Friends With Multiple Benefits (42 page)

Once he conquered all her buttons, he folded the sides of her blouse away and gazed down to her pale yellow lace bra. Diving down, he pressed his lips between her breasts then focused on the right side, kissing and licking her skin as his tongue searched out her nipple.

She ran her fingers through his hair and pulled him closer as he brought his hands up and pushed her bra over her swollen breasts. He captured her nipple in his mouth and went to work nibbling on it before sucking it hard. Then he alternated between gentle licks and sucking as much of her breast into his mouth as he could and her nipples hardened with his attention.

Moaning, she guided her hands down his back, pulling his shirt up as she dug her fingertips gently into his skin.

Kissing his way down her body, he rested with his knees on the floor then drank in the sight of her resting on the bed in her short sexy skirt and her knees bent. "Remember what we talked about on the plane?"

"I do," she replied.

"I'm going to get started now."

She nodded breathlessly as he lifted her skirt up and folded it to her stomach exposing her matching yellow lace panties. She spread her legs wide and closed her eyes as he placed a hand on each of her knees and ran his fingers slowly down her thighs. His head followed his hands and he pressed his mouth to her, pushing his tongue out firmly and into her lace-covered entrance.

She groaned as he cupped the cheeks of her ass then moved his tongue to the side of her panties as he fought to slide it around and into her.

Suddenly the ship's announcement system boomed, "This is Captain Waterbrook. I want to welcome you aboard the Prince of the Seas the crown jewel of the International America Cruise Lines fleet."

Ignoring the interruption, Ethan's tongue found its intended target as he dipped into her wetness.

The announcement continued, "At this time all passengers are required to attend a mandatory muster drill at their assigned muster station. Please look to the notice posted on the door to your cabin for the location of your station."

Rising up from her, he wiped his mouth. "What the hell's a mustard drill?"

"
Muster
drill."

"Oh..." He shook his head. "Okay, so my next question would be... What the hell is a
muster
drill?"

"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
.