“I feel thankful Richard brought you to my attention. Such a lovely guest shouldn’t be left alone. You are here alone, correct? Richard said as much.”
“I am. I wanted some alone time to get reacquainted with me. You know how it is. Too much time at work and all that. I felt like being pampered.”
“That is a good plan. You should let being pampered be your main concern during the rest of your visit.” His phone chimed. “Excuse me one moment.” He stood as he unhooked the phone from its clip and took a few steps away to talk.
Lulu looked around for an escape route while trying to appear like she wasn’t looking. What was it with her and trying to run away from the Mizuno men? Sure, she’d stopped running from Hotsuma after she got to know him, but she doubted the same would be true of Masato.
She watched him while waiting for a chance to leave. Hotsuma said he and Masato could be twins. Masato had piercing dark eyes framed in a slender face and a square jaw that sported a closely trimmed beard. His lean, muscled body was her type. But that didn’t mean anything. Even if she thought Masato was hot, his personality was a real turnoff. She liked Hotsuma, but imagining him in Masato’s body did nothing for her.
Masato returned to the table but didn’t sit. “I have business to attend to, Ms. Swade. I hope you enjoy the rest of your visit.”
“Thank you, Mr. Mizuno.”
He held her gaze for a moment before leaving. Lulu almost oozed out of her seat in relief. This whole situation was getting heavy. She needed to get to Hotsuma and tell him what was happening. Masato had already called in a priest. But if he suspected Lulu was involved, then he might find a way to keep her and Hotsuma apart.
She skipped going back to her room to change and headed straight for the hot springs. Like the day before, the hot spring was full of giggling women. She would be upset at Hotsuma playing around if she wasn’t so frazzled over her meeting with Masato.
She went to her cubby and sank into the water. After a calming breath, she whispered, “Hotsuma.”
No answer.
“Damn it. Stop diddling those women and get over here. We have issues.”
“Believe it or not,” Hotsuma said in a soft voice, “this is not my doing. The women are entertaining themselves. I’m only watching.”
A little of her upset faded. “Oh.” And then his words sank in. “Oh!” She glanced in the direction of the giggling women, now glad she had decided to sit away from them. “That’s your fault, you know.”
“I take full blame.”
“Yes. You sound all apologetic.”
He laughed while running one hand up her leg. “What has you so frantic?”
“Masato threatened me.”
His fingers gripped her thigh. “What?”
Lulu glanced around to make sure their conversation was private. She lowered her voice more and put her hand to her ear to pretend like she was talking on a phone. “At breakfast, Masato came over and talked to me. He made all these veiled threats that amounted to him telling me to quit while I’m ahead.”
“Kuso.”
“If that’s a curse word, then I agree one hundred percent.”
“How did he find out?”
“That’s your fault too. That scent you put on me when we first met. Masato must have recognized it. I thought I played it off by saying it was the hotel soap, but he must have known better.”
Hotsuma sighed, making the water around her bubble. “I’m sorry. I had just awakened. I managed to follow you to the hot spring but you ran. Marking you with my scent was the only way to track you. I didn’t want to lose the only woman who could set me free.”
“That’s sweet, but we still don’t know why I’m the woman who can set you free. And speaking of which, let’s get to it. Masato is getting serious. We need to get you out of that room before he brings in the priest.”
“Duck down.”
Lulu took a breath and slipped below the water. She felt the shift this time when Hotsuma moved her from the hot springs to the pool room. She needed to ask how he could do that. Then again, it didn’t really matter. She was just happy he could. It saved her from trying to sneak down the hidden hallway.
She surfaced in the middle of the pool and looked around. Nothing had changed. Masato might suspect something, but he hadn’t done more than summon a priest. She hoped that was all he did.
“Are you ready?” Hotsuma hugged her waist, bringing her ass up against his arousal.
“You certainly are.” She giggled when he kissed her neck.
“The ladies in the hot spring were very… invigorating.”
“You could act a little embarrassed.”
“I could but I would be lying. Just like I would be lying if I said I only wanted you here to break the wards.” He slipped one hand down her stomach and between her lower lips.
The feel of his fingers passing over her clit made Lulu bite her lip to keep from moaning. She let her head fall back onto Hotsuma’s shoulder. “We haven’t started yet.”
“You haven’t started yet. I see no reason to wait.”
“Hotsuma, the barrier.” Her feeble attempt at arguing lost to the pleasure spreading through her body.
Water pushed at her breasts as Hotsuma guided her to the edge of the pool. “There.” He strummed her clit.
“Oh, yes. Right there.”
“I meant the ward, Lulu.”
She touched the edge of the pool and barely registered the shock of the ward breaking. Hotsuma rewarded her by moving his fingers faster. She rocked her hips against his touch, which also rubbed her ass cheeks over his hard dick.
“So good,” he whispered as he slid his fingers lower and dipped two into her hole. “So tight.”
Her breath came out in huffs. His fingers rubbed her inside, bringing her close to an orgasm. Was it the spell’s side effects making her this hot or Hotsuma? He massaged one of her breasts with his free hand and she stopped caring.
“Next.”
Lulu hadn’t even registered that they’d moved until Hotsuma spoke. She touched the ward. Again the pain of the shock wasn’t that bad. Maybe she had been right. So long as the energy had a sexual release as she touched each ward, the shocks wouldn’t hurt as much.
The third and fourth wards were as easy as the first two. When she touched the fifth, both she and Hotsuma grunted. Her body heated until she was sure the water would start boiling. Before she could ask Hotsuma to continue touching her and ease her growing need, he pushed her against the edge of the pool and buried his dick with one thrust.
Lulu called his name over and over as he rammed his hips against hers. She clawed at the edge, trying to get away even as she pushed back to get closer to him. Her frantic movements pushed her hand into the next ward. The shock arced through her arm straight to her pussy, making all her muscles clench in a manner that was part pain and part pleasure.
Hotsuma bent over her back, pushing her forward, as he cupped her thighs and spread them wide for his intrusion. Lulu braced her weight on her hands and let her body move wherever Hotsuma wanted it to go. He entered her deep and then moved his waist in a circle, keeping her close as he rubbed the tip of his dick against her innermost parts. The sensation had Lulu screaming her pleasure as she came.
He didn’t stop stirring her around and driving her crazy. She didn’t want him to stop. She wanted more. So much more. When she would have rubbed her clit, Hotsuma pushed her hand away and did it for her. He moved his fingers over her hard nub in time with the rhythm of his hips.
The combination of the two had her body convulsing on another orgasm. The heat in her body didn’t subside.
“More,” she rasped. “Please. More. So hot.”
Hotsuma pulled out. Lulu’s whimper of frustration at the loss turned into a yelp of surprise when he flipped her onto her back. The surface of the water cushioned his rough manner. And Lulu wasn’t in a mood to care even if it hadn’t. The water rippled beneath her but she didn’t sink.
He shoved two fingers into her twitching pussy then started twisting his wrist back and forth. Lulu’s hips left the water as she rode his fingers. “More. More.” She lifted her hips higher, begging for him to touch her deeper and harder. Anything to make the heat subside.
His answer was to clamp down on her waist with his free hand and hold her still. He moved the fingers inside her apart, spreading her hole, then eased his dick between them.
“Oh, God, yes!” Lulu threw back her head and arched her back. She’d never felt anything like this.
Hotsuma brought his fingers together above his dick. While his hard flesh slid inside her, he moved his fingers in a beckoning motion. Couple that with him using his free hand to tease her clit, and Lulu was gone. The world dropped away. Nothing mattered except the pleasure Hotsuma was giving her.
The climax that washed over her left Lulu’s head spinning, literally. The whole room spun out of control. She slapped her hands over her eyes to make it stop but that made it worse.
She thought she heard Hotsuma calling her name before everything went dark.
Chapter Five
Hotsuma cradled Lulu, smoothing a shaking hand over her forehead and cheeks. He wanted her to wake up. Once she did, everything would be fine. Her ashen features wouldn’t worry him any longer the second she opened her eyes.
They had tried to do too much too quickly. He should have stopped her at four like they originally planned. They had both been caught up in the moment. When the side effects traveled from her body to his, he should have recognized it and stopped her then. Satisfaction was the only thing on his mind at that moment. The heat…
He shuddered at the memory. If that was even a fraction of what Lulu had felt their first night together, he deeply regretted subjecting her to it. He’d thought it was simple passion that needed sating. The raw urgency that overcame him, that made him push aside gentle lovemaking so he could fuck Lulu into passing out, scared him.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “Lulu, please. I’m sorry.”
She didn’t wake. He tapped her cheek, a soft pat more than a tap since he didn’t want to cause her more pain. Her eyelashes didn’t even flutter. She did shiver though.
The heat of the side effect had worn off. Hotsuma didn’t feel the cold of his water, but Lulu did. He could move her back to the hot spring but he wouldn’t be able to care for her there without causing a riot. Her room was best.
With two wards left unbroken, Hotsuma should have more control and power. He raised Lulu up and firmed the surface of the water beneath her so she lay on top, away from the chill. Leaving her there, he traveled to her room as fast as he could. After filling the tub, he ripped down the plastic shower curtain and draped it over the floor. A crude water stop for when he flooded the bathroom. He needed more water to bring Lulu through.
He redirected the water in the pipes, forcing the majority to flow through the bath faucet. It shook with the force of the water pouring from it. Hotsuma pulled on the same ability he used to form his body to mold the water. The entire space of the tub and shower housed a block of water when he finished. A little had leaked to the floor, but that was why he’d spread the shower curtain.
Rather than marvel at his handiwork, he rushed back to the Lulu’s side and transported her to the bathroom. She still didn’t wake. Hotsuma would worry about that after he put her to bed.
He formed his body and carried her from the bathroom to her bed. With a wave of his hand, he pulled the wetness from her body and into himself. She was dry; next came making her warm.
As much as he wanted to act as a hot water bottle, he didn’t have that kind of control and didn’t know if he could ever get it. He settled on covering her with blankets and staying by her side.
The room turned orange and then black as day gave way to night. Lulu still slept. Hotsuma left her side twice in that time -- the first time to drain the bathroom and make sure there were no changes in the pool room. The second to check on Masato.
The man was acting as weird as Lulu had said. He knew something was happening. He paced his office and mumbled to himself. Hotsuma wished he could have gotten closer to hear what had Masato so agitated.
Was the thought of losing Hotsuma enough to cause that much anxiety? Maybe he should talk to Masato like Lulu had suggested. Once she woke, he would. They would go together.
Until she woke, Hotsuma, like Masato, paced. Though, unlike Masato, Hotsuma did so to test his control. This was the first time he’d been separated from a major body of water. He didn’t feel weak. His body was solid and didn’t drip. He’d even managed to use the TV remote.
He wanted Lulu to share in the joy of his newfound abilities and freedom. She would soon. He was sure of that. Her color had returned to normal. He needed to let her rest.
He decided to work on making his features more defined. Using the vanity in the bedroom so he could work and keep an eye on Lulu, he stared at his reflection. The control he’d gained after weakening the barrier allowed him to form hair that trailed down his back and shape his head. Minute details like the slant of his eyes and the shape of his nose still eluded him.
A chime startled him into jumping back and looking around. The computer on the desk next to the vanity lit up. Hotsuma walked over to it and stared at the screen. He’d seen computers but he’d never used one. Water and electronics didn’t mix. Or they didn’t before he learned to control his form.
He slid his finger over the track pad, watching the mouse move. Once he got used to manipulating the mouse, he moved it to the little popup message denoting Lulu had received an email. He hoped she forgave him for snooping. And it wasn’t really snooping. He was using her email as a way to test his abilities.
The new email filled the screen. Hotsuma was about to minimize it when the contents caught his attention.
“Lulu, you haven’t written back. You didn’t get caught, did you? If you’re not caught then keep looking. You’ve got another day before you have to come back. When you find whatever weird thing you were talking about, make sure it’s something Voda can use.”
Hotsuma read and reread the email. Lulu had mentioned Voda. It was another spa hotel, like Onsen. She said she worked there as well. Knowing those facts didn’t help clarify the email.
He clicked on the Show Conversation button, hoping for some sort of explanation. The first email was from Lulu stating she had arrived at the hotel and detailing the check-in and the appearance of the hotel. The return email was short and urged her to get on with the investigation. What investigation?
The email she sent in reply was dated the next day and detailed everything she had done and her impressions of the service. The reply to that was a simple frowning face emoticon.
Hotsuma read through four days’ worth of messages. The last had been sent the day she entered the pool room for the first time. “Beyond adding more ambience to Voda to go along with the Russian motif, there’s not much else we can do to compete. I know you were hoping I would find something but there’s nothing to find.”
A few hours later Lulu sent another email. “You’re going to think I’m nuts but there is something weird going on with this hotel. They have a hallway that isn’t on any map. I’m going to go snooping to see where it leads. From the way the staff was acting when I got lost there, I’m thinking there’s something important down there. I’ll email back when I find out what it is.”
Except she hadn’t, which was why her email partner had emailed her. Hotsuma read back through the email that just arrived. It was then he noticed the signature line contained the phrase Voda CEO.
He went back to one of Lulu’s emails to look at her signature line. Voda Human Resources Research and Development. Research. She wasn’t vacationing with the competition to see how they compared. She was posing as a guest to learn about him. She might not have known that was why she was coming to Onsen, but he was why she was there.
He looked back at her. She had even suggested he move to Voda. Not for h
is benefit but for hers and her boss’s. She wanted to use him the way Masato and the Mizuno family had been using him. No wonder she was so eager to set him free.
One more day. She was leaving in the morning, and he would bet she planned to take him with her… back to Voda. How could he have been so blind? He should have realized when she first suggested moving to Voda and he learned she worked there. His passion for her had blinded him to the obvious.
No! It wasn’t passion for her. He’d been without the company of a woman for centuries. What he had with Lulu was thirst being quenched. Why should he settle for her alone when an entire hot spring’s worth of women waited for him to pleasure them?
And he would, on his terms. Masato was bringing a priest, and that priest would set Hotsuma free. He didn’t need Lulu any longer. He and Masato would deal. Hotsuma would get his freedom, and Masato could keep his good luck charm. The rest of the Mizuno family need never know Masato had broken the seal.
Hotsuma stalked to the bathroom and threw himself at the tub. The water that made up his body drenched the walls. He pushed his spirit through the pipes, headed for Masato’s office. Once there, he didn’t linger in the fire extinguisher spigot. He opened the valve so the water could spill free.
Masato sat behind his desk, unmoving as Hotsuma formed his body.
“You don’t look surprised to see me.”
“Not at all, Uncle. I’m very surprised to see you. I thought you and your little girlfriend would be on your way out the door.”
“Lulu isn’t my girlfriend. She’s nothing to me but a means to my freedom.”
Masato’s lips curved into a knowing grin. “Could have fooled me. The way you two were going at it earlier, I thought there might be something between you.”
Hotsuma narrowed his eyes at Masato. “You put a camera in the pool room.”
“Cameras don’t see magic. I watched as you fucked that luscious piece of ass. You did well for someone with no body. The way she screamed…” Masato ran his tongue over his lips with a slight shrug of his shoulders then shifted in his seat so he leaned to one side. “Made me want to join you. Stuff that mouth of hers with a real man.”
Wet: Undercurrent Page 5
