good stuff.” Kahori shuffled before him. He smirked. “Something wrong?”

She shook her head.

“Getting horny thinking of me having my way with you, and bringing you even more pleasure than last night while I do it?” He leaned in closer, whispering the suggestion so that she had to concentrate only on him and what he was doing to her.

Kahori nodded.

Tosin’s hand flashed out, burying in her hair. She didn’t flinch, not even when he fisted the strands then used them to tip her head back slightly. Instead, her lips parted and her cheeks flushed.

There was no doubt—she was made for this.

“I want to hear you answer me. Say, ‘yes, sir,’” he commanded.

When the words rolled off her tongue, they were the sweetest thing he’d ever heard.

Tosin rewarded her appropriately. He kissed her until neither one of them could breathe. At the same time he unwound her fresh
pareu
from her body and dropped it to the floor. It was handy for quick disrobing. His new favorite garment. If she wasn’t strutting around this place naked while they were at sea, he hoped she’d always wear one of those.

He froze. She’d never said she was coming with them. They hadn’t discussed it since the disastrous end of their cave sex.

“Did I do something wrong?” she asked.

“No.” Tosin rubbed the tip of his nose against hers. “You’re perfect.”

Refocusing, he lifted her onto the spanking bench then withdrew a set of silk ties from the drawer at the base. It didn’t take long to have her secured to the equipment.

Kahori tested her bonds, unable to budge, never mind break free.

To be absolutely sure she wouldn’t get carried away and injure herself later, he landed a single stinging swat on her ass.

She yelped and jerked but didn’t budge. So he ran his finger down her crack then slipped a single finger into her pussy. It didn’t surprise him in the least to find her soaked.

It did relieve him, though. He licked her slickness from his hand after he withdrew.

Perfect.

Though ordinarily he would take pride in teasing her for hours, today he planned to lean toward simple and to the point. The one where she couldn’t deny how hard she came for him in these conditions. That was all he needed to show her today. The rest could follow later.

Tosin ran his hands all over her body, making sure there were no uncomfortable contact points, especially considering her lingering bruises. Another reason to keep things short and sweet.

He spoke to her the entire time he admired her body, assessed the right way to make his point. And when he was satisfied, he ripped off his bathing trunks then mounted the table and her.

His cock was painfully hard. It rested between her cheeks, making him long to claim her ass as well as her pussy. Some other time.

Tapping the head against her clit, he realized he’d nearly forgotten a condom.

Kahori groaned when he retrieved one from a fishbowl on a table nearby. “Tosin?”

“Yes?” He caressed the length of her back as he repositioned himself.

“When you come, will you…”

“Ask for anything you want, Kahori. I’m here to make your dreams come true.” He kissed her shoulder blade as he notched his cock in her hungry pussy.

“Will you pull out and come on me instead of in that rubber?” She couldn’t move much, but she squirmed within her confines. “I want to feel your passion for me.”

“Fuck yes.” He couldn’t stop himself then from pressing into her, though he tried to go as slowly as his libido would allow. “See how much deeper it feels this way?”

“Mmmm…” She didn’t object.

“You’re okay, right?” He reached forward and cupped her neck in his palm, getting her attention. He should have put a mirror in front of her so he could monitor her expression. Based on her moan, this would work just fine for now, though.

“Yes, sir.”

“Good girl.” He beamed as he began to ride her, making sure to grind his pelvis into hers so that her clit stroked the ridge of the spanking bench just so.

Tosin withdrew his cock completely then reintroduced it to her, sliding deeper until his balls tucked tight against her ass. He did this repeatedly, fucking her with the entire length of his dick. It didn’t take long before she was rocking back against him and calling out his name.

“What would you like, Kahori?” he asked, though he already knew the answer.

“I want to come. Then feel you coming on me. I want to know you feel this too,” she admitted.

“I do.” He leaned forward, blanketing her even as he began to drive into her body faster and harder. If he’d thought she was responsive the night before, it was nothing compared to the way she unraveled then.

Her pussy milked his cock, tugging on it even as she prepared to shatter.

When he realized she couldn’t hold out a moment longer, he murmured, “Go ahead, come for me. Come on me, Kahori. Prove to us both that when we’re together, that’s all that matters. Feel how much better it is when you come like this. Give everything to me. And know that you have all of me in return.”

Kahori screamed his name as she came. Spasms racked her for so long he thought she might pass out. Instead, she shouted, “Please, Tosin, now! I want to feel it!”

How could he resist an invitation like that?

He couldn’t.

Tosin pulled out of her pussy, mourning the loss of juicy pressure on his shaft. Then he stripped off the condom. It only took a couple of powerful tugs before come rushed from his balls out the tip of his shaft. He painted Kahori with his release, making sure every last drop splashed onto her back and ass.

And when he’d emptied his balls, he used his trunks to dry her off before untying her and wrapping her in her
pareu
. She floated, not quite seeing anything clearly, it seemed. So he let her enjoy the high while he took care of business.

He’d already lifted her into his arms and looked down into her rosy face when she smiled up at him and tipped her face toward him for a kiss. He obliged her request.