Love's Call

by Jala Summers

  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 r
ide 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.

  Liana’s mind wandered as she enjoyed the feel of him against her. I don’t know where this man came from, but he just seems too good to be true.

  She knew that there had to be a catch, somewhere. And the question that she’d yet to ask, but had frequently popped into her mind, was becoming hard to push away now. If he’s such a great man, why is he divorced?

  Obviously, there was something about him that wasn’t so perfect, because no other woman would have let a man like this get away. The odds of her finding a man this good were slim, because her luck had never been that good.

  But laying there in his arms now, she couldn’t resist asking, even if she knew she would only get his version of it, since his ex-wife wasn’t here to tell her side of the story.

  “Kyle,” she started, still hesitant.

  “Mmm..?” he mumbled. He had nearly fallen asleep when he heard the sound of her voice echo through the dark room.

  She tried to think of the best way to introduce the question, but then just decided it was best to be direct and not beat around the bush. “What happened with your marriage? What ended it?”

  Kyle was quiet for a few seemingly long moments and she could feel his chest tighten beneath her cheek, where she lay on him.

  He sighed. “Well…” he started. He knew that eventually the question would arise, but had been avoiding the topic with her as long as he could. He didn’t like talking about what had happened, and had discussed it with few other people since it happened. He didn’t realize that he was still so affected by it until just now, as he felt the emotions flood back. “Her affair with the man who was once my closest friend, is what ended it.”

  Liana’s eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. “Oh no. Are you serious?”

  “Very.”

  “I’m sorry, Kyle.”

  “Don’t be. It just wasn’t meant to be with her. Shaila was a taker. She wanted too much, but never gave anything in return. Yeah, I worked long hours back then, and that was her complaint about me. But she knew I was building my career, helping to build a company, and trying to build a good future for us, too. But that didn’t matter to her.”

  “So what attracted you to her in the first place? If you don’t mind me asking.”

  “I don’t really know. I guess I just used to be attracted to the wrapping, the package that a woman came in, and not the contents--what was inside,” he paused, reflecting on it. “If I’d really paid attention to it all, I would have seen it coming. But I didn’t. If nothing else, I’ve learned how to spot women like Shaila, much more quickly now.”

  Liana’s thoughts went to her own past relationship with Brian, and she realized that she could ask herself that same question. Why had she allowed herself to fall for him? He was another man who had seemed too good to be true. He was handsome, smart and a hard worker. But that was his representative, because he had an entire life she’d known nothing about.

  She was quiet, and contemplated letting Kyle in on her thoughts. He had been so revealing with his own past relationship issues that she felt it was only fair to let him know about hers.

  “You remember when I told you that life growing up with my father wasn’t pretty, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Well, he is most of the reason why I’ve avoided relationships over the years. The last good memory I have of him was also one of the worst memories I have of him.”

  Kyle pulled her in closer, squeezing her, in an effort to comfort her. He could hear the quiver in her voice as she spoke and wanted her to feel safe next to him as she told him about her past.

  “He had taken me out for one of our daddy-daughter movie days, when a screaming woman came up to us, cussed him out and slapped him, the whole nine. He never told me what that was about, but as I got older I pretty much figured it out. She was hollering about him having a wife and kids that he hadn’t told her about, so it was pretty easy to guess. But I was nine years old when it happened. So, all of it was pretty confusing.”

  Kyle remained quiet, and rubbed her arm. It all made sense to him now. Her cold demeanor, the way she pushed men away and her unwillingness to give up control of anything. And the drinking, or, lack thereof. Her father, the first man in her life, had hurt her deeply, and it stayed with her, many years later into her adult life.

  “So, when the same thing happened in my last nearly two-year long relationship, I was blown away. I was careful, always, when it came to men. I checked and double checked everything, I used to question everything, but apparently I wasn’t as good as I thought I was. He had a family too. A wife, a child, and a baby on the way.”

  “How did you find out?”

  She laughed at how comical it sounded, “At a friend’s wedding, of all places. He was there with his family. And there I was too, happy, even considering marrying him, when, what do I see when I look over but him and the family he’d already made with someone. I’ve never felt so much like a fool in my life.”

  Liana drew in a breath as hot tears rolled down her cheek. She wiped them away and continued, “I don’t know how the hell I ended up there--the naive and stupid other woman. I’d done everything I could to avoid turning into that woman that confronted my dad outside of the movie theater that day. And it wasn’t enough.”

  Kyle reached over, and pulled Liana’s body up, to lie on top of him. He wanted to fully enclose her in his arms, and felt the urge to protect her--from the pain of her past, from the haunting memories and from her fears about her future.

  They were quiet as Liana’s body shook from the force of her sobs. Kyle was the first man she’d told such personal details of her life. She didn’t know why she’d spilled so much to him, but she just felt secure and safe with him. Even if it wasn’t real and was just part of the charm of a beautiful vacation fling, she couldn’t deny that it felt good in the moment.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Kyle’s eyes were glued to Liana the entire night, as they sat in the formal dining hall, enjoying their last dinner together of the cruise.

  The hall was full of the singles dressed to impress, in their finest formal attire. Kyle didn’t think that Liana could look any more stunning than she already did, but as he studied her at the table--her hair pulled into a neat up-do, her makeup perfectly complementing her face, and her long dark blue fitted dress, clinging to her, and accenting her hourglass shape--he quickly realized that he had been wrong.

  Liana looked up between bites of her food to find that his eyes were on her and not his plate. She winked playfully at him, and smiled underneath his attentive gaze. She finally asked him, “Are you going to eat tonight?”
>
  “Yeah, I plan to. But I have an appetite for something a bit more fulfilling than this.”

  The fire from his words ignited the passion within her, and she involuntarily wiggled in her seat, in an attempt to ease the aching she now felt between her thighs.

  He held her eyes, and thought to himself, Why are we wasting time here, when this is our last night on this ship?

  “How about we stop playing “dress-up”, and go back up to my cabin to play some other, more exciting games?”

  She nodded, dropped her fork and pushed away from the table. She leaned over to Alyssa, who sat next to her, “We’re going to turn it in early tonight,” she told her.

  Alyssa smirked, her eyes went to Kyle, who stood, waiting on Liana, and then back to her friend. “Yea, okay. Turn in, huh? Alright, good night lovebirds,” she said and shared a grin with Lloyd.

  They hurried out of the hall, and neither could get out of there fast enough.