The sun was definitely over the yardarm. Wish I'd felt as sunny as the day. Should have. After all, I was staring at Jack, bare-chested, with a look of delighted concentration on his face.

The problem? His concentration was not on me.

Instead, it was on a ship. And here we were, about to lower the anchor and moor off the first island we were visiting on the two-week cruising vacation we were making with the group of men and women we were playing a game with that involved open relationships, shared affection and impossible complications. Yet, inside this game, there were certain 'couplehoods' in which two individuals were committed to placing each other first among all others in the group with whom they might have enjoyed personal relationships. Jack and I had agreed that when we were with the big group, our priorities would remain each other -- it was the respect we owed what we had built between us into an abiding love. So I wanted his attention on that ... on us ... on me. I wanted us to be having a fun time together, doing things we could only do here in the Caribbean.

Was this to be a day of Jack and I scuba diving the reefs that made the island of Anegada a favored destination the world over for people like me who lived to slip into warm water and explore fish, coral and amazing shipwrecks?

No. It was not.

Because Jack was too busy concentrating on the fucking ship.

My view of Jack - and don't get me wrong, it was a lovely view - was as he was scampering through the rigging high above me. But I was not happy with him for he was refusing to go with me for the day. And my unhappiness showed - to everyone but Jack, apparently.

"What's up your bonnet today, doll?" Bud asked me in that Bud way of his as he and his special someone slid into chairs near me.

Darcy followed my gaze upwards. Her breath caught. Well, sure, why not? Darcy's no fool and she does have good taste in men. Look who she's with, after all. "Oh, Captain! My Captain!" she moaned out.

"Trite, but true. Unfortunately," I grumped.

So I told them. Rather than spend the day with me, enjoying the vacation, he was instead thrilled at the prospect of totally re-rigging the sailing on the ship so he could get just that much more lift in the sails.

"Jack will be Jack," Darcy said.

"Yeah, but that means I'm on my own. And I suspect I'm going to be on my own a whole lot more than is right on this damned cruise. He's having way too much fun sailing a big boat again. I've hardly spent any time alone with him," I sniffed.

"Come along with us then. We're going to Cow Wreck Bay to swim and sunbathe," Darcy said.

"I had wanted to go scuba diving. But, well, I wasn't really looking forward to going alone. Are you sure you wouldn't mind? I hate interfering in your private time."

"No problem. Uma and Terry are going with us, too, so it's not like we were going to be alone," she said.

"Oh. Well." We exchanged glances and both shifted in our chairs. A vision of just how much fun that would be for me flashed through my mind. The fifth wheel? Shook my head. "Actually, I'll probably head to the Settlement and hook up with a dive boat so I can go dive one of the wrecks."

I left them there, went and packed my gear and was just stepping into the little motorboat that Killick was going to use to take me to shore. And next thing I knew, Bud was climbing in the boat with me. He and Darcy had decided to sacrifice - let him come with me so I wouldn't be alone and she was going swimming with the others. I wouldn't hear of it and tried to push him back up the netting so he'd return to the ship.

"This is ridiculous. Darcy and you should not be apart today, Bud. Get your ass back aboard and ..."

"We have the whole cruise and besides, I was never one for just lazing at a beach. This sounds better."

"I may have to teach you the art of lazing at a beach, Bud. There's not much better."

Try as I might, there was no way Bud was budging from my side. It made me feel so nice. He and Darcy were too good to me. I decided, right then and there, that I needed to have fun that day to make their sacrifice worth it.

As I told Bud about the wreck I wanted to dive, I noticed him fidget a bit. "You do know how to dive, don't you, Bud?"

"Well. No."

"You have to be certified to dive in these waters. We can't do the wrecks then."

"Fuck, doll, I'm sorry. Looks like I've gone and screwed up your plans."

I shook my head. Grinned at him. "Nah. Maybe this is better. Maybe I can teach you about lazing at a beach. And we'll try to get each other into trouble. Like always."

We both started laughing. He gave me this huge wink and pretty soon we were just having a blast. Racing over soft blue water, dark reefs below us, the low white island before us. And an idea came to me. I told Killick to head around the east side of the island. Change in plans.

"Where you taking me, doll?" Bud whispered in my ear, his arm warm on my shoulder.

"My favorite beach bar. It's at Loblolly Bay. Perfect place to stir up some trouble."

"A bar, huh? They have a pool table?"

About thirty minutes later, Killick eased the boat to the shore and helped us both out. We trudged over sugar-fine sand and plopped out towels and other gear down. I stood and watched Killick sail off. He was supposed to come and get us in six hours. Figured that was about as long as I should keep Bud and Darcy separated.

Once we had our place on the sand established, we strolled up to Big Bamboo, this great airy place that was mostly a bar but also served lunches and dinners. The cement floor was cool after the heat of the sand. Fans whirred overhead and the palmetto-frond roof turned the soft filtered lighting inside to a warm orange glow. We got Red Stripe beers and stood at the open side of the bar that faced the ocean. It was a feast for the eyes. The perfect blue-green of the water, the aqua of the sky and the near whiteness of the sand.

We made a deal, Bud and I. He'd come snorkeling with me and every half hour or so, I had to buy him a drink. However, after the third beer, you can just imagine how much either of us felt like swimming.

Instead, we were nestled together in a hammock under the cool shade of giant sea grape trees and slowly swinging back and forth. I started giggling all of a sudden and he kept nudging me to tell him what was making me laugh. Finally, I said, "You told the other Sisters that I can hold my liquor better than most men you know."

"It's true," he said. "I figure it's all the practice you got drinking in that party town of yours."

"I thought it was funny, what you said, because I always thought I was a cheap drunk. Few drinks and I'm pretty easy to talk into doing naughty things," I said.

He put his hand up in the air and motioned Diane over to us. We'd gotten to be pretty good friends with Diane, who was the waitress, since we were about the only customers. She knew what that signal meant and on came some more Red Stripes.

I really didn't feel drunk. I think it's because it was so hot, and I was sweating, and it just seemed like the cold beer was the absolute best way to replenish my fluids. Sure, sure. But obviously, I was at least tipsy.

After a while, everything we saw or talked about seemed hilarious to us. Including when Diane came and told us they were preparing some barbequed lobster and would we like any for lunch. We should have known that if we found the idea of barbequed lobster to be as funny as we did, that the combination of sun and booze was having a field day with us.

Instead, we stumbled to one of the tables inside the bar. First came conch fritters. Oh, food of the gods. Then came conch serviche. Bud liked it a whole lot until I told him the conch was raw. But, hey, more serviche for me and something else to make me die laughing - the look on his face as he watched me eat it. I started making this obscene, sexually suggestive show of eating the food.

When the lobster got there, Bud decided to give me a taste of my own medicine. He dug his big fingers into the lobster, which had been simply sliced lengthways down the body and was served in the shell. He dipped the succulent white meat into a dish of purified butter. Let the butter drip into his mouth just before he sucked the meat into his mouth. Moaning like he was about to come. Using his tongue to stroke lazily along his lips to try to capture some of the butter that smeared about his mouth.

Well, I couldn't let him do that unanswered, could I?

Of course not.

I went to sit with him on the bench on his side of the table. Showed him how good my tongue and fingers were as serving as his napkins.

Suddenly we heard this loud "excuse me" and we both looked up to find Diane. She was not happy with us.

"There are families present," she said.

We looked around. There were two families in there with little kids.

It cracked me up. It embarrassed Bud.

He sobered up and promised we'd behave. He made me go sit on the other bench. Which I did. But I proceeded to eat my lobster even more obscenely than he did. Especially if you consider that I had my bare feet in his crotch. He didn't complain. He just moaned every so often.

We got kicked out of Big Bamboo about twenty minutes later. Bud couldn't walk and it wasn't because he was drunk. I had to find the last semblance of my sobriety to walk down to the beach and gather our things.

We were sitting at the side of the road on a small wooden bench and waiting for the taxi that Diane had called for us. We were bored. We were sobering up before we wanted.

"Surely there's some other trouble we can cause, Bud. Think."

He grabbed my hand and pulled it to his crotch. Tossed a beach towel over his lap to hide it. Smiled at me as I snuck my hand under his swimsuit.

Unfortunately, the taxi showed up before this went anyplace good enough. As the taxi drove around the island, Bud and I were in that curious contemplating-sex-in-the-sand place. Hot. Tipsy. And up to dare each other to other hijincks.

We ended up at the Anegada Reef Hotel, which was about the only real social gathering point for the islands residents and longer-term visitors.

We should have taken a room. Instead we took seats at the bar. We were still building up to it and we knew it. About an hour after we got there, and a beer later, I looked at Bud. "You know something I've always wondered about? You know how men write their names in the snow? Can they do that in the sand?"

Well, okay, now I'm not saying it was the best idea I've ever had or even the kind of thing anyone else would have even thought. But that's me.

And Bud thought perhaps a bit of scientific experimenting was in order.

Before you ask, no. No one saw us.

Oh, that wasn't what you were going to ask? Well, then, yes. It works in a very similar principle. I told Bud his writing with his dick was better than his writing with his hand. And then I took off running because he didn't seem too pleased by that comment.

So, there we were. It was coming on evening. We were both drunk. We were running through about the only civilization on that island. I was screeching like a banshee as I tried to get away from Bud. We were bound to attract attention.

Just so happened that the only - and I mean the only - law enforcement officer on that island happened to be making rounds. He did not take kindly to our game. He came screeching to a halt near us on his little white moped. When he started chastising us for our noise, Bud told him, and I quote, "Fuck off, asshole."

Well, when the guy whipped out his badge, you should have seen Bud. I would have given any amount of money for you to have seen the look of pure scorn that lit his face. He stood up tall and he towered over the guy sitting on his little motorbike. Bud stalked over to him and I helped the situation considerably.

"LAPD, shitbird," I said, in this not really too bad imitation of Bud. "Careful, Constable. Better watch that one. He has four balls to your two. Plus he has a live rat in his pants."

Well, I thought it was funny. And so did Bud. The cop most certainly did not.

Before we knew it, we were both handcuffed and being walked back to the hotel. There is no jail on the island. So the cop improvised. When we told him we were passengers on the big ship moored off Lower Bay, he did not believe us. He would simply lock us up in one of the hotel rooms and send someone for the captain of the ship in question. If he could verify we were passengers, the cop would release us to his custody.

We certainly did not object. I whispered in Bud's ear, "Locking us in a hotel room? What ya think - we got at least an hour before Jack will come get us. We could have some fun."

The cop thought he was getting the last laugh on us, however. He cuffed Bud to an iron railing in the bathroom. He cuffed me to the bed's headboard. I moaned, I cried, I pleaded. The cop just smiled at me as he closed the door.

So there we were. The best place we'd been all day to indulge in the little adult fun we'd been revving ourselves up for and we were locked away from each other's touch.

"Bud, I need you so badly!" I pleaded. Cooing to him: "Bud? Baby? Surely a big strong man like you can figure something out?"

"Fuck, Ann, if I could get myself out of here, don't you think I'd do it?"

I lay in that bed. Looked up at the ceiling. Felt myself start to give in to the lightheaded feeling of a day of too much sun and too much beer. And too little Bud.

How could I have ever underestimated Bud White? I felt the bed shift and I looked down to find him crawling toward me. "Bud? How'd you get out of the cuffs?"

He lowered his chin, grinned at me and showed me a key. "Always have my cuff keys with me. Just like I always have the cuffs."

"Oh, baby! What a man. Now get mine off. Then we can have some fun before ..." I paused. Saw the look in his eyes. "Bud. Don't even think it."

He undid my shorts and slipped them off. I watched him. Told him not to try it. But then he undid my bikini top. His mouth examined my breasts for suspicious contraband. I pleaded the fifth. He took away my rights. Then he took away my bikini bottoms. I threw myself on the mercy of the court. He gave me the full sentence.

I told him to throw me in the clinker and throw away the key. Well, perhaps I was screaming at him to never stop fucking me. I'm not real sure at that point.

But some time later and after we'd both completed our undercover vice operation, I felt him rise from the bed. Heard him running water in the bathroom. He came back with a soapy washcloth and tenderly cleaned me up. I was smiling at him. He is such a sweetie like that. This way he has of being so gruff and then so heartbreakingly tender.

"The cuffs, Bud," I pleaded. But he just shook his head. And then he put my clothes back on me. Gave me a big kiss, a wink and that way he has of waggling his brows at you. Then he walked back into the bathroom. I heard him redo his cuffs. And that's when I understood.

About fifteen minutes later, the door opened with a start. The cop came in first. Then Jack came in. His hands clasped behind his back. A deep scowl on his face. He paced in, looked down at me. Nodded to the cop. I watched him walk toward the bathroom. Heard Bud tell him hello.

Jack and the cop walked to the door. "Give me a moment, if you will, officer. I would like a word with the miscreants and then I assure you they will be in the proper mood to be escorted from your lovely island. On behalf of His Majesty's Navy, I can only beg that you will not judge the entire fleet by the brazen activities of these two crew members."

When the cop left, Jack turned back and regarded me. I bit my lip and pleaded with my eyes.

"What the fuck gives, Jack? You getting us outta here?" Bud bellowed from the bathroom.

"I will have a word with you, Officer White, later. For now, silence would be the proper course of action."

And then he was just looking down at me. His face stern and very unhappy. I licked my lips. He looked totally edible.

"Do not attempt to charm me, my love. It shall not work on me. Please be so good as to explain your actions."

"Jack," I whispered to him. Arched my back and purred to him. "Release me from my bonds."

I saw the change in him; he started sweating and got this glint in his eyes. He sat next to me on the bed. His fingers traced lightly over my bare tummy. Then around the rise of my breasts. Up my neck. To my mouth.

"Claim me, Captain. I surrender," I said; softly so Bud would not hear; sweetly so Jack would hear the promise there.

His mouth took mine with an urgency I didn't see coming. When he pulled away, he seemed puzzled. "You've been drinking. You've caused an unholy scene on this idyll of an island. Why would you behave so?"

"Because I'm frustrated, Jack. You have done barely nothing but work. This is supposed to be a vacation for us all. Instead, I'm left to my own devices and ... God, I'm sorry, Jack. I know you're having a blast sailing and being a Captain again, but this is not how I thought we'd spend this time. And I've missed you so much. I just feel like  ... And everyone else wants to see you out having fun as well. It's why Dino hired an entire crew, Jack. So that you didn't have to work all the time. I mean, couldn't you just take a watch every so often and oversee the important sailing but still find time to join the rest of us in the fun we want to have with you?"

"Have I really been such a ..." he looked off from me. "Perhaps I have not been fair to you, amorata. I have let my enthusiasm for the ship overwhelm my duty to you and the others."

"Oh, beloved. Then you'll lessen the amount of time you spend on the quarterdeck?"

He gave me one of those delighted chuckles. "My little dear, did you really try to steal the officer's badge?"

Hmmm. That actually had a familiar ring to it. "I might have. It was really cute."

"And surely Bud did not tell that delightful officer that if he were ever in LA, he would demonstrate the proper use of a billy club?"

I started giggling. I heard Bud start giggling. Pretty soon, we were all laughing. "Are we in a lot of trouble, Jack?" I asked.

"Only with Miss Darcy. She is most displeased with the pair of you. She ... well, let me just say, I was not aware Miss Darcy had a vocabulary that might have been more appropriate before the mast. Salty ain't the thing of it."

Bud said, "Darcy's here? Oh, sweet fuck. I'm in so much fucking trouble. I was supposed to be keeping you out of trouble and ... Oh, fuck. She's not to be messed with when she's really mad."

By the time the local cop undid the cuffs and we gave him our sincerest apologies, we were sobering up fast. We still had to face Darcy. She was waiting for us in the lobby of the hotel. Pacing. Back. Forth. Every step showed her anger. I swallowed hard. Bud swallowed harder. Jack said, "Miss Darcy, I shall release Bud to your custody. I have taken custody of my own prisoner. Shall we escort them to the ship?"

I don't know about Bud, but my knees were shaking.

Darcy was so mad she wouldn't even speak to either of us. All the way to the ship, I kept looking back at her, walking behind us. I was really getting worried. I wondered how I was going to ever get her to be over being mad at me.

And as we approached the ship, I saw what I must do. There was only one thing to do to make it right - perform an act that would unite us again.

As we were walking up the gangplank to get back aboard, Uma happened to be coming down. I smiled at her as I neared. And as she passed me, I put out a hip and gave her a bump.

Uma splashed into the water with an impressive shriek; Jack and Bud were immediately stripping to jump in to save her. I turned to look at Darcy. She walked right up to me, a scowl still darkening her beautiful features. And then she gave me a high five, wrapped her arm around me and we went aboard.