A Nerd in Paradise

She rose up on her knees centered my cock under her and settled down on top of me. She kept her eyes locked on mine as she leaned over and offered a breast to me. Her eyes gazing into mine made me want to ravage her. I sat up so that I could take her in my arms and kiss her as she rode me.

"This is even better than I thought it would be," I whispered into her ear.

I raked my fingers down her back causing her to arch her breasts into my chest.

"Let's stay this way," she whispered back, "screw the old project, my new project is screwing."

I couldn't help but laugh.

"I'm giving you my best moves here, and you're cracking jokes. What do I have to do to get your attention?"

I stroked up into her and marveled at how soft and warm and slick she was. We fit together perfectly.

She wrinkled her nose.

"That's a good start, but I'm going to need more, a lot more."

"Lock your legs around my waist and hold on tight around my neck," I ordered.

I rolled over so that she was laying on the bed, and I was still inside her.

"Wow, you make me feel so petite," she whispered through a grimace of ecstasy as I took my time stroking into her.

At first she let me do all the work, but as she got more aroused she began raising her hips to meet my down thrust. She responded to me with irresistible passion so I didn't resist it. I continued stroking into her as she stiffened. The grimace on her face told me she was close. Her orgasm started bought her dinner and she had deserted me the first chance she got. I was done with her. The turtle wasn't off the totem pole yet, but at least its feet were wiggling.

I spent my evening up on the pool deck watching a fascinating tournament of strip volleyball where no one seemed all that upset when they lost. I did notice that the wild abandon of the early days on the cruise were over. Most women wore bikini bottoms and most men wore shorts of some sort. Clothing still continued to evaporate quickly pool side and in the presence of alcohol. I turned in early and alone. Crawling in bed with Linda would have been way more fun.

DAY 4

The next morning I was out of the shower and was drying myself when I heard a knock at my door. I answered with my towel wrapped around me and discovered an aggravated Linda.

"Flor and Gary must have had rough sex last night. Flor is in the infirmary with a couple of stitches in her forehead and a possible concussion, and Gary is minus two front teeth," she shook her head and pinched the top of her nose between her eyes, "that's what I get for hiring the cheapest help I could find."

"Flor had rough sex?" I shook my head, "she never wanted anything like that from me."

"I need you to focus," she snapped her fingers in front of my eyes, "Gary is the problem, not Flor. I need you to replace Gary in front of the camera."

"Me? What do I do with this bandaged hand?"

"Keep it behind your back when you're on camera. C'mon, we got to get down to the clothing shop."

She pulled me into the hallway and my hectic day began.

Curacao looked an awful lot like Aruba but it did have Ft. Nassau and the liquor distillery. I was still the sound man when the actress, what's-her-name, was on camera and she was mine when I stood before the camera. Since she avoided me, I never saw a reason to learn her name. At the distillery where Curacao liqueur is made, Linda shoved me in front of the camera. I was hesitant at first, but the very gracious lady giving the tour put me at ease. My inner geek kicked in moments later as we walked amid huge vats. I forgot about the cue cards asking my own questions instead. Before long we were sampling freshly squeezed cane sap, leaning over huge vats where bubbling yeast turned the sugary sap into alcohol, I sampled that also. We peered into huge vats where gunny sacks of spices and bitter orange rind soaked in rum. We also got to see the distillation unit, the blending room and the bottling plant.

"Wow, you did an amazing job," Linda said when the tour was done and we were packing up, "you're like a geek in paradise. You really stepped up to the plate and hit a hole in one."

I cringed at her twisted metaphor. "I got fascinated and forgot what I was doing. I hope I didn't make too many mistakes."

"Keep doing what you're doing. Your enthusiasm and your on camera presence are amazing. Watch what you're doing with you hands, though, your bandaged hand creeps into the frame every once in a while. You look pretty darn sexy in that safari outfit I bought you," she said with a bit of a leer, "when we review the video this evening, I'll give you a few technical pointers."

She studied me for a moment then smiled.

Just then the lady who had given the tour walked up.

"You were so interested in how me make the liqueur that I called an orchard owner on the island," the woman said in her lilting island accent, "he'll be happy to give you a tour of his bitter orange orchard as long as you don't disclose the location. They do not want to become a tourist destination," the lady handed a map to Linda, "they're waiting if you choose to go there now."

"Thank you very much," Linda replied, "tell him we're on our way."

We headed north into the interior of the island bouncing along dusty roads in a taxi until we came to the orchard where low trees thick with fragrant orange blossoms marched in precise rows beneath the bluest of skies. We shot video of the orchard from the car as we drove by. The processing building carried the strong scent of orange everywhere. The owner speaking broken English grinned when I mentioned the ever present aroma.

"It is...la primavera... when the orange trees...floria," he gestured with his hands imitating a flower opening.

"Bloom?"

"Si, it is... bunita."

I nodded in agreement. The orange trees in full bloom made the arid island look lush.

We toured the processing plant and the orchard. Once again, I let my geek out asking how he knew when the oranges were ripe, and how could he tell a good orange from a bad one since it was too bitter to taste? Eventually he turned poetic as he told how his orange trees kissed the soil, the rains and the sun of Curacao, and how each bottle of the liqueur made with his oranges sent that love across the world.

"That was amazing," Linda said as we drove back to Willemstad to tour Ft. Nassau, "you have a talent for interviewing. Would you be willing to take Gary's spot for the rest of the cruise?"

I turned sideways in the passenger seat so I could see both Linda and the actress in the back seat.

"Okay, it's not like I have anything better to do."

That made Linda smile while the actress in the back seat rolled her eyes. I didn't understand that, so I decided to ask Linda about it later.

Being trained as a civil engineer, I found the fort fascinating. It was fun standing on the parapet overlooking the harbor imagining what it was like directing cannon fire onto British and Spanish warships below. What was more fun was dining in the restaurant in the fort. I had a squash soup appetizer and salted pigtail stew which was delicious despite the name. The actress chose shrimp in garlic cream sauce and Linda ate the salmon tartare.

Linda broke out the camera as I and the actress were eating.

"What does the squash soup taste like?" Linda asked.

"It tastes like liquid pumpkin pie," I said keeping my bandaged hand beneath the table, "it's naturally sweet and aromatic from the cinnamon and the nutmeg. It's something both kids and their parents would love."

"What about the salted pigtail stew?"

"It's got a very garlicy, porky taste, and the meat is melt-in-your-mouth tender. The stew is a blend of yellow split peas, coconut milk, plantain, and dumplings. The North American palette would never put those ingredients together. The sweetness of the coconut milk pairs nicely with the pork. The taste is surprising and delightful. I would consider this to be a 'don't miss' meal for anyone traveling to the Caribbean, especially if you like a bit of island heat, but not too much."

After a few more shots of the shopping area featuring the actress who somehow looked better on film than in person, we returned to the ship. The actress had a normal size head on a tiny little body. It looked weird in person but fine on film. It made me wonder about how my too large head head looked on my too large body.

Linda and I reviewed the video after dinner. She seemed happy with my efforts, though I thought I looked stiff and gawky.

"Ugh, I turned my back to the camera," I said pointing out what I thought was an obvious mistake.

"That's fine," Linda replied, "I wouldn't get in the habit of doing it, but once in a while isn't a crisis."

She bit her lip and stared at me.

"I like your stage presence and more importantly, I think the cruise line will like your easy inquisitive style."

"Thank you."

I was drawn to Linda. She fascinated me. When she was on the job, she was a force of nature, and when she wasn't I found myself attracted to her because she was sweet, affectionate and feminine. There was the sexual element too, I'm fooling myself, but it wasn't the main reason why I liked being around her. She brought delight to my day. I wanted to know more about her.

We were sitting side by side at a small table viewing the day's video. I slid my arm around her waist and gave her a quick hug.

"What's that for?" she asked.

"Just 'cuz," I replied with a smile.

"I'm not sleeping with you."

I hugged her anyway and she leaned into me even as she protested.

"You need to get to bed. You've got a 7 a.m. appointment with a cosmetician and a hair dresser. You need to show up showered and ready to roll."

"Why do I need to see a cosmetician and a hair dresser?"

She patted my hand and let out a throaty chuckle.

"Welcome to show business, padawan. You have permanent hat hair, your eyes are too small and your nose is too big and an impressive unibrow. Make up and a good hair cut will cure all that," she gave me a quick peck on the cheek, "now get out of here. I got people to do and things to see. We're in Bonaire tomorrow."

DAY 5

The next morning after an ego deflating meeting where Linda and two Korean beauticians analyzed my face like it was an engineering problem that needed solving, I got my teeth bleached, spray tanned, a hair cut, my eyebrows shaped, and a three inch layer of what looked to me like clown makeup applied to my face. When they were done, they congratulated each other on the amazing job they had done salvaging my wreck of a face while slapping my hand any time I moved it close to my face. Not touching my itchy face all day would be a challenge. I looked one wig short of drag queen makeup, but Linda assured me that it would look natural on film.

I fell in love with Bonaire. While it was mostly tourist attractions like Aruba and Curacao, the residents seemed to have decided that the invading tourist hordes wouldn't change them. It reminded me of Paris in that way. We spent the morning land sailing. Large stretches of the island are mostly flat coral sand kissed by constant trade winds, the ideal setting for rolling around large swaths of the island's arid interior on three wheel scooters powered by a mast and sail. We spent the morning both sailing in and photographing the scooters gliding across the island in the stiff breeze. I managed to tip over a couple of times, but hurt nothing but my ego. I did pick coral sand out of my knees for a couple days afterward.

We devoted the afternoon to the nude resort on the island. We were given a tour of the facilities naked, of course, and were only allowed to film resort guests at a distance or above the waist for men and face only for the women. Wandering around the resort naked turned out to be second nature. My time aboard ship had desensitized me.

While I did the interviewing for the land sailing segment, the actress did the nude resort which was fine with me.

We finished the day at a funky open air shore restaurant where I dined on cerviche which was spicy prawns marinated with tropical fruits and vegetables. The strange part which I explained to the camera was that the prawns were uncooked. It was the lemon and lime juice in the marinade that made them safe to eat. While the marinade made the shrimp a little rubbery, the taste was unique. Lemon was what I tasted first followed by the mild, understated elegant taste of fresh shrimp along with the fatty taste of avacado, cucumber and Caribbean heat. The spice profile reminded me of Old Bay seasoning blended with the hottest chilies imaginable. The total lack of any fishy taste surprised me.

Linda dined on cauliflower and scallops when she wasn't filming me eating the cerviche. Chiffon or cotton/wool blend, the actress poked at her salt fish with ackee fruit after the chef came out and explained that he only cooks the ripest of ackee fruit because the unripe fruit causes vomiting and even death. After that, the actress pushed her food around her plate not eating a single bite more. I did sample it out of curiosity and found it salty, sweet, fruity and sea foody all at the same time. It tasted like nothing I had ever sampled before to my absolute delight. I told Linda that I would order it if I got the chance.

As we were packed up, Linda grinned at me.

"Thank you for choosing the strangest entrees on the menu. Viewers love stuff like that. Andrew Zimmern has made a career out of traveling the world eating unusual meals."

"I love trying new dishes," I shrugged, "food is so nourishing."

She gave me a sarcastic smirk. "Your command of the language amazes me."

"Thank you for saving my career," she added waxing serious, "I would never have gotten another assignment if I had stuck with Gary or if I had walked off the ship back in Orlando with nothing to show for my dozen days at sea."

I hugged her back and gave her a quick kiss before we loaded our equipment into the rented jeep and drove back to the town of Kralendijk to our docked ship. I was making progress. She didn't object when I kissed her.

Aboard ship, Linda and I fell into our routine. We stripped off our clothes and took showers in our respective rooms before we met over coffee in the office area where we both enjoyed the easy freedom of not wearing clothes, and I got the thrill of seeing her naked after imagining it all day long. We reviewed the day's footage before downloading it into her computer. I discovered at days end that my makeup did not make me look like a clown on film. Linda definitely knew what she was doing. That increased my admiration of her.

"We spend the whole day at sea tomorrow," Linda said, "that'll be a perfect time to work on your voice over so we can cut Gary out of the Aruba footage and insert you into it."

"How do we do that?"

"I'm going to transcribe the tour that the helicopter pilot gave us on Aruba, polish it, research a little to add to it, then you're going to read my script as I record you. We'll then sync your commentary to the helicopter tour. It sounds complicated, but you'll get the hang of it. When we get to Antigua, I've scheduled a helicopter tour of the volcano on Montserrat so we'll put you in front of a helicopter there to insert you into the footage on Aruba."

I must have looked confused.

"It'll all come together, you'll see."

Later that evening, I was climbing into bed when I heard a knock at my door. I opened it to Linda standing holding a piece of paper in her hand.

"They want to hire you," she said, "I sent them raw footage of you interviewing the guide as we toured the distillery on Curacao and they loved it. They're offering you five hundred dollars a day starting at day one of the cruise to film the rest of the travelogues. That's two hundred more dollars a day than they offered Gary."

She looked dazed.

"I knew you had talent, but I didn't think they'd go for it. This company is known for being stingy," she said shaking her head.

I pulled her into my room and sat her on the bed.

"Is it a good deal?" I asked.

"It is," she nodded.

"What's it mean if I accept?"

"It means you're my slave for the rest of the cruise and for a week afterward to get the travelogues together. We may even be offered other assignments on other cruises."

I pulled her into my arms and kissed her. It was a long slow kiss full of passion on my part. At first she stiffened, but then she relaxed into my arms allowing her breasts to rest against my chest. It was unlike me to be that bold, but she was all those wonderful things that drew me to a woman. She was smart, driven, beautiful, sassy, confident, alluring, naked, and she liked me.

"We can't do this, it's not professional," she protested from deep within my arms.

"I don't care. I'm attracted to you and you're attracted to me," I whispered into her ear before I nibbled on her earlobe.

"W-we need to set boundaries now that I'm your boss," she replied rubbing at the goose flesh I had raised on her arms.

"No," I replied as I stroked her bottom.

"What do you mean, no? I'm your boss," she frowned and looked ready to argue.

"I'm tired of waiting for you to come around. It's been six days in a tropical paradise," I began, "I find you beautiful, sexy, and the most desirable woman I've ever met and all I want to do is pleasure you. I know you're attracted to me. So no, I don't want a professional relationship. I want a romantic one with professional benefits. You can boss me around all day as long as I get to wine you, dine you and romance you all evening long. Those are my ground rules for our continued relationship. I want you here in bed with me every night for the rest of the cruise," I pecked her on the lips, "if things go well between us, who knows what will happen afterwards."

I settled in next to her.

"What about Flor?" she asked.

"Flor who?"

"Ha ha, very funny," she replied placing her hand on my chest, "how do I know you're not having revenge sex with me?"

I leaned over and kissed her tenderly allowing her to become the aggressor. She held back at first, but then took control slipping her tongue into my mouth as she ran her fingers through my hair. She pushed me down on the bed and climbed atop me.

"I've never had sex with a coworker. Don't make me regret doing it this one time."

She kissed me again as I ran my hands down her back stroking her lovely hips as I pulled her bikini bottoms down revealing her smooth, unfreckled buns.

"You won't, I've been drawn to you since that first day in the business office. You're an amazing blend of strong, competent woman yet feminine at the same time."

"What do you want me to be now?"

She pushed up off my shoulders to leer at me.

"Aroused?" I asked looking at her full ripe breasts above me.

That elicited a deep belly laugh from her as she slid her bikini bottoms all the way off.

"I can do that."

She sat up straddling my hips freeing my erection.

"Look what we have here. What should we do with this? I know," she held her pointer finger up like she had an idea, "I've had the hots for you since the first day when you helped me in the business center. You assisting me when I needed help and defending me against those four thugs on Aruba while useless Gary cowered doesn't hurt either."

She rose up on her knees centered my cock under her and settled down on top of me. She kept her eyes locked on mine as she leaned over and offered a breast to me. Her eyes gazing into mine made me want to ravage her. I sat up so that I could take her in my arms and kiss her as she rode me.

"This is even better than I thought it would be," I whispered into her ear.

I raked my fingers down her back causing her to arch her breasts into my chest.

"Let's stay this way," she whispered back, "screw the old project, my new project is screwing."