Chapter 13

Serendipity got under way just after fifteen hundred. There was still the last of the incoming tide running, but with the moderate south-westerly wind, Pippa handled the wheel as CC and Nadiya handled the mooring lines. The sails slatted as Serendipity drifted backwards into the fairway, then paid off and began to sail; CC, Nadiya and, with guidance, Nathan, adjusted the set of the sails and the boat began moving relative to the quay in a close reach. As they bore away for the reach by the prom, CC called back, "Pippa, your parents are waving."

She allowed herself to take her eyes off the cycle sails, burgee, heading, to look to the right. She spotted them immediately and waved cheerfully before returning her attention fully to the matter in hand. They met SB Hydrogen returning to the quay as the tide turned; they'd passed Earl Brithnoth at the end of the prom, brandishing his sword at the Danish horde. There were no problems at all down the river; a few dinghies making the most of a pleasant late spring afternoon, a few fishermen, but not much other activity and the conditions were perfect.

It was two and a half hours to Mersea Quarters, then a further hour to the Bench Head buoy. From there, though, they faced the ebbing current out of the Colne as they headed in, so it was a further two hours under sail to the Pyefleet Creek. Pippa and CC wanted to anchor in the creek, but the current was running quite strongly, so CC started the engine just long enough to head a short distance up the creek and stem the current while they anchored.

By that time, it was dusk and it was all hands to tidy the boat and hoist a riding light before retiring to the saloon. Pippa excused herself, used the head, and couldn't resist glancing in to her cabin, smiling to see Nathan's bag there.

At the galley, Nadiya and CC were heating soup and boiling a kettle, Nathan watching, clearly feeling a little out of place.

"Nathan," Pippa beckoned him forward. "Ever used a sea toilet?" He shook his head. "Well, there are instructions on the wall, but you may not always have enough light to read them..." She proceeded to explain how to use the device, ending with, "don't forget to shut the inlet cock, or we may have a flood. If in doubt, ask. Don't be embarrassed, ask. Okay?"

"Okay."

They finished eating and there was a short hiatus and a slightly uncomfortable silence, broken by Pippa.

"Sis?" Nadiya looked at her and saw the question Pippa wasn't asking out loud. She smiled, a little nervously, and nodded; Pippa stood and Nadiya followed. "Give us a few minutes, guys, okay?"

Nathan found Pippa in bed, wearing a t-shirt, a book in her hand. Awkwardly, he undressed to t-shirt and boxers before nervously getting into bed; Pippa tucked the book away and flicked off the light, then took him in her arms. She kissed him and, mentally, breathed a sigh of relief when he responded and began to kiss her back. Some time later, Pippa was beginning to wonder if she was going to have to prompt him, when the hand that had been stroking her back and shoulders stroked down her side, under the t-shirt and towards her breast.

"Oh, yes ... that's it..." she encouraged. She could tell his inexperience and nervousness. "Nat ... there's only two rules here. One, don't do anything you don't want to do, and two, if I say stop, do so immediately. Okay?"

"Oh, Pippa, I never..."

"Shhh..."

He spent some time exploring her chest before abruptly sitting up to remove his t-shirt – Pippa followed suit, smiling in the darkness – then his boxers, releasing his erection. Pippa slipped off her panties, then, and they were skin to skin.

She was surprised and pleased when he slid down the bed to bury his face between her thighs – delighted when his tongue swiped between her labia. She had difficulty restraining her hips, limiting herself to small, spasmodic jerks.

He paused, briefly, to say, "God, Pippa – you taste wonderful!" Then returned to his self-imposed task. A task he'd begun because he thought it was 'the thing to do', and which he had thought might be unpleasant.

Her orgasm crept up on her and she shuddered, but he kept going until she had to call a halt when she became too sensitive. When she closed her lips over his, now painfully hard, erection, he was on a hair trigger and ejaculated hard after only her first sucks. She couldn't make out what he was saying, but it appeared he'd liked what she'd done. She lay back with him.

Her hand found his penis, which was only briefly flaccid and began to engorge as she touched him. "Time for the main course, now," she said, her smile clear in her voice, encouraging him with her hands to move over her between her spread legs. Their coupling was not long; barely long enough for Pippa to climax when the sheath enclosing him squeezed and he could no longer hold back, but neither was dissatisfied. In fact, Nathan was too overwhelmed by his first time with a girl and Pippa was delighted with her partner's obvious potential. Wrapped up in each other, they slept, deeply content.

At the other end of the boat, the scene was similar, but different. CC found Nadiya sitting, naked, on the side of the bed and she rose to her feet as he entered the cabin. She fixed her eyes on his, seeing him take in every detail of her petite body; filled out a little since the previous year. Her once barely 'A' cup breasts were now knocking on the door of a 'B' cup. Her narrow hips had widened, and her body had the classic form of beautiful women through the ages – she would never again be able to pass as a pre-teen. His mouth worked, but no sound came out at first. He met her gaze and saw a single tear coursing down her cheek, which he wiped away with his thumb.

"Don't cry ... darling," he whispered, gathering her in his arms. "You are beautiful, and I love you, and I don't want ever to let you go."

She couldn't stop the tears, but she was shaking her head, trying to express without words that she wasn't unhappy. He picked her up, laid her in the bed and continued to hold her close, realising after a while that she had gone to sleep.

He considered switching off the cabin light and sleeping himself, but decided to lay there, watching her. His heart was full; he felt as though it was filling his chest, as he took in every detail of her perfect features. Maybe an hour later, she stirred and moved sensuously against him. Her eyes opened, saw him, and smiled. She tried to tug him over on top of her, but he smiled, shook his head and lightly kissed her lips – then moved down the bed to the junction of her thighs. She clamped her legs together.

Kneeling astride her legs, he looked at her, registering her distress. "Nadiya, darling, do you not trust me?" She just looked into his eyes, though perhaps she'd relaxed a little. He moved off the bed and bent over to suck a big toe between his lips, massaging her foot as he did so. She giggled, and allowed him to part her legs a little, so he kissed the side of her calves, slowly making his way up. It took some time, but eventually he was allowed to kiss her mons, then lightly lick her labia, producing a gasp.

She was moist anyway and he revelled in the scent and taste of her, but when he found her clit with his tongue, she began to moan, shortly becoming very wet indeed. She tasted different, somehow, to Pippa.

He brought her to a small orgasm, and was intending to continue, but... "Charles ... Charles, please?" She was pulling with both hands on his head, pulling him up and over her. When he responded, she pulled his face to hers to kiss him intensely. "It is time, Charles. Time for you to claim me..."

"No, Nadiya; it is time for you to claim me." He thought – rightly – that Nadiya's experience to that point was of men imposing themselves on her, so he rolled to the side and encouraged her to position herself on top of him. "Nadiya, I always said it would be your choice. It is for you to choose to join with me, if you will, so it is best if you are on top."

Uncertainly, she knelt astride him, found his manhood, hard and erect, and lowered herself on him. The sensations, for both of them, were so intense, so pleasurable, that at first she just rested, his penis completely embedded in her. The first movement was of CC's hands which seemed to explore her curves of their own volition, finally settling on cupping her breasts.

She found it difficult to speak, but got out, "Not very big, are they?"

He chuckled, producing interesting small movements where they were joined. "They are perfect. Bigger would be too big, smaller would be too small." The nipples were hard, rubbery and very sensitive, transmitting as he brushed them with his thumbs, rolled them between his fingers and tugged lightly on them almost an electric shock somewhere in her pelvis. Demands to move from something in her which could no longer be denied impelled her to lift and drop, lift and rotate, rock and drop. The growing sensations impelled her to speed up; something warm, swelling and throbbing built in her until an explosion racked her, and her pelvic muscles rippled and pulsed, clamping on him and he came in her. She almost lost consciousness and flopped down onto him. She was so much smaller and lighter than Pippa, her head barely reaching his chin, the scent of her hair so delightful that he wanted the moment to last for ever as she lay there, humming in contentment.

"I was so envious of Pippa, you know," she murmured into his chest, "having you."

"Are you still? It is you I love. You I want – for the rest of my life."

Somehow he could feel her smile. "We will see." Then, after a moment, "Turn the light out, Charles."

Pippa woke with the dawn, conscious of a difference – was it in herself, or her surroundings? Her arm lay across Nathan's torso; he breathed slowly, quietly. She toyed gently with the hair on his chest, looking at his profile in the half-light. He was really ... not at all bad looking. More to the point, he was thoughtful and considerate, intelligent and interested in much the same things as herself.

As she was ruminating, he rolled towards her, eyes still shut, mumbling. Her hand stroked his chest as he turned; she turned toward him so her arm was round his back. His hand found her hip and stroked her bum. Was he awake? It didn't seem so.

His eyes fluttered open and gazed, initially unfocussed, into her smiling ones. "Dear God ... I thought I was dreaming."

Her smile faltered a little. "I hope ... was it a good dream?"