Tip of the Tongue

Sharlet the cook wiped her plump hands on her apron and smiled at the tall man who stood waiting at the hatch.

"Good morning, Ruan!" she beamed. "And what would you like to eat today?"

Ruan flicked a lock of black hair from his brow and bowed in greeting. "Good day to you, Mistress Sharlet. I am hoping you might have some fresh prawns for sale."

The cook shook her head sadly. "I'm sorry, but the fishermen are late back from their dawn voyage, so I have no shellfish at all. Would you like to try some of my smoked ham? It's delicious when mixed with olives and a herb dressing."

Ruan nodded. "I'll buy two portions, for I am not eating alone this morning." He pointed to a dark-haired woman sitting some yards away on the edge of the harbour wall.

"Ah! Your friend Sharmoon," said Sharlet, recognizing Ruan's companion. "Why is she carrying an axe in her belt?"

"She's giving a lesson to the recruits at noon," Ruan replied, accepting gratefully the generous bowl of green olives offered by the cook. "They need to learn how to throw an axe at a charging enemy, and Sharmoon is an expert in the art, as in everything else."

He paid for the food and carried the olives, meat and plates to the wharfside. There he sat next to the dark-haired woman. Like him, she wore a short sleeveless tunic of soft buckskin, belted at the waist with leather. Her hair was not so dark as Ruan's, but where his was shorn around his collar, Sharmoon's hung in a tumbling mane down her slender back. Her blue eyes twinkled when she saw the food and she tossed an olive into her mouth, chuckling at Ruan as he watched her eat.

Sharlet leaned out of the hatch in the wall of the shop and folded her chubby arms. At her side a young blonde appeared, and she also stared at the breakfasting couple. She was no older than eighteen and had the same grey-green eyes as the burly cook.

"They do make a lovely couple, those two," Sharlet said wistfully. "I'll miss them when their army leaves the port next week. I hope they survive the war, and that they get married and have lots of children. Do you think they will wed soon, Orla?"

The girl shook her head. "No, Mama. I do not think they will marry. Ruan loves Sharmoon dearly, but Sharmoon's heart belongs to another warrior woman."

Sharlet turned around, her face a mask of astonishment. "She loves a woman? But why then does she openly kiss Ruan and walk the quayside with him hand-in-hand?"

The girl shrugged. "These northern barbarians are not like us, Mama. Their lives are more free than ours, and they choose their lovers as they please."

Sharlet wrinkled her nose in disdain. "Oh, Orla! You make them seem like animals!"

Her daughter smiled, turning away with blushing cheeks to tend a pan of steaming vegetables. But Sharlet remained staring at the two barbarians and, when Sharmoon gave a friendly wave, the cook returned it gladly.

* * * * * *

When the meal was eaten, Ruan returned the empty crockery to the hatch. He spent a few moments chatting merrily to the cook and to her daughter, before returning to sit beside Sharmoon. Smiling, she threw a discarded olive stone into the water between two moored boats and followed it with several more, the splashes attracting the attention of a gull that circled low over the harbour.

"You've been flirting with Orla again," she said, as Ruan sat down on the stone edge of the wharf. "I see the gleam of lust in your eyes."

Ruan grinned, tossing an olive stone at an old wooden buoy bobbing far out in the water. "I can't help it. She's so pretty!"

Sharmoon nudged his ribs with her elbow. "You leering wolf! You're seven years older than her. She's a sweet, innocent girl of eighteen, so leave her alone. She's completely infatuated with you, as you have doubtless already perceived."

Ruan's dark eyes widened in surprise. "I'm flattered. Maybe I ought to take her back to the fortress?"

Sharmoon nudged him again, but harder, so that he winced in pain. "Not tonight you won't. You promised me a good fucking, and I'll hold you to your word."

Ruan put his muscular arm around her shoulders and hugged her close, kissing her face and licking her neck. "I can't wait, Sharmoon! A whole night in your bed is such a rare opportunity these days."

Sharmoon pushed him away and sat up, her attention caught by a wave from the girl at the hatch.

"Orla's beckoning me," she said, rising to her feet. "I wonder what she wants?"

Ruan stared after her as she walked over to the butcher's shop. There, at the hatch, she stood talking with the girl for a few minutes. Ruan saw Orla toying with the blonde plaits that dangled on either side of her face, and he felt a stirring in his loins as he tried to imagine her without clothes. He wondered if her slender figure would follow her mother's into chubbiness in later life, and the picture of a naked Sharlet sprang into his mind. He found the image strangely arousing, despite his habitual preference for slim-hipped females. He tossed another olive stone into the water and tried to guess what Sharmoon and Orla were talking about.

* * * * * *

"Your first night with a boy?" said Sharmoon, her eyes shining. "Are you very excited about it, Orla?"

The girl bit her lower lip nervously and shrugged. "Yes, and no. You see, he's the same age as me, but very experienced. I know he's planning to seduce me, yet I'm terrified that I'll do everything wrong."

Sharmoon reached through the hatch to caress the girl's blonde plaits, her fingers twirling the red silk ribbons that bound them. "Don't worry! It's all quite easy. You won't make any mistakes."

"Easy for you to say," Orla objected. "But in this town a girl is not supposed to know about such things. And I know less than most, because my mother is so protective of me. She would definitely chastise this boy if she knew that he planned to take my virginity." She sighed, her mouth pursing in anxiety. "And that's another matter, for he does not know that I am a virgin. Last week I boasted that I know how to make a boy happy in bed. I said it to impress him, but now I'll feel such a fool when he sees that I know nothing."

Sharmoon gave a sympathetic smile. "You said just a moment ago that you needed my help. What would you wish me to do?"

Orla blushed a deep shade of crimson, her green eyes lowering in embarrassment. "I want you to tell me things, Sharmoon. I need to know what to do in bed, so that I do not make a complete fool of myself when I sleep with this boy."

"A difficult task," Sharmoon replied solemnly. "Talking is not the same as doing, and words are not the same as deeds. Even if I tell you these things, my advice may convey little to your young mind."

Orla nodded pensively. "Perhaps, then, I could watch you."

Sharmoon's dark eyebrows lifted in amazement. "Surely you jest?"

But Orla shook her head. "I could watch when you take Ruan to your bed. Then I'll know what to do when my time comes. Is that too much to ask?"

Sharmoon laughed quietly, her fingers fidgeting with the axe at her belt. "I don't know, Orla. I'm not sure if it would be the best cure for your dilemma."

"Please, Sharmoon!" hissed Orla, with surprising urgency. "I thought the barbarians were free of all restraint. Is it not so?"

"Even the wildest barbarians have limits," Sharmoon replied, her mouth curling in a grin. "But your dilemma is clearly acute." She took a breath, looking briefly over to Ruan. "I think you have just made my comrade a very happy man!" she added. "He won't believe it when I tell him."

Orla leaned forward to grip the warrior woman's arm. "Then you'll let me watch?"

Sharmoon nodded, and Orla withdrew her arm, her face wearing an expression of utter relief.

"When?" she inquired.

"Tonight!" answered Sharmoon, before turning away to walk back to Ruan.

Orla watched from a distance while the two barbarians spoke together. She saw a strange eager grin beaming on Ruan's face, and she returned his smile when he waved at her.

* * * * * *

"This is where Ruan sleeps," said Sharmoon, leading Orla by the hand into a small, dimly-lit room in a quiet part of the fortress. It was early evening, and the air seemed hushed. In the alcoves along the wall yellow candles were flickering. A large square bed lay along one side but the chamber was otherwise bare.

"Where is Ruan?" Orla inquired.

"He's bathing," Sharmoon answered, as she sat on the bed. Orla sat next to her, nervously biting her fingernails.

Sharmoon looked at the girl and smiled, for Orla looked so young and pretty. She had tied her blonde plaits with white ribbons and had now clothed her slender body in a long white dress that fitted very closely. The material clung so tightly to the pert curves of her small bosom that the outlines of her nipples were plainly visible beneath it.

"Try to relax," Sharmoon advised. "Breathe slowly and deeply."

Orla followed the advice and took several deep breaths, her breasts rising and falling as she inhaled and exhaled. To Sharmoon, the girl seemed younger than her eighteen years, her innocence shining through her sweet face like a pure white light.

"Tell me, Orla," she said. "Have you ever before seen a naked man?"

Orla shook her head, and her cheeks flushed pink. "No, never. But I've heard my friends describe the boys they've slept with, so I can imagine what to expect." She paused, turning to Sharmoon with a mischievous grin. "I can't wait to see Ruan naked. He's so handsome, so tall and strong. Do you love him?"

Sharmoon laughed at the question and held Orla's hand. "Sweet girl! Your innocence in these matters is so touching that I almost fear to spoil it by giving you this lesson tonight. But no, I do not love Ruan in the way that you mean. He is my comrade, and the finest man I have ever known, and in his bed I enjoy every minute of his company. Yet my heart is sworn to the love of Chekhu, the finest of women, as I have told you before. So intense is my love for her that sometimes my eyes fill with tears when she caresses me. One day you might meet her and see her loveliness for yourself."

Orla gently squeezed the barbarian's hand and said: "I cannot imagine any woman more beautiful than you, Sharmoon."

Sharmoon smiled, turning away to look at the door, for she heard footsteps approaching along the stone corridor outside. The door opened and Ruan entered the room, barefoot and damp-haired, a white towel tied around his waist.

Orla gazed up at him as he stood beside the bed, her eyes admiring his lean, muscular body and roaming eagerly over his tanned skin. He ruffled his black hair with his fingers and grinned at Sharmoon.

"Ready?" he inquired.

Sharmoon nodded and, to Orla's surprise, her darting hand swiftly pulled away the towel and threw it into a corner. The teenager gasped, startled by the sudden revealing of Ruan's nakedness. She had not expected the lesson in lovemaking to begin so quickly and so starkly. Sharmoon saw the girl's astonished expression and smiled.

"No point in wasting time on needless pleasantries," she explained, easing the buckskin dress off her shoulders.

Orla looked up at Ruan, who loomed over her like the tall bronze statue of a god. Her cheeks burned with embarrassment, but her heart was pounding with excitement and delight. Her eyes scanned the length of his body, from his broad chest to his firm flat belly, then down to the smooth cock that dangled at the apex of his muscular thighs. Her mouth opened a little as she stared at his manhood, which even in its softened state was longer than she had expected it to be. She guessed that Ruan was more well-endowed than other men, and she felt a sudden eagerness to see the shaft stiffen to its full size.

Sharmoon wriggled out of her dress and flung it aside, remaining seated on the bed. Orla looked at her, admiring the warrior woman's naked body but feeling rather envious. She wished she herself could feel so at ease with her nudity that stripping in front of people whom she hardly knew was no great ordeal. But she hated being unclothed in the presence of others and even covered her nakedness whenever her mother prepared a hot bath for her.

Like Ruan, Sharmoon was suntanned all over her body, and her figure was slender yet curvaceous, with a narrow waist, long smooth legs, and firm round breasts. Orla inhaled sharply when she saw the effect of Sharmoon's nudity upon Ruan, for his cockstem began to stir, its flesh swelling and stiffening as he gazed down at his beautiful comrade.

"Now for the first lesson," said Sharmoon, turning to the blushing girl. "We'll begin by introducing you to the mysteries of the male body."

She beckoned Ruan to stand closer, so that his half-erect manhood was barely twelve inches away from Orla's face and so close to Sharmoon's that she was able to kiss the foreskin without moving her head. The kiss, though merely a light brush of her lips, had a profound effect on Ruan. He gave a soft gasp, and Orla whispered under her breath as she watched his cock hardening.

"See how sensitive it is?" said Sharmoon, turning to the girl. "The skin becomes thin and stretched as the shaft stiffens, exposing the delicate nerve-endings so that the slightest touch brings an incredible reaction from the man."

To reinforce the point, she ran her forefinger gently along the underside of the cockstem, from scrotum to foreskin. Again Ruan gasped, his manhood twitching, its shaft now poking horizontally. Although not yet fully hard it was already more than eight inches long. Orla saw the interlacing patterns of pink and blue veins beneath the skin, which was so stretched that in places it appeared almost translucent. She saw also that the foreskin no longer reached to the tip, the domed purple cockhead thrusting out from its fleshy cowl as it swelled. It gleamed like polished leather and a bead of clear fluid glistened on its tiny red mouth.

Orla turned to Sharmoon. "What does it feel like when you run your finger back and forth underneath an erect cockstem?" she inquired nervously.

Sharmoon shrugged. "It's difficult to describe. Would you like to try it?"

Orla felt a rush of blood in her face and knew that her cheeks were bright red. "What? You mean now, with Ruan?"

Sharmoon nodded. "Don't worry. Ruan won't mind at all."

Orla hesitated for a moment while summoning her courage. Then, taking a deep breath, she touched the forefinger of her right hand to the underside of the shaft. Her eyes widened when she heard Ruan's small gasp of delight and she felt a strange pride when he whispered her name. She ran her finger slowly down to the place where his cock joined the crinkled sack of his scrotum, then back up to the foreskin, her smile broadening when her fingertip touched the gleaming cockhead. Part of her wanted to explore further, but her coyness restrained her curiosity and she lowered her hand to her lap.

"It feels wonderful!" she said. "So warm and firm. And so hard!"

Ruan's manhood reacted to the girl's touch by swelling to its full erection, an impressive ten inches in length. He stood now with his hands on his hips and a wide grin on his face.

"These are the testicles," Sharmoon continued, reaching between Ruan's thighs to gently cup his scrotum in her left hand. "They live in this little sack, which tightens when the cockstem stiffens. If you stroke the sack, like this, you'll make the man even more excited."

Ruan closed his eyes briefly, giving a moan of pleasure when Sharmoon's fingers began caressing his scrotum. Orla chuckled when his hips swayed, for his erection bobbed close to her face like a strange dancing serpent. But she raised her eyebrows when she saw Sharmoon's hand probe further beneath Ruan's body.

"The sack is very sensitive," Sharmoon explained. "Especially at the back, where the skin curves around to the man's asshole. Just a very gentle touch is enough, like this."

Ruan sucked air through gritted teeth and his whole body stiffened, his muscles relaxing only when Sharmoon withdrew her hand. Sweat gathered on his brow and glistened on his upper lip.

"Try it, if you like," said Sharmoon.

Orla felt a thrill of adventure when she placed her hand between Ruan's thighs. Her heart was beating very fast, but the blushing had almost vanished. The coy embarrassment with which she had arrived at the fortress was slowly giving way to a new boldness. The heat was now no longer burning in her face but in her loins. She became aware of a familiar dampness in her crotch, the same moist warmth that she felt whenever she touched herself secretly beneath the sheets of her own bed.

"Oh," she whispered, when Ruan's body quivered at her first touch. Her small hand cupped the wrinkly rounded sack and her fingertips gently caressed it, feeling the twin balls move beneath the skin. Her surprise at the scrotum's baldness vanished when she realised that Ruan kept his body hair to a minimum, for she had earlier noticed that the black bristles around the base of his cockstem were trimmed in a neat crescent.

Following Sharmoon's advice, Orla trailed a fingertip back and forth along the soft ridge of skin behind the sack, hearing to her delight a series of sighs and moans from the naked man. At one point, her finger roamed too far, probing briefly into the cleft between his buttocks. Ruan jerked, startling her into a hasty withdrawal of her hand.

"Don't stop!" he pleaded in a whisper, but Sharmoon grabbed Orla's hand before it could resume its exploration.

"Not so fast, not yet!" said the warrior woman. "The lesson has barely begun."

Orla grinned up at Ruan as he stared down at her, the head of his bobbing cock now barely inches from her beaming face. He winked, and she returned the gesture, but again Sharmoon interrupted.

"Concentrate, girl!" she said, tapping the end of Orla's nose to regain her attention. "You have much to learn before your fingers are ready for ass-poking. Now, watch this!"

With the thumb and forefinger of her right hand she slowly drew the foreskin back from Ruan's cockhead, revealing the shiny purple helmet to Orla's wide-eyed gaze. Then she closed her fingers around the shaft, drawing the foreskin up towards the tip, her grip tight at first, then loosening, then tightening again. She repeated the movement a dozen times, drawing the foreskin back and forth, slowly and carefully, until a droplet of fluid dripped from the tip onto her hand. Ruan's breathing deepened to a series of long, slow sighs and he lifted his hands from his hips to run his fingers through his hair.

"This is a wonderful way to pleasure a man," Sharmoon explained. "If it continues, his climax will eventually surge through his loins to spurt out of his cock. But the woman has to be careful or she might squeeze too tightly, or rub too vigorously, causing discomfort for her lover. The best way is to use gentle pressure, and to rub quite slowly, thereby prolonging his pleasure. Here, hold it with your right hand. That's good, Orla. Now pull the skin back and squeeze the flesh. Not too tightly!"

"That feels amazing!" Orla whispered, her eyes transfixed by the movement of her hand as it rubbed Ruan's manhood back and forth. "It's like a spike of hot steel. Are all cockstems so hard?"

Sharmoon laughed. "I've known some that are not so hard as Ruan's. But I would guess most cocks would be as stiff as steel in the hand of a pretty blonde teenager."

"Can I watch it squirting?"

"Not yet!" Sharmoon replied, stroking Orla's face. "First, I must introduce you to the most useful tool in a woman's armoury."

Ruan gave a huge gasp when Orla reluctantly released his manhood, the erect shaft twitching as his chest heaved and panted. Sharmoon looked up at him with fond eyes and ran her forefinger around the rim of his navel, before turning to Orla with her pink tongue protruding between her teeth. Orla responded with a puzzled frown, her green eyes blinking in bemusement.