"Oh, sweetheart." She cupped my sodden face. "I've suspected for weeks that I would have to step aside. I was ready to make that choice. That's the truth. But it is equally true that when I did it, the loss I felt gave way to relief. If I had to-and I know if you had to-we could spend four or eight years not going on dates because that's flaunting our lifestyle, not giving each other gifts because that's flaunting my wealth, you not doing research tours because that's being Marie Antoinette on the people's dime. I know, darling, that you would do that for me."

I nodded. I knew that I would have academically distanced myself until I had no feeling left so that no one-including me-knew how much I hated it. Distanced myself so far that my love for Sydney would also strain...even break. "Now it's unlikely we will have to."

"I think I have a different destiny. Rather, I'm willing to embrace a different destiny. But I won't endanger us again. Not like that."

She pulled me close again, and her voice broke. "We get to go home."

Our roles reversed, I cradled her. Sniffing in her ear, I finally said, "I really don't think we should tell anyone how happy we are."

"This isn't the end," she said.

"That's the best part. And we get to go home."

All the Wrong Places.

(Bella After Dark Erotic Romance).

Published: 2004 Characters: Brandy Monsoon, resort fitness instructor Tess Carson, resort fitness instructor Setting: Gulf Coast, Florida.

Sweet Fifteen, and ready to grow up.

Cruising Solo.

(3 years).

"Brandy! Can you help me get these cases to the lounge?"

I turned back from my errand to check yesterday's sales with the Riviera Deck Gift Shop manager. Mel, who was an experienced jill-of-all-trades for the tour company, appeared to be in the midst of her roadie duties. The rolling amplifiers brought on board to boost the sound systems for the musical acts weren't that heavy, but I'd learned yesterday that they were awkward. When our cruise ship made one of its odd jolts the amps wanted to roll one way while the deck tilted another. Add to that some tight corners where pa.s.senger traffic was routed around lounges and it wasn't easy for one woman to manage, even one as strong as Mel.

"How's the busman's holiday so far?" Mel put one stocky shoulder to the back of the amp again and I steadied it from the other side.

"I'm loving it. I just wish my girlfriend hadn't broken her ankle. She'd be loving it too."

"At least you got a cabin to yourself." She grunted as the amp hung up on a slight roll in the carpeting.

I wasn't happy with the empty bed at night. "Ship to sh.o.r.e costs a fortune, doesn't it?"

"Not all that bad," Mel said. "But on our wages it is."

I'd already blown most of my spending money on a beautiful necklace of Venetian gla.s.s for Tess's birthday. I couldn't resist it, and I'd missed her so much at our first port-of-call. We'd imagined having just an hour to ourselves to take a gondola ride, but a broken floor tile had other plans. The brief stints with the Internet hookup available when we were in port would have to do.

Mel grappled to keep control of the amp but I caught it before it ran into the steel wall of the exterior hull-the amp was going to be worse for it. "I know why we don't have two sets of these, but moving them from venue to venue is a royal pain."

I averted my eyes from the sight of Mel's rippling biceps. She was about my height but probably carried twenty pounds more muscle-a fine figure of a woman in an A-shirt and shorts. When I'd met her my first thought had been "power butch" and that had proven quite accurate. She also liked to play, if the gossip during the staff lunch was anything to go by. There had been a time when I'd have issued her an invitation or accepted one in a heartbeat.

We finally muscled the amp into the lounge and went back for the second one. Once it was in place the rock band's sound woman took over and Mel and I took a moment to catch our breath. Just as we were leaving, two of the musicians pa.s.sed us, one saying to the other, "Tuesday night-but invitation only."

The other answered, "Oh, I have my eye on someone to invite already, if I can wait that long to do her."

"I wonder how I could get an invitation to that party," Mel said to me as the lounge door closed behind us.

The image of Mel and the heavy metal girls all having a really hot time left me feeling a bit weak in the knees. Tess would laugh-the older I got the more I understood her cat scratch fever hormones. My kitty was in major need.

Mel was regarding me with that mixed expression of cool interest and playful impishness I knew so well from the many times I'd had the same expression. Before I'd left on this trip, Tess, her ankle wrapped in that d.a.m.ned heavy cast, had said, "As long as you come back home to me, I don't care if you have some fun. I don't own your body or your brain, Brandy. Just your heart and your future. Don't do anything that'll cost me either one."

Thankfully, before Mel could actually start the conversation I could tell she was considering, I recalled my original errand.

"Polly wants to know how the CD sales went yesterday. If you see her, would you tell her I got slightly delayed?"

Mel nodded and headed aft while I went up a flight of stairs to the shopping concourse. There were times I forgot I was on a ship, but then there would be a slight hesitation in the rise or fall to remind me. Tess would love the stores, even if we couldn't afford anything in them. There was a turquoise bikini in one window that reminded me vividly of the one she wore for sunbathing, the very one that I had removed many, many times so I could worship the unbronzed parts of her.

The gift shop manager had the previous day's sales records all ready. I glanced down the list and could see that all of the artists had sold a few CDs, but I had no idea if the numbers were strong or lackl.u.s.ter. I hoped Polly would explain and I'd get a chance to show I had a brain for this sort of thing. Tess and I had hopes of joining the Ladies on Vacation Enterprises staff, so we'd plotted to use a week's vacation from our Club Sandzibel resort duties to work this cruise. If they hired us permanently, we could settle into an apartment of our own instead of the two studios Club Sandzibel allotted us. The work was tiring and the days were long, but it was all very fun so far.

By the end of the day I was exhausted in a good way. I'd also overheard a fairly noisy couple having a tryst in the fitness room restroom, which brought back a lot of fond memories. Then there was the couple losing their clothes on the way to their stateroom. They caught me looking and did not seem to mind. After the late night comedy act finished I swear the ship levitated on the l.u.s.t endorphins alone as the corridors slowly emptied and the guests found warm beds for the night. In some cases, I was certain, the beds they found were not their own.

Feeling sorry for myself, I sat in my stateroom and tried not to miss Tess. I was perfectly capable of arranging some fun-that is if everyone on the prowl hadn't already been claimed-but I was pretty tired. No energy for conversation and flirting at that level.

I decided that a quick tryst with my vibrator might be just the thing and claimed it from the dresser drawer. A search for the nearest outlet to the bed only increased my frustration level. The bargain cabins where staffers stayed were so small there was just one power outlet, in the bathroom, which was so tiny there wasn't even room enough to lie on the floor. Mel had joked that the shower stalls were converted coffins.

And, dang it, I had never mastered the art of having a full-blown, knee-shaking, muscle-clenching o.r.g.a.s.m standing up. Twenty minutes later I had ascertained that there was no miraculously appearing extension cord in my suitcase. The corridor outside was empty of any other human beings, let alone one with an extension cord slung over one shoulder. I was tired and cranky and no longer in the mood to let my vibrator have its way with me.

I went to bed and it took nearly fifteen minutes to fall asleep.

Monday. The home of the Olympic Games. Herding women onto the little boats called tenders to ferry them to sh.o.r.e because the ship was too large to dock. Answering the same question two hundred times. Herding women into the shade, herding them onto shuttles and greeting every minute of the day with a big smile and endless energy. By the time I got off the very last tender back to the ship Polly had already thanked me twice for my help, and praised my quick thinking when a guest had abruptly succ.u.mbed to heat stroke. I hoped she remembered I was the one with a girlfriend, as ideal an employee as I was, who had broken her ankle two days before our planned flights. I was playing it low key for now, but I wasn't planning to leave for home without pigeonholing her and giving her the full Brandy and Tess credentials.

Sweaty and tired, and off-duty for the rest of the night, I b.u.mped into Mel on the way to my cabin. She too had been herding women all day and looked as tired as I felt.

"Want to get dinner to go and eat somewhere far away from the guests?"

"Sure," I said easily.

We did just that too. Then, feeling like recalcitrant children, we snuck into the kitchen and helped ourselves to some of the savories and sweets prepared for the pastry extravaganza. I left with an admiring backward glance at beautiful 3-D swans made from phyllo dough and glistening with sugar. A dozen multi-tiered cakes frosted in rainbow colors hadn't yet been cut. But the cinnamon and chocolate puff I'd swiped was light as a feather and filled with a rum-flavored custard-tasty enough to have me licking my fingers.

Mel had that look again as we leaned against the railing and watched the ship splitting the sea dozens of feet below us. "You can tell me to take a hike," she began.

I shrugged. "My girlfriend and I have an understanding."

"Which is?"

"I can be borrowed." If she was here, I didn't add, there wasn't a chance in h.e.l.l I'd want anyone else. But Tess wasn't here. So maybe for one night I could be the old Brandy.

Mel laughed. "I like that way of looking at it. I'm not the stealing sort. But I don't mind borrowing."

I pulled the bandeau off my hair and let the wind finish ruining it. The damp air only made it more curly and tomorrow morning I'd have some serious work ahead of me.

"You're the first white girl I've ever seen with hair that kinky." Mel touched it briefly and then caressed my neck lightly.

My nipples tightened in response. The old Brandy was very close to the surface now and I wondered what it would feel like to go down on Mel and if she liked having every furl and ripple between her legs thoroughly explored. Or would she want it hard and fast? Was she a butch who liked to be touched? Or was she stone and wanting to spend the night pleasuring me?

I shook suddenly with a feeling of being unleashed. I loved s.e.x and had always enjoyed a new partner. Exploring women, learning them, had for years been one of the highlights of my life. Women are simply the best. And here was one ready to play with me, more butch than any I'd ever been with, and I was quite certain there would be more than one new experience with her.

In the three years I had been with Tess we'd had our understanding about borrowing. Mostly it was a recognition that while we wanted to be all the other ever needed if in some circ.u.mstances that just wasn't the case, talking about unmet needs and how they might be fulfilled was better than doing anything behind the other's back. Tess had been the one who pointed out that expecting our bodies to never change and our self-knowledge to be static was unrealistic. Certainly her self-knowledge had evolved and that was why she was with me and not a guy. I didn't expect her to never change. I did expect her to want me to be part of those changes.

Given that we worked and lived side-by-side, it wasn't surprising that neither of us had taken advantage of the okay-to-be-borrowed agreement. Any way that we might be changing, such as my strong hormonal drive that I still said I'd caught from her, we'd adapted to together. Here I was, however, eager to be with someone else. Thinking that the experience would be something to tell Tess about. Wondering if the telling would get us in the raunchy mood we both relished.

Mel pulled me into her embrace. The kiss was very nice, and suggested that there could be real heat and real play. "I have a roommate," she said, "so if you'd like, we could go to your cabin."

"It would be a shame to waste it."

"I could pick up a few things from my cabin on the way."

I was about to suggest an extension cord, if she had one, when she cupped my face and kissed me again, harder this time. My skin was tingling as I leaned into her. All that muscle and strength was feeling very, very good to me.

One hand slipped under the waistband of my shorts, gripping my hip.

And I had the thought I could not ignore: Tess didn't touch me quite like that.

And then I realized the woman kissing me wasn't Tess. Of course she wasn't. I knew that. It was Mel.

Who wasn't Tess.

She touched me, kissed me and my body responded, no doubt about it. But my infernal brain kept thinking her fingers would move there, or her tongue would touch here, because that was how Tess touched me. Tess who knew my body now better than I did. Tess who possessed every key there was to me.

f.u.c.k a duck, I hate having a brain.

Mel let go of me and gave me a puzzled look. "Are you sure about this?"

"Actually, I'm not." Mel was very nice and I didn't want to hurt her feelings, but only the truth was going to suffice. "You'd just be a stand-in for my girlfriend. I'm sorry."

"I don't care. I get the feeling you are a really fun time."

"I think you probably are too. But..." The truth was inescapable. Morosely, I admitted it. "I love my girlfriend. And while parts of me want you, all of me is only going to be happy with her."

She took my refusal with good grace. I suggested there was plenty of time to cruise the folk singer's show or the late night dance scene. She left me at the railing with a cheery smile and I was fairly certain that the rest of the week wouldn't be awkward between us because of the last few minutes.

I was most of the way to my cabin when I realized I still needed an extension cord.

Fine, I thought, sitting on my bed, all alone. I was being a good girl. Kisses from Not Tess women were useless. I was an old married woman, settled down, constrained, giving up the happy life of soul-wrenching ecstasy through any and all means by which I could find it. And for what?

For a chick with long arms-I could hear Tess saying that to me clear as day in my head. I fell back on the bed, ruefully laughing. I gave up the footloose and fancy-free life for a woman who some nights could not get f.u.c.ked enough and all nights could not hold me enough. For a woman who was generous and kind, thoughtful and wise, hot as a firecracker and, frankly, smarter than I was.

I gave up nights with Not Tesses for breakfasts and brownies and tomorrows and hot s.e.x with Tess.

d.a.m.n, I wanted an extension cord.

The slam of a nearby cabin door brought me to my feet. Peering out into the corridor I summoned up my courage as the couple walked by my door. "I know this will sound weird, but do you have an extension cord I could borrow? I promise you'll have it back in an hour."

"Sorry, mate," the taller woman said as they paused.

Her cuddly girlfriend added, "We were sort of wishing we'd brought one along ourselves."

"Batteries just don't-"

"Got that right, mate-"

"I would have brought one if we'd..."

We all blushed because we all knew exactly what we meant. They drifted toward the stairwell and I heard someone approaching from the other direction.

"Hi," I said cheerfully. "Do you have an extension cord I could borrow for about an hour?"

"Sure," the little redhead said. "I was ironing something earlier, but now I'm all done."

Ironing? That was a bit freaky, but whatever floats your boat, I wanted to say. I had other plans. I thanked her profusely, promised its prompt return, but she told me not to bother until the next day. My vibrator and I could have a long date.

I skipped back to my cabin, plugged everything in, pulled back the covers and spread myself on the bed.

What I needed was a naughty, hot fantasy. The rock band party, there was a thought.

Muscles and tattoos, I mused, required a soft, pliable woman...perhaps one shared between the two musicians I'd encountered yesterday with Mel. Her hair in ruins, her body slicked with sweat, she'd mewl with need because the more she had, the more she wanted and in my mind's eye, it was Tess wanting it like that, and there were no musicians, just me. Me and Tess, the way we'd been our first night together, and so many nights since.

A flick of my thumb brought the vibrator to life and the intensity of the sensation curled my toes into the bed. I wanted the perfect moment in my head.

My fingers going into Tess, feeling her quivering welcome, thick with want and savoring the twining croon of her rising moan. The perfect moment... The first time... The last time ... The perfect moment, oh...

The first kiss, the one after that, the last kiss, the next kiss when I got home, oh... Oh my.

There were so many perfect moments that about an hour later I selected a few more. In the morning, I mused sleepily afterward, I could have some more perfect moments before I had to give back the extension cord. There was so many to think about, so many that made my nerves jump, so many...all with Tess. And if I ran out of perfect moments, I could make more with her when I got home.

And then I slept, cradled against the pillow that was a poor subst.i.tute for Tess's shoulder and let the ship rock me to sleep.

Lucky 7.