One Plus One (4 page)

Why did I say yes? What if the Captain saw me by the pool?

She stepped out of the bathroom in her black thong and noticed a long white plastic bag spread across the bed. Upon closer inspection she found the top of a hanger sticking out one end with an attached card.

Lacinda,

Flaunt your assets. Give the Captain a reason to stand at attention (at least certain parts of him). It’s best worn with nothing underneath.

Mazie

Lacinda’s throat grew tight as she untied the bottom of the bag and slid the hanger through. Her breath caught. Her hands trembled at the touch of the silky flowing cloth. She held the rose colored gown against her body in front of the mirror. She liked what she saw. A woman she’d never seen standing in front of her mirror at home.

She pulled off the black thong. The dress skimmed over her body like cool water, a continuous caress against her skin. She looked in the mirror again. Material gathered at each shoulder, baring her arms. A deep V ran down the center to her belly button. Her small breasts swelled and her nipples peaked beneath the thin light material. She turned and realized the V in the back ended almost at the crack of her butt, leaving her whole back naked. Something caught her attention on the floor.

Below the mirror sat a pair of cream-colored stilettos with another card attached.

Don’t fall on your ass, dear.

Tap…tap…tap. “Miss Gainesly, Travis at your service.”

Lacinda quickly slipped the shoes on and opened the door. Travis sucked in a heavy breath. His eyes moved slowly down and up.

“God.” His brows arched high. “I mean, you look lovely this evening. The Captain will be most especially surprised. I mean, not that he wouldn’t have been surprised by your company anyway. I mean, not surprised…that’s not the word…”

“I get it, Travis. Shall we go?” Lacinda needed gone before changing her mind about wearing something so revealing. Travis held his arm out, and she politely slid her arm through his.

“Walk slowly please. I’m not sure how well I’ll do with these skyscraper shoes.”

Every step sent a sensual caress of cloth against her pearled nipples, over her butt cheeks, and against the sensitive mound above her center. Heat and moisture gathered between her thighs. She needed her focus redirected to calm the building fire. But to no avail, instead she remained stuck on that damn moisture, and even more accumulated, which would surely leave a mark on the back of her dress when she sat down. She wore no underwear.

Damn Mazie, what were you thinking? What the hell am I thinking?

At the end of the hallway they stepped into an elevator. Travis pushed a button labeled:
Penthouse, Authorized Personal Only
and rode up. When the elevator stopped, he hit a series of numbers on a key pad and the doors hissed open.

“Enjoy your dinner, Miss Gainesly.” Travis left her standing in the center of the room, a room breathtakingly plush in cream and navy.

Lacinda heard the elevator doors whoosh closed and a nervous tingle spiked through her body. She would be alone with a man she’d never met in a dress which made her feel naked, just like that stupid string bikini. A shudder shivered through her body.

“Are you cold, Miss Gainesly?” A man’s voice, familiar, spoke from behind her.

Lacinda jerked around and before she saw the Captain’s face, the heel of her shoe caught in the carpet. Her foot rolled out of the stiletto and the momentum carried her sideways. Her hands flew wide in search of anything to break her fall. They found the floor, saving her face from slamming into it. Embarrassment heated her whole body. She could only guess what condition her dress was in.

How could she turn and face the Captain now?

Chapter Six

Blade

Blade wasn’t close enough. Even though he moved fast, he couldn’t catch Lacinda. She looked like an angel dancing in slow motion until she kissed the earth. God, her flowing hair, and that dress; it barely covered the small round curves of her breasts as she went down.

He stared at her round ass sticking in the air. Her dress had billowed up and bared her calves. It pooled around the back of her knees. One shoe lay in the middle of the floor, the other still claimed her right foot. His focus centered on her ass and the way the fluid cloth settled in her crevice, along her natural folds. Her body stirred. That gave him a punch of realization. He’d been standing there admiring her without making any attempt at helping her up.

“Lacinda, are you alright?” Blade put his arms around her, his palms settled over her breasts, and hauled her up. As soon as Lacinda was on her feet, she pulled away and whirled around.

“You!” She stared daggers at him, but all he noticed was the disarray of her hair and how it had fallen onto one shoulder leaving her other shoulder naked. The strap of her dress slid down her arm, exposing a hardened rosy nipple. She followed his stare and yanked the dress back in place, which snapped Blade back into the moment.

“Yes, me. What about me?”

Her face went bright red and her brows drew in.

“Well, who the hell are you, a limo driver, a steward, or the captain?”

Blade watched her bend down and got a peek of both breasts, until her hand flew across the gaping material. He held himself from gasping. She stood the stiletto upright, slipped her foot into it, and then glared at him.

“I don’t know if I feel flattered or stalked…or violated.”

“Tonight I’m the Captain and very excited you’ve accepted my dinner invitation. May I interest you in a glass of Sangria before dinner?” Blade moved slowly, afraid if he startled Lacinda, she’d bolt for good. The air steeped and crackled with her energy. He couldn’t tell if it was anger, embarrassment, sexual tension, or maybe a bit of all three.

Blade picked up the glasses of wine and walked back, careful not to look her in the eye when he handed her a glass. Looking directly into an angered woman’s eyes was asking for an open attack, one he didn’t wish from this woman. He casually stepped toward the patio, drew the curtains back, and opened the door.

“Please join me.” He stood by the door, waiting for her, hoping she’d respond positively. Lacinda released a heavy sigh. Blade ventured a look into her face. Her mellow brown eyes met his and held. His cock twitched as a tremor shot through his body. God, he’d never reacted like this for any woman.

Lacinda’s eyelids finally lowered toward her glass of wine. Blade swore a physical disconnect happened at that moment and it about set him on his ass. She took a sip of wine then walked through the door and into the glassed-in patio. Her body swayed, making the dress shimmer in waves outlining every curve. Blade wanted his palm grazing along the curve of her backside, maybe inside the back of her dress.

He followed her. She stopped near the outside wall. Its bottom half glass and top half screen, she stared out at the ocean. Her face softened, it gave him hope she would relax with him. She drank more wine, remaining silent. Silence was hard to read without physical help. Blade’s ability at figuring out what a woman wanted never happened during non-active silence.

A bell sounded inside the room, the signal someone was coming in the elevator. Blade didn’t want Lacinda left alone in her fragile state. Part of the reason he finally moved was he didn’t want an open elevator as an escape route for her.

“Lacinda, I’ll just be a moment.” He closed the patio door and the curtain before the elevator doors opened.

Travis rolled a dinner service cart into the room.

“We’re not ready for that yet. In fact, I’m not sure Lacinda’s staying for dinner.”

“She’ll stay.”

“And how would you know that?”

“The wine is spiked with a little something. Have you had much of it?”

“I haven’t had any yet. It would have been nice to know before you left it.”

“Mazie thought Lacinda might need a little something. You know, help her relax. Don’t worry. We didn’t put much in the bottle, just enough to take the edge off.”

“Would you mind keeping the food warm and bring it back when I call you? We’re not ready for it yet.”

“You’re the boss. Personally, I don’t know how you can keep it in your pants. My dick felt like it was on a hot stick when she opened her door earlier. Damn, Blade, claim her or someone else is going to beat you to her.”

“You?”

“Hell no, but I bet Mazie wouldn’t mind watching something like that.” Travis chuckled.

“Yeah, I bet she wouldn’t.”

Travis rolled the cart back into the elevator and the doors closed. Blade made himself a vodka tonic with a twist of lime and set his glass of wine inside the fridge. He stepped back into the patio. Lacinda lay relaxing on a chaise beside the glass wall. Her stilettos set under the chair along with her empty glass.

“May I refill your glass?”

Lacinda looked up at him with heavy lids and a slow smile. Another connection flared between them and his cock responded.

“Yes, please.” The top of her body glided sideways, and she reached under the lounger for the empty glass. Her thighs separated from the effort, leaving only a thin layer of silky rose gown between Blade and the folds of her crevice. He bent over her and retrieved the glass. His cock pressed tight against his zipper, stopping him from bending too far. She reached farther for the handoff exposing her breast.

God, can I survive the night without completely ravaging her?

Blade went for the full glass inside the fridge and returned. Lacinda smiled again when he handed her the glass. She took a long swallow and came up from it running the tip of her tongue the length of her upper lip. A shiver ripped down his spine.

Blade wondered if she knew the power she wielded over his mind and body. He pulled a chair closer and followed her gaze along the horizon. The sunset light would come in from his bedroom on this part of the cruise, opposite the patio, but the view this time of night from either window was spectacular.

“This is so relaxing. I honestly feel like I’m floating right now, more than just in a ship on the water.”

Blade watched Lacinda staring at the water, her voice silky like her dress, like her hair, like the curves of her body. He figured she probably was floating from whatever Travis put into the bottle of Sangria, but he knew Mazie would never use anything addictive or hurtful.

He trusted his partner. She was all about showing others how to let go of their inhibitions and how to bring out who they truly were on their inside. She loved freeing people from themselves. Lacinda would be no exception, just as he had been no exception.

Blade set his glass on the table they would use for dining. He turned on a CD of an older but still sexy Barry White. The husky voice impassioned the energy in the room even more.

Lacinda tilted her glass for the last remnants of Sangria. Blade saw her set the empty glass below the chair, apparently unconcerned she was exposing her breast again.

“Would you like to dance?” Blade reached for her and Lacinda caught his hand. She unceremoniously hauled herself upright, losing the shoulder strap of her dress again. Her entire left breast, pert and pretty, begged for Blade’s palm. He gently slid the material up her arm and watched it trip over her pearled nipple.

Lacinda’s breath caught for a moment. She leaned into Blade’s chest, raised one slender arm, and curved her fingers around the back of his neck. He held her hand in his right and draped his left arm around her waist. His hand touched the warm skin of her back and pressured her hips into his. Lacinda pressed her hips even closer.

Blade slowed his step and Lacinda swayed with the gentle rhythm of the music. She pulled her hand from his and wrapped it around his neck, so both hands touched him below his hairline. Her beaded nipples stabbed into his chest and her pubic mound ground into his throbbing erection. Blade’s hands crossed over her naked back, sliding lower until they reached her ass cheeks. He palmed her flesh and ground her into his cock.

Lacinda’s moan sent a shockwave through Blade. He wanted her, wanted to be inside her. She turned her face up and he couldn’t stop himself from claiming her lips. A tiny moan escaped her again and Blade thought he’d lose himself in her breath. His tongue explored her lips and she opened to him. Her tongue touched his and he thought he’d explode.

Blade picked Lacinda up, carried her through the penthouse and sat her on his bed. She pulled the straps of her gown down, and he obliged with fingers and thumbs rolling both of her rosy buds. Her back arched and Blade watched her hair fall away, revealing such a beautiful face. Her eyelids closed, laden with dark lashes that touched her cheeks.

He couldn’t take her like this. God, he didn’t want her if she didn’t really want him, and how would he know while she was under the influence of something more than two glasses of wine. His engorged cock needed attention. It wouldn’t take much to slam it home.

Blade stood beside the bed, his fingers working her delicate nipples. Her moans sending him down a road of no return. And then he realized what the little vixen was up to. Her fingers curled around the thin skirt of her gown and she began hauling it upward, over her calves, her knees, along those shapely thighs, until…God. Blade couldn’t take his focus away from her naked center. The bottom of Lacinda’s gown melted in waves at her waist, leaving her center completely exposed. Then she bent her knees up and splayed her thighs wide open. Blade’s hands suspended over her nipples, his heart stuttered in his chest.

God, how can a strong man stand more than this?

Lacinda grabbed one of his hands and pushed it over the bunched dress and lower, raising her hips to meet his hand. Then she busied herself with the button and zipper of his pants.

“I’m not sure you want this tonight,” Blade warned her. He knew once he passed his no return, he wouldn’t stop until he had her completely.

His zipper went down and the whole swollen package flung itself out, that’s what happens when one doesn’t wear underwear. Damn, his erection got heavier, fuller from the lack of restraints. Lacinda moved closer, one of her legs hung off the bed, leaving her wide open.