Cruising for Love

I finished my coffee and decided to head towards my cabin. Austin was there with Suzy complaining to his mother that the teenagers got an extra two hours activities and it wasn't fair. I offered to read him some of the book he had been reading and the two of us snuggled in bed.

Halfway through the chapter I had no idea what was going on but Austin was in hysterics loving my rendition of the evil Dr Pottyface's snide comments to the heroine Lady Crabwaffle. There was a knock at the door. As always, I offered for whoever it was to come in. My heat raced as again it was Ed.

"Good evening, um, yes, now, young man, I have just come from the Bridge and am wanting to let you know personally that we have seen no evidence whatsoever of pirates in the area tonight."

I must have looked puzzled. Ed went on to explain that he had called at the Kids Centre today to introduce himself and Austin had been all inquisitive about the likelihood of finding pirates in the South Pacific.

"Oh and Katie, I really enjoyed dinner this evening. I'm swamped with work for the next couple of days, but out of sight does not mean out of mind." Ed smiled. I knew I was biting my lower lip. I thanked Ed and smiled as he showed himself out.

"Is Captain Eddie your boyfriend, Auntie Katie because he's like old enough to be your grandpa?" Austin enquired.

I told Austin we were getting back to Dr Pottyface and Lady Crabwaffle and dodged the conversation. He definitely did not look to be older than say 45, but I also knew looks could be deceiving.

As Austin lay asleep, I knocked on Suzy's door. We went out on my little deck for a talk. I talked about Ed and how he was nice and charming and delightful company, but I was concerned it was just going to be a holiday fling if anything. I talked about how different spending time with him was compared with the time spent with Harry the previous week. Suzy reminded me there was nothing wrong with a fling, however I had never had one.

"Besides, it's Singles Night the night after next which is also the first formal night and we need to fill out your survey," Suzy chirped.

I had forgotten about the form we had been given as we boarded. I fetched it and the two of us started filling it out.

Age: Young at heart but old enough to know better

Favourite Band: Anything that will make me get up and dance, or sit and reflect

Favourite drink: first cup of tea in the morning

Ideal date: Shucking oysters together as the sun sets

Dogs or Cats: I love taking a dog for a walk, but there's nothing like cuddling up with a cat when you need reassurance

I then had to think hard about the next few questions.

Kids: Adore my niece and nephew. One day maybe for me

Ideal Partner: not smothering, wants me to have my own life too, but is also interested in my life

Must haves in a relationship: Loyalty and trust

Turn offs in a partner: smokers, big drinkers, liars.

Suzy thought I was far too straight in my answers. I told her I was intentionally straight as I did not really want to match with anyone.

"Except with Eddie!" piped up Suzy. "Did you know at dinner I heard the waitresses asking who the gorgeous woman was sitting with him- apparently he has never had anyone near his age dine with him, perhaps he isn't a player after all."

I took my form to the box for our deck and deposited it. I did think of throwing it in the bin as I approached, but also figured, nothing ventured, nothing gained.

The next day and a half were busy with so many onboard activities. Yoga, Pilates, cooking demonstrations and even an art auction were all fun. I did not see Ed, not hear his voice across the loudspeaker. I figured I'd grab a nap before formal night. There was an envelope pushed under my door with my name on it. I opened it.

'Congratulations, Katie, you have matched for our singles evening! Our rules are the partner with the first name alphabetically calls on the partner with the second name alphabetically. Your partner will call for you around 4.30pm. I figured having a name beginning with a letter near the middle of the alphabet gave me lots of leeway either way with partner names. I giggled that E came before K in the alphabet, but it was unlikely he would be calling on me.

I lay in bed and thought of Ed. I thought about his gorgeous eyes, his long fingers and his smile. Before I realised what was happening, I had my hand down my panties, swirling my clitoris wondering what Ed's fingers would feel like on it. I imagined him being a gentle, caring lover. I knew my nipples were rock hard so I undid my bra and let my other hand fondle my breasts, twirling my nipples in my fingers imagining Ed's lips kissing them and sucking them. It did not take much for me to climax and I felt my pelvic muscles contract uncontrollably as I sighed Ed's name.

"C'mon sleepyhead, we have to get Cinderella ready for the ball!" I almost regretted giving Suzy a key to my room.

I jumped in the shower and let the water flow freely over me. What would Ed think when he saw me with another passenger this evening. I had to stop it and cancel my participation in the singles event. I came out from the shower and discovered a corsage had been delivered to the room.

"Fuck, Suzy, I can't do this, I'm falling for Ed and I don't want him to see me out with another man." I was crying and Suzy held me tightly, just as she had done all our lives when I was upset.

"Katie, what does the card say on the flowers?"

I opened it and it simply read 'I couldn't believe my luck when I was matched with you. See you at 4.30 x'

It was hard to believe I had taken the eye of anyone else on the ship. Yes, I had talked to a few people, but I was hardly extrovert. "He sounds like a Grade A stalker!" I joked.

Suzy helped me get ready. She did my hair and loaned me some earrings that looked as though they were designed with the dress in mind. The main issue came when we discovered all my underwear showed panty lines through the dress.

"You are going to have to go without." My sister stated bluntly. I could not believe I was agreeing to this.

As she slipped a strip of condoms into my clutch with my lipstick, Suzy told me that she was going to sleep in there tonight so there was no need to rush back. She slipped the corsage onto my wrist and stood back.

"Wow sis!" she exclaimed with tears in her eyes, "if only Mum and Dad could see you now, you are so gorgeous."

There was a knock at the door. It was exactly 4.30pm. at least he was punctual. Suzy opened the door and a huge smile crept across her face. "Captain! Geez, you scrub up ok too!"

Ed walked into the door and his mouth fell open. "Wow Katie! Um, wow! I mean, I knew you were beautiful, but, wow this is something else, you are gorgeous tonight! Shall we?"

As we walked arm in arm down the passage my mind raced at 100 miles per hour. How, what, why?

"So, um, Captain, do you do this every cruise?" I asked

Ed went beet red. "No, this is the first time I've ever filled out the survey. I, um, well, Marion convinced me to." He went on to explain that his heart skipped a beat when he first saw me on the first night, but he wasn't sure what it was. Apparently, I had mentioned to Marion that I was filling out the form and she suggested Ed do it too to see if we were well matched.

"So, you rigged it then?" I enquired

Ed laughed, "No, not at all. When Jill the entertainment director came to me she said 'Eddie, someone is trying to pull your leg- they've filled out the singles survey in your name. I think I know who it is because her answers are extremely similar' and she showed me the forms. I told her I would play along so I got her to slip the notification under your door."

I told Ed that I had almost refused to partake and when I went for my shower I was convinced it was a bad idea and I did not want him getting the idea that I was open to meeting up with anyone on board, let alone any of the other passengers. Ed explained that that was part of why he sent the corsage.

"But I thought you were a stalker!" I laughed, "So what exactly do we have in common?"

"Well you wisely thought of shucking oysters, however I suggested peeling prawns as the sun set, so I have arranged a seafood platter for us both. Now it is only small, because it is the first formal night and we will need to eat dinner. I assume you are ok with being my guest again?"

I smiled. Ed continued, "Oh and for music I said it produced different emotions from reflection to wanting to dance the night away. I mentioned snuggling up with a cat and I hope you will let me introduce you to Mitzi, my cabin cat sometime- she loves a snuggle. I'll talk about kids later, but it was the requiring loyalty and trust and detesting liars that sealed the deal."

Ed opened doors and took me down narrow passages that I doubted many passengers had ever seen. Finally, he stopped and turned to me, "Katie, this is my cabin in here, I'm not taking you inside as such, but rather out on my small deck."

I laughed. Ed asked what the matter was. I said that Suzy had told me I had filled the form out all wrong and when it asked what I didn't like in a partner I should have said small dicks!'

We both dissolved in laughter. A steward brought a beautiful seafood platter and a bottle of sparking water. "I did tell the chef I was quite capable of shucking oysters, but he looked at me and suggested he spend the night steering the boat if I wanted to take over in the kitchen."

Again, we laughed. Eventually I moved the conversation to the so-called elephant on the deck- children. Ed took a large sip of his drink and gazed at his hands. We were sitting next to each other watching the sun get lower in the sky, but we were still a couple of hours off sunset. Ed let out a huge breath as if he was calming his nerves.

"Um, so, well, I'm divorced, and I have two children, um, Bella is, um, 14 and Ted is, um 12, but, I, um don't see them a lot." Ed continued to look at his hands holding his glass. I squeezed his thigh, placed my arm around his neck and kissed his cheek. He looked at me with tears welling in his eyes, "I'm lucky if I see them twice a year. They live with their Mum and step-father in Melbourne.

I honestly thought Nadia was the one. She was my so called soul-mate, however their step-father is also my former best mate who she had been seeing behind my back since Ted was a toddler. We've been divorced for about 10 years and I haven't seen anyone else in that time. Sorry, you must really think I'm a loser."

I wiped some tears from Ed's face. "No, not at all. Anything but a loser." I went onto explain about Diego and how I had really been running for six years. I had been away from the Cape for about a week and I was not thinking about work or about supplies or about checking the expiry dates on the anti-venom or wondering if we were going to get 20 or 200 kids to the immunisation clinic the following day, let alone watching people die years before their white counterparts because they had been suffering the effects of white invasion on their land for over 200 years.

It was time to head to dinner. I tried to wipe the lipstick off Ed's face, and he smiled. "Nah, keep it there, make the women jealous!" and he leant in and planted a beautiful, tender, sensuous kiss on my lips. As we walked towards dinner, this time hand in hand, Ed stopped before we entered the public area, "Katie, there's just one thing you should probably know too, I'm like, 47 and I know that is a lot older than you."

I looked at Ed and smiled and gave him another kiss, this time slipping my tongue into his. As we broke away he told me that he almost had me slung over his shoulder racing back to his cabin! I told Ed that age did not matter and although he may be 12 or so years older than me, I was not about to complain. When we walked into the boardroom hand in hand, Marion's hands went straight for her mouth and Helen and Charles smiled. Helen was the first to come and hug me.

"I can see traces of your lipstick all over his face, Miss!"

We both laughed. Joining us that evening was First Officer Terry from New Zealand and the couple who had been standing behind me on the first night and were celebrating their 40th anniversary that evening.

After dinner Ed suggested we dance. We headed to the jazz bar and Ed floored me with his moves. He was indeed a fine dancer. His hand pressed against my back sent shivers up and down my spine. At one stage he cupped my buttock and stroked it before whispering in my ear asking if I was wearing any underwear. I bit my bottom lip and it was all too much. Ed lead me by the hand through the corridors along different decks until we came to the area out of the public eye. As soon as the door closed, Ed pulled me in close and kissed me with a ferocity that was both stimulating and so unexpected. We would walk a few more steps before we had to stop to resume our kissing. His hand slipped behind my dress and as he squeezed my buttocks in the flesh, I could feel his manhood pressing against my stomach. I reached in front and stroked it through his uniform and knew I needn't be concerned with worries of a small one!

Eventually we made it to his cabin door. As he fumbled for the key we heard a loud 'Miaaaoooooooow' coming from behind it.

"Shit, Mitzi, you've been fed, and I've got another pussy I want to play with tonight!"

I laughed as we both kept kissing whilst walking inside. Ed kicked off his shoes. As he slid the straps down my arms, exposing my breasts he was enthralled. As I had imagined that afternoon in bed his lips on my breasts sent tingles straight to my clitoris. I started removing Ed's clothes. I took off his jacket and placed it carefully on a chair. I undid his bow tie and slowly undid the buttons down his shirt. His chest was full of hair which I loved, and I buried my face in it. I licked and bit at his nipples. I undid his belt, his button and zip and he stepped out of his pants.

And then his pager beeped.

"Fuck, I'm so sorry, Katie, let me just check," the look of anguish on his face as he reached for the phone. I saw him check his watch as he spoke "Well can you give me half an hour? OK, no I understand, well, actually, yes I was busy, but, no, no, I'll come."

I tried not to show my disappointment as he walked back over to the bed I had sat on. Some yobbo had attempted to rape a woman after the dinner, and they needed Ed's signature on a piece of paper in order to keep him in the lockup.

"Katie, please stay here and make yourself at home, I'll try not to be too long. I removed my dress completely and lay on the bed. It smelt of Ed. I snuggled into the pillow and drifted off to sleep. I remember waking at some stage to find Mitzi snuggled against my chest, however there was no sign of Ed. I found a clock and saw it had gone 2am. I hoped nothing major had gone wrong. I thought about putting my dress back on and finding my way to the public areas, but I was concerned I might bump into someone and not be able to explain why I was in an area reserved for staff.

I must have drifted back to sleep and I woke with the sun streaming into the cabin through the porthole with Ed asleep beside me, spooning me with his arm around my waist. I slowly extracted myself from him and looked around the cabin. Mitzi was meowing at a cupboard, so I opened it and poured some cat food into her bowl. I found an old t-shirt and put it on, again smiling as it smelt of Ed. I looked around and was trying to find a kettle or something to make a cup of tea with when I heard a yawn. Ed was still sleeping.

Books have always intrigued me, and I found a Neil Gaiman book I had not read so sat under the porthole and started reading. I heard a faint buzzing sound- it was Ed's alarm. What surprised me though was his shock at me not being there next to him. He sat up and started looking around the room.

"Good morning sexy!" I smiled as our eyes locked.

"Katie, I am so sorry about last night, I went and there were three guys that had to be processed and then the generator light was on and we trouble shot that and by the time I got back here just before 4 you were fast asleep with Mitzi!"

I shushed him as I walked around to give him a hug. There was a knock at the door and Ed simply yelled "Thank-you," before walking over in his jocks, opening the door and returning with a large pot of tea. "And I wanted to bring you this in bed, but you are already up and wow that shirt looks amazing on you!"

Ed poured tea for us both and I crawled into bed next to him. Mitzi tried to snuggle between us both.

"We dock in Suva in a little under an hour. I'm surprised they haven't paged me yet, but Terry and Nicolai both know I was up until after 4. Are you planning on heading ashore today?"

I explained that Suzy and the family had booked a tour but I was not interested and would be happy looking through the markets or not. I explained I had just started a new book and that was bound to keep me entertained for hours to come.

"How about I head up for the meeting, I'll make sure everything is fine with docking, but I'll be back mid-morning and we can, well we might be able to work out something to do! I'll bring back more tea if you like?"

I could tell Ed was upset about the night before. I straddled him in bed, took away our empty cups and kissed him, holding his cheeks in my hands.

"Now Captain, you have a job to do and the sooner you have done that, the sooner you will be back here where there is going to be me waiting!" I could feel him stirring again so I dismounted and sent him on his way.

As he was dressing, he was trying to tell me as much as he could remember, there was an extra toothbrush in the bathroom, there would be a fresh towel in there somewhere too, but I might need to sniff test. I laughed, reminding him I was currently dressed in one of his dirty t-shirts.

"Have I told you how sexy you look in that uniform, Captain?" Ed kissed me again as he walked out the door.

I got back to my book. There was a knock at the door. I gingerly went over and opened it. It was a plate of fruit with a note 'With compliments of Captain Smith and staff.' I laughed. I was surprised that the fruit we had on board was fresher than that which we got at home. At one stage a steward entered the room with only a slight tap on the door. The look on his poor face as he saw me curled up on the chair reading was a sight to behold.

"Hi, I'm Katie, I'm Eddie's friend and he knows I'm here, can I help you with anything?"

"Hello Miss, I'm Diego, I bring sheets and towels for Captain Eddie and make his bed."

I knew the t-shirt gave me some modesty, but I also knew not to raise my arms above my head. I helped strip the bed whilst Diego placed clean towels in the bathroom. He scolded me for helping. I told the steward that I knew a Diego once from Argentina however he did not work half as hard as this steward. Diego explained he was from The Philippines and was saving money for his family at home. I told him I would tell Captain Eddie what an asset he was to the team. Diego beamed and was soon away.

A few minutes later there was another tap at the door. It was Marion.

"Diego has just been in to tell me all about Miss Katie in Captain Eddie's cabin helping make the bed like I do and how lovely she is and I thought I'd check to see you're ok- I assume Eddie is on deck?"

I explained about the night before, about how Ed had opened up about his family and his children and then when things had been getting steamy after we had danced his pager went and he spent most of the night solving problems.

Marion squeezed my arm, "He's a problem solver and always has been from what I can gather, it's one of the reasons he's risen so swiftly in the ranks. I will get Charles to have a word to Terry and Nicolai though and see if they might give him a full night's rest sometime."