Chapter 1
Structural engineer Fred Marshall arrived at his home in Mosman, Lower North Shore, 8 km northeast of Sydney's central business district, and found his attractive wife Lisa, a hospital theatre nurse, in the bathroom doing her nails.
Lisa, sitting nude in front of the vanity looked into the mirror and thought sadly that her man was becoming a fat beer-guzzling pig. She'd tried over the years unsuccessfully to persuade him to switch to red wine but his pathetic excuse was all his mates drank beer.
She was showered after her late-afternoon session at the fitness centre and assumed Fred would grab a breast and suck it, but no, he stood off and puffed up as if he was about to speak to the nation.
"Lisa, wonderful news."
Omigod, he's decided to wean himself off beer and bar counter rubbish food, she thought gleefully. As a reward, she'd give him a rollickingly good time in bed that night. Being a conservative engineer, he preferred having sex in the dark and in bed. In contrast, like most women of her ilk, whatever that was, she enjoyed sex wherever, whenever and with whoever, err within reason but had been reasonably successful in reducing such licentious behaviour in recent years.
"Are you listening?" he demanded.
"Yes dear," she said, stifling a yawn, still thinking of that young teenage boy she'd prepared for the removal of his shattered leg above the knee that morning. She remembered what her son Rex was like at that age of fourteen when he thought of the great world of sport that lay ahead of him, Regrettably, he'd lost that dream at seventeen when he was jailed for three years for being part of a small gang that stole cars to go joy-riding and feel the adrenalin rush of being chased by the cops. Bloody fool.
"I was called to the Board Room an hour ago," Fred said almost breathlessly.
Lisa's interest shot up ten notches with the thought that her husband had been made an executive director.
"I've been..."
He checked that he had his wife's complete attention. Yep, she was staring at him unblinkingly
"I've been appointed chief supervising engineer of repairs to a major bridge in Darwin. I've never been to Darwin."
Darwin? Fucking marvellous, Lisa enthused. The heat up there could melt most of his surplus weight away.
"That's marvellous darling," said she, and turning in the swivel chair opened wide and cooed, "Come and sate yourself in your reward, you good boy."
Excited Fred eyed the hairless fat vulva. Although it wasn't being offered in bed with the light off, this was special. He knew he only had to tweak a nipple and his wife would begin lubricating on auto. His mates couldn't believe him when he boasted that sex was almost on offer 24/7 at home.
Unbuttoning his business shirt, he moved over to be claimed by his wife's arms already held high to ensnare him.
Lisa was soaping herself in the shower and called to Fred who was stretched out on the make-up chair and patting his expanding belly in satisfaction, still panting a little.
"When do you leave for Darwin?"
"I need to be there on the 28th of this month to supervise the start of removal of two piers for replacement. The decking on both sides will be fully supported and braced by then."
Lisa screamed, "But the 28th is the day we are booked to leave Sydney on that luxury cruise to Perth via Melbourne and Adelaide."
Fred scratching his balls, said, "Oh that. We'll have to cancel and go some other time."
"But we took the non-refundable option to save heaps with payment three months in advance, and I had to arrange my leave two months in advance as well."
"Sorry babe, professionalism wins. I'm committed to Darwin. You go and take someone. You can't stand your mother or mine for long periods but you could take a girlfriend and she may even offer to pay for part of her ticket."
"I need to think about it before contacting the booking agent," Lisa whined, feeling devastated.
Two nights later in bed, with no action appearing likely from her husband, Lisa said to Fred, "I've decided to upgrade to a two-bedroom suite on the cruise and take Rex. He's only finding temporary jobs at present and having only me to talk with. On the ship, unless he manages to relate to older men and women, he'll probably be under my influence for most of the voyage. At 20, he'll probably be the youngest person by some years on board as that cruise is too expensive and too under-challenging for families."
"That's okay by me. What does he say?"
"Nothing yet, I want you to go to him now and suggest that I go on the cruise on your ticket and that he'd have his own cabin in the suite. And tell him bluntly he's not to spy on me and if he attempts to lay a finger on me..."
"Yeah, I'll warn him I'll have his balls for breakfast."
"Thanks darling, should we..."
"I'm a bit tired, but I'll finger you off."
"Thanks, darling."
* * *
"Fuck mum, that ocean liner is a real beauty," Rex said with more interest than usual these days.
Lisa didn't mind him using the f-word in everyday language. Well, it's not the same as shouting fuck you mum. She would not accept him saying that.
The upgraded suite wowed them both.
Rex went into his smaller bedroom and shouted, "Mum, I've got a double bed, too. Would you mind if I arrived with a babe to sleep with?"
"You'd have to find one, darling. You have my approval but be warned, the average age of passengers on this ship appears to be about sixty and the cabin crew don't look under forty-five from what I've seen."
"Some of the females in one of the restaurants I saw appear to be under thirty but anyway mum, none of them appeared to be more attractive than you. Perhaps I should..."
Lisa interrupted that crap by cutting in and saying, "Lay a finger on me, Rex, and I'll bite your bum."
"Bring it on, mum," he chuckled and Lisa had to turn away suddenly because she was flushing and felt butterflies in her belly.
Christ, she thought. They hadn't even begun to unpack and here she was thinking about allowing her son to have sex with her.
Rex was still in his room.
"Unpack and keep your cabin tidy at all times, Rex."
"I'll be a really good boy, mother," he said, coming up behind her and placing an arm around her belly to agitate the butterflies and kissing behind her ear with the expertise of a gigolo.
To her dismay, Lisa realized she'd stupidly pushed her butt against his dick. She tensed, hoping he'd not noticed her reflex action.
"You're the girl," he whispered into her ear and released her.
Lisa opened one of her three travel bags to unpack thinking what the fuck had Rex meant in saying she was the girl. After a brief pause, she groaned silently: The slimy bugger, he was building up to hit on her and they had not even set sail yet.
Two hours later they were well underway, having passed through the harbour heads (headlands) and Rex was away exploring.
Fred called.
"Hi baby, you'll be at sea by now."
"Yeah, about 30 minutes beyond the heads. You would love being here. How's it for you?"
