Chapter 1 - Master Bassel's Jewel

Master Bassel’s Jewel
Bromm I
 
              Claudia sat alone in her bedroom, staring mournfully into the mirror. Her pale face was framed by her long golden curls, held back from her face with red ribbons. Her gown of blue silk was cut low to show off the tops of her shapely breasts. She sadly painted black outlines around her blue eyes, not out of the expectation that anyone would appreciate them, but simply because it was the done thing.
              Below, her cousins were playing in the mansion’s garden without her, again. Lysette was reclined on the grass, watching her two naked slave boys wrestle. Her ever-present coterie of ladies-in-waiting was seated next to her, tittering amongst themselves as they called out encouragement. 
              A cacophony of shouts disturbed them, and the taller of the slave boys used the distraction to throw and pin his opponent. Lysette cooed in delight and clapped together with her maids. From the far side of the garden, her brother Phoebus emerged from the hedge maze, followed by his band of friends and hangers-on. Over Phoebus’ shoulder he had slung the object of his hunt, another naked slave. This one was a delicate beauty, a girl of nineteen, with red hair and green eyes. His friends were binding her wrists and ankles with silken cords.
              “Caught her again?” Lysette called, “What good fun!” turning to the victor of her wrestling match, she said “come her and receive your reward. Ladies, encourage the loser to be better next time.”
              The taller slave boy knelt before Lysette and put his head up her skirts. She laughed in delight and grasped his head. The loser was strung up between two trees, arms outstretched. One by one, the ladies took turns whipping him across his bare back. 
              Phoebus and his friends bound up their slave, bent over a flat rock with her legs spread open. Buscen, his favorite stepped out of his breeches and began to knead the girl’s round ass. “To the hunter go the spoils,” Phoebus declared.
              “Excuse me, young master,” said a voice from the door to the house. The family’s majordomo, Titus, stepped into the garden, followed by a gaggle of guests. They wore fine traveling clothes and plumed hats. Their belts bore both pistols and sword, decorated with intricate engraving and trimmed with gold or ivory. At their head was a man holding a small chest under his arm. His clothes were of higher quality that his companions, he wore a coat of dark red wool and a long blade of fine steel. 
              “What is the purpose of the interruption to our regular entertainment?” Phoebus asked as his sister squealed in delight at her slave’s ministrations. 
              “May I introduce our guest, Master Bassel. He is just in from the mines at Kholata and wishes to rest a spell before taking ship back to the Imperial City.”
              “Well met, sir. I am Phoebus, the governor’s son. Over there is my sister Lysette. Our cousin Claudia is upstairs crying no doubt. You will meet her later. She lives with us since her parents’ untimely death. I can offer you my father’s hospitality.” He gestured at the red headed girl, “This one is reserved for my gallant hunters, but I have no shortage of other wenches to offer you.”
              “He is handsome, underneath the dirt,” Lysette called out, tearing her attention away from the slave for a moment. Perhaps my ladies and I can show him hospitality tonight, after his bath.”
              “I thank you sir, my lady, I am honored to enjoy your hospitality in the absence of your father.”
              “Oh yes,” Phoebus waved dismissively, his attention increasingly being stolen by the girl Buscen was fondling in front of him, “Father will be back in a week. He is off on some business or other in inland.”  
              “Peasants make trouble,” Lysette said, her breath catching in gasps, “I say hang the diplomacy and send them all to the mines!” She broke off in a moan of ecstasy and twisted her dress around the slave’s head. Her ladies stopped whipping the other boy and took a moment to appreciate their mistress’ pleasure.
              A guest, Claudia thought. Perhaps he will bring some gaiety to this miserable existence. Putting on her best face, she steeled herself for another bout with her cousins and went down into the garden. 
              When she reached the garden, Phoebus and Bassel were seated on the veranda, the man’s black chest in front of them. Lysette and her ladies were composing themselves after sending away her slave. On the far side of the garden, Buscen had mounted the redheaded girl, with his friends lining up behind him for their turn.
              Claudia approached her cousin and their guest, unnoticed until she stood next to him.
              “Oh, there’s my cousin. Claudia, Master Bassel. Master Bassel, my weepy cousin. Now, what is in this chest, sirrah?”
              Master Bassel barely nodded at Claudia in greeting before Phoebus put his hands on the chest. 
              “Ah, Sir, it is a most rare and wonderful jewel, dug from the deepest parts of the mine. I intend to make it a gift to His Imperial Majesty. “
              “Indeed?” Phoebus said, “It must be a rare beauty indeed. May I see it?”
              Bassel looked over his shoulder at his companions, who were admiring the garden and the redheaded girl. Other servants had emerged to bring them wine, iced water and dates to eat. “I suppose it could not hurt,” Bassel said. “My companions preach caution, but what harm can be done to us here?”
              He took a heavy brass key from his belt and unlocked the chest. Inside lay a brilliant red jewel, the size of a man’s fist. It caught the sunlight in a way that left Claudia awed. 
              “Magnificent,” Phoebus breathed. “His Majesty will be most pleased, I think.”
              “I should hope so, sir. My only worry is getting it there through all the pirates that infest these waters.”
              “Ha! Pirates!” Phoebus laughed. “We’ll put you aboard one of our galleons. No pirate would dare to assault such a fine vessel. You can travel to the Imperial City in the lap of luxury.”
              “That would please me greatly, sir. I will be sure to inform his Majesty of all your help and hospitality.”
              “Now, speaking of hospitality,” Phoebus cheered, “Titus, prepare a bath for Master Bassel and roust that blonde slut from the kitchens. Our guest will need a companion. In fact, bring a girl for all of us!”
              Then Bassel, Phoebus and his friends, carrying the sweat-soaked redhead, swarmed past Claudia into the mansion. Lysette and her ladies followed them, sparing Claudia not a second look.
 
              Not far from the town lay a cove, in which several ships lay at anchor. On the beach, a two-masted schooner had been pulled up for careening, and the job completed, her crew were in the process of dragging her back into the sea. Two other ships lay in the cove already, a sloop and a lumbering merchantman captured a week prior.
              The ships’ crews were mostly ashore, feasting on wild pig caught from the jungle, fish from the sea and plantains bought from the locals. In a tent set up in a palm grove overlooking the cove sat Black Bromm, captain of the sloop Fortune and a renowned pirate. He and his crew were feasting on a boar he had shot that morning, accompanied by a group of local fishermen who had stumbled into the cove that morning and become their guests.
              Bromm raised a bottle of stolen rum to his lips and took a long drink. Smacking his lips in appreciation, he turned his eyes on the nearest fisherman, a thin man of about fifty with a wispy beard and thinning hair.
              “Now then, sir, tell me what I’ve missed while we were laid up here. How are things in Guildsharbor? That is where you’re from, isn’t it?”
              “Aye, Captain,” the man admitted warily. “I hail from Guildsharbor. I would like to be getting back home, sir, to sell my catch?”
              “No need to worry about that, good sir. Captain Talish and I will buy your catch from you. All that we ask is that you remain with us until we are ready to sail. Our little fleet is so vulnerable whilst our ships are on the beach and I would be poor timing if an Imperial squadron happened to show up during all of this. No matter though, my Fortune will be back in the sea within the hour. Once we have decided on a destination, we’ll be off and you can head home.”
              “I thank you for your hospitality, sir. Azlit spare you and Eldrin give you good winds.”
              “Indeed. I will offer the gods some of your fish before we sail. But tell me of Guildsharbor. Is the port well? Is it rich?”
              “The rich men’s houses are rich, Captain, but the poor men are poor. If you pay us a visit, I beg of you to spare us humble folk.”
              “Well of course. A man such as yourself has little to take, for the rich men have stolen it already. But what do the rich men have to steal?”
              Another fisherman leaned over. “Captain, I you’ll pardon my interruption, I have news you may wish to hear. Yesterday morning, a man from the mines came to stay at the governor’s house. According to the talk of the town, he brought with him a great jewel, the size of your fist. No doubt such a man would have many other riches on him as well.”
              Bromm was interested. He leaned over the table to better hear the second man and put a hand to his thick, black beard. “In the governor’s house, you say? And how many guards does this governor have?”
              “Not so many, but he has been away in the interior dealing with a revolt among the slaves. Some of his guards must have gone with him.”
              “Captain Talish!” Bromm called, and the other man came to them from his perch overlooking the beach. “Captain Talish, these men have informed me that there is a great jewel, currently held in the house of the governor of Guildsharbor. I believe we have found our next voyage.” 
              Talish considered the fishermen for a long moment. “Very well. But they will remain here until we return from our raid. If their information proves wrong, we will feed them to Tarnilaen.”
              The fishermen swallowed hard. The older one fixed his younger companion with a hard stare. Bromm was unconcerned. He leapt to his feet. “Men, we have our destination! Make Fortune and Specter ready to sail, but keep the fishermen and the fluyt here. We’re sailing for Guildsharbor, and a great treasure!”
              
              Claudia lay awake in her bed, listening to the sounds of laughter and music coming from the salon. When she had slunk out of the salon unnoticed, Lysette had been reclining on Master Bassel’s bare chest as her ladies sang and played the harp for them. Phoebus and his friends had adjourned to the balcony, overlooking the town of Guildsharbor, drinking and watching their favorite blonde slave dance in the nude for them. 
              Frustrated, she rose from her bed and stepped out onto her balcony. Luckily, it faced away from the salon and she was not in view of her cousin and his bawdy friends. Instead, she stared out at the open sea, stretching to the horizon in the blackness of the night. Somewhere out there was the wreck of her parents’ ship, and in this moment she wished to be down there with them. She found herself wishing to be at the bottom of the Devouring Sea more than she wished to be in the salon, laughing and drinking with her cousins.
              Despairing, she leaned forward on the balcony rails and looked down into the garden. From around the corner of the house, she heard the blonde girl growl in lust, and the sounds of one of the men mounting her with great vigor. 
              At that moment, she saw a dark shape drifting into the harbor.
 
              Bromm was at the prow of Fortune as it silently slid into the harbor. His keen-eyed pilot was at his side, calling out instructions to the helmsman in a harsh whisper. Behind the sloop, guided by a rope line, was Specter, its deck crowded with armed pirates hungry for plunder. Bromm’s own crew was at the ready, most of them at the gunwale ready to leap ashore and begin mooring the ship.
              The pilot turned to Bromm and whispered, “That’s it, we’re all in the clear. Now we just wait until the tides pull us to shore.” 
              Bromm smiled through his thick, black beard. He drew his cutlass and a pistol in his offhand and made his way to the head of the shore party. “Remember, lads, follow me to the governor’s mansion. We must get the jewel before this man hides it or makes for the safety of a temple.”
              In short order, they saw the quay drawing near and then felt the lurch as their ship bumped into the stone wall of the harbor. “Alright, lads, tie her up. We’ve got until first light, then the tides will be good for making back out to sea! Let’s go!”
              They surged through the streets in the deepest silence they could manage, winding their way up the narrow paths toward the governor’s mansion on the hill. The streets were dark and deserted this late at night, but the candles burned brightly on the hills. 
              At the thick oaken gate stood two guards. They held halberds in their hands and carried swords on their hips. When the mob of pirates rounded the street corner and locked stares with them, both parties paused. Bromm raised his pistol, and the guards hurriedly turned to unlock the door in the gate. The pirate fired, and his men surged forwards. 
              Captain Talish’s crew was a few hundred yards behind them in the streets, but Bromm and his crew charged the gates all the same. The guards made it through and shut the door behind them, so the pirates set about it with axes. Three men threw a rope over the wall and began to climb, but the first man to mount the wall was killed by a blast of musketry. 
              Windows along the street were thrown open and bleary-eyed townsfolk looked out into the street. 
“Some of them might have weapons,” Bromm shouted, “get into those houses and secure the windows!” His men began to batter their way into the homes through doors and shuttered windows. 
 
              Claudia bolted upright from her bed at the sound of musket fire. She ran from the room to the main staircase, whose window overlooked the front gate. Five guards were frantically reloading their guns as the gate shuddered under a series of blows. 
              Phoebus burst from the salon, his loose breeches in his hand and his shirt undone. 
              “What in the gods’ names is going on?!” he demanded. “Is this a riot?”
              “Pirates!” shouted someone from downstairs. “Pirates at the gate!”
              Bassel ran into the hallway completely naked. “My jewels!” he cried, “Men, get to the jewels!”
              His companions, in various states of undress, ran down the stairs toward the vault where they had stored their jewels. A naked Lysette and her equally nude ladies followed them. 
              “The servants are fleeing!” someone shouted, and Claudia saw it was true. Their servants, including Lysette’s favorite slave boys, fled out the side gate of the mansion’s yard. 
              “Damnable cowards!” Phoebus shouted, doing up the laces to his breeches. He retrieved his dueling pistols and a saber from his room and headed down the stairs. Claudia stood bewildered in her nightgown at the top of the stairs. Without any other idea of what to do, she followed Bassel down the stairs to his jewel stash.
 
              Bromm and Talish hoisted a fallen lamppost between them and swung it against the gate. The gate burst off its hinges and fell to the ground, admitting the pirates to the mansion’s grounds. The six guards with their muskets fired a volley and then fled into the mansion. They barred the gates, but the pirates quickly gained entry by smashing open the large glass windows. 
              The captain followed his men through a shattered window and entered a grand dining hall. The walls were decorated with floral wallpaper and beautiful oil paintings. From the ceiling hung a brass and crystal chandelier. He charged through it into the main hall and spotted two half-naked men armed with swords descending a staircase into the cellar. He drew and fired his second pistol and dropped one of the men in his tracks. The other shut the door behind himself, but Bromm was close on his heels.
              Along with two other pirates, they smashed down the door and descended the staircase. The spiraling hall was narrow and steep, he dreaded having to fight on it. However, Apliss smiled on them that day, and they reached the bottom without encountering resistance. Ahead of them was another oaken door. The application of axes soon opened the final barrier, and they entered the cellar.
              The room was lined with shelves, barrels and crates, but at the rear was an open safe in the wall. Between them and the safe were a group of men, most undressed in some manner, and a beautiful blonde woman in a nightgown. Behind them, he could see gems glittering in the torch light. Bromm raised his saber and hefted the empty pistol as a club. 
              “Have at ‘em, boys!” he cried and charged into battle. The men fired their pistols, which fortunately missed Bromm, and they crossed sabers. In the narrow confines of the cellar, his thrusts were quickly batted aside. His crew pressed forward, crowding him into range of the enemy attacks. He soon found himself forced to parry more than slash and even found one of their swords turned aside and then ensnared by his thick wool coat. 
              One of his men ducked to the side and poked a blunderbuss through the cellar’s shelving. There was a deafening blast, and tiny lead balls tore through the line of defenders, sending many of them tumbling to the floor, dead.
              Bromm lunged forward, throwing his head into the face of an enemy. The man staggered back, and the line was broken. The pirates swarmed over their foes, slashing and stabbing. In a few scant moments, all were downed except the woman and a single man, who was cowering against the back wall.
              “Take the gems then, I yield!” he cried, dropping a gilded saber and a pair of ornate dueling pistols. “Just leave me my life!”
              Bromm shrugged and looked back his men. Some were injured, but none too severely. The gems called to him from within the safe. The big one he had come for was not to be seen.
              “Where is the big one?” Bromm demanded. “Give me the big one and I’ll spare your life.”
              The man looked around in a panic. “In the chest,” he said, pointing to a small black chest in the safe, “the key, the key!” he pointed to a brass key on the belt of one of the corpses. Bromm grabbed the key and opened the chest. Slowly, he drew out the great red jewel. It seemed to pulse in the light of the torches.
              “Yes, this will do,” he whispered. He barely noticed his men reach past him to sweep the other gems and loose coins into bags. Bromm paid them no mind, instead thinking of the price the gem would fetch for him in Torvuls’ market. 
              His attention was torn away from the gem by a sudden sob. To his surprise, it came not from the cowardly young men in the corner, but the blonde woman crouched between two crates. He had not noticed her beauty before, but now he took full notice. Her golden hair fell to her shoulders in ringlets, and her simple nightgown was spattered with blood. Her bare feet scrabbled at the stone floor as she hid her face against a crate. 
              Slowly he knelt by her and took her by the chin. Turning her face to him, he could see tears flowing from her blue eyes and streaking her rosy cheeks. 
              “There, there, lass. The bloody work is done. I’ve won, and now’s a time for revelry. For me, revelry involves women and wine.”
              “Revelry?” she asked, “May I join?”
              “Aye,” Bromm agreed with a smile, “pretty ladies are always welcome. But first, let’s get you out of these ruined clothes.”
              He put his saber down her bodice and, in one motion, cut away her bloodstained nightgown, leaving her naked on the floor. Bromm knew a hundred whores and courtesans throughout the ports of the Sea who would have envied her flawless body. He extended a hand and helped her to her feet. 
              “Here, lass, I’ll help you over these bodies. Close your eyes,” he lifted her up and slung her over his shoulder. To the cheers of his crew, he carried her out of the cellar and up the stairs.
 
              Claudia’s last look at her cousin came as the pirate carried her over the mass of corpses. Phoebus was curled up in a corner, his bare chest splashed with blood. The pirates had carried off his weapons, leaving his destitute and despondent in the remains of his father’s house. 
              The pirate carried her up the narrow stairs with care, not once banging her head against the wall. In the foyer, pirates were piling loot from the house. They carried tapestries, oil paintings, fine Leiyani porcelain and other valuables into the hall, all while shouting to each other in the vulgar Common tongue of sailors and merchants. Her captor set her down on her own two feet, and she was immediately aware of the pirates’ hungry eyes all over her naked body. The chill of the open and drafty foyer made her skin prickle and her nipples harden. 
              Another pirate entered the hall with Phoebus’ blonde girl slung over his shoulder. She too was naked, and the pirate set her down next to Claudia. 
              “You two girls stand here until we’re ready,” the pirate said with a lascivious smile on his sunworn face. He gave the slave girl a slap on her rump and left, laughing to himself.
              Claudia looked the girl over. Her eyes were downcast and she did her best to cover herself. “What becomes of us, my lady?” she whispered. 
              “We go with them,” Claudia replied. “We’ll do for them what you did for my cousin. It won’t be so bad, you’ll see.” The girl nodded, though she did not seem convinced.
              After an hour of looting, her captor returned to her. “The lads are done with your house. Time for us to go.” He then swept her up over his shoulder and the pirates, after gathering their loot, departed the house. Claudia was distinctly aware of her naked butt being exposed to the night sky. A cold night breeze blew up the street, chilling her bare flesh and felt the goosebumps rise. As they passed through the streets, she found herself looking up at people watching from the windows. Several of the townsmen were afforded long looks at her naked backside in the torchlight. She felt her face flush when she met their gaze, and her captor’s grip tightened around her waist.
              Laden by their loot, they twice fought off attacks by the townsfolk to reach the harbor. Small bands of men hurled stones or fired muskets from the alleys and side streets. Though they injured or even killed a handful of pirates, they lacked the numbers to defeat them. Some pirates broke off from the formation and charged their attackers, at which point the townsmen fled into the darkened streets. 
              The band of pirates debouched from the streets onto the wide quay, and Claudia could see the two pirate ships in the moonlight, serenely nestled against the wharf. The pirate carried Claudia into his cabin and laid her out on the bed, where she quickly composed herself. She drew her knees up under her chin in an attempt to preserve some of her modesty. The pirate ignored her and instead locked away the stolen gem in a black iron safe.
              He then opened a cabinet and removed two wine bottles. He shed his hat and coat and turned to face her. His broad chest showed underneath his white silk shirt, whose sleeves were rolled up to show his powerful forearms. A toothy smile split his black beard. He may be a pirate, she thought, but he’ll likely make for better fun that the docile slave boys and fawning youths of Guildsharbor I’ve had to make do with all these years. At least I am out of that awful house.
 
              Bromm regarded his new concubine with excitement. She had sat up in bed and pulled her knees up to cover her pale breasts. In the faint moonlight filtering into the cabin, she was a vision of beauty. He had been hard for her since carrying her into the mansion’s foyer. During their march through town, he reveled in grabbing a handful of her soft goosefleshed body and in the gawking stares of townsfolk looking out from their windows.
              Out on deck, his crew was sharing the spoils and opening casks of rum. Several other girls had been taken from the mansion or the houses they had broken into and were now pressed into service as dancing girls. They danced, the pirates sang and soon enough they had girls bent over the gunwales or over the cannons with a pirate at each end. 
              Inside the cabin, Bromm climbed onto the bed next to the girl. Nervously, she edged away from him on the bed before catching herself. 
              “No reason to fear, girl,” he said. “I may be a pirate, but I am no brute.” She considered him for a moment, one arm over her breasts. Her eyes traced down his muscular chest to his waist, and then just below. He leaned in and cupped her chin, tilting her head until she looked him in the eyes. “You are a most beautiful woman.” She blushed and averted her eyes.
              “I suppose a man like you has seen many women in this state,” she whispered. 
              He smiled. “Not so many as I would like.” She was shaven between her legs in the style of courtesans, fine whores and, according to tale, the other nobleborn ladies of the Empire. Bromm filled two glasses with rich, red wine and handed one to her. “Drink with me,” he suggested, and she held the glass before her, unsure of what to do. Bromm drank his own glass in a single gulp. 
              “Fine stuff,” he appraised, “Usually I have to pay good silver for something like this, or drink vulgar grog with the men.” The girl still held her glass in her white hand. 
              “What is your name, girl?” Bromm asked. “If you are to be aboard this ship, I must know your name. I know every man and woman in my crew. I am Bromm, known as Black Bromm or Captain Bromm to many, but with you, I will just be Bromm if you like.”
              “I am Claudia,” she said at last. “My uncle is the governor.”
              Bromm tried to hide his disappointment. The girl was pretty, but would she be worth the attention of the Imperial Navy? He supposed it might be too late for that anyway, seeing how he had plundered the governor’s mansion and stolen the magnificent jewel. Perhaps he could ransom her in exchange for the governor calling off his dogs?
              “I see,” Bromm said slowly, “No doubt he will be most upset with me then.”
              Claudia snorted. “He could not care less for me. I came to live with him and his children when my parents were lost at sea. They barely noticed.” She stared sadly into her wine glass. 
              “How could they fail to notice a woman who looks as you do?” Bromm asked, raising a hand to brush her golden hair. 
              “They found a way. I was a burden to them, a distraction.”
              “I must say, I find you most distracting myself.”
              Claudia laughed to herself, then put the wine glass to her lips and drank. 
              “You are so courteous when you do not need to be. I am naked and alone on your ship. You could have me whether I wish it or not.”
              “I have had whores awaiting only the money at the end and I prefer women who are enthusiastic about the endeavor.”
              She emptied the wine glass and set it aside, turning her face to meet his gaze with her pretty green eyes. She spread her legs wider, and he ran a hand down her naked body to touch the wetness between her legs.
              “I remember that I was promised some revelry,” she whispered into his ear. “Pirates are supposed to know how to enjoy themselves.”
              Bromm slid a finger inside her with one and used the other to gesture outside, where his crew were in the throes of revelry with their new girls. One girl was bent over at the mast while a line of naked pirates lined up, cocks in hand, to take their turns on her.
              “Is this the kind of revelry you had in mind?” he asked, rubbing her between the legs.
              She moaned in reply, biting her lower lip and putting his hand on her breast. 
              “Many a woman has entertained fantasies of a rough man coming ashore to take her away,” Claudia said between her breaths. “I am not the first woman to imagine being carried away naked by a ravenous horde of pirates.”
              “Oh, you are no such thing. You were carried away by me, and I will not throw you to the common men like a slab of meat to the dogs. It is fine wines and silks for you, not a life of being passed down the deck to whichever men wake up with their cocks hard.”
              “A pirate’s mistress,” Claudia whispered to herself, her eyes locked on Bromm’s fingers going in and out of her. “I can summon a good deal of enthusiasm for that. Let me show you.”
              She leaned forward and bent over his cock to take him in her mouth. Bromm settled into the soft bedding as he watched her red lips run along his hard cock and continued to work his fingers inside her. Outside, one of the crew pressed a naked girl’s back against the cabin window and he fucked her furiously. The girl’s screams of pleasure resounded through the thin glass.
              Clauda worked her hands and tongue on his cock, and Bromm grasped the bedsheets and curled his toes in ecstasy. The girl was talented enough to stand on a level with the courtesans of Torvuls whose company Bromm had sometimes bought. She dripped a glob of spittle onto his cock and ran her tongue down the shaft.
              “Nystra’s Tits, you’re good at that,” Bromm gasped. Claudia took her mouth off his cock and met his gaze, trailing a line of wetness from her chin to his cock. She gave him a wicked, crooked smile and stroked his cock harder.
              “We are not all princesses locked away in tall towers. We know how to enjoy ourselves.”
              Bromm sat up and pulled her closer. “Come, sit on my cock and have it in you before I burst and ruin this night.” He pulled her into his lap and seated her on his cock. She gasped in pleasure as he slid his cock into her glistening purse and gripped her by the hips. She rode him hard, with the movements of a woman experienced in the saddle. Bromm clutched her waist, grabbing handfuls of her buttocks and putting his mouth on her breasts. She moaned in pleasure, and he shut her up with a kiss. The girl knew how to kiss well, too. She grabbed his hair, twisting it and pulling him closer to her. Bromm pinched her breasts and, feeling himself close to climax, rolled her over onto her back and drew out his cock. 
              Kneeling over her face, he marked her with his cum. It came spurting out of him in long lines, spraying across her pretty face from brow to chin. She closed her eyes just in time to keep it out, but a rope of cum dropped across her lips and into her mouth. He growled in ecstasy as he squeezed the last drops of cum from his cock and sat back on the bed to admire his work.
              Claudia cracked an eye open and looked up at him. He laughed at the sight of her and she returned his levity. With delicate fingers, she wiped the cum from her face and licked it off her hands. Bromm passed her a cloth to finish cleaning up. When she was done with it, she threw it to the deck.
              “Someone might step on it there,” Bromm pointed out as he lay down next to her.
              “Let them. Then all will know what you and I have done in here.”
              Bromm smiled at that. He liked this one. Everyone would know his conquest. He wanted them to see, to know, what a woman he had found for himself.
              They lay together, panting from exertion, as Claudia caressed his chest and kissed him. Bromm fondled her breasts and nibbled at her ear.
              “We should get up,” he said after a long pause. “I mean to show you to the crew, and then we really must set out to sea before this town rallies to the attack again.”
              “Once we are out to sea, then what?” Claudia asked, doubts setting in on her pale face. “Am I to be your queen or will I be a prisoner in your cabin until I am abandoned on a desert island or sold off in the slave market of a pirate haven?”
              Bromm laughed. “I told you, I am no brute. You may sail with us as long as you like. I will keep you in the finest luxury I can afford. The pirate’s way is a path to great wealth, but the sea can be harsh and unforgiving. If you grow tired of it, I will put you ashore in Torvuls or one of the other ports with some money and you can find a different way. But there is much adventure to be had on the seas. Stay with me, and we will go far!”
              She considered his offer for a time, watching the sweat run down her bare breasts and legs before at last she stood up from the bed. 
              “Show me our ship and the crew,” She commanded and Bromm smiled.
 
              Upon emerging from the cabin together, they were greeted by a cheer from the crew. The pirates lay about the deck, naked girls lying spent between them, with empty bottles of rum or wine strewn about. Claudia walked through the scattered bodies, men lazily reaching out to grab her as she passed by. She exulted in the feel of their clutching hands on her legs and their hungry gazes running along her naked body. Phoebus’ slave girl lay between two pirates near the prow, exhausted and nearly asleep. The girl’s eyes fluttered in the barest sight of recognition as Claudia approached, before she shut them again and settled deeper into the arms of a tall, tattooed man with a golden ring through his nose.
              “Captain,” shouted the ship’s pilot, “the tides are going out now. We’ll be on our way soon. Men, make ready to cast off!”
              An hour later, Claudia stood at the prow of the ship, letting the rising sun warm her naked body with its first rays, as Fortune set out to sea on a new adventure.