Chapter 2

The bright morning sun awakened Arilee once again, but this time the sun's brilliance was matched by both her smile, and the glint in her eyes. She lay with her head on Amos' chest, his skin warm against her cheek, still lost in the afterglow of their lovemaking the night before.

Ari rose carefully to avoid waking Amos, climbing out of bed and stretching her arms above her head. Scattered on the floor at her feet were most of the bedclothes, victims of the passion she had shared with her love after so many months of being apart.

Amos admired the play of the muscles in Arilee's body as she stretched, her taut bottom flexed even tighter and her breasts held high by upraised arms. His cock twitched and tingled as he drank in the sight of her, blood swelling the organ to hardness as it did any time he looked at her. "Good morning, my beautiful Angel," he said and then yawned.

Arilee yelped in surprise and quickly squatted to the floor, picking up a sheet to hide her nudity. Her face burned, and Amos chuckled softly seeing the flush of color in her cheeks as she fumbled to cover her body with the sheet.

"Come back to bed, Ari, you don't have to get up and slave away for others today, you have your tax money."

Seeing the sheet that covered Amos' loins rising in an ever-larger tent, Arilee wanted nothing more than to slide back in the bed and continue where they had left off upon falling into spent slumber. She felt wetness gathering between her own legs, but she knew that she still had work to do.

Her face warmed in embarrassment again when she realized she was staring at his cock beneath the sheet. She cast her eyes downward for a moment before looking back up at him and saying, "I have washing and mending waiting for me, though. I have to keep my promises, and if I stop my work, people will find others to do it. I'll have taxes to pay again next year."

Amos sighed, "You're right, of course. Only a while longer, though. I'll help you where I can, if you don't think I'll just be in the way."

Arilee's spirits soared, knowing what lay behind his words — the proposal of marriage that would come when he felt he could provide for her properly. "Of course you can help, I'd like that."

He smiled and tossed the coverings aside, sliding his legs over the edge of the bed, and rising with a grunt of exertion. Ari's eyes were immediately drawn to his manhood, erect and throbbing between his legs. Unable to tear her eyes away, she asked, "Do I really arouse you so much?"

Amos stood and walked to her, kissing her softly. Arilee shivered and released the sheet she held around her to fall with a whisper of cloth at her feet. Her arms wrapped around him as he kissed her, her whole world centered in the point where their lips met.

"Of course, my Angel, and not just that either. I love just being with you," he replied when they parted from the kiss.

"I love you, Amos."

"I love you too, Arilee."

Ari's eyes again fell on his cock, so close to her and so gorgeous. "I'm sorry I teased you, standing around with no clothes on."

He chuckled, "It's okay, but you still are."

Only then did Arilee realize she had let go of the sheet and stood nude before him yet again. She reached down and traced her fingertips over his cock, whispering, "I guess if you're going to help me with my work, it won't take so long today."

Amos shuddered from her touch, his hands sliding lower to caress the firm cheeks of her bottom. Her hand wrapped around him, sending a jolt of pleasure through his body and a shiver through hers. With a grunt of exertion, he picked her up in his arms and carried her to the bed, stumbling slightly as she kissed him in heated passion.

He sat her down on the bed, and Ari reached out almost immediately to wrap her hand around his erect organ again. She tugged gently, pulling him closer to her, and then leaned down while licking her lips.

Amos gasped as her lips wrapped around the head of his cock, her tongue swirling over the swollen flesh before her lips slid lower, engulfing more of him in her mouth.

Only a year or so ago, Arilee would have never even considered taking a man in her mouth. Her mother's 'talk' about the subject of sex had been primarily admonitions against it, and Ari's natural shyness prevented her from listening to the exploits of her friends long without becoming embarrassed. She had known nothing about giving or receiving pleasure this way, until Amos has surprised her by sliding his tongue between her legs instead of his cock the first time they made love.

Now she delighted in the feeling of him throbbing against her tongue, and the tingling rush of saliva flooding her mouth whenever a flavorful drop of pre-cum seeped from him, because of her ministrations. She stroked him in her mouth, one hand wrapped around the base of his shaft, and the other slipping between her own legs to help dull the ache there.

Amos laid his hands on Ari's back, gasping and grunting in pleasure as he watched her golden hair flashing in the morning sunlight. She could sense he was approaching his peak, and increased her pace to match his mounting pleasure. "Gods, Angel, that feels so good," he grunted.

Ari moaned around him, knowing he was close. She pushed two fingers into her heat, anticipation of his hot cream filling her mouth sending aching waves of need through her. His fingers pressed tighter on her back as his body stiffened, and then Ari let out a delighted sound of satisfaction as he pulsed and flooded her mouth with the reward for her efforts.

She moaned around him as the thick spurts filled her mouth, stroking his slick flesh with her hand and suckling hard on the tip until he had no more to offer. Amos gasped and panted for breath, his legs losing some of their strength from the intensity of the pleasure she was giving him.

Ari released him with a final kiss on the tip of his cock, and Amos fell to the bed with a loud gasp. He rolled over sucking in deep breaths and twitching with each throb of his slowly softening cock. He closed his eyes as he tried to catch his breath, and when he opened them, he saw his love smiling at him, her fingers slowly stroking her own need.

Groaning in response to the sight, Amos reached out and grasped her free hand. She let out a gasp of anticipation and slid her fingers from inside her as he guided her to straddle his face. As soon as she was within reach, his tongue washed over her hot flesh in a slippery caress.

Ari moaned and brought her fingers to her mouth, sucking her juices from them. Her cheeks warmed as she thought about how much she enjoyed the taste, bittersweet and intoxicating. Every time she tasted her own wetness, flashes of thought about tasting another woman this way always crept into her mind. Those disturbing thoughts evaporated almost instantly from the pleasure of Amos' lips and tongue tantalizing her.

Amos grasped her bottom as Ari rocked her hips gently against him, his senses filled with her taste and heady scent. He lapped her hungrily, eager for the rush of juices that would wash over his tongue when she reached her peak.

"Oh, yes, Amos. Don't stop," Arilee gasped as her pleasure mounted. His lips locked around her clit then, and she squealed as her whole body came to life from the touch. Every pore felt as though it were welling up with heat, her muscles contracted tightly, and when they released, so did she, crying out in ecstasy as she exploded into orgasm.

Amos continued to lap for his reward until Arilee pulled away from him with a pained yelp, unable to endure another jolt of pleasure. After a few moments to regulate her breathing, she leaned down and kissed him, again tasting her wetness on his lips.

They lay holding each other for a time, and then Amos smiled at her and said, "I think we probably both could use some washing."

Arilee let out a little laugh and responded, "Not together, though, or we'll never get anything done today."

Amos laughed as well, "I suppose you're right. I'll go wash up first and get the tub ready, and then I'll go get us something to break our fast while you're bathing."

"You're so thoughtful," Arilee sighed, and then kissed him again. She felt his cock throbbing against her leg and pulled from the kiss, "Now stop that," she said playfully.

"I can't help it," Amos responded with a sly grin as his love climbed out of the bed, wrapping the sheet around her as she rose.

"The quicker we're done with my work, the more time we'll be able to spend together later," Ari noted suggestively, looking over her shoulder at him.

Amos rose quickly from the bed upon hearing that.

Amos proved to be of more help than Arilee would have ever anticipated. His time in the Royal Navy had given him little choice but to become competent at washing his own clothing, and thus Ari was able to concentrate on the mending. It was only mid-afternoon when they hung Ari's own clothing, always the last to be washed, on the line to dry in the summer breezes.

They then enjoyed a rare treat for them both, taking their evening meal early at the local inn. The cook the inn employed enjoyed a fair amount of local renown, and the couple agreed that it was well deserved as they sat sipping wine after eating.

They left the inn with their bellies full and feeling just a bit light-headed from the wine. Amos retrieved a waxed parchment bundle from his kit when they returned home, and Arilee clapped her hands in anticipation upon seeing it. Amos drew pictures, very good ones, of the places his ship stopped during voyages, and looking at them was yet another high point of his visits home for Arilee. She was not the only one who appreciated the drawings either. The ones he had given her on previous visits rested in an ornate wooden box, given to her as payment to Amos for one of them by the town's woodworker. Ari blushed a little whenever she thought about that, because the bare-breasted mermaid in that drawing bore a strong resemblance to her.

Ari's brow furrowed slightly as she looked at the last picture. She pulled out a pair of the drawings and set them side by side on the table in front of her, and then looked over at Amos. "There's one thing I don't understand. You said this one is a rich merchant's pleasure ship, right?"

Amos nodded to indicate she was correct.

"And this one is a fishing boat?"

"One of the biggest and fastest I've ever seen," Amos responded.

"If the people are drawn the right size, and I know they are, then the fishing boat is bigger than the merchant ship. So why is the fishing boat just a boat?"

Amos opened his mouth to reply, but then his eyes narrowed and his brow furrowed exactly as Arilee's had done a few moments before. He let out a booming laugh and replied, "You know, I don't have any idea. It doesn't make much sense, does it? I've never even thought about it until now."

He laughed again and continued, "It confused me a bit when I first went to sea too, but I've just never questioned why something that floats is called a boat or a ship. Once I learned what everyone else called them, that's what I called them too. Maybe it has something to do with humility. A merchant wouldn't stand to have his ship called a boat, but fishermen are mostly a humble sort."

Ari smiled and said, "I think that's it. We would call a rake or a hoe a tool, but the merchant selling them will call them something silly like farming implements."

Amos put his hand on a second bundle he had pulled from his kit with the first, a slightly worried look crossing his face. "I sort of tried something. Tell me if you like it, and be honest?"

Arilee's smile broadened and she replied, "Of course, let me see!"

He untied the bundle with some obvious hesitation, and then handed it to Arilee unopened, "Please, be honest. If it isn't any good, tell me."

"Oh, you're so silly Amos," Arilee laughed as she pulled open the waxed parchment, "Of course I'll..."

Ari trailed off in stunned surprise when she saw what the plain wrapping had hidden. It was a small portrait of her, perfect in every detail, her eyes cast downward demurely and a shy smile on her face. Since he had been gone for months, the detail of the picture spoke volumes about how often Amos thought of her when he was away. Only someone who thought about her nearly every waking moment of every day could have kept her face so perfectly etched in his memory.

Tears welling up in her eyes, Arilee threw her arms around Amos' neck, leaning her head on his shoulder, and sobbed out, "Oh, it's so beautiful. I love it, and I love you!"

Her reaction surprised Amos, but it was certainly pleasing as well, "You really like it that much?"

Ari leaned back and looked into his eyes with a nod, and then leaned forward to kiss him. When they broke from the kiss, Arilee sighed and said, "Your kisses just take me away from everything. I forget all about dirty laundry and tax collectors when I kiss you."