Cruise Romance Day 01: LA Port

This is an update to fix typos and misspellings. I've also changed the category to erotic couplings as I think that is a better match.

All my previous works have been straight-up BDSM stories, but I wanted to try creating an account about a mature couple falling into a female-led kinky love relationship on a cruise. Why a cruise, you ask. I enjoy cruising and have been on almost 50 of them in the last 23 years.

I plan a prolonged buildup to the establishment of this female-led kinky relationship. There will not be any sex acts in these early chapters. However, there will be in later chapters.

I'm also trying to write shorter submittals; therefore, each chapter will cover only one day of the cruise as William and Donna start their slow dance of love. Each chapter will be shorter than my regular chapters, so they should take less time to write.

Enjoy.

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1st Day: Port of Los Angeles

William had just said goodbye to his son's family as they departed the cruise ship in Los Angeles. He had enjoyed being with his son, daughter-in-law, and three of his grandkids. For Beth, Emma, and Neil at 4, 6, and 8 years old, the Alaska Cruise had been one exciting adventure after another. They loved and appreciated him for taking them all on the cruise. Unfortunately, they had to get back home for work and school. They'd loved the suite he'd booked for them, which connected to the suite he had occupied. He liked the extra space the suite provided.

He was glad he had the suite for the next six weeks as he enjoyed the ship's repositioning cruise through the Panama Canal and a few back-to-back cruises to different ports in the Caribbean.

He knew that It could sometimes get lonely as a retired widower, but there were so many activities on a cruise ship that there was never a chance to get bored, just lonely.

After his wife's death, a few of her friends, who had never given him the time of day, had hit on him, but he knew they were only after his money. His wife had told him these single women were barely making ends meet. He had decided he could look but would not get involved with any women, as he could not be sure they were not gold diggers.

He was starting to sip his cappuccino when he noticed a woman about his age finishing saying her goodbyes to what appeared to be her extended family. He'd noticed her a few times during the cruise. She had a body that most twenty-somethings would die for, and what she wore each time he saw her was elegant but showed off the body she worked hard to maintain. She had been in the gym every morning when he had arrived. Her skin-tight workout clothes left nothing for the imagination. More than once, he had undressed her with his eyes. Her thick gray hair cascaded down her shoulders to halfway down her back. She was one of those women who just got better looking as they aged.

He was mentally undressing her for the umpteenth time on the cruise when he noticed her staring straight back at him. "Shit, I got caught." He thought. He averted his eyes quickly and focused all his attention on his cappuccino and the list of events for the day.

After a few minutes, he heard someone sitting in the chair beside him and looked up. It was her.

She greeted him with a big smile, "I hope you have enjoyed undressing me with your eyes as much as I just enjoyed undressing you with mine. Hi. I'm Donna. I hope I just thoroughly embarrassed you." She then extended her hand to shake.

He replied, "I'm busted. Sorry about that. It's hard not to admire a beautiful woman. I'm William." And took her extended hand. "Can I buy you a drink to apologize for my rude behavior?"

She smiled and replied, "You don't need to apologize. At my age, to have someone look at me with bedroom eyes is a compliment. Besides, I have the drink package, which I expect you to also have. Let me order a cappuccino, and we can share it as we become friends. I rarely meet someone my age who looks as good as you. I hope my forwardness is not offensive to you."

"Fortunately, I prefer people who are more forward. It makes conversations easier. Unless they are highly opinionated and rude, which somehow I don't think you are. Anyway, Thank you for the undeserved compliment. With my bald head, I don't get many."

"William, I have opinions, but I try never to be rude or nasty when sharing them. My opinion is that you work hard to look good, just as I do. I know you work out regularly; as I saw you in the gym each morning, you're not overweight. I like your circle of gray hair around the sides, and your gray goatee is very distinguished. With your smiling blue eyes, you are quite handsome."

William laughed, "I used to not take care of myself, but my wife's sudden death, which happened just before the pandemic, was a wake-up call. I've been serious about my health ever since. While most people gained weight during the pandemic, I lost my fat. I feel 100% better. I couldn't help noticing, but I think we were both cruising with our families. Are you staying on by yourself?"

"Well, William, I hear a couple of questions there. Yes, that was my kids and grandkids. It's been two years since my husband passed on, and the kids wanted to celebrate my 65 birthday with me at sea, as long as I paid for it all. I am staying on for the Panama Canal repositioning cruise. Might stay longer if I find a reason." Donna squeezed his knee.

"Well, we have two things in common: One, we are the same age, and two, my kids had me pay for the trip. I enjoy my family but find talking to people my age easier. We have lived through the same events from childhood to now. The shared experience makes a difference. So, thank you for that information. I hate having to guess a woman's age. It's something that I know better than to ask."

"I believe that it's best to establish our ages up front. I'm proud to have made it to 65 years. I tell people I am now up to level 65, like in one of my grandkids' video games. It's something to celebrate, not hide from. And besides, I figured if I told you, you'd tell me. If you hadn't, this conversation would be coming to an end. Since you are open to sharing information, I'm interested in talking more and spending more time with you to see if we have enough in common to form a friendship. Did I tell you I tend to be assertive?"

William replied, "Somehow, I figured that out already. I need to ask, are you trying to seduce me, Mrs. Robinson?" William laughed.

Donna joined him in laughing, "You got the quote wrong. In the movie, Dustin Hofmann says, 'Mrs. Robinson, you're trying to seduce me. Aren't you?' And yes, I am." She laughed and looked him in the eyes. "Well, William, maybe just to have a lunch partner today."

"It would be my pleasure."

They continued to talk the rest of the morning and then went to the main dining room for lunch. They discovered that they only lived ten miles apart in Ventura County.

William found out that Donna had a balcony cabin near his suite. Donna made him promise to show her his large suite, especially the oversized balcony.

It worried him that Donna might like him because he was rich enough to afford a suite. Little did he know that Donna was three times more wealthy than him. William decided he would not let any worry that she might be a gold digger get in the way of talking to a delightful woman.

They talked for the rest of the afternoon and even participated in a trivia game.

As they waited for the sail-away party to start, they listened to the band and discovered they both liked dancing. They fielded calls from their families, which boiled down to the fact that their kids had fun cruising with their surviving grandparents and hoped they enjoyed their solo adventure for the rest of their cruise. Neither told their families that the voyage might not be solo anymore, as they weren't sure themselves.

After the sail-away party, William took Donna to the suite occupants' welcome reception. She loved the spread of appetizers and thanked him for bringing her. She did not let in that she usually booked a suite but had not this time because she had booked connecting cabins for her family.

At dinner, they talked about their families and careers. Donna had worked as a university professor in economics, as had her deceased husband, and she was on a couple of corporate boards. He shared he's been in high tech, and he discussed his departed wife, who had been a teacher.

She asked, "You loved her a lot, didn't you?"

"I thought my world had ended when she died. It took me a year to get going again. It's hard to start over after 40 years with the same person. My grandkids helped me move forward."

"I do understand, William. My grandkids were also critical in helping me move on."

He raised his glass and said,

"To those bygone days, so long ago,

Before evening had followed morn.

When so many I've loved, were not yet dead,

And so many I love, not yet born,

And to many I will love, I've not yet met.

On life's path that is still being worn."

They clinked their glasses.

Donna said, "That is beautiful. Did you write it?"

"No, it is my paraphrase of Ogden Nash's poem. 'The middle.' with a little more added by me. The original version goes like this.

'When I remember bygone days

I think how evening follows morn;

So many I loved were not yet dead,

So many I love were not yet born."

"I like your version better, William. I didn't expect a tech geek to be so articulate and well-read."

After dinner, they went to the main show, where they enjoyed the comedian. She grabbed his hand and held it throughout the show. William liked her assertiveness.

They wrapped up their evening dancing until the band retired for the evening. As they parted to their separate cabins, she looked into his eyes, "Will I see you in the gym at your normal time?"

"I'm looking forward to it. You have turned what I thought would be a lonely day into a delightful one. I look forward to more of your company tomorrow."

She kissed him on the cheek, "William, you are so sweet. See you tomorrow."

William lay on his bed in his suite, thinking of Donna. It had been a long time since he had enjoyed the company of another woman. He started worrying about what his next move with Donna should be or that she might be a gold digger as he had told her he was in a suite. After thinking about it for longer than he should have, He decided to enjoy her company and see how it played out.

Donna was significantly more focused. She knew single guys her age, as attractive as William, were few and far between. She wanted him. She worried that if she pushed too hard, it might scare him off. But she was an assertive woman who wouldn't hide that she liked being in control. Ultimately, she decided to let it play out over the next few days.

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I hope you liked the beginning of this Mature Female-led, kinky love story. As always, comments and suggestions are always appreciated.