Ivorie's Surprise [Golden Dolphin] (Siren Publishing Classic) (3 page)

* * * *

Drew kicked his deck shoes off and stretched out on the king-size bed in the Master Suite. He certainly wasn’t accustomed to taking an afternoon nap, but maybe today would be an exception. It would be a good way to decompress and start to enjoy the first extended vacation he had taken in a couple of years. Even though he had gotten a good portion of his wealth the old-fashioned way—he inherited it—he had worked like a demon to quadruple his net worth since the death of his parents.

His dad had been coasting for quite a while before the private plane that had been taking his parents to a skiing vacation in Vail crashed. The 9/11 tragedy had really taken the wind out of his Dad’s sails. Although their offices were on a lower floor in the North Tower of the World Trade Center and they had not lost any personnel, his father had never fully recovered from the tragedy. After the impact of the first plane into the North Tower, he had immediately told his employees to evacuate the building regardless of what the building security department was saying over the loudspeakers, and that proved to be a very fortunate decision. He had lost numerous friends, business associates, and acquaintances in the Twin Towers and had been a firsthand witness to the collapse. Drew had been in Japan on a business trip at the time and had been unable to get home for several days. He sometimes thought that the stress of the tragedy had been the catalyst that had started his change of attitude from twenty-five-year-old, happy-go-lucky son of a multimillionaire to hard-as-nails businessman. He had started taking over the family businesses literally as the dust had settled. Thank God all of their business records and computer files had been archived or backed-up off site. The loss of the paper records in the main office had been inconvenient, but not devastating, as the human losses in the buildings had been. But from then on a majority of the weight of the businesses had fallen on his shoulders, and he had taken the responsibility seriously. He’d felt responsible for the livelihoods of thousands of people. If the companies did not stay viable, would his employees be able to pay their mortgages? Since then, Drew had expanded their large software company, added to the real estate portfolios, and started several new businesses. He really needed this break, and he had a lot of thinking to do on this trip about where his life was going. It certainly wasn’t going down the road he had previously chosen with Eugenia. He also had several very important contracts to review and some business decisions to make.

As he started to relax, his mind began to wander—right to Ms. Ivorie James and drinks and dinner in a couple of hours.
She certainly is a tasty morsel. Great ass, nice tits. I bet that blonde hair would run though my fingers like liquid silk.
He had to laugh at himself. He was acting like he hadn’t seen a good-looking woman in months. Well, Eugenia had been a beautiful woman, and the sex had been outstanding, if somewhat practiced now that he thought about it. She obviously was determined to keep him satisfied in that regard. She had even agreed to a limited foray into the BDSM world that he relished. He’d enjoyed paddling her butt a few times. He laughed at that thought. Now he was glad he had done it when he had the chance. She had sure deserved it.
If anyone is not submissive, it is Eugenia Cartwright. Just goes to show how far some people will go to get what they want. I must have been a grade A moron not to see through her act. I’ll sure be more careful in the future
.

Ivorie stepped into the lounge on the top deck and looked around. There were several very well-dressed couples enjoying predinner cocktails. Soft jazz played in the background. She knew that not all of the passengers had boarded yet, and that several more couples were expected Sunday morning.

She saw that Drew was sitting at a backgammon table with Captain Cortelis. Both men were sipping brandy from heavy crystal glasses and seemed to be engrossed in the game. Drew wore a navy-blue linen blazer casually open over a white linen shirt and trousers. He looked good enough to eat, if she liked sour grapes, she thought. The captain wore a starched white uniform with gold-and-black braid trim, and Ivorie thought he looked extremely handsome as well. His black hair and eyes offset against the stark white uniform were striking, not to mention his impressive physique.

Ivorie walked as quietly and unobtrusively as possible to a chair on the other side of the room and sat down. Maybe if she was really quiet and sat very still he wouldn’t notice she was there, and she still couldn’t be accused of being late. It seemed like a good plan until Drew looked up from the game and spotted her. He didn’t smile at her, and from the expression on his face, she had a feeling she had made a bad miscalculation. Her heart stumbled and then began to beat in double time. She felt like a doe in the headlights.

He immediately excused himself from the game saying, “Well, Con, it seems my date is here. We can finish this game another time.”

“Absolutely, Drew. I’m off to a dinner date ashore in any event. I can take your money any time, my friend.”

“That’s a little optimistic, Con. But we’ll see. Thanks for the game.”

Drew walked over to Ivorie’s chair and put his hand out to help her up. She had no choice but to take his hand or appear very rude. When her hand touched his, she felt a tingle run up her arm. She tried to jerk back, but he held on to her hand. The contact had been electric, as though she had literally been shocked. It appeared that he had felt it as well. “You should not have tried to avoid me, Ivorie. That was not very nice.” He looked so disappointed in her that she immediately felt a little bad.
Now that is really ridiculous. This is Andrew Blessingame, not some normal person
.

“I wasn’t trying to avoid you,” she said, but she didn’t sound convincing even to herself. She looked up into his stormy hazel eyes lit with golden specks as she rose from the chair. “I’m sorry. You’re right. You just make me nervous.”

“That’s at least honest. I’m really not trying to make you nervous. Do you think we could try this again?” He gave her one of his devastating smiles, and she found herself hard-pressed to find a reason to deny him and herself another chance.

“I guess we could.” She smiled into eyes that now sparkled. “Good evening, sir, I mean, Drew. It’s going to be hard for me to get used to calling you by your first name. But I’m going to try.”

“Good evening, Ivorie. You look lovely tonight. Would you care for a drink? Maybe an appletini or a margarita?”

“An appletini would be lovely. Thank you.” Drew turned to one of the stewards and ordered Ivorie’s drink.

He picked up his brandy and said, “You see? It’s not so hard to act like normal people. Let’s see if we can keep it up for an entire evening. What did you do this afternoon? It looks like you got some sun.” When he smiled at her like that, her stomach did a little flip.

“Yes, I spent an hour or so out on my deck. It was gorgeous. What did you do?”

“Something I absolutely never get to do. I slept for two hours.” He grinned. “Don’t tell anyone at the office.” Ivorie had to admit that when he turned on the charm, smiled his wide, sincere smile, and looked at her with a sparkle in his eye, he was damn hard to resist. It sure was a change from his normal scowl.

When the steward brought Ivorie’s appletini, Drew took her arm and guided her out onto the starboard deck off the lounge. The breeze was stiff but pleasantly warm. He helped her to a chair that was somewhat sheltered and took the seat out in the main stream of the breeze. It seemed he could be a gentleman when he wanted to make the effort. It was too bad he didn’t feel compelled to do that at the office. It would make life so much more pleasant.
Okay, I have to stop thinking that way. If I don’t, it will be impossible to maintain a pleasant conversation. I can’t think about the Mr. Blessingame I know at the office and then have a normal conversation with the Drew on the ship
. “I promise not to say a word. But then, with the confidentiality agreement I signed, I guess that’s not an option in any event. What’s up with that? I’ve never heard of such a thing before.”

* * * *

Drew was surprised. “You mean no one has explained what kind of cruise this is?”
Oh, man
. He really hadn’t thought he would have to be the one to explain BDSM to Ivorie James. And he did have to explain. There was no telling just what she might see in the hallways or while walking around on deck, even if she didn’t go into one of the theme rooms or the dungeon.
Most likely no one will be walking around nude or anything out in plain sight, but you never know what could happen as inhibitions become more relaxed
.

He hadn’t decided whether he was going to make an effort to seduce her or not, but judging by the zap to his system that had resulted from merely taking her hand, he had an idea what direction he was going to go with that.

He cleared his throat and took a sip of his brandy. Ivorie was certainly a beautiful young woman. Apparently she wasn’t aware of the tempting picture she made.
Her conservative black cocktail dress is certainly appropriate for any occasion and doesn’t scream “take me.”
Then he took another minute to gaze over the ship’s rail at the stunning pink, coral, and purple sunset getting ready to dip below the horizon. “Well, Ivorie, I might as well just jump right on in here. There is really no easy way to say this.” He took another sip to give himself a moment to order his thoughts. “This ship provides a safe and very private venue for cruises with a BDSM theme. Do you know what that is?”

“Sort of. I mean, I think I do. It has something to do with kinky sex.” She blushed. Apparently she had just realized what she had said and wasn’t very comfortable with it. She certainly couldn’t be a virgin at twenty-eight, but she didn’t give off vibes of being overly experienced either—especially in things like BDSM.

“That’s correct as far as it goes. BDSM stands for Bondage & Discipline, Dominance & Submission, and Sadomasochism. It’s sometimes referred to as the ‘lifestyle.’ It primarily includes Dominance and submission, role-playing, bondage, and things like that.” He paused to give her an opportunity to digest what he had said and ask a question if she was able to formulate one after that disclosure. He watched, fascinated, as her black silk dress slid seductively up her thigh.
Maybe it just whispers “take me.”

“You’re kidding, right?” She looked absolutely shocked. Her face was bright pink, and she turned into the breeze to cool it off. She didn’t appear to be able to meet his eyes. He could tell that that was the last thing she had expected to hear.

“No actually, I’m serious. I’m a Dominant, or Dom. My partner would be a submissive, or sub.” He waited for her to get up and run screaming back into the lounge. When she just sat there with a stunned look on her face, he continued. “It sometimes involves spanking and whipping, and sensory deprivation or orgasm denial. Most people don’t do ‘all of the above’ but pick and choose the things that bring themselves and their partners pleasure. It’s a consensual relationship, not abuse, whose purpose is to increase sexual pleasure. Both partners have to agree on what activities are okay. The bywords of the lifestyle are ‘safe, sane, and consensual.’ You will notice that all of the crew members and some of the passengers wear colored rubber bracelets on their right wrists. The colors indicate whether they participate in the sexual activities on board and to what extent. Red bracelets mean they don’t participate, and green bracelets mean they do. The thinner multicolored bracelets are indicative of hard limits or things they do not wish to do. The Dominants—Doms or Dommes—wear one black band.” He shot his cuff and showed her his half-inch-wide black rubber bracelet. “I know this is a lot to take in. Why don’t we go in to dinner and let you absorb this information.”

“Ah, good idea. There’s going to have to be some major absorbing before I can process all of that.” Drew led her in from the terrace and into the main dining room, which also served as the ship’s library.

* * * *

Ivorie and Drew were seated at a secluded table for two. Ivorie was somewhat stunned and pensive. She knew she had to assimilate this new and startling information quickly and without a fuss. She didn’t want to appear to be unsophisticated, but she really did not know what to make of this.
So Drew is a Dom. That’s interesting. That could explain some of his less-endearing personality traits
.
Like expecting everyone to not only jump but to say “How high, sir?”
She was wondering exactly what she had gotten herself into. “Can I ask a question?”

“Of course. In the interests of full disclosure, I felt I needed to let you know what was going on so that you wouldn’t be shocked should you accidently see something…”

“Am I expected to participate is this…situation? I am not sure what my hours or my duties are to be while on board. I certainly had no idea what type of cruise this was.”

“No, you are not
expected
to participate. Just wear the red bracelet in the information packet in your stateroom to avoid any possible confusion. I suppose you didn’t bother to read any of it.” He sighed and then continued, “If you chose to participate, that would be your decision. If you want to get off the ship right now and return to New York, you can do that. It will not affect your job as my assistant. I know I tend to be demanding, but I try not to be unfair. I hope you will choose to stay. Your hours and duties are going to be ‘as needed.’ Let’s plan on regular office hours between nine and twelve unless something else comes up. If possible, you’ll have the afternoons to yourself. You can check e-mail and keep on top of things and, if necessary, return to the office. How does that sound?”