One Plus One
Back Cover
A Contemporary Erotica Romance Novella by Kay Dee Royal
Coerced by her friend, Lacinda, a woman crushed by love, winds up on a three week singles cruise.
Blade, a man of means, discovers Miss Right under the guise of a singles cruise set up by his business partner.
Once Blade focuses his efforts he always gets what he’s after, until Lacinda throws his arrogant reputation back in his face.
Can Blade break through Lacinda’s angry barriers? Will she ever see him as anything more than a player?
One Plus One © 2011 by Kay Dee Royal
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, or events, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
A MuseItHOT Publication
MuseItUp Publishing
14878 James, Pierrefonds, Quebec, Canada, H9H 1P5
http://www.museituppublishing.com
Cover Art © 2011 by Delilah K. Stephans
Edited by Nancy Bell
Copyedited by Greta Gunselman
Layout and Book Production by Lea Schizas
eBook ISBN: 978-1-927361-58-0
First eBook Edition *December 2011
Production by MuseItUp Publishing
Dedication
To Sunny, the one person who wants me to fly, reach for the sun and land on a beach.
Acknowledgements
A special ‘thank you’ to Lea Schizas and Nancy Bell, who inspire and strengthen my craft, and big hugs to Donna, Allison, and Sharon for their endless encouragement and love.
Also, deep appreciation to Greta Gunselman, who gives a last thorough edit. Thank goodness for you all.
One Plus One
Kay Dee Royal
MuseitHOT, division of
MuseItUp Publishing
www.museituppublishing.com
ADULT CONTENT: Contains graphic sexual content.
Chapter One
Lacinda
Lacinda stepped across the upper dock, moving ever closer to the huge cruise ship. Her stomach roiled and clenched, nerves working overtime as her best friend’s words buzzed inside her head…
“A no-tell three weeks; a stimulating respite with someone looking for the same thing; like minds liking bodies that sail. OMG, a whole three weeks of primal lust with no strings attached. Isn’t that every woman’s dream?” Avery’s excitement came through loud and clear weeks before the trip. She never stopped reiterating how much Lacinda needed to get away.
Heat burned down her neck and settled between her breasts as Lacinda recalled the ten pages of personal, detailed questions and some of her responses. The explicit descriptions of her favorite sexual positions and something new she’d never done before. Her knees turned liquid and she leaned against the rough wooden rail of the dock. A steady stream of men and women around her age passed, no one talking, but all hurrying up the boardwalk.
What has Avery gotten me into?
“Give those surveyors something so sexy, they’ll get all hot and lusty. Pull from your deepest unrestrained desires,” she’d said. After a few glasses of wine to mellow her inhibitions, Lacinda penned graphic morsels of crazy, wild sex, things she’d never experienced. Then a couple of weeks later, a boarding pass arrived and Avery came clean. The questionnaire was actually a contest entry, not a survey. The lucky winners got a three week cruise, requiring a physical exam and a passport.
What am I thinking, doing this?
Morning sunlight broke through the misty ocean haze and blazed across her face like a spotlight. She straightened and moved forward, lengthening her strides and blending in with the moving crowd. She wanted to enjoy this
One Plus One Equals Fun Cruise
. Lacinda’s friends and family had spent too much time and money prepping her for this trip for her not to. Though none of them, with the exception of Avery, knew what she’d done to win her boarding pass.
As Avery so politely put it, “It’s been three years. Damn, Lacinda, you need your ass out there again and get yourself some fine man stuff.”
Alex should be walking beside me with his arm planted firmly around my waist
.
Lacinda slowed, stepping along the side again.
Alex.
She pictured him pointing out the palm trees along the beach or the azure blueness of the sky. He would have made her laugh with one of his crazy jokes as they boarded their own honeymoon cruise, something that never happened.
“Alex died three years ago. Get over it for God’s sake,” she snapped out loud.
“Lacinda Gainesly,” a steward called her name. She saw the sign he held with her name printed in bright purple. She slipped on the first step leading down onto the ship and stumbled past the steward. The sign dropped from his fingers and his arms latched around her body from behind. His quick reflexes saved her face from biting the deck, but his hands cupped both of her breasts and squeezed. Lacinda threw her elbow back into his side.
“Hey, a little respect for the guy who saved your life.”
Lacinda shrugged out of his grasp. She met his gaze and realized this was the same man who picked her up from her hotel in a long black limo, only then he was dressed in black instead of the white uniform he now wore.
“You’re the driver.”
“I’m a lot of things, like possibly a hero.” His eyes looked as happy as his lips.
She noticed his smile, the same he shared earlier when he asked her questions about why she took the cruise quiz. Lacinda thought he was simply a driver for the cruise company so she shared some of her story. He knew about Alex dying in a car crash on the way to their wedding. She searched her memory for anything else she might have shared which could embarrass her later.
“Alas fair maiden, your chambers await your timely arrival,” he said, faking a British accent. He held his gloved hand out. Lacinda refused it.
“I’m ready for my quarters.” She needed relaxation, maybe take a nice hot scented bath and get prepared for the swing of things, anything to distract her from the past that never left her alone.
“As you wish, my lady,” he said, again with a British accent.
The steward turned, led her across the deck, and down a stairway. She saw men and women following other stewards or each other. Once on board everyone began mingling, even flirting, judging by the tinkling female laughter and deep manly chuckles.
“There will be an announcement left under your door regarding tonight’s dinner seating arrangements. May you enjoy your day and make sure you take time for a relaxing massage. There’s always a masseuse available. Their extension is listed beside your phone. You’ll find your room key there as well.”
Lacinda followed him down a narrow hallway until he stopped in front of a door with an elegantly scrolled number 216.
“This is you. May I answer any questions before I go?”
Lacinda dug in her purse for a tip. Clueless on how much was appropriate and not wanting to give him anything. He got his gratuity when he copped a feel of her breasts.
“In case you’re rummaging for a gratuity, don’t. No one on this cruise will be accepting anything extra. Monetarily speaking,” he quickly added and winked.
He opened her door and stood back. His midnight blues stared at her for a suspended moment. Lacinda’s skin tingled. He was either sizing her up for something, or undressing her for something else.
“Thanks,” her voice cracked through, releasing her body from the hold of his gaze. She walked into the room, quickly shutting the door and throwing the deadbolt. She turned and her breath caught. Lavish sea greens and ocean blues filled the room, hanging across the sliding patio door and covering the floor in plush carpet. She pulled her shoes off and allowed her toes free reign of the softness.
The boat trembled beneath her feet and an announcement came through the speaker on her phone: “One Plus One Equals Fun Cruise is now leaving port. Enjoy your voyage with us while we enjoy your company. You are welcome to visit all levels of the ship. You will find our cruise guide with a schedule of events next to your phone. If you would like a personal guided tour, ask any of our stewards for assistance. They love showing off our ship.”
Lacinda chuckled at the thought of asking her steward for anything. Pervert. Even if he did look like a blond Hugh Jackman, his intentions were obvious, and less than honorable. But then again, wasn’t this trip geared toward less than honorable behavior?
Chapter Two
Blade
Blade watched Lacinda close the door to her quarters. At least she didn’t slam it in his face. He couldn’t believe he’d caught her fall with his hands cupping her breasts. And making things worse, he had acted like a school boy by squeezing those perfect-sized mounds in his gloved palms. Just the way he liked a woman’s breasts. He pushed his arousal into a more comfortable position inside his pants.
Ever since he read her questionnaire, he fantasized about them together naked in an array of positions. She sounded perfect. A beautiful woman who hadn’t recognized him for his money and who came across like a tigress in the bedroom, or in any room for that matter. His erection tented his pants.
Stop thinking about her naked.
Blade slipped into his quarters, which occupied the entire top floor of the ship. Even though he owned the cruise line, this ship was his personal property. His business partner and right hand woman, Mazie, helped him get it all dressed up for this One Plus One Equals Fun Cruise. She spent the past year putting the whole contest together; the advertisement and questionnaire package.
“This girl is going to knock your socks off, after she knocks your pants off,” Mazie told him. After Blade read over most of the answers on the questionnaire, Mazie passed him Lacinda’s picture, a requirement with their package.
Blade’s heart did a little flip back then, the same flip it did now as he picked up her picture from the nightstand beside his bed. He walked across the room and slid back the curtains for a better look at the beauty in the photo. Lacinda appeared so innocent and yet she posed like a vamp. Her tiny bikini top barely covered apple-sized breasts and the string bottoms skimped over the slit between her thighs, which she coquettishly parted while arching back against the head of a bed.
His fingers itched to touch the soft skin between those shapely thighs, run his fingertips across her naked pussy. He knew it was shaved by something she confessed in the questionnaire.
Tap…tap…tap.
“Who’s there?” Again Blade adjusted himself and set Lacinda’s picture back beside his bed.
“You wanted someone to let you know if Miss Gainesly wanted something,” Travis said through the closed door.
Blade allowed a minute for composure and then opened the door for his friend and acting personal steward. Travis helped Mazie with many of the arrangements for the cruise.
“Come in and tell me what our fair lady wishes.”
“She scheduled a masseuse for tomorrow morning at ten. Who should we schedule for her?”
“That would be me.” Blade watched Travis’ expression change from wide-eyed surprise to a rough hubba-hubba chuckle. “I want her dinner seating announcement to be an invitation to the captain’s table, which will be in my quarters. I’d like her dressed in formal attire and here at six-thirty.”
“Yes, sir. You playing captain is a good move. Shall I ask the cook to fix your favorite?”
“I believe the lady’s favorite is blackened salmon salad with mango vinaigrette dressing. I’ll have the same. Serve us fruit filled glasses of Sangria before dinner, we’ll see what she’d like to drink during the meal and with the crème bruleè for dessert.”
“Is there anything else you’d like me to do for her?” Travis’ brows waggled up and down.