Chapter Sixteen

She woke feeling like she was on fire. In contrast Rufina felt like ice. And she itched. She touched herself; She was wet and sensitive, oh so sensitive, even the lightest of touches caused her to flinch. She gets off the bed, starting to pace, though there was not much space. Her nose picks up a scent, she remember that scent; him. She finds her panties, slipping them on. Then her slippers.

Barely thinking, with only one thought on her mind, Him, she must find Him. She is down the stairs, out the front door and down the hill, in the dark, as neither moon is up. That doesn't matter, she can see in the light given off by the stars. She races down the hill towards the inn He had a room in. They had gone there this morning, was it just this morning? Yes, that morning, talking in the common room. He had not said which was his room but that was of little consequence, her nose would lead the way. The front door was locked, she goes around to the rear, she can hear someone in the outhouse, the rear door was unlocked. She slowly climbs the back stairs, sniffing the air, she must find Him. This door, no, this one, no, there, this is his door. She tries the handle, it turns, He is a trusting soul to not lock His door, unless He is not there, could it have been Him in the outhouse. No, there He is laying on the bed. Her heart beats hard, she wants Him, she needs Him, now, not later, she pulls the light blanket off of Him, good. He is nude,she removes her panties and slippers, she straddles Him, starting to rub herself on Him, she feels Him becoming hard. It rubs her, making her moan, she presses harder, her weight and movement finally waking Him.

"Emi?"

"I need you, now, you will, do, me, now." Her breath is coming in short hard bursts, as she continues to rub herself on Him with increasing pressure. Her fingers dig into the flesh of his chest, leaving small cuts. He groans. He grabs her hips, lifting her off of him, throwing her face down on to the bed. His member throbs, she thrusts her behind into the air, tail sticking up, Grasping her hips his member searches for and finds what it seeks, he groans, she moans. His speed increases, her moans come faster, soon they are over the edge. His member losses some of it hardness but she isn't having that. Using her hands she restores it to its former state, once it is ready she mounts him, bouncing and moving, leaning down to kiss him, biting his lip gently, then his nipples, all the while moving, soon they are at the edge again, both going over in a wave of pleasure.

Again his member losses hardness, this time she lets it be. She kiss him, deep with passion, then relaxes against him, resting. They may have slept. Soon she is rubbing him again, he again hardens, she slip him into herself, this time slowly, feeling his length sliding into her channel. Soon he is fully engulfed, hot flesh against hot flesh. Slowly she moves, up, down, up, down. The stiffness rubs her and she him. Her speed increases, again they approach the edge, she slows, wanting make it last, but he speeds up, causing them to go over, he continues to move, extending the pleasure, finally collapsing to the bed, with her atop him. This time they do sleep, their bodies saying enough, at least for now.

The sun is shining on his face, waking him. The warm body atop him is snuggled under his chin, their legs intertwined. He attempts to rise but when she senses this she clamps herself to him, not letting him go. He tries a different tactic, he rolls them over so he is atop her. The movement restores his hardness so he slips into her, she does not wake, he continues to move, faster and faster, she is moaning, still asleep, the edge is reached, she goes over first, he continues to move, again she goes over, he speeds up, this time they go over together, though she is still asleep. As he rests atop her, she murmurs a name, not his. That is alright though, she has enough love for two, he has seen the way the named person looks at her and she at them.

Finally freed of her grasp, he rises from the bed, donning his clothes. As he does this he notices that there is no female attire here but a pair of strange looking drawers and a pair of slippers. Did she come here wearing just that? This will never do. He will have to go to the palace and fetch her some clothing. He leans over and gently kisses her, she responds by returning a kiss of her own before rolling to her side. He covers her with the blanket before leaving, locking the door behind himself. He hurries to the palace, he needs to return before she awakens.

No one answers the door when he knocks so he enters, he can hear voices coming from the kitchen, he comes close. He hears the queen, Sophia and Helen talking to Aden, telling him that Emi had disappear in the night and Sophia stated that she was with Mark. He hears them ask if Aden knows where Mark is staying, he does, he will go there after breakfast.

He decides that is his cue. He steps the door and says, "Good morning, Your majesty. Have you by chance lost someone?"

"Ah, yes we have, my good sir, a certain young lady has vanished. You wouldn't know of her location would you? Wink, Wink, nudge, nudge." What ever the Queen was referring to caused Sophia to break into laugher.

"Yes, I would. Said lady came to me in the night demanding that I satisfy her, immediately. The males of my species have learned that when our females make that demand it is best to comply, so I did, repeatedly. The problem is that the lady in question arrived in the bare minimum of clothing, emphasis on bare. So I have come to retrieve a modest ensemble for her so that she may return home with decorum."

"Aden, please entertain Mark while I fetch our wayward companion some attire. Tilly is there a bag or small basket available?" While the Queen is saying this she sits me at the table, then she goes to a nearby shelf and picks up a small cloth bag. She then exits the kitchen.

While we await the queens return Aden asks, "How is your trading going?"

"I made a few sales and purchases after leaving the palace yesterday morning." This seemed to please him.

"The Queen will be ordering more goods later in the week, I am sure. Also there will be a meeting soon concerning the grain sale."

Before he could elaborate the queen returns bearing the bag, now filled the something. As she hands me the bag she says,"Are you prepared to be a father, Mark?"

This startles him, he had not thought of the consequences if their actions. He does so now, which causes him to collapse back in the chair.

The queen nudges him,"Go get Emi and hurry back, we are having pancakes this morning, if you hurry you can have some."

He stands up, looking shocked then hurries out the door and down the hill to his inn room. After unlocking the door, he sees her standing there, dressed in her strange drawers trying to wrap herself in the blanket from the bed. "Here this will fit much better and be more comfortable to boot." He hands her the bag of clothing. She empties the contents onto the bed, there is a skirt, a blouse and a pair of very short stockings and some small pieces of cloth connected together with thin strips of cloth. Taking this last thing she placed the widest strip of cloth behind her back sliding her arm though a loop of cloth then did the same on the other side she grasped the two largest pieces of cloth and bringing them over her breasts securing them together with a frog. She then slipped on the blouse, fastening the frogs before stepping in to the skirt, lifting it to her waist, fastening the frogs front and rear. She then sits on the bed slipping the stockings on her feet, then the slippers, the stocking barely showing above the slippers, totally exposing her ankles. Such lovey ankles they are, he thinks and calfs also. The cloth of the blouse is thin enough that the what ever it is that she is wearing over her breasts shows as a darker area. She says something, he blinks; what did she say?

"Are you ready to go, I said?"

"Oh of course. If we hurry, the queen said, we can have pancakes for breakfast."

"You spoke with the queen?"

"Yes, and she asked me a very disturbing question. I'm I ready to be a father? I notice you are not trying to undress me so I must assume you are with child. Are you ready to be a mother?"

She stops, staring at me. Slowly she smiles, reaches up pulling my face down giving me a kiss,"Yes, dear one, I believe I am. We will discuss your role in depth. But now lets go eat, Tilly makes wonderful pancakes, I don't want to miss them."

She waits for me to lock the door, then we head to the palace, not at a run but quickly never the less.

When Emi and Mark arrive at the palace, the others are in the last stages of breakfast. When Emi moves to fetch plates for Mark and herself, Rufina tells her to sit, others would do that. Tilly, assisted by Helen, fetch a plate of pancakes, topped by a fried egg for each of them, along with a cup of tea. Rufina lets them get settled and start eating before addressing the matter at hand.

"I assume that you entered the state we discussed several days ago." She states.

"Yes, I did. It is all kind of fuzzy really, I remember waking in the night feeling hot, then things get vague. I remember feeling very good but that's about it. Next thing I remember is waking in a strange bed, naked. I was searching for my clothes when Mark arrived, carrying a bag filled with my clothing. And here we are."

"What do you remember Mark?" Rufina asked Mark.

"I had gone to bed shortly after leaving here last evening. The next thing I remember is Emi straddling me, demanding, in no uncertain terms, I make love to her, which I did, repeatedly. Like I told you earlier, we have found that it isn't a good idea to deny their requests when they are in that state. We slept for a while, I woke with her atop me and when I tried to get up she wouldn't let me go. I managed to get her to release me, and I came here."

"So what will you do now?"

They look at each other, not sure on what to say. This situation is beyond their experience. Mark speaks first, "I am in the midst of a voyage for the company I am a member of, so can not stay." Emi opens her mouth to say something but Mark continues, "But that doesn't mean I don't want to stay, I have come to love Emi in just the day I have known her. And I will not abandon her or my child."

Emi stares at Mark for a few moments, "You love me? Truly? I know I have put you in a precarious position with your company, I don't want you to feel you were coerced into staying."

Mark interrupts her, "I wish to stay with you, love. I have only two other places to go before I have to return to headquarters. You could accompany me on the last leg of the trip."

"I can't leave yet, I have three years left on my contract with Rufina. I don't remember what the penalty for early termination of the contract is, but it's not trivial."

Rufina is startled, this is the first she heard of a contract with Emi. She goes into the shared memories to the day Emi was hired. Yes, there was a contract. She couldn't remember the details, she would need to locate the contract. "I don't remember the details either, I will need to locate the contract. It was a standard contract I far as I remember."

"If it's a standard contract, she is more or less bound to you for the term of the contract. It depends on which contract it is, what the penalty is."

Rufina makes up her mind, "Mark the other day you said that if you have able to make enough sales you would be allowed to open a shop of your own, correct? How many sales do you need?"

"They require a 20 % return on investment. I need another 10 gold in gross sells to meet that goal."

"I have been thinking of offering you a contract to be our agent for a set period, say 5 years. Your company would make all out of country sales of goods produced on Haven and would make all outside purchases for the kingdom from the outside world. Would your company think that was worth setting up a permanent agent on Haven?"

"A 5 year exclusive contract? I believe they would. But what do you have to sell?"

"This seasons crop of wheat will be sold to the highest bidder. Currently there are the playing cards, a working thresher, and, hopefully soon, a working grain cleaner. Though others will copy those within weeks of their release to the public the first ones produced should sell well. By winter we should have salt to sell, though not much to begin with. Did you notice the underwear Emi was wearing? Those would sell well I think."

"Yes, I noticed her strange undergarments, though I am not familiar with ladies undergarments, the stockings she had on are most fetching."

"Oh, you mean these?" Rufina showed him her anklet clad foot. He got red in the face, one did not usually see a lady's ankle. "Sorry, Mark." as she tucked her foot back out of sight. "Helen makes the undergarments and one of the shops makes the anklets. The problem right now is getting the materials to make them. I have plans for machines to help with that but I can only have so much made at one time. The craftsmen can only do so much at once."

"Your majesty, what of the lamp?" says Helen.

"Oh, I forgot the lamp. Come with me Mark, Emi bring a lit candle please."

I lead Mark and Emi to the study, where I shut the doors and the window covers so it was dark. I sit Mark in the chair behind the desk then handed him a book. Sitting the candle Emi had brought on the desk next to Mark,"Read the book, please." He tried, bring the candle close to the book, then peering closely. While he did this I moved the reflector lamp next the other candle. He sees it, a questioning look on his face. I had him close his eyes then light the two candles on the reflector lamp before snuffing the single candle. I moved the lamp into position and had him reopen his eyes. I heard a gasp.

"So much light. Did you have this made, your majesty?"

"Yes, I did. It could be improved if there was someone that could work in thin sheet metal, my smiths can't do extra fine work."

"Improved how?"

"This," pointing to the reflector," could be made thinner and larger. The light source could be changed, made brighter."

"Brighter than it is? I think we could sell these as is. How long did it take to make this?"

"That took a week to make but the smith was working on other thing, also. And It was the first one made so he was unsure how to make it."

"Can we talk to the smith later? I want one of these to send to headquarters."

"It would have to be the day after tomorrow, as we've many things to do today and tomorrow. Speaking of which, we need to be doing some of them. You two need to sit down and have a long discussion about the future but now I have to get busy, I have a trial to prepare for, salt ponds to work on and a grain cleaner to get made." I opened the doors again then snuffed the candles. I lead them out, back to the dinning room.