Voyage To Submission (24 page)

“Good morning, sir,” Henderson called out
from the living room. “Would you like breakfast out there, or in here?”

“It’s a little breezy, so we should
probably stay inside.”

“Very good, sir.”

Jack watched as Henderson set the food on
the small table. He was just deciding to have a cup of coffee before he woke Andy
when Henderson turned to hand him a cup of hot, steaming black coffee.

“Would you like cream or sugar, sir?”
Henderson asked.

“No, thanks. Black is perfect.”

“Coffee, coffee, coffee! Whatever happened
to good old tea?”

Both men turned to see Andy coming down the
stairs as she shared her opinion. “Good morning, gentlemen,” she added,
greeting them both.

“Good morning, Andy! I was going to let you
sleep a little longer.” Jack came towards her, shifting his cup so he could hug
her. She had pulled on a black and white nightgown and dressy robe. Jack
thought she looked like an actress out of an old movie from the thirties.

“Thank you, but I don’t want to sleep away
the last day. Hello, Henderson! How are you today?” Andy asked as she took the
chair Henderson had pulled out from the table.

“I am quite fine, miss, and good morning to
you, as well. I included a pot of tea for you, just in case.” Henderson poured
her tea into a porcelain cup.

“How am I going to survive without you,
Rick?” Andy asked, laughing softly.

“I’ll make tea for you the first morning,”
Jack told her softly. He waited, wondering how Andy would reply. He was nervous
about their future, and this was testing the way…quite possibly for both of
them.

“Sure, that’s just the first! I’m worried
about the next hundred.” Andy put a bite of eggs into her mouth.

“I’ll contract for the next ten thousand,”
Jack offered, raising his voice enough to be sure she heard him. He knew she
did by the way her fork paused on its return trip to her mouth.

Her hand shook and the fork dropped the
bite of egg upon it.

Henderson set a plate in front of him, but
Jack waited to see what Andy was going to do. Henderson added more coffee to
Jack’s cup, and then unnecessarily added more tea to Andy’s. He made a
disgusted sound and finally spoke. “The conversational ball is in your court,
Andy, answer him!”

Andy laughed. “Thank you, Henderson, and
you can go, hopefully without any further comments.”

“Obviously, they would not have the needed
effect!” The elevator doors slid shut on Henderson’s last comment.

Jack continued to stare at her, waiting for
her to look at him. Surely, she would say something. She’d have to
respond…right?

Andy speared the dropped piece of egg with
her fork, eating it quickly.

“Andy? I want to talk about tomorrow.” Jack
reached across the table and caught her hand in his before she could refill her
fork.

“You mean when we disembark? I hadn’t
thought about it actually. I assumed everyone would be catching his or her own
flight to wherever. Of course, we can exchange emails and phone numbers.”

Jack released her hand slowly. “You’re
joking, right?”

“Well, relationships can develop under
unusual circumstances, but they can’t survive in the normal world where the
people live everyday. It just happens,” Andy finished, staring at her plate.

“Sounds to me like you have everything all
planned. What about today?” Jack prompted impatiently. “Your slave contract.”

“Uh, yes. If you still want to, we can do
that today.”

Andy’s reply pissed him off even more.

“You make it sound like I’m your dog, and
you’ll play with me because you have nothing better to do,” Jack pointed out
immediately. His anger was boiling over.

“No, Jack. I just wasn’t sure if you still
wanted to…to—” She paused, struggling for the right words.

Jack interrupted. “Fool around? Play little
games?”

“Yes…no! That is not what I thought. You
are confusing me, Jack!”

“Forgive me!” Jack shoved back his chair as
his impatience and anger got the best of him. He stared for several long
moments. Turning, he walked across the room towards the suite’s entrance. He
grabbed his tuxedo jacket as he did so. Only as he opened the door did he speak
again. “I’ll see you later, Andy.”

Andy continued to eat her eggs and only
realized she had tears on her cheeks when a drop landed on the table. Sniffling
loudly, she wiped her nose on the back of her hand because she wasn’t going to
use a linen napkin to do it! Standing, she walked over to where a tissue box
was discreetly concealed. Blowing her nose loudly, she had no idea why she had
reacted to Jack like she had. The only reason she could come up with was fear.
Maybe she was afraid that he’d been kidding, and later would come the “gotcha”.

The fat girl inside told her that this
could not continue. Jack would return to his perfect world, as would all the
others. She had her own little life to resume, she reminded herself. But it
didn’t make her smile. In disgust, she went upstairs and got ready for her last
day on this amazing cruise ship.

* * * * *

Andy filled her day with so many activities
she didn’t leave herself time to think. Tonight was the buffet dinner and
costume party. Any type of costume was allowed and she decided to go shopping
for one. First, she spent time over lunch with “the girls” to find out what
they had planned.

Gayle revealed Jack was playing racquetball
with the others, which included lunch for them, as well. “Ray is reveling in
all this ‘male’ time. He’ll probably want to continue it when we get back.”

Margrit laughed as she sipped her lemonade.
“I’m confused. Is there a problem with them spending time together?”

Liz and Ruthie added their laughter. “When
these men get together, too often, they turn into little boys. There is a long
history.”

Liz nodded in agreement to what Ruthie
said, but leaned over to pat Margrit’s hand. “Since you live in New York City,
as well, I wouldn’t be surprised if our ‘frat’ boys don’t adopt Ethan.”

Margrit looked at the other women. “And you
all still live in the city?”

Ruthie nodded. “Pretty much, or nearby.”

Margrit turned to Andy, who was on her
right side. “And you as well, Andy?”

“Yes.” Andy quickly decided to change the
topic. “What is everyone wearing tonight? I still need to come up with a
costume.”

Liz grinned. “Well, Tony is going as Don
Juan. Mark and I are going as chemistry professors.”

“Unique! Not!”

“Did you put your creativity on hold there,
Liz?”

Liz held up her hands. “Mark thought
putting a tuxedo on was over the top. At least with this costume, he’ll be
comfortable. I made sure he packed a clean, white lab coat.”

Ruthie patted her friend’s hand. “I guess
you’re forgiven. Danny wasn’t that much better, but I told him he had no
choice…not if he wanted any chance of…you know. Anyway, I rented us clown
costumes and brought them along.”

“I love clowns,” Margrit smiled. “Ethan and
I are going as Master and slave. We have some rather elaborate leather
costumes.”

Liz clapped her hands. “Sounds like our
table is going to be very interesting. What about you, Gayle?”

“Ray talked to Mark before we left,” Gayle
added with a frown. “He and I are going as interns. We’ve got green scrubs and
stethoscopes and so on.”

“I’m sure it will be great.”

Ruthie nodded. “You and Ethan are still
sharing our table, aren’t you?”

“Yes, we are. So, Andy, what did you have
in mind for a costume?” Margrit asked softly.

“None! I have no ideas at all.” Andy sighed
heavily, feeling depressed at the way the morning had gone. “I made an
appointment at the costumers.”

“Hopefully, they’ll still have something,”
Liz added.

Ruthie nodded, and then turned to look at
Andy. “What is Jack wearing?”

Andy tried to hide her reaction to the
question. It hurt to have listened to her friends all talking about their
“guys” and what kinds of costumes they’d all worked out together. It was
jealousy, she knew, but even more it was the pain of not being connected with
Jack. Silly to care about something as small as costumes, but she did. It
wasn’t easy, but she held back the tears that desperately wanted to fall. “I
don’t know what Jack has planned. He hasn’t said.”

“Do you want me to find out?” Gayle offered
a moment later. “I’ll call Ray and have him see if he can do some snooping.”

“I don’t think so, Gayle, but thanks. I’ll
find something.” Andy forced a grin to her lips, hoping it convinced her
friends.

“Do you want company while you look?” Liz
offered. “I could cancel my body wrap.”

“No, don’t bother. I’ll find something, and
this way I can surprise all of you.”

* * * * *

Andy hurried towards the Queen’s restaurant
on deck three. All of the normal dining had been converted for the costume
dinner and dance tonight. Walking in this outfit she’d found wasn’t easy, but
there was no doubt it would get attention. The truth was that the only
attention she really wanted was Jack’s. Tonight, she was determined to lay all
of her cards, her intentions, on the table. If he rejected her, so be it. She
wore her gold collar, and had the leash attached. It didn’t drag on the floor,
but was tucked quite obviously into the top of her outfit.

Jack sat at the table with his friends. He
felt it couldn’t be more obvious the only empty chair was next to him. No Andy.

Of course, they had so much “interest” at
their table it was hard to even notice one empty chair, unless you were seated
by it. As far as his costume, he’d relied on Ethan to bail him out. He wore a
pair of his own black leather pants and boots. His top consisted of black
leather straps, crisscrossing his chest, and had a scabbard across the back,
which held a wicked-looking, twelve-foot long whip.

Upon his arrival, he had quickly learned no
one knew what Andy was wearing. He was more than curious. It had been tempting
to bring a blanket just in case he felt the need to cover her body. Logic told
him that was stupid, but he seemed to be operating on emotion ever since he set
foot on this damned ship.

“Is that Andy?” Gayle’s screech brought all
of their attention towards the figure coming towards them.

Jack felt his stomach sink and his shaft
went rock-hard. Coming towards them was a woman, dressed all in white, with
gold and pink trim. White boots came above her knees. She had on a white
bustier and white bikini bottom, with the high French-cut sides. Above the
elbow gloves, which left her fingers free, added to the pretty look. As she
came closer, he saw she wore a wig, cut into a long, stylish Mohawk shape, and
was a silvery white, with a long fall down her back, as if it resembled—

Holy Crap!

Suddenly, Jack jumped to his feet. He knew
exactly what Andy’s costume was. “I should have brought that freakin’ blanket,”
he muttered quietly as she neared.

Gayle had gotten out of her chair, running
forward. She hugged Andy, and then made her turn around.

The rest of the table gasped but Jack knew
what Gayle had just seen—a gleaming, silvery white three-foot long horse’s
tail. It was held in place by the bustier and leather straps that circled her
body and upper thighs. Atop her head was a headdress composed of sheer white
material, gold and aqua accents and a full, one-foot long feather. Andy was the
epitome of a high-class, well-cared for “pony girl”.

All the men stood as she approached.

Jack saw the faint flush of color that
tinted her cheeks as she sat beside him.

“Sorry I’m late, everyone,” Andy murmured,
smiling.

Tony whistled, leaning forward to get
Mark’s attention. “Hey, Mark! Change places with me!”

“No way,” Liz answered for him.

Margrit leaned forward, looking around Jack
next to whom she was seated. “Brava, Andrea! You look fabulous!”

“Indeed! I must agree, Andy,” Ethan added,
smiling. “You make the prettiest pony girl I’ve ever seen.”

“Thank you, but I drew the line at the
bit,” Andy replied. “I wanted to eat tonight.”

“The buffet looks fabulous!” Ruthie spoke
quickly. “I took a bathroom break so I could scope out the tables and see what
I wanted to eat first.”

Danny put his arm around Ruthie. “It’s time
to stop eating for two, Ruthie. Margrit is taking over that role. Oow!” He
stopped to rub his newly bruised side.

Ethan was already laughing. “Margrit
started before we found out,” Ethan hurriedly scooted his chair back as
evidenced by the scraping noise.

“Well, I don’t care who is eating for
whom,” Andy interrupted, pushing her chair back. “I’m going to eat now.”

Immediately, everyone stood and moved
towards the buffet tables. Andy didn’t move, which hemmed Jack in, or he could
climb over five chairs. As soon as they were alone, Andy pulled her chain from
the bodice and passed it silently to Jack.

Jack took the chain, looping it around his
hand. Gently, he pulled it until Andy stepped close. “What does this mean,
Andy?”

Andy took a deep breath and Jack watched as
her breasts swelled from the bustier’s tight compression. He waited until her
gaze lifted before he pressed her again. “I owe you an apology for this
morning,” he told her quietly. His hand was now looped enough in the chain to rub
against the soft skin of her cleavage. Taking advantage of the position, his
knuckles lightly rubbed over the top of her mounded bosom.

“I am sorry, Jack. I wanted so much—” Andy
stopped as her voice broke.

“Shh, sweetheart, it’s okay. How long do
you want to stay here tonight?” Jack asked her, fighting the lump forming in
his throat.

“I want to talk to you and I want to spend
time with our friends.” Andy shrugged her shoulders.

“Come on, Andy.” Jack gently pushed her
away from the table. Without another word, he led her from the room. They
walked up the outer stairs to the observation deck one level up.