Lights on the Far Horizon Trilogy

by Stone, Sailor

  Sammy was telling stories about Hollywood and the exploits of some of his famous clients and everyone at the table was laughing at his animated tales.

  As the dinner went along the conversation at Kinsey’s table began to divide into several different groups and Dmitri turned all of his considerable charm on Kinsey.

  A fine champagne was being poured in generous amounts by the staff in all of the dinner guest’s glasses. Keeping all glasses full must have been rule number one for the wait staff and they excelled at it. Kinsey noticed her glass was always full to the rim even though she kept drinking from it and she never saw the arm of the waiter in her field of vision as he refilled her glass. A girl could get drunk if she wasn’t careful, Kinsey kept reminding herself.

  Dmitri couldn’t take his eyes off Kinsey and occasionally his leg would brush against hers under the table. This was good. Kinsey wanted his full attention so Sammy could wander the boat after dinner and make his way into the galley where she hoped he would find information about Trisha’s mysterious disappearance.

  She remembered earlier, she had excused herself and gone to the ladies room where she had texted Tanner and Justin with the news that Sammy had picked up from Chastain as they arrived on the boat. Chastain had told Sammy to see Sicilee down in the galley later if he wanted to hear what they thought happened to Trisha. All she’d had time to text about it though was that they had possible news because, just then, one of Dmitri’s beautiful girls, quite inebriated, began to pound on the door to the bathroom wanting to get in.

  When Kinsey came out from the bathroom the girl was being led away by Mr. Yurek. He had a tight grip on her arm and was pulling her up to his side and whispering, in Russian, with a vicious intensity into her ear. The girl had tears in her eyes as he took her inside the ship.

  Kinsey made a note to herself to remind Sammy to watch out for that guy. Mr. Yurek, Kinsey figured, was one part spy, one part assassin and one part pterodactyl. She wanted to have nothing to do with him. He made her skin crawl and her spine shiver every time he looked at her, which she noticed to be quite often.

  Dmitri brought Kinsey back into the present by rubbing his foot across hers under the table and asking, “So Kinsey, as an artist, do you find power, the great men of power, do you find them to be worthy of your time, of your paint?”

  Kinsey put her hand to Dmitri’s arm, gave it a gentle squeeze then moved her hand away, “I like painting the life that is inside the eyes. It doesn’t matter where it comes from but I like to see a story in the eyes of my subjects. Then I look to the face where I can see a life lived within the creases of skin around those same eyes and on the lips and along the forehead. To me, art is in the face of a life lived and how that face reflects back the world around it. I have never thought about just power as an art form, but I must say that you have intrigued me with your question.”

  Kinsey looked into the cold steel eyes that were trying to see through her and she shut them down. She let her beauty shine back and overtake his gaze. Dmitri didn’t drop his eyes from hers, she knew he’d never do that and she doubted it would ever even occur to him, so arrogant and self-absorbed was he, but he did change the subject of their conversation and Kinsey knew that she was at least holding her own with him.

  “How about the men that rule the world? Do you think it is revealed in their eyes…the, what is the word…the passion, yes that is it…the passion they have for the living. Can you see the ambition to taste the wine that is waiting to be made when you look inside of their eyes?

  Kinsey’s answer blew even her away, “I’d love to taste your passion, your wine,” she turned her head away, looked about at the fine décor of Dmitri’s Great Seducer, brought her eyes back to his and continued, “I’d love to drink from your cup and paint your world. Yes, I’m interested in the passions of a powerful man. And I’ve always liked strong, blond, dangerous men.”

  Kinsey figured she had lit a fire under Dmitri and his next words proved it to be so, “I don’t make room for my women. They make room for me but for you…I make some room for you. I can get you any paintings to see, to own for yourself even. I am a dealer. I deal in the dark arts, the black markets and I have a tremendous amount of power and money.”

  Kinsey went all in, being someone she never wanted to be, but if she was to win this man over she had to keep going, “I understand why you would do that for me. I am special and this I have always known. But why should I spend my time with you? What would you do? What would we do?” She felt like a phony in her heart but she made sure to never let it out for Dmitri to find. She knew he was blown away as much by her confidence as by her beauty and she had to keep him going. She was a mystery to him and she made sure she was dark, beautiful and enticing; at least until she could get off the boat and get back into the arms of the man that truly set her heart on fire.

  She took a moment to look around and noticed that dinner was over and the guests were moving away from their chairs to continue their evening in other parts of the boat. Sammy walked behind Dmitri and winked to Kinsey as he stepped inside the ship to do his part in the search for what happened to Trisha.

  Everyone was leaving them alone, Kinsey realized, no one interrupted Dmitri Rublev when he was courting a woman.

  Dmitri took her by the hand, his own hands strong and thick, and said, “Why, I can show you the world, whether we take the yacht, the Great Seducer, or we take a jet plane, we can go to the places where only the powerful, the rich, the famous can go. I am of that place, what is it? I am of that world. I can show you works of art that the world doesn’t know exists. I can show you the great art that the world has thought was long gone, destroyed in the great wars. But it isn’t. It is where I can get it and you can see it, tomorrow if you’d like.”

  Kinsey took her eyes away from Dmitri’s and looked to the waitress standing behind them. Kinsey was thrilled to see it was Chastain, wearing an expression of pure amazement as she watched the interplay between Dmitri and Kinsey. “Perhaps we could have a drink of whiskey?” Kinsey asked Dmitri.

  As Chastain stepped to the table and looked for guidance from Dmitri, both she and Kinsey were surprised as Dmitri stood and said, “Ah yes, the whiskey. I should have had the woman some whiskey. We both love the whiskey. I will be back as I will get it myself. Something special for us, no?”

  Dmitri looked down to Kinsey and she smiled demurely and said, “Yes, something soft, warm and smooth for this starry night on your beautiful ship.”

  “I am not good. How can I forget the lady’s whiskey? I will make it up to her with something so good she will coo like a bird.” Dmitri stepped to the doors leading into the main level of the ship and disappeared behind the closing doors with an attendant following closely and quickly behind him.

  Kinsey looked about the ship. Except for another waiter collecting dishes from the other table, Kinsey and Chastain had been left to themselves, “Chastain,” Kinsey said, “Have you seen Sammy? Did he get down to see Sicilee? Tell me quickly before Dmitri comes back.” Kinsey turned and stood from her chair as she spoke.

  Chastain smiled, “He did but he hasn’t come back up on deck yet. If I can get someone to take my place here I can see what’s taking him so long.”

  Kinsey nodded and then Chastain said, “I have to say, I have never seen any girl on this boat ever do what you’re doing to Mr. Rublev tonight. You have him eating from your hand. He’s gushing all over you. I wish I was like that. I’d have a different man chasing me and loving me every night.” Chastain was looking at Kinsey with pure admiration.

  “That’s not me,” said Kinsey, “That’s not who I am. I can act like that because I don’t care about him. I’m not emotionally committed to him so it’s easy to feed him these lines. Men do it to women all the time. I just figured I’d turn it around. If you want men like him in your life, don’t give him the time of day and he’ll follow you around like a beaten puppy dog.”

  “I just want men to feel like they make me
feel.”

  Kinsey looked to the doors that Dmitri had stepped through moments before, knowing he’d be back any moment, “Chastain, I have an incredible husband who trusts me enough to let me do this for our friend. I promise you I will treat my husband so special, starting later tonight, because he loves and trusts me. You go find the man that does that for you, that lights you up on the inside and treat him just like you want to be treated. That, I’ve learned over the past few days, is where love is born.”

  Chastain’s eyes were big and wet, “My boyfriend doesn’t treat me like that. He acts like I’m lucky to be with him.”

  Kinsey didn’t have time for any of this but she wanted to help Chastain so she stepped to the rail of the vessel and looked out across the bay to the lights of the homes on its far shore, “Chastain.”

  “Yes?”

  “Come here. Stand like I’m telling you to do something for me. When Dmitri returns you leave and go find Sammy and I’ll tell Dmitri I sent you to find Sammy and make sure he’s okay.”

  Chastain came to Kinsey’s side as she was told.

  “And Chastain?” Kinsey said, as she spied Dmitri behind her coming through the door with a bottle and two glasses in his hands – behind him was the same attendant that had followed him into the ship minutes before.

  “Yes?”

  “Dump the boyfriend. Tell him you’re going to find the true love of your life then go do it. Never talk to him again. You don’t have enough time in life to spend it with someone who treats you badly.”

  Chastain took in a deep breathe, she took a moment, then she answered, “Thanks for telling me that.”

  “You’re welcome, now here comes Dmitri, be on your way.”

  Kinsey turned her back and looked to the night sky. She took a breath as she heard Dmitri’s footsteps and put her hand out for him.

  She felt him next to her on the rail then his hand took hers and he said, “I am sorry. I don’t say sorry too often. I should think first to you then to me. That is best, no?”

  Kinsey leaned into him, “So tell me about the high seas. Is that your favorite place to be or is there somewhere else?”

  Dmitri put his arm around Kinsey and gave her a soft squeeze. He was strong, very strong, and his breath smelled of wine and mint. “I have a bottle of Scotch. It is seventy-two years aged – in the bottle. It is one of only five known in the world. We should have a taste then I will answer your question.”

  Kinsey saw that the attendant, at the table behind them, had the bottle opened and the scotch within it poured in two glasses that Kinsey knew were of the finest crystal.

  Dmitri took a glass from the attendant and handed it to Kinsey, “Your honors. You can taste it first. I have never had this scotch, but it should be good.”

  Kinsey took the glass and gazed into Dmitri’s eyes as she tasted the whiskey. She swallowed and allowed the incredible flavor to shine out from her eyes. She wasn’t faking; it tasted like nothing she’d ever experienced. It was full of peat and lemon on the front of her tongue, then it rolled across the middle of her palate and vanilla and sea grass danced across her taste buds before it washed to the back of her mouth where blackberries and tar sang their way down to her stomach. The finish, well, it never did finish; the flavors just stayed in the back of her mouth like they would set up residence there and live forever.

  She smiled to Dmitri. “That’s almost as good as sex,” she said as she leaned into him.

  Dmitri now felt he was back on top of his game. He stood tall and sipped from his own glass, “That is very good, no? Not better than sex you say though…”

  Kinsey made sure he wasn’t in command of her and interrupted, “At least it isn’t better than sex with me. I can make a man stay in my bed a long, long time. I can embrace a man in some very intimate ways. I love a man until I’m exhausted and sometimes the man will sleep afterward for even longer than I do.”

  Dmitri took another drink from his glass and Kinsey did as well. The scotch tasted amazingly good and Kinsey realized what she was doing for Justin came with incredible perks.

  Kinsey, through her peripheral vision, saw Dmitri looking at her with eyes darkened with pure lust. She had him where she wanted him and she knew that he would do anything to please her as long as he was certain it would end with his taking Kinsey into the bedroom and engaging her in some kind of sexual act.

  On the surface, Dmitri was a handsome man. He was the kind of man that many women found to be sexually stimulating. He had a raw sexual attraction and his vibe came off as, “don’t mess with me, I get what I want in life and what I now desire is you, your body, your mind, your passion, surrendering to my sexual will,” and Kinsey, if she wasn’t so comfortable surrendering herself to Tanner in a much better two-way form of lovemaking, could see herself being overwhelmed by his sheer masculine physicality and submitting herself, her body, to his dark passions: he was that good looking and full up with a primitive sexual magnetism.

  But there was something behind the looks, a danger, not just a danger, but a darkness that scared her. She knew she was in charge of this evening, this situation, until the moment came when he took her to his bed, and then, what he might do once he had her in a darkened bedroom, when she was vulnerable and alone with him, scared her. She had to make sure she was far away from him and his yacht before that situation could ever be acted out.

  Kinsey took a look around the boat. There was no one on the deck but the two of them. Everyone was inside, even the attendants were gone from their sight. Then she noticed a small glint of light, a brief reflection of moonlight, coming from a deck above. She brought her eyes into focus on the deck and discerned the shadow of a man and knew it was Mr. Yurek by the bird-like shape of his silhouette, keeping his post, always ready to do Dmitri’s dirty work. He faded back into the shadows and then stepped through an open door in the ship behind him when he saw Kinsey looking his way. He was gone from her sight but Kinsey knew he was still around, always close and always watching.

  Now that Kinsey had every sexual nerve in Dmitri’s body lit, burning for her, she knew it was time to delay, let him chase her and bring the sex aspect of the evening down a notch. “We should get back inside to the party,” she said, “let everyone know we still exist.” Then she added, “I like being seen, our arms and hands together, by others.”

  Dmitri’s eyes showed a hard disappointment and so Kinsey said, “I want people to be jealous of us, how gorgeous we are together. I know many men would love to be where you are with me right now.”

  Her words were like cocaine to Dmitri’s giant ego, “And the women, they would like to be in your place as well, no?”

  “Yes, but,” Kinsey looked into Dmitri’s eyes, “I won’t let them, at least not tonight.” She stepped back and pulled Dmitri’s hand and led him toward the closed glass door from which the sound of music beat and pulsed through to the outside, “You have some good music playing, let’s enjoy ourselves with the others.”

  From seemingly nowhere, an attendant, it was Chastain, appeared from the shadows of the deck of the ship and Dmitri said to her, “Get our whiskey bottle and follow us. We are going inside now.” He stepped up to Kinsey and put his arm around her.

  Kinsey resisted the urge to shudder as he pulled her hair back and kissed her behind the neck. He grunted softly in her ear. Kinsey did shudder, with something like disgust, at the primitive grunt, but then she leaned into him like she was impassioned by it so he would be none the wiser to her involuntary reaction.

  They stepped into the saloon and Kinsey saw that the party was going full speed ahead. The music was loud and many guests were dancing. The first person Kinsey’s eyes came upon, bright and gorgeous in his outfit, was Sammy.

  He was dancing with three women and when he saw Kinsey his eyes lit up and he danced his way to her side, “Hey sister! You see me? Check out my moves. I can keep three girls happy so good is my rhythm.” He stepped between Kinsey and Dmitri, and, with his back to Dmitri, h
e gave Kinsey a big, long hug, “I got what we need. Let’s get off this ship,” he whispered quickly in her ear then he stepped back and looked to Dmitri, “Would you like to join us? You are a rock of a man. What I’d let you do to me if you weren’t holding my sister’s hand.” Sammy did a hip wiggling shimmy then added, “Come on, let me give you a taste of my silken-honey dance moves.”

  Kinsey felt Dmitri flinch.

  “I will not.” Dmitri said. He stood tall and pushed out his chest.

  Kinsey stepped in, “Sammy, you’re just not his type.” Kinsey looked up to Dmitri, put her hand to his chest, “This is my brother, Dmitri, back off.” She put her other hand to his shoulder as she spoke, then turned and said, “I think, Sammy, that I am Dmitri’s type. What we have planned for later – will, completely, rock, this, boat – if you can read between the lines.”

  She winked at Dmitri, “Right?”

  Dmitri relaxed, “I think even your brother, with his flair for the… what is it… the exotic, must know how this is to be. I am a man’s man who likes the ladies, no dancing with the men for me.”

  Sammy wasn’t fazed by the chest puffing Dmitri and said, “Maybe one day, big fella. Now watch this.” He moved back to the dance area on the lightest of feet, with the music, the drum beat and the bass rhythm, rolling through his body like waves of living energy. He slid back between the three girls he had been dancing with and they coalesced their moves to his and Sammy held his hands to the air and pointed back to Dmitri and Kinsey.

  Kinsey saw Mr. Yurek step out from the side of the saloon and look to Dmitri. Dmitri shook his head, no, and Yurek moved back to the wall.

  Dmitri smiled, “Your brother is a bit crazy. He is very confident in his… his ah…his womanhood. I never met a man like that. Most men are scared of me. He is like you; he is not scared. I like that in a woman. Not so sure about a man though. Do you know what I mean, Kinsey?”

  “My brother is a piece of work,” Kinsey never felt like she had said a truer statement. Even though Sammy wasn’t her brother, he was nothing if not a radically dynamic human being and in that moment, she felt like he was her brother. Then she changed subjects, and, knowing she was speaking Dmitri’s true language, she held up her empty glass and said, “How about some more of that incredible scotch? Let’s sit and enjoy the scotch and each other.”