Lucia smiled as she walked through the door of the Rope Deck back into the corridor on the Third Deck. Her dancing with Edward had been deliberate. Not that she was interested in him but, for personal safety reasons, she had chosen him over any of the Latinos who crowded around her. She wasn't stupid. She knew better than to trust Latin men who lived and worked below decks and who hadn't touched a woman in six months. Way too scary for a woman, especially one as hot as her. It was better to choose Edward, a skinny guy who was basically friendly and harmless, to keep the Latinos at bay. Then they wouldn't be jealous that no man could have her. At least Edward had "had" her, even though he had had no chance of doing anything else with her. Plus Edward could at least dance a little. Tap-dancing was basically the opposite of Latin American dancing. Latin American was all hips and the steps followed the hips. Edward was obviously used to tap, where it was all feet and practically no hip movement at all, unless they followed the feet. It had been difficult for him to "get" Latin American, so Lucia had had to touch hips with him to show him how. As she walked down the corridor, she felt grateful that he hadn't tried to get fresh. He was a good guy.
Reaching the front staircase, she heard a voice.
"Lucia!" Hurrying down the stairs in an evening gown was Marcia. "Are you going to the Crew Party?"
"I've already been," explained Lucia.
"What! It's only eight fifteen!"
"Yeah, there are a lot of drunk guys, so..."
"Oh, really? Who was there?"
"Nobody too exciting yet."
"Well, what did you do?"
"I danced to some samba music."
"What -- on your own?"
"No! I danced with Edward."
"Edward -- who's he?"
"You know - El Flaco."
Marcia's eyes widened. "HIM? The skinny Purser? What did you dance with him for?"
"To keep away from the drunk guys. If I dance with him, it's safe."
"Well, what do you know? Was he any good?"
"Not at first," smiled Lucia. "He got into it, though -- so it was OK."
"Oh, cool." Marcia looked at Lucia suddenly, remembering something. "Hey, guess what -- he's good at massage, too."
"What?"
"Massage."
"Is he the therapist?"
"No, not officially. I've heard good things, though, from the girls in the Pursers Office. One girl thinks his massages are better than the therapist's."
"Wow," said Lucia. "Actually, I could use one. How much is the therapist?"
"Thirty-five dollars an hour. She's Canadian and quite strong. I've had one before."
"Hmmm. How much is Edward?"
"Oh, nothing. He's free -- he's not qualified or anything, I don't think. I've heard good things, though, from at least three of the female Pursers."
"Well, huh. What does the therapist think about that?"
Marcia laughed. "Ha! I think she ignores him. She thinks he's an amateur."
"Well, after dancing with him tonight, I reckon I can trust him. Plus, why pay thirty-five bucks when there's a free one available?"
"Totally! Why not?"
"I'll see if I can set it up."
Marcia paused. "Where are you going now?"
Lucia hesitated. "I'm not sure. I'm at a bit of a loose end. I figured I might head down to the Disco to see what's going on."
"OK!" cried Marcia. "Sounds like a plan! Catch you later!"
"Yeah, you, too," replied Lucia.
The Disco was way down on the First Floor, below sea level, right at the back of the ship. There was a reason why, of course -- noise. It was important not to disturb sleeping passengers in the cabins around the ship.
Lucia stepped carefully down the rather steep staircase and entered a large, darkened area. The walls were padded with felt, with dark blue carpet all around. In the middle was a slightly lower dancefloor, reached by walking down three or four steps. The dancefloor was the same metallic surface Lucia had seen in the Cafe Miramar and the Rendezvous Lounge. It was oval-shaped and around it were some chrome bars to hold onto. Around the walls were a series of red and black sofas, plus similarly upholstered low stools and round, black wooden tables. In the corner, was a small bar with a bartender, while at the end was the DJ booth. Glitterballs revolved as they hung from the ceiling. A younger crowd of twentysomething passengers were already there. About fifteen or twenty were dotted around the walls, while four were on the dancefloor strutting their stuff. The music was loud and the beat pumped through Lucia's body, awakening her excitement and giving her the sudden urge to dance again.
Just then she realised that one of the dancers was that new guy, Pablo. He was jiving on the small dancefloor, wearing a waistcoat with no shirt, that revealed his trained biceps and muscled chest. He wore a pair of tight jeans with a black, leather belt, and Lucia glanced briefly at his butt as he turned on the dancefloor. Some nondescript sneakers completed the package.
Lucia decided to join the dancers. Stepping forward with confidence, her long legs made short work of the distance between the entrance and the steps leading to the dancefloor. She held onto the handrail lightly as she stepped down.
She began dancing. The music was club, electronic dance music -- typical nightclub stuff, and not the Latin American style she was used to. She loved dancing but this was different. She was off-duty, so didn't care too much about creating a performance to wow the crowd. She ran her fingers through her hair and let loose.
Pablo was limbering up. He hadn't performed on stage in the Rendezvous yet, since Dave Richards had wanted to see what he could put together with the female dancers before letting him out in front of the punters. So he had decided to visit the Disco to get a feel of the vibe, check out the kind of passengers he would be dealing with and give himself time to acclimatize to this new situation.
Just then, Lucia appeared in front of him. Lucia swayed her hips, moving to the pounding beat, raising her hands in the air, waving them in time. Pablo's eyes roved over her form, gazing at her exposed midriff, then looking back up at her beautiful face, full lips and what he could make out of her olive skin in the dim light.
Lucia continued dancing, taking a step forward towards Pablo. She remembered the feeling he had given her on the staircase earlier and was curious. She gazed briefly at his muscled torso, gyrating to the beat. She smiled at him. Pablo smirked back. As the music went on, she reached out her hands and placed them on his hips.
Pablo felt her hands on him, so reached out to hold her waist. She didn't flinch, but instead pulled his hips nearer. Lucia smiled as she realized she had just done this with Edward not even an hour earlier. Pablo knew better what he was doing, though, and held Lucia as he began to lead her. Putting one hand on her lower back and lowering the other to her hip, he bucked his hips and gyrated his torso, inviting her to follow.
She did so, stepping forward again to close the distance between them. She moved her hand up his muscled back, feeling the firm flesh through the black waistcoat. She liked trained muscles and guys who looked like they knew the inside of a gym. She didn't like huge dudes, but rather the kind of guy who had obviously worked out to achieve some mass yet still had good definition -- just like Pablo. Finally, she closed the gap between them. The skin of her midriff could feel his firm abdomen. She looked up into his face, at the tousled black hair, the steely gaze, the angled jaw.
Pablo smiled down at her as the music reached a crescendo. As she turned around and began to grind her butt against him, he felt desire rise in him. She was teasing but that was OK. He was playing with her. She was hot, sexy, desirable and he could imagine her in his bed; and yet...
The music ended. Pablo took her hand and led her up the steps and over to one of the tables. Flopping down on the sofa, Pablo took up a place just behind the table. Lucia sat down next to him, scooting up nearer to be next to him.
Raising his voice slightly over the sound level, he remarked, "I didn't expect you here."
"Why not?" demanded Lucia, smiling.
"Not quite your scene, this music," he said, looking at her.
"No problem!" cried Lucia over the noise. "I wanna chill! Hey, did you check out the Crew Party?"
"Oh, no, I didn't. Was there one?"