by Mlyn Hurn
* * * * *
Seated in the small lecture room, Andy had out her PDA in preparation of taking notes. At the back of the room stood two long tables of handouts and, glancing down at the overfilled folder on the chair beside her, she doubted she’d missed a single one. If anyone had been watching her, they most likely would assume she was strongly interested in the topic.
The truth of the matter was she’d had mixed feelings about coming on this reunion cruise until her publisher had learned about it. In fact, her editor, David Raymond, thought this was a great opportunity for research for a future book and took the idea to the publisher. That’s when they offered to pay for the cruise, which she knew they could take as a tax deduction. Now, she found herself on a bondage and general D/s cruise. Crossing her legs, she closed her eyes still in disbelief at finding herself here. “What next?” she asked herself quietly.
“How about some dinner, followed by dancing?” Jack suggested as he picked up the folder and took the chair beside hers.
Andy was startled by his sudden appearance and jumped.
Jack caught her PDA as it began sliding from her lap.
The heat she felt from his hand immediately shocked her. Quickly, she grabbed the device. “Thanks, Jack, and I’ll take the folder. I can set it next to me.” She gestured to the empty chair on her other side.
“I don’t mind holding it. And you never know, there may be a sudden rush and the room will fill up with last-minute attendees.”
Damn it! Andy had forgotten how beguiling Jack’s smile could be. She was sure she’d been cured…but now she wasn’t so sure. “Okay, and uhm, thank you.”
“So formal, Andy? Eight years doesn’t change those kinds of things.”
Andy nodded slightly. She didn’t want to delve into the past with Jack, of all people. With a sigh of relief, she was grateful to see the lecture was about to start. “Oh, good,” she murmured unconsciously. Quickly, she turned on her PDA, setting it up for note-taking.
* * * * *
Jack Riley sat quietly beside Andy, taking as many sidelong glances towards her as possible without actually staring directly. He was still feeling the shock from learning this was the same overweight young woman from their college days. Back then, she’d been quiet most of the time, even during their wildest of group get-togethers. Compared to the other three women, she’d been the country mouse to their city mice.
He felt uneasy as he thought back on the group dynamics that existed among this steadfast collection of friends. Somehow, the four girls had become integrated with his friends from high school, who had all attended the same college. He just remembered one night they attended a party held by a girl Ray knew. The pretty, dark-haired girl had been Gayle Green. Even now, he couldn’t say for sure he’d met Andy that night. But he did recall meeting the vivacious, blonde Ruthie Silverman and the intensely pre-occupied, but gorgeous, Liz Antonelli.
He and his friends had invited the girls out for pizza a few nights later and that’s when he knew for sure he met Andy. She was overweight and always wore sweat suits to cover her body. Her soft brown hair was usually in a ponytail, but it hung halfway down her back. Looking at her hair now, he could tell it had been professionally colored, or lightened, and the cut made the hair into a silky bell shape. His fingers itched to touch it and see if it was still as soft as it had been that night at his folk’s house in the Keys.
“No way!”
Startled to hear Andy speaking, he saw she wrote furiously into her PDA. Obviously she’d commented on the lecturer’s words. “What?” he asked her quickly.
Andy curved to look at him.
Jack realized that except for her beautiful hazel-colored eyes and those full lips, he found it hard to believe this was the same girl from college. He shook his head in reply to the questioning look from her, and then watched as she resumed her note-taking. For a moment, he looked at the lecturer, listening to what the man had to say.
“Rule number three for the submissive is to ‘be open’. You can learn something about the D/s scene and about yourself from every person you encounter, no matter if they are dominant or submissive. Each and every activity, as well as your partner, can become an enhancing and enriching experience, if you remain open to the possibilities. Now, rule number four for the dominant is to find out all the necessary information about every person you play with. This includes experience, limits, likes and dislikes, and, of course, health information.” The speaker paused to take a sip of water.
“The dominant must set down the roles, rules, limits, and contracts. Never assume the bottom knows the ground rules. Especially on a cruise such as this, you can encounter people who range from serious, long-term committed participants to newbies, who’ve only read about it or seen it on the Internet.”
People around the room laughed at the speaker’s joke, but Jack turned to look at Andy. He hadn’t really given the underlying purpose of the cruise that much thought until now. Ray had been the one to bring up the topic, and Tony had immediately jumped in to support the idea. One of his friends had brought some handouts to the monthly poker night they still had. From there, Ray had talked to Gayle, who had recently started seeing him again. After her agreement, the idea had grown to include the old group from college. None of them were married, engaged or seeing someone at the moment.
Jack suddenly smiled as he recalled Danny and Tony had tried to convince Ray he would need to dissuade Gayle from inviting Andy. He was glad he could say he had objected to their idea from the beginning. They’d been sitting around the kitchen table at his place, playing poker, when the discussion arose the second time. He recalled Ray had started it all—
“Gayle really likes the idea of the cruise, guys. She is going to ask the girls if they’d all like to go. They’re all unattached at the moment, too.”
“Hey!”
“I thought this was no women!”
“Of course, we want women there, Danny! I’m not going on a gay cruise, damn it!”
“Since when are you seeing Gayle?” Jack asked Ray over the din.
“Just this last month on a regular basis,” Ray replied, without looking up from the cards.
Tony held up his hands to get everyone to stop talking. “Tell Gayle to invite Ruth and Liz.”
“You can’t tell her to deliberately not ask Andy!” Jack said to the others.
“Why not? You had the one and only date with her. Does that mean you want to give her a second chance?”
Looking at Andy’s profile now, Jack remembered he had not answered the question that night while he insisted the fairness of including her in the invitation. Seeing her now, he could easily answer the question. The problem was she’d most likely never believe he’d actually been looking forward to seeing her again.
He continued to stare, marveling at the near-perfect way her lipstick highlighted her mouth.
She lowered her head enough so her hair swung forward. When she looked back up, a few strands had been caught by her lipstick.
For some reason, Jack was struck by how this made her lips looked even more kissable. Without forethought, he lifted his hand and gently brushed the hair back, freeing it.
Jack immediately noticed the softness of her skin and the silky feel of her hair. The startled look on her face told of her surprise, which she quickly suppressed and resumed her writing. He was more than a little shocked to discover her interest in this subject. His own agreement was to get away from work and spend time with his friends. The fact that this was a BDSM cruise had seemed an interesting idea. He possessed some knowledge, and a little experience, about the whole scene, but as far as participating—
Suddenly, he imagined Andy in black leather and was almost instantly aroused and rock-hard. He wondered just what kind of games she might be interested in playing while on board. He found it amazingly easy to come up with quite a few he’d enjoy.
“Dungeon parties will be held nightly, and the rules are posted in every room, as well as
being available in the handouts at the back of the room. Now I will just go over a few of the more important ones. I don’t want to bore you, but we’ve found the better informed our guests are, the better their overall experience tends to be.”
Jack looked from the lecturer, who had caught his attention with saying “dungeon”, back to Andy’s face. She looked as serious as she used to when she’d be studying for a class. He was surprised at how quickly she could input data using that stupid two-inch keyboard and a silver-colored stick! He had nothing against the computer age and used the most current and up-to-date electronics for running the businesses he’d taken over from his father. Just personally, he hadn’t made the jump from paper to electronics. When it came to handheld devices, he’d rather occupy his hands with much warmer and softer things.
Watching Andy bite her lower lip while she continued to tap furiously on the screen, he knew exactly which device of his he’d enjoy her hands on. Yes, indeed—
Something drew her attention towards Jack. Turning her head, she found he was staring. It caught her off-guard and she immediately looked down at her PDA. Damn it! Why was he looking at her? This was crazy! She should never have agreed to come on this cruise…research or not. Things were not going as she had planned. The picture in her head of how the meeting with Jack would go had rapidly disintegrated.
Jack didn’t help when he leaned towards her a few seconds later. He was close enough to stir her hair and she felt it wisp across her cheek. “That’s a beautiful cheongsam. It looks like the ones I saw in Hong Kong.”
Andy felt Jack’s fingers lightly rubbing her shoulder, back and forth across the embroidered silk material. She had to swallow before she could answer. “Yes, I got this one there.”
Quickly, she looked back down at the screen, hoping it would help her return her focus onto the speaker and away from the sensual feeling Jack’s light touch evoked. She was unnerved to realize the caress would be considered innocuous by most or under other circumstances. Her flesh was tingling as if little sparks of fire ignited in the aftermath.
“Female breasts and male, as well as female, genitalia must be covered.”
The lecturer’s words startled her. What in the world was he talking about now? Then almost as if Jack read her mind, he told her softly.
“That’s rule number three, and the first part was that unless you are involved in a play activity, tempting treats must be covered.”
Andy argued with her inner self—do not turn and look at him. Don’t you do it, Andy! But she did shift slightly, and met his gaze. His eyes were just as green as they’d been in college. The same green she had used in the background on all of her books, and the source of her pen name, Emeraude. God! She was getting ridiculous and forced her gaze to the front once more.
“Whips are limited to six feet in length and are not allowed to be cracked outside of the Dungeon. This completes the rules for the parties. Every morning at breakfast, you’ll find signs posted to let you know what events are going on and where. I’ll let you know now, the first lecture tomorrow morning will fill up quickly, but you can sign up tonight. It’s called ‘Dominance and Submission’. Mistress Laurel will be covering sub-topics such as Models of Power Exchange, negotiation, contracts, slavery, punishment, and lastly, collars. Trust me that Laurel is an excellent person to speak on the topic. Thank you for coming and the sign-up sheet is up here.”
Andy stood quickly but dropped her purse and the stylus. Jack spoke up quickly.
“Go sign us both up, and I’ll bring your papers and pick this stuff up.”
She hadn’t been going to sign up, just leave. But now…she nodded and walked up to add their names to growing list. Jack already stood by the entrance when she turned around. His gaze seemed to move down her body and then slowly work its way upward. Now she knew what she’d felt in college when Jack looked in her direction was absolutely nothing compared to this.
She’d seen other men looking at her in similar ways since her dramatic image change. But not one had affected her in the same way Jack’s single look did now. Her nipples were hard and she felt wetness forming at the top of her thighs. Her breathing was ragged and uneven, but it matched the racing of her heart and the somersaults her stomach seemed bent on accomplishing.
“The lecture ran over slightly, so we’d be better off going directly to the dining room, don’t you think?”
Andy nodded as she accepted her purse from Jack, quickly stowing away her PDA, along with the errant stylus. This allowed him time to shift the folder to his further hand and curve the other around her upper arm.
“I’ll lead the way, if you don’t mind, Andy. I’ve got the copy of the deck plans in my pocket.”
“All right, and I’ve got the download from the cruise lines on my PDA.”
Jack led her over to the elevator, pressing the button. “I never would have figured you for going into the techno-age.”
Andy turned to look at Jack. Maybe it was just her personal prejudice, but she thought he had fared much better in the battle against time. His light brown hair still looked quite full, and she saw no evidence of an early “comb-over”. She’d easily noted the muscles beneath his shirt, as well as his flat stomach. In fact, he’d probably end up fighting off women on this cruise.
“You mean using past behavior as a predictor for future actions. I’ve changed a lot since school, not the least of which is choosing to let computers into my life.” Shaking her head, finally remembering she owed him a response, she replied, “It became a huge necessity.” Gratefully, she saw the elevator opening and stepped inside.
Jack followed her, as well as another couple, a man and a woman. Andy immediately moved into one of the back corners. It only took a moment to realize this wasn’t her wisest option, unless her plan to put distance between herself and Jack had suddenly changed. Jack followed her and pressed close. To her further consternation, he lifted his nearest arm and wrapped it around her shoulders, pulling her in even closer to the warmth and strength which was having such an overwhelming feeling on her tonight.
“We’re going to dinner. Are you two headed in that direction as well?” asked the male half of the couple who had joined them at the last minute, looking from Andy to Jack.
Jack spoke up before she could think of an answer other than “yes”.
“Yes, we are. Andy insisted on attending the lecture to find out all the interesting things that would be going on here.”
The man smiled, nodding. Andy noticed his black hair was slightly peppered with gray, but only on the sides, which made him look interesting, and added to his overall air of intrigue and attractiveness. She then turned to look at the woman. Andy was immediately struck by the woman’s impeccable makeup and dress. Around her slender neck, accented by the upswept hairdo of her black hair, was a golden link chain, with a small gold padlock hanging in the front. The woman had not yet looked up, and Andy guessed perhaps this couple was full-time practitioners of this lifestyle, dominance and submission. Following this thought came the surprised acceptance of the arousal this had caused.
“Yes, we understood there would be quite a few people who’ve never experienced the whole range of BDSM lifestyles,” the man replied.
Andy was still focused on the woman’s necklace when Jack suddenly lifted his arm to pull her closer. As she turned to glare, he winked, grinning for a moment, and then he replied.
“We’re complete newbies at this. Do you have any advice or recommendations?”
“I’m sure Margrit or I could certainly answer your questions. Would you care to join us for dinner tomorrow night? We are already committed for this evening.”
Jack nodded his head before Andy could consider a proper response. “That sounds fantastic.”
“Here is my card.” The man pulled a white business card from his suit pocket, as well as a very expensive pen Andy recognized because she’d shopped for one of them to give her editor for Christmas last year. “How is eight-thirty, tent
atively, and if you’d like to join us in our suite, we’ll have cocktails first? I’ve written our suite number and deck on the card.”
Jack accepted the card, tucking it into his pocket. “By the way, I’m Jack Riley and this is Andy Bond.”
“It is nice to meet you both. My name is Ethan Williams and this is my wife, Margrit.”
Andy glanced at Margrit and caught her glancing up for a brief moment, smiling at her and just as quickly looking away. There was no doubt in her mind just who the sub was in their relationship.
“It’s been a pleasure meeting you both, as well.” He stopped as the elevator came to a halt.
Andy glanced at the panel of lights and realized they were stopped one level above her deck.
Ethan nodded, placing his hand beneath Margrit’s elbow as they stepped forward to exit. “Are you two dining in the Queen’s Grill?”
Andy shook her head, speaking quickly. “No, we’re dining with friends in the Britannia room. But I’ve already reserved an early table for breakfast in the Queen’s.”
Ethan directed his wife off the elevator, but stopped the doors from closing. “Well, if you two oversleep, join us for lunch there at two. Enjoy your first evening on board.”
Chapter Two
No sooner had the elevator doors closed than Andy stepped several feet away from Jack. Even though it was unnecessary, she pushed the button, which was already lit.
“You can’t just make reservations at the Queen’s Grill, Andy. I might not have the ship’s deck plan memorized, but I do know you have to be in a certain cabin category to eat there. Same thing with the Princess’ barbecue, too.”
Andy looked forward, ignoring his attempt at humor because she still stung from the remark about the cruise’s blueprints. She had gone further than just getting the information into her PDA for reference…she’d printed off blow-ups of the decks, studying where certain things were so she wouldn’t get lost. Knowing where things were located was something she’d always done even if it was kind of obsessive-compulsive. Staring at the buttons on the panel, she mumbled her reply, half-hoping he wouldn’t hear her and shrug it off. “I’m in a Q-category cabin.”