Galleons and Gangplanks

Excerpt:
From Of Boats and Blue Beards
By Willa Okati

Christopher, better known as "Kit" to those he called friends, stood in front of the solid oak door to his uncle's study and straightened his cravat. He knew it was poorly tied and would make quite the spectacle if he were to venture out in public, but despite Uncle's decision that a valet was too costly for "the likes of him", he insisted on Kit's observing the niceties of a gentleman. The damned neck-cloth was about to choke him about the throat, while hanging too loose below.

Still, he'd done the best he could. And he didn't plan to keep the blasted thing on for long. All he needed was to face his uncle this one last time, and he'd be free.

Free to go after his heart's desire… or what came in second place, since what he wanted most had vanished in the seas several months gone, with nothing sent back but word of his death. Uncle had been relieved. He'd forbidden Kit to mourn, of course, but Kit obeyed only on the exterior.

Inside, he grieved every night for his lost David.

"Just one voyage," David insisted, toying with the light dusting of hair on Kit's chest. They lay naked together in David's bed for the safety of them both, Kit's uncle having far too many eyes and ears for anyone's good. It wasn't a very good bed, the stuffing having gone flat and the linen sheets well-frayed from being washed too many times, the rope supports giving little snaps of warning each time they moved, but it suited them.

It was, after all, the place where they came together.

Kit finger-walked his own hand up David's broad chest, counting off each muscle and stopping to circle one flat brown nipple with his forefinger. "I don't trust the seas," he'd said, not looking up. He couldn't quite bear to look David in the face, quashing his dreams as he was. "There are too many things out there for my peace of mind. Shipwrecks, scurvy, pirates…"

David laughed, his body shaking with the force of it -- they had no worries about anyone hearing or caring about them in David's tumbledown dwelling. He'd appropriated the place, an old barn, after the stable master gave up trying to sell skinny mares and slump-backed geldings and moved out. The place still smelled of hay and horseflesh, tempered with the rich musky scent of two males in rut.

They'd just finished making love, but Kit found himself eager, as always, to go again. He was young and strong, his cock eager at the slightest provocation, and David an irresistible temptation. He moved closer so that David would be able to feel the swelling of his manhood between the two of them, made a hungry sound, and kissed his lover on the round cap of his shoulder. Licking an intricate path between the freckles there, he made a purring sound and chuckled when David did.

"You're a sweet one when the mood's on you," David said, nestling comfortably on his back. Kit followed, pressing kisses on his chest. He tongued one nipple into his mouth and then bit lightly.

David gasped. "I know full well what you're trying to do, and it won't work," he said as firmly as a man could in his position. "One voyage, Kit. I've already put up the capital to invest in the venture."

"Then stay here on land, and let your profits mature without you there."

"No, no." David caught Kit's head with one broad hand and held it still. Kit paused over the nipple he'd been lavishing attention on, then sighed, his breath stirring the springy hairs. "Look, Kit, it's not as if I won't miss you. But I need to be on board to ensure that my goods are safe."

"Pay someone to do it for you."

"Love, no. I must go. I've given my word."

Kit sat up, gathering the thin sheet around himself. He gazed down at David, the gentle giant who'd won his heart from their first meeting over a game of cards, and drank in the sight of his lover from his sparkling green eyes to the thick thatch of his beard to his broad shoulders and tapering chest. He didn't reach for David's cock, even though it had grown half-full again. "Promise me, then," he said, seizing David's hand in his own. "Stay safe out on the waters, and come back to me again."

David grinned, teeth flashing white in his dusky face. "A promise easily kept," he said as if it were already a thing accomplished. "Now come here and kiss me again. We've time for one more round before you must leave."

"Damn Uncle for his suspicious nature. If he tolerated my having male friends, or even carousing like a young buck is expected to, we wouldn't have to sneak around so."

"Forget about your uncle. Think about us, lover. I've got a fancy to feel that sweet mouth of yours wrapped around my cock." David squeezed Kit's hand. His gaze danced. "Do you think you could force yourself to the task?"

"We'll see who forces who," Kit murmured, slipping down the bed and seizing David's cock in a firm grip, his mouth already watering for the salty, bitter taste of his lover's come on his tongue…

"Sir? Excuse me, sir?"

Kit came out of his reverie to see a young serving maid carrying a basket full of sheets, nervously eyeing him up and down. "Yes?" he asked distantly, his mind still hazy and full of images from the long past. "Did you need something?"