Friends Wanting Benefits (3 page)

"Lifeboat drill."

"Oh…" He scoffed. "What do we need that for?"

She raised her palms up in defeat. "Haven't you even seen
Titanic
?"

"No, I'm not a twelve year-old girl. So they're really worried about the iceberg thing?"

"I guess."

"Well, I'm no Marine Biologist, but I'm pretty sure there are no icebergs in the Caribbean." He gave her a smile.

"Well, it could sink for other—" She lost her train of thought when he went right back to work. "Oh…" She moaned, and her eyes rolled back behind their lids as he suddenly kicked his attention into high gear.

About three minutes later the captain repeated his announcement and Ethan pulled up from her and sighed.

Frowning, Victoria yanked him by the shirt collar and forced him back down. "I'm sure we have a few more minutes."

He held her panties to one side as he plunged his tongue deep inside her. She squirmed around on the mattress, moaning and groaning in pleasure and putting a death grip on the sheets. Less than two minutes later, the captain again repeated the message this time adding a warning about a cabin-to-cabin search for any defectors from the drill.

Pulling up from her, Ethan groaned. "Crap."

Victoria rose to her feet, shook her head to get her bearings then checked her face in the mirror. "We'll have our own mandatory drill right here when we're done with the captain's."

He grinned. "I think ours sounds like more fun."

At Muster Station D, Ethan stood directly behind Victoria in the middle of a row of twelve other passengers. Crowded together in a sea of people, the group stood at attention as their muster drill coordinator paced in front of the group cracking jokes in the sweltering summer heat.

All along the side of the ship were groups of two hundred or so passengers lined up similarly and being subjected to the same fate. When the group was settled, two crew members began at opposite sides of the group and started scanning cruise pass cards in order to record attendance.

After that fifteen minute ordeal, the coordinator began. "Hello and welcome aboard the Prince of the Seas. My name is Joshua and if you can't tell from my accent I'm from Australia. Where you are now standing is your assigned muster station. In the event of an emergency onboard this ship, you will hear the emergency signal, which is seven short blasts followed by one long blast on the ship's horn. If you hear this signal you are to immediately make your way to this muster station and line up as you are now. Does everyone understand this?"

A half-hearted chorus of affirmative responses spilled from the group as Joshua shook his head in disappointment.

"What?" Joshua shouted. "I could not hear you. Does everyone understand this?"

"Yes," the group boomed in unison.

"Good, I'm glad you are now awake." He chuckled. "Remember you are in muster station D on deck ten and my name is Joshua. The emergency signal is seven short and one long."

Looking down at his watch, he waited about ten seconds then said, "You will now hear the signal."

All listened with varying levels of interest to the seven short and one long blast from the ship's horn. When it was done, Joshua loudly said, "THIS IS MUSTER STATION?"

"D," the group screamed out.

"DECK?"

"TEN"

"MY NAME IS?"

"JOSHUA"

"THE SIGNAL IS?"

"SEVEN SHORT AND ONE LONG," the passengers yelled out.

"EXCELLENT!" Joshua wore a bright smile.

As the group stood around waiting, Ethan took half a step closer to Victoria and placed his hands on her shoulders, pressed his groin into her rear end as he whispered in her ear. "Later you'll be getting zero short and one long."

Giggling, she reached back with one hand and ran her fingers across him stomach. For a moment, she pondered whether he was referring to the size of his equipment or the length of her impending orgasm. Shrugging, she decided it really didn't matter— the joke was funny either way.

On the opposite side of the ship, Jillian and George stood in line in muster station R. Sweating profusely, George wiped his brow and Jillian stood at attention with her mind wandering. There was neither conversation nor playful banter between the two of them as they suffered through the drill. In both groups, the respective muster station captains made them each repeat their answers twice more before being dismissed.

When Jillian and George returned to their cabin a bottle of champagne was sitting on ice on the desk along with a note from the captain welcoming them aboard. The horn blew, and the sounds of the engines reverberated through the ship as it started to pull away from the dock.

"Let's watch from the balcony." Making her way outside, she smiled.

"You want some?" He held the bottle up.

"Definitely."

George popped the top on the champagne, poured them each a glass and joined her outside.

He held his glass up. "What should we drink to?"

"Um…" She narrowed her eyes. "How about to… finally getting away together?"

He nodded before clinking his glass to hers then taking a sip.

In cabin 11469, Victoria and Ethan didn't even realize the ship was moving. There was no champagne waiting for them when they returned to their cabin, but they managed to find something to do. Sweaty and hot from their muster drill and still horny from their pre-muster drill, the couple was enjoying a lukewarm shower together. The washing portion of the event was now long over, and the two had moved on to a passionate exchange of oral under the spray of water.

Pressed up against the shower wall recovering from her first climax Victoria thought she felt a rumbling in the room just as Ethan returned his tongue between her thighs. She wasn't sure if it was the lingering effect of her first orgasm or really the ship's engines, but she was so caught up in the moment that she didn't care.

The couple with their clothes still on sat on the balcony sipping champagne. Jillian asked, "What do you want to do now?"

George's eyes widened. "Oh, I didn't book our massage because of the lifeboat thing."

"That's right. That's right."

"So you'll be finished with your book signing by two tomorrow, right?"

"Oh, yes, definitely."

"I'm going to stop by the spa and book the massage." Rising from his chair, he gave her a hesitant look. "And then maybe I'll take a look at the casino. You want to come?"

"No, I better check on my books for the signing— make sure they made it onboard and everything."

"How about I…"

"What?"

"What time's dinner?"

"Eight."

"It's six thirty now. How about we just meet in the dining room at eight?"

Chuckling, she waved him away with her hand. "Go, have fun."

He kissed her then headed off.

After enjoying a two-hour four-course meal, Victoria and Ethan headed out of the dining room toward the Centrum. A poster caught her eye and she stopped to check it out. "I didn't know this was a romance author's cruise."

"A what?"

"I guess these three authors are onboard." She narrowed her eyes. "Have you ever heard of Jaclyn West, Theresa Wade, or this Gloria White?"

"Uh… I don't exactly read a lot of romance novels." He made a face.

"No, I guess you don't." Taking his arm, she giggled as they walked toward the shopping area of the ship.

"Do you read romance novels?"

"I think I read a Danielle Steel novel like ten years ago, but I haven't read one since."

"What do you want to do now?" he asked.

"I don't know. I'm sorta tired from traveling."

"Yeah, me too."

At the entrance of the gift shop, a table featuring books from the three authors on the ship caught Victoria's eye and she led Ethan toward it. "I think I'm going to buy a book. It'll be cool to read something and actually get to meet the writer."

"Yeah." He shrugged. "I forgot a razor, so I'm going to grab one. You need anything?"

"No." She picked up one of Theresa Wade's novels and read the back cover as he headed inside the store.

After reading the jackets on a few of the books, she settled on one and entered the store carrying Jaclyn West's novel
Saving Chance
where she found Ethan checking out model replicas of the cruise ship.

"You want one?" She asked.

"No, that's okay." He rolled his eyes. "I'm just killing time. You find a book?"

She handed it over, he read the back cover and smiled. "That sounds naughty."

"I hope so." She flashed him a sexy grin.

After putting their purchases on her cruise pass card, the couple headed toward their cabin. About twenty feet ahead of them stood a middle-aged woman, dressed horribly, with blondish-gray hair and donning a giant rustic-looking walking stick. The man with her appeared to be in his early thirties. He had unkempt long hair, was about sixty pounds overweight, and was wearing a dark-blue plaid kilt.

Victoria motioned to the couple with a head nod and a quiet giggle. "Get a load of those two."

"Holy crap."

"Is there a costume party tonight?"

"I don't think so." Ethan narrowed his eyes. "Wait, is he… Wearing nail polish?"

The strange couple began walking ahead of them.

"Yeah, he certainly is." Victoria walked faster pulling him along as she closed the gap to the unusual couple. "That's a nice toe color. I should ask him were he got that."

"No, you shouldn't."

"Yes, I think I'll ask him."

"You're not serious?" He scoffed.

"It's not easy to find a good toe color."

Chuckling, Ethan stopped in his tracks, grabbed Victoria's hand, turned her around and led her in the opposite direction. "Let's just go back to the room. I really don't want to start a conversation with some dude wearing a kilt."

"Okay." She giggled.

Jillian and George headed to the piano bar after dinner. With not a lot to say to one another, they sat sipping their cocktails and listening to the talented young musician as he played old classics like
California Dreamin'
and
Piano Man
along with newer favorites like
Closing Time
and
Hey There Delilah
.

Later they headed to the theater to watch a man perform his action comedy routine which featured juggling, riding a ten-foot-tall unicycle, balancing himself on free standing ladders and hilariously interacting with the boisterous crowd. George enjoyed another two drinks during the show and at just after eleven they made their way back to their cabin.

Jillian sat on the bed and slipped her skirt down her legs. "It's amazing that guy could ride that unicycle with the ship rocking back and forth like that."

"Yeah and how did he juggle up there without falling off?" George removed his pants and tossed them over the chair.

"I don't know."

"You want to get in the bathroom first?" he asked.

"No, you go ahead."

After removing his shirt, he slipped into the bathroom and closed the door.

She took off her blouse then lay back on the bed gazing up to the ceiling thinking. Suddenly a naughty smile spread across her face, she popped to her feet and went into her suitcase for the baby doll nighty she bought especially for the trip.

When he emerged from the bathroom wearing only his boxer shorts, she hid the sexy item behind her back as she made her way around him. "I'll be right out."

Less than five minutes later she returned looking stunning in the light purple satin and lace lingerie only to discover him fast asleep in bed with the television blaring. Shrugging, she turned off the television, climbed into bed and sidled up next to him in hopes that he'd return to consciousness.

After rubbing her foot up and down his calf and getting no response, she slid her hand onto his stomach and rolled over onto him. This caused him to stir, groan, and then turn away from her.

Frowning, she stared up to the ceiling for a minute before turning away from him and cradling her pillow.

One level down, Victoria sat up in bed wearing only an oversized T-shirt still recovering from her monumental orgasm. What started with them giving each other a bath in their soaking tub more than an hour and a half ago, ended with the squeaky clean pair exploring every inch of one another in their circular bed.