Amazon Airship Pirates Pt. 02

Thus he discovered that the airship yards were not merely docks, but a place of construction, with two new craft in various stages of completion alongside three active airships. The pirates had evidently acquired the necessary materials, partly made up, from somewhere, and Charles watched as an intricate, freshly assembled steam engine was aligned with its bay at the stern of one of the airship gondolas. The workers were mostly intent on their tasks, but a few of them recognised Charles and were more than willing to talk to him about this feat of engineering, so that after two hours of watching, he felt well informed about these craft.

At length, though, he began to feel frustrated at simply standing by as people he ought to see as enemies expanded their armoury, whatever their skills. And so he wandered away to see more of the pirate community, which proved more orderly and less anarchic than he expected. In one place, pirates - male and female alike, he saw - were practising weapon drills; in another, he saw an expansive and varied tropical kitchen garden being tilled. Charles thought that he should be happy with the prospect of returning to civilisation with extensive intelligence on the resources of these outlaws, but instead he realised that he would have to report a dangerously competent and organised conspiracy.

Around midday, Charles wandered to the crest of a ridge behind the pirate base, and turned and sat on the ground, looking out to sea. His newly appointed guards sat a little way off, and as he was nowhere near anything with which he could meddle or places where he could hide, they fell to talking quietly among themselves. Charles noted a small steamship on the horizon, sailing toward the island, and it occurred to him that the pirates would need more supplies than could easily be brought in by airship, so their sea-dock would see regular use. He thought about stowing away on a supply ship, undetected... And about remaining undetected when it departed, and later... And about escaping and finding help wherever it docked next...

Lost in thought, wondering how to acquire supplies and maybe weapons for himself for such a plan, he barely paid attention when one of the pirate-women, clad in their favoured dark silk blouse, high-fronted skirt, and light leather boots, came walking in his direction. Only when she stood over him and wished him a good morning did he look up, and then he gasped.

It was Emma Elphinstone, her hair now swept back in a simple, casual bunch, an odd smile on her lips. Even in that brief moment, Charles could not fail to notice that the revealing pirate garb confirmed her attractiveness; her figure, unshaped by a corset, was nonetheless very fine, and the boots showed that her ankles were every bit as trim as Charles had thought from brief accidental glimpses.

"Miss Elphinstone!" Charles gasped, and began to scramble hastily to his feet.

"Oh, please do not rise," Emma said, and somewhat gingerly lowered herself to sit beside him. "I do not think you owe me so much respect now."

"I am sorry I did not recognise you sooner," Charles said, "but - the clothes... Is your own wardrobe exhausted?"

Emma laughed. "I have been running through it faster than any pirate laundry would wish to serve," she admitted. "But to be honest - this garb really is more suited to the climate than my own clothes, you know. It is lighter and looser." Her voice dropped to a jesting whisper. "No confounded boned corsets."

"Ah," Charles said, unsure if that was a proper subject for discussion. "Well, needs must, I suppose."

"Indeed. Needs must." Emma agreed. "In fact, I have been thinking on your advice."

"My advice?"

"About making the best of things, and of treating all this as an adventure. I wish to thank you, Charles. It was good advice."

"I am glad to hear it," said Charles, pleased despite himself at the flattery.

"Yes," said Emma. "That is why I decided to join the ranks of the airship pirates."

Charles gasped and stared at her open-mouthed. "Join them?" he said after a moment.

"Oh yes," Emma said. "This garb is more than a convenience. It is the attire of a pirate wench, is it not?"

"This is... It is a desperate measure, Miss Elphinstone. Whatever social difficulties you might face on your return to civilisation, to throw in your lot with these villains... It seems... Extreme!"

"You assume that I will ever be able to return to civilisation," Emma said, and gave a light laugh. "Or that this place is so very uncivilised, for that matter. But you also assume that I would wish to."

"You do not wish that?"

"Mr. Dartington," Emma said, "consider not only that I would be disgraced and pitied among my class, and that my fiancé is, apparently, considered so depraved and despicable that a band of pirates were moved to rescue me from that wedding. Perhaps worst of all, even if he is a better man than that, he is nigh three times my age, and I barely know him - and yet my father proposes to marry me to him, and barely conceals that this is a business transaction. I was made currency, Charles. At least becoming a pirate wench was my own choice."

"Nonetheless," Charles said, "I implore you to reconsider - to at least think further on what you would be giving up, and the nature of the life you are entering. You are proposing to become a criminal, and morality aside, you would be subject to extreme penalties if you were ever captured, and I doubt that your family name could save..."

"Mr. Dartington," Emma interrupted, "This is my choice, made in full knowledge of the consequences. In any event, my use of the past tense was entirely deliberate. The die is cast."

"Nothing is irreversible..." Charles began.

"Some things are," Emma interrupted. "For example, there is no reversing the fact that I have fucked a pirate man."

Charles gasped and sat speechless, his mouth hanging open. "Oh yes," Emma continued. "It seemed a suitable proof of my commitment. And also, I confess that my curiosity was piqued by some of the things that I heard on the airship."

Charles began to scramble to his feet. "I cannot believe this," he said, "and I do not wish to be blamed for your... bizarre fantasies..."

"Sit down, Charles," Emma said, so firmly that Charles found himself obeying. "It is no fantasy. But it would be wrong of me to hang guilt around your neck. This choice too was mine alone. I think that I should tell you more, to make this very clear to you."

"I have no desire to hear such things," Charles said.

"But I have a need to tell you," Emma Elphinstone said with a soft sigh. "You are the only person on this island who knew me at all before this adventure, even briefly. It is important to me that one such person hears the story from my own lips. Please."

Charles shrugged wordlessly, and studied Emma's face as she turned her gaze out to sea.

"I think that I had made my decision last night," Emma said. "Certainly, I think that I was clear in my intentions when I rose this morning. But my mind was disordered still. So I breakfasted very little, and then took a stroll to the construction yards. Fascinating, are they not, after all?" Charles nodded in reply. "To see these wonderful flying craft assembled from sticks of wood and yards of cloth..." Emma continued, "A miracle of human ingenuity, and one that I could barely understand. A lady is not taught engineering lore, you understand, although I admired what I was able to read in the news sheets.

"And so I looked for someone to ask about the process. The gentleman I found was named Luke." Emma smiled when she mentioned the name. "His accent showed that he was American," she said, "and he, it seems, works the evening shift on that duty, but he had strolled past to see how his friends were getting along. He explained the work most patiently, and so we fell to talking, and eventually we spoke of ourselves.

"He was a sailor, as it turns out, out of his home state of Massachusetts. He worked on a wandering trader, he told me, which came to the islands in these parts for business. But then he fell out with his ship's ... first mate, was the title he used, though I think he would like to have used less pleasant terms. Harsh words were evidently exchanged, and I fear that blows may have been struck - and so he was left in port when his ship sailed, unemployed in a strange land."

"He sounds like a violent man," Charles said nervously.

"I am sure that he can defend himself," Emma replied, "but he was nothing but gentle to me. Anyway, he tells me that he was in some difficulty until he fell in with folk who proved to be these pirates. He is a mechanic by training, so they had use for his skills, and he has become as passionate in their cause as Mr. Sharma. And so here he was, telling an ignorant girl about his work.

"We talked for an hour or two, and retired to the shade to talk more, and shared refreshment... Do you know, I have never spoken at such length to a man not of my family in my life? I am sure that I now know Luke much better than I know my fiancé... my former fiancé, let alone yourself, Charles." She smiled. "Which is not to say much, of course. And I in turn told him of my life, and of my dilemma as to what to do next."

"And he persuaded you..." Charles began.

"He persuaded me of nothing," Emma snapped, "save by patient, silent listening to my maunderings, and perhaps by the warmth of his smile and the... The strange charm of the perspiration on his brow and the smudge of dark grease on the back of his left hand.

"Truly, it did not take me long to make my decision, and I told him, and he congratulated me. 'You're a brave woman, Miss Emma,' he said, and all I could think was that he had called me a woman despite being seven years my senior and having seen twenty times as much of the world. So I told him that I was still just a girl, and he laughed and told me that the she-pirates were all the finest women that he'd ever known. And so I asked him what I should do to become a woman."

"And he took advantage of that question," Charles said.

"Actually, he seemed as shocked as you, and started to stand, saying that he had business to attend to, and that I was too fine a lady for him to do anything untoward." Emma laughed again. "Which was ironic, because actually, the question had been quite innocent. I had forgotten things that I had heard with my ear pressed against the wall that separated our cabins, Charles. But now I saw what my question implied to him. So I told him to sit down, and that I thought him a very fine gentleman indeed. And then I asked him if he would like to fuck me, to make me truly a pirate wench."

Charles felt a crimson blush rising on his face, but found himself unable to speak.

"I must confess, he was eager enough to say yes once he was convinced of my seriousness and commitment," Emma said.

"I am not surprised," Charles managed to say.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that you are a very lovely girl," Charles explained.

"That is very flattering of you, Charles," Emma said, "but we were talking about how I became a woman, please remember. Anyway," she said, taking a deep breath. "I took Luke to the room I have been given. My escorts saw the way of things, and stood back with wicked smiles. And so I found myself alone with a man, and that man kissed me.

"I thought that he would be rough about it, but he did try very much to be gentle." Emma smiled. "Though his hands are rough, and he does not shave well. I think that manly - or at least, so I felt at that moment. His tongue entered my mouth, you know - I hope that you know - and I all but swooned in his arms. So he caught my weight, and sat me down on the bed."

She paused. "And then?" Charles asked hoarsely.

"And then he smiled at me."

"He smiled?"

"Oh yes. He has a pleasing smile." Emma paused again, and then suddenly she laughed. "Oh, and he began to remove his clothes. I confess that I simply watched him for some moments. I was... I think that wonderstruck would be the word. To see that shape becoming visible by the moment - it was distinctly fascinating, Charles.

"And then, soon, he was wearing nothing but, well, I think you might call it a loin-cloth. And I told him to stop - and he looked so disappointed that I laughed and told him that it was just for a moment. I stood up from the bed and turned my back on him. I am a shy woman, Charles, whatever you must think now. I undressed down to my petticoat, exposing far less of my person than he had exposed if his, and yet I could not look him in the eye while doing so. I even discarded my other undergarments while standing with my back to him.

"But then, before I could make myself turn around once more, he put his arms around me. Heavens, Charles! I have had my breasts squeezed and compressed every day of my life since I started wearing corsets, and yet, when Luke cupped and caressed them most gently, I all but squealed like a child. And his kiss on the back of my neck left me breathless.

"I fear that I slumped in his arms again, and so he made use of that fact, turning me to my bed once again, and lying me down upon my back, though my feet were still over the edge. Luke smiled that confusing smile of his again, and then... Then..."

Charles found himself staring at Emma, breathing deeply, and she met his gaze again and smiled gaily. "And then, he parted my knees with his hands," she said, "and lifted my petticoat skirts, knelt beside the bed, and placed his face there. In my most secret place.

"I was divided in my heart, then, Charles. Part of me wanted to ask what he was doing, part wanted to demand that he stop, and part wanted to cry out to him like your pirate wench on that airship - to tell him to lick my cunny, as she said. So I said nothing." She paused for breath again.

"And he?" Charles was unable to resist asking.

"Oh, he licked my cunny." Emma smiled again, her confidence evidently growing as she spoke. "Heavens above, Mr. Dartington, but it was an extraordinary thing. I have barely given those parts of me a moment's thought in my life, and now there was a man's tongue exploring them, and I thought that it was the most strange and wonderful thing that had ever happened to me. I almost neglected to breathe. My head span. And yet, he was most gentle and precise. My whole body tingled with the sensation of it - and after some minutes... I know not how many minutes... I was struck by the most extreme sensations. I should thank your own guards, Mr. Dartington; if I had not heard them suffering something of the same, I would have been quite worried for myself. What did they call it?"

"Coming," Charles muttered.

"Yes, that was the word. It seems inadequate for the finest thing that I have ever felt, from my head to my toes, but most especially to my cunny." She laughed lightly. "Anyway, when I was done, Luke ceased those attentions, and I found myself thanking him without quite having the words for it. 'Why, Miss Emma,' he replied, 'You must thank the other women here. It's made very clear to a fellow' - oh, he's American, he said 'fellah,' you know - 'it's made very clear that if he doesn't learn to give to a woman, he can expect nought in return."

Emma laughed at that. "I think that you'd know about that, wouldn't you, Charles? But in any event, Luke stood up then, and..."

She paused. "I tell you again that he was entirely gentle with me, and never offered me the least ghost of a threat at any time. But at that moment, he reached up and took the neckline of my petticoat in both those rough hands of his, and ripped it entirely in half, from neck to hem."

"Lord," muttered Charles, "how could you not see that as violence?"

"Because I would have done it myself, had I thought," Emma replied. "Oh, but it seemed so appropriate, Charles. That petticoat was the last of my old garments that I was wearing - and now it was gone, and I lay entirely naked before Luke. As for him..." She sighed.

"What did he do?" Charles demanded.

"He shed his loincloth," Emma said simply, "and I was treated to another novel sight. I will not venture to guess how well any man's body compares to any other, for I am still yet an ignorant girl, but at that moment I was made much more nervous than I had been by the tearing of my petticoat. I knew what he was intending with that organ, and suddenly I felt a small, weak woman.

"But I steeled myself to watch as he fitted a... rubber condom, I think it is called, to his length. I distracted myself by admiring the line of his hips and thighs, and those other organs - the testes, I believe? They are quite striking... They shifted a little, seemingly of their own volition... But then..."

She paused again, and Charles stared at her. "He took you?" he asked.

"To say that suggests a theft," Emma replied. "I was offering - eagerly, I promise you. Say rather that he accepted my offer."

"And were you hurt?"

"I suppose that I was. I was opened, you see. I was entered. But it was a pain... A discomfort... That I had sought, and I refuse to complain of it. Heavens, but such a feeling!" She laughed, a fragile sound. "When I had given the use of those parts a little thought, it was to imagine them being probed a little, I suppose. But now they were occupied!"

Charles buried his face in his hands, uncertain of the wild mixture of feelings that swept through him. But Emma was now staring out to sea, lost in her own storytelling.

"His weight upon me was almost as overwhelming as the penetration, but that I truly enjoyed. Oh dear, Charles - like most fool girls, I had enjoyed romantic stories of passion, but now I actually understand what it is! My nakedness against him, his firm chest on my breasts... But then he raised himself up on his hands, and began moving his hips - I hope that you have learned that you may caress a woman's loins with your own in those circumstances, Charles, else your pirate wenches will have complaints against you."

Charles gave a soft wordless moan, but Emma seemed not to hear that.

"He induced me... He caused me to come again, you see, after a few minutes. And I fear that I made a great many strange sounds and odd cries in that time. But fortunately, he took those as compliments, I think, and when I was done he became most excited himself. I am most flattered that I can cause a man to become so vigorous. By the time he was done, my feet were fully on the bed, and my head had almost reached the headboard - all from his thrusting. But then I felt him twitch inside me, and he made a loud moan of release. He had come, as it seems."

She stopped and smiled at Charles.

"And then?" Charles asked.

"Then he stopped, and removed himself from me, and lay beside me. Oh, and then he said a great many things, some wildly flattering, some I fear quite vulgar. You know, I have never heard my own breasts called titties before, and yet I found I liked it... But I felt strangely invigorated. A little tender, in... well, you may guess where, but full of life. And so I left him sleeping, and induced my guard to take me to this place's stores, where I acquired these clothes."

"And now?" Charles asked.

Emma laughed lightly and rose to her feet. "And now my tale is told. I am sorry if I have shocked you, but can you expect better of a pirate wench?" She brushed some dust from her skirt. "I suppose that I should find Mr. Sharma, or whoever commands here. I may be required formally to declare my new allegiance. Perhaps there are terrible oaths or some such." She turned to go, but then glanced back. "If... When you do return to civilization, Mr. Dartington, I suppose that you should convey my apologies to my parents. I do regret what my mother will think. But you may tell them that I sought to make the best of my situation."