Isabella Awaening

Chapter 6

Isabella reflects on a past meeting with two soldiers and finds new friends in North Africa. She and Thomas share a special evening.

Isabella and Thomas sat there on the covered bridge of the pirate galley, hardly talking. At one point, she heard Thomas groan quietly and remembered his wound for the cannon accident.

"Let me see," she insisted and helped him roll up the sleeve of his cassock. Isabella inspected the gash, a few inches long and almost an inch deep, just below his shoulder. It was still bleeding slowly. She took a clean rag from her pocket, doused it with fresh water and cleaned the wound.

"Nasty," she said, "but you'll live. We should have someone look at it properly and give you a couple of stitches when we reach ... where are we going?"

"Porto Farina", said Thomas. "It's a pirate port at the town of Ghar El Melh, north-west of Tripoli."

"Tunisia." Said Isabella. "Is Ghar El Melh the base of these pirates?"

"No, this company is from further south. Ghar El Melh is the base of one of their competitors but it is where they are taking us. I have friends there."

Isabella was further confused about the nature of Thomas's deal with the pirates but let the matter rest. She tied his wound tightly with a rag soaked in seawater and sat back in silence.

The declining sun reached her back and she slipped into a light dreamy sleep. She was vaguely aware of the objects in the pockets of her pantaloon apron, Keira's horn weighty against her inner thigh. Thomas's earlier remarks about the janissaries taking her before sending her off to the slave market sent a little shudder through her intestines. And yet, at the same time, the thought of being handled and taken by several men together did resonate with her lustful side. An especially sordid memory of an earlier encounter with two men came back in images and feelings.

It was in her third summer at Henri's farmhouse and he had taken off to the mountains some weeks earlier. She was expecting him home any day and had prepared the house for his return. Despite Anton's urgings, she had not at that stage, taken lovers, more, she reflected, out of lack of opportunity than desire.

One particular cavalry officer had taken her fancy a few months earlier. He had arrived at the farmhouse initially with a message to Henri from the local battalion commander. Something to do with a raid being planned on a neighboring principality. Henri was clearly impressed with him and engaged him in animated conversations about animal husbandry and the weather. The animation was mostly on Henri's side of the discussions. The cavalry officer, whose name was Roberto, seemed somewhat more reserved and a little reluctant to take up Henri's offers of an overnight stay or a ride to the upper pastures to see his flock. Roberto did however show greater interest in Isabella, his eyes often wandering to her while Henri explained the finer points of some aspect of pasture management or shearing. On Roberto's third or fourth visit to the house, Henri had been away and he seemed to relax and enjoy Isabella's company as they took refreshments on the porch. She flirted innocently with him and tried to assess his intentions. He talked of his wife in the town, their plans for a vineyard, her desire for children and his hope that cavalry service would elevate his chances of a government post. Isabella was left with the impression that, while he was sorely tempted to make more explicit advances towards her, he was both shy and a little torn by his genuine love and devotion to his young wife. She let the idea of an affair pass.

That summer, bored and not particularly looking forward to her husband's return, Isabella had been pleased to greet Roberto and a friend when they stopped to water their mounts at the farm's troughs. They greeted each other as old friends and inquired after each other's health and happiness. Roberto's friend was Paulo, a strapping young man, very full of himself and inclined to swagger. He tried to catch Isabella's eye several times and he developed a slightly unattractive leer when she spoke to him. Roberto revealed that they were both on leave from their unit and had decided to come to town to see the performance of an English play that evening. Roberto's wife was pregnant and had returned to her parent's home in Naples to be nearer a competent midwife and her family's support. Roberto seemed happy and suggested that Isabella accompany them to the play. Isabella was certainly keen on the idea, but wary of allowing herself to be left alone with Paulo. She had had her fill, literally, of young bucks like him in previous years and was not interested in renewing what she was sure would be a brief and not particularly satisfying acquaintance. She took Roberto aside and confessed her concerns. He was sympathetic but defended his friend as a gentler and more sensitive person than he appeared. In any case, he promised not to leave them alone.

She had a wonderful evening. The play, A Midsummer Night's Dream by an apparently famous English writer, was funny and lewd and the entire audience joined in the fun. Roberto had found the three of them a grassy position overlooking the little stage and had procured tankards of ale, which they drank heartily. In the darkness, Isabella had moved close to Roberto, resting her head on his arm or shoulder during the first Act. Paulo turned out to be witty and reasonably intelligent, making clever and rude comments to the actors and paying particular attention to Isabella's comfort and the level of ale in her tankard. During the interval, both men went off into the trees to relieve themselves. When they returned, they took up positions on either side of Isabella and moved close. As the play unfolded, she felt more comfortable with Paulo, but still clung to Roberto for comfort and protection, hoping he might even return some of her gentle caresses. But it was Paulo who made the first advance, running a hand up under her skirts while she was laughing at the antics on stage. She caught his hand through the material, but rather than making a scene, she simply held it firmly and whispered to him "Enough for now."

She turned to Roberto who was clearly aware of what was happening. He smiled and leaned to her ear, "Shall I stop him?" he asked.

"No," she said, "just stay close." She kissed his cheek and he put an arm around her shoulder.

Although Isabella had fantasized about having more than one man, she had never seriously thought she could. But with both of these young men with their hands on her body, she was becoming more aroused and convinced that she would like to try it.

She released her grip on Paulo's hand and he immediately responded by moving it higher to her inner thigh. She moved her hand to Roberto's thigh and brushed his crotch with her wrist. He, in turn, kissed her temple and moved a hand to her breast. It was all very gentle and seemed quite natural and instinctive to Isabella.

As the play went into its final Act, they continued drinking and laughing while their touches and whispered comments to each other became more lewd and intense. Paulo had removed her tights and draws, stuffing them into the pocket of his tunic. His fingers probed and stoked her pussy and ran up over her tummy. Roberto had slipped a hand into her blouse and was gently rubbing and pinching a nipple. Isabella had rubbed his crotch and felt his erection through the tight material. At one stage, she had a hand on both men's cocks and had one of each of their hands up her skirts opening her thighs and stroking her wet slit alternately. She was building to a delightful orgasm when the play finished and the crowd started to rise and move about. Her modesty prevented her completing her satisfaction with other people now passing so close to them.

She stood and motioned for both her men to rise with her. Their erections made their movements uncomfortable and Isabella laughed at their attempts to rearrange themselves inside their tight cavalry uniform pants. Once they were fully mobile, Isabella took an arm of each and started them walking back towards her home, up the dusty road in the moonlight.

They had progressed about quarter of a mile, with much mutual touching and fumbled attempts by the boys to get under Isabella's skirts. Isabella stopped dead, hands on hips and declared to herself that it was now or never. She took each of them by a hand and pulled them to the side of the road and across the little drainage ditch. As soon as they were in the trees, Paulo tried to pull her down, but she broke free and scampered through the little wood, down a mossy slope and into a little clearing she knew was there. The moonlight shone through the break in the canopy and she sat on the cool grass and called to them to find her. They took less than a minute; thank goodness, she thought.

She half-lay back, supported by her elbows and Roberto and Paulo stood before her. Paulo made to approach her but she said "No. I want both of you naked."

Hardly had she spoken, than boots and jackets were flying and both boys were frantically unbuttoning their shirts and flies. Isabella took the opportunity to undo her own blouse and skirt, shrugging them off before the boys had finished struggling with their tight trousers. Eventually they were done. Isabella instructed them to stand before her together; two tall, handsome, well-muscled young men, both with their beautiful hard cocks standing straight up in the pale moonlight. She opened her thighs to their eyes and stroked her breasts. Paulo moved to her side and knelt so that his cock was touching Isabella's face. Roberto knelt between he legs and leaned forward to kiss her and stroke her face. His eyes made sure that she was willing and ready for what would follow. She gave him no reason for doubt and his mouth travelled her neck and shoulder and breasts on its way to her hungry cunt. She took Paulo's cock into her mouth, gently licking and teasing it with her lips before grabbing his firm ass and starting to glide him into her throat.

Roberto was an expert at his chosen task, using his fingers and tongue to stimulate her clit and hole until she was grinding her hips into his face. She tried to gasp as he slid two long fingers into her, but Paulo's cock nearly choked her. She coughed and he removed it. She wanted to be fucked, so she rolled over and rose on hands and knees. Roberto understood and immediately slipped his cock into her and started to gently grind his hips. Paulo sat, legs astride, directly in front of her face and she leaned into him and resumed her sucking of his swollen cock. As Roberto increased the rhythm of his stokes he held her hips to guide her onto him. Her mouth opened wide for Paulo, fucking his cock with her throat. She could feel him shaking and heard him moan. She rose a little, so that the head of his cock was held between her tongue and the roof of her mouth and she sucked. She loved the feeling and taste of sperm spurting into her mouth and Paulo provided a substantial load. Roberto meanwhile was pounding her hard and he too spasmed and began to come, deep inside her. She swallowed Paulo's seed but kept his cock in her mouth as she felt her own orgasm take her, Roberto still thrusting and coming in her cunt.

She released Paulo but Roberto stayed in her while he regained his breath.

"Oh, Isabella," he said softly, "you drive me wild with lust."

Isabella giggled and, holding Paulo's soft dick in her hand, turned her head and said, "Roberto, the feelings are mutual, I assure you. Now come here and let me clean your tool." She wiggled her arse and his cock slipped out of her.

With both men sitting in front of her, Isabella licked one clean and then the other, fondling their balls and using her fingers and thumbs to massage them hard again. She told them how much she needed to be fucked and how good their cocks were. It only took a few minutes. They were young and very easily coaxed back to hardness. When she had her two firm cocks again, Isabella stood and positioned herself over Paulo. His hand opened her dripping pussy and she squatted onto him, wrapping her legs around his waist and wiggling until she had him completely inside her. She leaned forward, pushing him down onto his back and raising her ass for Roberto. He knew what she wanted and knelt behind her, holding his cock in one hand and seeking her anus with the thumb of the other. She was slick from her previous fucking and Roberto's own come and his thumb found a welcoming relaxed hole, eager to be penetrated. He rubbed some of their combined juices onto the head of his cock and pressed it against the opening. As Isabella began to grind herself onto Paulo's rod, she pressed against Roberto's until it slipped inside. They worked slowly, little by little pushing him deeper. Isabella was moaning and shaking, head thrown back. She rested like that, panting, both cocks filling her, for maybe half a minute and her young lovers waited patiently. She had never had two cocks in her before and her asshole was stretched further than it had ever been. She burned, but the pleasure too was enormous. She started to rock gently, letting them slide a few centimeters in and out, slowly at first and then using her legs to rise and fall a little further with each stroke. Within a few minutes of more aggressive pounding, her head was shaking from side to side, her hair flying and she started a long low moan as she became even more frantic and urgent in her lust. The boys did little but hang on and keep their cocks inside her. Her moans became yelps and, eventually she was out of control and screaming. Roberto held her shoulders and Paulo her hips as she bounced hard onto them, heaving repeatedly and releasing a flood of her cunt juices before collapsing onto to Paulo's chest and pulling free of Roberto's cock. She lay there experiencing waves of pleasure and sighing.

She must have seemed unconscious because Paulo expressed concern.

"Is she alright, Roberto? What happened? Her cunt is still gripping me!"

"I think she is just resting, Paulo. An amazing woman to be sure. I have never seen anything quite like that," he said. Then touching Isabella gently on the shoulder he said, "Isabella, my dear, Isabella, are you still with us?"

Isabella heard him and responded with a groan of pleasure and a wiggle of her bottom, "Of course I am with you, silly boys," she said. "Just give me a moment to rest."

Both men responded by stroking her back and bottom with their hands and murmuring their awed respect for her.

It was at that precise moment that Isabella was hit with a revelation. "Men don't understand!" was how it came to her first. Yes, they are not the same as her! While she climbs the entire ladder of her passion - from raw animal instinct, through physical pleasure, memory, hope, imagery, sound and touch, emotional ecstasy, intellectual fulfillment, spiritual connection and finally reaching a plane of pure being in which her body, mind and soul coalesce outside of the mortal sphere -- men barely reach the second or third rung! It struck her now as obvious and it explained so much. She mentally gave Anton a little more credit, but even he admitted that it was Serena who tutored and taught him to transcend the ordinary. Isabella wondered whether she had discovered a great truth, or whether her slightly intoxicated, lustful state was playing tricks on her. She laughed to herself.

"Fuck me again!" was her cry and Paulo enthusiastically complied by raising her hips and thrusting his still hard cock into her. Roberto rose, saying he would first clean his cock. He walked across to the little stream nearby, grabbing a handful of moss from the base of a tree.

Isabella heard the barking of a dog and felt herself being shaken by the arm. "Isabella, Isabella, wake up!" came a voice in her ear. Roberto? No! It was Thomas, rousing her from her dream and shaking her gently by the arm. She opened her eyes and recognized the pirate galley and the Agha standing over them both yelling at Thomas.

"What's wrong?" she said, suddenly scared. "What does he want?"

Thomas held up his palm to the Agha and said a few words in Arabic. The Agha stamped his foot and took a few angry paces along the deck.

"Isabella, I had to wake you. You were moaning and the pirates, the janissaries at least, were becoming inflamed. They are very sensitive to a woman's ...er ...scent, and yours had reached them, driving them to distraction. The Agha was threatening a withdrawal of his agreement." Isabella could see a group of bearded pirates assembled on the deck below the bridge, looking from her to the Agha and back again, their eyes burning with desire. Isabella did not quite understand what Thomas was saying but she realized that she was not only in danger, but also sitting in a damp pool of her own juices, saturating the material of her tights and the dark red robe. She nodded and crossed herself, her hooded head bent low. "Oh god, my slutty nature will get us both killed!" she thought to herself.

Thomas continued in a low voice, "The Agha and the Rais have had an argument over your fate. I feared that the janissaries' arousal might in turn incite the sailing crew and cause a chain reaction. We must be careful now, but we will soon be in port."

Isabella sat holding tightly to Thomas's arm, staying silent and keeping her head bent. The crew went sullenly back to their duties. She heard the whips being flayed even more aggressively below and the grunts and exclamations of the slaves made her wince. She felt Thomas pat her arm affectionately and he whispered soothing words in her ear. Her dependency on him was like a weight, preventing her deeper feelings from finding their voice. Did she love him? She certainly lusted for him, but she was accustomed to that particular feeling. No, this was definitely different. She thought about the men she had known; protectors, lovers, patrons, providers, companions; but none of them had aroused these particular feelings in her. Isabella did not consider herself a romantic woman. Lustful, yes; Emotional, yes; Spiritual, certainly, but never a romantic. She always felt that swooning love-lorn girls were delusional, living a fairytale to justify opening their thighs to some handsome or rich suitor. Now she wasn't sure of anything. Thomas tightened his grip on her arm and whispered, "We are almost there, Isabella."

Looking ahead, Isabella saw that, indeed, the coast was now only a couple of miles away on their left. Just before dusk they rounded a small headland and entered a narrow passage. A town at the far end of the bay grew steadily closer. Isabella could see the docks and their strange arched buildings. Small boats and another galley were moored around the harbor. Their own ship stopped short of the wharf and floated there. Their arrival seemed to have sparked fevered activity on shore and it was only a minute before a small craft set out towards them. Thomas stood and walked to the shoreward side of the ship, joining the Rais and the Agha who were already there. Isabella saw that the boat rowing towards them carried a small pivot-mounted cannon in its bows and that smoke was rising from a torch held by a man behind it. Six or seven other men in the boat held muskets. This was not the friendly welcome to Ghar El Melh she had hoped for. As the rowboat closed on them, a man in a turban and red vest rose and called something, Isabella heard him start with "Agha Murad Benij" and something that sounded quite nasty to her ears.

The Agha laughed and called back. The man in the boat seemed to have trouble hearing him and drew closer. The name "Thomas" was exchanged. "Is that you, Magus?" called the man in the boat in fluent Italian.

"It is, Ahmed!" called Thomas through cupped hands, "I need the Bey's assistance to finalize my arrangements with these gentlemen!"