Rapture's Rendezvous

“Undress . .. ?” she said in disbelief.

“You heard me“

She laughed tauntingly. “Sure, mister,” she said, slipping her dress down from her shoulders, revealing that she wore no undergarments beneath it. As she stepped out of it, her shapely body was revealed to him in its entirety. He raked his eyes over her, taking inventory of all her body's dips and crevices. He licked his lips hungrily. “Now. As I hold the gun, you undress me,” he ordered, placing his feet apart and his arms part way up into the air.

“Jesus,” she muttered, sauntering toward him.

When her fingers began to touch his bare flesh, he could feel goose pimples rising, rippling. An anxious greed for this woman's body made him reach downward with his free hand and caress a brea

st, causing soft moans to begin to surface from deep within him. He had never felt anything so soft. He squeezed harder, making her eyes move upward and tease him seductively with them.

“You want my body?” she purred, standing, stretching, touching herself now knowingly. . “I'm taking your body,”-he said flatly. “Move to that bunk.”

She inched her way toward it, watching his gun. Then she stretched out across the bunk, smiling wickedly toward him. He reached down and picked up his belt and moved toward her. He saw a fear enter her eyes, making shadows crease her face. “What are you going to do with .. . that… belt. . . ?” she gasped, working her way to the other side of the bunk.

“Lie on your stomach,” he ordered, standing over her.

“Why . .. ?”

“I'm going to tie your hands,” he said. “Do you think for one minute I could trust you while I was getting my pleasures from your body?”

“Don't tie me up,” she begged, her eyes pleading. “I promise I'll be good. I cain't stand to be in bondage. I've been treated that way before. Some guys get their kicks by tyin’ me up. But I cain't stand it.”

“I'd be a dumbass if I listened to you.”

She jumped up from the bunk and went to him and placed her lips to his. “I promise. I'll show you a good time. Anybody who has the guts to do what you've done to Sam deserves a good time. Please believe me. I'll be good to you.”

Alberto's pulse raced and he could feel the heat building in his loins. “All right,” he murmured. “But you know that I can get the gun faster than anything you can do. Just remember that.”

“I will,” she said, then wrapped a leg around him, drawing him to her, making his head begin to reel. He slung the gun down on the one end of the bunk and let her lead him downward, until he was stretched out on the bunk and she was kneeling over him, teaching him the tricks she knew with her mouth and tongue. He wanted to close his eyes, to enjoy to the fullest what he had so long been waiting to experience. But he didn't trust her. He placed his right hand closer to the gun, then with his left, reached down and grabbed a handful of flesh, squeezing the breast as he felt her lips begin to nibble along his body. His legs stiffened and his stomach muscles grew taut, afraid he would explode any minute, releasing all the pent-up emotions that had been building in him since that very first time he had realized that Maria had been more than a sister . . . that she had blown fully into a woman . . . more beautiful than any other Italian woman he had ever seen.

He had known it was wicked, but he had so desired to explore her body … see . .. feel… the secret parts of her body that he had known were so different from his own. But he had never approached her, had only let his mind enjoy the pleasure of dreaming.

“Come here, wench,” he said, tired of waiting. He laughed to himself. He could tell by her eyes and the flush of her face that she was enjoying this just as much as he was. He positioned her beneath him, holding on to her wrists, then stretched his body over hers, sighing, enjoying the feel of her breasts against his chest and the softness of her skin against the full length of his.

“Now, wench, I'm going to explore your body,” he said thickly. “But that doesn't mean I can't beat you to that gun if you try anything. Do you understand?”

Grace lifted her hips and ground herself into him. “Honey, all I want from you is your body,” she purred. “To hell with the gun.” She turned her gaze to Sam, who still lay unconscious. “And to hell with Sam. Com-pared to the likes of you, he's just a weasel.”

“Then show me the best that you know, Gracie baby,” Alberto said, surprised at his own boldness. He was acting as though he was experienced, when in truth, this was the first woman he had ever seduced.

Grace reached up and pulled his head down, crushing his lips to hers. When her tongue probed inside his mouth, he felt the throbbing of his heart and a melting sensation flowing through him, to end inside his manhood. Her fingers pressed into his back, then lowering, positioning him, ready for him to begin his thrusts inside her. “Now,” she groaned. “What the hell are ya waitin’ for?”

“Huh . .. ?” Alberto stammered, suddenly feeling a bit awkward.

“Put it in me. Now. Don’ you know nothin'?”

She opened herself to him, still waiting. He fumbled with himself, but suddenly felt a coldness surging through him. He was deflated. Nothing was there. The throbbing was gone and the sensations of floating had been replaced by a trembling fear. He pulled away from her, crimson-faced. He looked down at himself, unbelieving. Only moments ago, he had been ready. He had been so sure. But now? Nothing.

Grace crept from the bed, frowning. “Well, I'll be damned,” she purred. “I've run into a few like you.

Poor bastard. What a life you've got ahead of you. No woman will want the likes of you. First you're as virile as they come, even better, then the next thing I knows, you're a nothin'.”

She flew into a fit of laughter, filling Alberto with dread. He pulled his breeches and shirt on, then his shoes, grabbed Grace's gun, and fled from the room, panting.

He was ashamed, humiliated all over again. And again in front of the same lady. He stopped in the passageway and hung his head in his hands, sobbing. “I'm not even a man,” he cried. “What the hell's wrong with me? What can I do?”

He stumbled onward, grabbing at the wall, then went out onto top deck, eyeing the men who still played their card game, then at Maria. Had she been innocently asleep all the while he was . .. ?