Reclaiming What Was Lost At Sea

Dear reader;

This is a longish tale 11k + It crosses genres. Romance, Loving wives or Reluctance. it has elements of all three.

Many thanks to Farmer Jill https://www.literotica.com/s/the-sucker-bet

for her advice to flesh out certain parts. I appreciate the help.

Enjoy

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There is something indescribably romantic about a cruise to Hawaii. Rachel and Dennis Strong were excited about their dream cruise with their university alumni group.

They had married shortly after graduation. That was five years ago. When the opportunity came to join this cruise they both jumped at the chance.

Their marriage was okay, if a touch boring. The first year was exciting, the second was devoted to finding a house. The third and fourth were spent planning and executing the upgrades and furnishings. The fifth year brought some conflict. She wanted to start a family, Dennis wanted to wait. With no common goals their lives became routine and boredom set in.

The boredom touched all aspects of their lives, including their sex life. The past year has seen them rarely having sex and when they did it was repetitive. But it went beyond just sex. She spent most of her leisure time reading novels and painting. Dennis watched sports and played hockey. Lately they would go weeks without saying more than a few words to each other. They knew they were rapidly drifting apart, both were dissatisfied. The alumni association cruise gave them an excellent, affordable opportunity to lift them out of the rut in which they found themselves.

The cruise left the Port of Los Angeles and immediately they experienced very heavy waves along the coast.

Dennis had never been on a cruise before. The wave action was making him very queasy. Rachel had sailed before and didn't mind it at all.

The alumni group gathered for dinner in the main dining room. Dennis and Rachel didn't really know any of them very well. The group rate made this cruise impossible to resist. Dennis was drinking soda water to settle his stomach. Rachel was drinking martinis.

There was one chair empty at the table, one of the group was late coming to the dining room. A tall man was escorted to the table. Dennis was shocked when Rachel jumped up and ran to the man and embraced him in a hug.

They chatted away for a few minutes before he finally took his seat.

"Dennis, I'd like you to meet Barry Slade. Barry and I knew each other before you and I met."

Dennis stood and extended his hand to Barry, who gripped it in a vice-like grip.

"Dennis Strong, Rachel's husband."

"Nice to meet you, Dennis."

Rachel was more excited and animated than Dennis had seen in the past year.

"It's been ages, Barry. How are you? Where are you living?"

"I'm doing very well. My chain of health clubs is expanding into all fifty states. I hope to drop into our Maui club while we are there. I'm living in LA but thinking about moving to Maui. What about you and Dennis?"

"I'm in nursing and Dennis is an accountant. We live in Pittsburgh." We're doing well."

Dennis felt the ship roll and his stomach along with it. He couldn't eat.

Barry and Rachel talked exclusively between themselves. Dennis eventually zoned out and stopped trying to follow the conversation. When his stomach lurched again he apologized and made his way to their cabin to take a Dramamine tablet and lay down.

The tablet made his stomach feel better but it also made him very drowsy. He woke up when Rachel came in at 2am. She was not trying to be quiet and she was stumbling. The smell of the gin from the martinis, wafted from her skin, it smelled strong.

"What kept you?"

"Barry and I got talking. We went to a lounge and had some drinks. It's not that late is it?"

"I left early because I was feeling ill. I thought you might check on me. You're slurring your words badly, how much did you drink?"

"I don't know, I lost count. I bought a drink plan so don't worry about it. You're such an accountant!"

"Just get into bed and sleep it off."

That is how the first day of the dream cruise ended.

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Dennis needed some fresh air. The seas were calmer, thank God. He walked the deck and thought about last night. Barry was obviously an old friend but he seemed to be more than that to Rachel. He'd never seen her react that way to anyone.

Time passed, and he was getting hungry. He went to the cabin but Rachel was still out cold. He left a note for her.

"Went for a walk and gone for breakfast. See you soon."

After finishing a good breakfast Dennis enjoyed his coffee. Rachel came into the dining room looking a little worse for wear. She was still her attractive self but with a massive hangover.

"How are you feeling?"

"Awful, I've taken some pain killers and I'm trying to rehydrate. What a night."

"So what's the Barry story?"

"Can't this wait until I'm feeling human again?"

"Just give me a rough idea of the history."

"I was a first year undergraduate and he was in his second year. He swept me off my feet. We dated the first year, I moved in with him the second and third year. He graduated and moved out, leaving the apartment and me. In my fourth year I met you."

"Have you seen him since he left?"

"No, but we occasionally sent texts for a few months. He went on to found his health clubs and he is now a multimillionaire."

"That's all I needed to know. I'm glad that you've touched base with each other, now you and I can get down to the real reason we came on this cruise, to renew our relationship."

Her eyes were closed and Dennis wondered if she had dropped off to sleep. Disgusted, he stood up and walked out of the dining room.

Two stewards were chatting by the doorway, speaking German. He overheard one of them saying, "Here comes the poor cuckold now, what a whore."

They obviously thought he wouldn't understand German. As an army brat his father had been stationed in German so he understood all they said. He replied in German with a Berlin accent.

"If I hear you disparaging my wife or myself again I will report you both and you'll be off at the next port without a job."

The two stewards were shocked and apologized.

As Dennis walked the deck again one of the stewards approached him.

"Sir, I'm sorry for my coworkers comments. They were out of line. However I wanted you to know that last night your wife and the large man were inseparable. They were not acting as friends but lovers. Your marital arrangement may be different than the norm, not mine to judge, but I just wanted to warn you."

"Thanks for the heads up. I appreciate it. Also, don't talk behind cruisers backs. We live in a global village and multilingualism is common. Watch your tongue."

Dennis now had to wonder how badly things had gone off course last night. His mind was always analytical, he could confront her now and likely ruin any chance of firming up their stale relationship on the ship, or he could hold his tongue and try to reengage with her. Option two seemed the best so he made his way back to the dining room.

Rachel seemed brighter and more awake now, of course Barry sat in the chair opposite.

"Morning Barry, are you as hung over as my dear wife?"

"No, I've got a constitution of steel. My health clubs have a program for those people that suffer hangovers, it works wonders."

"Is there a Mrs. Barry?"

"No, I never found a woman as good as your Rachel. I should have made it formal back in the day and put a ring on her finger before I went on to success, but I didn't. Your wife and I had quite a life together in university."

"You must tell me all about it."

Rachel piped up.

"The hell you will! It's all water under the bridge. My husband doesn't need to hear your tales of debauchery."

He made a zipping motion across his mouth.

"I'll leave you two to plan your day. Hope you can work out your issues."

Barry stood and left the two of them. Rachel looked at Dennis like a deer in the headlights.

"He hopes we can work out our issues? What the hell have you been telling him, Rachel?"

"I just said we were having some issues and some of our time on this cruise would be devoted to getting some excitement back into our lives."

"What kind of issues did you say we were having?"

"You know, boring lives across the board. I may have mentioned that we were not having sex as often or with much intensity. I know I overshare when I'm drunk so sue me!"

"You shouldn't be sharing that kind of thing. He must think the worst of me."

"Don't worry about it. We have a few days at sea before getting to the islands. Let's go back to the room."

She was getting ready for a shower and she pulled off her panties. They were the same panties she last night and he couldn't help looking to see if there were any remnants. There weren't.

The shower in their small cabin was for one person only. God help you if you were a pound or two heavy, you'd never fit. She showered first. After they both showered, Dennis walked into the bedroom. Rachel was on the bed laying back wearing only a smile. The balcony door was open and a refreshing sea breeze filled the room the room.

"Isn't this wonderful, Dennis?"

"Not as wonderful as you look right now, Rachel."

They kissed and began to make love. Rachel wanted this trip to bind them together. She had been taking birth control pills but stopped a month before the trip. She wanted a baby.

Because they had been in a sexual rut Dennis tried to vary things, to do things differently. The problem was that sometimes she would zig when he would zag. It would feel awkward and cumbersome. Rachel found such fumbling to be mood killers.

"Stop, this isn't working."

"Wait, let me try this."

He shifted position and tried to enter her again but Rachel's frustration got in the way and she shut it down.

"Just stop! Damn it, we can't even have spontaneous sex anymore. Hell, we can't even manage the same old sex anymore. This isn't working at all."

She pulled on her short swimming pool cover up and left the cabin. Leaving a naked and very frustrated Dennis on the bed.

Dennis dressed and went looking for her. He tried the poolside lounge closest to their cabin, then stood stock still. She was upset. Where would she run? Most likely to Barry, the panic set in when he realized she was dressed only in a pool cover up.

Barry's suite was on the same deck as theirs, they were on the port side and Barry the starboard. Dennis hustled down the corridor to Barry's luxury suite and he knocked hard and loud until Barry answered the door in a bathing suit.

"Where's Rachel?"

"She's here, but she can't see you right now. Let me get a shirt and jeans on and I'll buy you a drink upstairs."

"I need to see her!"

""After both of you calm down and you and I talk."

He closed the door and moments later he came out and he led me to the lounge.

"Dennis, Rachel is having a meltdown."

"We just had an awkward moment during sex, that's all. It isn't the end of the world."

"It is for her because it is just an outward and physical sign of an inward and psychological breakdown between you two. I can only go by what she tells me and she said this past year you two have been drifting away from each other. It's not just the sex it's everything."

Dennis wanted to rebut what Barry had just summed up but he couldn't. Barry had nailed it in that one statement.

"That's pretty accurate. The first four years we had goals and we were a team focused on achieving them. We were together on everything including sex. Then this past year we had no common goal to achieve, we lacked a common focus. Our interactions have become stale and uninspired."

"Dennis, she came running to me in tears. She has almost given up hope. I'm afraid that I have made things worse by being here."

"What do you mean?"

"My showing up on this cruise isn't just a lucky coincidence. I have a friend in alumni affairs. He told me Rachel would be onboard.

When Rachel and I split up I always had it in the back of my mind to return. I'm a type A personality. I become driven, nearly obsessed and creating my health club empire was job one.

I did check in to see how she was doing and she had already accepted your marriage proposal. I mourned the loss of the woman I wanted, but redoubled my efforts at empire building.

This club in Hawaii is my fiftieth club. It will give me me a club in every state. I could have flown there but I couldn't resist the opportunity to spend a few days at sea with Rachel. I'm afraid I've stirred up some latent feelings in her."

"So this is a totally manufactured event? Where was I supposed to fit in your plans?"

"To be honest, you weren't in my thoughts or plans. I didn't want it to go down like this. If I knew how fragile things were for you two I'd have thought twice about it."

"Did she spend last night with you?" Dennis asked.

"We drank, we danced, we talked, I kissed her and took her to my suite. We didn't have sex. We talked about where things were between the two of you. I sent her back to you. She still has very deep feelings for me Dennis and I do for her."

That summed up the state of their marriage perfectly, she was still in love with Barry and falling out of love with Dennis.

The ship was big but not quite big enough to find a corner in which to hide. Dennis wandered around the ship countless times as he tried to figure a way forward. Nothing held out much promise.

Dennis returned to the cabin and found Rachel on the balcony wearing her robe.

"Are you alright, Rachel?"

"I guess."

"Why did you run to Barry?"

"Frustration, I needed to talk to someone."

"I'm your husband, you should have been talking to me."

"You were the cause of my frustration!"

"Because we were a little awkward in bed? Come on, that's not a crisis."

"It was the awkwardness and the fumbling about that made us go back to plain vanilla, same old, same old sex. I'm sick of it!"

"It's not really that though, is it? It's me, I'm the frustration. The bad sex is just an excuse."

"Shhhh, voices carry out here."

"I don't care. This needs be settled and it might as well get settled here and now. Stand up."

"Why?"

"Just stand up."

She stood.

He grabbed the lapels of her robe and pulled them apart then down off her shoulders and down her arms exposing her breasts.

He put his hand on her left breast and gripped it harder than he planned. She groaned. His other hand was untying her robe. His lips crushed hers as he kissed her, his tongue was deep in her mouth. The untied robe fell to the balcony floor.

Rachel was taken by surprise by Dennis's passion and his boldness in taking her this way. She thrilled to the feeling of his tight grip on her tit and now with the robe completely gone his hand was on her sex and she was wet with desire.

She felt Dennis turn her around and bend her over the balcony railing. She felt his cock at the entrance to her womanhood, his glans was brushing her inner lips and she felt the powerful thrust of his hard cock slide into her as deep as it could. She groaned out load again and again as he fucked her hard against the railing.

Dennis was a man possessed. He had never been this rough with Rachel. It was so unlike him but somehow it seemed appropriate. It was a combination of sexual frustration, anger and wanting to punish her for running to Barry. It ended with a mind altering climax and he ejaculated a good month's worth of cum into her.

A smattering of applause broke out from some adjoining balconies. They quickly went back inside their cabin. They realized what they had done was verboten and if they got reported they could be kicked off the cruise.

When they got inside she embraced Dennis and they kissed again.

"Holy shit Dennis, that was amazing!"

"I don't know what came over me."

"What ever it is it was fantastic! I haven't cum like that in ages."

"I'm glad I could please you for a change."

"Let me get cleaned up and we'll go to dinner."

Dennis couldn't help but notice the love bites on her shoulders. He knew he hadn't put them there and they weren't there that morning. They could only be Barry's.

After she cleaned up she returned to Dennis.

"Rachel, when did Barry give you those love bites?"

She looked down and saw the love bites on her shoulder and her breast. She didn't recall them. She felt a chill go through her. She had suffered from a stress disorder for years. It manifested itself with depersonalization, disassociation, and derealization. During some high stress moments she would actually lose her sense of reality. Sometimes even viewing the stressful moment as an out of body experience. She had received treatment but occasionally it reared its ugly head. This must have been one of those occasions.

"Dennis, I'm sorry. I don't remember. It could have been earlier today in his suite. I'm having those panic attack symptoms again."

"We are here to save our marriage not wreck it. Please don't forget that."

Dinner was fabulous as always. There was entertainment in the theatre tonight that they both wanted to see. Barry was sitting with another group. He wisely gave them some room tonight.

They danced after the theatre and walked the deck taking in the sultry Pacific air walking hand in hand.

Getting back to the cabin she removed her dress and put on her robe. She removed her makeup and walked to the balcony door. She dropped the robe and walked out to the balcony naked. He ditched his boxers and joined her embracing her from behind.

"Back up a step." She said.

He stepped back and she knelt on her rolled up robe. She took his cock into her mouth. She grabbed his ass cheeks and pulled him tight to her as she took all of him.

Dennis sighed Rachel's name and he felt her lips against his skin. This was not sex as usual, this was something that rarely happened. The sound of her sucking him and the soft groans coming from her throat made him even harder than before.

"Fuck, Rachel I'm going to cum."

"Not yet," she said as she eased up. "That was just an appetizer. We have all night."

There was not much sleeping in their cabin that night as they made love again and again. Each time one would wake up they would cuddle with the other and then the love making continued.

They spent the morning sleeping in. She rolled over and embraced him.

"Dennis, I want us to succeed. I love you and I need you. I think we should consider starting a family."

"I'd like nothing better but we have to sort out our issues first. Last night was an amazing night and a giant step forward."

They slept in for so long that they got up just in time for lunch. They were still one day away from reaching the islands. So a great time to swim, lounge around and enjoy the shipboard entertainment.

Barry dropped by the pool but didn't stay long. Dennis went to get drinks and saw him talking animatedly to Rachel. It looked like he was unhappy.

Rachel accepted her drink and Dennis said hello to Barry. He excused himself and left them there.

"What did Barry want?"

" Nothing, he was asking if we had plans on Maui. I said we were hoping to do some whale watching."

"Maui is the final port isn't it?"

"Yes, before Mexico and then LA."

"I think Barry wants us to see his new club."

"It's up to you Dennis. I don't need to see his club."

That night there was a band playing out on deck so they danced under the stars. They made love again but at a less frenetic pace than before. They slept all night because they were going to be hiking on the Big Island tomorrow.

It felt great to get off the ship and get their land legs back again. The gardens were thick and lush and the beaches unbelievably beautiful. It was straight from a dream, a tropical paradise.

They dined on fresh seafood and drank pineapple juice and rum. The island was all they expected and more.