Two if by Sea (9 page)

The woman on the other side of the glass moaned and Daphne did the same. Damon flicked and lapped and suckled at her clit, and Daphne could feel her orgasm building from deep inside.

Daphne trembled on the couch, her legs turned to jelly from the pleasure coursing through her. A few feet away, the blonde shook in the throes of her own pleasure. Damon spread her pussy wider, diving to thrust his tongue inside her empty hole, then back up to lick her clit.

The blonde cried out and her eyes flew open. Blue and dilated, they looked right at her.
No. It can’t be. She can’t see me…
The blonde stared as the man behind her slapped her ass. It sent her over. The woman came apart, shaking and moaning as an orgasm ripped through her.

Damon licked her clit and Daphne came. Shaking and shivering, she cried out as her release took hold.

“
Y
ou’re
sure that’s the only thing missing?”

Dave nodded. “One case of Patron, four cases of Grey Goose, three different types of bourbon. That’s it. I’ve checked the inventory four times. Jenkins told me to call you as soon as I finished.”

Tony frowned. It didn’t make any sense. Why would someone steal cases full of liquor on an all-inclusive cruise where alcohol came free? He flipped the pages on the clipboard and double checked Dave’s accounting.

“You still have no idea who’s doing it?”

“I wish I did. Either the guy’s lucky or he’s an employee. We’ve never been able to get his face on camera.”

Dave had been with them from the beginning. He’d answered their ad for a bartender for their first cruise and he’d been a part of the Stardust family ever since. Tony trusted him. “If it’s someone on the inside, there’s got to be something we’re missing.”

“It might just be some guys out for fun. You know, steal a case, get drunk in their room. That sort of thing.”

Tony wanted to agree, but the whole thing was too orderly. Too neat. “Pranksters would have been caught by now. This is different.”

Dave took the clipboard back and set it on the office desk. “Maybe. But Jenkins and I can handle it. You’ve got more important things to worry about.”

“Like what?”

Dave raised an eyebrow.

“Daphne?”

“I heard she pushed some guy in the pool.”

“He groped her.”

“So? It happens every two seconds on this cruise.” Dave leaned on the edge of the desk. “Didn’t she know what it would be like?”

Tony blew out a puff of air. “She’s not our typical guest.” He ran a hand through his hair. “She turned us down.”

Dave laughed. “Welcome to how the rest of us live.”

Tony glowered, but the man had a point. He’d been living in this fantasy land of cruise ships and casual sex for so long, he’d forgotten there was a life outside of it. A future. He raked his thumb nail over the pads of his fingers. “You’re still with Jen, right?”

“Three years this Christmas.”

“How’d you know she was the one?”

Dave leaned back and look up at the ceiling, collecting his thoughts. “I don’t know. We went out on a date, clicked, and we’ve been dating ever since.”

Tony nodded.

“Are you that into this woman? You think she could be the one to tame the pair of you?”

“That would never work in real life and you know it. What woman would date two men?”

Dave shrugged. “What about that joint you guys stay at—what’s it called—Billionaires’ Cove?”

“Midnight Cove.”

“Same difference. Damon says there’s a few making it work there.”

Tony thought about Ian and Trent and their girlfriend Holly. The man had a point. But move up the coast and settle down? “I don’t know if I’m the stay-at-home type.”

Dave laughed again. “Who said you need to do that? I still bartend on tons of cruises, Tony. Jen doesn’t mind. Hell, she likes it when I’m gone—it gives her a chance to be by herself for a while without my dirty clothes all over the floor.”

Tony snorted. He’d never figure out women. “You really think there’s a chance?”

“You won’t know until you try.” Dave stood up. “That’s why you two have been MIA since the cruise started, isn’t it? You’re trying to win her over?”

“Something like that.”

“Good luck.” Dave clapped Tony on the back as he passed. “I think you’re gonna need it.”

Talking about a future with Daphne was as silly as wishing for super powers. She had a great job in LA. A whole life built around everything he wasn’t. She did everything by the book.

Convince her to move to some tiny town on the edge of the ocean to try out a relationship with two men? She’d laugh in his face and walk away. If she couldn’t, she’d probably push him in the pool.

Tony tried to smile, but it came out in a grimace. “Thanks.”

“If you need me to do any more digging on the thefts, let me know.” Dave opened the door and the music’s deep beat filled the room.

The thefts. That’s what Tony should be focused on, not a woman who was probably packing up right now and demanding to be let off the ship. Daphne wasn’t one of their usual flings. She had class and sophistication. Intelligence and humility.

Date two men at once? It’d be so far beneath her; she’d never consider it. Tony scrubbed his face with his hand. Damn Damon and Ian for even suggesting Midnight Cove. He’d thought it foolish and unrealistic before, but now that he’d tasted what a future could be like, he hated it.

It was a place he’d never be able to call home. When they landed he’d ask Damon to buy him out of the place. No point in having a house that would never be filled.

He strode out of the back room and into the club. Tony needed to get his mind off Daphne and onto something else. Anything else.

Daphne pulled her hair off her face and ran her fingers through the curls. Was couch-head a thing? Because she had it. Damn Damon and his sexy body. That sinful tongue. She blushed just thinking about him.

How could they be so reckless? She’d let him strip her half naked in some room she’d never seen before. A room where any employee could have walked in. This was happening too often. One look at his wicked smile or one word from his naughty lips and she turned into some other woman.

She needed to remember who she was and where she came from. Daphne Meadows had pulled herself up by her bootstraps and made something out of nothing. Earth-shattering orgasms weren’t worth throwing it all away.

Movement outside the window caught her eye. The couple from before were back, sitting at the bar a few feet away. Laughing and drinking.

She’d had a moment—a complete and total freakout—when she thought the woman could see her. But nothing came of it. The couple had peeled themselves off the window, Damon had run off to get her something non-alcoholic and she’d put her clothes back on.

The woman leaned against her lover, her fingers weaving through his hair as they chatted at the bar. They were oblivious to the panic and embarrassment they’d launched inside her.

She glanced at the couch and ran her hand over the soft leather. If Damon hadn’t stopped…If he hadn’t wiped his face and kissed her lips and said he’d be right back…would they be naked and wrapped up in each others’ arms?

Part of her wanted that more than anything. But then she thought of Tony. Would he be mad? Jealous? Or was this just a game? She still didn’t know.

Daphne shook her head and stood up. She shouldn’t be wondering about them at all. It was late afternoon and she needed to get back to her room and check on work.

Before she could walk to the door, it swung open. Tony stood in the open frame, a scowl on his face.

“What are you doing here?” It sounded like an accusation.

Daphne stepped back. “Hello to you, too.”

“Where’s Damon?”

“I don’t know. He said he’d be right back.”

Tony shut the door behind him with a wham. “Figures.” He stalked the length of the room, his hands clenching and unclenching with each foot fall.

“Tony, what’s going on? Is everything all right?” She’d never seen this side of him.

“Yeah, everything’s just peachy.” He ran a hand through his hair.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Tony snorted. “What’s there to talk about?”

“I don’t know if you won’t tell me what the problem is.” Daphne reached out, but Tony brushed her off.

“I need to get out of here.” He stepped toward the door, but Daphne grabbed his arm. His muscles flexed beneath her hand.

“Stay and talk to me. I can help. I’m good at crisis management.”

Tony shook his arm free. “You don’t get it, do you?”

“Try me.” Whatever was bothering him, Daphne could handle it. She’d stood with a straight face while her clients told her things that would make a hardened criminal blush. Nothing Tony had to say would come close.

He turned away and focused on the window. The lights had dimmed and most of the club was in darkness. The bar, the couple from before, and a bartender were the only people around. Tony’s shoulders rose and fell with his breath, his shirt straining as he flexed.

Daphne touched his shoulder. He didn’t budge. “Talk to me, Tony. Please.”

He exhaled. “When this cruise ends, what are you going to do?”

Daphne’s brows furrowed. “I’m going back to LA and my job, of course. Why?”

“That’s my problem.”

What? He was angry with her?
“I don’t understand.”

“All this time, Damon’s been telling me we should settle down. That we should find a woman who wants more than a week of sin and sun and grow up.”

“That makes a lot of sense.” Daphne wished for the same thing. A steady boyfriend, a good job. A comfortable life.

“I’ve been fighting him. I never thought we could find someone like that. I didn’t think they existed.”

“You shouldn’t give up. There’s someone out there for everyone.”

Tony turned around. “That’s the thing. I think that someone is you.”

Daphne’s mouth fell open. She couldn’t have heard him right. “I’m sorry, I swore you just…”

He closed the distance between them and wrapped his hands around her back. “You’re the first woman I’ve ever been able to see a future with.” He ran his hand up her back and over her shoulder before tracing the edge of her jaw with his thumb. “But you’ll never want what we can give.”

“What’s that?”

“Both of us.” His thumb stroked across her lower lip and Daphne shivered.

She should agree with him and move on, but her lips moved unbidden. Words emerged from some secret place she’d denied, even to herself. “Don’t say never.”

Tony dropped his hand. “You don’t know what we’re like. You don’t know what we do.”

“I know you own and run this ship.”

“But you haven’t seen all of it.”

She thought about the club and the sex on the other side of the window. “I’ve seen enough.”

“No, you haven’t.”

“Then show me.”

Fuck
. This woman would be the death of him.

She’d spent every minute not wrapped up in his arms pushing him away. Now, when he laid it all out there… she didn’t run.

Daphne’s green eyes looked up at him, full of innocence and trust, and he knew he was a fool. She wanted to know what they were like? What sort of dirty, nasty things they did when she wasn’t around?

Fine. He’d show her.

One foot inside the club and she’d run back to her room, cheeks as red as her hair. No way would she want them. No way would she see past the spectacle.

He grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the door. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” He tossed it open and strode into the darkness, Daphne’s fingers gripping his own.

“Where are we going?”

“You’ll see.” He pulled her past the bar and the people mingling in the dim light. Past the rooms with closed doors and the couples in the shadows.

The hallway opened into a wide room. “Welcome to the bedroom.”

“The what?” Daphne squeezed his hand and he had half a mind to shove her out into the middle and let her figure it out on her own.

Circular beds dotted the space. Filled with pillows and draped in gauzy curtains it was hard to make them out at first. A gasp from beside him told Tony that she had figured it out.

“It’s an orgy.” Her words came out short and clipped.

“Yes, it is.” The more his eyes adjusted, the more bodies he could see. People in various states of undress. Legs. Arms. Cries of pleasure. Most of the beds were filled with the sights and sounds of sex.

On the bed closest to them, two women kissed. A man groped them both. Everyone was naked and aroused and lost in their own moment. It was primal. Enticing.

Daphne let go of his hand.

“Have you seen enough?”

She stepped further into the room.

“Daphne?”

“Everyone’s so free. Uninhibited.”

“That’s what the Stardust is all about. Losing your inhibitions. Taking a break from your real life and giving into your wants.”

She ran a finger over her lower lip. “Needs.”

Tony swallowed. Was she…turned on? He inched closer. “Yes.”

Daphne turned to him, eyes wide and dilated. “I take it you come here?”

He nodded.

“With Damon?”

“Yes.”

“And women?”

“Usually.”

A moan eased into the silence and Daphne bit her lip.

“Now do you believe me?”

“About what?”

“That we’re not good enough for you. That you would never want what we are.” He motioned to the room. “What we do.”

Daphne stepped toward him and placed a hand on his chest. “Whatever it is you’re trying to do here, it isn’t working. I’ve seen a million times worse than this.” She shook her head. “The things my clients do and cover up…sometimes it makes me sick.”

Tony frowned. “Do we?”

“No!” She twisted his shirt in her hand. “Don’t you get it? I’m not disgusted or shocked or any of it. I should be! God knows I should have slapped you the minute you kissed me and demanded to leave.”

He shouldn’t ask, but he was a glutton for punishment. “What’s stopping you?”

She paused, fingers wrapped in his shirt, breath hot and fast through her open mouth. “You and Damon. I can’t explain it. I don’t want to. But every time you touch me…” She shivered.

Tony reached out and trailed his fingers down her cheek. Daphne leaned into his hand.

“Tell me.”

“The person inside of me—the one I keep hidden behind a wall—she breaks free. I come alive.”

Daphne rose up on her toes, her face hovering in front of his. “I don’t know what I’m doing and I don’t know what I’ll want when this cruise is over, but don’t shut me out. Not now. Not when we still have time.”

Her lips melted into his and Tony stopped fighting. To hell with the future. Daphne was more woman than he could ever hope to deserve and she was offering herself up to him and Damon. They couldn’t turn her away out of fear.

She wanted to spend the rest of the week tangled up in bed together? He could oblige. They had ten right in front of them and private rooms around the corner.