Love's Call (8 page)

Liana and Alyssa sat in the front row of the conference room the next morning, waiting for the next session from Lisa Woods.  That morning’s session was entitled,
Using Your Feminine Power.

And apparently word of mouth had spread throughout the cruise ship about Ms. Woods’ seminars, because the room was now packed, with every seat in the room occupied.

Lisa Woods entered the room, now dressed in a tightly body-hugging, emerald colored dress. She strutted in with a walk that could catch the eye of both men and women alike.  The anxious guests exploded into a round of applause when they saw her.

She waited, and when the room had quieted, she said, “So it seems all of you are ready to learn how to harness your feminine power this morning.”

Lisa paced, back and forth in front of the room, addressing the crowd of women.  “For those of you who attended the last session, we learned that sometimes, we as women, have certain traits that can be considered undesirable and unattractive. For instance, the eye-rolling or the permanent scowl that some women seem to possess, and so on. But what are some tips that a woman can follow to become
more
approachable and appealing?”

The crowd shouted out their guesses, and Lisa moved to the dry erase board behind her and began writing down the correct responses. “That’s it, ladies-- a smile.  We don’t realize the power behind a simple smile directed toward a man we’re interested in.”  

She pointed to the next suggestion written on the board, “Touching, is also an important one.  Not groping, of course, but a light, feminine touch has more power than you could imagine.”

Lisa moved to the center of the class, away from the board and added more of her own tips and tricks.  She encouraged flirting, being happy and positive and open to letting a man take the lead sometimes in romance. Liana was having a hard time grasping the concept of essentially being submissive and flirty, but she tried to remain open to Lisa’s advice. Lisa’s suggestions had prompted her to open up to Kyle yesterday, and thus far, hadn’t steered her wrong.  So she figured she’d give Lisa’s tips another try.

Lisa then asked several ladies to come to the front of the room and demonstrate their walk.

Lisa had the art of seduction down to a science, as she demonstrated to the women how to move in a seductive manner, shoulders back, chest high, and hips swaying with confidence.

 Liana and Alyssa exchanged glances.  Liana knew what Alyssa was thinking--that she couldn’t wait to go and give it a try.  Liana on the other hand, wasn’t quite so sure about it. Playing seductive games wasn’t exactly her thing.  
I’ll leave that to Alyssa, Lisa and the other ladies,
she thought.

***

After the seminar, Liana and Alyssa had made their way to the deck for another late morning dance class. They’d hoped for an energizing workout session to get them ready to start their day.  And their fitness instructor didn’t disappoint.  She was as energetic as ever, and came full force with new routines for the class

They moved around, keeping up with the instructor at every turn. The instructor walked along the rows of exercisers again, prodding and encouraging them to do more.  When she stopped between Liana and Alyssa, they gave it their all, putting everything they had into doing the routine.

In the midst of a particularly complicated piece of choreography, Liana looked over toward the fitness center and noticed Kyle at the window.  He absentmindedly performed biceps curls with the dumbbells he held in his hands.  But Liana could tell that his real focus was on her dance fitness session on the deck.

Liana turned her back to him and grinned to herself.
Now’s as good of a time as any to try this feminine power thing.
She didn’t know what possessed her to give it a try after all, but she was in her element when she danced, and wanted to see if Lisa Woods’ theory proved correct.

***

Kyle watched Liana from his spot next to the window, and enjoyed seeing her glide along the floor so effortlessly.  He realized that he was gawking, and placed the dumbbells back on the rack and moved to another weight machine. But he couldn’t resist looking up at her again.

This time, she seemed to be much more into the routine than even before. He watched the way she swiveled her hips seductively and her movements seemed considerably more pronounced than all of the other dancers.  

She twirled and swayed on the floor like she was putting on a show.  And when she turned to face the glass window of the fitness center, her eyes meeting his, he realized that she
was
putting on a show--for him.

He raised his brows, and picked up his bottled water, taking a sip.  But his eyes never left Liana and her suggestive dancing.  

When the class had finished, he continued his repetitions on the machine, and saw her approach the fitness center.  She looked at him through the glass window, waved and smiled.  She entered the center, stopping in front of him.  Kyle dropped the weights and sat up, “Morning, Lia.  Looks like you had a nice workout.”

“You noticed, huh?” she asked innocently.

“Oh yea, I noticed.”

She smirked. “So I’m going to grab a bite for lunch.  Do you want to meet me at the pool later?”  

“Yea.  I’ll be right there after I go up to my room to clean up.”

“Okay, see you there.”

Kyle watched her exit. And was sure he was imagining it, but she almost seemed to walk with a bit more of a swing in her hips than he’d noticed before.

The rows of lounge chairs surrounding the sparkling blue pool were nearly all occupied by other cruise ship passengers. Some sat out, soaking in the sun’s rays, while others splashed in the cool pool waters.

It wasn’t long before Kyle found the one person he sought. Liana stood at the deep end of the pool, and was poised to dive.  She bent her knees, raised her arms straight over her head and bent her body over, and allowed herself to fall into the water in a near flawless dive.  

She resurfaced and began to swim, the strokes of her arms and kicks of her feet splashing the water around her, as she moved swiftly from one end of the pool to the other.  

When she’d reached the end, she stood in the shallow water and ran her hands along her face, wiping away the water.  She then ran her hands over her hair, smoothing it back out of her face. She rose out of the water and walked back to her lounge chair.

Kyle loved watching her too much to approach her yet.  He watched the way her ample breasts filled her bikini top and the way her curvy hips, thick thighs and round behind fit in the tropical print bikini bottom. He wasn’t the only man who was drawn to admire her firm, toned shape, as he saw other men nearly break their necks to ogle her.

As he walked toward her, another young man, clearly no more than twenty two years of age, beat him there. Liana sat down in her lounge chair and gave the young man a polite smile. But she seemed completely uninterested in his advances.  

Kyle reached them and dropped his towel on the lounge chair next to her. “Hey there," he said. “Sorry. I was late.  Got held up.”

Liana’s eyes shone when she saw him, and gave a toothy grin. "Well, hello."

Their act worked, and her potential suitor took that as his cue. He walked off, leaving them alone.

"Thanks, that was a close one."

“If I can get you to smile like that, I’ll do it more often.”

They spent the rest of the afternoon basking in the sun’s rays and enjoyed swimming and splashing in the cool pool waters.

Liana pulled a white pantsuit out of her suitcase, and went into the cabin’s tiny bathroom to put it on. It was the night of the
White and Sexy
party and the dress code was all white.  

She turned to one side and then the other, inspecting her image in the short bathroom mirror as best she could.  She was satisfied with what she saw and knew that Kyle would be as well.

She stopped, catching herself in the middle of her thoughts.  Lately, her mind remained on thoughts of Kyle, and she realized that it still felt strange.  She hadn’t allowed herself to let go in this way since Brian.

Sure, he seems like a good man and kind enough, but I barely know him
, she thought to herself, as she left the bathroom and waited on the bed for Alyssa to finish getting ready for the evening.

***

Kyle felt a soft touch, as long, feminine fingers wrapped around his arm. He turned, expecting to see Liana’s beautiful face, but instead met the face of one of the women who’d approached him after his karaoke performance the first night on the ship.  

“Hello there, stranger.  I’ve been waiting to get you alone.”

Kyle looked up to see Liana, a vision in white, enter the room.  She stood at the door’s entrance, hesitant and watching them from afar.  He reached up and waved to her and gently extracted the woman’s hand from his arm. “I’m sorry.  I’m actually meeting someone here.”

He quickly maneuvered through the crowd and made a beeline for Liana.  She stood there, a question on her face. He knew exactly what she had to be thinking.  
Who is that woman, and why was she all over him?
 He grabbed her hand and kissed it gently. His eyes were locked onto hers, “You look beautiful tonight.”  

“Thank you,” she said, as she tried to force herself to stop blushing.  Then her face changed, becoming more serious as she looked over his shoulder at the woman he’d left behind. The infuriated woman frowned at them, storming off in the other direction. “What was that about?”

“You didn’t realize it, but you were returning the favor from earlier.” He took her hand and led her to the dance floor. A slow song was on, and he took full advantage, pulling her in to him.  “I need you to stay here, so no other women get any ideas.”

Liana felt the familiar tingling, that had now become a regular sensation since she’d met him, run through her body when she felt his hard chest against her. Liana pulled away slightly, still hesitant about allowing herself to lose control of the situation.

Kyle looked down at her, “Are you okay?”

I won’t be if you keep looking at me with those sexy eyes
, she thought.  But aloud, she said, instead, “I’m fine.”

“Good,” he said, and pulled her in closer again.  

She started to pull away again, but stopped.
I’m a grown woman, this is my vacation.  And what happens on this cruise, can stay on this cruise,
she rationalized.  She may have normally been an analytical person who operated by hard and fast rules.  But now, she told herself, was time to be that woman she’d never before dared to be.

She remembered what Alyssa had told her about letting Brian have power over her future relationships. She wasn’t willing to allow him to steal every exciting moment from her for the rest of her life.

Now was the time to put the baggage down, at least for the remainder of her vacation.
Besides
, she thought,
it’s getting too heavy anyway
. She knew the load would be right there, ready for her to pick up and resume carrying around with her when she walked off of that cruise ship in two days. Now, she just needed a little break.

Liana gave herself permission to get lost in the classic slow song that played over the sound system. She felt protected by his strong arms, wrapped around her in an embrace. 

She may not have known what being drunk felt like, but she imagined that it must have felt the way she did as she took in the woody smell of his cologne. His manly scent intoxicated her and enveloped her senses.

The tingling within her returned, stronger than ever, and radiated down to the area between her thighs. And she knew that now, she had definitely lost control of this situation, once and for all.  

Kyle sensed her body relaxing into his and looked down at her face. He placed a hand under her chin so that their eyes met, and hours seemed to pass as they remained locked in a smoldering gaze.

Kyle broke the intensity of their stare, and spoke, “What would you say if I asked you to come with me to my room for a beverage?  Non-alcoholic, of course.”

Liana bit her lip, and her heart fluttered in her chest. “I’d say, ‘Let’s go’.”

***

Close your mouth, girl
, she told herself as her eyes ran over his cabin room.  The size of his suite was at least double the size of the room she shared with Alyssa.  And when she saw the balcony, she grinned back at him and rushed over to it. “How much did you have to shell out for a room like this?”

“Enough. And it was worth every penny,” he answered and walked up behind her as she looked through the glass at the dark waves under the glow of the moon.

“I can see that,” she said. She turned to find that his attention was on her, however, and not the room.

He reached out to touch her cheek tenderly, and leaned in for a kiss.  Their kiss was gentle and slow at first, but then built to a gradual passion-filled intensity that neither of them could stop, even if they’d tried.

His hands ran down her back and then moved to her hips. When he felt her pressing against him, in response to his touch, he wanted to feel more of her.  He gripped her behind, and pulled her in until their bodies nearly melded together and she could feel his erection against her.

She encircled her tongue with his, as she tried to relieve the sexual tension that had grown to unbearable heights since the first day she’d seen his bedroom eyes.

Kyle’s hands roamed down to grip her firm, round behind, and Liana moaned her pleasure into his mouth, as he nibbled on her bottom lip.

He broke their kiss and she groaned in disappointment, missing the feel of his lips against hers. He swept her up in his arms, and walked toward the bed.  

He placed her on the bed and lay down next to her, bending down to sample her lips again. She couldn’t take it any longer, and wanted to feel his hands all over her body once more. She grabbed his hands and guided them to her breast.  He obliged, and squeezed her round globes and toyed with her nipples.  

Liana reached down to feel his erection which strained against his pants, and was impressed by what she found. She unbuckled and unzipped his pants and Kyle reached down to assist her.  

He stood up beside the bed and pulled down his boxer briefs.  His lips curved in a half-grin when he saw the pleased expression on her face as she admired him in all of his naked glory.

He bent over to kiss her lips again, pulled away and whispered, “One minute.”  He reached over to pull open the drawer underneath the table next to the bed and removed a condom. He opened the package and quickly sheathed his erection.  He moved back to her, helping her remove her shirt and unclasp her bra as she wiggled out of her fitted white pants.

She grabbed onto his strong, bulging biceps and pulled him on top of her. When he bent down to suckle on her neck, she moaned loudly.  As she writhed under his expert licks, she wondered,
How’d he know that was my spot?

Kyle found every inch of her tantalizing and arousing, and he couldn’t hold back anymore. He slid into the warm slickness between her legs and they got lost in the rhythm of each other’s bodies, moving together in perfect tune with one another.

Liana felt the pleasure within her surging until it peaked. She shuddered as she succumbed to the delicious waves of her orgasm. When he felt her pulsing body beneath him, he too gave in and gripped her hips tightly as he rode her to his own powerful release.

They lay in the now sweat-soaked sheets, exhausted from their passionate exercise. Liana’s head rested on Kyle’s smooth chest, as he stroked her hair. She looked up at him, and grinned.  “So what happened to that beverage?”

“Sorry.  Guess there were other more pressing matters.”

She shook her head at him and smiled.  

“Don’t worry, though.  I can still get it for you.”

Liana placed her head on his chest again and wrapped an arm around him. She didn’t give a damn about a beverage. That was the furthest thing from her mind. All she cared about now was staying here, right next to him, for as long as she could. Though she knew she had to leave before morning, she snuggled closer to him and was lulled to sleep by the soothing rhythm of his breathing.