Diver's Heart

by K. A Knight

  His cock tents his shorts, and I lick my lips as I stare, remembering how good he felt inside me, the way his hands would grip me, and how he owned me.

  He steps closer again, his body almost touching mine. Almost. I shiver from his warmth, wanting to close the distance between us. My pussy clenches as I battle my own need, knowing it won’t do us any good.

  We could never fight what was between us.

  When I open my mouth again, he loses control, bursting into action. He covers my mouth with his hand as he leans down, his dark, angry eyes meeting mine again. “Don’t fucking talk.”

  I gasp against his hand as I’m spun. He pushes me, and I stumble forward, catching myself on the rocks before my face meets it, not that he cares.

  He presses against my back, and I groan as his rigid cock nestles between my ass cheeks. My face rubs along the rough rock as he kicks open my legs before gripping my pussy through my panties as he leans in. His deep, hungry voice causes me to tremble, even as I feel his anger wash over me.

  “I fucking hate that I still want you, that with one fucking look at you, I’m back to a being weak fucking man aching to be inside you. I can’t help myself with you, never could. I don’t want this. I don’t want to feel your wet pussy in my hand, and I don’t want to hear your moans or feel your pleasure knowing I’m responsible. I want to hurt you for it, I want you to feel the same fucking pain I’m feeling right now as I try to stop myself from bending you over and fucking you right here.”

  I push into his hand. “Then do it,” I whisper and clear my throat. “Make me feel it all. We both know we aren’t walking away right now, we never could.”

  His head rests on my shoulder, and his breathing is ragged as he struggles to maintain control. Tyler’s hand clenches on my pussy, so I rub myself against it. We shouldn’t do this. He will hate me more later, and I’ll hate myself too, but right now, I don’t care.

  Not with his hand slipping past my panties, his fingers gliding along my wet center, and not when his lips meet my skin, tracing across my shoulder. He places possessive, open-mouthed kisses along my skin before he licks over my pounding pulse to my ear. “I fucking hate you right now.”

  “I do too,” I rasp, widening my stance. “Why not show me how much?”

  His deft fingers find my clit, rubbing it hard. He wrenches the pleasure from me with each harsh flick, and I almost scream. I press against the rocks, trying to hold back my moans as I push into his touch, aching for more.

  “You like that?” he whispers into my ear. “You like the fact that anyone could find us right now? Walk around this corner and see me burying my fingers in your tight little cunt?” I groan when he does just that, pushing two thick digits inside me.

  “Ty,” I beg.

  His other hand slides up my chest and grips my throat, squeezing it hard. “Don’t fucking say my name like that,” he snarls, punishing me by adding another finger and fucking me hard and fast, forcing my pleasure higher. I’m helpless to resist. “I hate you. I hate you so fucking much. Why do I still want you? Why am I so tempted to drop to my knees right here and see if you taste as good as I remember? To fuck you in front of them so they know you’re mine?”

  Panting, shaking, and a wet fucking mess, I fight my impending orgasm, but years of being together means he knows exactly where to touch. He flicks my clit with his thumb, curling his fingers expertly inside me and dragging them along those nerves that have a scream erupting from my throat. He cuts it off with a squeeze of his hand, fucking me through it with his fingers as I shake and whimper.

  Finally, he pulls them free, and I slump into the rock, trying to catch my breath as I feel the slight sting of my panties slipping back into place. He pulls away from my ear slightly, but I still hear him sucking his fingers clean.

  “Fuck,” he mutters. “You taste better than I remember. My fingers are fucking drenched, baby.”

  His statement is hardened and rough, and I gasp, loving it.

  His lips meet my ear again. “You want my cock, Peyton Andrews? The way we used to when we were younger? When those sweet little innocent eyes watched me so hungrily? You begged for it so beautifully, like the first time I fucked you and took your innocence. I hurt you, and yet you cried for more,” he taunts.

  I start to get angry and try to turn, but he slams me into the rock, effortlessly holding me in place. “Fuck you, Tyler. You were the one begging and working your ass off to get into my pants.” I smirk, not that he can see. “Like the first time I sucked your cock and you begged me for it.”

  “Stop,” he snarls, clenching his fingers around my neck.

  “Why? We both know it’s true. You used to get hard just from looking at me. Do you still? I think you do. You’re hard right now, aren’t you? Remember the way I used to ride you—”

  His teeth clamp down on my ear, cutting me off with a gasp, and my pussy clenches from the pain. He rips my panties aside again, and then I hear a zip and feel his hard cock pressed against my entrance. I freeze, not wanting to move in case he’s just teasing. I’m dripping for him, imagining him slamming into me right here, fucking all that hate into me.

  My nipples brush against the rock, and I whimper, making him groan as the head of his cock pushes into my channel. This is it, the moment we implode and give in, using each other’s bodies to get out all these feelings inside us.

  I can’t wait.

  “Tyler?” comes Riggs’ call.

  We both freeze like cold water is thrown over us. He swears and rips himself away from me in disgust. I barely have time to turn to see him shaking his head as he runs away like he’s being chased.

  I pant, leaning back against the rocks. I’m shivering from aftershocks, my skin branded by his touch and hate, and I almost groan at the sensation of him being between my thighs again.

  Fuck, fuck, fuck.

  Closing my eyes, I remain there for a moment before washing up again and getting dressed. One thing is clear though—Tyler still has complete control over my body, and this new, dominant, hateful side of him has me wilder than ever.

  I won’t be able to look at him again without remembering his dirty threats and his fingers in my pussy, forcing my orgasm from me.

  When I wake up, Riggs is going in.

  “I’ll help man your computer,” I remark, grinning as he and Tyler head back down. It’s risky, but Tyler can handle it. He hasn’t so much as glanced at me after what happened, but I can’t help but stare. I watch the way his body moves as he walks, remembering those fingers inside me, and if we hadn’t been interrupted, his cock. It’s clear he wants to pretend it didn’t happen, so I let him. For now.

  Finn, Kalen, Michael, and I relax and watch them on the screens. We really don’t have to do much, with the equipment recording at all times and the map seeming to build itself as we go.

  Fin and I talk, but Kalen doesn’t join in. He seems to be ignoring us and even angrier now. Does he really hate me so much, he can’t deal with us getting along? Surely he would want that since it makes the dive easier, but the partial conversations we were having have stopped completely, and now it’s just awkward.

  Fin notices and tries to encourage him to speak, but as soon as Tyler and Riggs return, he helps them out of their gear and then disappears with Tyler. Sighing, I check the equipment over, trying to be helpful while we all have some down time.

  A few hours later, we give Steve a call to relay our progress. We’re all gathered around the comms unit, nervously waiting for him to answer. We aren’t as far as we had hoped to be, but we are making headway, which is good. We decided Kalen and I would go back in after the call, and we are determined to get to the top of the wall so Fin can free climb across to make a ladder.

  When he answers, I let Tyler begin. “Hi, Steve, how’s everything up top?”

  “Good, looks like there’s a storm on the horizon though. How’s everyone doing?” he asks, his voice crackly.

  “We’re all good, still excited and in goo
d spirits,” Tyler replies, and we all add a chorus of, “Yep!”

  “That’s great! How’s the dive going?” he questions, and we hesitate to answer. “Tyler? Peyton?” Steve prompts.

  I clear my throat. “Slower than we thought,” I hedge, ignoring everyone’s glare. “But we have found promising tunnels. The system is bigger than we ever thought, so don’t lose hope. This is a good thing, I promise.”

  There’s silence for a moment. “I trust you,” he says with a sigh. “Okay, keep up the good work and let me know if you need anything.” With this, he cuts off the call.

  “Why the fuck would you tell him that?” Tyler snarls.

  “Steve expects honesty. Lie to him, and he will never employ you again,” I retort sharply, and he blinks in shock. “Yes, I did it for you. Don’t act so surprised!” I huff before standing. “Now let’s get back in the water and find something for him.”

  I hear a chuckle as I storm away. “She’s hot when she’s bossy,” Fin teases, and then there’s the sound of a smack. I don’t bother hiding my grin as I go to get ready.

  We need to make this cave our bitch and fast, or it’s over for us. This dive is for more than just my job, it’s for my life.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Peyton

  The dive is going well, and then it suddenly goes to hell.

  It begins as a typical dive. We’re swimming, using the guideline to lead us to the new tunnels, when it happens.

  Down here, anything can occur, and you have to be prepared. One split second is all it takes. Luckily, we react quickly. The guideline breaks, throwing us backwards, nearly lobbing us into a tunnel wall. In fact, I hit it. My back slams into the jagged rock and knocks my breath from my lungs as I sink farther into the tunnel before grabbing the wall to hold on. Kalen manages not to impact it, but he grabs on beside me until we can recover from the panic and breathe properly again. When Kalen grasps the line that leads us farther down, we notice it looks like it’s been gnawed on, which is impossible and shouldn’t have snapped it. But it has.

  That, however, is not the worst problem. I hear a noise from my equipment, the hissing of escaping air, probably from when I smashed into the wall. “Kalen,” I yell. “Something’s wrong!”

  He turns and swears, and I see the bubbles rising. My computer chimes, alerting me to the fact I’m getting low on air. I’m underwater and losing it fast. I have to get to air quickly before I drown. His eyes turn hard, and he grabs my hands and squeezes, looking around hurriedly.

  “Move!” he shouts and pushes me forward, the rope forgotten. We swim as fast as we can to the closest overwater section, which happens to be the first cavern we ever found. My computer chimes again, but I don’t look, not wanting to see how close I am to running out of air. I can already feel the effects. I surface and drag myself up onto the ledge that goes around it, and yank off my equipment and gulp air to try and steady my heart. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Kalen surfaces and climbs up onto the ledge next to me, instinctively reaching for me.

  “Fuck, what happened?” He looks me over in panic. “You okay?”

  I hear Tyler shouting, but we’re too busy gasping for breath as I spot the kink and the small hole in my line. “Fuck,” I mutter. There’s no way I can go back down with that. It would kill me. I would run out of air before I got back to base.

  “Shit,” Kalen swears, sitting next to me. “Ty, we have a problem. The guideline snapped, and the recoil slammed Pey into the wall and broke her air hose.”

  “Okay, we’ll bring—” Tyler starts, but I interject.

  “I can free dive back. I can hold my breath that long,” I say, trying to think of the quickest, easiest way to get back. We can’t afford this delay. I’ll swim back, get some new equipment, and dive again.

  “You’re fucking not!” Tyler argues.

  “Can we buddy breathe?” Kalen inquires, thinking of a way around this as he checks my back where I hit the wall. “You sure you’re okay?”

  Just as I’m about to answer, we hear a rumbling, a telltale sliding of rocks, and our eyes widen as we turn to stare in horror at the cavern’s opening. The rocks at the entrance come crashing down. Kalen throws himself over me, protecting me as we fall backwards onto the ledge and out of the water. I dig my hands into his suit and wait it out. The ledge under us is shaking with the force, and if it collapses, we’re dead.

  My heart slams, and the air in my lungs freezes as I wait for it to come down on us, but it doesn’t. The noise of thunderous rocks eventually slows and then stops, and when Kalen lifts slightly, I see the damage. The whole tunnel is blocked. Kalen swears and gets to his knees, frantically looking me over and running his hands across my body.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Kal, Kal!” I call, grabbing his hands. “I’m fine, are you?”

  He nods, and I get to my feet, seeing some small cuts on his back, but nothing major. He sighs and glances at the water. “Fuck. Let me check if it goes all the way down. Stay here and tell Tyler we’re okay.”

  I nod and watch as he slips into the water before I grab the comms. “Tyler, we’re okay. Looks like a rockslide. Kalen is checking if it’s blocked the entire entrance. Neither of us are hurt.”

  “Fuck. Are you sure you’re okay, baby?” he asks, his voice threaded with panic.

  “We’re fine,” I assure him, but then Kalen breaks the surface, and from the downward curve of his lips and the shake of his head, I know. I close my eyes for a moment as utter panic blinds me before I breathe through it. It’s okay, we can sort this, stay calm. Panicking helps no one. “The entrance is blocked, Tyler, and we’re down to one rebreather… We’re trapped.” I stare at Kalen as I talk, both of us knowing what this means. The likelihood of us surviving… For one moment, nothing else exists between us. No past, no pain, no anger. Just the shared knowledge that we are probably going to die in here.

  There’s a minute of silence, and then Tyler comes back, breathing heavily. “We’re coming in. We’ll check from our side. Stay there.” He knows even better than us what this means, but Tyler will never give up. If anyone can find us a way out, it’s him. “Baby, I swear we’ll get to you, okay? You have your rations, just stay there. We’ll find a way.”

  “We’re coming, darling,” Fin adds. “I bet you did this so I would rescue you, didn’t you?” he comments, making me laugh, the sound breathy and scared. Kalen heaves himself out next to me, sitting on the edge and rubbing at his head.

  “Always. Kalen is here in his princess dress, waiting for you,” I counter, trying to feign being okay so they don’t worry about us.

  They all laugh, and Kalen snorts.

  “Kalen, watch her back. We are coming, brother,” Tyler orders.

  They cut off then, and I slide closer to Kalen and check the nicks on his back. I slide my hand down his suit, feeling the slices in the fabric from falling rocks. He got them for me. My heart flips at that. Even when he hates me, he’s still willing to risk his life for me. He flinches away before realising it’s me and then becomes motionless. “Thank you, Kal, for protecting me,” I whisper.

  “Don’t get fucking sappy. I did it so Tyler wouldn’t murder me,” he mutters as he gets to his feet and looks around, straight at the other tunnel out of here. “If they can’t find a way in, we may have to take that and hope it joins up somewhere. At least we have rations and air.”

  “I guess,” I murmur, scooting back and leaning against the wall. “Until then, I guess we wait.”

  Waiting is boring.

  Kalen is annoying me, pacing around the edge of the ledge. I’m sitting here patiently, sipping my water and ordering him to let me clean his back. He does, but as soon as it’s done, he’s back on his feet.

  I watch him for a while before it starts to make me dizzy, and then I close my eyes. We can hear the others on the opposite side of the rocks, and then the comms turn on. “It’s blocked, baby. We’ll find a way, okay? None of us are going to sleep or rest until we do, I promise,
just stay calm. We’ll get to you both.” The fact he keeps calling me ‘baby’ doesn’t bode well. If he’s stressed enough to forget he doesn’t still love me, then it’s bad. “I will get you both,” he vows.

  But will he?

  “Okay,” I mutter, licking my lips. “Don’t let Michael in the water. Promise me,” I say, knowing the old man will try.

  “Got it. Check in every hour or so. Try to get some sleep, baby,” he tells me softly.

  Sleep, right. Like I can sleep now. But it’s better than just sitting here thinking of all the ways we could die.

  I unpack the blanket and some snacks, and try to force Kalen to eat while he paces before putting them away to ration them. Who knows how long we’re going to be down here? I try not to let the panic take hold. We have the other tunnel we can use if need be, even though there is no guarantee it would take us anywhere.

  Think, Peyton. Use logic, ignore the screaming in your head. Strength doesn’t come from your body, it comes from your heart.

  I let my dad’s words fill my head until I can push back my fear and think through the situation. It all happened so fast, but now I have nothing but time to review and consider solutions.

  First, we need to give them a chance to get through to us, and that means behaving so they can concentrate…and if they can’t get through, then I will find us a way out of here. I’m not dying in some fucking cave. More settled now, I decide to actually try to sleep. We need to conserve energy as much as we can.

  I lie down but can’t fall asleep. Eventually, Kalen sits beside me, and as I’m staring at the ceiling, I realise now is the perfect time to get answers. He can’t run away from me. Yeah, it may get awkward, but we have nothing else to do, and this not talking bullshit is annoying. Plus, it may offer a distraction from what’s happening.