Nine Days of Heaven

DAY 5.

Rhodes was a very nice island. The old town was extremely tourist oriented, without being too tacky.

We three girls elected not to take an excursion and do our own thing instead.

We shopped, had lunch at nice cafe, where the waiter was doing his level best to impress Mandy, who in turn played up to all his advances.

"Did you see the bulge in his pants?" she asked, for the tenth time as we walked back towards the harbour. "I could have played with that all afternoon and not got bored with it."

We passed a small souvenir shop and Mandy noticed some wooden objects hanging from a display stand.

"Hey Penny, come and have a look at these," she shouted, loud enough for most people to hear, stop and look around. "Maybe you should invest one:"

I was mortified. She had found a display stand full of wooden dildos. all different sizes, some painted in bright colours, some highly decorated.

What Irene said next made me collapse in giggles and left Mandy red faced.

"You should get one in luminescent blue. It'll make it easier for the paramedics to find!"

The evening took a different turn. We all three met in the main restaurant, had a nice dinner and then went to see a show in the theatre. He was a comedian, but not a very funny one and so we headed for the piano bar. We found a table and sat down and ordered our drinks.

Behind us, standing at the bar, were a small group of younger people. They obviously didn't care about the music that Adam was performing, or that the noise they made was annoying the other people in the bar. Some were leaving because of it. Others moved to other seats, closer to the piano, to hear what Adam was singing.

When our drinks arrived, Irene said,

"I can't deal with this. I'm going to the cabin and watch TV."

Mandy said that she was going to try and find Linda and try to make it up with her. They had been fighting a lot on the cruise but she felt that if she gave in a little, they might be able to patch things up.

That left me on my own, so I took a wander through the shops on the lower deck. As we got up to leave, I saw that Adam was looking in our direction with a puzzled expression on his face. So I motioned that the crowd was too noisy and that we would come back in a while.

Shopping was a mistake as there was nothing I really wanted and I knew that I was just passing time. So after about half an hour I went back to the bar.

The noisy crowd had left and Adam was on a break.

It felt weird being alone in that bar, but I somehow felt compelled to sit down and order a drink.

Then Ole ad Kari, the Norwegian couple from the previous night, came over and asked if they could join me. I was grateful for the company and so they sat down.

A few minutes later, Adam returned to resume his performance.

He had a way of making you feel like you were the only person in the room. He would look right at you, those beautiful deep brown eyes burrowing into your soul. He would sing as though it was just you and him and every word was meant for your ears only. I felt a shiver run through my lower body, starting in my abdomen and ending in my vagina. Ole was talking to me at the time and I didn't hear a single word he said.

Kari brought me back to reality, when laying her hand on my arm, she said,

"Ole thinks that the piano man may have a thing for you."

And I for him, I thought.

All too soon, Adam's performance was over and he stood up to pack away his equipment. Ole and Kari didn't seem to be in any rush to go to bed and so we sat talking for a little while longer. Suddenly Adam was standing by my side and asked if he could join us. He pulled up a chair and sat down and Ole asked if he would like a drink.

"Would it be alright if I had a scotch?" he asked, politely.

"Of course," replied Ole and signaled for the waiter to come over. He ordered the scotch, two glasses of red wine and a gin and tonic, which was for Kari.

We all talked for a while and then Kari motioned to Ole that it was time to go to bed.

I expected Adam to get up too, but he stayed where he was.

After Ole and Kari left, Adam turned to me and asked,

"What happened last night? I was almost done and you left without even saying goodbye. I know that it's not really my business. Guests can come and go as they please and you certainly don't have to answer to me, but I was worried that I might have caused you some discomfort."

Right there and then, I could have kissed him. No one since Glenn had ever come across so thoughtful.

I told him that the last song he played was Glenn's favourite and too many memories came flooding back. I apologised that I left without saying goodnight, but I didn't want him to see me cry.

"Oh, God, of course. You don't have to apologise to me."

A small pause and then he said, "I actually wanted to ask you something. If you say no, I will completely understand and I want you to know that I have only good intentions behind this request."

I was puzzled by what he meant.

"Tomorrow is my night off," he continued. "What I normally do is book a table in one of the specialty restaurants. I've already been in the steakhouse and I've been advised that the Italian restaurant isn't that great, but I have been intrigued by the Sushi restaurant and wondered if you would like to join me for dinner tomorrow night, around seven-thirty?"

My mind went into overdrive and panic started to set in, I hadn't been on a date in twenty seven years. Now a man, younger than myself, wanted to wine and dine me and I didn't even know him.

I blustered my next sentence, unsure really of what I was saying.

"Look, it's very nice of you to ask, but if you're looking for a one night stand, then Mandy is the one you want."

I couldn't believe I was actually pointing him in her direction.

"She's had her eyes on you from the start of this cruise. I am not into one night stands. I am good Christian woman and I don't believe in sex on the first night. So if that's what you're looking for, forget me and ask her."

I really wasn't painting my friend in a very good light at this point and realised a lot of what I had just divulged to Adam should never have been brought to light.

"Okay. Thanks for assuming that that's what I wanted," he answered, slightly bemused.

"I think I ought to feel kind of flattered that you assume that the only reason why I would want to ask you dinner is to end up in bed with you. I'm afraid that's not my style and Mandy is not my type of woman."

"Why not?" I asked. "She's blond, available and clearly up for it."

"Well, you've answered two of those questions," he replied. "I'm not a fan of one night stands either. I've had them, in my younger days, but they're not satisfying and leave me feeling sort of empty."

"So why on earth would you want to ask me to dinner?" I asked.

"Do I need a reason?" he asked. "I spend most of my waking life alone. I sleep alone, I wake alone, I work alone and most of the time, I eat alone. For once, I thought it might be nice to have dinner with an attractive, delightful woman and spend a little time sharing intelligent conversation."

He turned in his seat and looked me straight in the eye. Again, it felt as though someone had punched me in the chest and when he held both of my hands, that shiver went through me again.

"I pride myself on being a fairly good judge of character. Mandy is too easy to read and gives off all her signals and secrets at once. You, on the hand Penny, are far harder to read and I would like to spend some time finding out about you. If you'll let me."

I wanted to kiss him again and made the motion to, but he leaned back.

"Not here," he said. "I would love to kiss you, but not here." Then he leaned into me and whispered in my ear, "Maybe tomorrow." That shiver erupted into a minor explosion that made me want to moan aloud.

We made arrangements to meet in the wine bar, at seven o' clock.

He walked me to the elevator, kissed the back of my hand and bid me goodnight.

When I returned to the cabin, Irene was snoring softly and I gathered up my nightie and soap bag and went to the bathroom to remove my make up. I removed my dress and bra. I rolled my panties down over my hips, I was aware that the gusset was damp. I slid my finger along my pussy opening and found to my surprise that I was wet. Just from kissing my hand, my vaginal juices had flowed.

That hadn't happened in a long while.

I removed my make up, showered and put on my nightie. I couldn't get the thought out of my head that just a simple kiss on my hand had opened the floodgates.

DAY 6.

My memory of our excursion around Santorini is a little hazy. This is mainly due to the fact that I couldn't get the memory of finally talking to Adam and the effect he had on me. My stomach was filled with butterflies all day at the anticipation of having dinner with him. Also I was concerned that somehow it would slip out and Mandy would be annoyed with me because she had had designs on him from day one of the cruise. The only person who knew was Irene and I had sworn her to secrecy. If asked over dinner, she was to say that I was on a date with another guest.

I spent more time that usual in the shower and over my make up. Finding the right clothing to wear was almost impossible and I was beginning to hyperventilate.

"What is wrong with you?" asked Irene, the concern clearly heard in her voice.

"I haven't been on a date in over 25 years," I panted, reaching for a bottle of water. I had a towel wrapped around me and if Irene could have seen through the material, she would have seen that I was drenched in sweat.

I gulped down a mouthful of water and said, "I don't know what the hell I am doing. I'm scared and delirious at the same time."

Irene calmed me down and helped pick out a suitable outfit. It was dark blue

halter-neck dress and I wore panties that held in my slightly plump belly, which were a skin colour. I topped the whole ensemble off with my favourite pair of shoes.

Irene gave me a hug and wished me luck. I left the cabin and headed for the wine bar, hoping that Adam was late, so that I had time to order a glass of wine to calm my nerves.

Adam arrived at the wine bar about ten minutes after me and on time, which impressed me. It showed that he cared enough and respected me enough not to be tardy with his timekeeping.

He smiled when he saw me and my heart melted.

"Have you been waiting long?" he asked.

"Ages," I lied. "You know we were supposed to meet at six thirty."

Adam frowned, but it quickly turned into a smile.

Waving his finger at me, he said, "You can't fool me. I know we had an arrangement for seven o'clock."

He went to the bar and ordered a glass of red wine for himself. I watched how he held the glass up to the light and swilled the wine around in the glass. He smelled it and finally took a sip to taste. He nodded to the bar tender who filled the rest of his glass.

"Shit!" I thought. "He's a wine expert too."

I suddenly felt out of my depth. What if he wanted to discuss wine, or a subject I knew nothing about? My fight-or-flight instinct kicked in and I wanted to get the hell out of there. But something held me back. It wasn't apparent at the time, but later, as I lay in bed, I realised the thing that stopped me from running out on Adam, was the heavy desire to know and understand him.

He returned to the table and I asked, "Are you a wine expert as well as a great singer and musician?"

I think I saw him blush for a second, as he answered, "Those are very kind words. Thank you, but I only think of myself as a working musician, nothing more. As for the wine, I am no expert, but I do know what I like."

He leaned into me so that no one else would hear what he had to say.

"To be honest, I have been on wine tastings and when they describe what you should be tasting, I can never taste it."

He smiled as if he had revealed a secret that he didn't want anyone to know about.

We took our drinks and headed to the top deck of the ship, to where the restaurant was.

We had to walk outside to reach the restaurant and Adam asked me if it was alright that we took a walk around the deck, after dinner. I replied that it depended on how windy it was. I wasn't thinking so much about the cold air, but more about the wind getting under my dress and blowing over my head.

We both admitted that we didn't think the sushi was up to the standard that we had expected. It actually prompted us to cut the dinner short.

We walked out on the deck, just as huge gust of wind blew, forcing me to hold my dress down. I suggested we found a place inside where we could be alone and talk.

After shifting locations a couple of times, Adam suggested that we go to the lifeboat deck, which was more sheltered.

He was correct and there was hardly any people around. Sun beds were set up against the wall and so we sat on a couple of them. I had asked him during dinner about the ring on the index finger of his right hand. He admitted that he wasn't married, but that he was engaged. He went on to say that he had lived with same woman for ten years.

I asked why they weren't married and he told me that he and his girlfriend were happy as they were. A piece of paper was not going to change anything. Also they had seen two couples, who they were friends with, get married after a long period of living together, only to divorce a couple of years later.

"If it works, why fix it?" he said.

We talked about life and love and other subjects and I felt very relaxed with him.

Finally I plucked up the courage to ask if he could kiss me. It was a dangerous move, but I was really aching to feel his lips. He smiled, leaned forward and our lips touched. Almost straight away I felt tiny explosions in my abdomen and my panties began to soak with the sticky juices that were flowing out of my vagina. I shuddered and moaned as his tongue found mine.

We parted to breathe and he said, smiling, "You have a talented tongue."

"You have no idea," I replied, wondering where the hell that came from.

He smiled again and raised his eyebrows. "Now you have me intrigued."

We kissed again and I felt his hand on my thigh and it slowly moved along the outside of my leg towards my hip. His fingers brushed the elasticated leg of my hold-in panties and then moved back down my leg. If he was disappointed that I was wearing such garments, he didn't show it as his tongue searched feverishly through my mouth.

I wanted him, but this was too soon and I didn't want to come across as desperate or over eager, as it might have scared him off.

We decided to call it a night. He walked me to the door of my cabin and gave me one final kiss goodnight.

My vaginal juices had soaked my panties and were now oozing down my inner thighs.

I watched him walk away and then opened the door and went into my cabin.

DAY 7.

I wandered around Athens in a daze. The girls were talking to me, but my mind was elsewhere. I couldn't get Adam's kiss out of my head. The effect he had on me had awoken something that I never thought I would ever feel again.

After Glenn died, I seriously thought my sex life was over and I had consigned myself to live the life of a spinster. But that kiss. Oh, that kiss. It had opened the floodgates. Even as we all sat in a small roadside cafe, drinking Greek coffee and eating baklava, I had to keep crossing and recrossing my legs, because just remembering the night before was soaking my panties.

Fortunately, my companions hadn't noticed, as I had managed to maintain a certain level of conversation without coming under suspicion.

Mandy had quizzed me about my dinner date, but I just brushed it off and told her that it was just a friendly dinner and nothing more. I left out the part about wanting Adam to be my dessert.

We met up, as always, at the main restaurant, that night and had dinner and then agreed to watch a show and end up in the piano bar. As we walked into the bar and I saw Adam smiling from behind the piano, my heart rate increased and I felt shudders in my vagina.

I was sure that I was blushing and hurried into the ladies room to check myself out.

I went into the cubicle to pee. I pulled down my panties and saw straight way that my gusset was damp. I removed them completely and put them in my hand bag.

When I returned to bar, the girls had found a table and had already ordered drinks.

I ordered a glass of red wine, when the waiter returned with their drinks.

Once again, Adam was on form but the room was quieter than normal. He joked about us all having to get up at "stupid o'clock", as he called it and then said that tomorrow was a sea day, so we could all relax, sleep long and eat a leisurely breakfast. Something he did everyday. We laughed, though not out loud.

Because we were late eating and had seen a show, we only managed to see one set of Adam's and soon it was over. I walked over to him as, he was packing away and asked if we could meet on life boat deck again, like the night before. He smiled and said he would be there in five minutes.

I was grateful that my cabin was on a different deck to Mandy's, because then I wouldn't have to make any lame excuses. It naturally looked as though I was going to bed.

I walked down the stairs and out onto the boat deck and waited.

Not long after, I heard the automatic doors open and felt a slight rush of air from the ship's air conditioning as I turned around to see Adam standing there, smiling.

I told him to sit down as I had something I had to tell him. His smile faded as he sat on the edge of a sun-bed. I sat on the bed next to him and said,

"I want to thank you."

Puzzled, he asked, "Why?"

"After Glenn died, I thought that part of me had died with him. But after that kiss last night, I realise that that part of me is still very much alive." I looked at him and a dawning of realisation swept over his face. "You've made me understand that I can move on with my life, but still honour Glenn's memory. When I get home, I am going to put myself out there. I'm going to go to the gym and lose my "bereavement weight" and I am going to start dating. You are a very beautiful man and a wonderful person and I want to thank you."

I leaned over and kissed him. Our tongues unraveled in my mouth and my hands started searching over his body. I felt him move closer to me and I ran my hand over his waist and down the front of his trousers. I could feel his bulge getting bigger and harder.

I felt his hand on my thigh and I wanted so much for him to move it higher up, but I would have been left on show for all the world to see.

I broke away and asked, "Is there somewhere we can go that is more private?"

"How about your cabin?" he asked.

"No way. Irene is in bed. What about your cabin?"

"No can do. My cabin is in a secure area and I have a CC camera right outside my door."

He thought for a moment. Then he grabbed my hand and said,

"Come with me madam."

I followed him as we headed to the rear of the ship.

It was deserted and, to my surprise, devoid of security cameras.

He held me in his arms and we kissed again. His kissing was more forceful now and I felt his hands roaming over my body, as I continued to rub his growing erection through his trousers. His hand went under my dress and I parted my legs to allow him easier access.

Oh God, I needed this! I felt his finger slid over my damp slit, almost to my anus, and back. Then his fingertip circled around my clitoris and my knees buckled. This was intense. Tiny explosions took place all over my body. I was so wet and very close to coming. He slid two fingers into my soaking wet pussy and finger fucked me. It didn't take too much and an intense orgasmic wave washed over me and my juices erupted from my vagina and into his cupped hand. I shuddered and shook. My eyes closed and rolled into the back of my head. I almost had trouble breathing and I fought to regain my composure. His mouth covered mine in an intense but soft kiss and afterwards I thanked him.