4 comments/ 14909 views/ 11 favorites The Timefull Cruise By: nicecthulhu I appreciate all scores, comments or feedback. I am looking for an editor, as well. I I'm not the type to go on a cruise, but there I was. I'm really more of a 'see the old fort or castle, stay in the bed and breakfast, drive around the wilderness to see wild animals, go whale watching' type guy. It was my thoughtful friends that had set me up for an ocean cruise. They arranged the whole thing and then sprung it on me. The girlfriend I'd been with for the last year and a half had suddenly decided that I wasn't Mr. Right so we split up. I suppose I should have been choked up about the whole thing, but I wasn't. Early on in our relationship she had told me that she was only with me for the sex. Being a guy, I wasn't all that upset about her reason behind the relationship. Actually, I found it quite flattering. My friends assumed that I was broken up inside because they believed I was an emotionally sensitive guy and because I didn't talk much about the break-up. They were right on with number one, but dead wrong on number two. I'd never been the type to gossip about my bedroom conquests. Millie was a nice girl, well a nice girl in her early thirties, but she was a little screwed up in the head. While she was fun to be with, and I would miss the sex, I also knew there were better lovers than her out there and I would eventually find someone else. There was the other thing, but I didn't expect them to understand how I felt about that. Nor had I discussed the matter with them as it seemed a deeply personal issue. Now, you know the old joke about guys never looking at a map, or running into a store, grabbing the clothes they want and buying them without trying them on? Well, my friends are like that. So I sighed in futility as I watched all the elderly couples lining up for the exact same ocean cruise that my friends had sent me on. There wasn't a single person under sixty that I could see. And it wasn't singles boarding the ship, it was all couples. At thirty-five I wasn't about to go after a senior citizen, no matter how rich she was, but if these had all been unmarried people then I might at least find some interested in the same diversions that I was. I prayed that there might be some pretty and unattached women working on the ship, if not then this trip was hardly going to have any therapeutic value. Instead of running away, I approached the desk and pleasantly handed over my ticket to the cruise ship employee. I pointedly ignored the look of surprise from the teenage girl at the counter. Then I followed my soon to be ship mates to the gangplank. It was a big ship. Looking at my ticket I wondered how I was ever going to find my berth. Did they call them berths? Most of my knowledge of sea travel came from an old Humphrey Bogart war movie and A Night to Remember. The last movie I mentioned may not be the best one to use as a reference for an ocean cruise. I looked around and observed that my fellow passengers had not noticed me yet, or maybe they had and simply assumed I was here on business. There was an oddly excited skinny fellow at the gate who seemed to be desperately trying to get my attention. Finally he started yelling at me. "Don't you dare ignore me! You've got my ticket!" Now people started to notice me, as they looked at the source of noise and saw him pointing directly at me. I shrugged my shoulders at him. I had no idea who he was. "Come here! I'll pay you for the ticket! I'll give you double what it cost you!" Now I stopped and took a couple of steps towards him. I could take the money and get a cruise on another ship. Maybe something like a singles cruise where the women are all liquored up and you spend each night with a different girl. I'd never done something like that before and I smiled at the possibility of debauchery. "Don't give me that stupid smile, you dumb ape! Double is a fair price to pay for your ticket! Now get over here quick!" That did it. I've been told I had a stubborn streak, actually by everyone who ever knew me. I turned around and apologetically got back in line. I thanked the couple behind me and told them that I thought I knew the guy. They simply smiled affably. "Get back here you asshole!" The skinny screwball began to shake the fence. I spied a couple of security guards making their way over to him and they caught up with him just as he was beginning to climb over the fence. What a screwball! Did he have some fetish for old people? As I walked up the gangplank, I heard him raising his ante on my ticket. The highest I heard was ten times what I paid for it. If he'd been polite and asked me a little earlier, I might have given him the ticket for the original price. The staff on the ship had us sorted out and in our cabins, or at least directed to our cabins, very quickly. My cabin was bigger than I expected and fairly high up on the side of the ship. I guessed my friends had splurged, after all. I decided that I'd have to get each of them something nice as a thank you. I stayed in my room until it was time for dinner, preferring to relax a little and not being interested in watching as the ship left the harbour. I unpacked, listened to the radio and read the brochures the cruise line had provided. You know, I thought cruise ships went from port to port, allowing the passengers to disembark briefly and see the sights, but this one didn't. I would be trapped aboard with a legion of elderly couples. With increasing frustration, I decided that there had better be at least one smoking-hot babe working on this ship who found me to be the sexiest thing she has seen in a long time. Aw, who was I kidding? My tastes ran from pretty to gorgeous. If I met a super-model the first thing I'd think would be: do I have to talk slowly to her? II I dressed in semi-formal attire for dinner. As I was seated, I was glad to see that some of the other men at the table were also wearing jackets and ties. The women were all...I think the phrase was...dressed to the nines. I was greeted warmly and my dining companions were talkative and curious about what I was doing aboard. I told them the truth, well most of it. "So this must be quite a let down to you then, Gerrald," said Colonel Clink. Well, that wasn't his name, but he wore a monocle. I had never seen someone wear a monocle in real life before. "It's not so bad. I probably won't find much romance on this trip, but the company is pleasant." I raised my glass to them and then sampled a mouthful. This was good wine and I guess my surprise showed on my face. "Gerrald, dear," said a near-sighted seventy year old as she patted my hand, "my husband Stan is a bit of a wine connoisseur. He sent the waiter back to return with a better vintage." Stan added his two cents. "One of the benefits of age is the knowledge and experience you gather. But looking at you, sir, I think you understand that very well." I nodded pleasantly at him, indicating agreement. I thought that this cruise might have more subtle pleasures to savour as it appeared increasingly unlikely that I would get to satisfy my more basic urges. I could see one of the other ladies wished to say something, but she kept biting her lip. I dug into my prime rib and found it tender and delicious. Finally the lady's husband coaxed his hesitant wife into speaking. "Well, Gerry, I know you might think I'm playing matchmaker, but we met a single woman at dinner last night and she is just a few years younger than you. I think she said she was thirty-one?" she looked at her husband for confirmation. "Yes, Penny said she was thirty-one. She was quite vivacious. Although, I don't think she would be happy with anyone bandying her age about," he chided his wife. I was a little dumbfounded. "Well, thank you for the information, Mr and Mrs. Whitehouse, but I don't see how that makes any difference to my situation on the ship." Now Mrs. Whitehouse looked confused. "But don't you see? She's on the ship, too. We had dinner with her last night." The Professor spoke up. "That doesn't follow. Just because you had dinner with someone on shore, how was our young friend supposed to know that she would be on the ship?" The Professor's wife nodded vigorously. There were a few confused comments around the table. I wasn't really listening to them. A rather pretty waitress was making her way around the tables with a dessert tray. My eyes were focussed on the young woman's shapely bottom as she leaned over tables. Her slacks fit her very well. Apparently, my new friends were getting into quite an argument. I suggested that perhaps the wine was stronger at sea and maybe everyone could do with a little dancing, now that dinner was finished. Cooler heads seemed to prevail. Or maybe no one wanted to hold a grudge based on a misunderstanding at the beginning of the cruise. We were going to be stuck together on this ship for two and a half weeks. As my dinner companions left, I waited for the dessert girl to look over to my table and then waved for her attention. She smiled and came over immediately. "What will you have, sir?" She wore a dark vest over a frilly, white blouse. She had long, blonde hair and blue eyes. "What would you recommend?" "The chocolate cheesecake, sir." I nodded in response. As she put the plate in front of me I decided to see how friendly the workers here were. "So is there somewhere for the passengers to dance on this ship?" "Yes, sir. You go out that door, down the hall on your right and then through the double doors. It's named the Little Mermaid Lounge." She smelled wonderful. "So do employees go dancing?" She gave me the old 'I know exactly what you're thinking' look. "Not with passengers, sir. My boyfriend and I sometimes go dancing there late at night, after most of the passengers have retired." "Ah. Thank you for the dessert." She smiled prettily and headed for another table. I had the feeling that this was going to be a very long cruise. I left the dining room and wandered around the deck most of the evening, enjoying the night sky and the cool sea air before retiring. III I was riding a roller coaster. Up and down it went, sliding smoothly over the rails. Up, up, up and I sat up straight in the last seat and then down, down, down into a trough. There was a girl in the first car, sitting so she was facing me. She was smiling, but I could not make out her face. Up the coaster went, over another big crest, and then down it dropped into the trough. The coaster hummed along the rails; it didn't rattle and roar. Each crest seemed higher than the last and the troughs somehow got deeper, as well. I heard a slurp and the roller coaster faded into oblivion. All that was left of the dream was the girl's sweet Cheshire Cat mouth, grinning madly at me. And then it opened into an 'o'. There was another slurp and I felt a pull on my penis. I opened my eyes and looked down. I wasn't afraid. After all, whatever was going on south of my belly button felt damn good. I was in bed and the sheets were missing. I felt soft, wet lips kiss the head of my hardening cock. And then they spread over it and the mouth engulfed me at least halfway down the shaft. I lifted my head and saw long, red hair spilled over my groin. A hand reached up and brushed some of it off to one side and behind an ear. She was lovely. She tilted her head to look up at me and her sparkling, green eyes mesmerized me. Whoever she was, I silently vowed that I would refuse her nothing as long as she continued. Despite her claims, Millie had never been that good at oral sex, as she preferred to receive rather than to give. Whoever this ball of fire was though, she knew what she was doing and was concentrating on the matter on her hands. If we had hit an iceberg I don't think either of us would have left the room. She smiled at me and removed her mouth from my erection. She continued pumping with her right hand. "Does that feel good?" I nodded. She licked the shaft, beginning at the base and working her way up slowly. By the time she reached the tip most of my muscles had tensed up. She chuckled and put her mouth over the head again. Her head bobbed slowly, her delicate face hidden by her long hair. I could feel a tingling in my balls, as if the sperm were getting ready for their charge. Wouldn't they be surprised when they found no ova. On the other hand, if I were a sperm I think I should be equally as happy to pour over those ruby lips, across that skilled tongue and down that gorgeous woman's throat. What a way to go. I concentrated on holding my orgasm back. Orgasms were a lot of fun, but so far what this beauty was doing with her mouth was better than any orgasm I had ever had. I just wanted it to continue forever, but I could feel the pressure building. I decided I had to warn her. Why was I always stupid enough to be a gentleman? "I'm close," I whispered. She pushed her hair over her head, looked me in the eye and said "anytime you're ready." Then she put her mouth back over my erection and pushed me deep into her mouth. There was almost a 'twang' and I felt the rhythmic pumping of my seed, shooting from my balls to my cock and then into her mouth. Surprised, she raised her head a little and then began gulping, swallowing my cum. I could feel her tongue running over the top of my erection as I closed my eyes. This was the best orgasm I'd ever had. I felt as if my balls had emptied themselves. My cock felt cleaned out and all my muscles were relaxing. Hedonism could be truly wonderful and I revelled in it while she generously licked me clean. How would I ever thank her for such an experience? Well, I knew I'd give it a damn good try. What's good for the gander is good for the goose and I wondered exactly how sweet tasting her own juices would be. The bottom of the bed bounced. I looked around through half-open lids and just caught a glimpse of her round bottom as she slipped into the bathroom. I heard water running in the sink and some splashing. What would I say to her when she came out? I glanced at the window and saw blackness outside. What time was it? Who really cared? Does anybody know what time it is? Does anybody really care... I felt her lips on mine and opened my eyes. It wasn't a passionate kiss; it was a very friendly hello or goodbye kiss. She had on a red gown that showed a bit of cleavage and had a long slit down one side of the skirt. "I have to go. I don't want anyone to see me sneaking out of your room." She leaned over and kissed me again. "Go back to sleep, Gerry." She walked over to the door, picked up her shoes, gave me a quick wave and then slipped out. I tried to sit up but I was still spent. I think the second kiss and the wave meant this was only a temporary goodbye, but who the hell was she? IV When I woke up I decided to search for my mysterious benefactor. If she was-ahem-just aggressive in her style of introduction then I wanted to get to know much more about her. If she just liked giving men blowjobs, then I still wanted to get to know her better. Whether it meant a relationship or just one more experience of her soft lips wrapped around my cock, I was going to find her. A glance out the window showed me that it was a beautiful day. As I dressed in shorts and a light, cotton shirt I considered my options. I was experienced at finding people and it shouldn't be too difficult with everyone stuck on this cruise ship. Being a police detective had its advantages at times. Now, she was either this Penny that one couple had mentioned at dinner the night before or she was an employee of the cruise line. I might spot her by chance if I just wandered the ship, but what if she were holed up somewhere I couldn't enter without a preposterous lie? Like a ladies room? Or her own cabin? I would have to be systematic in my investigation. I locked my cabin door as I left and then paused. How in Hell had she got into my room, in the first place? The door had been locked. If she worked on the ship she might have access to keys and that would have allowed her to sneak into my room at some point early this morning. On the other hand, women could seem oh so innocent and in need of help at times and she may have wheedled someone on the ship to open the door for her. This was getting me nowhere. I had to find the Whitehouses and get a good description of this Penny they were talking about. If the descriptions didn't match, then I could ask the staff about this very charitable girl. Half an hour later, I found the couple on one of the upper decks, chatting at the rail. "Hello, folks. How are you two doing?" I asked, pleasantly. "We're both loving this cruise. How have you been? We haven't seen you for a couple of days," answered Mr. Whitehouse. Could they be senile? "I'm doing great. I was hoping you two could help me with something." "Sure Gerry. What is it?" asked Mrs. Whitehouse. "Well, I was wondering if you could describe Penny for me." They both gave me surprised looks. "What is this, some weird game that you young people play?" asked the husband. "Now, now. Just play along, dear." Mrs. Whitehouse then turned to me. "She has an easy laugh, seems quite intelligent and is as charming as you are, Gerry. I think you two make a good couple." "That's not what I mean. What does she look like?" This old bird just wouldn't give up on the matchmaking. Again, both of them looked at me in surprise. "You've forgotten already?" Mr. Whitehouse shook his head in wonder. "She has long red hair, green eyes, a good figure and is perhaps about five and a half feet tall." Bingo! The wonder woman! Now how do I meet her? "Gerry, have you forgotten what she looks like already?" asked Mrs. Whitehouse. "The way you two were dancing so close last night and for so many dances! It was quite romantic. Don't let her slip out of your fingers. There will be a thousand young men waiting to trip her up once she leaves the ship. You only have another week and a half before the cruise is over." Before I could respond, her husband grabbed her arm. "Let's get going, dear. I want to play in the pool and have time to dry off before brunch." I said goodbye to them as they walked away. What a screwy old couple, I thought. It was a three week cruise, not a week and a half. And I didn't go dancing last night. I hoped their description of Penny was reliable. Then again, maybe the wife was suffering from dementia and the husband remembered things clearly and he just goes along with what she says. It would explain everything. For the rest of the morning, I scoured much of the ship searching for Penny. I did not see her once. I went for lunch and then hung around for awhile afterwards in case Penny arrived late. No luck. Late in the afternoon, I was becoming perplexed. I should have seen some sign of her. Could it be possible that she was hiding from me? If she was deliberately hiding from me, then it would take time to find her. Also, there was my resistance to searching for someone who did something nice for me and then didn't want to be found. If she was concealing herself, then maybe she would introduce herself to me or maybe she wouldn't, but it would all be done on her terms. There was one last place I wanted to check: the hold. She could have slipped down there unseen and hidden herself in complete privacy. But why resort to the hold when she had a comfortable room? I didn't have all the answers. Maybe she assumed that I might be able to locate her room. I wasn't about to ask around, though. That type of question would get me flagged as a suspicious character very quickly, despite the fact that my desire to meet Penny was innocent...maybe innocent was the wrong word. I jumped a gate where the sign stated 'staff only' and proceeded down the stairs. The map of the ship indicated this stair led to a hallway that, in turn, led to the main hold. Soon enough, I was standing in the doorway letting my eyes adjust to the dimly lit storage room. The Timefull Cruise There were hundreds of boxes, all battened down. I'm sure there was some system, but it would take me a million years to figure it out. I went down the stairs and wandered around the hold, listening carefully. I crept up and down, past rows of boxes and crates. After a while, I had seen and heard no one and I was absolutely sure Penny wasn't down here. But I had heard a slight beeping somewhere. For some bizarre reason, I decided to check it out. Stubborn and curious, that was me. The beeping was coming from a large crate. I checked the paperwork and saw it belonged to a Wallace Park, Ph.D. The name meant nothing to me, but the crate felt warm and the hairs on my arms stood on end. I went back to the entrance, picked a crowbar out of a tool chest and returned to the strange crate. This was why my friends said I was poor: I had trouble sticking to one mystery. I levered open the top of the crate, pushed the lid askew and peered inside. I saw a machine about the size of an old Volkswagen beetle and about the same shape. It had glowing lights and digital displays. Things blinked and hummed and purred. It must have been generating one Hell of a magnetic or electric field as the hands on my watch were spinning. One display had numbers counting down and another had the day's date shown as year-month-day-hour-minute-second, only it was two days early. As I stared at the device, the countdown reached zero and the machine went "whoomp". I figured this might be something I no longer wanted to play with. I climbed down and put the lid back on the crate, but loosely. I left the crowbar by the crate and then exited the hold. As I climbed up the last stairway to the open deck I noticed it was evening already. I checked my watch, but the stupid thing was now four days ahead. One of the crew caught me as I was climbing over the fence onto the deck. I pleaded curiosity, telling him I just wanted to see what was down these stairs. He warned me against such actions in the future and advised me to talk to an officer if I wanted a tour. I apologized and then asked him what time it was. He told me dinner had already started. I ran to my cabin so I could get changed and head to dinner. Maybe Penny would be there. V I arrived at the dining hall to see that I was, in all likelihood, the last one to show up. I quickly checked my seating arrangement and then made my way to my table, rather self-consciously. Most people ignored my passage, although some nodded to me in greeting. A flash of red caught my eye and I froze in place and just stared. It was her! That shoulder length, straight, red hair was unmistakeable, especially in a dining room where every other diner had grey or white hair. Well, except for a few holdouts who were clearly not facing reality. I saw Penny in profile, with her cute bump of a nose, piercing green eyes and full red lips. She was wearing a smart, women's business suit. The green and white of her outfit suited her pale skin and hair colour very well. She was a vision. I tried to think of some historical character to compare her to and all my simple mind came up with was Red Sonya, a fictional character. Penny certainly wasn't as busty and she wasn't carrying a sword or wearing an impractical chain mail bikini. But Penny was definitely real. I found that I had already walked half way to her table without knowing it. No one seemed to be noticing my passage; I was in a dream. I reached out and felt her silken hair, brushing it out of my way. Then I leaned over and kissed the side of her throat. "What the Hell?" she yelled, as she twisted away from me. She reached out with her hand and slapped me hard across the cheek. I stared at her and then at her table mates. Everyone seemed to be shocked by my actions. At least Penny had dropped her fork before she struck me, which was some small consolation to my embarrassment and anger at myself for upsetting this vision. Evidently she was a naughty little devil in private but a proper lady in public and I had crossed the line. "I'm sorry." I backed away a few steps. "I'm sorry to have upset you, miss. I didn't mean any harm." Confusion and anger played across her face. I looked around the table again. "I apologize." I left her table feeling as if everyone were staring at me. What exactly had happened? Someone grabbed my arm as I walked by one of the tables. I turned to see who it was and saw Stan and his wife, who had been my table mates from the night before. "Give her a few hours, son. Whatever you did to upset her, she'll get over it. We've seen the way she was staring at you last night on the deck," he suggested quietly, while his wife nodded in eager agreement. I muttered a thank you and left the dining room. On my way back to my room I asked a steward about getting some food sent to my room and then I spent the remainder of that evening alone in thought. Something very weird was going on. Why did Stan and his wife think I'd spent time with Penny on deck? And he wasn't the only one who had odd recollections concerning Penny and I. What was going on? VI I woke up the next day with my cheek slightly swollen and tender, but with no other signs of the punishment for my transgression. I showered and dressed in shorts and a t-shirt. Then I took a deep breath, opened the door to the hallway and went to breakfast. I dreaded seeing Penny or anyone from her table at breakfast, but I was fairly early and the dining room was only about one quarter full. I quietly ate my fill of breakfast, while I debated what I would do for the day. I decided that I needed some cooling down time, so once breakfast was finished I returned to my room to change. After putting on a set of swim trunks I grabbed a towel, sunglasses and a bottle of sunscreen. I planned to relax by the pool quite a bit, so I needed some reading material. Sorting through what little I had brought with me, I finally settled on Foundation by Isaac Asimov. It was wordy and long enough to keep my mind occupied while I relaxed all day. Many of the hallways were empty and I guessed that almost everyone else was still busy eating breakfast. I found a comfortable chair by the pool, set my belongings down to mark my territory and then dove into the pool. The water was warm and very comfortable. I swam a few lengths and then noticed that people were beginning to collect on the pool deck. I climbed out of the water, walked over to my chair and dried myself off. I don't have the best physique and as a result I've always been a little shy about being shirtless, but among this elderly crowd I felt quite comfortable. I stretched out on the chair, applied some sunscreen, put on my sunglasses and opened my book. I was about one hundred pages in when a shadow covered me and I felt a tap on my shoulder. "Some Canada Dry would be nice if you have any, please," I said. "I didn't come bearing gifts, I came to apologize," responded a soft, feminine voice behind me. I looked over my shoulder to see Penny. She was wearing a light green, single-piece swimsuit which rode high on her hips and low on her chest, with some sort of crinkled elastic portion directly under her breasts. Large sunglasses covered her eyes as she faced me and she held her white sun hat in both hands in front of her. Her fingers idly played with the brim while she awaited my response. I sat speechless for a few seconds and I'm pretty sure my mouth was open the whole time. A small smile flickered across her face. I must have looked like a complete idiot. I closed my book, forgetting to bookmark where I had left off. "No," I said as I finally found my voice, "I should be the one apologizing to you. I should never have kissed you at dinn..." "Please let me have my say. It's Gerrald isn't it?" I nodded as I looked up at her. My neck was beginning to get stiff, but it was a small price to pay. "Look about that, I over-reacted. It was a simple kiss. You probably thought I was someone you knew and you were just saying hi. I slapped you over a simple misunderstanding. I am very sorry." "I...I..." was all I could get out as my brain went off in two directions. She clearly didn't remember giving me the best blowjob I have ever had, or didn't want to remember or wanted to pretend like it never happened. I just wanted to keep spending time with her. "I...don't worry about it. You didn't hit me very hard. I should have said something instead of just kissing you like that, but..." How could I possibly explain my state of mind at the time? "Thank you. I still think I should make it up to you, somehow." She glanced around and I suddenly realized this red-headed goddess was standing and I hadn't even thought to offer her a seat. I glanced around quickly and saw all the chairs nearby were occupied. "Here, take my chair," I offered, starting to rise. "No, I couldn't. Look, there's an empty one across the pool." "Uhm, Penny, here why don't you sit on the end of my chair while we talk?" I sat up and moved my legs from the end of the long chair. She looked at me, but I couldn't read what was going on behind those big sunglasses. Then, to my great relief, she sat down where I had suggested. "We still haven't figured out how I am going to pay my penance," she pointed out. "Look, tell me what you want from me. I don't like owing somebody something and I'll do anything to erase this debt." I swallowed. "Anything?" I asked quietly. She looked very concerned about the turn of the conversation and I had the impression she had said she would do anything merely as a figure of speech. She looked down at the chair between us, seemed to debate some inner conflict and then looked up and stared me in the eye. "I said anything and I meant it." "But you'd rather not have said it, correct?" She nodded quickly and I cursed myself for being the man I was. I knew dozens of guys who would have immediately ordered this poor girl back to their cabin. Luckily for her, I was the guy she had said it to and I didn't have the balls to take advantage of her. "What time do you have?" She glanced at her cheap wristwatch. "It's almost nine." "How about you spend the morning chatting with me and then we finish with lunch. Once lunch is over, you have paid your debt." She looked at me in surprise and then smirked. I was guessing that she knew I had her over a barrel and had failed to move in for the kill. "That doesn't sound like much of a penance, Gerrald." "Consider it a reward for me instead, after being so grievously and unnecessarily wounded. I really don't want to see you suffer too much for something that I really can't fault you for." White teeth flashed between her full lips as she smiled. "Agreed." She held out her hand and I shook it gently. "What shall we do first, oh warden?" "How about a swim?" We set our belongings down on the chair and dove into the water side by side. At first we contented ourselves with swimming a few lengths of the pool. Then it became a bit of a race, which she won. I retaliated by splashing her. After that, we splashed and played with a good degree of familiarity and a little too much innocent playfulness. It was fun, but would you want to be having 'innocent' fun with Aphrodite, after she rode up on the surf in front of you? As our fingers and toes began to prune up, Penny suggested we dry ourselves off and have some refreshments. So we left the pool and soon enough we each had a lemonade in our possession, as we slowly walked around the pool area. I found myself smiling quite a bit and when I glanced over at Penny, she was doing the same. VII "It's eleven-thirty, Gerry." "Trying to end your punishment as soon as you can, eh Penny?" She furrowed her brow. "No. I just meant I'm getting hungry and I'm surprised you aren't. Did you even eat breakfast? I looked for you in the dining room before I came to the pool." "I'm just teasing. You're free of me as soon as lunch is over, my dear. I am starting to get hungry as well. We should go get changed. Since I'm fairly close to the dining room why don't you meet me at my cabin?" "Which room is it?" What the Hell? "Tell you what, why don't we just meet at the entrance to the dining room?" "Okay, I'll see you in a couple of minutes." She walked away and I watched the subtle sway of her hips until she casually wrapped her towel around her waist. Just before she left the deck, she turned, took a quick look around and then gave me a quick smile when she realized I had been staring at her. Once she was out of sight I hurried to my room. Five minutes later I was dressed in comfortable slacks and a casual, collared shirt and waiting patiently outside the dining room. While I kept glancing up and down the hallways, I made sure that it looked as if I were reading notices on a bulletin board. My stomach was full of butterflies. Then I heard her call my name and I turned to greet her in a sophisticated way I'd rehearsed several times while waiting. "Wow," was all I said. Penny wore white shorts and heeled sandals that did a lot to showcase her lovely legs. An emerald green t-shirt covered her torso and she wore her hair up, leaving her elegant neck bare. "How long have you been practising that debonair greeting, Gerry?" She smiled and I realized that she wasn't poking fun at me, well not completely. "All my life. You're the first woman I ever got to use that on," I replied seriously and Penny blushed pink across both her cheeks. "Let's find a table for two." We were soon seated and we lunched on a fruit and cold cut platter. Penny asked about my reading habits and I learned that she read science fiction as well, although she preferred more recently written stuff. We compared movies, politics, sports and home cities, where I was saddened to learn that Penny was an American and lived quite far away from me. If this was going to continue after the ship returned to dock, then it would require a lot of effort and money and would still have little hope of success. It seemed like lunch took only fifteen minutes, but Penny's watch showed we had been seated for nearly two hours. I wasn't upset and Penny didn't seem upset by the lengthy lunch, either. Although, she did pretend that I had 'stolen' two hours of her penance time. "You have been very naughty, Gerry. You only had me until the end of lunch and you've stretched it out as long as you could." "I plead guilty, your honour, and throw myself on your mercy." "No mercy. You owe me now, Gerry." I took a last drink of my wine. "Fine. I'll pay any penance you decide." She went very serious. "You mean that, don't you?" "Of course I do. You and I are alike in that. I am at your mercy. What would you have me do, Your Honour?" "You must be tested, sir," she said slowly. "What is a bolide?" "It's a piece of space debris, like an asteroid, meteor or comet that enters the atmosphere. Is this an intelligence test or a trivia test?" She stared at me, dumbfounded. "Look, I don't know the definition because I'm a genius. There was an old Jules Verne book about a meteor that crashes somewhere in the U.S. It was constantly referred to as a bolide in the story. I looked the word up while reading the story." "But it is an odd word and you read it in one story. I know you're not an astronomer, although you could be an amateur one. You read that word in a story, looked up its definition and remembered it because it's an unusual word." "Well, I do that." "So do I," she whispered. She seemed deep in thought while she slowly finished the last of her wine. "First, stop calling me 'Your Honour'. Call me Penny. Second, you are condemned to spend the rest of the afternoon with me and you must dine with me this evening." "A condemned man never before ate so hearty." "Where's that from?" "I have no idea. Would you like to take a turn upon the deck?" I asked, trying to be playfully charming. "Yes." We left the dining room, passed through several hallways until we were on deck and then slowly began following the railing around the ship. There was a light breeze, the sun was high in the sky and the waves splashed against the side of the ship without making it sway. Penny's hair began to unravel a little, so she removed the berets and let the wind take it. "So, why exactly did you decide on a cruise full of elderly people, Penny?" I asked. She bit her lip. "Well, I didn't arrange it, my ex-boyfriend did. He's a bit of a control freak, always asking me where I've been and who I was with. I was getting tired of it very fast, but he wasn't taking the hint. Wally's actually a brilliant physicist and tends to think everyone else is stupid. With me he figured things were best if he made all the decisions. So, one day he told me that we were going on a cruise. We fought about it, but he'd already bought the tickets. It's funny because he kept saying how this cruise would fix our relationship. Well, I broke up with him. He gave me my ticket and told me he expected me to be on the cruise with him. I was furious. I contacted the travel agent and cancelled his ticket." "Understandable." "When I showed up I saw my fellow passengers and was pleasantly surprised." "Oh?" "Well, after breaking up with Wally I didn't really want to jump into another relationship." "Ah." She glanced at me. "I'm actually glad I met you, Gerry. Again I've been pleasantly surprised about this cruise." "Well, that's better." She smiled at me. "You don't mind hanging around with damaged goods?" I started laughing and the laughter became so strong that I was soon bent over double, with Penny nervously asking if I was okay. "I wasn't laughing at you or your ex-boyfriend troubles, Penny. I was laughing at me," I said once I had calmed down. She arched an eyebrow at me. "My buddies bought me the ticket for this cruise. I doubt they looked into what kind of cruise it was. As for damaged goods: I've been off work for awhile and my buddies decided I needed a good vacation shortly after my girlfriend and I broke up." "Well, you don't have a job and you just ended a relationship. That's not so bad, is it?" she asked with concern. "Oh, I have a job. I'm on leave." I mentally debated telling her the truth. I liked her a lot and if this relationship went anywhere, it could be destroyed pretty easily by lies and concealment. "I killed a man, Penny. I wasn't handling it well so my superiors put me on leave, indefinitely." "Oh. Oh. You're a cop, then?" I nodded. "Actually, I'm a detective." She seemed to be handling it pretty well. She hadn't taken a step back or run off. "So this guy you killed, was it an accidental shooting or was he a criminal?" "He was a pedophile and he was trying to make off in a car with a kid in the back. I didn't think. I pulled out my gun and put a bullet in his head. After that everything becomes rather hazy, but apparently I pulled the kid out of the car. When back-up arrived they found me hugging the kid and the perp conscious, but dying. There was a bit of a fuss over the fact that I didn't try to call in for an ambulance. There was an investigation in which I was cleared of charges." "So he deserved to die. You're a nice guy and you were having trouble dealing with taking a life and I take it that your girlfriend left you because you were emotionally devastated?" "Yeah, Millie was never the motherly type. I wasn't much fun to be around, so she left." "What a bitch! Whatever did you see in her in the first place?" I looked at Penny and saw tears welling up in her eyes. "I'm sorry, Penny. I shouldn't have put a downer on this day. Let's go and play shuffleboard or billiards or something." A few minutes later we both cheered up as we tried the different games available on the ship. The afternoon became happier for both of us as time went by. As dinner approached, we split up so we could each get changed in preparation for dinner. The Timefull Cruise VIII I was dressed in my best suit, hoping to impress Penny as much as she had impressed me at lunch, well as much as she impressed me each and every time I had seen her. When I saw her approaching the dining room in a long, scarlet gown, I just gave up because I definitely could not compete. There was a slit down the side that went up to her hip and a neckline that plunged to below her breasts. She did a quick twirl for my benefit as she approached and I observed that her hair covered more of her back than her dress did. "Wow," was all I could say. She giggled, walked up to me, put her arms around my neck and gave me a quick kiss on the lips. Then she was a step away before I could put my arms around her. "You look very nice, Gerry." "So do you. I thought you said you were going to were a green dress." She gave me a quizzical look. "No. That was last night. Come on, let's have dinner." She put her arm in mine and we went into the dining room together. I managed to get us a table for two and we had a romantic dinner, chatting about inconsequential things like war, the meaning of life and the future of mankind. As we finished dessert, it suddenly occurred to me that I didn't even know Penny's full name. "By the way, my full name is Gerrald Raphael Omit." "Omit's an unusual name." "Most people leave it off and just call me Gerry," I replied. I watched her face to see how long it would take before she caught my little joke. She flashed me a smile in less than a second. "Do you say that to all the girls you pick up on cruise ships?" "You're the first." "Would you mind if I called you G.R.?" she asked. "No, go ahead." I hadn't quite managed to conceal my wince in time. "Don't worry, Gerry. I'll find another nickname for you. By the way, I'm Pennsylvania Nick. My parents thought Penelope was too common. It could have gotten worse. My ex had been pressuring me to marry him just before I dropped him. That would have made me Pennsylvania Park." "And so your parents named you after a whole state." Penny rolled her eyes. "Since you're trying to come up with a nickname for me I'll assume that I haven't paid my penance as yet." "Oh, I've given up on that little game. For now," she added with a wink. "I've had a lot of fun today, Gerry. I don't want it all to end." Her sea-green eyes sparkled in the candlelight. "Would you like to go dancing?" "No, I want to spend some time together without a crowd of people around." "How about we try a walk in the moonlight again?" I suggested. She nodded and took my hand. We left the dining room, hand in hand and were soon up on deck. It was fairly breezy and the night sky was lit up by a bright band of stars. Penny shivered, so I took my jacket off and put it over her bare shoulders. She leaned against me and we walked forward slowly, still hand in hand. I could hear the splashing of waves against the side of the ship. We paused at the railing at the most forward part of the deck. "I can't spot any of the constellations," I said. "You're used to light pollution." She stood straight and looked at me. Then she smacked me on the arm. "You are an amateur astronomer!" "If you mean am I interested in astronomy, then yes I am. But I don't own a telescope, nor can I remember the last time I looked through one." "Oh, sorry. I should have trusted you better." She looked a little embarrassed and peered into the night sky. After a few seconds her brow furrowed in concern. "Something's wrong with the sky. Jupiter should be on the other side of the Moon. And Venus! Venus shouldn't be visible above the horizon at this time. What the hell?" I looked where she was pointing, sighting along her outstretched arm. "That's not Venus." "What? How do you know that?" "Because she's right beside me." Penny opened her mouth and then closed it. Then she opened it again and then closed it again. Finally, she responded, "you're very sweet, Gerry." I leaned forward a little, saw her smile and then she closed her eyes. I leaned the rest of the way toward her, and my lips met hers. Hers were just as soft as they'd felt the morning before. And hot, so hot. Her hands came up to either side of my face, as if to make sure I didn't go anywhere. On instinct, I reached out and pulled her body to me. Then I leaned back against the rail, wrapped my arms around her waist and enjoyed the sensation of her body against mine. Our mouths opened and the kiss continued. She tilted my head the opposite way and continued the kiss between quick breaths. I felt her left leg rising along my thigh and then it rested against my hip, with her calf hooked behind me. I reached down and caressed her bare thigh with my right hand. Her skin was smooth and the flesh beneath was firm. She flexed her leg at my touch, pulling our lower halves closer together. Our lips parted and we both took a deep breath, but otherwise we stayed entwined. "Hmmm," I breathed. "That was good. I'm glad to see that there's a spark." She rested her head on my shoulder, giving me a brief kiss on my throat. "More like an inferno than a mere spark. How are you doing this to me in a few brief days?" "This hasn't happened to me before, either. We're both in virgin territory." We both chuckled. "Let's just stay like this for a few minutes, okay Penny?" I asked and then I kissed her forehead. "I can't keep my leg up like this forever. I'm not nineteen." "You can put your leg down. Just stay in my arms like this. I'm not ready to go walking around quite yet." She pulled her head away and raised an eyebrow. I nodded meaningfully down between us. She looked down, puzzled. Then she reached her hand down my chest. Finding nothing amiss, her hand continued to my belt and then, hesitantly, to my groin. Her hand rested on the bulge and she looked back up into my face. I shrugged, helplessly. She smiled and then gave my erection a squeeze. "I'm glad to see I'm having some effect on you, iceman." "Oh, never doubt that." She licked her lips. "You know, I can undo your belt and zipper with one hand. The slit on this skirt allows you a lot of access to me. We can have some fun, right now." "Someone's coming," I whispered. Penny lowered her leg and raised her hand to my shoulder, but remained against my chest. I watched as a shadow transformed into one of the crew, as the man walked under some lighting. He had a cigarette in his mouth and stopped when he saw the two of us, although we didn't seem to surprise him. "Evenin', sir. Evenin', ma'am. Everything okay?" "Yes, everything is fine," I said quickly and dismissively. "Well, no it isn't," countered Penny. "We'd like a little privacy, please." "Who wouldn't? Who wouldn't? Only thing is-they can see you from the bridge." He pointed up with his thumb. Then he threw his cigarette (newly lit cigarette!) over the side, turned around and shuffled away. Penny and I slowly turned our heads up and sure enough, we could see the bridge clearly. It was dark behind the glass, but various coloured lights made it clear that it was an important place on the ship. If there was anybody watching us from up there we certainly would never see them. But with the lighting around us, they could certainly see us very clearly. "Are you ready to go?" Penny asked. I shifted my hips, working my now flaccid penis back into a comfortable walking position. "Yeah. Where to, my dear?" Penny looked at me incredulously. "Your place is closer, I believe." IX Penny grabbed my shirt and planted her mouth on mine just a couple of meters from my door. I pushed her against the wall and her hands joined behind my neck. My left hand ran down her arm, then part way down the side of her torso and then I brought it over to her chest and cupped her breast through her gown. She felt round and firm. I slipped my hand under her strap and was surprised to find she was braless. My thumb brushed her nipple and I felt it begin to rise. Penny grunted and supporting her weight on my neck, she lifted her legs and locked her ankles behind my butt. I pressed her into the wall with my body as my kisses moved her lips to my cheek. "Oh, this is so good!" she panted. "But too fast!" She set her legs back down on the floor and I stepped back from her a little. Her hands came down across my shoulders and stopped on my chest. "I don't think I've ever been this excited before, not even my first time." I took her hand and pulled her to the door. She saw me fumbling with the key card and impatiently took it from me. Smiling, she then squeezed in between the door and I. She swished her bottom against my groin and my hands went to her hips, not to stop her, just to enjoy the ride. The door unlocked and Penny turned to face me, putting her arms over my shoulders again. "Dear Gerry, I hope you don't always have trouble putting things in tight spaces." "Do you like to be spanked?" I asked, as I backed her into my cabin. "Comments like that could get you in trouble." "Prove me wrong," she said as she slipped her shoulder straps off their perch. The top of her gown fell, revealing her pale breasts, with their pink nipples. Her boobs were smaller than average, but rounded and firm. Each came to a point, apparently whether the nipple was erect or not. I stepped forward, taking a tit in each hand and kissed her throat. As I gently squeezed with my hands, I worked my kisses downwards slowly. Penny tilted her head back and moaned slightly. I felt her quiver and then I felt her hands on my arms, trying to draw me towards the bed. But I resisted. I was going to draw this out and enjoy every second. My mouth worked its way down her chest and onto a breast. I started alternating between sucks and kisses until I reached her nipple. Then I gently squeezed the nipple between my teeth. "Gerry...the bed...oh, please...I can't take...Gerry!" The last two syllables were a desperate whine. I was in control and she had no idea what she was in for. I reached for her dress and shimmied it over her hips and then down her legs. Switching my mouth to her other nipple, my hand began probing between her legs, through her panties. She grabbed my head with both hands and held my mouth tightly against her breast. My fingers traced the folds around her pussy, pushing her panties out of the way. Penny grunted and her grip on my head became painfully tight. Her juices dripped onto my fingers. "Oh. Oh. Oh," she gasped and then she clamped her eyes and mouth shut. I could feel convulsions run through her body and then her muscles relaxed. I put my arm behind her back to keep her from falling. Then I slipped my other hand from her pussy to her bottom and lifted her off the ground. She moved her head against me and smiled a very satisfied smile. I took a few seconds to savour her loveliness, and then I carried her to the bed. I placed her down gently and as I took my arms out from under her, she frowned and opened her eyes. I put a finger to my mouth and then reached down and slowly slid her panties down her legs. She lay silently on the bed, looking up at me with those sparkling, green eyes. I loosened my tie and pulled it over my head. I unbuttoned my shirt and then took it off one arm at a time. I bent over and pulled off my shoes and socks and as I stood up I noticed that Penny was still staring at me, with one finger in her mouth and one finger in her pussy. I licked my lips and she smiled back at me and silently giggled. My pants came off pretty quickly, followed by my briefs. Her eyes went down to my erection. She very slowly licked her lips and then gulped. "Gerry. I'm on the pill." "I can still use a condom if you want." Her eyes were still on my erection. "No. I want your cum inside of me." Her other hand went down to her pussy and she used her fingers to open herself up. She looked me in the face. "I really need to feel you, Gerry." I climbed on to the bed, manoeuvring myself between her legs. She bent her knees, up and out. As I moved over her, I dipped my head down to her pussy and gave her labia a good lick. She squirmed and let out a squeal that almost didn't sound human. I moved up her body slowly, kissing her just above her sparse, light red, pubic hair, her belly button, between her breasts and finally I stopped before kissing her lips again. Her hands wrapped around my erection and pulled me down to her waiting pussy. She fumbled briefly, trying to match us up properly. Then she took in a deep breath as I slid in through the slick opening. I pushed in with very little pressure, until I felt her labia against the base of my penis. Penny nodded her head a few times with her mouth open. I withdrew a little bit and her hands went to my butt and pushed me back in. I could feel her shuddering beneath me. Her heart pounded in her chest. She let out a long relaxing sigh and then opened her eyes. "Somehow, I've already had two and you haven't had one yet. That's not fair. I think it's your turn, Gerry." "Penny, I'm forty-one. As incredibly sexy as you are, I may only have one a night in me. So we'll just see how many more orgasms you can have before I cum." She pouted. "I still don't think that's fair. But I'm yours, to do whatever you want with." I lifted my hips, withdrawing from her. "That's a good start, lover." Then I pushed back into her. Her body seemed to move like a wave as I pushed down. Her breasts pushed up and her upper back arched. I kept the pace slow so I could nearly entirely withdraw and then gently pushed deep inside of her. Each withdrawal was accompanied by her hips bucking up, trying to keep me inside. Each push by me was met with her succulent breasts rising to my mouth and as they teased me, so my tongue teased Penny's nipples. Penny's breathing kept in time with my tempo. But after a few minutes, her breathing grew faster. So my tempo increased. The added excitement got her heart pumping faster, forcing her lungs to try to draw air in more swiftly. And that caused my tempo to speed up. It was a vicious circle. Well, more like a wonderful circle. She was able to squeeze my hard-on with the walls of her pussy. It was totally out of synchronization with the frequency of my thrusting, but it still felt fantastic. Soon, Penny was shaking her head. "Too much! Too much!" Her hands moved up my back and her fingers tried to tear pieces of my flesh away. Luckily for me, her fingernails were short. I could feel a sensation as if my balls were tensing. I knew I was getting close. My own heart seemed to be rattling in my ribs, as the tempo of my thrusting was very fast now. I pushed my hands under her bottom and clamped on, afraid if I didn't have a good grip I might slip out of Penny's pussy. She was tight, but there was just too much movement, too much action. Penny was gasping and nodding her head. No intelligible words escaped from her open mouth. Her hands flew up to her hair. Then they were over her head, grabbing at the headboard. Her knuckles went white. Penny let out one great, long moan and then she tensed and then relaxed. I continued to pump away furiously. I was too close to stop, even though I knew some women found the thrusting uncomfortable immediately after their orgasms. I just couldn't stop. Penny's hands grabbed my jaw and turned my face to hers. "Cum inside me, Gerry. Fill me up," she whispered dreamily. That sent me over the edge. My balls emptied and I felt the peristaltic action inside me as my sperm eagerly sought a womb to impregnate. My thrusting became erratic and I felt my seed spray forth, deep inside Penny. There were about a half dozen thrusts and I heard Penny's satisfied grunts coincide with each of mine as my erection went deep. It seemed as if a lot of fluid emptied into her and I was so grateful to her for allowing me to make love to her. What kind of woman thinks of her partner's pleasure while in the midst of her own orgasm? Penny was a goddess and I worshipped her. Then, profanely, I collapsed onto her. Propping myself up on one arm, I began to shift myself off of Penny, when she wrapped her arms around me and held me in place. I lay atop her, my slowly softening penis still nestled inside her warm and thoroughly wet tunnel. "I love you, Penny," I stated. "I lo...I think I...I haven't felt this way before about any guy, Gerry." I heard her sniff. "I'll have to leave before morning. I don't want any of the other passengers seeing me, a single woman, leaving your cabin obviously having spent the night. I know it's silly. I'm afraid they won't think I'm good enough for you. I'll wake you before I go, Gerry." We discussed how little I cared about what anyone else on the ship thought, while we lay there. But in the end I agreed, because I knew this was important to her. As our discussion became more disjointed and incoherent, I carefully pried myself off of her. As I fell asleep, I remembered that the red dress she had been wearing was the same one she had worn when she came into my room to give me a blowjob. This was the weirdest romance I had ever heard of and even though Penny couldn't, or wouldn't, remember everything she'd done, I loved her. I would stick with her even if she ended up locked up in a mental hospital. X I awoke during a dream about Penny. She had already left my cabin. The thought occurred to me that perhaps she wasn't crazy and possibly I was, but I dismissed the idea. I yawned and made my way to the bathroom. After using the toilet I had a nice, hot shower. The sun was relatively high in the sky and I knew I'd better hurry and get to breakfast if I was going to share the meal with her. I dressed and shaved hurriedly and then unlocked my door and stepped into the hall. "Hi, Gerry," called out Penny. I locked the door to my cabin and turned to look at her. She was wearing a short, white skirt and a tight, white, collared shirt with buttons down the front. The outfit looked like some type of tennis outfit, except that she had sandals on. "You look fabulous, Penny." She threw herself into my arms and we shared a loving and lingering kiss. "Thanks. I'm sorry I had to dash off, last night. I'm feeling much better. Now, come on, we'd better get to breakfast." She grabbed my hand and we headed to the dining room, side by side. I kept smiling at her and she kept smiling at me. I briefly wondered what she meant about 'dashing off last night' when she likely had left some time in the early morning. I wrote it off as an American figure of speech. We couldn't get a private table, so we joined some other couples. The conversation seemed rather hostile and erratic with people arguing about how long the cruise had been so far, but Penny and I didn't pay much attention as we were absorbed in each other. After breakfast we said our goodbyes to the others and then quickly left so as to squeeze in as many fun activities as we could during the day. We watched the waves. We watched a theatre production, where the lighting was dim enough that we could cuddle and play a little and no one saw. We played a game of hide and seek, but we stopped when we almost knocked over one of the other passengers. We learned to play bridge. Then we had lunch. We nibbled at our food and stared into each other's eyes. After lunch, there was shuffleboard, bowling, a little sexy exercising once we realized none of our fellow passengers were using the facility and then we watched an old film in the small movie theatre until we were kicked out for making too much noise. Then we were taken on a tour of the bridge and lastly we visited the casino. As it approached five o'clock, Penny made a suggestion. "Why don't we have an early dinner, tonight?" I agreed and we headed off to our separate cabins, planning to meet at the entrance to the dining room as usual.