A Nerd in Paradise

"I like that," she nodded, "we could use that."

"We're going to have to balance that off with lighter fare this afternoon, aren't we?"

"Look at you thinking like a director," she said with a chuckle, "swimming with the rays should fit the trick."

I shook my head at how she murdered the English language so regularly.

We picked up Siobhan and went to lunch where I ate tuna tartare with fried green bananas and breadfruit which Linda tasted and seemed to enjoy, while Siobhan shuddered at the idea of eating raw fish. The dish was a blend of raw tuna, avacado, ginger and spices. Linda had Blackened Red Snapper and Siobhan ate a hamburger. Linda photographed me eating my raw tuna.

"Describe what it tastes like," Linda ordered.

"The tuna has an almost beefy texture, and there is little of the fishy or the canned tuna taste. It pairs well with the avacado which gives the dish a nice mouth feel. The ginger supplies a pleasant tingle to the tongue not unlike eating Buffalo Wings. It doesn't taste like tuna sushi either. There's a fresh clean lemony taste to it not unlike what you get from the freshest boiled shrimp dressed with lemon juice and a bit of sweetness but I have no idea where it comes from. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys trying new flavor combinations."

After lunch we rode a taxi to Manta Ray City.

"Siobhan, why don't you take the lead on this one," I offered as we bumped along in the tiny VW cab.

"Why?" she asked, "is it dangerous or something?"

"No, I've spent a lot of time in front of the camera lately and you look better in a bathing suit than I do, so if it's okay with Linda," I glanced at her and she nodded, "you talk and I'll be your sound man."

The smile I got from Linda told me that I had done the right thing.

After a ten minute speed boat ride out to shoals atop a reef, and a brief talk by the guide, Linda, Siobhan and I slid over the gunwale into the clear, warm, waist deep water.

I followed in the wake of the women watching where I placed my feet. Rule number one was don't step on the rays, I also scanned ahead making sure I yielded to any incoming rays since rule number two was don't piss off the rays.

About a couple hundred yards beyond the boat was a sun drenched islet in the background, Siobhan turned, did her spiel into the camera once I was in position, then dumped half a bucket of bait into the water surrounding her. Within moments the rays swarmed around her. The bait which were tiny little shrimps so small that they looked like a cloud in the water did their job.

"This is a little bit scary," she related as she stood with her arms held high, "but our guide assures me that there is nothing to worry about."

"What does the ray's skin feel like?" Linda prompted.

"The rays feel very odd. It's like a woman in a velvet dress brushing up against my arm."

Linda stopped filming to slide on a polarized filter over the lens, "Okay, now spread the second half of the bait close to your body.

"I'm not sure I like this," Siobhan said as she dumped the bait bucket inches away from her stomach.

The water around her roiled from the flapping of the huge rays.

"I'm getting some tremendous footage," Linda announced as she pointed the camera at the churning water and the rays, "put your hands down into the water and let the rays swim into them.

"The texture is so amazing," Siobhan said, "one has stopped beneath my hand, it's like it wants me to stroke it."

"I can see why the third rule they told us was to not grab at the rays, because it's almost like they want us to hold them," she smiled up at the camera, "this is the most amazing thing I've ever done, and I'm so glad that I get to share it with you."

Siobhan pointed at the invisible audience inside the camera.

She got enthusiastic at that point and squatted in the water letting the rays surround her. When one at her back tried to swim over her, she stood up and Linda got the most remarkable shot of the huge ray draped across her shoulders like a shawl.

"That's it, Siobhan, that's the money shot," Linda whispered as Siobhan slowly sank back into the water freeing the ray.

"Do you think we need anymore shots?" Linda asked me.

"I'd love to see one with a ray and Siobhan face to face."

I grabbed the bait bucket from Siobhan and waded back to the boat where I begged a half gallon more of bait from our guide, and slogged back with the bucket.

"Squat down in the water," I directed Siobhan. Next I had Linda stand behind Siobhan with her camera pointed at the water two feet in front of the actress.

I dumped the bait onto the water and stepped back out of the frame.

"Begin filming."

A big ray rose to the surface and gobbled up the bait coming within inches of Siobhan's face. I gave her credit. She didn't faint or scream or turn away.

"Ohmigawd, that is perfect," Linda murmured to herself filming the wild life encounter close up, "the company will flip over this shot."

The encounter ended as quickly as it began. Once they had eaten the bait, the huge rays glided off into deeper water. We waded back to the boat.

"That was amazing," I said to Siobhan, "not many people would be willing to get that up close and personal with a ray."

She broke into a wide smile that stayed on her face for the rest of the day.

Our dinner that evening was at a tiny restaurant to the south of the tourist area in St. John's. Linda discovered it on a website about Antigua. While the atmosphere was lacking, the food struck amazing notes on taste buds I never knew I had.

For dinner I ate black pudding which is pig blood and chopped up internal organs mixed into rice and cooked. I explained what it was on camera and then tasted a forkful of it.

"There's a strong taste of iron from the blood while the liver and the kidney chopped into it gives a strong earthy taste. It's not an unpleasant taste, and it's one that you might like if you enjoy the flavor of internal organs like liver or kidneys. The spiciness comes in the aftertaste that slowly grows into a slow burn that requires frequent sips of beer to keep tamped down. An adventurous eater like myself will enjoy the meal, but I would recommend that most people choose something else."

I did savor the Ducana which are similar to tamales, but the sweet potato and the coconut filling was wrapped in a banana leaf rather than a corn husk. Linda shared one with me.

Siobhan, always the least adventurous eater among us, had salt fish and Johnny cakes which was salted cod and fried bread.

After that, we returned to the ship. It had been a long, hot day. As I was taking my shower, Linda stepped in.

"I'm so tired, I may need you to hold me up," she said sliding her arms around my neck.

I pulled her close to me. "That happens to be a service I offer."

I washed her hair and rinsed it then soaped up her body paying particular attention to her breasts and groin finding her clit and stroking it until she wiggled around my finger. After I dried her off, I picked her up and carried her to the bed. I lay her down on her side, then crawled in and kissed her long and slow allowing her to draw a full measure of arousal from my lips as I did from hers.

"We shouldn't be doing this," she whispered as I took one nipple in my mouth while I rolled the other one between thumb and forefinger, "one time can be construed as forgetting who we are in the throes of passion. Two times is an affair." Then she grimaced, "that's really nice what you're doing right there."

Linda made cute little cooing sounds as I worshiped her breasts.

"I agree, we shouldn't be doing this," I echoed back as I switched breasts. She mewed in the most charming way.

"We need to be professional," she said followed by a little moan as I kissed her again while resting my hand on her flat tummy, "hook ups never work in this field."

"We need to be professional," I agreed as I switched to her other breast, "but this isn't a hook up. I am totally enamored with you. I want our relationship to last far beyond this trip."

She and I were beginning to breathe heavily. My hand slid to her waist, and then over her hip. That was when she reached down and grabbed my cock.

"That volcano scared the Hell out of me this morning," she whispered after a moment of thought, "it was so big and so uncaring that all I could think of was holding you in my arms."

"That's the way I felt, too," I murmured kissing my way down her sweet body, "I love the soft tautness of your tummy against my lips and the sweet fragrance of her skin.

"We can't make love, but I can give you a hand job," she offered.

"Then I can do this."

I sat on the bed with my back against the headboard and pulled her to me between my legs,

"Pleasure yourself for me. I want to see what turns you on."

"I can't do that," she whispered, "I can't masturbate in front of a man."

"I'm behind you, not in front of you," I joked with a smile, "and I want to know how to pleasure you."

She began by running the pads of her fingers across her nipples.

"Can I try that now?"

She lowered her hands and I replaced them with mine. I began dragging the pads of my fingertips across her hardened nipples.

"My nipples are incredibly sensitive, do it with the lightest touch possible."

I adjusted my pressure on her nipples and was rewarded with a moan.

"That's perfect," she replied, "keep doing that."

Her hands slid down to her delta of Venus where she stroked her outer lips letting her middle finger go a little deeper into her slit with each pass.

Fascinated, I watched her. On her last pass she had three fingers two knuckles deep into her. A little tremor shook her as she removed her damp fingers.

"Let me taste your fingers," I whispered into her ear.

Before she could react, I took her hand and inserted those three fingers into my mouth.

"Why did you do that?" she asked.

"I wanted to taste you."

"How do I taste?"

"You taste warm and salty, but it's your aroma that drives me wild. It promises wonderful things to come."

She began strumming her clit barely touching it with her finger tips. Gradually the contact grew firmer until she gave a little 'yip' and tensed up as a good size orgasm shot through her. Afterward, she leaned against me breathing hard.

"I seem to lose all sense of propriety around you. I'm behaving like a slut."

"You're doing no such thing. I asked you to show me how to make love to you and you showed me. Now if you don't mind, I would like to practice what I've learned."

"What I want right now is to have you deep in me," she squeezed my thighs, "I'm too horny for anymore foreplay."

I lay her flat on the bed, pushed her legs apart without resistance and climbed between them. Before she could object I took a long slow lick from the bottom to the top of her crease feeling her arch up into my face as my tongue found her clit.

"You did that on purpose," she accused me.

I shook my head letting my chin graze her clit. "No, I swear, it was an accident," I declared obviously lying, "you were naked and my tongue saw where it needed to go."

I resumed my attention on her clit drawing a long slow moan from her as she arched up to meet my tongue.

"Oh, I like that a lot," she murmured.

I slid her lovely legs over my shoulders and continued stoking her arousal with my tongue.

"I'm so close, so close," she moaned then grabbed my head to hold it against her groin as she began thrashing in the bed.

I held on as she dug her heels into my back. When she relaxed, I gave her an experimental lick because some women like further stimulation after an orgasm while others don't."

"I'm way too over stimulated for that," she murmured as she pulled my head towards her face.

I crawled up beside her and stroked a breast while she caught her breath.

"You're absolutely the worst actor I've ever worked with. You can't screw your director."

"I'm not an actor, I'm an engineer. Am I the best engineer you've ever slept with?"

She rolled over to search my eyes.

"Right now you're an actor, and the first rule in this business is you don't sleep with the people you work with," she stroked my cheek taking the sting out of her criticism.

"This filming stuff has been fun, but I know it'll be over in two days and I'll go back to being an engineer," I replied stroking her ribs and waist. Her skin was soft and warm and incredibly smooth.

"You really don't know how good you are, do you?" she pulled my face to her and she kissed me, "m-m-m-m, I love the taste of me on you. It's like I'm marking you as mine."

She got back to business.

"Here's what I think is going to happen. I'm going to send off the twenty minute Curacao tape when we get back to home port. I've been editing it during the cruise. I'm pretty sure that the cruise company executives are going to love it, and they'll probably offer us a second cruise to work on for a lot more money provided we do the work together. Are you willing?"

"As long as it doesn't interfere with my translation business or with our time together in bed. I don't know if you know this, but I've developed a real passion for you."

"It shouldn't be a problem," after a little thought she said with a smirk, "there's a lot of down time in his business, and I should be able to fit you in in the evenings."

She kissed me again.

"I really need to fit you in me right now," she whispered with a come hither look.

I crawled into position over top of her, and she used her juices to whet the tip of my cock and then positioned it above her crease. I slid into her slowly maximizing the sensation for her and for me.

"Oh, that feels even better than I thought it would," she whispered through her grimace.

I began thrusting into her slowly paying careful attention to her. Soon she began rocking up to meet my down thrust and I knew she was enjoying what we were doing.

"So good," she murmured to herself. Her fingernails dug into my shoulder blades setting off a weird pleasure/pain response in me.

"Faster and harder," she demanded with her eyes closed as she neared her orgasm.

I complied and soon the erotic rhythm of our skin slapping together filled the room. She rocked her head from side to side then she lost her coordination. She opened her mouth for a silent scream, wrapped her arms around my neck, her legs around my thighs and clung to me like I was a life raft. I lost it when her lovely pelvic muscles clamped down on my cock and I pump and pumped into her.

After we had lain a while catching our breaths, Linda climbed atop me straddling my hips and pinning my shoulders to the bed with her hands. Her lovely breasts were in range of my hands so I stroked them as she began talking.

"Promise me you won't turn into a monster now that we're an item," she demanded.

"Why would I turn into a monster?" I asked liking the friction of our groins rubbing against each other.

"Men think they can boss a female director around once they've made love to her. It happens all the time."

"I don't even know which end of the camera I should point at an actor, how would making love to you make me qualified to direct the action?"

She grinned at me. "That's the attitude I like. I think we could go far working together, but you have to listen to me. Can you do that?"

I nodded. "As long as I can be an actor with benefits," I added.

She grinned at me, gripped my hardening cock and slid it back where it was happiest. I sat up taking her with me so that I could kiss her. I've always loved cowgirl position. The feel of breasts crushed against my naked chest as we kiss. It's the closest a man and a woman can come together. I slid my hands under her bottom and began raising and lowering her on my cock.

"How are you doing that? Doesn't your injured hand hurt" she asked running her hands across my chest and shoulders.

"I'm stronger that I look," I said with a grin, "and no, my hand doesn't hurt at all."

"You'd have to be strong, I'm not the daintiest woman in the world."

"You're far from the heaviest," I added with a smile, "and you're a burden I will gladly bear."

I laid her down on the bed and began long languid strokes into her. Her orgasm came quickly followed by another as I continued to stroke into her. Then I felt that tightening in my hips that grew into sweet agony before I locked up in ecstasy and pulsed and pulsed into her. I fell asleep after that spooned in next to her lovely sleeping body.

Day 9

We were slow getting out of bed in the morning. It was a day at sea which meant we would spend the day shooting features on the ship interspersed with a little groping and fondling if I had my way. Linda seemed ready for both. It was fun watching her bloom into a woman bent on sexual satisfaction. She had a wanton little smile only for me the promised sexual delights.

We were sitting in the forward dining room enjoying a leisurely breakfast as the ship passed island after island. Unlike the rest of the trip, we never passed completely out of sight of land. Instead, islands dark with mystery rose out of the sea. Most were small, but others like Puerto Rico took hours to pass.

We were enjoying our second cups of coffee when a ship's steward came up.

"You have a radio telephone call, ma'am."

"I'm pretty sure that's the cruise line calling," Linda said wiping her mouth on her napkin and standing, "I'll be back in a few minutes."

I watched her walk off thinking about how there were two very different women occupying that delicious body. There was the driven videographer determined to get the perfect shot. That woman was demanding and never happy with what she had, and there was the sensual woman who loved the intimate time we spent together. I hoped for her sake that it wasn't a video call since she was only wearing her bikini bottoms.

When I thought more about our relationship, she wasn't all that different from me. When I had an assignment that was all I thought about. In between assignments, I was more inclined to enjoy companionship.

I was so engrossed in my less than profound thoughts and my second cup of coffee that I did not see Flor until she pulled out a chair and sat next to me. She, like a good many women on board, had decided to spend most of the cruise wearing her bikini bottoms only. Most men, including myself wore a pair of shorts.

"Are things going well between you and Linda?" she asked.

"Very well," I replied with a smile.

Normally, I would have added more to my response, but a part of me wanted her to experience uneasiness considering what she had put me through over the past week. I let her screw up her courage as the silence between us widened. Was I being petty? Hell, yes. Did she deserve it? Absolutely.

"I think us becoming engaged was a really bad idea," she said looking down at her hands, "so I'm officially calling it off."

I wanted to say, 'No shit!', but in a fit of unanticipated maturity, I held my tongue. She had picked the place for our meeting well. There was no way I was going to make a scene with all of these people around.

"I treated you badly. It took me a while to figure out how my actions must have looked to you. I thought that you wouldn't mind. After all, this isn't the first time I've gone off with a man, and then come back to you. It's kind of our pattern."

"It was your pattern," I offered trying to keep the anger out of my voice, "you never asked me if I was happy with it."

She looked miserable, and I hated to see her that way, but what she had done to me was unforgivable. I steeled myself to break off our relationship because she wouldn't.

"Can we go back to the way it was before we became engaged?" she asked placing her hand on mine, "we need to get away from the events of this cruise."

She ignored what I had said making me even angrier.