The Pleasure Cruise Ch. 03

"You should sell tickets," I said honestly.

Lauren snickered. "They should teach all this in school. If men didn't rape or kill us, if both men and women didn't slut-shame us, and if all men had basic sexual skills, women would be a lot more likely to show how horny we are all the time. You learn from your teenage years as a girl in this society to keep it bottled inside you."

"I definitely remember being shocked how horny all my first girlfriends were once they let me see that side of them," I remembered.

"For sure, they trusted you enough to stop pretending!" Lauren exclaimed. "Teenage girls have the same out-of-control hormones pulsing through their bodies 24/7 that teenage boys do. We just are all also told there's something wrong with us for feeling that way." She handed me her empty glass. "Chop-chop."

Head spinning, I headed back to the bar for refills, then returned to my friend's side. "This is all really useful information," I offered.

"I know you knew a lot of it already anyway," Lauren said, "but I'm sure it'll help you get your dick wet tonight."

"So how do I press on the gas?" I asked.

"You know how to flirt," Lauren started, "and that's most of it. You know how to show you're interested, and how to pick up on how a woman signals her interest back. You know how to escalate things slowly while still allowing the woman to feel like she's in control, and you know how to avoid pushing her beyond where she's comfortable. You know how to make her wet. I've seen you in action, and I have no doubts about your game. But for tonight, you also need to be aware of bachelorette party psychology."

I leaned in, expectantly.

"Bachelorette parties, when done well, are a textbook example of female depravity," Lauren explained. "Obviously, there are exceptions, and some are tamer than others, but in general, you can assume that the girls at the party are going to be drunk, which loosens their inhibitions. They're going to be congregating in numbers, which means they'll be bolder. We worry less about our safety when we're with a group of people, so those girls will be more willing to push the envelope. And they've been talking about sex and doing sex games and activities nonstop for hours, which means they're all going to be horny.

"You're a good man, Sean, and I know you don't usually go out there looking for women who are taken. But a bachelor or bachelorette party is sometimes seen by people attending them as a chance to have a last consequence-free fuck before they settle down. I know you said you're not interested in hooking up with the bride; fair enough. But finding out that one of those girls is taken shouldn't necessarily put you off if she's otherwise sending you all the right signals. That's doubly true when you're on vacation. Human beings aren't meant to be monogamous."

Lauren and I had been having that conversation for years, and I decided against arguing this time. "That all sounds good. Allison said they've got a scavenger hunt tonight too."

"I've done that at a bachelorette," Lauren remembered. "It's fucking depraved. You get in with those girls on the hunt, and you're golden."

"Sounds like fun."

"The last thing to keep in mind is that all of these girls are apparently sharing cabins with each other, which means that there's going to be a lot fewer opportunities for them to quickly rub one out," Lauren continued. "In my experience, women are better able to weather dry spells than men are; if there's no opportunity to get off, then sometimes I can just ignore it and it'll go away for a week at a time or more. But these girls are in a sexually-charged environment on the ship, and while it's possible some of them have gotten laid so far this week, and while there's always an opportunity in the shower or when your roommate leaves the room to quickly flick the bean, it's way more likely than normal that a bunch of them are hornier than usual and haven't had the opportunity to relieve that pressure. Which makes them more likely to fall down on a dick if one presents itself."

"You really do mean it when you said you're going to do your best to get me laid," I said, surprised. "I knew you'd been saying it, and I believed you. But you've just given me the keys to the kingdom."

"Pick your target early, but don't give the other girls a reason to make her think twice about it, and then do your Sean thing you do. You'll get laid." Lauren smiled, a big, broad, dazzling smile, and put her hand on my knee. "I want to make you happy, and confident, and I'm going to be there tonight alongside you to make sure you seal the deal."

I hugged her. "Thank you."

"You've never needed my help before," she said. "You probably still don't. But it's fun being on the prowl, and I usually get what I want. I'll just live vicariously through you tonight."

"Do you want some help tonight finding someone?" I asked. "Are you still feeling like you need a cock?"

"No, I don't want any help, and yes, I'm still horny. But I don't honestly know what I want anymore." Lauren's demeanour turned noticeably colder.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No."

"I know better than to pry, but promise you'll let me know if you change your mind." I watched Lauren's face to see if there was any wavering, but her expression was stone-faced.

"I will." She changed the subject. "It's getting near time to get back to the ship. Do you want to hop on the shuttle?"

"I'm too hot," I said truthfully. "I'm going for a dip in the ocean."

"Suit yourself."

I headed back out into the crystal blue water, heading, though not on purpose, in the direction of the bachelorette girls. Hannah waved as I got closer, and I could tell from the way the group were watching me that they were talking about me as I dove and swam and maneuvered through the cool salt water, feeling the heat of the sun dissipate from my skin.

I only needed five minutes to cool off, and when I came back in to shore, Lauren had packed up our gear apart from a ship's towel which she handed to me. I noticed Hannah still furtively watching me as I dried myself off and put my t-shirt back on. We boarded one of the shuttles, and then made the short drive back to the cruise terminal, where we briefly shopped for duty-free local rum and souvenirs before reembarking aboard the Carnival Liberty.

Once back onboard, I quickly messaged Danielle. Just checking if everything is all right with you two.

Within a few moments, I saw a read receipt pop up, but no response was forthcoming, so I shrugged as Lauren and I headed for our cabin to shower. We took turns, then curled up together nude in bed, and before long we were fast asleep.

I awoke to movement beside me. I could tell the ship was underway again, but moreover, Lauren was shaking and breathing hard. As I came to, I realized she was having a nightmare. Her movements were jerky and abrupt, and I could sense the fear in her body language.

"Lauren," I whispered, to no response. "Lauren!"

"No!" she shouted, still half-asleep. "Sean!"

I kept shaking her until I finally saw the flash of consciousness in her eyes. She regarded me briefly, then buried her head in my shoulder, blonde and pink filling my vision. She was breathing hard, seemingly trying to keep from either panicking or crying. I held her tight as she rode through whatever it was that she was feeling.

Finally, her heartrate started to slow as she looked up at me. "I was having a bad dream," she said obviously.

"I could tell," I returned. "What about?"

"I don't know," Lauren shot back, a little too quickly.

I shrugged and held her tighter. I knew when not to push on her.

After a few moments of holding Lauren as she clung to me, she finally relaxed her grip. I grabbed my phone off the desk to check the time -- it was after 9. We'd been asleep for almost five hours. There was a couple of messages waiting from Danielle -- first We're okay. See you soon and I can fill you in, followed a few minutes later by Where are you? You're missing dinner.

We fell asleep, I wrote back. Do you want to hang out after eating?

I have lots to tell you, she responded immediately. But we're calling it a night after dinner. Meet me for breakfast tomorrow at 9 on the Lido?

It's a date, I responded back.

"I don't think we're sleeping much tonight," Lauren said. The wall was back up, and she was her usual self again. "I've never napped like that."

"I think we got too much sun," I agreed. "Are you hungry?"

"Famished."

"Let's go up on the Lido then and get some dinner. We've already missed our dinner seating."

Lauren and I quickly dressed in casual clothes, then headed up to the top of the ship to grab a quick bite to eat.

As we were sitting munching on mediocre pizza, Lauren laid out the game plan for the evening. "So, the first order of business is finding the bachelorette party. After that, I know you know how to flirt, and I have confidence in you. I'll just be there for moral support and to play wingman as needed."

"I didn't get anyone's contact info to message them," I said regretfully.

"That's not insurmountable. Let's assume they're finishing dinner now and won't be starting until after that," she guessed. "We have a little time. Once they're loose, I don't think a large group of drunk, horny girls is going to be too difficult to find."

After dinner we headed up to the very top deck of the ship and took an endless walk around the walking track around the ship's funnel. Darkness had fallen, but it was a warm night, not too stifling, just comfortable to be outside in short sleeves. I could see flashes in the night sky on the horizon indicating a distant thunderstorm, but where we were the sea was still calm. A light breeze cooled us as we walked together, not talking, just enjoying each other's company. The silences were never awkward around Lauren, and we could always spend hours just relaxing together without saying a word.

Finally, when enough time had passed, we made our way down into the bar on the ship's main deck. Dinner had clearly let out, and the decks were packed with revellers in various states of drunkenness. We wandered aimlessly, looking for familiar faces, but it was her who wound up spotting us first.

"Sean!"

I turned to see a flash of red hair and pale skin. Hannah was standing behind me, wearing a top cut so low I did a double-take before catching myself, and forcing my gaze to lock on to her emerald green eyes. Hannah's breasts weren't huge, but her top was so low-cut that I was surprised not to see a hint of nipple. She wasn't wearing a bra, and her breasts hung invitingly in the loose fabric. She otherwise had on a pair of flip-flops, and booty shorts that left little to the imagination. There was a mostly-empty drink in her hand, cocktail umbrella sitting sadly anchored to a piece of pineapple.

"Sean! I need your help!"

"Sure, what can I do for you?"

"We've got this scavenger hunt tonight for the bachelorette!" From the enthusiasm and volume in her voice, I could tell she was already several drinks into the evening. "We've got a naughty scorecard and we have to finish it! The winner gets a $150 gift card for sex toys, and I really want to win!"

"I'm happy to help out."

"Great!" She hugged me. "The rules say that we need a different man for each item on the scorecard, and that you can't do the same item for more than one contestant. So whatever thing you do on my card, you can't do that for any of the other girls. Not that you're going to help any of those bitches win anyway, right?" She elbowed me harder than she probably meant to. "We also need proof of whatever we do so there's no cheating, which means I need you to take a video or a picture..." she trailed off, staring at Lauren.

"It's Lauren."

"Right! Lauren!"

"I'll help." Lauren looked amused.

"So, what do you want me to do?" I asked.

Hannah consulted her scorecard. "We're not allowed to show the card to anyone, and if the guy says no, we can't ask them to do a second thing, so you'll say yes to anything, right?"

"Within reason..."

Hannah kept reading. "Can I give you a lap dance?" she asked finally.

"Absolutely, yes," I said dumbly.

"Okay! Have a seat!" She gestured at a nearby couch near the window.

"Right here? With all these people around?"

"Sounds like fun to me!" Hannah licked her lips.

I shrugged as Hannah handed her phone to Lauren. I sat down, and the redhead climbed on, straddling me.

"Are you filming?" she asked.

"I am now," Lauren responded in the affirmative.

Hannah began grinding against me as I kept my arms at my side. Her movements were awkward; almost, but not quite in time with the music from the jazz band playing in the next room.

"Do you like having me in your lap?" she asked slyly, looking me in the eye.

"I love having you in my lap. Do you like being there?"

Hannah responded by sitting up, smushing her breasts into my face as she took my head in her hands, playing with the hair on the back of my neck. I felt her mounds moving freely beneath her topagainst my face and making me start to grow hard. I could feel rising heat between her legs as she found a rhythm she liked, starting to grind on me. I reached around and started touching her bare thighs, going as close to her shorts as I dared considering we were in public.

"Okay, that's enough," she said, motioning for Lauren to stop filming. A few bystanders were watching the show, but most of the people in the room were ignoring us. Hannah leaned over and nibbled on my ear, then whispered to me. "We've got two hours to complete our scorecards, then we're meeting in the lounge on deck four at 11:30 to tally up. Maybe I'll see you there."

She gratuitously copped a feel of my crotch and smiled as she stood up, claiming her phone back from Lauren. Hannah's nipples were poking through her thin top, and her porcelain face was glowing.

"See you then, sexy boy. Don't help the competition."

As Hannah sashayed away, Lauren turned to me. "So, what do you think?"

"She's into me."

"Duh." Lauren grinned. "What did she whisper to you?"

"She told me they're meeting to tally the scores at 11:30 in the lounge on deck four."

"That's an invitation. Nice work." She leaned over me conspiratorially. "Do you have a boner right now? I saw her do a package check on you."

"I've got a semi."

Lauren reached out and grabbed it too, experimentally, before I could stop her. "I love feeling a guy straining in his shorts." She licked her lips.

I decided to let it go. "We've still got 90 minutes. Maybe we can find someone else."

Just then, a tiny Asian girl walked by with a scorecard in her hands, wearing a blue bikini top and cut-offs. Her eyes lit up in recognition as she saw Lauren and me. "You're the couple that was sitting with Hannah and Allison at lunch today, right?"

"We're not a couple, but yes, that's us."

"Right! You're just friends. Hannah mentioned that. Awesome. I've got a scavenger hunt thing I'm doing for my friend's bachelorette and I was wondering if you could help me out?" Her eyes pleaded with me.

"Hannah already used me for one thing, but sure, I could help you out."

"Typical Hannah." The girl rolled her eyes and then smiled. Her teeth were flawless and blindingly white, contrasting brilliantly with her coal-black hair. I stood up, towering over her. I'm 5'11," and the girl was nearly a foot shorter than me. "You can't tell me what she used you for, right?"

"You tell me, you know the rules better than I do." I answered.

"I bet she gave you a lap dance."

"How did you know?" Lauren was impressed.

"Woman's intuition." The girl smiled again. "One of the entries is to get a guy on board to tell us one of his sexual fantasies on video. Would you do that for me?"

"Sure thing."

The girl set her phone to the selfie camera, then started the video as she stood beside me, putting her arm around me so we were both in the frame. "OK, go ahead."

I pulled her closer to me and started talking to the camera. "One of my fantasies has always been to hook up with a total stranger. Like meet someone, maybe on vacation, knowing nothing about them, have hot, anonymous sex and then part. I don't even want to know each other's names. There's something really arousing about the idea of two people completely using each other's bodies for pleasure with absolutely no strings attached."

The girl shut off the video, then turned to face me. She bit her lip nervously, shocked. "Thanks for that, and my name is Lena." She suddenly covered her mouth. "Did I just ruin your fantasy?"

"Were you offering to make it come true?" I winked.

Lena blushed. "No! Well..." she stammered. "I've got to do this scavenger hunt thing right now."

"I'm Sean, by the way."

"Maybe I didn't want to know your name either," she said, regaining her composure slightly. "But we can still pretend." She kissed me on the cheek, then departed with a thank you.

Lauren turned to face me again. "So much for your confidence issues, Mister Smooth Talk. Either of those girls would have fucked you on the spot if they hadn't had other stuff they had to do."

I grinned slyly.

"Is that really a fantasy for you, or did you come up with that to make her wet?"

"A little of both," I answered.

"It worked. You should have seen the look on her face." Lauren gazed at me with admiration. "You had two minutes, and you flirted with her, and she'll remember you when you see her again in a few hours. That's game like the old Sean would have had."

"I'm feeling so much more like myself," I agreed. "I've got my partner in crime back. I owe this night to you."

"We haven't sealed the deal for you yet," she reminded me. "We've only seen two out of five bridesmaids; let's go find another one."

We got up and made our way through the crowds, stopping by the bar to top up our drinks. We were keeping an eye out for women with scorecards in their hands, but finding no others on deck 3, we went upstairs to the fourth deck. In the casino, we found another scavenger hunter. Allison was sitting by herself at a slot machine, looking annoyed. She was dressed conservatively, in a plaid hunting shirt and jeans.

"Aren't you doing the scavenger hunt thing?" Lauren began.

Allison's eyes lit up in recognition. "Hi guys. Yeah, that's what's going on tonight. I wish I'd never come on this stupid trip with my stupid sister and her stupid friends."

"Not having fun?" I asked.

Allison let out an exasperated sigh. "They're just ignoring me. When Andie offered to make me a bridesmaid after all the years, I thought maybe we'd finally start becoming real sisters. Like she'd start treating me with kindness, maybe even become friends with me. But I'm a fifth wheel. Her and her friends are doing all this stuff together, and I'm here because it's a wedding rule that your sister has to be your bridesmaid. I don't want to be in her wedding, and she doesn't want me to be in her wedding. But it's too late now. I don't fit in with these girls. Only Hannah is treating me with any respect at all, and only because I used to be friends with her sister."

Lauren hugged her. "I'm sorry, girl. This really sucks for you."

"It's okay, we're already halfway done the cruise, then we go home so she can get married, and then it's over. It's just... this scavenger hunt really draws it in black and white how little I fit in. I'm not the type of girl to go up to strange guys and be sexual. I'm too private. And I'm never going to out-skank Hannah or Olivia. Those girls are world champion thots; one of them is going to win. I don't even want to compete with that, not that I could."

"Do you have anything on your scorecard at all?" Lauren asked.