Perfect Alignment

Chapter 8-1

Chapter Eight

His friend was unusually antsy. Was it because he didn’t like Emma? Something about her put him off? Drew knew Toby well, and didn’t think it was that. The relaxed conversation in the car had been genuine. He’d been fine as long as he was working the boat or while they were eating. He’d even been relaxed massaging Emma’s feet, so it probably wasn’t about her. So what was it?

He studied the man who fidgeted with one of the lines, retied the drawstring on his swim trunks, settled and resettled himself. Emma probably hadn’t even noticed, but Drew was used to seeing Toby calm. He hadn’t seen him like this in ages. And then it hit him. The only time he’d seen Toby acting somewhat like this was when Caroline had been out of town for a couple of weeks, Toby unable to join her. The man had gotten more and more twitchy as the days had gone by, to the point that Drew had been forced to stifle his laughter and pull forth every bit of sympathy he could to not make fun of the head-over-heels sub so desperately missing his Mistress.

So…what did that mean now? Drew would know if Toby had begun seeing someone, he had no question about that. He and Toby had gone to the club a couple of times since Caroline had died, though Toby’s heart hadn’t really been into it. They’d both been convinced it was a good idea, though, so they’d pushed through the experiences. Toby had seemed appreciative at the time, a little more relaxed after each visit, but he hadn’t really been ready to move forward, to experience a true scene.

Maybe that had changed. Drew pressed a kiss into Emma’s temple, checked around them for any other boats, judged the wind. But when Toby jumped to his feet again to adjust something that didn’t need adjusting, Drew made his move.

“Toby.” His voice wasn’t any louder than it had been since they’d started. But he used that tone that worked so well for both his cop side and his Dom side. Emma, still resting against his front, stiffened a little. Toby stopped in his tracks and turned to Drew, his eyes a little wide.

“Go down and get us some more wine and the sunscreen.”

He didn’t ask, didn’t say please. No one on the boat mistook the statement for anything less than what it was. An order from a Dom to a sub. Toby stared at him for one second longer than he strictly needed to, dipped his head, gathered their empty cups and went below.

Emma took a deep breath, one he felt through his whole body.

“He’s so…lonely.” She shivered.

Drew took his hands off the console and rubbed them up and down her arms gently, not disrupting her hold on the wheel. “Yes. But maybe he’s ready to start changing that. Soon.”

“I hope so. Do you think we can help? Would this help? Or make it worse.”

“Do you trust me?”

The tension in her shoulders dropped free and she laid her head back against his shoulder. “Yes. If you think it’s good for him, I’m ready.”

He ran a finger up her neck, turned her chin until he could arch around and kiss her lips.

“If we do this now, we take it slowly. But it would be okay to wait. It doesn’t have to be right now. I think he’ll be okay with some warm-up orders that don’t have anything to do with sex.”

She abandoned the wheel and turned in his arms. He put one hand on the wheel, brought one up to her cheek, surprised by the blush that was climbing there.

“You okay?”

“Yes. It’s just…not how I thought it might be. Any of the ways I thought it might be.”

“It never is.”

“I guess not.”

“You like him. I’m glad about that. It’s completely fine if we just leave it like that.”

“I want to hug him and hold him. Take care of him. And—”

“And?”

She took a deep breath. “And…I kind of want to spank him.”

“Hmm. Not what I was expecting.”

“See?”

He brushed his thumb along her lower lip. “It’s not bad, though.”

“No, not bad. Just weird. Even if it’s something we can figure out, are you sure he’s ready?”

“No. But I’m sure he’s ready to face the question. Ready to have the option and decide if it’s something he wants or not.”

She nodded. “Okay.”

He spotted Toby’s head coming up the steps and raised a hand to hold him back.

Speaking softly, he watched her carefully.

“Do you know what you’re doing?”

She swallowed hard. “I think so. I’ll move slowly, so we can both see how he reacts. Nothing s****l without some direction from you. You…this is a lot of responsibility on you, isn’t it?”

He smiled. “It always is. It would have been the other way too.”

She nodded. He was pleased to see she understood the dangers. Trusted him to watch out for all of them.

“Can you kiss me?” she asked softly.

A direct sign of submission before moving forward. He rewarded her with a long kiss, pleased that she’d forgotten to be worried about where the driver’s attention was. When he finally pulled back, she was flushed in a different way than before.

She took a deep breath. “I’m going to use the restroom.”

“Head.”

She rolled her eyes at him so he smacked her butt as she shimmied out from between him and the console. Toby made room for her to go below, then dropped the cups of wine into their cup holders. He shook the sunscreen bottle, tapped it against the bench seat.

“Toby.”

The man took a sharp breath…and settled. He met Drew’s eyes. “Are we going to play?”

“Do you want to?”

“I…I think I’m ready.”

That wasn’t exactly the response Drew wanted, but since he was going to see to it that they took things slowly, for both Emma’s and Toby’s sakes, he figured it was enough. Almost.

He raised an eyebrow in a look that no sub would misunderstand.

“Sir. I think I’m ready, Sir.”

They both understood that Drew was assuming responsibility for what was about to happen, and would do what was necessary to make sure that they all got what they needed, what they wanted, what they could handle.

“Very good.”

With those words, his friend’s forehead smoothed out, his shoulders dropped and a hint of a smile found its way back to his lips. The twitches were gone as Toby waited to be told what to do next. Emma stepped through the hatch and set her hand on Toby’s shoulder, leaned into him a bit.

“Let’s make sure Drew’s protected, shall we?”

Toby looked at the bottle of sunscreen, then over to Drew. He inclined his head in permission. Though he was surprised this was the direction that Emma wanted to start with, he wasn’t going to question her very first move.

The two of them took the couple of steps necessary to bracket him and Toby squeezed lotion onto both of their hands.

“Sir. Will you please take off your shirt?” Emma asked.

He set the autopilot back on then did as she’d requested. Four hands immediately found his skin and began to slide their way across his body. Emma’s fingers toyed and lingered while Toby’s were more simply efficient. It didn’t take long for Toby to have covered his arms and legs with sunscreen while Emma worked on his back and torso. Finally she smoothed her hands along his neck, face and ears.

When Emma was satisfied that Drew was covered in sunscreen, she offered her lips up for a kiss. An offer he immediately accepted. She may have been imagining it, but it felt like he was managing to convey trust and encouragement in the gesture. Yeah, she was probably imagining it. But she was sure he felt both of those things, anyway. She smiled at him and turned to Toby.

He had picked up his cup and taken a sip of wine while she and Drew kissed. She hadn’t thought he’d been tense before, but he seemed more relaxed now. Which was weird, because she most definitely wasn’t relaxed. She felt revved.

“Your turn, shirt off.”

He glanced at Drew, then put his cup back in the holder and quickly removed his shirt. When she gestured for him to lie down on the seat, he blinked, but didn’t hesitate, lying down on his back. She filled her hands with lotion and ran them over his pecs. A quick glance at his face showed his eyes closed, his expression easy.

He remained relaxed under her touch, but she couldn’t help noticing a difference between doing the same with Drew. Somehow, and she really couldn’t even define how, Toby’s stillness was more…passive.

It was interesting how intent could change one’s actions. If this had been just a friend of Drew’s, if they’d really only been out for a fun sail, she would have been happy to rub lotion onto him in a purely platonic way. But that wasn’t what this was, and she allowed herself to feel pleasure in her touch, in the feel of Toby’s warm muscles, his skin slightly slick with sweat. She pressed her fingers in more tightly than she needed, smiled when his breath stuttered just a bit.

Another check of his face found his eyes open and intent on her. She smiled at him and knew it was a wicked smile. His eyes widened and she couldn’t believe the satisfaction she felt. And the power. For this moment, he was hers.

When she’d gotten his chest, stomach, arms and legs, she murmured, “up.” Toby’s abs bunched and he sat up. She rose to sit behind him, one leg in front of her, tucked up against his ass. She resisted the urge to linger, but neither did she hurry.

When she was done, she whipped her t-shirt off, then her shorts. “Trade places,” she told Toby. He stood and she stretched out so that she was on her stomach, her face turned toward Drew’s face.

The smile Emma gave was pure wickedness and Drew delighted in seeing this new side of her. She’d always been confident sexually, something he found highly attractive. But she’d also been nothing but submissive with him, and this touch of dominance, as long as it wasn’t directed at him, was hot to watch.

“I think now’s my best chance ever of no tan lines, don’t you think, Drew?”

“Not many other places you can soak up the rays without something on,” he agreed, failing to mention the privacy of his own land and his perfect willingness to see her lying around it without clothes on.

“Toby, untie my bikini.”

Toby’s hands didn’t hesitate, and a grin flirted around his lips. The command had hovered somewhere between that of a top and a bottom. But it was a good start and Toby seemed inclined to let her take the lead.

The strings on her top came loose easily, but Emma didn’t move, so nothing was actually revealed. Toby reached for the lotion bottle he’d set down but paused as Emma addressed him sharply.

“Toby.”

She’d achieved a much more commanding tone already, and paused to wait for a response. Drew approved of her methods and remained silent, completely entertained. He adjusted his c**k as discreetly as possible, not wanting to draw attention to himself just yet.

“Yes, Ma’am?”

“I said untie my bikini.”

Toby blinked, blinked again. Stared at Emma’s butt, covered in the emerald green material that was joined at the sides with little string bows. He drew in a careful breath and moved his hands to the bow on the far side of her body.

“I’m sorry, Emma.”

She remained silent as he tugged the string loose, then repeated the action on the other side. He started to peel the suit down, but hesitated just in time. She hadn’t told him to take her suit off, only to untie it.

Toby’s hands fell to rest on his thighs.

“Now the lotion. You can move the material when you need to.”

Drew liked that she continued to watch him while she spoke to Toby. He was easily able to spread his attention between the water, the sails, and Emma and Toby. He took a drink of his wine, letting his expression show her his approval of her actions. Nobody spoke as Toby worked the lotion into her skin. He massaged her shoulders and she gave an appreciative moan that Drew was sure Toby found as encouraging as he did. She was letting them know that this was working for her. It sure as hell was working for him.