Chapter 7: Empire Day Dance

The annual Empire Day party was in full swing. I had to keep it together because Merritt looked stunning, and pulling her into my cabin was all that was on my mind. However, Merritt wanted her chance to show me off to her sophisticated and influential friends and I didn't want to ruin her fun. The nightclub was packed. As we worked into the crowd, the heat seemed to creep up and up as there were so many bodies in such small space. Merritt wrestled with her dress, trying to keep her small bosom inside; the halter-top style fabric wasn't intended to be jostled so much.

A fair number of women in dresses were wearing their family pendant set in their hair and dangling on their forehead. A common tradition for single women that attend a formal, it both denoted they were unattached and expressed their family heritage, whereas Merritt's family pendant adorned a place in her cleavage indicating she was in a committed relationship. When I picked her up at the door of her cabin and saw the Winslow crest between her breasts, my passion flared when she presented herself to me. All I could feel was "You're mine," with thoughts of her having my Wolf pendant hanging around her neck.

The men in the room wore impeccable dress uniforms. A few women who didn't go for fancy dresses were also in their dress uniforms. Merritt ran across a few friends and introduced me in passing. I followed the script of a firm handshake and a polite hello. If we stopped to talk, Merritt wanted me to relax and turn on the charm. She had a mission, work the crowd and be seen with me, dance and relax with friends. I understand events like this were particularly important to women, so I didn't mind tagging along, just letting the evening happen.

I found it a mystery how some women, like Merritt, chose to wear exquisite gowns, artistic creations designed to accentuate important features, and other women chose fine dress uniforms, looking just as lovely, even regal. Perhaps it was just my own taste in women. A woman's neckline revealing deep cleavage is alluring and pleasing to the male eye, yet there were intangible rewards from a woman in uniform too. The dignified, honorable nature of service to others identified with values that I respected and felt passionate about. I could enjoy the company of both types of women and very much see their independent appeal.

Merritt ended a discussion with a girlfriend I had tuned out, and she took us to the dance floor. For the next hour we danced almost non-stop. It seemed we moved around in endless circles with a train of people on our heels. I wasn't as polished a dancer as Merritt but I was smooth enough not to be laughed off the dance floor. Merritt acknowledged my weakness while appreciating my willingness to stick with the dance sets. The sheen on her face mirrored mine. The constant whirling and spinning around during our dances had soaked us with perspiration.

"I have to use the ladies room," Merritt said. Her tone indicated some urgency.

"Me, too," I croaked.

She laughed at me. "Better not follow me in. The refresher is full of horny women It would be dangerous."

I threw up my hands and felt an added flush in my cheeks.

"Right. I'll be using the men's room," I said, trying to humor her dry comment.

Merritt laughed again, her eyes saying I'm almost too easy to tease. She leaned over giving me a kiss and then steamrolled through the crowd.

After completing our business, she escorted me away from the facilities and away from several ebony women who had me trapped by the wall. I enjoyed their attention, even though I felt like a sweaty mess.

"They were just being friendly," I said, as Merritt pulled me by my arm back to the table area.

"Hi Ulla," Merritt squeezed out, sounding like a giddy schoolgirl.

I felt my Adam's apple swallow the big lump in my throat, my senses went on alert at the lieutenant's cat-like approach.

Merritt clapped her caramel hands once, excitedly. "Yesterday you said you weren't coming to the formal. I am so pleased you changed your mind. You may have a couple of dances with my date if you haven't latched onto a partner already."

"You seem to know everyone, Merritt," I said.

"Not true. It's just Ulla and I went on double dates a few times," Merritt commented. "Well, the truth is it was more like mutual companions."

Something passed between the women. It was clear to me something wasn't being said about the dates. In the moment, the security officer looked over my ensign uniform as I looked over her dress uniform, too. Her chest was full of brass, various awards and service medals from her Fleet days. A combat unit citation, two ship-boarding awards with bravery leafs, and a few purple hearts pinned my attention to her right breast.

Merritt mischievously said, "See something you like?"

Seeing my cheeks burn red, both women burst out laughing, and then they high-fived in celebration. Their slapping palms made my back straighten with indignation. It didn't seem the type of behavior expected at a formal.

"Don't be a stiff-neck, Von," Merritt chided, linking her arm to mine. "Ulla is harmless. She doesn't like these formal settings either."

"Formal dances aren't my type of social setting," the Lieutenant said.

"Harmless doesn't describe Ulla," I mumbled.

The lieutenant laughed and did a slight bow at the waist. Merritt looked at me, searching for something.

I sighed. "She beat me up in the gym this morning."

Merritt turned her head back to Ulla, but before my date spoke, the lieutenant said, "Actually, he beat me on the mat today."

"You beat me," I interjected, "and I have the bruises to prove it."

"Me too," Ulla quipped, putting her hand to her heart. "We'd have to go somewhere private for me to reveal it."

Merritt's head bounced back and forth between us, her face filled with a broad grin.

"So, do you have a date or companion tonight?" Merritt asked.

"No, my dance card is open," Ulla answered with a sparkle in her eye.

Merritt moved close to Ulla, wrapping her arms around the woman like she was a long-lost friend. Pressing her lips to Ulla's ear Merritt whispered as the music score spiked, depriving me from hearing their hushed discussion. Whatever Merritt ended up saying gave Ulla a shiver, and I was sure it wasn't the last tooting of the trumpets. The crowd politely clapped as the music ended.

"Well, it's settled. My date will escort you out onto the floor for the next two dances," Merritt announced, putting both of her hands around the lieutenant's hand.

Another waltz started and the lieutenant immediately seized my hand, gliding us into the stream of uniforms and party dresses on the floor. It was an elegant song, perhaps my favorite of the genre, which helped relax me. Ulla kept a respectable distance and smiled at all the couples as they danced around us. By the end of the long song my palms were sweaty and my concerns returned.

"Just one more song," I thought.

They announced the lowering of the lights and the first "sweet heart's" song of the next set. I sighed internally at what Merritt had pushed me into.

"I promise not to punish you for pulling me in inappropriately close," Ulla whispered into my ear as she wrapped her arm tightly around my lower back.

Seeing no escape from the intimate dance, I molded her to my body as if she were Merritt. The dance was pleasant and it would be a lie to deny I didn't enjoy her closeness and the fragrant scent of her perfume. Cheek to cheek, we moved in a simple box-step pattern on a small portion of the dance floor. She tentatively kissed my neck a few times.

"I haven't been attracted to men since my first husband," she murmured between the kisses. "Yet you fill up my senses in a wonderful way."

"First husband?" I asked, as her hand dropped to my bottom.

"He was an abusive, marine asshole who thankfully got himself killed six years ago," Ulla responded, nestled as close as humanly possible. "The best solution for a man like him. He got his moment of glory and I got his pension."

"I guess then I shouldn't give you my condolences," I said, without thinking as her mouth captured mine.

I sighed through her kiss, probably making her think it was a sound of approval. Yet it was the sight of Merritt waving at me through Ulla's kiss that cause the resignation to escape my mouth.

"Merritt saw us kissing," I groaned.

"Don't worry she said kissing was allowed in our whispered conversation," Ulla responded.

"She did?" I asked.

"Kissing up to and including having your babies," Ulla giggled. "She is a real jokester. Maybe it's her way of saying how easy it is to enjoy your company. You arouse the deepest feelings in a woman."

She kissed my lips again and lingered there, latched on to my lower lip. Caught off guard, I didn't resist or pull away, which caused a round of exploratory kisses from Ulla. She was gentle but not tentative, kissing me in various ways before adding her tongue for a more passionate commitment of emotion. The close dancing, pressing chest, and active kissing, fired me up and I gave her a hardening signal of affection as blood rushed to my penis.

"I knew it was you this morning," Ulla announced. "After the wheel dance last night, I floated back to my cabin with your kiss still on my lips. Today, you pinned me to the mat and there was that distinctive male smell again. What an attractive scent you have, Von. Tonight, your kisses and scent melted me like a stick of butter."

"No words are getting you out of this," I thought, looking into Merritt's grinning eyes on the edge of the dance floor.

Like a restless virus finding a home to propagate, I knew this woman would relentlessly pursue me. My nanomites were swimming in her now. My scent attracted her, and more importantly, Merritt would construct opportunities for the lieutenant now that she knew. Ulla's restlessness would weaken any resolve I pretended to assert, so I decided to make a tactical retreat, using the only weapons at hand.

I pressed my hard lump against her groin and bent my back, lifting the lieutenant off the floor over my frame as I crushed my lips against her mouth. Using my arms, I lifted her up my body, making her feel my erection while sucking the life out of her lips. She moaned loudly, in a rather unladylike manner. After a long couple of moments, I rested her back on her feet. She wavered stunned, mouth open and eyes glossed over.

I ran to Merritt and led her into the depths of the crowd, towards the bar.

Once we were past a few shocked faces, I said, "Hope you aren't mad at my public display of affection."

"I'm not mad, Von. You launched a missile into the stratosphere of female gossip. I can't wait for the video calls and e-mail messages to hit my PDA. Oh, I see someone we need to say hello to," she answered, not at all concerned with my hasty retreat from Ulla.

We walked within a few feet of the captain and Dr. Cina. I did a double take at the couple. She was talking to an older man in an engineering uniform, next to the captain. It finally occurred to me that the doctor must be a native of Atwood, her unguarded accent seemed to flare; it was a dialect accent that pronounced nearly all the words according to dictionary standards—very crisply. Tonight her black hair was heavily layered, a pageboy hairstyle that my mother would consider short; however, it was a touch longer than Fleet standard regulation. She was a fine looking woman. Merritt didn't let me stop to chat, she pulled me in a particular direction.

She stopped us at a small, round table, added to the room for the occasion. "Hello, Bryant."

"Boorman," I thought. "The jerk from the gym and his girlfriend."

Merritt held out her small hand in greeting. Bryant replied in a bland, almost irritated, greeting. He introduced Nora, his female companion, who was in an engineering dress-uniform. Neither of them were particularly warm to us, which didn't surprise me from how things went in the gym. I didn't understand why Merritt bothered with them.

Merritt said, "See you around."

She took my arm formally, as if emphasizing I was her date. Merritt put on her auto-pilot smile and pushed us back into the crowd.

"What was that about?" I asked.

With a grin, she said, "He is a hot-shot pilot who has been chasing Kate and me, the entire cruise. He just won't stop. Now with a man on my arm, he should give up."

I didn't want to break it to her that such a high testosterone guy will just redouble his efforts at such an affront. The fact that she was on my arm would goad him even more.

We moved around more, holding brief chit-chats with her friends. The noise was such that we couldn't hold comfortable conversations for long. As the night crawled along, I caught the pilot looking at us. The dancing had restarted after a short speech by the captain, who extolled the virtue of the crew and the Empire. I murmured an excuse to visit the refresher, the alcohol was pressing on my bladder. Merritt thought it a fine idea and grabbed a set of girlfriends and marched away, too.

After the mandatory, mindless discussions, a moment alone in the refresher was a welcome respite. I liked being around people, but a throng of nameless people pressed my soul to discomfort. A few drinks weren't going to change my feelings on the subject. Reviewing Merritt's comments about the pilot chasing after Kate, reminded me about her unhappiness with me in the shuttle. The two events, while unrelated, made me uncomfortable about the idea of anyone else claiming Kate. Somehow I may accept the emotional comfort that her roommate satisfied; it fit with some of the relationships I saw on Haven. However, it truly displeased me to think about the pilot pressing Kate or Merritt for dates or worse.

I hung out at the bar, our established meeting place, and waited for my date. The music thrummed on in words and rhythms I'd not heard before. Eventually, Merritt sashayed up to the bar, pausing to greet new arrivals. She smiled and I could tell she was in her element. Her face lit up when she returned to me. She was intercepted a few feet away by the commander.

"Care to dance with me? I'd like the opportunity to discuss your sister," Price asked in a sickly sweet tone.

Merritt sighed. "This isn't the time or place to talk about Kate. Another time."

"As you wish," he answered, making for the exit.

The captain had already made his exit. A few jackets had already started disappearing from the shoulders around me. People were loosening up. Merritt took a sip of my drink, careful not to smudge her hot-red lipstick.

"He is such a jerk. He had no intention of dancing with me. That was just another power play. A game," Merritt vented.

"That is who he is," I commented. "I've seen his type before. It never ends well for them."

"I'd like to see that, when it happens," she pouted, slamming the rest of my drink down her throat.

I signaled the bartender for another drink.

"Trouble in paradise?" An attractive woman asked, her ample cleavage exposing even the edge of her nipples.

"Commander Price," Merritt spit out.

"Understandable then," she said, drifting away.

"Who was that?" I asked.

"A sensor tech who's been watching you," my date said. "I noticed you couldn't take your eyes off her cleavage."

I ducked my head when she moved her hand.

Merritt laughed at length, "A little jumpy? I don't care if you like her breasts. I've already talked up how wonderful you are in bed."

I choked on my new drink and then stumbled against someone waving at a female barkeep.

With an amused look, she continued, "Good friends share everything."

She locked her fingers in my hand and then led me to the dance floor. Her warmth disposed both my boredom and my new bubble of emotions about her talking me up to her friends. I wasn't sure if I was just reading the wrong thing into her brief commentary. For a moment, my mind turned to my last formal at school with Kate; I felt an involuntary pang of guilt about this situation. My fiancée enjoyed formals and she was confined to her last night in Medical. We were having fun and she wasn't.

Merritt's restless energy had me on the dance floor for the entire set. Her eyes turned stormy when the pilot glided by us with his date a couple of times. If Merritt was trying to make a "go away" impression, on him, it didn't work. If anything Merritt lit his eyes up in humor. The pilot whispered in his date's ear and they both laughed our way, making Merritt's hands tremble. She whisked us off the dance floor, cursing under her breath. The look on her face was priceless. Her teeth were gritted and violence flashed in her eyes.