Caribbean Passion Ch. 09

It was Canaveral Day. The ship was docked; the passengers had disembarked; the comment cards had been written by them and given to the Pursers Office.

Dave Richards approached the front desk, then went around the back to enter the back office, where Chief Purser Rachel Johnson was supervising Edward. "You wanted to see me," began Dave.

"Yes, Dave, thanks -- step into my office."

"Oh, really?" smirked Richards. "That bad?"

Rachel raised her eyebrows and shrugged. "Come and see."

Dave Richards followed Rachel Johnson into her separate office further back. Rachel was in he officer's uniform of all white, Richards in the Cruise Department's usual golf shirt and slacks.

"All right, sit down," sighed Rachel, motioning to the chair opposite her desk. She flopped into her own on the other side. Grabbing a sheaf of comment cards, she tossed the top one in front of Richards. "This comment came in this morning. Apparently, your new Social Hostess was seen by a passenger having intercourse with the DJ two nights ago."

"What!" cried Richards.

"It was late and they were in the DJ Booth."

"Man," remarked Dave.

"The passenger was female, young, American. Came to the front desk this morning in a foul mood. Edward gave her this comment card to fill in."

Dave picked it up, glancing at the angry penstrokes of the passenger's writing.

"She said a comment card was hardly enough. Edward had to call me to the desk. It took me a long time to smooth her over."

"How was she at the end?"

"Not much better than at the beginning. Says she's thinking about reporting the company."

"To whom?"

Rachel looked at him. "Whomever she thinks, I guess."

"Hmph! I thought this new girl was better than the old one."

"Well, it sounds like she has quite an active sex life."

"Hmmm, well, considering what she looks like -- I guess she's in demand!"

Rachel glanced over. "The fact is, I'm not sure who's responsible -- her or the DJ."

"I suspect the DJ. He's been wild and crazy since he came on the ship. I mean, that's part of his job, to be the life and soul of the party..."

"I rather think you're right." Rachel continued. "I've heard rumours about him. I've heard from other staff that he's been chatting up other passengers."

"I think he likes the women vacationers."

"The men, too, I've heard."

"WHAT!"

"Well, just rumours. He was seen a couple of cruises ago spending a long time talking to a young, twentysomething male passenger. I think something was going on."

"Right, well!" announced Richards, standing up. "I guess I'm going to have to have a word -"

"And I think this isn't the first time Ramon and her have done this."

"Oh, really?"

"One of your own staff told me they went back to Ramon's room on the first cruise she was here."

"Hmmm, I see."

Rachel stood up and walked over to the door. "The thing is -- we can't afford to let the Deck Officers find out -- you know how they treated Lisa. Plus we don't want passengers reporting us to the shoreside office. The last thing we want is Madson Banner finding out."

Richards turned to her. "Banner? You think the owner might hear?"

Rachel shrugged. "Anything's possible. The only thing is -- I'm the liaison between the ship and shore and I don't want any heat from shoreside. I'll try my best to smooth it over but -"

"OK, I get it. I'll deal with it."

Lucia was out on the Lido, finishing up her coffee. She had had breakfast when the passengers were there, and now she was alone, except for a couple of deckhands swabbing the deck and the bartender at the Lido Bar clearing up some glasses.

She stretched her long, elegant legs out under the plastic table and parasol as she looked out over Port Canaveral. So sex with Ramon the night before last had been a bit impromptu but she had been fired up by his enthusiasm and energy. Plus the massage with Edward had been relaxing -- he had managed to figure out exactly how to create the atmosphere a woman needed to express herself -- sexually or otherwise. Then there had been that odd conversation with Pablo, where he just up and left. What was up with him? Then she had met a handsome passenger last night who had chatted her up just enough for her to make out with him for a few minutes. That's all that had happened because Marcia had intervened to remind her about Edward's massage. She had followed Marcia back to the cabin but not before checking out the hot guy in the Miramar that Carmen had been getting physical with.

This had been a wild two cruises. Was this normal for cruise lines? She took another sip of coffee. Hmmm! Was this even normal for her? So basically she had got the hots for five different guys in four days, including two sessions with Ramon. The hottest guy was Pablo but he had disappeared, it seemed. She frowned. It wasn't like her to get sexed up so quickly, with so many guys in such a short time. Back in Brazil, she had only got physical with Jorge and usually after dance practice and especially after competitions. The passion and the rhythm made her horny and she needed release from what had built up during the dancing.

Maybe that was it. She had done a lot more dancing than normal, what with stepping up on stage with Ramon on the first night, then spending time in the Disco. Back home, she usually had dance practice twice a week, Tuesdays and Saturdays, where she would need to take some "me time" in the shower the next day sometimes to get the tension out, then go out with Jorge on Saturday night, where they would either go somewhere private or else she would get home late and do some self-loving in bed. At least she hadn't done that yet on the ship. There had been no need what with all these guys around.

That was another thing. She was away from home, away from Mum and Dad, away from friends from school and away from Jorge. She remembered how they had agreed to be apart while she travelled. So, quite simply, she had been a free agent, able to do whatever, whenever, with whomever, with little or no fallout, in a totally different environment, on a ship her friends at home didn't even know the name of, in a country totally different to all she had known before. As a result, she had been behaving like a hot babe on holiday who just hooks up with guys she likes because no one at home will find out - but on steroids.

Lucia felt annoyed with herself. Huh! She hadn't even begun to think whether she even wanted to behave like this; she had just been reacting to everything and hadn't had time to think. She always got horny with dancing, though. What could she do about that?

"LUCIA!" yelled a female voice. Lucia turned. It was Marcia. "Lucia! Oh, you're here!"

"Yeah, sure."

"Get inside, quick, Dave wants to see you and he's on the warpath."

"Really? Right. Where is he?"

"He'll meet you in the Miramar. He looks bummed."

"OK." Lucia swung her long legs out from under the table, drained the remainder of her coffee and walked rapidly towards the bar. Leaving the cup with the bartender, who smiled, she breezed through the door into the Cafe Miramar.

Dave Richards was there, and he wasn't pleased. "Lucia." He gestured towards a table and pulled out a chair for her. "Marcia, make yourself scarce."

"Fine." Marcia raised her eyebrows at Lucia as she came near her. "Tell me later."

"Will do," replied Lucia.

Lucia sat down at the table opposite Dave Richards.

"Lucia, you've only been here a short time and you're already giving me headaches."

"What's up?"

"THIS is up." He tossed the comment card Rachel Johnson had passed him earlier. "This is a complaint from a passenger about you."

"Oh, I -"

"She says she saw you and the DJ having sex in the DJ Booth two nights ago."

Lucia's eyes widened in horror. It couldn't be true! She hadn't seen anyone! "Well, I -"

"I've had it up to here with Social Hostesses with a reputation that needs to be lived down. What were you doing there?"

"Ramon was showing me his equipment."

"EQUIPMENT?"

"I mean -"

"Huh! It wasn't the sort of equipment I want you to see!"

"Well -"

"Must have been pretty impressive!"

"Dave -"

Richards pointed at her angrily. "Hear this! I don't want any more scandals about Social Hostesses on this ship! My last one had to leave for that kind of thing. I also happen to know that this wasn't the first time you've done this, and this is only your second cruise."

Lucia stomach dropped. Who had told?

"Listen, you're new here. There are a thousand crew on this ship. That sounds like a lot but it isn't. Really, believe me -- word gets around fast. Everyone knows everybody's business. Everybody's having relationships, getting together, falling out, all the time -- you name it. It's part of the life here. You put one thousand people from all different cultures all in one place where they live with each other twenty-four hours a day, in tropical sunshine with a bunch of passengers on holiday -- stuff happens. A lot -- and you've fallen right into it like you were born here."

"I'm sorry, Dave." Lucia was crestfallen.

Dave Richards softened. "Look -- you made a mistake. You're a hot-looking woman. Your private life isn't my business -- at least, until something like this happens. Then it has to be my business, especially since the passenger is threatening to report the cruise line."

"Oh, no!"

"Just -- be a bit more discreet. I don't want the Deck Officers finding out. It's up to you who you hang out with, I can't stop you from having relationships, and I sure can't stop people chatting you up! Remember, people don't just work here -- they live here, too. Just make very sure you do it quietly."

"OK." Lucia looked down, mortified.

"I'll talk to Ramon, too. In truth, he's starting to annoy me. He needs to calm down -- I'm getting pretty irritated with his crazy junk."

Lucia looked at him.

"All right. That's today's lecture over. Don't worry about it too much. Just get back to work -- and do your job!"

"OK, Mr. Richards."

"No problem." Richards stood up. "I'll go and read the riot act to Ramon now. Catch you later." He turned and walked off.

Lucia stared at her surroundings. "What on Earth..."

Down on First Deck, Lucia stormed over to the dancers' cabin. She knocked on the door, impatient. Presently, it opened. Carmen stood there. "Hey," began Lucia. "I just came over to ask you something."

Carmen stood there at the door. Her cabin was not too small, with a bunk bed on one side for her and Estella. Estella wasn't there. Carmen was, though. Her glossy, wavy hair was loose around her shoulders, the ends of her hair resting against her large, full, breasts spilling out of a sexy, silken red negligee that hugged her buxom, seductive figure and emphasized her plunging cleavage. Her thick, smooth-skinned legs were bare and her feet were shod in matching red slippers. Over her shoulders, she wore a floor-length dressing gown. She looked like she had got out of bed late. In fact, she had, but had spent the morning pottering about the cabin looking for make-up. She had a distinct feeling Estella had borrowed some without asking. "Oh, yeah? What's up?" she replied to Lucia.

"Everybody seems to know I spent the night with Ramon that night we danced in the Rendezvous. I figured you two might know something."

"Oh, well, it's not like it was too difficult to know where you guys ended up. What did you expect? Plus, walls are thin on the ship, you know."

Lucia got annoyed at this. "Hey, I didn't ask for this! What I do is MY business."

"Not around here it ain't." Carmen looked at her pointedly. "People find out."

Lucia jabbed her forefinger at her. "Only because people like YOU tell tales! How come Dave Richards knows?" She remembered the comment card. "Plus maybe the Pursers, too!"

Carmen took a step forward towards Lucia and frowned. "Look, honey, I don't like your tone! Fact is, I was the one who arranged Ramon to dance with you that night, so you should be -"

"I'm NOT a dancer."

"Oh, yeah? Could have fooled me."

"OK, I am -- but that's not my job! I'm the Hostess! I'm not paid to dance."

Carmen smiled. It wasn't a nice smile. "I know, honey." She quit leaning on the door and stood up straight. "The fact is, I'm hoping you stay that way; because we wouldn't want competition now, would we?"

Lucia's eyes widened. "What the -"

"I guess this is a warning. STAY IN YOUR LANE."

"WHAT!"

"See ya, Lucia." Carmen slammed the door in Lucia's face.

Lucia's banged her fists on the door. "Hey, open up!"

Carmen didn't.

Lucia heard her whistling inside, obviously ignoring her. Lucia, her face like thunder, turned to face the corridor and stormed off.

It was afternoon, at about two o'clock. The passengers for the next cruise were just starting to arrive and a handful had started boarding the "SS Oceanwave". The Rendezvous Lounge was empty, except for Pablo, who stood on the dancefloor/stage/whatever, looking at his watch. Carmen would be arriving soon for dance practice.

He was impatient to get on. He needed to pull off a great performance and wanted to impress Dave Richards. Richards had said he wanted to view their dance routine before he let the passengers see it. Fair enough, thought Pablo, but let's go. He had been at a loose end so far. He had got to know more about the passengers -- mainly middle-aged Floridians but a few hip, sexy women in their twenties who wanted to have fun, and he felt sure that some of that fun they wanted would be of a seductive nature.

That reminded him of Lucia in the Disco. He'd acted like an idiot in front of her. She had been seductive enough, hadn't she? Here he was, imagining hot sex with babelicious passengers, but Lucia, who was way hotter than any of the passengers he had seen so far, he had decided was untouchable. There had been Lisa's warning, yet back in the strip club, he had mainly had sex with customers, not staff. Here was a member of staff throwing herself at him, and he had got cold feet. Staff? Customers? Was it the same or different? Most people would say having sex with passengers was unethical on a cruise ship. Then again, most would say having sex with co-workers and starting relationships with them was unwise; but wait! Staff LIVE on the ship -- they don't just work on it. There were probably regulations against fraternizing with passengers but could the company prohibit everyone from conducting their normal love lives when they live here, too? Yet back in the club, he and the other strippers would have their pick of cute female customers, who would all be more than willing to say yes to just one night with Pablo, let alone a whole relationship. Yes, but that was sex industry work. Stripping counts as sex work. Yet stripping is not sex. It's just taking your clothes off for money. Any actual sex is unpaid and after hours, so when the sex happens, they are not customers any more. Yet here, on this ship, he was being paid to live here twenty-four hours a day, yet only for being a dancer, which was a couple of hours a night. He had bags of free time to conduct relationships. Yet, during those free hours, he was still a member of staff the whole time, so it wasn't after hours. Plus United States law doesn't even apply more than two miles offshore, anyway. Huh! What on Earth were the rules? Pablo felt confused.

And another thing -- since when had he started caring about rules? He had broken them ever since he had left home. Since when had being a stripper been anything but colouring outside the lines? Then he had met Lucia, a gorgeous woman, and this job was a new start. It WASN'T sex industry stuff. He had got cold feet with her because he wanted a different life. Lucia had been the first woman to approach him full-on, yet this wasn't some sex industry thing or some eager one-night-stand customer that he had picked up. She had been an amazing-looking woman who wanted him. A normal woman, who wanted normal sex (whatever she thought that was), maybe even a normal relationship, in a normal life. What did all that even look like? Pablo felt surprised at himself for how he felt. Perhaps there were downsides to having women constantly available. His younger self had never thought there could be but now, Pablo wasn't so sure.

"Pablo!"

Pablo turned to see Carmen walk in. She was wearing a slinky, red dress, red high heels and golden earrings. Her lustrous hair fell in waves down to her full, ample breasts, that spilled into the flimsy material. A daring slash up to the thigh revealed her smooth, creamy, thick, toned legs. "Hello," said Pablo, smiling.

"Well, hi!" smiled Carmen back. "Ready for dance practice?"

"Got any music?"

"Wait here -- there's some at the back." Carmen walked to the back of the Rendezvous Lounge to where the controls were for the sound and lighting. Pablo watched her as her bubble butt swayed on the high heels. She looked great, he thought.

Suddenly, merengue music began. Carmen looked at Pablo, smiled and made her way back to the stage. Pablo held out his hands to receive her and the two of them took up the starting position. "Show me what you've got," said Carmen.

On the beat, Pablo moved forward, dominant. Carmen acquiesced, moving backwards as the mirror to his actions. Pablo's steps were sure and he knew what he was doing. With one hand on her waist, he could feel Carmen's flesh moving beneath the material of her dress. It wasn't hard, but toned and fleshy, curvy, almost voluptuous, although she didn't have the fat for that. She had obviously been dancing for a long time and had the body to prove it. She was all woman, and Pablo liked that.

Carmen was excited. Pablo was dominant. His powerful body was sure, steady. He knew the steps and she felt comfortable in his arms. As he spun her around, she could feel his large hand on her waist. The mixture of confidence and the manly way he held her affected her, making her feel submissive, although that wasn't her usual nature. She gazed down at the white, casual shirt he was wearing. The top two buttons were undone, revealing a muscled, manly chest, plus the rolled-up sleeves of the garment revealed powerful arms that had obviously been honed in the gym. She smiled coyly as the dance continued.

She stepped forward, forcing him to wrap his arm around her waist. Now she could feel his strength as her body pressed up against his chest.

Pablo felt strong as he held her. He looked down and drank in the sight of her huge breasts, their creamy, almost luminous skin and the deep, deep cleavage between. To his delight, they were the kind that quivered with her every move, waves and ripples seeming to move across the surface. Pablo had only seen breasts like that in videos or on TV but he never thought he would meet a woman who actually had them. He drew in his breath. He felt insanely aroused. This translated into a burst of energy as his hands slid around her waist as she moved, the mixture of erotic desire and womanliness awakening his masculinity to a higher dominance.

Carmen heard his sharp intake of breath and felt, rather than saw, the way he gazed at her breasts. She smiled to herself. Her girls never let her down -- always her secret weapon when seducing men. She allowed his hands to encircle her waist as she pushed herself closer to him.

The music reached a climax. Pablo growled as he made his best, most sweeping moves. Carmen was his equal, easily able to keep up. Finally the music ended and Pablo released Carmen from his hands. He walked over to nearby chair and sat down to get his breath back. Carmen followed and sat down next to him. She leaned over seductively, knowing full well her girls would be doing their best work if she did. "Well, it seems you know what you're doing," she remarked.

Pablo looked at her. "Spoken by a woman who obviously has experience in these matters," he smiled.