Journey to Another Life Ch. 08

"Didja have a nice time?" Ed called to the returning picnickers as they boarded the boat.

Charles and Nikki did a double-take, jaws temporarily hanging open to see Ed so inebriated. Nikki had never seen him this way. Charles was uncertain about what it meant and looked as if he thought jumping over the side of the boat might be a viable means of escape. Poor guy, Ed thought. Little does he know that I don't blame a pawn for the actions of a queen.

Yes, Ed was indeed drunk but he was aware of it, which meant he couldn't really be all that drunk. But he did enjoy the fear he seemed to be inspiring.

Nikki found her husband's enunciation problems mildly entertaining as well as a little disconcerting. "Yes, sweetheart, it was lovely, thank you," she said, disarming him with a smile. "Did you have a good rest? I see you managed to start pre-dinner drinks straight after the post-lunch ones!"

Ed chuckled in agreement. "Well, I thought a bit of a head start might do me some good."

She laughed with Ed, kissed his forehead, and pulled up a chair nearby. Charles smiled but without the sincerity Ed had seen before. Had something actually happened on that damn island to make Charles feel so guilty he couldn't even muster a genuine smile? But Nikki showed no signs of remorse—and she wouldn't be able to hide that if she felt it. Anyway, she'd promised not to act on anything she felt, so he had to trust that she'd held to that vow. Ed glanced at Charles, who seemed quite eager to slip away. Might as well let him. Ed was just disoriented enough not to care whether the man stayed.

"See you later, Charles," Nikki called after the departing black man. "I had a wonderful time."

Charles turned, smiled, and nodded before he disappeared from deck.

If Ed didn't know better, he'd think they had some kind of secret between them.

Nikki poured herself a drink from a different bottle than Ed favoured, then settled comfortably into her chair. She crossed her long legs and stared off at the sea.

"I may have a little more whiskey in me than we all might like, but I could swear you were wearing a different bikini when you left here this afternoon," he said.

She grinned. He couldn't read her expression from behind her sunglasses but it was clear that he'd noticed something she'd hoped he wouldn't. "I told you, silly, that this bikini is no longer the incendiary device it once was."

"You're not looking at it from where I'm sitting."

She turned to him, still bemused by his intoxicated state. "You know, I'm perfectly willing to tell you all about my afternoon. You don't have to be cagey. In fact, I'm dying to tell you all about it."

"Including the bikini part?"

She giggled. "Yes, including the bikini part."

"Then go ahead. I'm really interested in that part."

"You're pretty funny when you're drunk," she said, laughing. "We should get you this way more often."

"We?"

"Oh, Ed! Stop it, now. Do you want to hear what happened or not?"

"I'm listening," he told her, taking another swig from his glass.

"He packed a lovely lunch, so it's too bad that you missed that."

"Uh huh. You can spare me the culinary details." He heard himself slur "culinary" and winced.

"Hmmm. Well. I thought it was worth mentioning, since you're paying him to feed us as well as guide us through theses treacherous waters." She waved toward the tranquil ocean.

Ed bit back his comment about how the only treacherous waters on this cruise were the ones inside the boat, not outside.

"While he was setting it all out, I went skinny dipping."

"By yourself?"

"Yes. It seemed inappropriate to help him with the food, somehow, so I wanted to stay busy."

Ed's laugh bellowed around them. "Inappropriate? Nikki, sometimes you really slay me."

She shrugged and smiled.

"And he didn't by chance see you in that fetching birthday suit of yours?"

"No, I don't think so. He seemed to go to great pains not to watch me. He's such a gentleman, Ed."

"A gentleman with a big, black dick."

"He can't help what God gave him!" She laughed.

"What else happened?"

"Well, I told him that I'd seen him in the shower this morning."

"Whoa." Her boldness never ceased to amaze him. "That's a smooth opener."

"I figured 'why not?' Might as well get down to business. He was mortified, of course, but it seemed like a perfect opportunity to wiggle into a sexual realm without actually getting sexual."

"Oh yes. Very ... appropriate."

She giggled. "Well, I think it was a good segue into things. He told me that he's actually been involved in shipboard romances before—sometimes the husbands even watch!"

Well, well, Ed thought. Charles was no stranger to hanky panky on the high seas, after all. He wondered how Nikki had steered the conversation to get him to make such a disclosure, but felt too tired to ask. He had a bigger question in mind.

"Did that make you wish I'd watch you with him?"

She took another swallow and the tinkle of her ice cubes filled in the silence. "Maybe. It could be fun for you. But he and I will never get to that point, that is. Because I told him outright that nothing would happen!"

He inhaled deeply. Only a few months ago, he would have been appalled by the notion that watching another man with one's wife could be erotic. Now it seemed not only erotic but worthy of consideration. "You said that openly?"

"Yes right. That's what I said," she said decisively and put her glass on the small table next to her chair. "I told him it was flirting only and that I loved you too much for anything to happen. I hope you don't mind but I did tell him that we had a negative experience in that area, without going into details of course. I think he was a bit confused about my flirting and you being around. I think he thought we were swingers at first." she giggled. "So he knows that its harmless fun, and so do you." She didn't seem angry or irritable about it, which was a great relief to him. "I'm going down to the cabin to dress for dinner," she announced, getting to her feet. "If you're up to it, I've got a few presents for you if you'd care to join me."

The setting sun behind her nearly naked, exquisite body gave her the unlikely appearance of a goddess. Between the light and her white bikini, she looked both pure and wicked, a lethal combination. He desperately wanted whatever gifts she intended to bestow on him, and followed her to the cabin.

With another woman, he might have doubted his ability to perform after so many whiskeys. But not with Nikki.

Making allowances for his slightly addled brain and less than stellar reflexes, she took control. His clothes, what few there were of them, came off when and in the order she decided they would. He stood perfectly still while she undressed him, except that his cock responded to every touch. And every protracted minute made him harder.

When he was naked and more than a little wobbly—standing upright with an erection was tough enough, but even more challenging with too much alcohol in the bloodstream—she pressed her bikini-clad body against him and gave him a long, slow kiss. It was a kiss that contained a multitude of messages, and deciphering all of them became a sudden priority for him.

The warmth of her skin and the undulations that started at her pelvis and ended at her head conveyed the seriousness of the kiss. This was not a quick prelude to darker, nameless passions but a moment unto itself. Her body told him to pay attention to the kiss, concentrate on it. He tried.

Her mouth, sensuous and open, met his with dizzying tenderness. Because she explored him so slowly, so deliberately, he began to understand what it felt like to swoon. His knees became untrustworthy as his whole body melted from her kiss.

When her hand cupped his balls, he instinctively reached out to hold on to something, anything, that would steady him. She sensed his need for support and manoeuvred him to the bed, where she lowered him and ultimately laid him down. Her hand never left his sac.

In contrast to her careful, calculated pleasuring was her repressed passion. He felt it struggling to break free. She rarely forced herself to slow down where sex was concerned. Why was she doing it now? Because she thought he was too drunk to go faster? Ultimately, though, the reason didn't matter. Ed found that he liked this new pace, this excruciating exploration, even though he couldn't remember when he'd last exhaled.

She stood before him and as he watched, she wiggled out of her bikini bottoms as if they were unbearably hot. Then she straddled him. The heat between her legs hit his cock like a sauna. She looked into his eyes and he saw the wild, untamed beast that lurked behind them. Her hunger frightened him, especially since he sensed that it was completely for him and not for Charles.

"I want you so much," she whispered, undoing the mysterious clasp of her bikini top as she looked down at his face. "Suck my tits for me. Hard."

He wasn't so drunk that he couldn't find his target. She brought her firm, pink nipple to his mouth but he met her halfway, taking as much of her firm breast into his mouth as his lips would permit. He sucked. Hard.

He licked the small patches of untanned skin around her nipples previously engulfed by his mouth. He sucked again. Harder this time.

She slid her very slick pussy along his cock. He felt the tip brush her hard bead of a clit over and over.

"Do you want to feel your cock going up inside me?" She asked as she inserted his dick into her wetness. He nearly jumped at how warm she was. The walls of her pussy tightened around him. She slithered her hips downward, toward his thighs, to put him in deep. Then she hit him with it."I saw Charles cock hard today through his pants it was huge.Do you think I could even take it all?"

She planted her hands on either side of his shoulders so he could continue to suckle at her breast. Her eyes fluttered as she spoke. She came down more firmly and faster on his cock.

"Can you imagine how that cock would fill me up? Oh my, God, Ed," she panted. "Suppose I couldn't even fit all that cock in me?"

Her juices were suddenly all over the insides of her thighs and his balls. Despite all the cream, however, her internal grip didn't loosen. Her pussy muscles drew him in and up with a powerful force. The force of her desire. But for which man he wondered?

Whiskey or no, he wouldn't lay there wondering just who she was really fucking. He removed his mouth from her swollen nipple and rolled her onto her back without taking his cock out of her. She was so far into her fantasy, she didn't seem to notice the shift.

He nearly trembled as he drove his cock into her with more determination than ever. This was his wife, not Charles's. His cock in her, not his. His semen soon to be shooting into her depths.

But all he could see was that fucking dark slab of flesh, hard as steel and bigger than any sex toy they'd tried, impaling her. All that was in mind was Charles's black dick relentlessly drilling his beautiful wife, covered in her juices. He saw her slit stretched to its limit while she tried to take in more.

"Oh, yeah, fuck me," she wailed. "Fill me up!"

Her eyes were on him but seemed to look right through him. His come surged from his scrotum, a pack of wild horses crazy with freedom. His release thundered through him, leaving him shaken and dazed, and when he could finally focus on Nikki, he saw the thin sheen of sweat that coated her body.

"Damn, that was good," she whispered, green eyes glowing with delicious satisfaction.

The sex helped Ed regain his appetite as well as some sobriety. When dinner was served, he actually felt like eating it.

Charles was the epitome of professionalism as he served all three courses. Smiles were in abundance and nothing but pleasantries tumbled out of anyone's mouth. Ed kept waiting for Nikki to invite Charles to join them for dinner, but she didn't. Yet, neither was she cold or aloof toward their captain/cook.

He sensed something else between Nikki and Charles a relaxation of sorts. The tension wasn't there anymore. He felt relieved and then he felt himself relax. Ed wanted to kiss her for allowing the two of them to have some time as a couple, especially after she'd spent the afternoon with Charles.

"How did that Fleischman deal ever come out?" She asked him, referring to the phone call he'd made that morning. Although she had little to no involvement in his work, she had a wonderful knack for recording pertinent details about deals and clients and business partners. It was one of many reasons he felt she was the ideal wife for him.

"I think it's going to go off as planned. The building commissioner was to meet with Jonathan this afternoon to tie up the ordinance details. I don't think there'll be any problems."

"Great!" she looked at him and took another forkful of the mango salsa Charles had topped the evening's fish with. "Isn't that the building you were thinking about moving us into?"

"It was indeed," he said, delighted that she'd remembered. "The penthouse will be available in two months. In fact, when we got home, I was going to see how you felt about moving there as soon as it was vacant. And upgraded, of course."

"No problem for me, although I do love your place. Metropolitan Home ought to do a piece on it."

"Wait'll you see the new one. A view of two bridges, parking for two cars, and two master bedrooms."

"Two is obviously the operative word! It sounds wonderful. I can't wait to see it. And to live in it!"

He described the layout and she tendered some decorating ideas. The talk turned to which friends would be most envious and which ones most often invited. They discussed the pros and cons of keeping Ed's current condominium as a second retreat, with Ed pointing out that he felt it was important to start fresh.

"Besides, with the money from that sale, I thought we'd get something in New England. Something with a lawn for when the city seems too gray."

Neither of them seemed to even notice Charles as he cleared the dishes for each subsequent course. Ed's heart felt full, aching with gratitude to have his wife back. And then he realized she had never gone. Maybe the whole issue with Charles was an obsession in his own mind that had run its course. Or maybe it didn't consume her to the extent that he'd thought—maybe even if she acted on it, no harm would be done to their marriage. He knew she was attracted to him and he knew things were better somehow. He decided not to think about it and just enjoy the beautiful evening they were having.

They moved to the small bench at the other end of the deck to enjoy their after-dinner drinks. Ed stuck with whiskey but Nikki sipped sherry. The ocean continued its calm, and the balmy night air was neither too hot nor too sticky. It was the honeymoon Ed had envisioned, and he wanted to savour it for as long as he possibly could. Nikki was her old self, vivacious and confident, with eyes only for him. Under the Caribbean full moon, everything seemed possible.

"May I bring you anything else?" Charles asked after he'd removed all serving pieces and cleaned up in the galley.

"Nothing at all, Charles. Everything was simply perfect," Ed told him."Why don't you join us for a drink?" he heard himself ask without feeling tense about it at all.

Nikki looked only slightly surprised and didn't seem bothered either way which relaxed Ed further.

"Oh, I don't know," Charles said, looking from Nikki to Ed with undisguised doubt.

"Please. We haven't seen you all night. Just one drink." Nikki added. She gave him her most winning pout. Ed knew what the man's answer would be before he even spoke it. And yet, he felt no need to protest or express disapproval. The night had been so gratifying, such a confirmation of Nikki's love and affection, and nothing about Charles anymore seemed likely to change that.

Charles still hesitated, obviously waiting for Ed to insist. Ed caught a strange look of guilt on Charles's face again. Was it actually there or did Ed assign it to him because of his own suspicions? Ed considered himself a good judge of people, and there was simply nothing about Charles to inspire dread or misgiving. It was only natural that he found Nikki attractive—what man wouldn't? Perhaps he took his own attraction to her too seriously and feared that Ed would mistrust him because of it. Somehow, Ed would have to let him know that thinking about fucking his wife and acting on it—without his permission—were two entirely different things.

Or maybe Charles wondered whether Ed, too, had seen him naked in the shower. Perhaps he feared that Ed saw his display as intentional—a kind of lure for Nikki that he couldn't hope to compete with. Oh, stop it, Ed told himself. Just have a drink with the man and stop analyzing the situation to death.

"Really Charles, we'd love it if you'd join us. Please pour yourself whatever you'd like. The night's too beautiful not to enjoy it with a fine glass of something intoxicating."

Relief spread across the black man's face. "Thank you," he said. "I'd love to join you."

With a snifter of brandy in his broad, dark hand, Charles leaned against the deck railing and inhaled what was probably the first relaxed breath he'd had all night. "Ah, there's nothing like a night at sea, is there?"

"Ah, but there's something about these islands that's unlike anywhere else on the planet," Ed added. "Something indescribable. It's restless and serene at the same time. The ocean lulls but promises something. Do you know what I mean or is this whiskey just taking over again?"

Charles grinned and nodded. "No, I know exactly what you mean. No matter how long I live in this part of the world, I never take it for granted. It's magical."

Nikki took Ed's hand and squeezed it gently. Out of the corner of his eye, Ed saw her beaming with what he could only label accomplishment.

A couple of hours passed on the ship's deck, where the three of them exchanged sea-faring tales and nautical mishaps so amusing that nobody noticed the passage of time. Nikki was in her element—men in good spirits surrounded her and laughed at her jokes. Ed had always underestimated her raconteur skills, but tonight, they were very much on display.

"Now, I wasn't going to tell him that I didn't know the bow from the stern, so when he gave me the order, I knew I only had a fifty-fifty shot of getting it right," she paused in her story for effect. Both men, silent and smiling, waited for her to continue. She had them in the palm of her hand. "If I made a mistake, I'd embarrass myself, which was bad enough, but I'd embarrass Ed, which I thought would be much worse. I couldn't take the risk of either one.

"I desperately needed a distraction. And there was Nadine, just standing there, hoping everybody envied her Bill Blass cruisewear. I remembered all the times she tried to make me look like a bimbo because she wanted Ed herself—"

"Oh, now, Nik. That's not true," Ed protested. His smile made his objections unconvincing.

"It's true! She always treated me like I came from the wrong side of the tracks or something. So, anyway, I see her there. I know the captain is waiting for me to act on his orders, and I panic. I think 'I've got to get out of this. I have no idea what I'm doing!' Right at that moment, Nadine caught my eye and gave me that condescending little smirk, and God help me, I don't know what hit me, but I pretended to trip on my heel and sent her flying into the Atlantic!"

Ed laughed. Charles's eyes widened. "You pushed her overboard?"

"Well, 'push' is a relative term," she said, laughing so hard that her eyes teared. "Let's just say she was in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Ed couldn't stop laughing either, recalling the incident vividly. "Poor Nadine. She never knew what hit her."