The Lust Boat (9 page)

Candace noticed the women on stage weren’t watching. They were having their own acrobatic orgy. Several women were arched over backwards with both their feet and hands on the floor. The rest of the women surrounded them, some sucking at their breasts, others lapping between their legs, and one fucked one of the contortionists with a giant dildo. Candace tapped Ryan on the arm and whispered, “Look on stage. See how big that thing is. How does she take that inside her?”

“Is she the same woman that was up on the ropes?”

“I don’t think so. She’s over there.” She pointed to the opposite side of the stage. “What are they doing?”

The women moved to center stage. One moved with her back to the first man in the totem pole and bent at the waist. He placed his hands on her hips and guided her backwards, until he buried his cock in her ass. The next woman climbed on her back, and so on, each man adjusting his height to link up with the woman’s ass, until they formed one unit, top to bottom. The audience applauded. The tower began to move in a slow, undulating rhythm, similiar to the wave in a stadium, but from top to bottom, over and over again as the men worked their cocks in and out of the women. As if that wasn’t impressive enough, the couple at the bottom began to turn in a slow circle while the column continued to fuck like a ribbon in the wind.

“Now that’s impressive,” Ryan said.

“It is indeed.”

Candace and Ryan exited the theatre hand in hand, listening to the other audience members awed comments about the performance. The whole thing would have been impressive enough, but that they managed it all on a stage that swayed with the movement of the ship, made it even more so. Everyone agreed on that point.

They had drinks in the Siren’s Lair, the aptly named Karaoke lounge. Ryan secured a table in the darkest corner, concealed by a curtain of gossamer silk. They could see the passengers trying their luck on the spotlighted stage, but the thin fabric provided privacy. When their drinks were delivered, Ryan pulled the curtain shut and snaked an arm around her waist. Candace slid across the black velvet seat until she sat hip to hip with Ryan.

“I’ve wanted to hold you all evening.”

“I like it. I don’t know what it is about you, but I feel safe when I’m with you. Maybe I’m being too naïve, but I believe I can trust you.”

“You can. I’d never do anything to hurt you.”

Candace leaned in and placed her lips on his. It was all the invitation Ryan needed. He took control of the kiss, showing Candace everything he felt for her in that moment. The kiss was firm, but tender, and Candace parted her lips to let him in. His tongue swooped in, mating with hers in age-old rhythm. He held her face in his hands and plundered. He took, he gave, he showed her what was in his heart, and she responded, taking and giving in equal measure.

“I want you Candace.”

“I want you too, but I can’t, Ryan. Not yet, anyway.”

“Who did this to you? Who sent you running to the
Lothario
?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“I’ll find out sooner or later. I don’t know what the bastard did to you, but I want to make it go away. I want to replace those memories with new ones.”

“I want that too. Soon, Ryan, but not tonight.”

He released her and downed the rest of his drink. “Okay. That wasn’t ice water, but close enough.”

“No, it wasn’t ice water. I haven’t thought about using our code word…well, maybe once this afternoon when Thor had his hands…well, you know. But you touched me, and it went right out of my head.”

Ryan looked at her. His eyes were warm pools of deep water. “I don’t want to think about that. I wanted to murder Eric, that’s Thor’s real name, for touching you. The smarmy bastard was having too much fun at my expense. If there’s any more touching to be done on this cruise, it’s going to be me, and only me, doing it. I don’t think I can stand to see anyone else’s hands on you ever again.”

“I can live with that. Eric, huh?”

“Eric from Indianapolis.”

Candace laughed. “For real? Indianapolis?”

“Yep. I think he has Norse ancestors or something, but he does have a degree in Physical Therapy from a reputable University.”

“Well, that’s good to know.”

They were on more even ground now, the earlier sexual tension gone. “I’ll walk you to your room so you can rest. Tomorrow is another fun filled day at sea, with lots of activities to choose from.” At her door, Ryan named a time to meet for breakfast and kissed her goodnight. He’d curbed his desire, but it simmered below the surface of his kiss, warming Candace to her toes. For the first time, she questioned her decision not to sleep with him this early in their relationship.

* * * *

Richard was waiting for him when he returned to his stateroom. “Did you forget we have a ship to run?”

“No. I didn’t forget. Whatever needs my attention, will get it tonight. I doubt I’ll be able to sleep with this boner.” He’d been semi-erect since the minute he laid eyes on Candace, and he didn’t know how much more he would be able to take.

“I brought up the purchase orders and the kitchen inventories for you. We need to take on a few more provisions at our next port.” He dropped a stack of file folders on Ryan’s desk. “So when are you going to fuck her?”

“Don’t talk about her that way.” Ryan picked up the top folder and pretended to read the papers inside. “She’s not like the others.”

“How so? She has all the same parts as the others. How is she any different?”

“She just is.”

“That was helpful. I completely understand now.”

Ryan threw the file across his desk. “Leave it alone, Richard. I don’t want to discuss Candace with you.”

“Okay. Let’s discuss the ship, then. Are you going to stay on after this cruise?” Richard stretched his legs out in front and sank lower in the chair with his fingers woven together across his stomach.

Ryan turned his back on his friend and gazed, unseeing, at his reflection in the dark windows. “I don’t know. You know I haven’t been happy for a long time. This life isn’t for me, Richard. I thought it was what I wanted when we came up with the idea, but it wasn’t. It never has been. I want to settle down on dry land, with a good woman, and raise a bunch of kids. I want to coach baseball and mow the yard.”

“And you think Candace is the ‘good woman’ you’re going to do all this with?”

Ryan deflated, his shoulders slumped, and his head dropped between his shoulders. He turned to his friend, his eyes shadowed and vulnerable. “I don’t know. I want her to be. She’s everything I’ve been looking for, and more. She’s sweet. She’s intelligent. She’s beautiful and sexy, and passionate and innocent too. She teaches English to junior high kids who probably know more about sex than she does.”

Richard planted both feet on the floor and rested his elbows on his thighs, lacing his fingers together between his knees. “I hope you’re right, friend.” The room grew quiet as both men contemplated the changes coming in their lives. Richard spoke first. “When we sold R & R for that ridiculous amount of money, and suddenly we could buy anything we wanted, the best clothes, cars, dinner at expensive restaurants, I thought we had it all. What more could we want? The women came out of the woodwork, practically begging to be with us. Not that either one of us did so bad in that area before, but you know what I mean. All of a sudden, we were the hottest things on two legs. Every power hungry, money hungry, desperate woman in the world came knocking at our doors. It was every man’s dream come true, or so I thought.”

“Are you saying you aren’t happy either?”

Richard looked up at Ryan. “Yeah. That’s what I’m saying.” Ryan opened his mouth, a million questions on the tip of his tongue, but Richard cut him off. “I’m tired of this too, but I don’t know how to stop the merry-go-round so I can get off. You were able to hole up in here and wait for someone special to come along, but I can’t do that. Someone has to run this ship, be the public persona.”

Ryan dropped into the chair next to Richard and mirrored his friend’s defeated posture. “I didn’t know. Why didn’t you say something? We can hire a new cruise director. There must be someone out there who can do the job. If we advertised, we’d probably have to rent the Superdome to hold the interviews. Every red-blooded male on the planet dreams of the kind of job you have.”

“It’s not all it’s cracked up to be. The first few months I screwed every hole offered to me.” He sighed and hung his head lower. His voice when he continued was so low Ryan wasn’t sure he heard correctly. “I haven’t had a woman in over a year.”

Silence.

“I didn’t know. You should have told me.”

“I’m telling you now. Do you have any idea how hard it is – pardon the pun – to admit something like that?” Richard straightened, placing his palms on his knees, his eyes trained straight ahead. “I’m sorry I’ve been such an ass to you about Candace. I guess I’m jealous.” He stood and turned to Ryan, looking him in the eye. “She is special, I saw it right away, but she’s not my type. Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.”

“Thanks. I’m not sure where this is going. She’s been hurt, and she’s wary, and there’s the money thing. Right now, she doesn’t know we own this ship. She doesn’t have any idea what a life with me would really be like, and I don’t know how she’ll take it when she finds out.”

Richard moved to the door and stood with his hand on the knob. “Do you ever wish we’d never taken that computer class? That we’d never come up with the campus dating service?”

“Yeah. You?”

“Every day. Would it be easier if we didn’t have so much?”

“No.”

“I don’t know. Some days, I think if I gave it all away, my life would be so much simpler.”

“We’d just have a different set of problems.”

Richard nodded, turned the knob, and closed the door behind him when he left. Ryan turned off the lights and went out on the balcony. The salty breeze helped to clear his mind and ease the fears and doubts knotting his insides. Richard’s unhappiness came as news to him. How had he missed Richard’s misery? The answer came on the wind. He’d been so intent on his own misery; he hadn’t spared a thought for his best friend. Somehow, he’d find a way to get them both out of the predicament they’d built for themselves.

“Good morning,” Ryan greeted her at the breakfast buffet with a kiss on the cheek. “What’s on the agenda for today?”

Candace set her plate, piled high with pancakes and bacon, on the table. She thought it must be the sea air making her so hungry. At home, breakfast consisted of a toaster pastry and a cup of coffee. She took her seat. “I found a few classes I’d like to take.” She went through the motions, draping the napkin in her lap, and moving her utensils around. Now that it came down to it, actually asking Ryan to accompany her to the classes she’d selected, a swarm of seagulls had taken up residence in her stomach.

Ryan attacked his plate. “Like what?”

“Well…,” She took a deep breath and blurted it out before she could change her mind. “I was thinking about taking the fellatio class.” Ryan choked on his food. Candace waited while he regained his composure and cleared his throat with coffee.

“Sorry. I wasn’t prepared for that answer.”

“I called and arranged a private lesson. I hope that was all right.” If he said no, she’d die of embarrassment. If she jumped overboard, would they be able to save her? God, she hoped not.

Ryan sat back in his chair and took another sip of coffee. He lowered the cup and stared at the black brew as if it held all the answers in the universe. Candace picked up her juice glass and quickly set it down again. Her hand shook too much to take a drink.

“You mean, I’m supposed to be your training tool?”

His face flushed, or had she imagined it? “Um hum.” Candace nodded. “She said to bring a partner. I was counting on you being the one.” She twisted the napkin in her lap. “I wouldn’t do it with anyone else.”

“Well, I guess I can do that. Just you, me, and the instructor?”

He hadn’t said no, not yet anyway. “Um hum.”

“This better be a short class. I don’t think I can last very long. I’m as hard as a post just thinking about you wrapping your mouth around my cock.

It was Candace’s turn to blush. “I’m not sure how the class is structured, but I’m hoping I can give you pleasure.”

“Trust me. You take me in your mouth, and I’ll have all the pleasure I can stand.”