13 Scarletclaw Brings News
Scarletclaw Brings News
"Throned in splendor, deathless, O Aphrodite,
Child of Zeus, charm-weaver, I beseech thee,
Not with griefs and bitters, O Queen, to conquer
My spirit...
Come to me now, too, and from harsh thoughts free me,
All my heart desires to have accomplished
For me, let it be; and in this my battle
Be thou my ally."
― Sappho, Hymn to Aphrodite,
tr. Julia Purinton Washburn
MARA LOOKED OFF from the brothel balcony towards the bay, telling herself firmly not to worry.
The fact that it had been over a week since the Orca sailed away with her brother and the Tempest to hunt for Portuguese treasure didn't mean that the mission had been a failure.
There were dozens of legitimate reasons why they could be waylaid, weren't there?
She heard movement behind her. Moments later Xanne pressed up against her back, stroking her hands over the bodice of Mara's new dress and around her waist. Xanne’s lips pressed warmly near the neckline of her dress, trailing scalding kisses slowly up her neck.
Mara closed her eyes despite herself, leaning back into the warmth of her new lover’s embrace.
Despite her rage and savagery, Xanne had proved a delightfully ardent lover in bed once Mara had managed to get her there.
Mara shivered at a throb of heat between her thighs at the remembered pleasure, reaching back to stroke a hand up Xanne's hip.
Her waist was bare above her trousers, making Mara think about how nice it would be to turn in her lover's embrace to caress her bare upper body, to fill her hands and mouth with the softness of Xanne's pert breasts.
"You left bed too early," Xanne murmured against her ear, nibbling on the lobe. "Now what am I s'posed to do?"
She smoothed one hand up over the curve of Mara's breast, cupping and squeezing gently, thumb stroking the bare skin above the neckline.
Mara bit her lip on a moan. How was it that Xanne's touch was so much more enticing while being so much more tender than any of the men who had pawed at her?
She was certainly far more forward than Elizabeth, who'd preferred to let Mara take the lead.
Mara pushed the thoughts of her betrayer from her mind. "I could come back to bed," she offered hopefully, only to hear Xanne chuckle, low and devious.
"Too late for that now, ain't it?" Continuing her caress of Mara's breast, her other hand smoothed down her midline, pressing the full skirts of her dress between her thighs. Mara drew a gasp, hips arching up into the touch instinctively.
"My dress," she protested weakly, and Xanne laughed again.
"So worried about your fine, pretty things, ain't you?
Like a right fine lady, you are." Instead of stopping, her fingers grabbed at Mara’s skirts, pulling them up until she could reach her hand underneath.
Her fingers stroked over Mara's bare thigh with an appreciative hum.
"I see you ain't so much of a lady that you put on underthings. "
Mara tried to find breath to reply as Xanne's clever fingers pressed up against her sex. She wiggled them against her with a low, appreciative hum, licking up Mara's neck. "Maybe you really ain't concerned about anything," Xanne breathed.
It was hard to argue when her body agreed, quickly becoming slick with arousal as Xanne's fingers slid along the length of her sex in slow strokes, fingertips teasing against her small nub of pleasure. Her fingers clenched at the railing of the balcony. "Xanne, people can see us..."
"Can they?" Xanne's smirk was well apparent in her voice.
She crooked her fingers to push up into Mara, the heel of her hand rubbing delightfully against the mound of her sex as Xanne started to fuck her in earnest. "Seems to me like you shouldn't care about that right this moment.
Seems to me like you should only care about the fact that my fingers are in your sweet little cunt. "
Mara whimpered despite herself, hips arching up into the stimulation.
Xanne shifted to press more against her side, letting Mara's hip press half between her thighs.
She pulled Mara's mouth to hers as their hips rolled together, groaning against Mara's lips.
"Let them see," she growled, breathing harder as she continued to grind against Mara.
"Want all of Port Royal to know that no-one's allowed to touch you but me. You got that?"
"Yes," Mara gasped, heart pounding. Why did it feel so good to hear Xanne say such things?
The last thing she should want was to belong to anyone!
But the insistent press of Xanne's fingers was too powerful a distraction, and soon enough she could think of nothing but the need for release, thighs shuddering as she whimpered against Xanne's lips. "Xanne - please - "
"Love how you whimper when I fuck you," Xanne replied, words rough and breathless. "Love the way you sound when you come, sweetheart..."
"Gods - !" As if commanded, Mara's body tumbled into ecstasy.
She jerked up against Xanne's fingers, crying out into her mouth.
Her lover let out a low, triumphant groan, still thrusting against her, and seemingly unsatisfied with her accomplishment, continued the stimulation, wringing shocks of pleasure from her with insistent fingers.
She groaned her own pleasure against Mara's lips as she did, undoubtedly finding her own release, finally letting Mara go from the haze of orgasm when Xanne herself was breathless and spent.
Pulling her hand from under Mara's dress, Xanne licked her fingers with a hum. "Might have to go have a wash now that I've made you all messy," she purred. She pulled away with a wink and headed back inside, leaving Mara clinging to the railing, unsure of her ability to walk.
Mara’s heart thumped painfully in her chest, traitorously, and she pushed aside the urge to chase after her lover. What would she do then? Beg Roxanne O'Toole to come to bed and cuddle?
Wash, then. A true bath. The ocean would clear her mind and set her head on straight again, she thought. Picking up a basket for her things, she started carefully down the stairs and out of the brothel for the seashore.
The water in the cove lapped warm and luxurious against her skin as she floated on her back, gently kicking her feet as if they were still flippers.
Her mind wandered back to Xanne, and how those nimble fingers had felt on her skin, and for a few moments she forgot that she had come here to clear her head.
So lost she was in thoughts of Xanne that she didn't realize she had company until a sharp pinch nipped at her heel. She kicked at it with a cry, inadvertently sending Lord Scarletclaw reeling away through the water.
“What is it, you consummate gossipmonger?” she bobbed up and down while treading the water.
“Disaster, Lady Maraxilla!” the crab attendant pronounced with his usual flair for the dramatic.
“Eh bien, go on?”
“Oh dear, oh dear, my Lady,” the crab chattered with glee. “Both ships pulled asunder! Captain Pane unpantsed! His whole crew eaten! What fun!... I mean, tragic, very sad, really.”
“What about Silverfin, you dolt?” Mara circled the crab, resolved to cook him for her next dinner if he did not provide her with the information she wanted.
“Your brother is safe, oddly. And somehow managed to get his flame-haired lover past the sharks and the cavalry as well. Most likely having something to do with what befell Captain Pane. I do smell your brother in all this!” Scarletclaw waved a whisker at Mara, as if he had been shaking a finger in shame.
“But... be that as it may, he is likely to die on that beach without rescue.”
“And the Estrela? Finally, you blabbering barnacle! What happened to the Estrela?”
“She is broken and run ashore. All that gold - so close, yet completely out of our reach, my Lady!”
“What a pity,” Mara smiled.
“If only my Lady had her tail...”
“Silence, you crustacean nuisance!”
Lord Scarletclaw bowed obsequiously and dove back towards the sandy bottom of the cove.
With a few sure strokes, Mara had reached the rocky shore again, heaving herself onto a slippery promontory and taking the time to ring the saltwater out of her hair.
Port Royal’s crews shipwrecked. The Estrela run aground in Phallandia.
Her brother in need of rescue. If only she had a tail?
Ha! If only she had a ship and a crew willing to sail it!
Duprez, that useless lump of a man, wouldn’t be swayed.
She knew he’d grown too comfortable where he was, and loathed to take any unnecessary chances.
And she didn’t want to risk losing Xanne now that they’d become lovers.
But there was still one avenue left open to her.
One person with the means, influence, and motivation to go after that gold and help rescue her brother.
Asking would hurt. And she’d have to lie through her teeth to keep the truth of her origins from coming to light. But it wasn’t anything she had not done before.
And Silverfin was worth it.