Chapter 29

“You could have at least given him some pants,” grumbled Roka as Kashka approached with the young man from the captain’s quarters. Kal felt she had a point. The erection that tented the covers and gave away his nature now bounced freely as the cat led him over.

“Actually, that’s a bit of a problem,” said Kashka. “His name is Gavim, and when he became a slave, he couldn’t keep it up. His masters considered him too pretty to discard, so they took him to a wizard. The wizard put him to sleep, and when he woke up, his cock was bigger and stayed hard. It’s been that way ever since.”

“It goes down for a little while every few hours,” he mumbled, his face blushing bright red with shame, “but it always comes back. It’ll rub if I try to wear pants, and I’ll make a mess.”

“What do you two think?” Roka asked Kal and Kashka.

“Your boat, Captain. Your call,” said Kal as Kashka grinned and nodded in agreement

“I’m aware, smartass mage and cat. I’m asking your opinions.”

“Treat him like any other slave you’ve rescued.”

“That’s fair. Gavim, I can put you off at one of the ports in Azumbaho or the mainland once we reach it. Or, if you don’t mind the company of monster girls, you can stay on board as crew. Keep in mind you will need to learn a skill other than using that,” she said, pointing at the boy’s cock. “Scarlet might give you a bump in pay for keeping the crew happy with it. But it won’t be a requirement. You can say no at any time. Men like Kal are in short supply, and us girls would appreciate it.”

“Oh sure, he gets paid for it,” Kal complained with an exaggerated roll of his eyes.

“Hush, you,” said Kashka, elbowing him in the side. As Kal howled in mock pain and pretended she cracked a rib, Kashka noticed Hali staring at them from behind Roka. “Something wrong?”

“You two are like totally different people! When you left with Emru I was scared to even be around you two, and now here you are, joking and laughing!” the mermaid exclaimed.

Kal shared a look with the cat before smiling at the mermaid. “Sorry that we scared you. We get pretty intense before any fight, and I have a particular hate for bandits after they killed one of my lovers. Pirates are just the sea-faring version in my eyes. As for Kashka...”

“Kal and I met because he was marked for assassination. I was the assassin. Kal saved me from that life, but the skills I learned keep me alive in situations like this, and I fall back into that mindset.”

Hali’s eyes nearly fell out of her head when Kashka said she was an assassin. A yell from the stairs to the lower decks distracted everyone.

“Hey! Could we get a little help here?” The otter-girl shouted as she and the mouse struggled to carry the men from the crew quarters up the stairs.

“On it,” said Kal, jogging over while tracing the strength rune in the air.

Roka cleared her throat to get everyone’s attention. “Kashka, check the rigging. Hali, help toss the corpses overboard. Get Naivoo to help you when she’s done bringing supplies up.” Roka crooked a finger at the human woman, “Pon, Gavim’s with you. Take him to the helm and start teaching him how to read maps and navigate. Seems like the safest place for someone who can’t wear pants.”

The woman cast a sidelong glance at the boy and his protruding erection. “Um, Cap’n?”

“What?”

“I’ve passed on all of my turns with Kal. I’m not comfortable being around him,” she nodded toward Gavim, “especially when he’s like that.”

“Since you weren’t listening when Kashka explained. They enchanted his cock, and he can’t do anything about it. Gavim, if you need release, come find one of us monster girls to help you. But if you touch Pon without permission, I’ll throw your ass overboard myself. Also, stay away from the cat unless you want the mage pissed off at you. The rest of us, myself included, will be happy to empty your balls, but not until the pirate’s corpses are gone and the ship is in order.”

The young man nervously nodded before following the human woman to the wheelhouse. The glazed look in his eyes made Roka wonder if he understood a word she had said.

Cleanup went quickly with the help of Kal’s strength and light spells, as well as a little magic to take care of all the blood in the crew quarters. Naura, the otter, quickly stripped since her fur was easier to clean than clothes. Kal wondered for a moment if she was hoping to entice him but breathed a sigh of relief when she went back to work moving bodies. One of the girls wanting sex while disposing of corpses would have been very strange.

“The sharks will eat well tonight,” said Roka as Naivoo and the otter tossed the last pirate overboard. As Naivoo used her water jets to clean Naura, the mouse-girl, Muri, arrived, stripped off her bloody clothes, and then requested similar treatment. She took significantly longer to clean since her fur lacked the otter-girl’s waterproofing.

Kal came over to stand next to the cow-woman after hauling the dinghy up onto the ship and securing it. The smaller boat was nowhere near as heavy as the longboats and little challenge for his magic-enhanced strength with the help of a couple pulleys.

“Emru is headed back to The Scarlet Bitch. How’s the new crewmember doing?” he asked.

“Fine, though Pon is none too happy about him. But I think his small stature is making it easier for her. I get what the slavers meant by ‘too pretty.’ ‘Pretty’ seems to suit him better than ‘handsome.’”

“I thought he was a girl when I started throwing the former captain around.”

“Listen, Kal, I appreciate what you did when I came on board. But this is just an away mission, and I’m still the first mate of The Scarlet Bitch for now, not the captain.”

“Aww, but I liked calling you Captain.”

“I won’t say I didn’t like it, too. Red is the Captain and leader of our group, but The Scarlet Bitch is owned by its crew. They are the ones to decide if this boat will end up as my command or if we will even keep it.” She chuckled, “That sounds good and all, but whatever Red chooses, the rest of the crew goes along with. It’s worked for us so far.”

“You said it seems like a waste to leave the ship.”

“It is, but we need carpenters, ropemakers, swabbies, and two dozen more women to keep this boat seaworthy. With this crew, we can’t even drop the anchor because we don’t have enough muscle to raise it again. We can’t pull women from The Bitch because it needs its crew, and there aren’t droves of monster girls looking to sign on at each port. Even if there were, we’d need to teach them everything about sailing.”

“Kashka learned rigging quickly, and you’re teaching Gavim navigation.”

“Kashka is a lot smarter than you give her credit for, and Gavim will be working in the wheelhouse for months before he’s trusted with more than reading a compass and spinning the wheel.”

“I’m just saying that new people can be taught. As for finding a crew, only a handful of the women in Kuji’s slums knew about your ship, and none of them knew you were looking to take on more crewmates.”

“That’s because we weren’t looking back in Kuji.”

“Some of those women were living in very bad conditions. They would have jumped at the chance to sail with you.”

“Something to keep in mind at the next port, then.”

The door to the wheelhouse opened, and Gavim stumbled out, holding his groin.

Roka’s lips curled into a snarl. “You’d better not have—”

“I have to pee,” he whimpered, “but I only know where the captain’s head is.”

“Oh, is that all?” Roka chuckled. “Use the captain’s quarters, then find Naivoo and have her show you where the crew’s head is.” As the boy jogged over to the captain’s cabin door, Roka bellowed for the squid girl.

Naivoo crawled over the ship’s rail a few moments later and reported that the hull she had inspected so far appeared to be in good condition and only needed minor maintenance.

Roka smiled at the news. “Our newest crewmember is in the captain’s cabin taking a piss. When he gets done, show him the crew’s quarters and head, mess, and whatever else you can think of that he needs to know.”

The squid’s eyes lit up. “Can I fuck him?”

“No, but you can offer to let him fuck you and see what happens. I’m not sure how long he’s been a slave, but he seems used to the life. If you make the first move, he might let you have your way even if he’s not interested because that’s expected of him. Give him a chance to decline. If he says no, I expect you to respect that. He’s been in there for a minute now. Go check on him. Kal and I are going to the brig. I have a few more questions for the former captain.”

Naivoo crept into the captain’s cabin. Her large eyes, designed to see in the ocean depths, had no trouble seeing in the light of the two dim lanterns hanging from the rafters. But it was her ears that led her to the young man. She found him quietly sobbing in the small restroom in the back where he stood in front of the captain’s toilet.

“Are you hurt?” she asked, startling him.

“No,” he replied, wiping his tears with the back of his hand. “I’m just feeling a little overwhelmed. Pon started teaching me how to read maps, and it crashed into me that I’m free. Not only that, but I might have a place in a crew where I can have a future for myself. I haven’t thought about my future in a long time. Pon doesn’t seem to like me much, and I didn’t want to break down in front of her.” He looked down at his erection, “And I do have to pee. It’s just hard with it like this all the time.”

“Can I help?”

“Help?”

“I’ll suck it out for you,” she said, dropping to her knees beside him, though it was more of a slide as her legs unraveled while she sank to the floor, then reformed once in position.

Gavim’s face went pale. Since his capture, he had suffered the humiliation of being his master’s urinal many times and hated every instance. There was no way she could be offering what he thought she was. “N-n-no,” he stammered, “I-I couldn’t do that to you.”

“Please?” she asked, leaning closer. “I take care of the crew’s hygiene and keep their pussies clean, so they don’t get infections. Most of the time, I clean them like this.” her arm unfurled into its individual tentacles, and she summoned jets of water that sprayed down into the toilet from each tip. “But some of the girls I clean with this,” Naivoo stuck out her tongue and wiggled the tip invitingly before licking her lips. “Besides, I live in salt water. It’s not that different, and it turns me on.”

He looked into her eyes for any sign this was some hateful joke but found nothing. “You really like it?”

The squid-girl nodded, then ran her tongue over her lips. “I’ve never drank it straight from a man before. I bet yours tastes even better,” she said in a sultry tone that made the young man’s cock twitch.

The pain in Gavim’s bladder made the decision for him. While he could normally piss through his constant hard-on, being on a ship of mostly women who he could, if what the cow-woman said was true, freely have sex with had him more aroused than he had been in months. Making matters worse was Pon’s close proximity. He couldn’t help but steal glances at her breasts and bottom, and something about her scent when she stood near him seemed to go straight to his cock. Adding that to his magical erection made it impossible to get more than a tiny squirt out, no matter how hard he pushed.

He usually waited until the brief periods where he went soft to use the head, but all the excitement had his blood pumping, and now he couldn’t wait.

Gavim pointed his cock at the squid girl’s face, then moaned as her rubbery lips engulfed the head and slid down his shaft. He resisted the urge to start thrusting into her sucking mouth and instead focused on his original purpose.

The first tiny spurt landed on the squid girl’s tongue, and she responded by sucking even harder. He wasn’t sure if her efforts were helping, but she hummed and moaned with obvious delight between swallows as he trickled into her mouth. The tiny stream seemed to take forever to empty his bladder. As he approached the end of what he thought he could push out, the woman suddenly moaned even louder, and her skin began to flash between rust red, which made her nearly disappear in the dim lantern light, and dull white. Gavim caught movement between her legs and saw a tentacle thrusting madly into her pussy as she came.

Naivoo shuddered through her climax as Gavim watched in amazement. After a minute, the squid-girl’s skin resumed its usual color as her body slumped and the tentacles in her sex and rear slipped out to reform into her leg and foot.

Gavim appeared to be done, and she gradually pulled off his cock.

“Would you like some more?” she asked, showering the tip of his prick with kisses and tiny licks. “Or if you want, you can fuck me.”

The boy seemed frozen, as if unable to make a decision.

“If you don’t want to, that’s fine too—”

“No! I mean ... I want to, but I don’t want Pon to get mad at me for being away for too long.”

Naivoo stood up and bent over in front of him. Her hands unraveled as she gripped either side of the restroom door. “Roka told me to show you around the ship when we’re done here. You have time.”

As if in a trance, Gavim stepped forward and let his cock rest against her sex. “I’ve only done this a few times...”

“Have you ever fucked a monster girl?”

“No. I’d only had sex a few times before I was taken by the slavers and once as an exhibition for my masters. They made me put it in her bottom, and it was ... unpleasant. She didn’t like it, and our masters wouldn’t let me stop until I finished.”

“Well, there are no masters here, and most monster girls like it in our butts, so take your pick. Or have a little bit of both, I don’t mind,” said Naivoo while wiggling her rear until the tip of his cock pressed against her entrance.

Gavim took the invitation and pushed forward, gasping as her sex enveloped him. The texture of her pussy was very different from what he remembered. Its walls were thick and almost leathery but still smooth and slick with her juices. The squid-girl’s sex was also noticeably cooler than he expected, but any concerns about her temperature vanished when she began squeezing his shaft.

It had been so long since he felt pleasure like this that Gavim’s eyes began to well up. The squid-girl started turning her head, probably to check on him, but he grabbed her hips and began thrusting wildly to stop her from seeing his tears. He didn’t care if they were tears of happiness. He’d spent a lot of time crying since his capture and suffered ridicule or punishment every time someone saw him. He couldn’t stand the idea of this woman looking at him with the same disgust.

His thoughts quickly shifted to the heavenly feeling of the squid-girl’s sex wrapped around him as he slammed into her pussy over and over. Each slap of his hips on her backside was echoed by short moans of pleasure from the woman.

Instead of getting fucked, he was the one doing the fucking. And this girl appeared to be loving every moment.

The thought triggered his climax, catching him by surprise with its suddenness. Grabbing her hips, he drove his prick into the squid-girl’s sex as a torrent of cum burst from his cock. The woman’s head sagged and skin began flashing again as he filled the squid-girl’s pussy. Her sex clamped down on him hard enough to squeeze some of his seed out around his shaft before continuing to rhythmically wring his cock as she rode out her orgasm.

They stayed joined for a few long minutes catching their breath until the squid-girl’s head popped up.

“Oh yeah, it doesn’t go soft,” she reminded herself. Pulling off his cock, she spun around and dropped to her knees. Sucking Gavim’s prick into her mouth, she thoroughly but delicately cleaned their combined juices from his cock as he stared in surprise.

“My name is Naivoo,” she said when she finally, and with notable reluctance, released him. Standing up, she beckoned him out of the captain’s head. “If you want some more of me, then just ask,” she said, then stopped and threw a lustful look over her shoulder at him, “or just push me up against a wall, or over a table. I won’t mind. But right I need to show you around so I can finish inspecting the ship’s hull.”

Gavim followed her, still feeling dazed and a little weak in the knees. He stopped briefly to make a rude gesture at the captain’s bed, then slammed the door behind him as he left the cabin.

“Do you think it was wise to leave him with Naivoo?” Kal asked as they made their way to the brig. “She can be a little forward.”

“True, but I trust her to follow orders. If they have sex, it will be his choice, not hers. That sounded bad, but you know what I mean.”

“I do. I just don’t want to damage the boy.”

Roka snorted, “That ‘boy’ is only two or three years younger than you.”

“You’ve got me there,” he said as they entered the cargo hold and began walking to the brig on the far side. But he’s so small and slim it’s easy to forget that.”

“Like I said, ‘pretty’ suits him.”

Kal grunted in reluctant agreement as they approached the brig’s iron bars and illuminated the man on the other side. “My friend has some more questions for you.”

“What makes you think I’m going to answer them?” said the man as he rolled out of the brig’s hammock and walked over to the bars.

“The same reason you told me what I wanted to know earlier.”

“Going back on your word, are you?” he spat.

“No. I said I wouldn’t kill you, and I won’t. But I’m a passenger on her ship,” he said, nodding toward Roka, “not crew. She is not beholden to the deal between you and me.”

“You’re a bastard,” said the former captain while glaring at Kal. Turning to Roka, he asked with a resigned sigh, “What do you want to know?”

The bovine looked over at Kal. “You’re right. He is surprisingly cooperative.”

“I’m just the captain. I don’t own this ship, and it isn’t worth dying over. I can find another boat to captain a lot easier if I’m not fish food. Ask yer questions, but I’m not answering unless you promise to let me go at the next port, and that promise includes your crew and all those associatin’ with ya.”

“I’m good with that. Kal?”

“As long as his information is good. If it’s not, then your life is forfeit.”

“Good enough. My employer’ll probably cut my throat for gettin’ captured, so I’m not gonna lie to ya.”

Kashka scampered down the rigging and landed next to the stairs as Kal and Roka came up from belowdecks. “You two seem worried. What happened?”

“The man who wants The Scarlet Bitch back ... really wants The Scarlet Bitch back,” said Roka.

“The second ship has a full complement of soldiers plus the remaining crew from this ship,” Kal glanced over at Roka then sighed, “and a mage.”

“How do you think they’ll use him. I’m assuming it’s a him,” asked Kashka.

Kal looked down at the deck as he mulled over possibilities. “Give me some time on that.”

“Kashka, tell everyone to meet in the wheelhouse,” said Roka. “I’d like to have a battle plan put together before we meet up with Scarlet.”

“Aye, Captain,” said the cat with a sharp salute.

“I’m not—”

“Aye, aye, Captain!” Kasha interrupted with a laughing shout as she ran off to collect the other crew.

“You all are going to give me such a big head by the time we meet back up with The Bitch, Red won’t be able to stand me.” As they approached the door to the wheelhouse, Roka’s ears stood straight up and she held a hand out to stop Kal. “Do you have anything that will make us really quiet?”

He gave her a questioning look before retrieving the soundstone from Ria. After activating it, he explained, “Nobody outside three paces of the stone can hear what happens inside. But those inside can hear everything.”

Roka blinked in confusion. “What?”

“If we’re inside three paces of the stone, we can hear them, but they can’t hear us.”

The bovine thought for a moment, then chuckled, “That is what you said the first time isn’t it?”

“Yes. I overcomplicate things sometimes. Sorry about that. Can I ask why we are doing this?”

“I thought I heard something from the wheelhouse,” she said with a mischievious grin.

The Scarlet Bitch’s wheelhouse was located on the quarterdeck beneath the captain’s quarters. This smaller ship had no quarter deck and the wheelhouse shared the area beneath the poop deck with the captain’s cabin. The rack holding the ship’s maps created a short hallway before opening up into a room with the helm, compass, and navigation table. A bench had been built into the outer wall for seating, and a small stool stood socketed into the floor within arm’s reach of the ship’s wheel.

Roka opened the door, and she and Kal crept forward. Kal immediately heard what the cow-woman picked up outside. Muffled moans were punctuated by rhythmic wet slapping that didn’t quite fit the sound of people having sex. Kal also heard a low, droning murmur but couldn’t make out the words or who was speaking.

The mage and first mate peeked around the corner and beheld a most unexpected sight. Gavim lay across Pon’s lap on the benches with his arms pulled up tightly against his chest. The ship’s navigator had her shirt pulled up and cradled his head as the young man suckled her breast. The rhythmic sound came from her other hand as it stroked his cock.

“That’s it, little boy, suck Mommy’s tits good, and I’ll help you get out all those bad thoughts so you can concentrate again...” Only the occasional admonishment for thrusting his hips upward or spitting in her hand for more lubrication interrupted Pon’s constant stream of encouragement whispered at the boy.

Hearing footsteps behind them, Kal and Roka retreated out the door and signaled to those approaching to stay quiet.

“I wasn’t sure what to expect,” said Kal as Kashka, Naivoo, and the others gathered around, “but it wasn’t that. Especially since she never came to visit me.”

Roka chuckled. “I’m sorry to say this, Kal, but you are a little too average in some ways. Your height and physique aren’t that different from most of the men who enslaved us. I think Gavim is feminine enough Pon doesn’t find him threatening.”

“I know Pon was getting him all worked up,” said Naivoo. “I helped him piss, then let him fuck me before showing him around.”

“Ummm, how are those related?” asked the otter.

“Pon got him so hard he couldn’t pee. So, I helped him piss, and then he was still horny, so I let him fuck me.”

“I’m not going to ask how you helped him take a piss,” said the otter, leaning away from the squid-girl.

“With my mouth. How else are you going to help a man who’s so hard he can’t let it out?”

“That’s why I didn’t ask.”

“Hush, you two, sounds like they’re almost done,” said Roka as the young man’s moans increased in volume and the wet sounds of stroking got faster.

“What are they doing in there?” Naivoo asked.

“She’s jerking him off.”

“Dibs on cleaning his cock!” said Naivoo, raising her hand excitedly.

“That’s going to be a little awkward since she doesn’t know we’re out here—”

Roka was interrupted by a louder and longer muffled moan from Gavim as Pon cooed loud enough for them to hear, “That’s it. Let it all out for Momma. Good boy, you’re such a good boy.”

Kal looked around at the gathered women. “Is this a thing that I’ve somehow missed?”

“Why? Want to try it?” Roka asked, hefting one of her large breasts.

“I’m tempted, but getting rubbed is usually just the appetizer before the main course,” he looked into the wheelhouse and cringed slightly, “Not the whole meal.”

“Try it. You might like it,” said Roka.

“Like I said, maybe as an appetizer. But I feel like there are better places on or in a woman to spend myself than her hand. Let’s move back a little and turn off the soundstone. It’ll give them a few seconds to get cleaned up and situated before we barge in on them.” He stopped for a moment and blushed slightly. “Now I feel bad for spying.”

“We should both feel bad for getting distracted by those two,” said Roka. “What Captain Ervol told us is far more important,” said Roka

Kal grudgingly nodded in agreement and spoke the command to deactivate the soundstone. “Though it could be said that Gavim may help Pon with her fear of men, and the crew’s wellbeing is your responsibility.”

“That is a sorry-ass argument Kal, and you know it. Still, thanks for trying,” she said as the group walked back to the wheelhouse.

They re-entered the cabin to a far less interesting scene. Pon had tied off the ship’s wheel as she explained to Gavim the correlation between the radial lines on a map and the numbers on the ship’s large compass.

“Save the lesson for later,” said Roka as Pon and Gavim looked up from the map. “We have more important things to discuss. Pon, give us an approximation of where this ship and The Bitch are on the map.”

“I’m not the best—”

“You’re the best navigator on this ship,” said Roka, gesturing at the map.

Pon’s eyes widened as she realized the truth of the bovine’s words. She took a moment to check their heading on the compass, then scribbled down some numbers on a piece of parchment before placing small wooden markers on the map. “If we were supposed to beat The Bitch to The Spine tomorrow morning, this is my best guess.”

“This ship was supposed to slow down and chase The Scarlet Bitch into The Spine, not beat it there. At roughly midnight, it would alter course slightly, then in the morning, angle in behind The Bitch as if they made a mistake overnight. We would have sailed right into their second vessel in our haste to escape this ship.”

On the map, a tapered tail of blank, rough-edged shapes extended out from the southern tip of Azumbaho, marking the jagged rocks and islands of The Spine. Roka tapped on it. “Given how we have crossed here before, I need to know where you could hide a ship and cover as many paths through as possible. Kal, how will having a mage on board affect their strategy?”

“Captain, I’ve never been at the helm when we sailed through The Spine,” said Pon as she made some small adjustments to the marker for their ship based on the new information.

“Then plot some likely courses and give me a best guess.”

“But—”

“That’s an order, helmswoman.”

Pon stood up in surprise, her back straight as a board. Her sharp intake of breath was followed by a long silence before she finally said, “Aye, Captain,” and bent over the table to closely study the map.

“Kal?” The bovine asked.

“How they use their magic-user depends upon the wizard’s focus. They want to take the ship and crew alive and intact, so they probably won’t use fire. Geomancy would be nearly useless. A cryomancer could drastically slow the ship, as could a water mage. A diviner would make trying to evade their trap useless, and an illusionist could hide the entire ship. On top of that, many generic but powerful spells are in almost every magic-user’s spellbook.”

“That doesn’t help us, Kal. We have no way of knowing what this mage has specialized in.”

“I know, I’m just thinking out loud. I believe the most important piece of information is they want to take all of you alive but are willing to fight if that doesn’t work. The mage needs to incapacitate all of you without hindering their soldiers.”

“Soldiers?” asked Naivoo.

“The other ship has a full security complement aboard, plus the extra crew from this one and a mage.”

A gasp ran through the room, and the mouse-girl, Muri, whimpered.

“Save the panicking for later, ladies,” Roka growled. “We aren’t in cages, we aren’t helpless, and we have some help. I need you focusing on plans and solutions.”

“We have to assume that they will know whatever way we will be crossing The Spine,” said Kal. “One of the low-level clairvoyance spells creates a magical floating eye the wizard can see through. Great for peering around corners, but you can also send it quite high into the air, well over a ship’s mast.

“Cryomancers are extremely rare, so we probably don’t need to worry about one of those. So, our main threats are an illusionist and a generalist mage.”

“Why the generalist?” asked Roka.

“Because Sleep is a very powerful spell on its own. A specialist mage will gravitate towards their expertise, while a generalist mage, especially one that had spent some time adventuring, would immediately see it as the most viable option to do what their employer wants. If the mage has a big enough mana crystal, I think he could put the entire ship to sleep with only a couple of spells. The sand for the spell must be high quality, but the size is irrelevant to its effectiveness. The grains could be small enough to carry easily on the wind.”

“But how would they get the sand upwind of the ship?” asked the mouse.

“That is a very good question. The only thing upwind would be this ship,” said Hali

“There are dozens of rocks in The Spine that enemies could hide behind until we went past, then lob bags of sand onto our deck,” Pon suggested, pointing at several examples on the map.