Sleight of Hand
7
Songbird
I HAD BUSINESS to conduct before we could leave. The first order was the burial of Jules/Julia. If I remembered the Damsel Rule Book correctly, a damsel who died and was buried on Chaos was returned to Cassandra. I hoped so. Otherwise, I would want to take her body with me to the bank vault. We were a somber group that returned to the Inn.
Ariel continued to weep and Lisa whispered to me that she was still in pain. I wanted to wrap up the business as quickly as possible.
I had five horses and their tack, bows, arrows, swords, and daggers that we’d put in the inn’s stable the previous night. We sorted out the armaments in the common room and selected the best items to keep in my box. In sorting through the bags, we also found a bit more money, blankets, and other camp supplies.
“Do we have any idea where this crew was headed when they decided to stop and take over the inn?” I asked.
“They were just coming back,” Raphe said. “The Mayor had sent junior to High Castle to train as a swordsman. He had visions of him becoming a warlord and claiming rulership of the city. Waste of money.”
“Well, that would explain why they are so well-equipped for journeying. I want to sell most of this stuff. We’ll keep two saddles and tack and the best equipment. I need to sell the horses as well.”
“Let me take care of that, partner,” Gabe said. “I know Barnaby at the stable and he will deal fairly with me. He might not with… uh…”
“A cripple?” I asked. He nodded sheepishly. “Yes, that might be true. Gabe, I think we should keep the two black horses. They look like they are in very good condition.” He walked around the two horses. They were both taller and sleeker than the other three. They reminded me of Morgans. He nodded his head.
“Board will cost you,” he said, “but chances are Barnaby couldn’t afford to buy these two from you. How would you like to handle it?”
“Get what you can for the other three and their tack. Take a fifteen percent commission from the profit. Keep the remainder in the inn’s account and pay the board and upkeep for the two from that. Sound fair?” I asked.
“More than fair, partner. Now. About the weapons?”
“I’ll keep the daggers. I’m much better with them than with the swords. Weasel’s are especially fine. We’re keeping two swords and the trappings. The rest can be sold if there’s a market for them.”
“I’ll buy one of those swords myself,” Raphe said. Gabe nodded and set aside two of the swords. I pulled two bows and all the arrows. I looked at the rest and the remaining clothes. I’d already taken a change that would fit me and one for Lisa. Ariel brought out her spare dress and the innkeeper’s clothes. I tucked her dress into my bag and set the other items with those to be sold.
“Same deal on the rest of this. Sell and take fifteen percent,” I said. “Now we need to get to the bank.”
It was a lot of gear to transport and Raphe helped us. Gabe was already starting to serve the noon customers and his wife, Molly, was supervising our serving wench as she rushed dishes from the kitchen. I bid farewell to the brothers and closed the vault door. I placed my finger in the hole and felt the odd burning sensation. My box popped onto the table and we loaded it with everything. I included my canes in the box and Lisa placed her combs in it. Ariel looked at us strangely.
“Healing chambers are amazing,” I said. “I feel like a new man.” I closed the lid to the box and we felt the twisting sensation that announced our arrival on Crossroads. Persephone helped Ariel immediately to the healing chamber and then returned to greet Lisa and me. “My hero!” she exclaimed, leaping into my arms and kissing me deeply. “You have done so well!” She turned to give Lisa a kiss filled with just as much passion. “Lisa, you are truly his caretaker on any world. I love you!” She led us to the shower, stripped us all, and bathed us with great care and attention. That care included an orgasm each for Lisa and me, and one for Persephone from each of us. As we stepped out of the shower, we heard the chime of the healing chamber. “Lisa Caretaker, since you know Ariel already, will you take her from the chamber into the bedroom and get her whatever nourishment she wants? I will conduct Hero Lincoln to the chamber from the other door so they do not cross paths before he has been cleared. Sometimes damsels come out of the chamber so horny that it is impossible to separate them from the hero so he can enter.”
Lisa agreed and as the door to the bedroom slid closed behind Ariel, I entered the chamber with Seph.
“You were such a bad boy,” Seph said. “Just hope the chamber does not put you back in the condition you pretended to be in when you left!” I laughed as the lid closed and I lost consciousness.
I woke up to Lisa’s smiling face bending down to kiss me. Angels sang. “How are you feeling, my Hero?” she asked.
“Wonderful!” I said, pulling myself out of the chamber. “To what do I owe the pleasure of you greeting me as I emerge?”
“Seph is busy with Ariel and I need to get in the chamber. It’s a rule of returning to Crossroads. It scrubs us for bugs and contamination. And repairs any little nicks that you might incur on Chaos.”
“You didn’t incur any nicks, did you, Lees?” I said. I was sure I’d have known if she was hurt.
“No, love. It’s just routine. Close me in and go join your songbird.” Lisa stepped into the chamber and I started to close it.
“Wait! That music is her? I thought it was being piped in!”
“I think you are going to like your reward,” Lisa smiled. “Now close the chamber.”
I closed her in and watched through the glass as she immediately entered the suspended state that lets the machine work its miracles. Then I followed my ears to the dining room. I was glad they were there as I was really hungry. My stomach growled as I approached.
I suffered a moment’s disorientation as I walked into the room. Well, it wasn’t a room. I mean it didn’t look like a room. It was a wide-open nighttime sky. Low on the horizon, the shimmering disk of Horace was just visible. Above us, the sky faded to black with a million twinkling stars. I turned in place and saw the panorama of nighttime sky that surrounded us. A low table with candles set between plates of delicacies was surrounded by cushions. On one of these, Ariel sat in a diaphanous gown, playing an instrument much more like our lute than the cithara.
And she sang.
Her voice was soft and clear—heartbreakingly sweet. The words were a love song, praising her lover and her Hero. She sang of how her heart was filled with joy and sadness. That her body longed for fulfillment. That her eyes could see the answer to her dreams. All the time, she looked at me and held me enrapt in her voice and her presence.
Seph took my arm and led me to my damsel. I sank down on the cushions and she set the lute aside so she could embrace me, mold me to her body as we reclined.
“Are you well, my Hero?” Ariel asked.
“I am well and enchanted,” I answered. “And you, my Damsel Ariel? This greeting is a bit of a surprise.” Ariel giggled and my face bounced softly against her breast.
“I am barely contained,” she confessed. Seph placed morsels of food in our mouths that stopped conversation for a moment as they melted on our tongues.
“Mmm. What is this?” I asked. “It is so delicious!”
“It is a Cassandran treat called asoyta. Most closely linked to earth oysters, but not as slimy,” Persephone said. She continued to feed us. Neither Ariel nor I needed our hands to eat and so they were involved in lightly touching and exploring each other. After we swallowed each bite of food, our lips touched and sometimes our tongues. Ariel’s containment was an uncertain thing as she gasped at my touch and gave herself over to my explorations.
“Persephone Caretaker explained to me that this was your first rescue,” Ariel whispered in my ear. “She suggested that you loved to look at the stars and to be romantic. These were things I did not see on Chaos in the midst of my pain and loss. I wanted your first time with a damsel to be remembered always.”
“Ariel Songbird of Cassandra, I want your first time making love to a man to be just as memorable,” I whispered.
“But on Chaos, there were men.”
“No. Those were not men,” I said. “Men do not take from women for their own pleasure without concern for their partners. My father once told me…” It was a long time ago before the accident and I’d just started dating. “He told me to never make love to a woman who wanted it less than I did. My desire for you, my Damsel, is great. I hope you desire me as much.” Tears sprang to her eyes and she kissed me. The kiss deepened and I found my way into her robes to caress her tender, full breasts. She repeatedly stiffened and relaxed as small orgasms tickled her one after another. We rolled together. I panicked for a moment thinking that we would crash into the table, but it had already vanished. Not only that, but my dear caretaker had gone as well. I pulled the gown from Ariel’s body and marveled at the classic perfection revealed. Every curve was sensuous and addictive. I wanted to explore all of her and take her to undreamed-of heights.
Nonetheless, our first coupling had little more foreplay than our kisses and explorations. Once her gown was lost, there was no stopping us from joining together and I slid smoothly into her depths.
“My Hero!” she gasped. “Take me. Erase from my mind the animals of Chaos. Ease the suffering of my loss with your goodness and love. Create in me the life that will bring our worlds closer together and be a salvation to my people. I love you, my Hero.”
With that declaration, our bodies moved together and built rapidly to her first major climax. I was amazed at my staying power and gave all credit to the healing chamber. Still, I would not last long in the tight confines of her sex. As I moved within her I could feel the pressure building in my core and kissed her passionately. When I came, her whole body responded and she shook in orgasm as I pulsed within her. She kissed me all over my face as she gasped out her joy. Tears ran from her eyes. She clenched my manhood within her, pleading for it to not escape. In response to her pleas, I remained firm and we moved together again, hardly having recovered from our first summit before we sought new and higher peaks to conquer.
When we were sated, at last, we slept in each other’s arms.
Our caretakers took care of us. They bathed us, fed us, gave us restoratives, and tantalized us with their antics.
And our caretakers took care of each other. It was not uncommon to hear their cries of ecstasy harmonizing with our own.
In addition to carnally pleasing each other, Ariel and I sang together. We taught each other songs from our native worlds. Ariel loved the show tunes I taught her from Broadway musicals far more than our popular music. We even wrote a short musical that we performed before Persephone and Lisa. It was more like a fifteen-minute operetta and ended with us making love to each other.
I did not ignore my caretakers during my time with Ariel Songbird. I knew that as soon as Ariel was pregnant, Lisa and I would have to return to Earth. I wanted to be sure Persephone had memories to hold her until my return. Ariel was more than willing to share time with either Persephone or Lisa, or both together, which was a treat for me to watch. I also gave Lisa some serious loving, abiding by her rule of no fucking. I explored and memorized every fold of her sex with my tongue, though. I knew that on Earth, this, too, would be put on hold.
We had enjoyed each other for 51 days when Ariel came from the bedroom with a glow that told us all we needed to know. Lisa’s and my clothes were kept in a neat pile by the portal and we quickly slipped into them. We kissed our lovers soundly and then stood back.
“Thank you, my Hero,” Ariel said. “You not only rescued me, you healed me more deeply than the chamber ever could. Now, my love, know that I return to my world to bear and love our child. I am pregnant.” With those words, we watched a portal open behind Ariel and she stepped through to her world. We knew what would happen if we tarried, so Lisa and I moved toward our portal.
“Return to me soon, my Hero,” Persephone said through her tears. “I love you.”
“I loved her,” I wept as Lisa held me in my bedroom. “And I love Persephone and I love you.”
“Aren’t you forgetting someone?” Lisa whispered.
“Lisa, I could never forget. Not only do I love Cadence, I desire her. Every day we were on Crossroads was filled with both pleasure and longing. I wanted her with me. I wanted to make love to her. I wanted her to join in our loving. I wanted… I wanted her to tell me that I hadn’t lost Ariel, but that our love would live on in our child. I…” I was crying too much to go on.
“It is so difficult to realize that even though two months elapsed for us, only fifteen minutes passed here. That means that you need to ravish her tonight. Show her how much you love her and what she can look forward to each time you return,” Lisa said.
“She will know I’ve been gone. Just look at me. I’m sure I gained weight through all the training we did. I’m not so much as using a cane now, even though my legs aren’t fully 100%,” I said.
“Other parts of you are certainly at 100%,” Lisa laughed. “At least I hope that is 100%. If there is more, no one will be able to stand it!”
“Oh, god! Help me, Lisa.”
“Exactly the way we did on Crossroads, my Hero. Tonight is your night.”
I’d called in to both work and PT to say I couldn’t come in. My boss had no concerns other than that I was okay. Sandy had a million questions regarding my health and if I needed extra care. I was thinking that Sandy might want to care for me in more ways than physical therapy. I told her I would make it in to see her in the morning.
Lisa prepared her own brand of a seduction dinner. When everything was ready except the finishing touches, Lisa took Cadence to her room and dressed her. Just the thought of a mother dressing her daughter for seduction gave me a tent in my trousers. I was dressed in silk T-shirt, linen jacket, and neatly pressed slacks. I prepared the Mediterranean fruit platter and sat at the head of the table facing the door. The table was perfectly set with tablecloth, napkins, and my mother’s best silver and china.
When Cadence entered the dining room, she halted abruptly, stunned at the elegance of our dinner. I was stunned by the elegance of Cadence. She wore heels and a pale blue sheath dress that molded to her curves. Had she been wearing anything under it, I would have been able to tell. As it was, though, I could clearly see the outline and protrusion of her nipples and even the swelling of her mons. I stood and offered her my hand, bowing to kiss her fingertips. I guided her to her chair and seated her.
When she had had a moment to just look at and appreciate the dinner table, I reached for her napkin. I pulled it through my fingers and revealed a bouquet of flowers which she held in her arms. With a flourish, I pulled a silk bandana from my sleeve and quickly tied it around her eyes.
“Lincoln? How am I supposed to eat with flowers in my hands and my eyes blindfolded?” she asked in a tiny voice.
“My love, do not think that I will let you starve,” I said as I seated myself. I reached for a bit of mango, dipped it in Greek yoghurt, and touched it to her lips. She opened her mouth and I gave her the morsel. “Oh, that’s so good. Are you going to feed me my whole meal like this?”
“Not only am I going to feed you, my love, I am going to tell you all about it. And I am going to spin a tale of remarkable adventure,” I said.
“Oh, Lincoln! You went to Crossroads and Chaos! Did you take mother with you?” she asked as I offered her a dipped strawberry.
“She would not let me leave without her,” I chuckled as I also grabbed a bit of papaya. This I transferred to her waiting lips with my lips. We kissed as we shared the bit of fruit.
“Did you… make love to her?” she asked in a very small voice.
“Lisa has vows that she will never break,” I said firmly. I pushed a slice of banana between her lips and then gave her a sip of pinot grigio. Cadence sighed.
“I meant with Persephone. Your caretaker,” she said.
“Yes,” I whispered. After she accepted a bit of pineapple, I let the back of my hand flow down her body and across her breasts. Her nipples hardened and she pushed her chest toward me. “I intend to tell you all about it as I feed you and caress you,” I said.
“Oh, Lincoln! Please tell me you aren’t leaving me.”
“My precious love, I will never leave you. When I first saw Sephie as we entered the portal, I thought, ‘Soon, I will be back with Cadence.’ Each kiss and caress I received at Crossroads left me hungry for your kiss,” I said, demonstrating what I had missed. “I will never lie to you, my love. Persephone is beautiful, tantalizing, brilliant, and seductive. I love her intensely. But my heart is ever in your keeping.”
I continued to feed Cadence and give her sips of wine as I told of our subterfuge in taking both Lisa’s combs and my canes to Chaos. Lisa quietly replaced the fruit plate with caramelized pork tenderloin, already cut into bite-sized pieces. With it was Catalan potatoes streaked with picante and aioli. I never used the silverware, but fed her each morsel with my fingers, offering them to her occasionally to suck clean. During the course of the meal, I slipped the straps of her gown down and exposed her breasts. As I fed her, I also feasted on her treasures.
At dessert, I fed her miniature cannolis, streaked with chocolate. “They say that cannolis can be heard to cry, ‘Eat me! Eat me!’ Can you hear them, my love? Or was that you calling out to me?” I said. I pulled her chair around to face me and pushed her skirt up to give me access to her golden treasure. She gasped as I dribbled chocolate syrup on her nether lips and pushed her hips forward on the chair to give me better access. I licked her clean of the syrup and then delved deeper to taste her own delightful sauce. She moaned and when I found her little bud, her climax certainly rivaled any that Persephone or Ariel could have claimed.
I scooped Cadence up in my arms and carried her to bed. “Lincoln? Are you standing and carrying me? Without a cane or a crutch?” she gasped.
“Healing chambers are really a wonderful thing, my love,” I said. I laid her on the bed and removed the blindfold. During the course of the meal, as I’d told her of the adventure on Chaos and even of singing with Ariel, I’d also managed to undress. Lisa had helped so that I would not interrupt my tending of Cadence. When she saw how my body had changed over the months that I was gone, she gasped. She still clung to the flowers, held against her breast as I unzipped and pulled the silky sheath of her dress down past her hips and off her long lovely legs.
“I love you, my sweet Cadence,” I said as I crawled up between her legs. “No matter when or how often I go to Chaos, you will always be what draws me home. I will love you and protect you. I will care for and provide for you. You are the love of my life, and I will always come home to you.”
When I sank into her, she flung the flowers across the room and wrapped both her arms and legs around me as if she would never let me go.
That would be fine with me.
In the early morning light, we held each other. We had declared it a day of rest, even though I promised that I would go face the music with Sandy later in the day. Cadence was not going to school today and I intended to keep her naked and in my arms for as long as possible.
“You know, Lincoln,” she whispered as we basked in the afterglow. “Stories are not going to be enough for me.”
“What do you mean, my love?”
“As I am your companion here on earth, I intend to be your companion on Chaos. As soon as you can get me trained.”
The End
of this adventure
THANKS! Once again, I owe a deep debt of gratitude to my editors, Floyd Kemper, Pixel the Cat, and Old Rotorhead. Their labor improves my writing so much! And thank you to Lazlo Zalezac who created the wonderful universe of “Damsels in Distress” and allowed others of us to play there! Finally, thank you to my patrons who make it possible for me to produce stories for your entertainment.
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