To Murder Matt (6 page)

Without warning the boat engine suddenly stopped. Dean had slowed the throttle and the yacht slowed to a gentle bobbing as he cut the motor.  The only sound, was the relaxing lapping of the waves against the sides of the boat.

“The whole point of sailing is to enjoy the peace and quiet.” He flicked the hair out of his eyes. “This way.”

Ellen followed him inside the cabin. Inside it was deceptively spacious. Nearest the door was the galley, consisting of all mod cons and cupboards of polished mahogany.  The floor was polished to a gleam and brass fitments shone from around the cabin complimenting the luxurious interior décor.

“Would you like a drink? How about a G & T?”

Ellie sank into a thick comfortable chair and nodded.  He turned towards the cabinet in the wall and pulled out a couple of glasses that had been secured inside.  He poured a large measure into them, a splash of tonic and a few ice cubes.  He smiled as he thought that the splash should really be called a sniff of tonic.

He sat down beside her and passed her the gin. She sipped and went beet red. 

“You were saying you wanted to talk to me Dean. What did you want to discuss?”

“Ah. I wanted to offer you a job working with me. I am thinking of expanding and diversifying my operations.”

“But I am not even in your line of business Dean.  Did you want me to publish a magazine for your company, or give you contacts to prepare your brochures, or something?  That I can do, but you wouldn’t need me to do it for you on a permanent basis, because once you have your marketing collaterals in place, they can last for years, if done properly.”

“No, no, not that at all. I have people for that. I have an agency that handles all that side of the business. I have a specific role in mind for you.”

“Oh?  What?”

“Well, it depends...”

“On what?”  Ellen was perplexed.

“On you.”

“On me?”

“Of course, what you would want to earn and do; that sort of thing.”

“Dean,” Ellen said with exasperation “Stop beating around the bush, what job are you offering and why all this subterfuge and secrecy?”

“Oh, I was thinking of a new business development role in yacht chartering. The reason being is I know you wouldn’t fall apart dealing with high profile celebrities, and dealing with millions of dollars. There would be lots of international travel. You would be travelling with me a lot of the time and you would need to be based here. You could stay with me until you found your own place, that’s if you decided you wanted your own place.”

“Dean, I don’t even work in the same industry, I have said that before. Why me?”

“Because I trust you, know you.” ‘
And I love you...’
his mind whispered.

“It’s really kind of you Dean but this really isn’t my cup of tea.  I don’t mind helping you out, until such time that you find the right person though. It would have to fit around my normal role, and I would want a consultancy rate, it is only temporary though.  Can we go outside at all?  It’s awfully hot in here and I am feeling a little dizzy.”  She fell back in to her seat just as a wave hit the portside causing her to lose her balance. “Oh I almost forgot; we are on your yacht. If this had happened on land, I would have thought I was tipsy.”

She stood up and Dean held out his hand to steady her. The boat lurched again and she was forced into his arms. She looked up and laughed just as he bent down to kiss her. His lips touched hers, sending tingles through his whole body. He inhaled her scent. She made him feel like a real man. As though he could go out, conquer the world, hunt their food, protect her from everything, and in her eyes, he was her god. Together they would rule the world. He wanted to crush her against his chest and ravage her with a desire and passion that would drain his very body of its essence, and yet, he didn’t know how to tell her.  He kissed her with every ounce of love in his body. He felt her knees give way and he caught her whilst still kissing her. It was all he could think about.  His kisses, which started off as tender and slow, soon became hungry and passionate. He parted her lips with his tongue, playfully teasing her with his own. He started to move her backwards to where he could see the round bed. Slowly he began edging her backward without releasing his strong grip on her, without slowing his fervent kisses.  She was responding, as he had hoped she would.  She was giving in to his kisses with a desire that felt equal to his. He pulled her closer to him whilst still moving her towards the bed. As the bed touched the backs of her legs they folded, and he gently laid her back and moved his own body alongside her, their lips not separating once. He breathed her in and tasted her. His hands now, no longer needing to support her, explored her neck, her shoulders, gently touching and stroking her, caressing her through the silky material of her dress.

He heard her moan and he deepened his kiss, and as he did so, his hand brushed against her breast and expertly undid a button near it. She moaned again, just as his hand slipped under the material and softly moved along the edge of the lace. Slowly his fingers circled her hardening nipple.  He lowered his head and freed her nipple from the confines of her bra, just in time for his mouth to arrive to kiss her breast until the nub was in his mouth.  He felt her back arching as he tongued it.  His hand caressed further down, until he reached her thigh and he gently caressed the skin through the material, close enough so that she knew he would soon be touching her, feeling the heat from her, and close enough to know that she would not be able to resist him.  His hand slipped through the split in the dress and touched the bare skin just above her lace topped hold ups.  As he felt her bare skin, she jumped; she had felt the same electricity that he had.

His groin was throbbing with a full erection and he longed to free his penis from the straining material of his trousers, but he knew that it was too soon. As he kissed her, he tried to stop thinking about her taking him in her mouth and giving him a blow job until he climaxed. Instead, he was thinking only of her pleasure.  His fingers moved closer and closer to her mound.  He was just about to slip his fingers inside the lace edging of her panties when she suddenly shouted out, causing him to jump in surprise.

“NO! What are you doing?  What are we doing?”  She sat up and pushed him away. She put her hand against her head. “We can’t do
this!
”  Her voice was shrill and there was a touch of fear.

“Why not?” He asked in surprise.

“We cant! You are my oldest friend, It’s not right!”

“But I love you, Ellie. Of course, it’s right!”  She looked at him in shock.

“I didn’t know you felt this way!”

“Neither did I, until yesterday.”  He was being totally honest with her.

“Then don’t you think it’s all rather sudden?”  She pulled her clothes together and looked at him indignantly. She stood up. “I can’t handle this.” She walked out of the cabin, up the stairs and on to the main deck.

Moments later, Dean followed behind her, his erection slowly subsiding. She was facing away from him, the sun shining on her hair. He wanted to take her in his arms and yet he stopped himself. He could still smell her, even now, the sweet smell of heady desire. His erection strained once more against his trousers. He cleared his throat to warn her he was behind her and she jumped at the sudden nearness of his voice. When she turned around, he saw the sadness in her eyes. A sadness that tore his heart to shreds, right there, at that moment. Despite her beauty, despite the love he had for her, he knew in that moment, that he had blown it. He had ruined everything between them, and his heart felt as heavy as lead sinking to the bottom of the ocean.

“Is that why you brought me out here?” She gestured to the open horizon with her hands “... to seduce me?” She made the words sound ugly.  He shook his head and looked away.

“No, it just happened. I thought the moment perfect.”

“Perfect?”

“Yes. That’s all.”

She nodded and turned away from him again.  She looked into the horizon and back at the distant land.

“Please take me back...”

Dean started the engine as Ellen returned inside. A cloud went across the sun, blocking the last rays of the day, and the sky darkened behind them as distant storm clouds gathered.

V
eronique opened the letter on the desk, it was from Matt; he had missed her and wanted to see her in Nice as he was over on business. He would pick her up when the ship docked. She put it aside and looked up, striding towards her was the ship’s captain. He walked straight in without knocking.

“Morning Nico,” she said sweetly. He smiled, showing his white teeth, which appeared to be whiter due to his sun-darkened skin.

“Hello my darling,” he replied in Greek. Veronique ignored this fact, and continued to speak in English.

“And what can I do for you?” He walked over to the corner of her desk and leant over on both hands.  He looked down her blouse. Veronique was busy writing and unaware of his gaze.

“We have a problem in the engine room, which means that we have to delay our departure. A couple of hours, no more.”

His voice was low, and if anybody had been passing the door, it would have appeared as though they were having a secret meeting.  She looked up at him as his words registered.

“What could be that bad that we have to delay our departure?”

“Oh a sudden interest in engineering? Very encouraging!”

“I am not interested, but I need to tell the passengers something...”

“Simply speaking...” She bristled at his words. “A bearing has gone in the alternator.  We don’t have a spare, and so the part is being freighted in from the U.S. as we speak. I pre- arranged it, so it will be there waiting for us when we arrive in Nice. The fitting is going to be the biggest problem. We think about twelve hours in all.”

“That is NOT a few hours! I will have to reschedule the entire day’s events.” She looked in horror at her desk; already covered in piles of papers, of work, still to do that day.

“I know,” he shrugged “Not my problem. I don’t ask you to sort my engineering problems, do I?”

Veronique leant back in her chair meaning his view down her blouse was lost. Beads of perspiration that had been trickling down her spine were now absorbed into her blouse at the back.  She had a few hours before they got to Nice.  She would have to inform all the travel agents, the airport, the hotels...to notify all the people that could be affected, basically everyone; both her embarking and disembarking passengers. On top of that, she would have to change her own plans too.  She looked up to find the captain’s eyes staring fixedly at her nipples through her blouse.  Her hand went up to her collar and obstructed his view. He looked up at her.  Her eyes were a steely sapphire blue, and furious. “Anything else, Captain?”

“No, no.” He turned around to walk away and then turned back and spoke to her in Greek again.  “Oh yes, I am having a small gathering of VIPs in my cabin, plus a few senior personnel.  It is personal invitation only.  Of course, I expect you to attend.”

“I don’t see this in my schedule.”

“No, a last minute decision.  Don’t discuss it with anyone, it’s for a select few only.”

“Of course, I understand.”

“What time?”

“Eight.”

“Okay. Noted.”  He left and she watched his immaculate white uniform disappear into the distance.

***

A
t the moment, the ship was quiet due to the fact that the majority of passengers had gone ashore. Veronique flicked her long blonde hair over her shoulder and quickly began to change the onboard schedules. If there were a delay of any sort, it would have a knock on effect if the captain couldn’t make up the extra twelve hours somewhere. On the next onward cruise, they would either have to cut their stay short a few hours every day in other locations or speed up the sailing speed, meaning more fuel consumption and costs.  Either way she would have to cut some of the programme for the following week so that people wouldn’t suspect anything. She wouldn’t tell Matt of the delay. The least amount of time she could spend in his presence, the better.  The most recent letter told her that they would be staying at their family villa in the hills.  Veronique looked at the letter on her desk. She picked it up, tore it in half, crumpled it up and threw it across the room and into her bin.

Outside in the main reception, one of the musicians was chatting up a young girl. Her laughter was annoying and so Veronique got up and went to shut the door to cut out the sound of their conversation.  She returned and instead of sitting in her chair, sat on the edge of her desk; her legs stretched out in front of her, her arms folded across her chest. Strands of hair fell across her face as she looked down, deep in thought.

Her thoughts were on Marie, the ship’s shop manageress. Lately she had been behaving strangely.  The two had been lovers for the last two years and had no problems with petty jealousy or arguments, but lately, it seemed as if any time one of them went to say something, the other lost her temper. All relationships went through bad patches, but she had no idea what was the cause of their latest unrest.

Their relationship had started by accident. Neither of them considered themselves to be a lesbian, yet they both needed love and comfort, one that they hadn’t found in men. It had happened one night after they had been drinking. One bottle of wine had led to another, and another, and through the alcohol they had made a pact to exclude men from their lives.  They both had their reasons, but neither of them was able to tell the other. They just accepted each other as they were and asked no questions. To seal their pact they had kissed, Veronique mentally replayed that moment.

She had shut her eyes at the same time as Marie. Both of them in their alcoholic stupor had leant forward to kiss, neither of them had intended to kiss the other’s lips. It had just happened. Veronique had expected to feel shocked, but was surprised to find no difference. The feeling was the same as when she was kissed by a man. Her lips felt the same, only gentler. The pressure was soothing and tender. The sensation was very pleasant and inflamed by the alcohol running through her veins. She had lifted her hand and traced the outline of Marie’s face with her fingers. Their eyes were level with each other’s and from that moment onwards they felt an enormous kinship.