Going Deep (Divemasters Book 2) (5 page)

Instead, they made the most of a shitty-but-not-so-shitty situation. After she’d finished stuffing herself, she had no hope of extending her get-to-know-you session with Miguel, no matter how many more questions she had for the guy.

Her eyelids grew heavy.

Of course he noticed.

With a single graceful motion, he stood, allowing the water to sluice from his magnificent body. He tucked the empty plates and glasses to one side then stepped out, quickly drying himself off before holding out a hand to her.

Sabine took it, stepping over the high side of the tub. She walked into the fluffy towel he held out to wrap her in. She allowed him to take control, ensuring she didn’t skip any of even the most basic tasks she was incapable of performing for herself at the moment. It was odd, and sort of comforting, to let him care for her in this way.

A way she’d never allowed another man to do.

And when he lifted her into his arms and carried her to bed, she didn’t protest. He placed her near the center of the mattress then climbed in behind her, drawing the covers up and hitting some button on a control panel nearby. Room-darkening shades blocked the lovely ocean view and plunged them into artificial darkness.

The feel of another human being, skin on skin, grounded her. She turned toward him and wrapped herself around every part of him she could reach. He did the same, entwining them thoroughly. His fingertips glided up and down her spine. For a few seconds, she counted the slow, solid beats of his heart from where her ear pressed to his chest. It must have hypnotized her.

That was the only reason she could think of to explain why she blurted, “I should have been there with him.”

She’d thought about it over and over non-stop since the moment her world had blown to smithereens.

“
Lindeza
, no. Then you both might have been lost.” Miguel hugged her a little tighter. “What good could you have done against an explosion, huh?”

She recalled the masked man she thought she had seen. Ridiculous, right?

Sabine shrugged. “At least he wouldn’t have doubted my loyalties. It’s just that after I graduated from his program, I needed to fly solo for a couple years. Earn my own way before latching on to his success like some kind of remora feeding off its host shark, you know? I had lots of offers for grants to study pretty much whatever I wanted. Including one from Heinrich. I should have taken it. My ego kept us apart, and now I’ll never get to team up with him again.”

She bit her lower lip, trying to squish it to keep it from trembling.

“I’m sorry you won’t have that chance.” Miguel rocked her gently then murmured against her temple, “But you must be pretty fucking smart and great at your job to have institutions begging for you like that. Heinrich must have been so proud of you.”

That was all it took.

There was no protecting herself against the onslaught of grief. Sabine clung to Miguel’s shoulders as if he was the
Divemaster
’s anchor while the storm of pain raged around them. He’d accidentally mashed one of her most sensitive spots. No matter how often Heinrich had praised her accomplishments, Sabine had tried to work harder to deserve his praise.

In the end, that drive had kept her away from her second father in the final days of his life.

She would never see him again. Never have the chance to tell him how much she loved him.

Sabine bawled. She cried until she could hardly breathe, despite Miguel’s soothing litany of calming nonsense. He never once let go.

Miguel held her as she sobbed, told her it was okay. Even if he lied, she appreciated the comfort he bestowed. And when the anguish had finally snuffed itself out, leaving her empty, she sagged against his side.

“Better?” he asked.

She nodded a tiny bit to keep the pounding headache she felt coming on from developing before she could fall asleep. Which she planned to do as soon as she set the record straight.

“Just so you know, I’m not the sort of girl who blubbers over dumb shit.” Sabine sniffled as she glared at him from eyes that must be puffy and red. Boner-killer material for sure.

“Cool, because I don’t have a lot of experience here.” His lips twisted into a wry smile. “I mean, I’m not the kind of guy who women usually come to with a broken heart.”

She winced at that. “No, I bet you’re the one who does the breaking.”

He blinked, seeming to actually consider what she’d said. “I hope not.”

Sabine couldn’t believe he’d be so oblivious. She didn’t intend to be one of his tragedies. A fling with him would be spectacular. A highlight to balance out the poisonous darkness that threatened to seep into the hole Heinrich had left inside her.

It also wouldn’t last forever.

She’d finish her job here. Or he’d grow bored. They’d both move on.

At least she knew that going in. Like all good things, including the very best of people in her life, this too would go away.

Sabine hadn’t been ready for Heinrich to leave, but she’d make damn sure she was prepared to let go of Miguel when their time ran out. Until then, she snuggled deeper into his hold. “Miguel?”

“Yeah,
lindeza
?”

“Heinrich would have been awfully proud of you, too.” She kissed his neck then. “Thank you.”

He went still, but didn’t respond. His fingers idly traced the line of his necklace around her throat as he considered what she’d said. Hopefully he believed her, because she didn’t have even a speck of energy left to reiterate her certainty.

Unconsciousness dragged her deep under.

S
abine stretched
, wallowing in the softness that enveloped her. Well, other than that one warm, solid, hunk of…
manmeat
?

Her fingers flexed, unconsciously kneading muscle of some variety.

She blinked. Yep, that was definitely a ripped abdomen pillowing her head. Looking up, the blurry outline of an inky-haired man with eyes as bright as a turquoise sea gradually came into focus. He watched over her from where his merman-worthy shoulders rested against a padded leather headboard. Miguel.

“Hey,” she croaked, her mouth dry. How long had she been unconscious? It felt like a while. Sunlight still limned the blinds covering his stateroom windows, though.

“Good morning,” he murmured as he stroked her hair with smooth, repetitive motions. It made her wonder if he’d gotten some practice doing it over the past several hours. Knowing he’d guarded her while she’d been dead to the world stirred something inside her.

Gratitude, and more primal emotions along with it.

True, she had just met the man. But they’d already shared experiences more intimate than those she generally indulged in with long-term lovers. Grieving, bathing, sleeping, reminiscing about shared acquaintances, and even the meal they’d eaten together had been so personal it made their connection seem real and deeper than it could possibly be, given that she’d spent less than a day in his company while awake.

Right?

The illusions of security and permanence could be treacherous. Especially when cast by a stranger. Doubly so if she hadn’t had a lifetime of experience in temporary relationships—romantic or otherwise. Fortunately, she did. So she allowed herself to see where their instant chemistry might take them.

It was then that his greeting fully sank in.

“Morning?” She glanced around for a clock.

“Yeah. You were really out of it. Have to say that’s a first. Women don’t usually spend so much time in my bed actually asleep. Or if they do, it’s
after
I’ve fucked them senseless.”

“Now that sounds like a cruise activity I could enjoy. Where do I sign up?” Sabine’s hand began to wander along the inside of his leg toward his thick, hardening shaft. He made more than a handful while barely roused. This could be a
big
bonus to her time onboard. Something to help her de-stress.

The instant she curled her fingers around him, measuring him, he tugged her upward, thwarting her plans to demonstrate her appreciation for his very warm welcome.

Miguel captured her mouth with his and showed her again that no matter how bold she grew with him, he wouldn’t be unsettled. Neither did he let her wrest control from him with the hint of a hand job or find his determination to seduce her wavering due to the proximity of her lips to his dick. It would take a lot more than that to derail his alpha tendencies.

Challenge accepted.

Meeting her kiss for kiss, he palmed her ass and situated her in his lap as he pleased.

Sabine sighed when her thighs spread around his torso and her knees sank into the plush bedding. The silky brush of skin on skin had her rubbing against Miguel like the harbor seals had done to the kelp in Monterey Bay. When he nudged the seam of her smile, she admitted his tongue between her lips.

Subtle upward thrusts of his hips tucked his still firming hard-on against her mound.

When she tried to lift herself a little more, high enough to put his dick where she really wanted it, he gripped her tighter.

He separated their faces long enough to breathe, “Wait,
lindeza
—”

“What does that mean? You called me that yesterday.” Inquisitive by nature, she couldn’t help but wonder despite the heat of his embrace or the increasing urgency of her arousal.

“Beautiful. You are. Extraordinarily so.” The conviction with which he said it melted her insides. It would have melted her panties too, if she’d been wearing any. Appealing to him couldn’t be a bad thing. Not when he looked at her with such hungry eyes.

So she rewarded him with another caress of her mouth over his, this time nipping his lower lip. She didn’t know where the compulsion to do it came from. It seemed he brought out something new in her that none of her previous partners had. Their unique combination fascinated her.

Miguel groaned, then ratcheted up the intensity of their kisses. She buried her fingers in his thick hair, pawing at his skull while he did the same to her ass. His thumbs hooked around her hip bones kept her from gliding along the length of his cock. Too bad, she probably could have gotten herself off with the friction of his blunt tip prodding her clit alone.

Well, that along with the way her breasts felt as they dragged against his chest, and the decadent things he was doing to her mouth. Her tongue had certainly given guys plenty of pleasure before. Never in her life had it been the source of so much for her. Miguel sucked on it, raked his teeth over it lightly, and swirled his own around it, nearly making her pant into his mouth.

If he could do that with a not-so-simple kiss, what could he do if he engaged the rest of his body?

When she was breathless and nearly dizzy from making out with him, she paused to suck in some much needed oxygen.

Her fingers ached from where she’d unknowingly dug them into his powerful shoulders.

“Sorry,” she muttered as she unclamped them, rubbing out the dents she’d left behind. He seemed to enjoy her caresses or at least indulged them. Good thing, since she’d discovered she loved touching him. Smooth, ultra-tan skin wrapped around warm, supple muscles.

It felt so good, she couldn’t stop running her hands along his shoulders and upper arms.

Miguel flashed her a lopsided grin. “Got carried away for a second. That’s what I wanted to say. It seems like you and I together could get kind of rowdy. Still think this is a good idea now that you’ve slept on it?”

“It’s probably not wise,” she acknowledged.

His grip loosened.

She speared her fingers into his hair and angled his face so he could read the truth in her gaze. “That doesn’t mean I don’t want to do it anyway. Kind of like when you’re stuffed but you order dessert because it looks so damn delicious; how could you not?”

Sabine licked her lips, her eyelids drooping at the taste of him lingering there. Yes, scrumptious.

“I’ve always had a sweet tooth myself.” He grinned as he lunged forward, taking her to her back on the bed as he hovered over her on straight-locked arms. “I have a feeling you could finally satisfy me.”

Though his bulk and strength made it clear how exposed she was lying beneath him, his admission gave her power. What exactly had he been searching for yet not finding?

Who didn’t want to be that elusive thing for a man like him?

She certainly hoped she could be, at least temporarily. It seemed like they’d both be making the best of what time they had together.

Sabine moaned when Miguel kissed along the column of her neck. Instinctively, she stretched her chin up, granting him better access. When the edge of his teeth raked along her pulse, she shivered. She’d never had a man like this—raw and animalistic.

No polite lover here.

Thank God.

By the time Miguel had wandered to her breasts, licking and suckling one while his hand worked its magic on the other, she had stopped thinking rationally and had given herself over completely to feeling. It was rare that she was able to turn off the side of her brain that collected information and facts, cataloging even her own responses during sex.

For the first time in years, she found herself lost in the moment.

Data be damned.

Leaving her worries behind was a pleasure in itself. Relief enhanced her desire.

When Miguel slithered between her thighs, levering them far apart so that his wide shoulders fit between them, he nuzzled her stomach. The stubble peppering his cheeks rasped lightly over her sensitive skin, making her writhe beneath him. He chuckled, then inhaled deeply, as if memorizing her scent before burying his face in her core.

There was nothing delicate about his approach. Nothing tentative or unsure.

He dove right in and started blowing her mind with bold swipes of his tongue that collected the moisture slickening her folds.

“
Yes
.” Sabine threw her head back as one hand flew to his shoulder. Not so she could keep him there against his will—mostly to brace herself during the onslaught of passion. Though part of her was terrified he might stop before she’d finished coming all over his face because that was certainly where this was headed.

It wasn’t going to take very long either.

The man deserved an award for pussy-eating.

And when his fingers circled her opening, zeroing in on the best angle for entrance, she cried out his name.

“Mmm,” he purred against her flesh, as if he liked the way it sounded bursting from her lips.

Good thing since he had her screaming for him over and over when he inserted first one finger then another, working her open as he continued to flick his tongue across her clit precisely the way she preferred.

“Miguel!” This time it was a warning, with maybe a hint of a plea.

He correctly read the urgency in her shout, spurring her over the finish line with the press of his skilled fingers on some amazing place inside her.

Sabine shattered. She lifted up in an orgasmic crunch so she could watch him revel in her pleasure. It only made her hotter to see how devoted he was to bringing her ecstasy, knowing soon she would do the same for him.

When she crested the wave of rapture and began to fall back to reality, she collapsed on the bed, marveling at the effects of the host of endorphins that flooded her system. Biology and chemistry held true sorcery sometimes. A rush like this could become a habit.

Before she could dip too much from her high, Miguel rejoined her. Face to face, he smiled as he took in her flushed cheeks and dilated pupils. For all the gentleness in his expression, he couldn’t mask the furious desire beneath it.

Neither could he hide the heat and weight of his rock-hard cock against her thigh.

“Fuck me,” she practically begged.

“I’d like to take the time to do this properly.” Miguel sighed. “Somehow I don’t think you’re going to let me distract you for much longer, though.”

Sabine winced at the reminder of her duties and how she wasn’t doing them—until he put on a show for her, retrieving a condom from beneath his pillow, tearing it open, then rolling it down his impressive length fast enough that she knew he’d had a lot of practice with the maneuver.

Before she could make some smartass remark, he’d returned and notched his covered head at her opening, a mere twitch of a muscle from joining them for the first of what she hoped would be many times.

“This will have to do for now.” He kissed her, blanking out every thought except the pressure of the tip of his cock embedded in her pussy, on the cusp of entering. “Later I’ll show you what I’m really capable of and give you what you deserve. As much pleasure as you can handle. I promise,
lindeza
.”

As he rumbled her new favorite word, he advanced, spearing himself a few inches farther into her. He stretched her wide.

Damn, the man had a fat cock. Not that she was complaining.

Relaxing, or trying to, she admitted him deeper within her body each time they rocked together.

“That’s good. Let me in.” He crooned to her in a mix of English and Portuguese that she didn’t have to understand literally to comprehend.

Sexy talk was sexy in any language. Maybe even more so when she relied on his expression and inflection to interpret the sentiment.

Miguel distracted her from the initial discomfort of her body learning to accommodate his with a flurry of kisses and caresses. He rolled his hips in a smooth, rhythmic pattern that guaranteed he would make one hell of a dance partner, too.

For now, his qualifications as a fuck buddy were far more important to her.

Sabine hissed when he surged forward, his trunk meeting hers finally as she held his entire shaft within her. His balls knocked against her, making her want to scream out some primitive victory.

“That’s right. Take all of me.” He pressed against her, making quite the impression with his dick.

In fact, she couldn’t wait for him to pull out some simply so he could reintroduce them, though nothing might ever match the awe of this very first time she found out what it was like to be filled completely by him…or anyone else. No man had ever imprinted himself on her—in her—like this before.

Not only because of his incredible cock. Or even because he knew how to use it so damn well. It was more than that. His need matched hers in a way she couldn’t quite analyze at the moment.

Didn’t plan to either.

Sabine rocked her hips, first away, then back. He didn’t need any more encouragement than that. “So slick. Tight and hot. You’re ready for me, huh?”

She didn’t bother to answer. Instead, she repeated her motion, groaning when she couldn’t make as big of a difference as she would have liked.

“Don’t worry,
lindeza
.” He kissed her one last time before getting serious about the ride he was about to give her. “I’m gonna do the work for you. All you have to do is hold on. If you can.”

She might have thought his cockiness was exclusively bravado if he hadn’t made good on his pledge right then. Miguel didn’t bother with a gradual ramp up. Instead, he listened to the demands of her body, fucking her exactly as she needed. Hard, fast, and thoroughly. Without restraint.

She took pride in knowing she could handle the full intensity of a man like him.

Hell, that she could match it.

Sabine planted her feet on the mattress, bracing herself to accept the impact of his pelvis against hers. She stared into his eyes as he lunged over her, withdrawing until the ring of muscles at her opening strangled his fat head, before plunging fully within her.

Even when she clamped around him, clasping his shuttling shaft, he maintained his pace.

If anything, he increased the tempo of his thrusts.