He’d thought of everything. She would be impressed if she didn’t want to punch him. “At Voda, then.”
He pulled out a slip of paper and held it out to her. “This is my room number and my cell. When you have the water, give me a call and we can meet.”
She took the paper from him, resisting the urge to crumple it up and throw it back in his face.
“I look forward to the conclusion of our business.”
“Not more than me.”
He chuckled as he walked away.
Lulu watched him leave the hotel then she looked down at the paper she held. Luck. Yeah, right. It hadn’t worked on her. If it had, she wouldn’t be plagued with Masato and Richard both blackmailing her. She guessed her nullifier powers kept Hotsuma’s ageman powers from working on her.
That pissed her off, but she was happy that was the extent of her power’s influence. She didn’t want to be the cause of her husband’s family’s downfall, even if they did hate her. Hurting the Mizuno family would hurt Hotsuma. She didn’t want that.
One simple bottle of water would get one man off her back. She still had to find a way to deal with Masato. She also had to locate Hotsuma and talk to him about last night, to find out if he knew about Masato’s presence. Figuring out how to do that without tipping him off in case he didn’t know had Lulu going around in mental circles.
She came back to reality standing in front of the barrier room door. She didn’t even remember walking there, but it seemed like the place she needed to be. Everything about her current life had started in this room. Maybe it held some of the answers she needed.
Locking the door behind her, she stripped and entered the water. Worry of Masato and his mischief didn’t plague her as she tried to figure out how to deal with Richard. Nothing came to mind no matter how hard she thought about it.
She was stressed. That wasn’t conducive to coming up with a way out of her predicament. Lulu forced herself to relax. Rather than bemoaning the present, she let memories of the past roll over her.
It didn’t help. The only thought that crossed her mind was how she had missed her chance to be rid of Richard the first time she met him. If she had blown him off when he started talking about that painting she couldn’t see, she would have never suggested he look to Onsen to sponsor his class. That would have kept him from being at the men’s hot spring last night. In fact, that would have kept him from introducing her to Masato.
She could have freed Hotsuma and gotten him away from Onsen without Masato’s interference. Sure, he wouldn’t have a body now, but they would have found a way around that. At least, she hoped they would have found a way around it.
She slapped the water as one frustrating thought led to another. Nothing seemed right. She couldn’t change anything about her past. Even if she could, the damage to her present wasn’t worth the effort. That still left her with no idea of how to deal with Richard beyond giving in to his demands.
That conclusion hurt, but she couldn’t do anything else. She faced the ledge and started to pull herself out of the water. A hand closed around her ankle and yanked her back down. She yelped, swallowing a mouthful of water.
Masato again.
Her indignation stalled when Hotsuma entered the room through the secret passage. Lulu held herself still. A hard task, since Masato was rubbing his fingers between her pussy lips.
Hotsuma said, “This brings back good and bad memories.”
“For me too,” she said in a strained voice. “I try to focus on the good.” She breathed in deep and hoped it didn’t sound like a gasp. Masato had started licking her. His tongue was rough and thorough as he pleasured her clit. And it was pleasure. She couldn’t deny that. She only hoped it didn’t show on her face.
Hotsuma neared the edge and stooped down. “I’m sorry about last night. I shouldn’t have rushed off without an explanation, but your sweet embrace helped me figure out a problem I was having. It took me all night to implement my solution.”
She nodded and fought for control. Her voice still came out breathy when she asked, “So it’s better now?”
“It will be soon.”
“Good.” Lulu gripped the edge of the pool as Masato sucked hard at her clit. So this was his revenge.
Hotsuma trailed his hand through the water. “Should we continue where we left off last night? We have more privacy here. You won’t have to hold back your voice.”
She had to think of a way to keep him out of the water. They couldn’t have a repeat of last night. Hotsuma must not have noticed Masato, but she didn’t want to take that chance again.
She trailed her hand up his thigh to the bulge pressing against his zipper. With a few deft movements, she freed his dick and gave it a light tug.
Hotsuma sat on the edge of the pool and started to slide into the water but she moved between his legs, stopping him. He smiled down at her. “What’s this?”
“Something new.” She cupped his balls as she lowered her head and took his full length into her mouth.
“New is good. Very good.” He rested his hands on the back of her head as she bobbed up and down on his dick.
Beneath the water, Masato’s tongue slipped into her pussy. She tried to hold back her moan, but it wouldn’t be denied. Hotsuma moved his hands down so he could massage her breasts.
“You’re really feeling this,” he rasped.
He had no idea.
She almost sighed in relief when Masato backed off. He continued to hold her hips but wasn’t licking her any longer. She hoped he didn’t do anything else and focused her full attention on Hotsuma and making him come. It was the middle of the day, which meant he was probably bogged down in some issue or another. She couldn’t help him with the hotel yet, but she could relieve a little of his stress.
Pumping his shaft with one hand and massaging his sac with the other, she sucked at his head. Precum greeted her tongue when she wiggled it against his tip. Hotsuma grunted and squeezed her breasts. “That feels amazing, Lulu.”
She decided to reward his compliment and let his length slide further into her mouth.
Masato chose that moment to grip her hips and surge his dick into her pussy. Her surprise and pleasure at his action made her take Hotsuma deeper than she intended. She had to swallow to keep from choking. She also had to press close to the ledge to cover the way her body moved thanks to Masato pounding his hips against hers.
He was being rough on purpose, knowing she would do anything not to get caught and set in motion the family being alerted to his continued existence. He was right. She didn’t want Hotsuma to catch him. But her reason was also because she didn’t want Hotsuma to realize her current reactions of pleasure weren’t all from him.
Damn Masato for making her admit something like that. She sped up her motions, moving her head faster. She pulled Hotsuma’s dick from her mouth with a pop and trailed her tongue up and down his length a few times before lapping at his sac.
Hotsuma gave a rumbling moan of pleasure and rolled her nipples between his fingers. He pulled at her breasts as he slid closer to the edge. She half climbed out of the water -- as much as she could with Masato holding her -- and rested her breasts on Hotsuma’s lap.
Cupping the twin globes around his shaft, he bucked his hips. Lulu braced herself on his knees and licked his tip each time it got close to her mouth. The position dug the edge of the pool into her ribcage, but she ignored that to focus on making Hotsuma come.
He jerked with a startled moan and then stilled. Not coming, not yet. This was something else. Lulu stopped and looked up at him. In the water, Masato also stopped moving. Lulu took the opportunity to pull away from him and get out of the water. She crawled over Hotsuma’s lap as though that had been her intention the whole time.
A sigh left his lips as he fell back. She winced when his head hit the tile, but Hotsuma didn’t react with pain. He did grip her hips and shift beneath her. She leaned forward and reached between them to guide his dick into her pussy
.
They moaned in unison. Lulu savored the feel of the man she really wanted inside her. Whether it was his body or not, Hotsuma was Hotsuma. No other man could -- or would -- satisfy her but him.
She lifted her hips and then lowered them. Slow at first and then faster, bouncing her lower body and bringing her to the edge of an orgasm. Hotsuma sat up and pulled her to him for a kiss. It was hard and possessive, and he didn’t release her from it until she keened her pleasure from her orgasm.
Hotsuma’s own climax firmed her resolve. She needed to protect him at all costs. If that meant delivering some stupid water to Richard, then she would do it. With that problem out of the way, she would be free to find a way to get rid of Masato.
He wasn’t going to keep her out of the water. And he sure as hell wasn’t going to keep intruding on her time with Hotsuma.
Chapter Five
Lulu squared her shoulders as she entered the lobby of Voda. The rush of cold air and the woodsy scent in the air brought back all her memories of the place. She felt like she hadn’t left. When the clerks behind the counter called out to her and waved, she greeted them the way she always had. Voda was as much her home as Onsen. It didn’t matter if she didn’t work there anymore.
But she couldn’t be caught up in nostalgia or pulled into a reminiscing chit-chat, either. She headed for the elevators and Richard’s room. Hopefully this would be a quick, in-and-out transaction. She could be back at Onsen before Hotsuma had a chance to miss her.
Hotsuma.
They still hadn’t gotten a chance to talk. After the encounter in the barrier room, Hotsuma excused himself to go finish some business he’d left to seek out Lulu. Masato departed the premises without saying a word. Lulu didn’t know what his game was, but she wished he would stop playing it. The quickest and easiest way to curtail his behavior would be to stop having sex with Hotsuma in or around water.
The water in the bottle in her oversized purse sloshed around when she adjusted the strap on her shoulder. One problem at a time. She would deal with Richard and then worry about Masato.
The elevator dinged before the doors opened. Lulu speed-walked to Richard’s door and knocked, resisting the urge to kick it down and chuck the bottle at his head. Hotel doors weren’t flimsy enough for her to kick one down, and the bottle might not do enough damage to satisfy her.
Richard opened the door and smiled. “Hello, Lulu. Come in. Come in.” He stepped back and waved her forward.
Lulu didn’t want to enter his room. She wanted to hand over the bottle, get the camera and leave. No such luck. She really hated luck -- good or bad didn’t matter. Hating luck -- her luck, especially -- wouldn’t change the situation. She entered the room but stayed close to the door. “Let’s get this over with.”
“In a hurry?”
She bared her teeth at him in answer.
“Of course. It’s not like this is a social call.”
“Here.” She pulled out the water bottle and held it out to him. “Straight from the pool of luck to your door.”
“Cute. You can keep that.”
“What?”
“I’ve changed my mind.”
She knew it wouldn’t be that easy. “You want money after all.”
“No. I want the water. I just want more.”
“How much more?”
“Gallons.”
“I can’t. Are you out of your mind? How the hell am I supposed to haul a gallon of water out of that hotel without raising suspicion?”
“Not a single gallon. Several. Enough to help out myself and the entire family of my new friends.”
“Friends? It’s hard to believe anyone would be friends with you.”
Richard laughed as he sat on the edge of his bed. “I have several friends, Lulu. These particular friends are new, though. They took a particular interest in my research about the Mizuno family and told me a great many things I would have never found no matter how long I searched. Things only a Mizuno would know.”
Lulu shook her head. “There’s no way in hell. The Mizuno family defines loyalty. None of them would ever talk to you about Hotsuma.” Sure, there was a lot of infighting, but the Mizuno family protected their own at all costs.
“I’m sure they are very loyal to those in the family. But for those who have been kicked out, that loyalty is nonexistent. The Baba family showed a great deal of interest when I told them about my encounter with your water man.”
“Why the hell would they care?”
“Because the Baba family is descended from Shinichiro Baba, who went by the name Ichiro Mizuno before the family disowned him.” Richard’s smile turned into a knowing one. “I see you know the name.”
How could she not know that name? Ichiro Mizuno was the reason Onsen existed in the first place. His bid for power over two hundred years ago had consigned Hotsuma to a well that later became the pool in the barrier room. For his folly, the Mizuno family cast Ichiro out.
Richard said, “The Baba family has held onto their ancestor’s grudge all this time. They want their rightful inheritance.”
“What has that got to do with you?”
“When I told them about my deal with you, they offered me more substantial leverage to make a bigger deal that will benefit all of us.”
“It makes no sense to have a middle man. They could have approached me themselves.”
“Ah, but you don’t know what they have. You see, the Baba family isn’t all named Baba. Daughters do get married and change their names, after all. A few of those who don’t share the family name work at Onsen, staying close to the family power source for when they can use it or destroy it.” He nodded. “They spent the last two hundred years researching ways to end the ageman power forever. In this generation, they finally found one.”
“And that is what?”
“I’m not at liberty to say, and I won’t tell you the names of the sleepers inside the hotel, either. Suffice to say they are there, and they have the means to end the ageman power if they so choose. Using me as a spokesperson shields the family from being identified. You could look up their name, but it wouldn’t do you any good.”
“So they want the ageman luck too?”
“Their rightful inheritance as part of the Mizuno family, yes.”
“And for being a good little middleman, they’ll break you off a piece and send you on your merry way.”
“Something like that.”
When she first met Richard, something about him had annoyed her. Too many things had distracted her to figure out what. Now she knew. He was an opportunist. He couldn’t just settle for a simple bottle of water. He had to take it one step too far.
Lulu had as much chance of refusing him as she did before -- none. “What do you want? And don’t say gallons of water again. There’s no way I can get that much water out of the hotel.”
“If you can’t bring it out then they want in. They want access to the barrier room. Full access with escort. Your escort.”
“So they can use whatever thing they found to negate Hotsuma’s powers? No way. What else?”
“They wouldn’t do that. They want the power for themselves.”
“And you think I’m going to trust that? No deal.”
“Be careful, Lulu. These people aren’t playing. They’ve had time to plan their revenge, and they have the patience to see it through to the end. A simple dip in the pool would end all this.”
“And what about the next generation?”
“I’m not worried about that.”
“Of course you aren’t. It doesn’t concern you, but it concerns me. You’re talking about letting an entire family for generations to come have access to the pool. There’s no way the Mizuno family would go along with that.”
“You have to convince them. And you only have a week to do it.”
“Why one week?”
“People are much more motivated with deadlines.”
“And what happens after a week?”
; “You’ll find out if Hotsuma can continue to exist without his ageman power.” He stood. “One week, Lulu. Non-negotiable. I’ll give you a call on Saturday. When you answer, all I want to hear from you is the time and place to meet to take our tour of the barrier room.”
She didn’t know what to say and wouldn’t have been able to make her mouth work to say it if she did. Richard escorted her to the door, urged her through it, and then shut it behind her. She stood staring at the door across the hall as a sense of despair came over her.
She was drowning. A simple exchange had turned into a hostage situation with the threat of casualties. She didn’t know what to do or how to combat it.
Her first step had to be to tell Hotsuma about Richard’s threat. But that would also mean telling him about Masato since that was who Richard had seen that night in the hot springs. Would Masato make good on his threat while faced with Richard’s? She didn’t know Masato well enough to predict his actions, and so couldn’t guess one way or the other.
How had everything gotten so out of control in such a short amount of time?
Lulu contemplated that question all the way back to Onsen. She was amazed she managed to drive back without an incident. She didn’t remember the trip at all. As soon as the bamboo-scented air of Onsen hit her, she came back to herself and figured out one thing. Her issues with Masato were a far second when compared to the problem Richard and his new friends presented. She needed to tell Hotsuma the truth and hope Masato would save his threat for another time, or forget it all together.
She rushed to the front desk.
The clerk smiled at her. “Good morning, Mrs. Mizuno. Did you need help with something?”
“Yes. Where is Masato?” She didn’t have time or the patience to go searching his usual haunts, looking for him.
The clerk picked up the phone and dialed a number, probably Hotsuma’s secretary. After a short conversation, the clerk hung up and said, “It seems Mr. Mizuno went out earlier today and then returned to your private rooms when he got back. He’s cancelled all meetings for the rest of the day.”
Wet: Overflow Page 4
