“Not if we understand each other now.”
Cloud stood and reached for his sword. Alexis pushed the table, desk and chairs to one corner of the cabin and the lesson began.
He tried to keep her off guard by talking about the ship, the weather, the navy, but she would not listen. She kept her attention on what she was doing and successfully managed to back him against the wall twice.
“Very good, Alex. Your concentration is excellent and your balance is better than before,” he said while he advanced on her. “Keep me guessing. No, I knew what you were going to do that time. You have beautiful eyes, Alex, but they are making it very easy for me to anticipate you. That’s better. You really do have beautiful eyes. Like fire sometimes. Gold. Like your hair. I like to touch your hair.”
“You are not playing fair, Cloud,” she answered as she parried his next few moves.
He ignored her. “Your legs are very nice too. Long and lean and strong. I like the way they feel next to mine.” He pressed her to the wall and with a strength he did not know could exist in a woman she pushed him away and went after him furiously. He laughed. “A much better subject than the weather, I think. Hmm, what else can I say? Oh, yes. Your mouth. Don’t move so often to the right. Where was I?”
“My right,” she answered, sidestepping his next move easily.
“That was very good. Your move and your answer. But I was on your mouth. It’s exquisite, you know.”
“For what it says or what it does?”
“Both,” he replied, feeling a slight catch in the single word. He lost his momentum and Alexis was quick to take advantage of it.
She advanced on him, catching the sleeve of his shirt. She heard the material tear as she said, “My mouth, Cloud. You were on my mouth. What is it you like best? Do you like it when I kiss you on the neck or on the lips? Do you like it better when I press my mouth against your ear or your chest? Perhaps you like it best when I use my mouth to give you pleasure elsewhere?” Her sword swept through the air to the object of her talk but he blocked it.
“Now who’s not playing fair?” he demanded huskily.
“Oh, but I have a very good teacher. He taught me everything. Everything.” She said the last word with suggestive finality.
“Get your arm up!” he said firmly, trying to regain his composure. This was a lesson for him as well, he realized. There were some subjects not to be discussed while fencing, especially with a partner as skilled as Alexis was becoming.
“Yes, Cloud,” she replied obediently, regaining her balance. “I think we have discussed my mouth long enough. Shall we discuss my breasts now?” She caught the frustration in his almost horrified glance and she pressed her advantage. “Yes, I think we should definitely discuss my breasts.”
“Not unless I can see what we’re talking about!” In a quick move that she had no time to block the tip of his sword picked off the two top buttons of her shirt in rapid succession. “That’s better,” he said evenly as he surveyed the swell of her breasts against the open collar.
Alexis did not miss a beat. “Now that you can see them what do you have to say? Perhaps you would like to touch them? Not with the end of your sword dammit! Let’s stop this nonsense. Watch me. Try to anticipate me. What am I going to do?” She knocked the sword out of his hand.
Cloud stood motionless for a moment then he threw back his head and laughed. He held out his arms to Alexis and she eagerly ran to him. “I’m so very proud of you,” he said breathlessly, partially from exertion, partially from the laughter, and partially from what was about to happen.
He lowered her to the deck, tearing away the remainder of the buttons from her shirt. “Cloud, you’re ruining it,” she protested. “It’s mine, remember?” he answered, his lips covering her mouth. She returned his kiss and helped him remove his clothes, taking a little more care than he did with hers.
For the first time since they were together the mood was laughter. Alexis nipped at his chest and giggled at his falsely pained expression. “Giggling?” he asked, pretending to be appalled. “See how you like this?” His mouth surrounded her nipple and he bit it tenderly. Alexis moaned. “Did you say something, Alex?” he asked as he repeated the procedure on her other breast. This time she managed, “That was very…” Then another short gasp drowned out her words.
“Maybe we should talk about fencing,” she suggested as his mouth moved lazily over her stomach. Cloud groaned and rolled off her onto his back. His head rested on their discarded clothes. “Oh dear,” Alexis said in feigned distress. “I didn’t realize that was the response I was going to get.” She moved close to him, brushing his chest with her breasts. She felt his breathing quicken but he made no move to touch her. She kissed him on the mouth, her tongue outlined his lips. Then her mouth began its own unhurried journey down his throat. At his chest she stopped. “Fencing can be quite an exciting topic actually.” She kissed him again when he rolled his eyes at the mere suggestion. Her lips continued to move while her hand touched the inside of his thigh lightly. “Swords,” she said as she began to fondle him. “I imagine there are all different types of swords.” She watched his eyes and grinned at the response her words and her actions were evoking. “I told you it could be exciting. Where was I? Blades. Yes, blades. All different kinds I would think. Although my experience is limited, I think I’ve chosen well, in spite of my lack of—” She was cut off from further discussion as Cloud pulled her away and practically threw her onto her back. He kissed her hungrily. “Fencing indeed,” he said when he had to break for air. “There are times when I have to question your inexperience, Alex.”
He took her then. The laughter was replaced by driving passion that consumed them both. Alexis clung to him fiercely, the desire to feel all of him against her urging her on. She called out his name as he brought her crashing against wave after wave of pleasure that she had no will to fight even if she had had the inclination. She kissed him softly after she felt him relax against her, succumbing to the same sea of fiery gratification.
She thought after it was over she could never leave him if all their times together could be like the moment just passed. But she knew that would not be, for she knew she would never allow it to happen in quite this manner again.
Cloud lifted her to the bunk and slid in beside her, covering them both with his sheet. He was also silent, knowing the laughter could not be recaptured, knowing she would fight against it.
“You might just be able to make it, Alex,” he whispered, to give her strength.
“And you might just be able to stop me,” she said, returning it.
Cloud savored the memory as he watched Alexis now. She was squinting in the bright sunlight, her face upturned as she looked toward the horizon. Determined in her path. Wanting him to see that determination. He knew that if her opportunity came he would allow her to see it. He did not know then just how hard it was going to be.
“Danty,” he said sharply, almost laughing when his voice made her lose her grip on the railing and she nearly tumbled into the foamy waves around his ship. He grabbed her by the waist and set her firmly on deck. “Don’t you have some work you should be doing? This is not a free trip anymore.”
“Yes, Captain.” Her serious response was broken as a wide grin crossed her face. She hurried away to find Landis, leaving Cloud muttering about insubordination.
That was the only laughter between them now, he realized. The laughter between a cabin boy and her captain, sharing a secret in the manner of small children.
