Sharkbait Ch. 66-70

It was going to be fun.

Ch. 69

Hafsa and Fiona sat with us on the flight to Vegas; the two warriors from Three Sisters were both applying for the show, and this was a good test of them. Alpha Steven had suggested them for my security, and I'd hired them on the spot. Both would accompany me to the events Friday in Vegas, then travel with me to Tampa for the Bodyglove appearance.

I'd done a lot of talking with them on the flight down. Fiona was in her early forties, with a hint of grey in her short brown hair. She retired last month from the Secret Service, having never found her mate. Fiona had extensive experience in personal protection, was in top shape, and an expert pistol shot. As retired law enforcement, she could also carry concealed weapons anywhere, including on aircraft. "Why would you want this job," I had to ask after discussing her background. "After being on the Presidential detail, watching four teenagers would be boring, right?"

"You have no idea, do you," she replied. I shrugged my shoulders. "That hearing today cemented things in the eyes of us females, Vicki. I've battled sexism and paternalism in the human and werewolf worlds my entire life. No one has ever seen a female force the Council to back down like that, and it was done by a girl barely of age. You're the future, Vicki. I don't just want to protect you; I NEED to protect you." She leaned back and let me think of that. "Plus, you're going to fun places and doing cool things. It's far from a boring assignment."

"Have you done any diving?"

"Recreational SCUBA and snorkeling, nothing fancy. I've got my certification and about fifty dives, mostly freshwater, down to a hundred feet."

That was better than nothing. "Get as much dive training in as you can before you start work. I'll even pay for the lessons."

Fiona looked shocked. "I got the job?"

"I'll never find someone else with your background, and I want you leading my security detail. If I can turn you into a safety diver or backup camera operator, that's a bonus." We discussed her salary, timing of the jobs, and the nature of the shooting. "You don't mind appearing in swimwear, do you?"

She laughed at that. "I won't be embarrassed, but I can't compete with you four. Are you going for the MILF audience now?"

"Can't hurt." I had her trade seats with Hafsa.

Hafsa got out of the Marine Corps last year, after spending four years in Embassy Security and VIP protection. Her Persian heritage showed through in her ink-black hair and delicate features. "You're mated," I said as I read through her resume. "Why would you want this job?"

"My husband's deployment goes for ten more months, so I have time," she responded. She met her mate Michael, a Three Sisters warrior, in the Marines. She had no diving or camera experience, though, and that would make it tough to get the last remaining spot.

Uniformed security members from the Bellagio met us at the airport, driving a white limousine. Fiona got out to talk to them before waving us forward. The limo took us to an underground VIP parking area, where we checked in before going up on an express elevator to our rooms. I had the center suite, with my detail through the connecting door, and Susan's suite on the other side. I hung up my things and unpacked while the others did the same. "What is the plan tonight, Boss," Fiona asked.

I looked at my phone; it was five in the afternoon. "Dinner, then the Spa for a massage and mani/pedi," I said.

"I can go for that," Susan agreed. We decided to try the Japanese restaurant since we'd be going to the steakhouse tomorrow when the men arrived. After the spa treatments, we retired to our rooms.

The event at the aquarium went well; my speech was well-practiced by this point, and I loved talking to the kids about sharks. We had tens of thousands of our trackers in the field now, and I showed them the kind of data we were getting from them. "For the cost of a concert or a fancy dinner, you could help tag a shark and help us understand them better," I said. We raised about fifty thousand dollars that afternoon for my foundation, and more would come in later. I signed posters and photos for almost two hours before we returned to the hotel.

Security warned me the men were on their way up, and I was ready for him. "Damn," James said as he opened the door to see me standing by the window in a thin silk robe. "You look beautiful, Vicki."

"I'm glad you're here, James. I've missed you." He crossed the room, pulling me into his arms and kissing me hard. I moaned into his kiss, pressing my body against his.

I pulled the tie on my robe before pulling his shirt off. James moved his hands inside the silk to caress my bare breasts and back. "How much time do we have," he asked.

"Just enough to take the edge off you," I said. I backed up to the window, which overlooked the fountains as the show began. "Watch the show, James." I dropped to my knees, pulling his shorts down with me.

"Oh my GOD," he said as I took him into my mouth. He kept his hands on the ledge, watching the fountains go off as I licked at his length. I took the tip into my mouth, swirling my tongue around, then went back to licking him from base to tip again. My hands cupped his heavy balls as before I sucked one into my mouth, making his knees weak. I took a few deep breaths as I went back to the tip, and in a single move, I took him deep into my throat. "FUCK," he said as his hand moved to my head. I could go a long time without air, longer than he could last. I stuck my tongue out to lick his balls, and that was more than he could take.

I felt his cock swell up, then pulses of hot cum started shooting directly into my throat. I stayed in place as rope after rope spewed forth, then slowly withdrew and licked the tip clean. "That should hold you until after the fight," I told him.

He reached down for my arms, pulling me up into a deep kiss. "You're amazing," he said.

"You're not dressed for dinner. Shower and get ready, jackets are required." He stepped out of his shorts, and I smacked his ass to get him moving.

"Oh, we're playing that way?"

"Later," I promised. While James was in the shower, I fixed my makeup and pulled on my Bodyglove-design bodycon dress. The shark-tooth design had lace panels that kept it legal but made it impossible to wear a bra underneath. I put on diamond stud earrings, a graduation present from my Alphas, and a shark-tooth necklace on a white gold chain. Three-inch designer heels finished off the look.

James opened the door, a towel around his waist, and just looked at me for a few seconds before walking out. "What?"

"I can't decide if I like you in that dress, a bikini, or naked best," he said.

"We need to leave in five," I replied.

He quickly dressed in tan slacks, a silk dress shirt, and a sport coat. I linked my security team when we were ready; they were waiting outside the door in business wear, jackets covering their weapons. I knocked on Susan's room, and they quickly joined us. "You look great, you two," I said.

"Where's the rest of your DRESS," Hammer asked.

"You like? Mercedes thought this would get a lot of attention at the fight." She was always pushing the limits.

Hammer shook his head, but Susan stepped in. "She's a MODEL, dear. That's conservative compared to some of the things she'll wear."

"I'm starving, let's go." We went down to the Prime Steakhouse, on a patio overlooking the fountains. Dinner was excellent, and we enjoyed our time. We weren't bothered while we ate, but I did sign autographs in the casino area for a few minutes until we had to head to the arena for the fight. The cameras followed me the whole night.

I'd never been to a UFC fight, but I enjoyed it a lot. Lauren was the third fight on the undercard, going against Ming Xu. The first round matched up Lauren's boxing and karate skills against Ming's Muay Thai kickboxing. Lauren was deadly quick with the jab and moved fluidly around her opponent. Only once did Ming get her hands behind Lauren's neck, pulling her close to use her knees and shins.

In the second round, Ming brought her right knee up to Lauren's left rib, but Lauren countered quickly. Turning into the raised knee, she hooked her left arm under it and wrapped her right leg around Ming's plant leg. Lunging forward, Ming couldn't move, and Lauren drove her hard to the mat.

They swapped positions while grappling for about thirty seconds until Lauren was on her back with Ming's left arm trapped between her legs in a figure four lock. Ming tried to escape by going over the top, but Lauren's spread right arm stopped it. Ming took her left wrist from her left side to a reverse grip around Lauren's left waist, and that's when Lauren took advantage. Grasping the wrist, she sat up, her legs driving Ming's left shoulder to the mat as her body pushed the arm up in a way it wasn't able to go.

Ming tapped out, and the crowd went wild.

"Holy shit, an Omaplata!" Hammer was standing and cheering as Lauren stood up, and the referee raised her arm. The announcers nearby were talking about how rare this submission was, only used a handful of times in MMA wins.

I was shocked; I'd seen Hammer demonstrate it, but it wasn't an easy submission to pull off. "Way to go, Lauren!"

We watched the rest of the fight, then joined the fighters and guests at a private party off the casino. James and I lost track of each other as the party went on. Mercedes and her photographers kept introducing me to people, and everyone wanted a picture or a word. I saw James sitting with Lauren and some of the other fighters at a table, and thought nothing of it.

An hour later, James and Lauren were sitting alone in the corner, oblivious to their surroundings. He pulled her into his lap as they kissed and talked, her hand moving inside his shirt. Hammer pulled me aside as I was watching them from across the room. "What's going on with you two," he said. "Are you together or not?"

Lauren got up, taking his hand and leading him out the doors. "I guess not," I said, a tear forming in my eye. I had told James that we were just friends with benefits, that I didn't love him, and I wanted him to find someone who could give him a future.

Maybe he'd find that with Lauren.

I wiped the tear as I turned back to the party. I never expected to be dumped in Vegas.

Ch. 70

I'd barely looked away when the door opened, and Lauren walked back in. She greeted a few people, but she wanted to talk to me.

I wasn't sure if I wanted to talk to her right now. "Keep me calm and get me out of here if it looks like I'm going to cut a bitch," I said to my Pack members.

"Who?"

"Lauren, she's almost here." I felt her approaching and turned when she said my name. "Yes?"

"Can we talk in private for a moment," she asked.

"Let's get a drink," I said. We walked over to the bar where I ordered a virgin screwdriver, and then we retired to the side of the room. "What's going on?"

"I don't want things to be awkward between us, so I wanted to make sure what James told me was true," she said.

"What did he say?"

"That you broke up with him a few weeks ago, telling him you didn't love him, and there was no future for the two of you." I did say that. "He said you could be friends with benefits at most. You brought him to the fight because you needed a date for the cameras, and I saw how you ignored him at the party."

You put it that way, and I sound like the bitch. "He told you the truth," I said with a sigh. "I like James, but it isn't the kind of like that would lead to anything. We've fooled around a few times, but he wasn't getting my virginity, and he's not my boyfriend."

She seemed relieved. "I like James a lot, and he wants to spend time tonight with me."

"I figured that when you were in his lap," I said with a bit of an edge. "Look, I don't own him. I used him for the cameras, and I planned to use him to scratch my itch later. That's all. I told him when we broke up that I hoped he found someone who could give him family." I looked back towards the door. "Where did he take off to?"

"To grab his stuff out of your room. It's not fair to you for him to stay there now. He'll leave his key card on the dresser."

And that was how it would end. "Can you give James a message for me?"

"Sure," she said.

"Tell him that a real man would have talked to me before he started messing around with another woman behind my back." Her eyes got wide. "I hope he treats you better, Lauren. See you next week in class?"

"Sure." She turned and walked off, leaving the party to have fun with my date.

I turned around, disappointed to see that the cameras had caught the interaction. Luna only knows what else they got on tape. I told Susan and our security team of my worry over the link; I'd handled it with class, so they told me to do nothing. I socialized and posed for photos for another hour before we retired back to our rooms.

James had texted Hammer and I that he was going to drive back to San Diego with Lauren, and offered to reimburse me for the flight. Our concierge told us the breakfast buffet at the Bellagio should not be missed.

So we didn't.

We rolled through that thing like Patton through Sicily, laying waste any hope for profits that day. Hammer and Susan decided to extend their vacation, so hotel security arranged a limo for us to head to the airport for our flight to Tampa Bay. I flipped through my phone as we drove, wondering why I had all the sympathetic text messages about how sorry or angry people were.

That's when I checked the gossip websites. "Shark Babe Ditched In Vegas," ran the headline. "MMA Fighter K.O.'s Vicki's Love Life."

I read the article, which made things far more salacious than they were, then called Mercedes for advice. "Did I screw this up," I asked.

She laughed. "Vicki, this story is better than if you'd had a perfect date and gotten engaged," she said. "You two are the top of pages all over the internet. You look fabulous in your dress, and the comments are sympathetic. Quit worrying," she said.

In the end, she was right. The Tampa event was packed, and I spent hours signing and taking photos with my fans. In the downtime, I worked on my business plan. I'd received almost a hundred resumes from Packs, but almost none were in the film crew positions. On a whim, I sent the list to Captain Thomas and asked if he could help.

He called me back when we were heading to the airport in the back of a limo. "Captain Vickers," I said. "Did you get my email?"

"I did," he said. "Are you sure you want to do this? I don't want you getting in trouble with your leaders over hiring our kind."

"Don't worry about that," I said. "I want your family to crew the Good Times starting in January through April when we are shooting along the coast," I said. "We'll be diving eight sites, spending about a week at each before returning to port and setting up for the next one."

"It says here you want an all-female crew, so my wife and daughter are interested, but I'm not getting snipped for any job," he said.

I had to laugh at that. "You're mated, and we'll use Loretta for shooting scenes after she's licensed." We talked for a bit about compensation, filming, and endorsements. "This will work out well for you with all the exposure," I said. "Four months of constant work."

"It's the middle of my season," he said. "Let me get back to you."

"Hey, before you go, I have a few other questions," I said. "I need to move from Fiddler's Cove to Driscoll Bay Marina up by Mission Beach in the next week. Can you find time for that?"

"Tuesday afternoon," he said. "I'll have Lynette drive us down, and Loretta and I can move your boat for you."

"Perfect. While you're on board, I wanted to ask you about modifications I can make to carry more people. Four staterooms won't do it." I sent him the link for the plans and photos from the sale, but he had one more piece of advice. "Vicki, you're leasing this boat, right?"

"Yes, for a year with an option to buy."

"Have your lawyer look at the lease agreement. It's pretty common for renters not being authorized to make physical changes to the boat without owner permission, and what I'm thinking, he'll never agree to." I told him I'd ask as soon as I was off the phone; if nothing else, I could just buy the thing and do whatever I wanted to it. "I'll make some calls and see what I can do for you."

"Thank you, Thomas."

I spent time relaxing with the guys on Sunday, then Monday was all about looking through resumes. Security was the easiest to fill, with over fifty applicants for two spots. Fiona was head of the detail. Her assistant was Carly, a twenty-two-year-old warrior from the Clearwater Pack in Washington State. She had been a collegiate swimmer and had been diving in the cold and dangerous Pacific waters for ten years. She'd never done underwater photography outside a Go-Pro, but I offered her the same deal as Fiona. Find someone to learn from before October, and I'd pay for the lessons.

The real issue stemmed from our traditional separation from human endeavors. There was no one qualified to be an underwater camera operator, much less a sound technician or director.

Werewolves didn't do Hollywood.

I was about to give up when I got an email from Captain Vickers, followed by a phone call. "I found some people for you to look at," he told me when I picked up.

I opened the attachments as we talked.

The first one was for another USCG Vessel Master, Patricia McNeil, who operated out of San Francisco. "Why another Captain?"

"I have long-term customers and commitments, and the winter is my busiest time, Vicki. I cannot destroy my customer base by forcing them elsewhere. However, with Patricia and Loretta, you'll be covered. It's far simpler for me to hire a replace a mate and cook than for you to find another licensed Master." It made sense, and it would keep to my all-female crew ideal. "Open up the next resume."

I was shocked; I recognized the director's name from the Shark Week programs she had done over the past decade. "Linda Cartwright is one of yours?"

"She is," he said. "Would it surprise you that many of my kind find their livelihood on the water?"

"I guess not," I replied. "The other resumes?"

"Also ours, and people she trusts. I figured you'd hire your kind for security, so I didn't ask anyone for that. Give Linda a call soon; she is close to signing for another project next spring."

I did, and she came down with the Vickers family on Tuesday for the short trip north. The girls and I laid out everything as we left the docks; Linda was enthusiastic about the idea. "People have been running celebrity specials during Shark Week for decades. I think Shaquille O'Neal's next show will have him in a shark cage sponsored by the Scooter Store," Linda joked. "Your idea combines the attraction of reality shows with science and the drama of underwater shooting. I'm far more comfortable with the latter, but we'll figure it out."

"I want people to see our lives as they revolve around modeling and sharks, but we aren't trashy and vapid girls. There won't be bed-hopping and llama-drama."

"Good, I hate that," she said. "Have you ever dealt with the unions for productions?"

"I'm eighteen," I said.

"That would be a no. Your list of personnel wasn't extensive enough for a project like this, and we have to do things according to contracts. Did you know that if you film a sixty-minute show, you have one set of rules, but if it goes to ninety minutes, the rules change? Or the difference between a miniseries and a television series?" Nope, not even. "You'll drive yourself nuts trying to learn it all, and you don't have time for that. Your main focus should be in front of the cameras since you're the center of the show."