Crushes and Cruises
By Merz
He meets the muscle woman of his dreams on the high seas


Nelson Cavendish had treated himself to a Caribbean cruise for his fortieth
birthday. He felt he had earned the indulgence through hard work and success
in his accounting practice. He also hoped he'd have a change of luck in
meeting women. Back home he had unsuccessfully tried dating most of the
eligible women in his office building, at his country club, and at the church
he had joined purely from the hope he'd meet the right woman.

The right woman? Nelson's standards didn't seem too high. She had to be
female, she had to be interested in men, and she had to be able to carry on a
conversation. After the second day of the cruise he had categorized the single
women he had met as too old, too fat, or assertively more interested in other
women on board than in him. He resigned himself to another week of bored
solitude between stops in scenic ports. But two evenings later he got turned
around finding his way back to his cabin and wandered down an unfamiliar
stairway.

"Goddamit, Mike, either hold the pipe steady or get out of the way and let me
do the job myself." Nelson followed a woman's voice around a corner of the
interior corridor and froze in his tracks. The scene before him sent a thrill
through his whole body. Blonde hair was pulled back to frame a fair skinned,
blue-eyed face. A wet t-shirt was plastered over full breasts that jutted
unsupported from a broad chest. Her legs were hidden by the ship's blue
uniform coveralls that had been peeled down to the level of a tight, trim
waist. Nelson felt himself infatuated immediately, and then he noticed the
arms gripping the large, heavy wrench as she fought to stem the water jetting
from a pipe joint that had soaked her and her partner.

Her arms were thick, considerably thicker than Nelson's own, and bulged with
powerful biceps on the arm pulling on the wrench and a horseshoe-shaped
triceps on the arm pushing up on the pipe. He stared at the swollen, golden
arms and swallowed hard.

"You fucking wimp, I told you to hold that pipe steady or I'll strip the
threads and we'll never get this damned leak fixed. Jesus Christ, Mike, what I
wouldn't give to find a real man on this floating piece of shit." With another
powerful push upward on the pipe and a muscular jerk downward on the wrench
the jet of water began to diminish. Another surge of strength turned it into a
series of drips, and a final mighty heave stopped it entirely.

"About fucking time. And what are you staring at? You never seen two heroes
save a sinking ship before?" She fired the abrupt question at Nelson who was
caught staring open mouthed at the Amazon in front of him. The other sailor,
who had been supporting one end of the pipe, turned and studied Nelson without
speaking.

Unaware or unconcerned that every detail of her ample breasts and thrusting
nipples could be seen through her wet shirt, the blonde planted her fists on
her hips and took a solid, wide stance as she locked Nelson in a baleful
stare. "Are you lost or just slumming to see how the other class lives, below
decks?"

Nelson managed to shift his eyes up a few inches from those gorgeous globes to
appreciate that the face fixed in a stern, frowning expression would be quite
pretty if it wasn't so fierce at the moment. "Um, yes, that is, I am lost. I
took a wrong turn, and then a wrong stairs and then more wrong turns." Nelson
gulped and stammered out a garbled response. His eyes traveled back down to
the magnificent chest and back up to the face that now softened slightly as it
scrutinized him more closely.

"Mike, haul the toolbox back. I'll take care of the wanderer here." She tossed
the big wrench into an open toolbox where it landed with a loud clang. The
other sailor grunted assent and turned away from Nelson to follow her
instructions. The woman shook her head as she watched him strain to lift the
metal box and stagger off down the corridor.

"What's your cabin number, chum?" She began pulling up her coveralls and
shoving her arms into the sleeves. The movement set off a complicated dance of
flesh across her chest, first one breast and then the other heaving against
the nearly transparent fabric of the straining t-shirt. Nelson nearly moaned
audibly when the zipper rose half way up to conceal most of that amazing
chest.

"Um, it's cabin 7085. I can't understand how I got so turned around." With the
coverall again in place Nelson at last took in the entire form before him.
Tall, at least 5 feet 8 inches. Broad shouldered, wide hipped, perfectly
proportioned for the height and width to balance very pleasantly.

She studied him as he completed his survey. "You must have been coming from
the lower lounge and took the D-stair down instead of up. I can't go on your
deck in uniform unless there's a problem that needs fixing. But I'll take you
to the right stairs to get you home again. C'mon."

She brushed past in the narrow hallway, her solid shoulder casually knocking
Nelson a couple of inches backward against the wall. He stared at her
wide-shouldered back until she stopped and looked at him. "You coming?"
Snapping out of his trance he followed along through the narrow maze to an
unfamiliar fire door.

"This is a service stair. Mostly the passengers don't use these, just us crew,
but it's the shortest way to your deck. It opens out two doors from your
cabin." Her arm swelled tight in the blue fabric as she pulled open the heavy
steel door and led the way into the dim stairway. As she climbed the stairs
Nelson kept his eyes fixed on her exquisitely churning ass in the snug
coveralls.

"Here you go, chum. This is where I gotta get off if I want to stay out of
trouble. Go left two doors and there you are, like I said." She pushed the
door open and stood in the frame holding it so he had to squeeze past her.
Again a bump against a solid shoulder and then a yielding passage across a
hidden breast. "Sleep tight," she called as the door clanged shut behind him.
But Nelson knew he wouldn't be able to sleep very much that night.

* * * *

"So, Nelson, here's the deal. You gotta quit calling in these phony plumbing
problems. The crew has enough to do keeping this fine vessel afloat without
going on wild goose chases. What'd you do this time? Shove a roll of toilet
paper down the shitter? Mike was a little miffed by the ping pong ball down
the drain, since he knew you'd have to take off the screen to get it in there,
and Murphy says that disgusting glop you shoved down the shower put him off
his feed for half a day. And Murphy'd eat mackerel so rotten it'd puke a
seagull." She set the big toolbox on the floor of Nelson's cabin and crossed
her arms across her imposing chest. She had carried the heavy box as easily as
if it had been a feather pillow. The sleeves of her coverall were rolled up to
the elbows, revealing thick, golden forearms adorned by pale blue veins
pulsing just beneath the skin. Her eyes were cold and measuring. Nelson felt
as if the gaze was pinning him against the wall.

"I didn't . . . I mean I did but I . . . that is, I didn't think . . ."

She let out a long sigh. "Look, Nelson, the guys haven't figured it out, but
these calls from your room gave me a clue. If you needed to see me or
something, you could just put a message through the info desk."

"But I don't know your name or I would have . . . that is, I couldn't think of
any . . . But you know my name?" For some reason Nelson had trouble completing
a sentence when he looked at this Amazon in blue.

For the first time a smile, or at least half a smile, crossed the pretty face.
"Sure, I looked you up on the manifest. Nelson Cavendish, traveling alone, not
part of any group I could figure out. I'm Sally. But here's the program. I'm
part of the crew of this barge so there's two rules I'm going to tell you.
First, I'm not your damned servant and I'm not going to play any stupid games.
Get in that bathroom and let me see you reach into that toilet and pull out
whatever you stuffed down there." The smile disappeared, replaced by a firmly
set mouth and a pair of steady blue eyes. "Do it," she barked when Nelson
hesitated for a moment.

He stepped quickly into the cramped bathroom of his stateroom and plunged his
arm up to the elbow of his blue oxford cloth shirt. After groping for a few
seconds he produced the sodden roll, still in its wrapper, that Sally had
guessed he had used to clog his toilet.

"Good job, Nelson. Now here's rule number two. Fraternizing between passengers
and crew is prohibited. I'd lose my job if I was caught hanging out with you
on the ship when I'm off duty, and I got too much to do to put up with these
grab-ass stunts you've been pulling while I'm on watch. Do it again and I'll
kick your butt around the lifeboat deck. Got it?"

"Yes, ma'am," Nelson meekly replied and hung his head as the hard stare
drilled into him.

"All right then, here's what we do. You're kind of cute and we make port
tonight for an all-day stop." Nelson raised his eyes from the deck as he
detected a change in tone in Sally's voice. For the second time he saw a
corner of the strong mouth lift in amusement. "Book a room at the Del Mar and
I'll drop by in the morning when I get off duty. Use the name William McGee so
nobody can track me to your room. I'll have the day free until I have to start
cast-off procedures at 2100. I plan to make the most of it. You'll get what
you're after, but I'm still not your servant. I have a project of my own that
doesn't involve you when we finish our business. Got it?" Again the abrupt,
direct style of speaking allowed Nelson only one possible response.

"Yes, ma'am, yes indeed! The Del Mar. I'll have a room in the name of William
McGee and an extra key at the desk for you." Nelson hugged the dripping roll
of toilet paper and felt the cold water squirt across his chest and drip down
onto his slacks.

"It's a date then. Now I have two questions. Did you piss in the toilet after
you clogged it up? If so, you might think about ship's laundry for that shirt.
Second, what'd you like best when you saw me the other night, my tits or my
arms? They're both pretty noticeable and I'm curious about what turns men on."

Nelson was once more dumbfounded by the blunt question. This time he couldn't
push out even an inarticulate stammer.

"Can't decide? Okay, let's review." Sally jerked down the zipper of her
coveralls and pulled open the front. The instant it registered on Nelson's
brain that Sally wasn't wearing even the thin t-shirt under her coveralls he
felt his knees weaken and he tipped backward against the door into the
bathroom. Her bare breasts were stunning, not quite as large as he had
imagined over the past two nights but full, firm, and jutting straight forward
from the thick chest. He'd been staring speechless for some seconds before
Nelson realized that even though the zipper revealed a tight, flat stomach to
three inches below her navel, no elastic panty top crossed the tanned flesh.
His knees felt even weaker as he considered the possibilities.

"Not bad, huh. You like what you see? Now try the arms." She shrugged out of
the sleeves so the coverall draped limply from her hips. The right fist
clenched, forcing a vein along the forearm into sharper relief and drawing
Nelson's attention to the full length of the thick, rippling arm. When she
slowly bent, then abruptly flexed the arm Nelson completely forgot the
statuesque chest. He gasped at the size and definition in the peaked biceps
Sally displayed for him. She straightened the arm and flexed it a second time
and then a third, pumping up the imposing muscle. When she matched it with an
equally defined left arm Nelson was sitting on the floor before he was even
aware his legs had given out completely.

Grinning mischievously Sally quickly zipped her coveralls, grabbed the heavy
toolbox and opened the door into the hallway. "I guess I get your priorities.
See you tomorrow, Nelson." And she was gone.

* * * * * Despite another sleepless night Nelson had never felt more awake as
he paced in the third floor room of the Del Mar hotel, overlooking the bay
with the large cruise ship tied to the dock. Every three minutes he looked at
his watch. Every fifteen minutes he checked to be sure his watch was still
running. Sally hadn't set a time that she would be coming, just telling him
she would see him in the morning. And now his morning was burning away without
her. She probably had forgotten the proposal as soon as she said it, she
probably found a dozen other things to do this morning, she probably never
intended to meet him at all. Finally at a quarter past ten he heard a key
turning in the lock. Before he could cross the room to open the door it burst
open and Sally breezed in.

"Nice, huh? I saw it once before, and I've heard passengers talk up the
service and how great the pool is. Let's try it out, get to know each other a
little better. I see you took the liberty of chilling a bottle of champagne.
It'll keep until we get back." Sally carried a canvas tote bag and was dressed
casually in loose shorts with a Hawaiian print shirt. Her hair was clipped
back and her eyes were hidden behind large sunglasses.

"Well, um, sure, I guess. We could go sit by the pool if you'd like. But I'd
think you'd have all the water you could stand what with being on the boat and
all." Nelson thanked whatever whim had caused him to toss his swim trunks into
an overnight bag with a few other odds and ends when he came ashore and rented
the room. He had raced off the cruise ship to the hotel as soon as the gangway
was in place so he could rent a good suite. He rumpled the sheets, left his
bag in the bedroom and hurried back to the ship rather than spend the night in
the room he had paid for, on the off chance he might get a glimpse of Sally
working that night. As soon as the sun came up he returned to the hotel to
await his rendezvous.

"Hell, I hardly see water on board. I'm below decks working most of the time,
remember? I sure don't get close to the pool unless it's to clean a hairball
out of the drain. I want to just sit in the sun and be lazy for a while, see
how the other half lives. I'll change in the bathroom." She closed the door
firmly.

Nelson swallowed his disappointment and mentally kicked himself for daring
even to hope Sally had any interest in spending time with him, let alone that
she had any romantic ideas. For almost twenty-four hours his mood had swung
erratically from wild fantasy to hopeless depression.

He was still standing in the middle of the room feeling let down when Sally
popped out of the bathroom and his mood soared once more. She was unlike any
woman he had ever seen, at once voluptuous as a centerfold but muscular as a
body builder. The tiny white bikini cupped her ample breasts while
accentuating the breadth of her solid shoulders. The little triangle of
material covering her sex drew attention to the washboard abs that started an
inch higher.

"You coming or not, slowpoke? Here, put some sun tan lotion on me. I steal any
time in the sun I can while we're underway, but I can't wait to have half an
hour with no interruptions to just lay there. I have some catching up to do."
Sally handed Nelson a plastic bottle of lotion and grabbed a chair from in
front of the room's table. Nelson inhaled silently when he saw her upper arm
swell with the minor effort of lifting the chair and spinning it around so she
sat backwards in it, facing away from Nelson with her arms crossed on the
chair back. With a gulp he took up the bottle, but the moment he let his gaze
drift down the muscular golden back to the point where a strand of white
fabric emerged from between round, powerful buttocks he gave an involuntary
jerk that shot a stream of lotion in a two foot arc.

Later Nelson could not remember any details of applying the lotion to Sally's
back, arms and legs. He was certain it must have been the most erotic
experience of his life, and he knew he was dripping with sweat and nearly
weeping when he finished, but he had tried concentrating on mentally reciting
whole paragraphs from the tax code, and calculating the dollar differences
between liabilities under this year's amendments and the previous year's. If
he hadn't focused so totally on an analytical task he doubted he would have
been able to get through his assignment. As it was he collapsed trembling on
the corner of the bed when Sally pronounced herself satisfied with the thin
coating applied to her arm, completing the job. With a wicked smile she flexed
the arm and ran a finger lightly over the shimmering peak of her biceps. "What
do you think, Nelson? Am I safe to go outside now?" She straightened the arm
so ripples of muscle stood out on her shoulder and down into her triceps.
Nelson's erection threatened to split the front of his pants, much to Sally's
amusement. "You need any? I could rub you all over if you'd like."

Suddenly Nelson realized the contrast his own pale and scrawny physique would
make next to the gorgeous Amazon. Her legs were twice as thick as his, her
arms three times. Where her back showed a sharp V taper from broad shoulders
to tight waist, his torso dropped straight from his chest to his hips. What
color he had gained from the sun was defined by the sports shirts he had
allowed himself to wear since the start of the cruise, so there were distinct
lines between grayish white and slightly pink flesh midway on his upper arms.
"I'm not much of a swimmer. Maybe I'll just go dressed as I am," he began
stuttering.

"Yeah, okay, whatever," Sally motioned for Nelson to lead the way from the
room. But as soon as he turned his back to her he felt powerful arms circle
his waist and lift him abruptly into the air. He struggled futilely as she
held him with one arm while undoing his belt and zipper with the other. After
jerking his trousers down to his knees she dumped him onto the bed and stood
glowering down at him, hands on her hips. "Not a chance, Nelson. This isn't a
spectator sport. You look at me, I get to look at you. You have one minute to
get changed or I'll strip you the rest of the way and change you myself. Move
it."

* * * * *

"So, Nelson, what do you do when you aren't sailing the Spanish Main?" Sally
asked as she stretched herself on the chaise lounge. The muscle display
paralyzed Nelson, beginning from the tensing of her thick thighs as she
lowered herself to a sitting position, then engaged her powerful, rounded
deltoids and triceps when they took on some of her weight, and finally the
corded abs as she rolled down to lie on her back. He was not alone in being
stunned by the exhibition as most eyes around the pool were captured by the
sight of female strength settling itself into a comfortable position. Only
when she raised her head to direct one of her sharp, steely glances his way
was he freed from the trance so he could take his place on the neighboring
bed.

"I'm a CPA with my own practice," he began, pleased to have a topic he could
discuss without the stammering and confusion of every other time he had spoken
to her.

"Is that right? Mostly businesses or individuals?" Ten minutes later he
realized she was softly snoring as he continued to describe the client base he
had built up back home. Nelson abruptly stopped the flood of words he had
released in response to Sally's simple question, feeling embarrassed that he
had rambled

so long about his work.

A few seconds later Sally yawned and stretched, arching up from the lounge.
"Interconnecting fiduciary responsibilities, huh? How do you keep those
straight?" She rolled onto her stomach, giving Nelson and the rest of her
poolside audience a fine view of her magnificent ass, accentuated in its
muscular roundness by the tiny thong. "Give me an example."

She had repeated a phrase Nelson had mentioned halfway through his discourse,
and now he found himself launching into an equally long monologue describing
an account he had worked on the previous year. This time when her slow, steady
breathing indicated she had drifted off into sleep once more after a dozen
words, Nelson kept his eyes fixed on the firm glutes and just kept talking
about the ins and outs of his methodical approach.

Fifteen minutes later Sally stirred, stretched, and rolled smoothly to her
feet. "You really know your shit when it comes to accounting. What makes you
so nervous when I ask you any other questions? I'm going to take a dip, and
then I'm starving. Let's order room service and get comfortable. You coming
in?"

Nelson started to rise when Sally stood up. But now she stretched her arms,
rolled her shoulders, and tensed her arms one at a time so a parade of muscles
suddenly began marching in all directions along her body. Nelson gasped
audibly and sank back onto his chaise lounge. "N-n-n-no, you go ahead. I'll
watch from here." He gasped to catch his breath as Sally faced away from him
and spread her lats.

"Bullshit. The best thing you can do is jump in the pool right now. Maybe the
water's cold enough to shrink that boner that's about to spill over your
trunks. God, you must be hung like a horse. I'll go first and everybody will
be watching me, so you can dive in before anyone notices that hog. Let's go."
She barked the final command in a voice that brooked no hesitation on his
part, so he was just two steps behind as Sally raced across the narrow deck
and dove smoothly into the pool.

His own dive wasn't nearly so graceful, but he went deep and skimmed across
the bottom for several yards before surfacing to blink around the pool looking
for Sally. "I knew it." He felt himself catapulted out of the water as Sally
exploded from underneath him, one hand clenching his butt while the other
gently cupped his genitals. She held him chest high when she stood up, gave
his balls a little evaluating massage while her hand was still out of sight
below the water, then launched him upward three feet into the air. "A regular
Seabiscuit where the ladies are concerned. Or where they should be concerned."

Nelson splashed noisily back into the water. He swallowed a mouthful and began
sputtering and choking. Sally gripped his arm and held him steady while he
cleared his lungs, then she slipped onto his back and twined her long legs
around his middle. "Okay, stud-horse, take me for a ride," she muttered into
his ear as she wrapped her thick arms around to begin feeling his thin chest.
She thrust powerfully against his lower back. "Giddy up."

Under the goad of her pelvic thrusts and exploring hands Nelson began
playfully to gallop about in the pool. He headed toward the shallows before
realizing that if Sally's bulk was out of the water it would take every bit of
his strength to carry her, if he was able to manage that. He returned to
deeper water and played at trying to buck her off, thrilling as her powerful
arms and legs clung to him without crushing the life from him as he suspected
they could easily do. When the water got neck deep Sally abruptly reared back,
pulling him under. After a little mock wrestling beneath the surface Nelson
realized she was inviting him to climb onto her broad back as she began
swimming. He contented himself with holding her shoulders rather than explore
further, and was thrilled at their churning power as she moved.

After a lap Sally walked to the shallow end, Nelson firmly on her back, and
climbed the four stairs onto the deck. "You're such a gentleman. If it's what
turns you on, go ahead and hold my biceps now. I'll put the load on them so
they can give you a thrill." When he moved his hands from the wide shoulders
to the granite bulges of her biceps, Nelson felt himself melt limply against
Sally's back as she carried him back into the hotel and up to the room,
pausing at the front desk only long enough to order lunch for two to be sent
up.

Back in the room Nelson self-consciously put his shirt back on while Sally
remained breathtaking in her bikini. To give himself something to do besides
staring at her and stammering uncontrollably should she ask him a question, he
lined up two glasses and twirled the champagne bottle in the ice bucket. A
knock on the door interrupted him. He opened the door expecting the lunch
Sally had ordered, but was surprised when a burly man in the uniform of the
cruise line pushed past him along with the room service waiter. While Nelson
paid the porter, the newcomer squared off in front of Sally who rushed in from
the small terrace where she had been watching Nelson's preparations.

"Now I've got you! I got a tip you were here. I guess someone else wants you
gone from the ship as bad as I do – they even told me what room number I'd
find you in. Fraternizing with the passengers can get you fired and I'm going
to see you are." He had a heavy paunch overlapping his beltline and seemed to
have had a hard time properly shaving himself.

"McGee, you are the sorriest excuse for a sailor I've ever seen. You're a
slob, you're lazy, and you're too stupid to figure out which end of a mop goes
in the bucket and which goes up your ass. I'm off duty and don't have to take
any orders from you. Fraternizing only applies on board. On shore I can do any
damn thing I want with anyone I want."

"We'll see about that. I sent word back to the ship that you were fraternizing
with a passenger against regulations. The captain is going to be very
interested in what kind of games the two of you are playing. He should be here
in about five minutes so we can all just sit down nice and cozy while we wait.
Only two glasses? I guess one of you won't be having any champagne." He
started to pull the bottle from the ice bucket but Sally's hand clamped onto
his wrist, stopping its movement and cutting off its blood supply.

McGee stared at the crushing grip in disbelief. "You miserable dyke, how dare
you put your hands on me!" He tried to jerk his hand away, but found it was
held in a vise. Sally increased the pressure, her knuckles turning white from
the effort.

"That's right, genius. Everyone knows what a miserable dyke I am, so nobody's
going to fall for your story of me fraternizing with this passenger. Mr.
Cavendish met me on the street and asked me to check his plumbing in the hotel
here. I'm just extending a little additional customer service, isn't that
right Mr. Cavendish."

"Why, yes, of course, whatever else could you have possibly been thinking. I
have a good mind to complain to the captain about your behavior, my good man."
Somehow Nelson found the words tumbling from his mouth even as he tried to
make sense of the conversation.

With a roar McGee swung his free hand at Sally's head, just as she had been
expecting. She released his wrist, ducked beneath the lumbering fist, and
WHAM! Sally struck fast and hard, McGee's chin distorting from the force of
her blow. His eyes rolled back in his head and he crashed to the floor at her
feet. Shaking her hand Sally glanced quickly around the room, her eyes
lighting on the closet door. "Help me get him in here. He probably did call
the captain so we don't have much time. You go inside with him, Nelson, and we
better hide lunch in there as well. Now I'll put a few more clothes on and as
long as Sleeping Beauty here stays quiet we ought to be able to make this all
work out." She closed the closet door, but Nelson was able to get a partial
view of the room through louvered slats in the door.

Another knock on the door came just as Sally finished buttoning up her shirt.
Peering between the slats in the closet door, Nelson recognized the grizzled
figure of the ship's captain being ushered inside. "What are you doing here?
And where's McGee?" he rasped at Sally.

"All I know is I was told to come here, to his room. Seems pretty fancy for a
ship's division head, but I don't see him. I was wondering if he wanted to
talk about turning in his resignation to the Chief of Engineering, like I told
him and you both that he ought to." Sally motioned for the captain to sit on
the sofa out of Nelson's view.

"Here's the deal, Captain Caruthers. You have my report on all the
deficiencies in the Maintenance Department of your ship. They've been going on
for years and the damn scow can't float forever in that shape. No offense to
your ship. And you have the follow-up you asked for with recommendations for
putting things back together, shuffling the crew assignments to stay on top of
routine problems while catching up on all the deferred shit that's been piling
up. And I told you I can handle any crew complaints if you promote me to head
of Maintenance. Say the word and I'll get started by 1700 dunging out those
kitchen connections that are held together with spit and prayer. I know Cookie
told you he'd quit at the next port if he couldn't count on his kitchens any
better than now. What do you say?"

"I say you're damned impudent. I've sailed with McGee for eight years. And you
want me to just push him aside and let you take over? Yeah, I read what you
wrote, and I'm sure it isn't as bad as you say. I think you're just a women's
libber who thinks she can step over a man and take his job. Now, I am a
reasonable man. I'm willing to negotiate. Let me just slip out of this jacket
and get comfortable. I never realized what a pretty girl you are. Why don't
you come over and sit by me and we can talk about maybe giving you a raise
without all this fuss."

Nelson could hear Sally cross the room and her shorts sliding onto a seat
cushion. "Whoa, you getting your hand all comfy on my tit? Slow down or we'll
really talk about fuss. We're sailing without McGee. I have a feeling he won't
be making it back by 2400. You're going to have an opening anyway and you got
nobody besides me who can get the job done."

"You have this all figured out, huh? Pretty sure of yourself, aren't you. Why
would I think a woman could handle a job like that?"

"Because I have been handling it as far as I've been able to keep McGee out of
my way. God knows he hasn't handled anything, and you can ask anyone about
that including the Chief." Nelson heard her rise again and walk across the
room. "The thing is, Captain Caruthers, you got a problem because of your
interconnecting fiduciary responsibilities. The ship owners trust you to keep
it afloat, and the half-assed way the whole engineering department and
maintenance in particular operate you're about to drop that ball. And they
expect you to run things efficiently enough that the barge brings in more
money than it costs to operate. The longer it's left to flounder like it is,
the tougher that gets. And then you owe the passengers a safe, enjoyable time
while they're aboard. The way I've had to work my ass off fixing things that
should never have been allowed to break tells me you're about to wave goodbye
to that. Schmoozing the passengers during the cruise and bullshitting the
owners when we're in home port doesn't take the place of an occasional visit
below decks to see what a fucked up mess you're hiding down there."

"Now just a damned minute. I don't have to listen to this bull." Nelson heard
the captain jump to his feet. "So what if you got the book smarts to write a
report that makes McGee look bad. That makes me look bad, for that matter. But
Maintenance needs a strong hand to run it. I know. That's where I started, and
I don't think there's a woman anywhere who can handle it."

In the dimly lighted closet Nelson felt McGee stir at his feet. He could make
out the puzzled expression on the sailor's face as he regained his senses and
tried to figure out where he was and what had happened to him. The moment he
opened his mouth to shout, Nelson placed his foot directly on the bigger man's
balls and leaned a bit of his weight on it. He put a finger to his lips as a
warning for McGee to remain silent, and was pleased to see him settle back
down with a worried expression on his face. Nelson had never before managed to
intimidate anyone, except by his intelligence and managing massive amounts of
financial data. He tapped his foot on McGee's balls and gave him an
encouraging nod.

"A strong hand? Okay, if it'll help you make up your mind we can arm wrestle
for it. If I win and McGee misses cast-off, I get the job. You win and I'll
shut up about it. But you better hope I win because you really don't have
anyone else who can do the job." Sally led the captain back into Nelson's
view, to the table near the glass door leading onto the terrace. She
positioned herself with her back toward the closet, her elbow down and palm
poised to accept Captain Caruthers' for their contest. "We go on three. One,
two, three." Following the command Nelson couldn't see anything happening. The
two arms remained in exactly the same positions. A moment later he heard a
deep gasp of effort from the captain and realized the man's face had turned
beet red.

Sally's voice sounded calm and pleasant. "Go ahead, feel that arm. Just the
arm you'd expect for a sailor and the new head of Maintenance, isn't it."
Caruthers put his hand on top of the bulging sleeve and his look of disbelief
increased. He looked from her arm to her face and gave a new surge of effort
that carried Sally halfway to the tabletop. "Okay, that's about what I thought
you had in you. Not bad for an old guy." She spoke matter-of-factly as his
breaths turned to gasps and wheezes. "Let's get this over with."

Quickly and smoothly Sally powered their arms back up and then slammed him
down. "Good job!" Nelson saw her hand over a piece of paper, which Caruthers
quickly looked over before signing with a pen Sally produced. "Thank you. God,
exercise gets me horny. You were so interested in my tits a moment ago, how
about a closer look? I think the first step should be shaving my chest. I'll
lather it up and let you do the shaving. Won't that be a thrill? We can do my
back, too, but we'd probably need a new blade by then." She sounded so coy as
she said this to the captain. Puzzled, Nelson strained to see more through the
louvers as Sally led the way back out of his range of view.

"Shave your chest? What the hell do you mean?" Caruthers sounded even more
confused. He came back into view, walking backward with Sally following.

"Well, I haven't had my final treatments and the fur grows so fast I have to
shave at least once a week if I don't want to look like an ape in bed. But
we'll take care of that in a jiffy and get down to business. I'll sure be glad
when I can get my surgery and not worry about any of this unnatural stuff. You
didn't think I'd let you feel me up if these were real tits, just as a way to
get you to sign my letter of promotion did you?"

"Surgery? Treatments? Do you mean to say you aren't a woman?" He was
sputtering and stammering and backed against the closet door with a crash that
made Nelson jump.

"Captain, I'm more man than you'll ever be, and more woman than you can
handle. Here, I'll show you."

"No, by God! I might have given you the job for now, if McGee fails to show
up. And if you do well enough I might let you keep it as a gift. But you just
keep be sure to behave like a professional at all times." He roughly pushed by
Sally and raced out the door.

Sally chuckled when the door had closed behind the captain, tapping the folded
paper in her hand. "Yeah, you dumb shit, you give me that chance out of the
kindness of your heart. In two years I'll take your job and then we can talk
about how much more of a man I am than you. They always fall for that story."

She jerked opened the closet doors. "Rise and shine, campers. The coast is
clear. Good job, Nelson. I didn't figure you'd have any trouble handling this
tub of guts. Out you come, McGee. I guess you heard you're out of a job."

"Like hell I am. You heard the captain. We're old shipmates. Once I get on
board I'll have you in irons so fast it'll make your head spin." McGee heaved
his bulk out of the closet and up to his feet. Keeping a careful distance he
shook a fat finger at Sally. "You're gonna be sorry you ever laid eyes on me."

"God, I was sorry about that the first day I came aboard. You still don't get
it. You aren't getting back to the ship tonight. Maybe you can radio tomorrow
and tell Caruthers how I mistreated you, but that'd be a waste of time. We'll
be gone, I'll have shown the Chief of Engineering how Maintenance should have
run all along, and the only berth left for you will be scraping paint. Get
used to it." She planted herself solidly in front of him, fists on her hips
and chin jutting forward as she spat the words at him.

McGee started to sputter in protest, then lunged at her with his hands poised
to grab her throat and strangle the life from his tormentor. Sally didn't
flinch at his charge and instead lurched herself forward, knocking his
grasping hands aside. The two bodies slammed violently together. McGee
recoiled from the impact but Sally seized him around the middle, trapping both
his arms in the bear hug she clamped around him. "Temper, temper McGee." A
pained grunt escaped the sailor as Sally ratcheted up the pressure around his
ribcage. Nelson suppressed his own agonized moan seeing the muscles in her
arms and shoulders bulging from the effort. Her shirt was stretched tight
across her shoulders and the magnificent ass Nelson had admired all morning
was now straining the fabric of her shorts as Sally's legs bulged to lift
McGee's bulk off the floor.

Bracing herself, Sally began shaking McGee side to side as she continued to
apply crushing pressure around his middle. When a weak gasp of pain escaped
him, she dropped him in a heap. Poised over McGee with her broad shoulders
thrown back from her prominent chest, her arms and legs glowing from the
effort of overpowering the larger sailor, the Amazon's physique left Nelson
paralyzed.

McGee started to rise slowly from the floor, gasping for air and rubbing his
aching ribs. Suddenly he lurched forward, cocking a meaty fist he meant to
smash into the smug face of his tormentor. "That's it, loser, give me an
excuse to really finish you off. Good night you pathetic wimp." Sally blocked
McGee's fist at the moment it started traveling forward. While holding it with
her left hand, she drove her right repeatedly into the man's soft midsection.
He gasped at each blow and started to settle back toward the floor. "Not quite
finished yet," Sally told him between her clenched teeth. WHAM! WHAM!
Thunderous fists crashed against his face and McGee fell forward, unconscious
on the floor again.

"That will hold him for a while, but help me haul him into your bathtub and
tie him up. I want to be sure he's here all night. We'll arrange for the
cleaning staff to find him in the morning." She stooped to grasp McGee's
unconscious form around the chest and heave him upward while Nelson struggled
to carry his legs. They deposited him in the bathtub where Sally expertly tied
his hands and feet, then finished by gagging his mouth with his handkerchief.
While digging that out of his back pocket she found the big man's wallet which
she scrutinized before tucking into her own pocket. The job finished she led
Nelson back into the main room.

"Okay, Nelson. Change of plans. I thought I had more time, but I gotta get
back early. It's 1400 now and I'm taking over Maintenance at 1600. That'll
give me time to start shaping up my crew, kick their butts so they get an idea
of how hard they'll be working the rest of the cruise, and still get cast-off
started on time."

Nelson's heart sank. "It's all been a set-up, a waste. You had me register in
McGee's name and then you tipped him off knowing he'd come looking for you."
The expense of the room, the champagne – all of it a stupid fantasy. The
Amazon of his dreams had used him and was about to rush away and leave him to
clean up the mess in his bathroom. He hung his head and fought to keep from
crying.

"Yeah, I know, my timing was off." Sally reached out and rubbed her hand on
his cheek. "It's my fault we only have two hours left so here's how we'll use
them. The first time will be easy. I bet I can get you hard if I so much as
wink at you. The second time will be tougher. For that you better have some
fun playing with my tits or rubbing my butt – whatever works for you. I'll
take care of your third round if I have to flex every muscle in my body for
you. But first a toast." She reached into the closet and plucked out the
champagne bottle. "Come on, let's get the show started. Put your hands on my
forearms while I open this thing. That's it – I figured feeling just those
muscles would raise your mainsail." She jerked the cork from the bottle with a
resounding pop. "Here's to keeping accounts straight."

Two hours passed much as Sally had described them. Nelson's wits began
returning when he felt Sally lifting his sweat-slickened body off hers and
carefully depositing him on the bed next to her. "Christ, stud-horse. I swear
your third time was the best. You do know how to show a girl a good time." She
rose from the bed and stretched her magnificent naked body, then flexed her
arms and legs one at a time. Nelson moaned as he watched, trying to will his
body to move but found himself too spent even to reach a hand toward the thigh
bulging next to the bed.

Sally began moving briskly around the room, finding clothes and going through
the wallet she had taken from McGee's pocket. "We're just about done, Nelson.
Here's McGee's credit card. Take it to the desk when you leave and charge the
room on it so you don't end up paying for any of this. Add tonight's bill onto
the tab, because he's going to be sleeping here. Might as well leave the card
at the desk for him to pick up when he checks out tomorrow. I'll call a cab to
pick you up in an hour. In your condition I don't trust you to find your own
way back to the ship. Once I'm back on board I'm going to be too busy to see
you, even when you ship out, so this is goodbye. I took the liberty of
suggesting one of the passengers, an English woman named Diana, sit with you
for dinner tomorrow. You probably haven't run into her because she's been too
busy fighting with her roommate to meet very many people. You'll like her.
She's a little younger than you and she can probably benchpress us both, but
she's fascinated by business and economics. Whisper the right sweet nothing in
her ear and she'll carry you back to your cabin under one arm and keep you
there until it's time for you to go disembark."

Sally lifted Nelson halfway off the mattress where she gave him a crushing
kiss and a final powerful hug. "Now, here's the last order I'm going to give
you. When you get home, start looking for a woman in the health clubs. There's
got to be a nice gal in your town covering up her shyness by pumping serious
iron. You're a sweet guy and you'll be able to talk her out of her sweatpants
in no time. You both deserve it, and you'll probably get yourself in better
shape along the way."