by Hazel Keys
“The fuck are you going?” I heard Mia call after me. “It’s that fucking steward, isn’t it? Are you fucking kidding me?” Those last three words built into a desperate, furious shriek that seemed to fill the entire boat.
I stormed down the corridor, ignoring the screams and insults Mia hurled at my back. I marched up to the sun deck, to the bar where we’d almost kissed again, then down the crew stairs to the galley. And there she was.
Chapter 14:Tara
I stood up from putting clean dishes away in the low cupboard, my eyes closed as I stretched out the tired muscles in my back. I needed a break. Some time by myself to think about everything. Now I was no longer looking for revenge on Seth, but actually feeling a strong attraction to him, I was confused and a little lost. And I didn’t think I had any chance of tempting him away from that Mia. When I opened my eyes again, though, there he was, his hair tousled and his shirt undone, standing before me.
“I don’t fucking care if you are off limits!” he spat and crossed the distance between us in two strides.
“Oh, thank God,” I yelled.
I gasped as he lifted me clean off the floor and parked my butt on the kitchen counter. His strength and passion thrilled me as I threw my arms around his neck and pulled his mouth onto mine. We’d finally kissed hard enough for our teeth to clash, and I crossed my legs behind his butt to pull his crotch hard against my suddenly throbbing sex. His tongue licked and probed the inside of my mouth furiously, and I found myself wishing he was using it all over the rest of my body, too. Oh, my God! I thought, how could I have thought about hurting this man? I could feel the length of him hard against the underwear that was pulled tight over my pussy and, with minimal movements, I was able to grind myself roughly against his firm cock, sending small spasms of pleasure through my whole body and drawing short, sharp gasps from him.
I didn’t want him to hold back. I wanted him to fuck me, right there, as hard and fast as he could. He must have been able to sense my desire because, with both hands, he suddenly seized and ripped open my black dress shirt, then pushed up my bra, freeing my willing, aching breasts for his big hands to paw and grope.
Without breaking the kiss, I reached down and yanked open his pants. They fell silently to the floor and, at last, I was able to grasp, two-handed, his rock-hard dick and pull it closer to me. Seth’s lips pulled away from mine, let out a long groan, before forcing me backward so he could bite and suck at my eager tits and hardening nipples. My pussy felt so wet I was sure I must be dripping through my underwear. Reading my mind, Seth urgently yanked my thong to one side, exposing me to him. Still holding his throbbing member in both hands, I guided the point of him impatiently toward my slick hole.
I felt him slide across my soft, wet lips, holding the promise of the ecstatic, hard heat he was about to fill me with. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you since we met,” he murmured breathlessly, his grey-green eyes looking deep into mine.
“I knew it!” came a playfully high voice from beside us.
Shocked, I turned to see Sofia leaning against the wall, giving us a slow, mock applause.
How does she do that? I thought automatically. The soft-footed, quietly-spoken second deckhand was notorious for appearing from nowhere, as if by magic.
We sprang apart and tried to cover ourselves, Seth cursing as he fought to pull up his pants around his still-hard dick. I went to say something, but the tiny, silent girl vanished down the hallway without a word.
“Goddammit!” I swore. “You know she’s off to tell the captain, and probably Mia too.”
“And so, Valentina,” muttered Seth.
“Huh?”
“Nothing,” he replied. “And, so what? It’s no big deal, we’re consenting adults.”
“But I’ll be fired,” I made it a statement.
“I guess,” Seth agreed. “Well, what do you say? Ready to weather a shit-storm with me?
I caught myself smiling. I want to be with him, but that’s mostly my pussy talking. He could take care of me, we could be together but, somehow, I’m sure that’s not what he came aboard this boat looking for. It’s sure not what I came to this boat looking for. This was just too fast. “This is just too fast, Seth,” I said aloud.
He saw the smile drop away from my face. “What do you mean?”
“I mean we have some stuff to deal with. Different things. And we’re from two different worlds,”
“I don’t care about that,” he growled.
“Right now, you don’t.” I put my hand against his cheek. I could feel tears welling in my eyes. “Can you be sure you’ll feel that way in the morning?” He went to speak, but I silenced him with a kiss. “I’m going my way,” I told him. “You go yours. If this is meant to be, our paths will cross again.”
I turned and ran off toward the crew levels. I didn’t look back.
Chapter 15:Seth
I found myself wandering slowly back to the main cabin. I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going. My head was spinning and I couldn’t get that moment of passion with Tara out of my mind. We’d been so close. I wanted her so much, I knew that now. Even with Mia enlisting the help of the sultry Valentina to tempt me into bed, all I’d been able to think about was Tara. And I now knew how much Tara wanted me too. If Sofia hadn’t discovered us, we would have consummated our desire already.
But that moment of blinding intoxication had passed, and Tara wouldn’t believe I wanted her for real. Can you be sure you’ll feel that way in the morning? those were her parting words. She wouldn’t let me answer. She’s so worried, I thought, about the different worlds we live in. Why should it matter so much that I’m rich and she’s not?
As I drifted aimlessly down the main corridor, a cabin door opened. My motorcycle racer buddy Mick stood in the opening, wearing only a towel.
“Paisan,” he called, “why so down in the dumps? I heard Mia yelling at you. All is not well in paradise?”
I wasn’t surprised. Venus is a big yacht but not so big that it could swallow the screaming of a rejected heiress once she’s been left naked on your cabin floor. “No, Mick,” I replied, not looking up, “I think I may have royally fucked up just about everything.”
“Well, I could offer to cheer you up?” he smiled, kicking his cabin door open all the way. The soft light inside illuminated Antonia, his supermodel date for the weekend, lying face-up on the big bed, her head dangling lazily over the edge, and her long blonde hair tumbling down to the floor, as well as Jessica, the slim, petite, adult film actress that had been brought aboard by our other friend, rap star Jay Money Monarch, sitting back against the pillows at the head of his bed. Both girls were naked and both smiled invitingly at me as I peered in. “I’ve some pretty good wine. Maybe you might be able to forget your troubles?”
I shook my head. I had no desire for sex games. I just wanted to be with Tara. “I’m sorry, my friend, I have some issues to deal with.”
“Fair enough. Your loss, eh?” He smiled, looking back at his two beautiful companions. He nodded to me and went back inside, closing his door.
All too soon, I reached the door of my cabin. I thought about knocking. I’d said I was sorry and walked out. The two girls had been teasing me, tantalizing me until it seemed I couldn’t stand anymore, but I’d just left. Going by her screams and curses that had echoed after me as I escaped, she was justifiably mad. Knocking might just give her time to find something to throw at me, I thought, so I simply went in.
Inside, the cabin was dimly lit, just as it had been before. In the large central bed of the opulent, circular room, Mia lay under the sheet. She had put her white cotton nightshirt back on, and her long, straight black hair was spread out across the pillows. She faced away from the door. I couldn’t tell if she was awake or asleep.
“Mia, I…” I began.
“Did you fuck her?” she cut me off without turning around. Her voice was measured, quiet and calm. “Darling, I really don’t care if you did
, just don’t lie to me.”
I told her the truth. “I didn’t.”
“Seth,” she continued, “I know there’s going to be girls throwing themselves at you. You can fuck all of them or none of them — it won’t affect our relationship. Jesus, I know I’m going to bang the odd pool boy or rock star on occasion. It’s fun and I refuse to deny myself that pleasure. But, here you have one of the most pursued and lusted after girls on this planet trying everything just to get you inside her, and you’re off chasing stolen kisses from some jumped-up waitress. What the fuck?”
“I don’t know,” I muttered. “You’re amazing Mia. You’re stunning, smart, successful. Tara is just… I can’t stop thinking about her.”
“Oh, Jesus Christ! Don’t even tell me you’re in love!” she snapped, turning around and sitting up, her voice taking on a much more venomous tone. “Some dumb whore you’ve known for two days? And, in that time, you’ve had to save her life twice!”
“Don’t call her a whore,” I growled.
“Oh please. Invite her in here now. We can fuck her together if it means so much to you. I’ll write her a check. Five thousand ought to be plenty. No, let’s make it ten, as she has to do both of us. Then I get to fuck you, you get to fuck her and she gets a nice big payday. Everybody wins.” Mia’s voice sounded so angry. “Who knows, maybe Tara and I will fall in love, then you’ll know what this rejection feels like.”
Obviously furious, Mia bent over to the nightstand on the side of the bed away from the door. She leaned over far enough that I could see she hadn’t put her underwear back on, the sheet slipping enough to reveal her toned, tanned butt. She noisily snorted back a line of cocaine that I hadn’t realized was there.
“I didn’t know you used that shit. Where did you get it?” I demanded.
“It’s none of your fucking business,” she hissed back. “And don’t even begin to think you’re in any position to tell me what to do.”
I shook my head, resigning myself to having no hope of making peace with her. I thought she might forgive me and realize I just wanted someone else. It happens all the time. But she would never understand. She lives in a world where people just take what they want, who they want and don’t care about the consequences,I thought to myself, they bully, intimidate, or pay off everyone. People like her and my father. Oh, my God! This is what Tara is afraid of! This is what she thinks I’m like, the world I live in. No wonder she bolted.
I said no more to Mia. She snorted back another line as I went into the closet and grabbed my small bag. I couldn’t remember what was in it, I just figured there might be something I could use. Anything I left behind was most likely going to be floating around the Caribbean by sunrise.
“The fuck are you going now?” Mia snarled at me. “Going to go give your stewardess whore a whole three minutes of fun?” I turned back to look at her. Mia’s normally phenomenally beautiful face was contorted into the ugliest mask of hatred I had ever seen. “Or do you think you’ll need me to send Valentina over again to help you get it up?”
I turned and walked out, her insults following me down the passageway for the second time tonight.
Chapter 16:Tara
I didn’t stop running until I got to my little cabin. I ran in, closed the door a little too hard and started sobbing. I didn’t mean to disturb Suzy, asleep in the top bunk, but I wasn’t really thinking.
“Tara,” Suzy murmured, slowly rising from her sleep. She hit the light and her eyes widened as she saw my ripped shirt, torn open by Seth in the heat of passion. “What the hell happened? Are you okay, did someone hurt you?” Suzy was younger than me but, because of her slightly more senior rank and because she’d been part of the crew for six months and me only two, Suzy always seemed to be on the lookout for me. And, although I was perfectly capable of looking after myself, I adored her for it.
“No, I’m fine, really.” I sniffed.
My makeup was running. I looked down at my shirt. It was ruined. My bra was still pushed up, too, exposing my breasts, where Seth had shoved it so he could grope, kiss, and lick me. I felt better for a nanosecond, the memory of his hot hands and mouth all over my tits as I crushed his head to my chest returning. I pulled off the tattered remains and took off my bra. Suzy handed me a tank-top, which I slipped on before thumping down hard on my bunk. Suzy slid down from the top, slipped on her fluffy robe to cover her own nakedness, and sat down beside me.
“You sure you’re not hurt?” she asked.
“I’m sure.”
“In that case, you’ve been getting naughty with someone,” Suzy teased. “Come on, spill.”
With Sofia interrupting us, then dashing off to who knows where, the whole crew would know soon enough. So, I told Suzy. I told her about the kiss the first night, about the near kiss tonight, about being so close to making love in the galley just now. And about how relieved I was that Sofia had shown up, preventing me from making a terrible mistake.
However, I still couldn’t tell Suzy that I’d specifically joined the crew of Venus tobe on this charter, that I was only on board to take revenge on Seth for what his father did to my family. Or that, in getting to know him, I’d discovered that he was nothing like his father, or that I thought I was falling in love with him.
“That little witch, though,” scowled Suzy about Sofia. “She doesn’t have to tell the captain. He’ll fire you.”
“I know,” I said, resigned to the fact, “but who can blame her? Or him? My unprofessional behavior might be enough to screw up the tip for everyone. I should be fired.”
“Don’t say that. It sounds like Seth really likes you. Maybe this is your Cinderella story.” She sounded so full of hope I had to smile.
“That remains to be seen,” I told her. By now, he’d be back with Mia. They’ll have been fucking like bunnies since I left him. Guaranteed. In the morning, he’ll be like "Tara who?"
“Well, if we get through this,” said Suzy, “next time a charter makes you feel all gooey, come tell me.”
“And you’ll what, Suzy?” I smiled. “Take care of my urges?”
Suzy smirked back and gave me a big kiss on the lips. “It’s tempting, but it might make bunking together a little awkward. So, I’ll just listen and tell you you’re an idiot, deal?”
“Deal.”
It was rolling toward two-thirty and, even postponing our normal dawn running session, we still both needed to be up before seven, so Suzy popped back up to her bunk and put the lights out.
Lying in the darkness, there was no way I could sleep, though. My mind raced from my fear of what the morning would bring, and the elated emotions I couldn’t help feeling as I remembered Seth’s hands on me, his arms around me, his mouth on me, and the sensation of his marble-hard cock as it touched my lower lips, poised and ready to penetrate me, before we were interrupted. The urgency of his kisses, the passionate strength of his embrace, the way his impressive member throbbed in my small hands, all those recollections made my body sing. I twisted in frustration and let out a soft sigh.
“Stop playing with yourself and go to sleep,” came Suzy’s mock-stern voice from above. “You don’t want to have to make me come down there.”
*****
After what seemed like only five minutes’ sleep, Suzy and I were back up and getting ready for work. In the galley, where the crew was gathering for breakfast, neither the captain nor Sofia were present and everyone that was went suspiciously quiet when I walked in. Suzy strode in behind me and started taunting, teasing, and flirting her way around the room, as she always did, giving the crew no option but to think and talk about something other than me. She’s probably the most amazing girl I’ve ever met, I smiled to myself, before the dreaded call came over the intercom, summoning me to the wheelhouse.
I expected Captain Samson’s normally kind, bearded face to be furious but, on arrival, I found him as placid as usual. He didn’t school me on the right way to behave, merely reassured me that he knew I hadn’t deliberat
ely caused trouble, just merely blindsided, but rules were rules and he had to let me go.
“I’ve seen you on duty,” he smiled, “and I’ve been doing this for long enough to know you haven’t told me everything about your past employment. I could ask some questions, but I feel like you must have had good reasons to be… economical with the truth about yourself.”
“I never meant any disrespect, Captain…” I began.
“Of that, I have no doubt,” Samson said soothingly, “and it’s all now in the past. I’m sorry, Tara, but you’ll have to be confined to quarters until the charter is over. After that, I’ll see you get your share of the tip and your ticket home. I trust I don’t need to find someone to escort or guard you?” I shook my head. “Off the record,” he said, “I know a little something about what the heart wants. And I think you’ll be okay, my dear.” He winked at me and I hugged him, a tear in my eye.
Chapter 17:Seth
I eventually mustered the courage to go for breakfast on the lower deck. Already there were Mick, Antonia, Jessica, plus George. My short, overweight but well-meaning attorney had gone to bed early last night after being talked into doing tequila shots with Jay Money and his other porn star playmate, Coco, much to the annoyance of his date Valentina. No doubt her frustration at George’s continual failure to show a good time had led to her becoming involved in Mia’s sexy surprise last night. I needed to speak to George about what happened. He was my best friend, after all.
As I sat down, Jessica and Antonia excused themselves simultaneously. “Was it something I said?” I smiled.
“Are you okay?” asked George. “Mick told me about the shouting match between you and Mia last night. What happened?”
“The real question,” I said, really trying to avoid that subject, “is what’s going to happen when Jay wakes up? Aren’t you the slightest bit worried about him finding out about your little party with Jessica and Antonia?”