Love's Call (10 page)

The lounge was filled with raucous laughter as the last comedian of that night’s show blew the crowd away with his amazing routine.  Liana leaned into Kyle, and loved the way he bellowed out in pure delight at the comic’s hilarious stand-up. Her hand was placed on his leg, and he’d placed his hand over hers.  It felt good next to him, natural. And she didn’t want the night to end.

Alyssa and Lloyd were also seated at their table, and Liana could’ve sworn that if Alyssa just moved in a couple of more inches, she’d be in his lap.
That’s probably what she’d prefer, anyway
.  

She chuckled at her inside joke, and turned her attention to Duane, who sat on the other side of Kyle.  He had been jittery all night, and every joke that the comic delivered seemed to fall flat with him as his eyes darted around the crowded lounge room.

Half an hour later, the comedian delivered his final joke, said goodnight to the crowd and left the stage.  Kyle leaned back in his chair and looked over at Duane. “Alright Duane, what’s your problem?  It’s already enough of a surprise that you showed up to sit
here
with
us
, after we haven’t seen you this whole trip.  Why are you so high strung over there?”

Duane did another quick survey of the room before answering. “If you see Vanessa, let me know.”

“Who’s Vanessa?” Lloyd leaned over to ask when he’d caught wind of the conversation.

“You know, that red-headed broad I was with the first couple of nights of the cruise.”

They all stared at him blankly.  The description didn’t ring a bell, since they had long ago stopped tallying the number of women they’d seen him with on the trip.

He grew frustrated when they didn’t seem to understand.  “Look, never mind.  Just, if you see a tall, red-headed, light skinned chick with green eyes, let me know.”

“So, why are we warning you about Vanessa again?” Alyssa asked.

“Cause she’s crazy as
hell
. Somehow she got it into her head that we’re an item, and she’s been hounding me and stalking me ever since.  When I tried to tell her it was nothing but a fling, she went ballistic, y’all. She was throwing alarm clocks, lamps.  Even came at me with a knife, last night.”

Kyle caught the last part of what he’d said. “Last night?  You were in your cabin with a woman you know is crazy, when you told her this? Don’t tell me you slept with her before you told her, too.”

Duane didn’t say anything, but he didn’t need to because his face betrayed him, answering the question for him. “That’s beside the point. I mean, I can’t even
talk
to another woman without her coming up to us and trying to confront both me and whatever lady I’m talking to.”

Liana looked up to see a fiery-haired, green eyed woman headed their way. “Uh, Duane.  I think you might want to get up and quickly get on out of here.  Looks like Vanessa’s coming this way now.  Right behind you.”  

His eyes widened and he jumped out of the chair and quick-stepped on out of the lounge. They all saw Vanessa pick up her own speed as she trotted out after him.

Kyle looked over at Lloyd, “And y’all were warning
me
about the crazies?  Looks like Duane should’ve taken his
own
advice.”

They all burst out into laughter.

“I hope he’ll be alright,” Alyssa said, concerned.

“Aww, Duane can take care of himself.  Maybe he needed a Vanessa in his life, to cool his ass down a little.” Kyle said, shaking his head.

***

Kyle walked up beside Liana as she leaned against the railing of his cabin balcony. He watched her as she stood there, eyes closed, head tilted to the side, enjoying the breeze of the night air. He hated to break her contented moment and stood next to her, holding a glass of tea he’d poured for her.  He could watch her expression of utter peace and calm all night, if she’d let him.

Liana opened her eyes and turned to catch him watching her. She blushed, and reached for the glass in his hand. “Thank you,” she said, and walked back to sit in one of the two balcony chairs. Kyle sat in the one next to her.

“I didn’t want to disturb you.  Not when you looked so peaceful.”

She took a sip of her drink. “You know I love this. I may have given Alyssa a hard time about this cruise, but I’ve never been happier about being talked into doing something.”  

He nodded his understanding.  He felt the same way, after getting a chance to enjoy the last few days with a woman as beautiful as she was--inside and out.

“The wind on your face, the smell of the ocean, that easy rocking and swaying of the ship. It’s like heaven.”

They were silent as they sat  in the cool night air, but the thoughts in their heads kept up more than enough noise for the both of them.  

“You know, I never did much as a child. So whenever I can take a trip someplace new, I love it.”  

She looked out at the water that stretched as far as her eyes could see.  She felt so small in the middle of that big, endless ocean. “Being out here like this, seeing Jamaica, Mexico, and even just this moment now.  There is so much that I’ve been missing.  So much more world that I’ve yet to see.”

“Did you go anywhere as a child?  Not even a drive to a neighboring state?”

She shook her head. “Nope. When I was about five or so, my dad would try to take my siblings and me camping, at a local campsite.  But that didn’t last for too long.”  Her voice lowered with the pain of the memory. “He...he just became someone else.  And nothing became as important as his next buzz.”

She had his full attention. “He was an alcoholic?”

She nodded. “Yep.”

“Hence, your reason for not drinking.”

She nodded again. “Yep.  It just wasn’t very pretty,” she said, her voice cracking with emotion.

He reached out to hold her hand, and his tender touch made it difficult to hold in the tears she was working so hard to hold back.  Her tears ran down her cheek, and he rose from his chair and lowered himself onto his knees next to her chair.  He wiped the tears from her face, but his gentleness only made her want to bawl even more.

She sighed and patted his hand that touched her face. Liana smiled at him and returned to the cabin to sit on the bed.  She needed to get away before he caused her to get too emotional about the memories of her past.

Kyle walked over and sat next to her on the bed.  He took her hand in one of his, and with his other hand, gently pushed her chin up so that she could see the sincerity in his eyes.  He wanted her to know that he meant every word he was going to say to her. “I don’t like seeing you cry.  Or upset.  A woman as good as you are deserves to be happy.  I want to be able to make you happy.  And I would love to take you with me, so we could explore the world together. I want to be right there with you so I can see the wonder that I saw on your face today, and the contentment I saw tonight on that balcony.”

Liana blinked back more tears.  His words were tempting and she wanted nothing more than to be able to drop everything and go with him around the world. She was seconds away from giving in and accepting his offer.  But as nice as it sounded, she also knew there was a real life outside of that ship.  And whatever it was that they had would likely not last long enough for them to even book the airline tickets for their world odyssey.

Kyle’s expression was expectant, as he waited for her response. “Well, what do you say?”

Liana didn’t like the direction the conversation was taking, and took advantage of the opportunity to change the subject to something more arousing.

She bit her lip and leaned in, until their faces were inches apart. “I say, let’s enjoy this world of ours. Right here, right now.”

Liana brushed her mouth against his, then ran her tongue slowly along his lips, teasing and taunting him. She allowed her tongue to explore his mouth, playing with the inside of his cheeks, his teeth and then twirling around his tongue.

The subject of exploring worlds together was now the farthest thing from Kyle’s mind as his hands explored her soft curves. He ran a hand up, toward her breast, and found a hard, waiting nipple, eager for his touch.  He obliged and circled it with his thumb as he took more of her mouth into his, relishing in the sweet taste of her.

She pulled back from him, and playfully pushed him back onto the bed. Kyle’s manhood jumped and hardened at the naughty look on her face as she straddled him on the bed.  She tugged at his shirt, and he helped her pull it up and over his head.  She ran both hands down his chest, lingering on his pectoral muscles and trailing her fingernails down his abdomen to his waist just above his pants.  She stood on the side of the bed, unfastened his pants eagerly, and yanked them down and off.

Liana coaxed his hard shaft out of the opening on the front of his boxers.  Her hands encircled his erection, massaging the hard shaft until he put his head back and closed his eyes in pleasure. His breathing increased and when she knew he couldn’t stand much more, she climbed back on him, straddling him again.

Liana pressed her chest into his and kissed him again deeply.  The short halter dress she wore was raised, and she could feel his manhood on her panties, pressing against her mound. Kyle could feel her dampness through her panties, and was on the verge of ripping them off and pushing himself deep inside her slick heat.

He sucked on her bottom lip, and then suckled on the area of her neck that he knew was her sensitive spot. He was quickly learning every inch of her body and enjoying the process.

Kyle needed to see her now, all of her, and he pulled the dress up and over her head, and pulled her panties off. In one quick, deft movement, he unclasped her bra, and tossed it across the room. He gently pushed her onto the bed and rose to the balcony to close the door and pull close the shades. Though he was in the middle of the ocean, and it was highly unlikely that they’d encounter a Peeping Tom, he didn’t even want to run the risk of anyone else seeing the beauty that now lay on his bed.

Kyle turned back to see Liana watching him, the heat of passion shading her eyes. He was aroused even more by the vision of her naked body splayed on his bed, and her seductive curves and hips seemed to call—beg---for him to come closer.

Kyle took a condom from the drawer and wrapped his shaft with the rubber sheath. He returned to the bed and sat with his back against the headboard. He pulled her toward him, guiding her to straddle his lap, watching her eyes close in ecstasy as he entered her slowly, until he was deep within her.

Liana began to ride him in slow rhythmic motions. She rotated and circled her hips, reminding him of her playful dance on the deck during her seductive workout earlier that week. The thought of her dancing so suggestively and the feel of her grinding on him threatened to take him over the edge.

The pleasurable feelings began to overtake Liana, also, as she now began to move at a frenzied pace. His hand cupping her behind, and mouth flicking her nipples as she rode him, pushed her to the point of climax and she screamed her release, not caring if every passenger on his cabin floor heard her.

Kyle embraced her and covered her breast with his mouth as her body shook in his arms. Now, thoroughly satisfied that she’d been pleasured, he was ready to take her completely.

 Kyle placed both hands on her rounded hips, and quickened his pace, pulling her body down onto his shaft in short, rapid strokes until he reached his own climax, growling out, as he gripped the cheeks of her behind tightly.

He rested his head on her chest as he tried to catch his breath, sweat pouring from his face after their exhausting session.

Liana rubbed a hand over his head, her other arm wrapped around his neck as she came down from her own high with him.

***

They lay in his bed, recuperating from their second round of passionate lovemaking.  Liana lay on Kyle’s chest as he circled the skin of her soft arm with his fingers.