Take the body and give me the rest (10 page)

He wouldn’t
ever tell her that this was his first time and she’d never know.
While the other soldiers in the troop had availed themselves of
camp followers, prostitutes and desperate girls he’d held back. Not
because he wasn’t also filled with lust and curiosity, but simply
because it was a memory he’d hold forever, so better make it
unforgettable for the right reasons. All the experience of being
with different lovers was with him—what they liked, what they
didn’t. Strangest of all, he felt the memories of Josephine and
even Arisetta. The feeling of it for them as they experienced sex
as a woman does. He smiled bravely and tried not to laugh at the
incredible impossibility of that. He tried not to see their visual
memories too much.

As Minsetta
rode above him, he locked his dark blue eyes on her dark brown
ones. He felt the building pressure and pleasure inside of him, but
knew that it was always ladies first. With confident fingers he
reached down passed the light soft hair above her pussy and slowly,
softly at first rubbed the spot that was there. It had no name in
his mind, but her body sure knew what it was. She moaned a little
as he found it and she began to grind herself against his fingers
and hand. She increased the pace and leaned her body down close to
his.

Seth grabbed
her dark hair again with firm but gentle fingers; he pulled one of
her precious dark nipples into his mouth and let his tongue enjoy
it. He gripped her hair harder, yet pulling her into him, sucking
and licking her nipple and thrusting into her hot wetness as hard
as he could. He felt a sweet shudder of enjoyment run through her
body, and she blessed him with a beautiful scream of release as she
came.

She pulled
herself back from him. He looked at the glorious sight of her
nakedness as he came deeply inside of her. A feeling of total
pleasure and wicked ownership washed through him.

Even though he
was the bigger of the two by a good span, he found himself with his
face nuzzled into her skin, the calm after the storm washing over
him. He wouldn’t ever tell her but he truly felt blessed. What an
experience. Luck was shining on him, truly.

She laughed at
him. ‘You look like a young boy revelling in his first kiss,’ she
said.

‘That was my
first kiss. How did I go?’ he asked, also laughing.

‘It seems that
you do everything well, and all at a terribly young age. It’s quite
remarkable.’

‘You are
remarkable. If you walked around naked all day, nothing would get
done anywhere,’ he said finding one of her nipples with his mouth
and licking it. He felt he could devour her whole and still not get
his fill of her flesh.

She laughed at him again. ‘I knew you’d be good at it; good
fighters always make good lovers. Now, young Master Seth, you must
leave so I can sleep and teach the Captain’s son Pellosi
tomorrow
.’

He may have
felt some rejection about that request if he wasn’t the man he was,
but he was walking in the footsteps where others had stumbled,
badly. Seth rolled up from the bed with a smile on his face. Bowing
to her, he said in Pellosi, ‘May the fates guide me back home
again.’ It was a variation of something Pellosi said to their
sailors.

‘Nothing you
say should surprise me,’ she said, pulling up the covers over her
nakedness. ‘Can you lock the door?’

‘Of course,
mistress,’ he said. Quickly and without fuss, Seth donned his
slightly creased black shirt, pants, belt and boots. He smiled at
her again and walked towards the door.

‘Oh, Seth,’ she
said as he was across the room.

‘Yes,
mistress?’ he asked turning around.

‘See you
tomorrow night for another sparring match,’ she said, not
asking.

He laughed.
‘Oh, I have a lot of new moves to try. I’ll be there.’

Chapter 12

The next month for Seth passed like a blissful, lustful dream.
During the days, he strolled in the sun aboard the deck of
The Opulent
, talking with
Lady Elizebetha or other passengers. He was constantly in such a
glorious good mood that he engaged everyone and tended to infect
them with his happiness.

At night time,
he came to the sparring deck near the figurehead and waited for
Minsetta to come. She wouldn’t come every night, and he never
questioned why. It almost became part of the game to them, the
anticipation of if she would come or not. Where they would go and
what they would do. She was as fearless as she was beautiful; there
was nothing that Seth could bring from the vaults of memories that
she would blink an eye at. They enjoyed trying them all, but she
wasn’t surprised by him. She said she’d stopped being surprised by
him now.

One night, she
sat beside him on the wooden chair on the deck. It was so late he
didn’t think she was coming and the moon was high in the sky. The
ropes and moorings were quietly creaking in the soft salty sea
breeze. She had sat without saying a word and was silent still. He
turned to look at her and she smiled at him. She wore the long
black dress he’d seen her in that day on the ship.

Silent himself,
Seth stood up from the bench and stood in front of her. Without a
word, he slowly knelt down in front of her. His fingers found the
edges of the dress and lifted it up, exposing her smooth light
brown legs. He felt her take in a breath of anticipation, but that
was her only comment.

Taking her legs, he pulled her forward on the seat towards
him. He lifted the dress and exposed her pussy to his view, he
leant his face down towards her pussy, feeling the heat on his
lips. He pressed against her. She had a light patch of pubic hair
above her mound, and he pushed his face against it. Spreading her
legs now, he slowly started to run his tongue up the length of
her
pussy
and felt as she started to get wetter and wetter on her
own.

This was
something only done in Pelloss, where the women were much more
sexually free. The men in Cravoss and certainly in the North didn’t
hold the refined ideas about the women enjoying sex as well. But
for Seth right now this was total indulgence. What could be more
sexual, more enticing than this woman right here, the most intimate
thing he could ever do to her and she wanted him to?

When she was
wet, ready and making soft moaning sounds, he lifted his tongue
from her pussy to the sensitive little spot below her mound. He
gently licked and then sucked the spot. Taking two fingers, he slid
them deeply into her as she grabbed the back of his head and pulled
his face hard into her pussy and started to grind against him. He
sucked and the licked the spot, loving the feeling—and his fingers
did as well. She grinded harder and harder and faster until he felt
that familiar shudder and felt her contract against his
fingers.

He licked her a
few more times, very softly, and, taking his fingers slowly out,
pulled down her dress and looked up at her from his kneeling
position. She was flushed, but smiling. He almost laughed, but just
smiled back. Seth stood, leaned forward and gave her a kiss on the
cheek. ‘See you tomorrow.’

Sometimes, they
simply sat on the deck and talked in the lamplight. Seth had the
idea that she was a good span of years older than he, as she had
experienced a lot of the world and spoke to him much about Pelloss.
She said his Pellosi language was good but that it was functional
and needed work; she spoke about where he could live when he got
there.

‘So, young
Master, what is your plan when we land in Pelloss?’ she asked.

‘I have no
plan. I’m like a leaf blown by the wind. I’m in the employ of Lady
Elizebetha, as you know, but I’m not sure what she wants of me when
we land,’ he said.

‘Will you stay
with her?’ she asked.

He laughed. ‘I
will unless I get a better offer. Do you need a bodyguard?’

She leaned into
him and kissed his slightly stubbled cheek. ‘I don’t know what I
need, but maybe we’ll find it in Dacar.’

‘Oh, the
island. The Captain says we’ll make landfall tomorrow in the
daytime. Have you been there before?’ he asked.

‘You should
know by now that I’ve been almost everywhere. It’s quite large and
prosperous, as it’s a natural stopping point for all trade between
Pelloss and Cravoss,’ she said.

‘Maybe you’ll
find a wise woman to tell you that you need to find love,’ he said,
teasing her.

‘Is that what
you’ve found, Seth?’ she questioned.

‘Well, lust and
adventure, at least, and the best month of my young life.’

She smiled at
him in the yellow light. ‘You are a sweet child.’

‘I’m a sweet
man. I’ve almost reached my twentieth name day.’

‘I’ve got a
present for you in my room,’ she said, and, taking his hand, she
led him off the deck.

Seth was
finding it harder and harder to keep his emotions in check. The sex
was so incredible, she was so intelligent and beautiful, and he
could almost not believe he had her to himself. If she were some
girl back home, he would simply say he loved her and be done with
it, but she wasn’t. She already thought him young, and she was a
good ten span years older than he. He kept his emotions in check
and played the role of sweet lovesick boy; she seemed to like it
and if she got out of line, he could just tie her to the bed
again.

It was midday when the island city of Dacar came into view.
The vast wooded bulk of
The Opulent
crept slowly across the blue bay and afforded Seth
a long extended view of the place. It was a fine looking city,
large port, with many piers and people off loading goods from
ships. There was the normal warehouse area next to the docks and in
the distance Seth could spy the city proper, many brick and stone
buildings on tiered levels. In the furthest distance stood a blue
stone keep of decent size. The Duke of Dacar held it. The seat was
by appointment of the king, normally to someone who was in his
favour or regard. It wasn’t passed down the family line through and
every ten years or so there was a new Duke of Dacar. This was how
the King of Cravoss kept the trade terms well skewed in his
favour.

Seth knew he wouldn’t be seeing Minsetta this night as
The Opulent
would be
docked at Dacar and then depart midday tomorrow. Lady Elizebetha
intended to stay ashore in a real bed, in a fine rooming house that
she had been in a few times before. While Seth was feeling well out
of danger, and didn’t think Elizebetha was ever in any at all, he
intended to keep up appearances and stay with her that night in the
city.

The rooming house in which they stayed was a lot more to
Seth’s taste than he had expected. While it was a large three-level
stone building, the bottom floor was a tavern. It reminded Seth of
the Mermaid’s Kiss except the drinks cost twice as much and the
clients on this eve were many of the same people travelling
on
The Opulent
.

‘Is it to your
like, Seth?’ asked Elizebetha as she looked around the tavern
room.

It was a warm
room, with a hearth at one end with a fire yet to be lit. A small
stage as well for musicians and minstrels and, of course, a large
bar of polished wood, behind which stood a well-dressed older man
with greying hair but a friendly countenance.

Seth smiled.
‘It suits me quite well, Lady Elizebetha.’

‘I thought it
might, and they also have hot baths, good food and large beds.
Everything we need to forget the privations of sea travel,’ she
said.

Seth thought of
his own room and of sharing the large warm bed in Minsetta’s room.
The privations of sea travel were still a luxury to him. Yet the
General’s memories of finer things often clouded his own views.

That night,
Seth and Lady Elizebetha sat downstairs in the common room, sitting
near the fire and enjoying the atmosphere of the tavern room. A
lone male minstrel was on the stage playing a harp slowly but with
confidence. It was a quiet music, and over it Seth could hear
people talking and telling stories.

Sitting by the
fire and feeling its warmth on his hands, Seth started to feel a
sensation he was almost beginning to recognise; he was getting
flashes of this very room and the mirror sensation of being by this
fire night after night. He looked around and saw that instead of
the faces of strangers, these were people he now recognised. The
owner was turned from a friendly old man to now a man named Rolf
and a good friend he’d known for years. The minstrel was known to
him to as well, not by name, but because he’d seen him play many
times before.

Seth turned to
Elizebetha. ‘Can you speak any Dacarian?’ he asked.

‘I can speak
some, it’s not a language—more a dialect. It’s just a strange mix
of Cravosi and Pellosi. What should I say?’ she asked.

‘Anything, but
say as much as you can or tell me a story,’ he said.

Seth closed his
eyes as the Dacarian words found his ears. Dacarian was a mix of
Pellosi and Cravosi but with some unique words and different ways
of saying things and different structure. At first he couldn’t
understand, but then slowly he felt his understanding growing as
the memories became thicker and came to him slowly, one by one. A
man as old as the owner of this tavern, he’d sat by the fire many
nights, traded stories for a glass of ale or a meal. He’d lived
here his whole life and been a part of the furniture in the tavern.
One night, he had been trading stories with an interesting young
man called Stephan, an army man he was, a lieutenant. He’d gone to
his room to share some Cravoss port that Stephan had, and there he
had been knocked down from behind and then darkness. He had no
memories beyond walking through the doorway and the sharp knock to
the head.