First Day in the Caribbean - DiveShop 01

She looked up from her work, adjusted the spaghetti strap, and gave him directions and he headed out. Presently he returned with a sack of hooks and other small objects. He handed her a key. "I know I'm being presumptuous, but here's a key to my place. It's a lot closer than the college, I found out. You can go use the shower while I'm at work, and you won't invade my privacy a bit." He nodded several times, and she timidly took the key.

"Well, I'll keep it in case of an emergency." Suddenly bold, she added, "May I thank you?"

"Sure!"

She grabbed his head and kissed him soundly. Several times. "I get carried away, don't I?"

"I don't mind a bit," he smiled. "May I thank you?

"Okay."

He enclosed her in his arms and kissed her forehead, neck, and then her lips, gently. "You can get carried away all you want," he murmured. Then the spell broke, and they got back to work. He was done enough in the shop for the time being, so they both worked in the store. He mopped the floor and she scrubbed the unpainted parts of the walls. They positioned the old glass display counter and moved a couple empty displays, all inherited with the facility.

After several moves, she was satisfied and they rested. "You're pretty patient with my nest-building. I appreciate it."

"Glad to be of service, Ma'am. I like the way you thank me. I also enjoy watching you adjust that strap all the time."

Her hand was on the strap as he was speaking, and she jerked it away, surprised. Then she recovered, and sassily wiggled a little bit. "Well, I don't want this to happen," and she flipped both straps off her shoulders, leaving the thin top hanging from her breasts.

Rick couldn't keep himself from admiring the slightly more revealed curves of her breasts. He looked up into her eyes and saw a coquettish smile.

"See? I'd never get any work out of you if I weren't at least a little careful." She slid the straps back onto her shoulders and pretended to adjust the top, moving the straps forward to reveal even more cleavage. "There. Is that better?"

Rick slowly shook his head. "They're-I mean it's-it's just fine."

She smirked, then looked around and sighed. "Y'know, we put in a pretty good day. And with your help, I'm not behind schedule any more. Let's take the rest of the day off. Tell you what, we'll go to the grocery store, I'll get something easy to fix like I usually do, and I can do the treating this time."

Rick agreed. "I kinda need to learn my way around this town anyway. Let's go."

She led him to a mom and pop corner grocery and they picked up some fruit, lettuce, and a couple cans of tuna. The elderly gentleman at the counter greeted Karen by name and enquired about progress on the dive shop.

"It's coming along, particularly since I now have an, um, assistant. He's been a real godsend." She winked at the old guy. "Showed up on my doorstep a couple days ago and he looked so pitiful I couldn't resist putting him to work. Rick, meet Pops, half owner of this fine establishment, whose existence has many times prevented me from starving."

Pops examined Rick over his spectacles, then offered his hand. "Rick, eh? Not something like Queequeg, eh? Well, you'll take good care of her, eh? She's our favorite non-daughter.

Rick smiled and took his hand and remarked, "I didn't know Canadians could survive this far south. And yes, I'll take the best care of her I can.

Pops turned to Karen. "He's sharp, too. Looks like you got yourself a keeper. Pay him well."

Karen smiled. "I'll do my best. See you later!" And they scooted off.

"Nice guy," Rick said as they left. "I better watch my P's and Q's."

"Yup. They take good care of me.

Back at the dive shop, Karen made a tuna salad and Rick peeled two oranges.

As they ate, Rick said, "I can see some snorkeling equipment in the corner. I brought my stuff, too. What say we take Sunday off and do some snorkeling. You could show me around and I could get a bit of a look around."

"I can do better than that, I think. This might seem out of character, but can you show up here about 5:30 ready to go?"

"Uh, sure."

"I have some friends with a boat. We'll see if we can crash their party."

"Sounds like fun."

They kissed goodnight, but Rick didn't make a move to do more, and they both went to bed frustrated again.

He arrived right on schedule and she met him all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. "See what happens when I get enough sleep?" She spun around, showing off a T-shirt covering either nothing or a really brief bikini top. "Didn't you bring breakfast? Or aren't you hungry? Or is it in your bag?"

"Store isn't open yet. Gotta wait till six. Maybe we'll find something at the pier."

"Maybe we can earn our breakfasts. This guy, Gus Mortensen, and his partner run a fishing boat, and if we get there in time, they can probably use some unskilled labor."

They walked back north to the terminal-and the industrial park where Rick worked. They arrived at a private jetty with several power boats in slips, and several sailboats attached to buoys in the harbor. Perhaps a dozen sailor-types on different tasks. As they approached, one did a double-take and called out. "Careful, Karen, there's a big Maori behind you!"

"Ah, it's okay, he's my pet New Zealander. Cat dragged him in last week."

The man extended his hand to Rick. "Pleased to meet you, sir. Any friend of Karen's is a friend of mine. Except my daughter. She's my daughter." He grinned at his crooked humor. "Bill Seeman at your service. Say you wouldn't happen to know a bit about boats, would you?"

"Rick Kahurangi. I know a little. Gene's Boat Repair gave me a job last week, the day I arrived. Did a stint in the navy, too, but those boats were somewhat bigger than what I see around here. Except for the cruise ships."

"You'll do. I guess Karen wants to do a little snorkeling. Having some extra help will moderate the horrible expense of having her on board." He gave a crooked grin. "I suppose you guy's ain't et, yet, neither, have you?"

Karen chimed in, "Bill, you give me some cash, I'll run up to the burger joint and get us all something. Somehow I think you 'ain't et yet' neither."

Bill looked at Rick as he reached into his pocket. "See what I mean? Terrible expensive woman, she is." He handed Karen some cash, and she took off. "Get enough for four," he called out after her. "Gus'll be here in a few minutes. You know anything about emptying bilge and ventilating an engine compartment?"

"Used to have to do it in my sleep."

"Okay, go look around, ask if anything isn't obvious." We'll get under way as soon as Karen and Gus get here."

It felt good to be back on a working vessel. Rick found the controls, well labeled and in typical places. He looked into the engine compartment and could pretty much identify everything. They had a nice boat, top quality filters, hydraulic controls, lots of electronics. He turned on the ventilator and the bilge pump and headed back onto the deck.

A grizzled guy who could have been Bill's brother was climbing aboard with Karen and a stunning raven-haired beauty who, judging from the chattering, appeared to be a friend of Karen's.

They gathered around the table in the galley and Karen dished out the food. The new girl was Octavia, Bill's daughter.

"Good thing I saw them both coming," Karen remarked, or "two of us would have had to arm wrestle for breakfast.

"Nah, we'd have just thrown Octavia in the water and let the fish eat her," Bill kidded. "How'd you talk your mom into letting you come down? Don't you have studies?"

"I'm all caught up, and I thought I'd study some hydrodynamics on the way out, maybe do a lionfish count. I didn't know Karen'd be here, but I think I can do my research anyway." She eyed Rick. "I think Karen'll have plenty on her mind without me.

Rick sensed that Karen was being a little protective of him, and he appreciated the unconscious message that she wanted him to herself. Octavia certainly was an eyeful; if he hadn't already met the most delightful woman on the island, he might have given her a second look.

They all accepted Rick as if he were part of the family, and he turned out to be a pretty competent crew member even though he had never been on this boat before. At one point he was in the cockpit with Gus and the conversation turned to sail over powerboats. "Me and Bill are tossing around the idea of getting a sailboat. These scows are faster, but a sailboat is cleaner and quieter."

Rick had to agree. There was a place for power, but the relaxed lifestyle here lended itself to sailing. He asked how the fishing was.

"That's another thing, the fishing's getting worse. Market is going to the fish farms, so money is less and less. And tourism is getting stronger. It's easier to take fares on a sailboat, and you can do more-snorkel, scuba, and sport fishing. We think there might be more money in it. But we'll see."

Rick filed the information away for future use.

Presently they came to a stop at the outer edge of a cove. "Hows about you young folks take a look around here? Might be some interesting stuff."

Octavia put down her notebook and GPS and looked around. "What time is it?" She had been tracking their course in her notebook.

"Doesn't that fancy GPS of yours have a clock?" asked her dad.

"Oh yeah. I'm just too used to interacting with humans." She squinted at the GPS and made another note.

Rick and Karen got ready to dive. The water looked to be about twenty feet deep, clear as glass, with scattered patches of reef. Karen pulled off her T-shirt, revealing a plain white bikini. Rick had baggy swimming trunks. He was kind of glad; they would hide his response if he stared at Karen too much, which he kind of intended to do.

They put on their gear and jumped in. Karen's bikini turned about 90% transparent when she got in, and Rick nearly choked. Only his navy reflexes saved him. He shook his head to himself, and they dove.

Only partly for safety reasons, Rick kept a close watch on Karen. Watching her lithe shape from above was a real turn-on. Sometimes they swam side by side, often holding hands. At least once Rick missed something interesting because he was watching Karen. He felt like he was having the most frustrating and wonderful time of his life.

After about half an hour they moved to another spot and repeated the operation. Karen acted as if it were the most normal thing in the world to parade around in essentially transparent clothing. Rick wondered how the two older guys were able to feign indifference so effectively.

Over a light lunch Rick remarked, "You guys aren't getting a lot of work done."

They answered more or less together. "It's okay. Today's Sunday and we come down here mainly from habit. Take it easy, talk about stuff, like whether to switch to sailing, what Bill junior's gonna do with his life, and Juno-that's our youngest-too. And admire that mermaid over there," he nodded toward Karen. "So it's all good. And you're new to the island, I hear? From New Zealand, eh? Well you seem to know your stuff; it's a privilege to have you with us. Hope you like it here."

Rick nodded toward Karen. "If I'da known this island made such beautiful women, I might have tried to get here sooner. Having met your mermaid early on was a stroke of luck. She's been a good friend and guide and I've known her only a week. She put me to work on the dive shop pretty fast, too."

"Yup, they make 'em pretty good lookin' here, but you gotta be careful who and what you touch. Octavia's got a heart of ice. If you know what I mean. You're earning your keep, though, eh? You and Karen gotten together yet?"

Rick sighed. "Can't say I'm not tempted, but I don't want to ruin a good friendship by coming on too strong. We're still just friends. Besides I'd make a pretty conspicuous boyfriend. Might not go over too well."

"Well, you're a downright gentleman, then. Beware, though, she's a flirt. Don't get yourself hurt. And the seagoing community'll be okay with your tattoos. Don't worry about that none."

Octavia took them to another spot and this time she took her T-shirt off and joined them in the water. Rick could hardly believe his luck. Two gorgeous women in scanty bikinis for friendly companions. The snorkeling was fun, too. Octavia mainly looked for lionfish, and Rick and Karen joined her, surveying separate areas.

Finally it was time to head back. As they pulled into the slip, Rick hopped off the bow to make the boat fast and Octavia took the stern line.

Gus leaned toward Karen and said quietly, "Looks like you got yerself a winner there. Take good care of him."

Karen made as if to have the idea suddenly occur to her. "Y'know, maybe you're right, I'll give it a thought."

Gus playfully swatted her bottom.

Rick and Karen somehow managed to walk back holding hands. She ventured, "Ugh. I'm all salty, I really need a shower."

"Well, I know of a nice clean efficiency with a shower. It even has it's own soap and shampoo. Come on up. I promise to be a gentleman."

Karen hesitated, then said. "Okay. But what if I don't want you to be a gentleman?"

"I don't think I know how to be anything but kind and gallant. Never been anything else." He shook his head, but his hopes soared.

He let her in to a neat room with shades but no curtains, and a sleeping bag on the floor where a bed ought to be. No other furniture. Clothes piled neatly at the foot of the sleeping bag. He showed her the bathroom and handed her a towel. "Not much, but it's clean."

"Maybe we should take a trip to the second-hand store sometime! I know just the place." Then she let herself into the bathroom, and Rick could hear the shower going. Presently she came out, looking damp. She glanced at the sleeping bag. "Take a fast shower yourself, and I'll let you walk me to the shop."

When they got to her place, she insisted he come in. She locked the door behind them and instructed him to turn off the room light when she turned on another one.

She got the light, then called him over to the room behind the display counter, a room he had not visited. "See that?" She pointed. "It's a bed. You need one. What if I come over during the day? I'll need a place to sit."

Rick pretended to be enlightened. "Oh yeah! I've heard of these. I think my captain had one. Aren't you supposed to lie down on them, though?

"Yes!" She gave him a shove toward the bed. "Lay that body of yours on it and see how much more comfortable it is than the floor!"

He went over and pretended to examine the bed, then stretched himself out on it, his head at the foot end. "Ahhh. Like this? It is pretty nice. I'll have to get one when I have some spare time. Good thing I'm used to—oof!"

She plopped herself next to him. "Boy, you sure are dense. Move over."

He shifted onto his side, grinning a little, and she stretched out on her back next to him. It gave him a magnificent view of her breasts through her T-shirt. "If I can use your shower, you can use my bed." She rolled onto her side to face him. "You're supposed to kiss me to pay bed rent."

Rick continued to play dumb. "Is that how it works? Okay." He kissed her, first politely, then they both became more enthusiastic. His manhood was already half erect. Timidly, he put his arm around her and pulled her into him. The feel of her breast against him was almost more than he could stand, and she pressed her entire length against him.

"Mmm. I feel something poking me down there. It's pretty hard. Lemme see what it is," and she reached down inside his swimming trunks. "Ah, this. Good. I suppose I need to show you where you're supposed to put it, too?" She raised her eyebrows, but didn't let go of him.

He pushed his hips toward her. "I feel a barrier," he gasped.

"Oh, silly me. Let's just take our clothes, off, shall we?" She clambered off the bed and watched him while she slowly pulled up her T-shirt, revealing the magnificent breasts that Rick was already almost familiar with. He stared open-mouthed as she leaned forward to pull down her shorts, revealing what he decided was the cutest pussy he had ever seen. "Aren't you forgetting something? Maybe you need some help," and she leaned closer to tug on his trunks.

He arched his back while she tugged them off, then pulled off his T-shirt, revealing his own well-muscled body, most of which Karen had already seen. He rolled back onto his side.

She turned off the light; a little bit of illumination leaked in from the street. "Hmm. I do see one place that isn't tattooed. But let me check to be sure," and she bent his erect member down so she could examine the top side.

"Urk. Do-do you want me to see if I can put it where it goes?" He gasped.

"Sure!" She plopped back down on the bed facing him again, and propped a knee on his hip, then pushed herself toward him to make his task easier. She encountered him somewhat sooner than she expected. "Mmm, good size. Just right, I'll bet," and she pressed against him more. He responded, meeting the thrust gently, trembling with restrained desire.

They were both wet, and as he entered her, it was her turn to gasp. She raised her knee higher and thrust herself forward, increasing his access. "Oh that feels good. I've been waiting for this. Don't stop. I like how slow you are. It's driving me crazy. Ahh. Back in again. Don't stop don't stop don't stop."

Rick put his hand on her behind and pressed her into him, burying himself all the way. He began to tremble, and in spite of his wish to go slow, he began to thrust faster.

Karen met him thrust for thrust, moaning "yes, yes" each time. Suddenly she tensed and cried out, and the sound pushed Rich over the edge and he plunged into her reflexively as he experienced his own climax. Finally they relaxed, and Karen dropped her leg back onto him and smiled. "That was nice. Can we do it again sometime? Did you mind that I was so, um, forward? I was beginning to think that you'd never make a move if I didn't give you some encouragement. Did you have fun? It couldn't be as much fun as I had, though. Why aren't you saying something?"

Rick put his fingers on her lips. "Yes I had lots of fun. Yes I'm okay with doing it again. I didn't want to scare you off, so I guess your encouragement was a good thing." He kissed her forehead.

"Well, good then," and she rolled so her back was against him. "Snuggle me."

It had been a long day, and they both conked out, his hand covering a breast.

The light in the room increased a little, and suddenly Rick came aware. "What time is it?"

"Mm? About dawn, why?"

"Gotta go to work!" He sighed. He was erect from dreaming, and his member had worked itself between her legs. He was strongly tempted to take advantage of the situation, but duty called.

Karen wiggled her hips. "I wish you didn't have to. I guess frustration is going to be the name of our game, eh?" She pushed herself against him.

Rick gave one spasmodic thrust, then heaved a big sigh. "I'll make it up to you first chance I get. Monster promise," he growled.

She giggled and let him get out of bed. He threw on his clothes and ran out.

Karen smiled to herself as she made the bed.