The Eastern Beauty

[Apollo Wilde]

Slipping into the bed next to him, strangely enough, she wrapped her arms around him. Perhaps it was because she had not had anyone close to her in years, or because she was used to sleeping curled up like that, who knows.

He offered himself, and so she took it. It would not take long for her to rest her head on his chest, closing her eyes for a moment just to listen to the sound of his heart. It was soothing, and if she imagined hard enough, she could be somewhere entirely different.

For long moments, they sat there in silence, the only sound their breathing. Before long, she would say something, her words tickling his chest.

"Drago...." and she would say his name with some difficulty, "Do you intend to stay in Acre? What...would you do if someone was interested in purchasing me from you, and could offer my worth?"

She was gambling now - she had no idea how much money Adi saved up, but somewhere deep down she knew that the woman could not have enough to possibly buy her freedom. But at least now, she would have some sort of hope, something to hold on to. In her time as a slave, she never thought that she would meet someone like Adi, and now the thought of leaving her tore at her. How could she survive without someone to laugh with, someone that knew her name and her struggles?

Even if Drago was a kind master, what would he know of a woman's world and a woman's struggles? The pain of being taken roughly, or the strain of being expected to run an entire household and then happily take him to bed? No, that was something that only other women could understand. And even more, with Adi, there was some understanding of being different in a strange land, though Adi had called Acre her home for far longer than Sadaa had.

 

[LordLuck]

For long moments, he simply embraced her. His hands had reached aroung her waist, and then lifted to be just under her armpits, pressing her breasts against his side as he held her tightly, lovingly. How he had missed this feeling! To have a woman against his side, protecting her, nurturing her with his love. For a long moment, he had closed his eyes, and was sent back in time. For a long moment, he was not in Acre, but in Verona, on the Villa of Laura's Father, and they had just consumated their wedding. They both reeked of sex and seed and sweat.

And then, her words ruined it all. For she was not Laura, she was Sadaa. She was dark as the night, black as sin, and curled against him. For a long moment, he considered her words. The way she had voiced it... she was indeed looking forward to an awnser he knew not if he should surrender.

If he ever gave her away, selling her or otherwise, he would have his coin back... but he would also need to drive a knife into Isaac's neck, deep along it and over into his shoulder until the savage steel bit his heart, and hear his gurgling down to death. Drago could even take that expensive lady wife of his. Even though Catarina expected him back home.

That made him chuckle. First a Moor, then a Jew. Would he end up mating a demoness as well? That was the next on the scale of corruption? He would end up fucking his way into Hell, he knew.

"...I... I don't know, Sadaa. I am supposed to remain around for 3 days... and...", he told her as he moved his head, kissing against her forehead gently before seeking her lips to lock against his. "...I don't know. I've grew very, very fond of you."

 

[Apollo Wilde]

As he kissed her, she sighed softly. She could not ask him, then, if he had grown fond of her. Feeling hot tears burn her eyes, she screamed at herself to think, and think fast. There had to be a way that she could have Adi with her. But it would mean her being honest to yet another strange man, but to have Adi with her, was that not worth the risk?

"Drago, there is a woman here that has been...." she said something in her language, and then stopped, trying to find the right word for it in his. "Like a little mother to me. She has cared for me when I was Isaac's slave, and kept me from the shame of having a child. She would have purchased me, had Isaac not had such a debt. I do not wish to leave her...." and tears started in those great dark eyes. Just even saying it was enough to make the girl sob.

Now was not the time to make a snide remark about how he only wanted her body, and not that he cared about her as a person. Realistically, he had been nothing but nice to her, but she was still scared of getting too comfortable. It might have been easier for him to sell her before he got too attached.

"She has some money, I am sure that she would be willing to give it to you, if you but asked...my former Master is young and foolish." Strange, that she would find herself defending Isaac. He had shown her some kindness, true, but could be rough and short with her and quick to hit her. But she did not wish him dead or punished, for that would directly mean her life would be in jeopardy as well. But even as a slave, she wished to live.

"Isaac thought that I would kill you, then myself. He wanted to die because of all of the trouble that he is in. It is not just you that he owes money to, and he fears you greatly. Do not think too harshly on him. He does all for his Lady Rebekah."

 

[LordLuck]

"All for his Lady Rebekah...", the merchant repeated her words. Since Isaac married, then, his actions had been stranger and stranger. What should he do? If he ended Rebekah, Isaac could be redeemed, but would he dare raise hand against a woman? He would see to it tomorrow. Perhaps his men would give him any worthy ideas.

"He might get himself killed alright.", he grumbled as he held the woman gently against himself, leaning to kiss her forehead once more. "This woman... Perhaps we can meet her tomorrow. She... She is very dear to you, I think.", he nodded. Her words had betrayed the tears in her eyes too, accomplices. "Do... Do you think... she would like to travel?"

"A voyage along the sea... back to my homeland?", he whispered to her, knowing that the children must be already fast asleep. He took a hand to close the canopy's curtains, so that they were alone in the bed-alcove at last. "...I might pay her good coin instead of taking it. And she would... remain close. Always close."

The vessel could very well take another woman on board. It was quite an amusing prospect, though. A woman aboard would be nice for himself, for he would never share Sadaa with anyone. But another, unknown lady... her 'little mother'... Could be the sort of woman that Robbio needed to empty his needs upon.

 

[Apollo Wilde]

"Lady Rebekah comes from a wealthy family, Isaac does not. He does much to please her. He purchased me before their marriage was final, thinking that a slave would do much to make him look well in her eyes," She didn't know why she was telling him all of this. After all, she owed Isaac nothing. But that was a lie. Isaac could have mutilated her, could have thrown her out on the street, or have sold her to a much crueler man. Perhaps he had cared more for her than she had allowed herself to think.

"You would bring my little mother with us?" She spoke in a softer tone now, scared that if she spoke too loud, his offer would go away. It was almost too good to be true. It was possible that she wouldn't have to leave her mother - she could have her own friend again! Without saying too much more, she wrapped her arms tighter around him. If she was able to have Adi with her, it did not matter what Drago could possibly do to her. Worse case, she and Adi could escape back to Acre or where ever else that they could go. Adi was a smart woman; she would probably continue to save her coin.

"She would be very useful. She tended to me while Master Isaac owned me to make sure that I would not have his children, and she mended me when I went to her this evening, for you took me too roughly." It was honest, and now seemed the time to speak her mind. It happened, yes, but he would need to know that she needed time to heal before he could try her that way again - and to be much gentler. "She also has the means to make things more pleasureable....she makes many medicines."

Kissing the side of his neck, she did it out of thanks for his words that considered even taking Adi along with them.

 

[LordLuck]

That soft little kiss made him smile as he reached for the covers to adjust them neatly under it. Giovanna had seen to adjust and fluffify the pillows and the covers all, battering the dust that had gathered away and stretching the covers before laying them back. With a soft smile of his own, he leaned to kiss against Sadaa's forehead lovingly, the hands around her pulling her tighter.

"...Of course I would, if she would come. I cannot force her to do it, Sadaa, you know it.", he reminded her back to reality. "But we'll see to it. Tomorrow, you lead me into the Market so I can see and talk to her.", he could feel her own grip groing way tighter around him.

"I... I'm sorry for that.", he blushed deeply in the dark, thankful about it. Otherwise, she would see him growing very crimson. Perhaps she would see it, but most probably not - given that the only light was the faint embers on the closed over, shadowing the room with orange shades along the black shadow. The candles had been blown, and through the shutters only yellow dancing lights occasionally crossed them, coming from torches bellow on the street. "I... I had not... had a woman for a long, long time. Sorry, Sadaa. I'm sorry, I never meant to hurt you."

A dog barked, very far from the Loggia, the Shop/Storehouse that now was their home. "...Counsel me, Sadaa. If you could. How should I act regarding Isaac?", he told her, staring on her deep eyes for a moment, losing himself on them. Her naked form felt so warm against his. "...I cannot forget that he tried to... to...", she knew what. She had been the one to do it. "...Yet, I cannot simply order him killed."

 

[Apollo Wilde]

Secure in his arms, she snuggled closer to him, slipping one of her legs between his. The stark contrast between his pale skin and her dark made him look as if he was being embraced by a shadow. His lips warm on his forehead, she pressed further into him.

His apology hung heavily between them. She could not believe it. For a moment, she thought maybe she had died, and she was now living in some sort of strange dream. Something changed in those dark eyes of hers, and she looked at him with a new light. There was no reason why he should fake an apology to a slave; he could take her whenever he wanted without a reason or a second word. But he had not, not this entire time. He had apologized then, during the act as well, as his hands feverishly traveled her body. She wanted to ask why he had not been with a woman in so long, but now was not the time. Perhaps another night...but then came her next question.

"If you have not been with a woman by choice, then why break that with a lowly strange slave?" It was a question that would have chewed at her had she not asked. Perhaps it might explain much about him....and why he treated her so kindly when she was but a slave.

He asked her for council. Burying her face in his chest, she closed her eyes. This was the first that any man had asked her for advice, and she was not sure how to react. Listening to his heart again, she opened up her eyes, struggling to deal with all of what was going through her head. She would have to answer him truthfully, and fairly - being asked to handle the life of another was not a light task.

"I do not know how you should handle Isaac, Drago. I do not know the way that your people handle this things. Explain to me clearly what his offense may mean, and I will try and give you the best answer. Isaac was not cruel to me, but he was not fully kind, either. He is but a young man with a heavy heart."

 

[LordLuck]

The way that leg slipped between his had the merchant gently using the one leg he had above to caress against her, calf against calf, his rougher one against her smooth, tender yet strong and ripped one. She felt so warm against him, so deliciously hot. The image of being hugged and dragged by shadows also appealed to his own mind as he could see her arms against him, her legs long and powerful. She was such a tough woman.

And once more, he found himself wandering, his manhood throbbing gently between them as he rubbed against her unpurposefully. But once more, he managed to control it, even though it was getting a little bit harder. "...Because that slave... told me of her grievings.", he whispered back, sniffing against her scent. "...She told me of her life and her pains and her sorrows. It takes one that suffers to be sympathetic to another."

He took another deep breath before going on, feeling one of her breasts against his flank. "I was once married, years and years ago.", he took a hand underneath her shoulders to gently comb her hair, his fingers feeling her gently enough not to drag painfully on any knots. "She was my love and my life. Everything I did, every bussiness, every journey, I did for her. She loved me in kind, but the Lord Above cursed us. By all accounts, she was barren. Or I was barren, we could not know.", he run his lips against her features gently once more, always exploring her.

"We tried many times, but always she suffered her Bleeding. We grew sad, but still were happy, for we had each other.", he went on. "But when she finally conceived, there were... complications. Every Doctor and Medic and Priest I hired could not save her from the illness that came with her pregnancy. She passed away, and our child with her too. A Stillbirth."

He caressed her, holding tight to her back as she held him too. "I... We are not used to keep slaves. Slavery is shunned and mostly forbidden to fellow Christians. There are few slaves on my homeland... and less so in the whole Sunset Lands.", he stole a soft kiss against her lips. "I... I treat you... like a woman. And I... Well... I liked you. I like you, Sadaa."

For long, long moments he remained quiet, listening to their breathing and the heat between their bodies. The nights, even here on Acre and outside on the endless waste were almost always chilly, despite the days being terrible hot. "Perhaps... we can come to... save Isaac?", he told her softly.

 

[Apollo Wilde]

"Then why do your people buy my own, if slavery is looked down upon? They would not take us and sell us if there is no one to buy us."

She untangled herself from him, moving to prop herself up on her elbows as she searched his green eyes for an answer. It made no sense to her. If this was the way of these "Christians", whatever that meant, then they were liars. Her people or those similar to hers were sold every day, right there in Acre. Even if they never got far enough to his homeland, they were sold nonetheless. Slaves in her world were those who were defeated in battle. But there were no battles between her people and his. To just have slaves....well, she supposed it made sense. It meant that you had money and power.

He would have no idea of all of the pains that she went through, for she had not yet told him. But his story of his wife was sobering, and she felt sorrow for him. To be without children must be a terrible burden - for all that man could do, all of his wealth truly amounted to the children that he had.

"In...in my home, a large family meant many things. For most, it showed that a man was good. A woman was to stay and tend to the babies, the men did not have much to do with them. I had many brothers and sisters.....my name means...." She paused, looking again for the word that they would use. "Patience." My mother named me this, for I was the second to oldest and she knew that I would have to be calm to play the little mother to so many children. I had 8 brothers and sisters."

She settled back down into the bed, rolling over to her back as she closed her eyes. In her memory, she could hear their voices, see their shining black faces. "So many children....! But I loved them all so much. I would have to leave my mother's home when I was to be married. They had picked out a good hunter. I did not know him well, but he fell first when the slavers came..." Her voice caught, and she sounded close to tears. Swallowing, she stopped. "I do not know if my family is alive. When Rebekah took me to Adi, Adi was the first one here to treat me kindly. Like a mother....I do not know what I would have done without her."

She shifted, her body growing cold in the Acre night. Moving to her side again, she turned to face him, moving so that their chests touched. He was warm against her now cool skin, and she was glad for it.

"I.....I was going to have Isaac's child when he first used me. I did not know what to do, but Rebekah took me to Adi to make sure that I would not birth the child. I was so scared....I knew nothing of having a baby, and to have a baby by someone not my husband caused me great shame. Adi understood, and she helped me. Isaac, once he found out..." Biting her lip, she was unsure how to go on, or even if she knew the words in his language to express what she had seen in Isaac's eyes.

Isaac had always looked at her as if he was not sure what to do with her. He would be tender one moment and loud and violent the next, but when he was sad, he always went to her. When Rebekah was out, he liked to keep Sadaa close to him. She always felt that if he had not a wife, she would have been his constant companion. He had even taught her a little on how to pray in that strange tongue of his, and told her that he would not go to her on her unclean days. Funny, that she would look to that time as the one week or so that she would have all to herself, and that she would not have to worry about preforming any other duties for him.

"I do not know how to help Isaac. He is in much debt, and does not care for his life. Perhaps if he was to be a slave as well....I do not know how your world works. If a man in my tribe owed a debt to another man, he would become that man's slave until the debt was repaid and honor was restored."

 

[LordLuck]

This conversation was proving to be much deep and, strangely, enjoyable. Most men would simply use their slaves - and Heavens be Good, Sadaa had quite a nice body to be used indeed. However, Lorenzo forced those thoughts away from his mind, for Sadaa was more than a slave. She was a woman. A woman scared and pained by some of the same feelings him, as a man himself, had suffered. "It... It's more complicated than that, Sadaa. Some peoples slave others, than sell them. It ends up reaching our hands. Like mine. Like you and me.", he told her once she once more returned into his embrace. He loved the feel of hers, brushing against his body. "I have no other slaves, nor I use to buy them."

"My sellswords are hired blades. They offered me their services, knowing that it could mean their lives to serve me.", he told her as he brushed a hand gently against her hair once more, feeling her strong scent. Her musk was something so exotic, so spicy, so naturally fresh. "Giovanna and Paulo act like servants, but she is a little daughter in her own way, and Paulo is a ward. A son of a friend, that I raise as my own."

With that, he almost went on as how he knew not what he should do with her. If he should cast her away on the streets where she would probably have to whore herself - that, if she was not taken into slavery once more by less savoury characters. Should he even offer her her freedom? Would she survive it in this land? The first Arab that laid hands on her would probably rape her before throwing her for his men to enjoy.

"I... I am sorry for your husband. The hunter. And about your family.", he nodded sadly, for there was simply nothing he could actually do for her in that regard. More than once, out in the sea, Lorenzo Drago had to fight against saracen pirates, who would have certainly enslaved him and his crew while plundering his vessel - if any of them ever survived the encounter. "Was... Was Rebekah your first... Mistress?"

He could not call her owner. It did not fit well. Most would scorn him back as his own homeland if he was ever seen having a slave - or at least, a christian slave. That made him think. If he could have her converted into Christianity, she could not be enslaved by anyone - not even himself. She would be instantly freed from any bindings she might have ever had. He could give her a cross, at least. That would show them that she was a christian, and could not be enslaved.

At least to the christians that were slave-traders and owners and catchers. Arabs, mostly Muslims, would really not care.

"That custom of yours does make sense. Hmm... Perhaps I shall approach the matter and subject tomorrow with Isaac once I come to meet with him. This blow cannot go unawnsered - or at least, unconsidered.", he told her as he leaned to kiss her cheek once more. "...Sadaa... what faith do you prowess? Have you ever... taken the Lord our God?"

 

[Apollo Wilde]

"Everything is so strange here...." Trailing off, she closed her eyes, her eyelashes tickling his chest ever so lightly."Lady Rebekah was my first mistress. The slavers owned me until Isaac bought me from them. In that action, he showed me a great kindness."

Her arms encircled him again, and she sighed softly. The events of the day were starting to wear on her, and the comfort of the bed and his warm body were lulling her to sleep. She remembered the day that she had first seen Isaac. She was much younger, and his brown eyes had caught hers, and he had not moved from the spot when he first spotted her. He had argued her price, but the entire time, his eyes never left hers or her body. As if under a spell, that's how he acted. When they were behind the curtain for him to inspect her body, his fingers trembled and he seemed shy to touch her.

Of course, in time, that shyness vanished, and he took her wantonly.

"Faith? Christianity?" While she still talked to her gods, sometimes she lost faith in that they heard her. How could they have? Look at where she was, what had happened to her. But...they did have a strange way of working out. After all, was she not here with Drago, who had treated her kindly, and said himself that he could not see her as a slave.

She knew nothing of the Christian faith - at least, nothing at length. Isaac and Rebekah were Jewish, and only spoke about Christians in varying terms as far as professionalism, but nothing of faith. She attended both as they prayed, and would accompany Rebekah on the woman's side of the temple. The rabbis had given her strange looks, but they had gotten used to her as well, too. They did not speak to her. She could not tell if they hated her, pitied her, or simply knew not what to say to her. Surely her position for Isaac seemed strange - and she was presented to others as a servant, but she knew that her position was more of that of a slave. She had to respond to their beck and call, and was not paid for any of her labors.

 

[LordLuck]

"Those slavers must have been faithless brutes. I am sorry to hear of it, Sadaa. Dear Sadaa." The same was true to the Master, for the weariness of putting to port, and the whole day were starting to gnaw on his tones and heave on his eyes. He gently pressed her against his chest, adjusting the covers againt her once more since she had left him the first time. She was so beautiful. Someone had once said all women were beautiful in a way, and albeit sometimes he had doubted that poet's words, it might be that the man had some reason.

"Yes... Do you pray to Gods or only one God?", he asked her gently, cupping her cheek with his other hand once he was adjusting the covers, this time sliding one of his own legs between hers. There was silence otherwise in the whole room. The children were fast asleep, or so it seemed. The embers on the over were growing gradually colder. Occasionally they could still hear the sellswords chatting downstairs as one kept guard and other kept him awake, while the third would be sleeping on the piles of flour and grain.

Drago already knew that Robbio prefered to sleep over grains - it made for a neat replace to hay, the young man claimed. "It does not really matter. Not to us, anyways. Tomorrow, I'll give you a cross. If you claim to be christian... nobody can hold you as a slave. You must only... pretend of it.", he told her of his plan, even though he fought a yawn.

 

[Apollo Wilde]

"There is nothing kind about slavers, Drago. They kill all that get in their way and abuse all else. They are devils roaming the earth, devouring us like jackals..." and she shivered, lost for a moment in terrible memories.

His tenderness wore away at those jagged edges, and she was comfortable again in his arms. As his hand touched the side of her face, she closed her eyes, enjoying the feeling. Moving closer to him, she put her hands on his chest. His leg finding a home between hers, she shifted and draped her thigh over his, securing him close to her. She had not laid with someone so comfortably before, and she had to admit to herself that she enjoyed the experience more than she thought that she would. In the darkness, between words, she pressed her lips against his.

The distant sounds of the harbor, the footsteps of the crusaders, the soft murmur of the sellswords...were these all sounds that were going to be part of her life now? Breaking the kiss, she gave him a shy smile in the darkness. Between them, she reached for his hand.

"Will you be kind to me like this always, Drago?" After all, this was what she wanted more than anything. If he would always be kind to her, then....it would be possible to live in this strange land. All she would need would be her own husband and a family of her own. And surely she could come by that, if someone would have her.

"I will do as you ask....Do you think that I will have a family of my own one day?" She was exhausted. And if he had answered her, she had not heard, for she fell asleep in his arms, snuggled close to him, at ease at last.
___________________

Before the sun rose, she was up, quiet as a shadow. Making use of some of what she purchased the day before, she had a fresh loaf of bread baking in the oven, and she was thinking of what to add to it by the time he would awake. She sat next to the oven, dressed in her hand-me down dress from her old mistress, idly brushing out her thick cloud of black hair. Only the braid wrapped in brass remained.

Setting the brush down, she began to deftly braid her hair back in the small braids that she had it in prior, her fingers flying through. She had not disturbed the children sleeping. She was used to working alone and running a household almost entirely on her own, and she felt no need to wake them from their sweet dreams. If anything, she liked the time that she had to herself now. When she woke up that morning, she felt refreshed as never before - her life seemed so much better. He was actually kind to her - he had told her that she was not to be a slave and that he liked her!

Well, it was true that men could like any woman, but she shook that thought from her head. Maybe he felt that she was someone special....How strange had her life become in such a short time!

 

[LordLuck]

He had heard her words so attentivelly that the man had not really noticed how the shadow was washing against him as Sadaa moved to press her lips against his on her own. It was not a stolen kiss, not one that he had demanded to take from her - but was one she had offered to him on her own. That alone made it all the more delicious.

The merchant kissed his slave back as passionately as he could, feeling her body heat against him just so eagerly, his hand gently pressing her against him as it locked against the small of her back, just above her round rear. "...I will, Sadaa. I will. I vow and swear I'll always be nice and kind and gentle to you.", he told her with a soft chuckle. "You are more than worth it."

"...Why not? You... You might let a baby grow in you instead of... taking...", he blushed as he suggested it, noticing how she drowsed away to sleep. Gently, he kissed her lips and cheek lovingly, rubbing a hand kindly above her tummy before holding her tighter and letting the darkness envelop himself with a smile on his face and a warmth on his heart he had not felt for ages.

__________________________

Drago took himself some time to wake up. It was so early when he felt that Sadaa's heat was gone that he simply rolled himself on the covers and allowed the sleep to take him again to it's soothing dephts. However, after a while, he stirred and moved gently on the bed, noticing that it was probably too early for the streets to be coming alive for trade. The fishermen and bakers would be already at work, the butcher's chopping the firts meats to be offered on the stalls of the market.

And he had bussiness to tend to. A particular bussiness, though, was starting to nag at the edge of his mind. For the whole day he would try to keep it away, but his promise would always end up coming back to his mind. The word the had given Catarina. One last trip, one last massive income intake before he could marry her if she wanted him. He could not know, never be sure if she would not marry someone else while he was away, though.

Now he had Sadaa. And she was such a different creature, albeit also very similar to the Widow in so many queer ways. He would have usually called her to help him dress, but instead he decided to make her a surprise - dressing himself on his pants alone, the merchant approached Sadaa as skulkingly silent as he could. Gently, he laid his hands around her waistline, leaning against her back, kissing upon her neck gently.

"Good morning..."

 

[Apollo Wilde]

Too absorbed in tending to the bread and her hair, she did not hear him come behind her. As his arms wrapped about her, she stiffened for a brief moment. If she had forgotten her place, he could have left this well-meaning encounter with a few slashes from her knife. It was never a good idea to sneak up on a slave, in particular one who had been through as much as she had. As she heard his voice, her body noticeably relaxed, becoming calmer within his arms.

"Good morning, Drago," and his name came much easier from her lips now. "I will have breakfast ready soon - do you wish anything besides bread? I can go to the market." Poor Sadaa! What did she know of why he was gathering all of the goods? She knew nothing of the widow, knew nothing of his potential marriage prospect. All she knew was that the night that she had spent with him was one of the most pleasant since she had left her people, and that it had done something to her. Turning to face him, her dark eyes looked around the room quickly before she wrapped her arms about his neck, pressing her lips to his.

In the early morning, the ocean still sounded the same, the gulls calling to each other and the merchants beginning to hawk their wares.

He had touched the part of her that she had kept locked for so long. It sprung forth now, tender and sweet, full of an emotion that she long thought she had lost towards men. The bread still had yet to rise fully - they had some time. Time that she would well use. Her lips parted, allowing her tongue to gently caress his lips, before gently seeking entrance into his mouth. Pulling him closer to her all the while, she shifted, moving them away from the oven and back towards the bed. She would only stop a few moments to undo the laces of her girdle. Isaac had chosen to dress her as the other women of the time, in a dull gray tunic that reached her ankles, and a faded scarlet girdle at her waist. As the girdle fell to the ground, it would only take a few more wiggles from her to be completely disrobed - and not once had she broken the kiss that she had captured his lips in. Gently pushing him beneath her down to the bed, she loosened her arms from about his neck so that she could straddle him.

"We have time yet before the children," she said softly, so that only he and her could hear. "I would like to thank you for your kindness...."

Had she heard him last night about having a child? Probably not - at that point, slumber had overtaken her and her senses, and she was deaf to all in the world. It had not occurred to her that she should bear his child in particular; if anything, she would continually try to avoid it. She would bring great shame to herself and to him if she had. Just the thought of it made her shudder And what would she do, were she to have his child? Be cast out on the streets - for there would be no mistaking a child of mixed bloods here.

Her fingers idly tracing the long scar that arced across his chest, she shifted, moving to place her head on his chest for a moment to listen to his heartbeat. A few moments she laid on top of him, her fingers never stopping in traveling up and down that scar, as if coaxing it to tell her how it happened, when, how much pain he had been in. Her breath warm against his nipples, she placed her lips against the top of the scar, slowly kissing her way down it. One hand held her aloft, the other traveled from the line of his scar to rest over his manhood in his breeches, stroking the soft flesh to erection. Delicately unlacing his breeches, her burning kisses trailed lower, down to the tangle of coarse pubic hair. She had only done this on pain of threat, and to find herself doing it of her own will surprised her. Shifting to move her body ever lower across his, her tongue gently caressed the side of his phallus. He tasted of salt, and vaguely of the scented water in which they had bathed the night before. Laying comfortably on top of him now, she shifted up, to take the head of his phallus in her mouth. Slowly beginning to suckle it, her hands drifted down the shaft, squeezing lightly in time with the motions of her mouth on him.

Much as when she had taken him before, she could feel a dampness growing in her most private of places, throbbing with an eagerness that was still strange to her. She had not wanted a partner in years, not when she was forced so often, and now, whenever he had shown her a bit of kindness, it was all she wanted from him. Though the events in the bath were still painful to recall, it did not stop her from tending to him in the moment. Hopefully he would show her the same kindness if he chose to take her like that again.

But now was not the time for that. She moved a little swifter now, her tongue caressing his head as her hands diligently worked the shaft, her full lips closing and and flexing against his head for greater sensation.

 

[LordLuck]

Her kiss, the way she spoke his name, how her own arms enveloped himself and how her tongue had been eager and forthcoming to play with his were all things that he had hoped that would come to Sadaa in her own time. She had suffered so much coming from men that he would really understand if it took time for her to start to warm up for him. Even if for him alone. He would have had prefered that if she would be his alone, in a sense of never forcing her to anything.

But how she had turned to kiss him was simply breathtaking, unexpected but not unwelcomed. He hugged her tighter as she turned on his embrace, as she brushed longly against his lips, a feeling of certain wantom and demanding coming to her own lips and his loins as he felt her pressing gently against him. And Drago could feel it. She was not only acting out of a slave woman's duty towards her Master, but of some sort of true affection that he had only experienced a handful of times during his youth, and less still later on. The only one that he could actually say he loved with all his heart was Giovanna. Not Catarina, albeit his affections certainly showed for her.

And now... Sadaa. How she was entrancing, how she was winning his heart with every little wave of her hips. For a merchantman like Lorenzo, bastard children were less a nuisance and a dishonour than to noblemen like those that preyed upon women on the streets. He would embrace her. He could even end up marrying her, for as Catarina had her own womanly charms, Sadaa certainly had hers. He gasped in surprise once he felt the woman's hands snaking along his frame, stripping him, yet in his astonishment he made no movement to stop her. What was she planning on doing? He gave her a soft smile, welcoming, begging her not to stop despite him.

"Oh. Oh!", he exclaimed in a hushed tone. He should ask her if there was enough to prepare them breakfast, otherwise he would indeed send her to the market. She certainly proved that she knew her way around with the excellent meal she had prepared them all. "That... Oh. This is not... needed.... Hmm!"

And then, he felt her laying against him. She was so sensual, so delightful. Her weight and warmth against him felt just so right. The way her flesh mixed with his own as they rubbed agaisnt each other. She was Sin itself, and he welcomed her with open arms and eager, sloppy kisses. His manhood stood tall and proud and thick as it had before, this time, however, throbbing in excitement given the unexpected but very eagerly accepted offering. She worshipped him, licking on him, handling him, tasting him like a special, expensive gift, making him groan and moan softly as he tried his best not to wake up the children on the next room.

"Ooh... S-Sadaa...", he mumbled between clenched teeth. He felt like the very Sultan as she serviced his manhood, as well as he always had been tasted. A girl had sampled him when Drago was but a young man, and then a courtesan had done him the pleasures after a hefty toll. And the widow, ah, the widow enjoyed it throughly every time. But with Sadaa, it was different. He could not say better still, but it felt just so different, so fulfilling in so many different ways. "...Hmm... T-Thanks... for... the ap-ap-apreciation...", he smiled meekly as he rubbed a hand along her head, reaching to rub against her hair.

 

[Apollo Wilde]

His eagerness reminded her of a time long ago, back when she was in her native land. She could almost feel the sun on her bare shoulders, the taste of dust in her mouth and the burning in her chest as she ran to keep up with a friend.
As his erection grew to its turgid fullness, her lips trailed slowly away from him, exposing the flesh to the warm morning air. Creeping up his body like a lazy cat, she positioned her hips above his. Lowering herself onto him, she took his phallus deep within her depths with a soft gasp, her head tilting backwards. She would not take him in one entire thrust – rather, she eased herself down onto him, prolonging both his pleasure and hers. As she lowered herself, she moved her hips in a slow circle, both aiding him as she took him in, and increasing her pleasure.

She was skilled, there was no doubt in that. It seemed as if things that were learned in an entire lifetime of debauchery she employed with a careful and experienced hand. Her lower lips flush with his hips, she sat still for a moment, letting him get used to being inside of her. With a soft sigh, she began to move again, raising her hips to expose half of his now damp shaft to the air, and lowering herself back down on him again. Her movements were slow, sensual. She was going to take her time this morning. She was silent through most of it, dimly aware of the children. She did not want to wake them up, but she did not want him to think that she was not enjoying herself.

To cut through the silence, she looked down at him, her eyes half-closed with pleasure, her lips parted to let out a soft series of sighs. A smile crossed her lips as she reached down, running a hand down the side of his face. Never had she expressed such intimacy with Master Isaac; if anything, he was the one who had caressed her. “Drago….” Her voice was barely above a whisper.

She moved faster now, her muscles pulling and clenching on him as she pulled herself up his shaft, and relaxing as she moved to take him in again. It was an echo of the first time they had coupled, right there on the floor not too far from where they were now. It was different, though – that first time had been out of desperation for her, and now, it was out of sincere gratitude. She knew no other real way to thank him.

 

[LordLuck]

Shivering gently under her caresses, Drago was once again thinking on how he never had felt so good with a woman before. Of course that Laura had been good in the bed, and Catarina could be so pleasant one would certainly condemn her for a succubus if ever tasted her lips while she took him into her. But Sadaa... was something else. Perhaps her long years as nothing more than a pleasure slave had honed her movements to a near perfection? Or was that display for him alone?

Whatever was the case, he welcomed it all. He loved it all. The trader had not had a woman for far too long, and being with this exotic beauty was certainly making him rock hard as he had not been for years. Were Lorenzo a more ludicrous man, he could have certainly considered her skills more alike to sorcery than anything else. But even if Sadaa was a witch, a souless demon, he would never cease appreciating her. He could be embracing damnation in the form of a dark-skinned fiend, yet he took her with a smile on his lips, a grateful smirk that denounced how he was loving and craving her even more.

The coolness of the air brushing along his lenght once she took her lips away had him squirming gently underneath her, and yet he wanted more. And more. Suddenly, she clawed her way over him, as if she was some feline from the lands beyond the great desert to the south, a black panther or a starving lioness, needing him to be her mate. His hands came to her hips once more, his touch pressing against her strong thighs as she climbed atop him, making him moan loudly despite trying not to as she took him in.

"S-Sadaa...", in fact, he had not really hoped to fuck her this morning, and so he was not. They were making something else as they mated. Love? Perhaps, but this was no ordinary harlot to fuck. Instead it was meaning something. Gratitude? Affection? For Drago, all of those at once. The coolness once she had coated his lenght and retrieved it from her loins was making him feel the goosebumps all over his skin.

Thrusting gently upwards against her, he felt suddenly her hands caressing him, and could not help it but caress her back, lovingly on his own. His hand touched her cheeks back, while his other brought her to lean closely to him as he reached forth to kiss against her bust, sniffing eagerly against her breasts. He wanted her. He wanted her more than anything. He just hoped her to notice that he was not just a fuck. That he wanted her to be something more, and that he appreciated her forwardness into sex. He loved how she took him, as if she was the Mistress and he the Slave.

 

[Apollo Wilde]

His hand gentle across her body, she tilted her head back, sighing in contentment. This was something different between the two of them, perhaps the first time that she had expressed affection in the use of her body. Leaning forward, her chest pressed against his, she captured his lips with hers, never stopping the movement of her hips.

Agonizingly slow, she lifted and swirled her hips, not letting his phallus slip from her depths. She was hot and warm and wet, and he was hard and hot and filling. Her voice caressing his ear, again she called him endearments in her tongue, her language like waves against the shore, rising and falling with the deliberate movements of her body.

They moved like this for a long while, the early morning slowly dragging into the brightening light of full on daybreak. She had not said his name again, instead, she let her body speak for her. She was beginning to care about this strange man, despite her extended servitude. It was odd, here, with him, it seemed nothing like the slavery that had colored her life since her capture. No, here, it was something completely different, and despite the events in the tub, she did not let those feelings sour now. He treated her like she meant something. In fact, she felt (and part of the reason she was still reserved) that he wished to even…spoil her.

That was something she had never encountered, not with all of her brothers and sisters. No one in her family had doted on her in particular. She did not mourn that in particular – it was how her tribe worked. To be nearly the center of attention for one man…that was something strange and scary to her. Part of her, the part that was neither here nor there, this nor that, would always be a little scared of him.

She did not want to be turned loose to the streets.

Her channel was incredibly slick upon him now, increased by their slow…love making? That wasn’t quite it. But it was getting close. Only time would tell ultimately what would develop between this strange pair.

She moved no faster now, although her body nearly screamed at her to move quicker, to increase her pleasure and bring them both to the crash of climax. Reaching across his body, she ran her fingers across his pale flesh, around the flush circles of his nipples, down the smooth line of his scar. Resting this hand palm down on his stomach, lightly, the other parted her nether lips further, a finger slipping across the raised button of her clitoris. Gasping, her walls tightened. Just that touch alone had nearly brought her to orgasm, but she wasn’t there, not just yet.

Hypersensitive to all that was going on around her, even in the midst of this, she could hear the children stirring and smell the bread. Though she would have loved to continue further, she knew that her time with him, this morning at least, was coming to an end. With a shy smile, she looked down at him. Even if he was the only one to orgasm this go round, it would be good enough for her. She didn’t want to speak, didn’t want to breathe – didn’t want to call more attention to her and him. But the day was starting, and both had their tasks.

 

[LordLuck]

There was something of magical in her words, in her every movement that made that little moment between them something out of the normal to anyone. He imagined what was she calling him, the names she meant and uttered. Everytime her bust leaned forth he pulled himself to sit and reach her with his hungry, pale lips. He wanted to kiss her, to taste her and sip from her flesh. Her scent grew stronger around him as her fluids run down along his manhood, making him slid into her quicker and easier than it had ever happened before. In a sense, Drago knew, he was submitting to her desires rather than the other way around - for her to be mounting him in that way, more than let her have all the work at riding him - also showed him prostated.

Before this dark-skinned demoness. Should one say so, Drago would not doubt a word - for every little wriggling motion of her hips send him on and off further and further. The merchant had no illusions if he would last too long under her enchantment, but if she was a Sorceress, she was a good one. For how to bring up such unearthly pleasure to a man could be thusly forbidden by the commandments of the Lord? He wanted to know nothing, to see and taste and breath nothing else than Sadaa.

And her movements. He mumbled and moaned, each gasp louder than the last one even though the children nearby could ever come to hear them. Would they ever imagine what happened between their Master and the beautiful slave that was never treated as such? Drago had not and would never hit her, never flog her. She was too beautiful to be put to harm in any way. He stared up along her slender form, his hands caressing her every curve, her every delicious roundness, her strong legs that even now could threaten to break him in half. His back, still bound against the earth, shook gently as she moved, slow, deliciously.

So, he did not. Her movements, maybe spurned by his moans and his mumbles, saying her name repeatedly as she moved on and off and up and around his girth, sending him in and pushing her every little soft spot, his hand between them, seeking her little orb to nudge and play against it as he remained welcomed and nested deep into her insides simply increased every feeling a thousandfold. And there, suddenly, between moans and shivers of uttermost delight, he exploded once more, sinking his head and back into the covers and sheets nad pillows as he grunted like a savage boar while seeding her womb once more with his thick man-seed.

 

[Apollo Wilde]

As he released into her, she let out a low moan, issuing deep from her stomach. She stopped in her thrusting, feeling his cock jump and quiver within her, his warmth coating her channel. He pressed her clitoris with purpose, and, gasping, she came as well, her body shuddering quietly against his.

Outside, the merchants were beginning to call their wares, and the morning was rapidly turning into the pale heat of day.

Leaning over Drago, she gently kissed his forehead, then his lips. She let herself linger, enjoying the rush of his breath against her face, the way his body trembled lightly under hers. The pounding of his heart as it started to slow from the morning’s activities – these things, she all took in and savored, tucking them away within the corner of her memories. It may not have meant much to him, but for her, she would remember it as a kindness she had never encountered before – something that proved that these pale creatures so far from her home were actually people, and not bloodless demons as her people believed.

Slipping from on top of him, she eased his phallus from her tightened channel, a thin stream of his cum trailing from her.

“Thank you, Drago,” and his name was little more than a whisper from her lips. Moving from the bed, she dressed swiftly, not wanting to create any cause for uncomfortable questions for the children. Though in this day and age, it was not uncommon for an entire family to share one room – and not uncommon for children to see their parents rutting without anything close to modesty. For Sadaa, this was unheard of. Strange how some old ways of her tribe would not let go, even in this land.

Covering her hands with a thick blanket next to the oven, she pulled the loaves of bread free, setting them on top of the oven to cool. Before she could forget, she retrieved the small bag of herbs that Adi had given her. She would have to boil them in water, much like tea, to stop a baby from growing inside of her. It was still early enough that she did not have to worry about a child taking root. Tiptoing about the kitchen, she realized that there was not any water to be had. Well, she would need that in order to prepare anything else for breakfast.
“What would m’lord desire for his morning meal?” she asked, folding her hands in front of her dress.

 

[LordLuck]

It took him some time to get from the bed. Really, he wanted nothing else for the whole day but to have Sadaa with him on his bed, to mount her in turn of being mounted, to make her womb bloom with new life they both would bring into the world. But to his own world, it would be but a bastard, a child that would have a difficult life even though back in Lombardy, a land of oportunities to all. He slowly stretched his legs once the slave woman left him, and the way she moved made him think about how much seed he was laying inside of her. Should he talk to her about it?

To discuss with her if she would want to bear him a child? One of their own? For in the last days he had been growing in love with Sadaa. Even though Catarina awaited for him back home, he now had a woman that was loving him just as Laura did - for he was doing to her, that was really nothing more than simply being himself. He mumbled as he tried to thank her too, but then he slowly came up, stood to his feet, and dressed himself rather than having her coming to dress him again. Albeit he loved when she did it, and he would indeed love to keep having her all day long, they all had things to do.

On the ship, once they set sail, however... he would have days to enjoy and explore her further. Dressing himself up on the clothes she had just shed off of him, the Merchant walked around the room, gently coming against Sadaa once more. Without a question, he leaned against her, taking her into his arms and kissing her lips eagerly. "...It is I who thank you, Sadaa. Thank you. For all.", he told her with a soft whisper once he was done.

"You've already done lots for me this morning, Sadaa. I'd love to keep at it all day with you, 'cause... well... I like you. I like you a lot.", he admited, blushing gently. "...If... If you'd want to, we could, well... I could say to the kids do something outside, and leave us...", his hands run along her hips softly. "I mean it, if you want to."

"Otherwise, I'd love to taste that bread. It smells wonderfully."

 

[Apollo Wilde]

Her dark skin darkened, right across her cheeks.

But only slightly. It would be the closest she would come to a blush. Why was he thanking her? Such a strange sentiment. When his hands moved over her hips, she moved her hands as well – over his. Gently squeezing them, she leaned back into his touch. Pressing her back against his chest, he could feel her body ease into his. She let him hold her like this for a few long moments, before she softly tapped his hands and slipping from his grasp.

“Thank you, Drago, but bread alone is hardly enough for breakfast. What else do you like? Lord Isaac had different eating habits. He could not eat cheese and beef together and other such things. So much to keep in mind…” She spoke easier now, and there was a hint of charming girl in her voice. After all, she was not that old. “The merchants usually have wonderful things.” Turning to face him, there was a playful glint in her eyes as she gently patted his stomach. “I can tell you like good things.”

It’s not so strange how two broken people could be more at ease with each other than anyone else. Isaac could sense the brokenness in Sadaa, but knew not how to act. Adi knew, for she went through the same thing, and helped her as a mother, sister, and friend. And now Drago – he knew the pain of a lost life, of a lost love…and now she had so many questions to ask him. Why did he sail the Big Water? Would he take her? Did it drop off the face of the earth? Where was his home? How many countrymen did he have?

Here, in Acre – that was the first time Sadaa had seen the ocean or large boats. She gaped, unabashedly, at the vessels, the first time she was lead down to the market. Ever since then (though avoiding the slave market ), she often stopped to watch the ships moving in and out on the waves, to watch the seagulls, to listen to the sound of waves. Her life was so busy (and not her own) that she had never gone to actually put her feet in the water. Though she could not swim (and did not honestly think it was possible), the idea of slipping into such a large body of water thrilled her.

“The children will have their own tasks. I will be needing more water to cook, and there are still the dishes to clean from last night’s feast. Clothes to be washed and mended…There is much to do, Drago. The life of a servant is never a slow one,” and her smile was a little sad. “So, please, tell me, what else would you have for breakfast? I will go and make the purchase.”

 

[LordLuck]

For a moment he stood thinking, but actually deliciously enjoyed her presence. The way she was leaning back against him, Drago took a moment to lose himself upon her scent. Her most delicious, exotic scent. Did she lay cinnamon upon her hair? Or was it some other sort of spice he could taste with his nostrils? His hands caressed along her hips gently, feeling up her every curve as if exploring her for the first time, despite having spent himself into her quite some times during the last days. He stole another kiss on her cheek as she moved away from his grasp.

"Well... Maybe some chicken. Here.", he walked around the room back to his own 'chamber', taking upon a pouch of coins. "Get us two. And a sweet for the kids, if you find any.", he smiled. They had wine and beer casks downstairs, so that was not needed. "Water.", he nodded. He had to smile as she patted his belly, as if she was no slave, but a friend. A very intimate friend. He allowed her the liberties, because into his mind, there was no need to shackle her. She could be a slave, but in their intense days, he learnt to respect her... even, to love her? Maybe.

He took her hand gently. "Be back soon.", he smiled, excited as an teenager. "If you get back soon, we may have some time to... well, you know... Again.", he had to laugh at the very remark. He was growing fond of her, and he would never force Sadaa to anything, but there was something on the way she moved her hips that simply won his heart ten times over.

 

[Apollo Wilde]

To feel his hands across her body tickled a part of her that she did not have words for. She had been touched before, that was true, but there was something different with Drago. When she felt his lips on her cheek, her heart fluttered within her chest, and for a moment, she stood with her head bowed, overwhelmed.

She could hear the blood rush in her ears, and with a nervous smile, she took the bag of coin from him. “I will do so, m’lord.” The thought of returning home to him and to the bed didn’t fill her with dread like it used to when she was owned by Isaac. If anything....now, she felt like she did not want to leave. She wanted to curl back under the sheets with him, free from clothing, free from the past, and wrap her body into his.

His hand in hers, she paused in her motions to turn about to kiss the tip of his nose. With a flounce of her skirts, she was down the stairs and out the door.

__

Outside, the sun was hot, but it was not burning white of midday. It was later in the morning than she usually shopped, but she wasn’t too late to miss some of the better deals. With her being a common face within the market, she could do her shopping swiftly, maybe have a few conversations here and there.

It had not gotten out that she had threatened Drago, but was well known at this point that Isaac no longer owned her. Word travelled fast in the small town, and a few male merchants gave her a knowing look. She would not really get sympathy - many had not liked Isaac on account of his strange faith. Buying a strange woman did not help that. Many also thought that he had lived beyond his means, and had gotten what he had deserved in loosing Sadaa.

Stopping by a tent that boasted locum, or Turkish delight, she stopped to look through the multi-colored jellies. Spotting a few in a lovely rose color, she shifted her basket (already heavy with chicken and other goodies) she gestured to a few. “Can I get these, please?” The little ones would be so happy.