A Biker Fantasy

"So who were they? Soldiers?"

The girl spat. "A band of mercenaries out for whatever they could get."

"My name is Bill." I said. "What's yours?"

She was silent for a long time. "The way I see it, you owe me the courtesy of telling me your name." I said.

The girl glanced nervously at the altar stone. The coins and meat were gone. She took a deep breath and started to say something. She jumped as if stung, then looked like she was listening to a chewing out from someone, wincing now and then and looking as guilty as a kid with her hand in the cookie jar.

"My name is Jessie." She said at last.

"Can't lie around here huh?" I gibed.

She snarled at me. "Don't mock what you don't understand."

"No mockery intended." I assured her. "At least, not of any beings here that I cannot see. But you," and I fixed her with a glare of my own. "You are another story. I save your ass and you try to replay my kindness with bullshit and half truths."

Jessie cringed at that. "I apologize." She said. "I am in your debt far more than you know."

I grinned at her. "No harm, No foul."

I made her sit on the bike again and unwrapped her feet. They already looked better. I put on more antibiotic ointment and put on new gauze. I laced her moccasins on again, a little more snugly this time.

"Do you know of a safe place to go?" I asked Jessie. "We need someplace to lay up for a few days to let you heal, and I need to figure out how to get fuel for my bike."

Jessie bit her lip, then nodded. "I know of a place, but it is about 30 miles from here, and the rest of the mercenaries will be out looking for their friend."

I just gave her an evil grin. "Not a problem." I told her. "But we'll be leaving the horse here."

She looked at me like I had 3 heads. "You want me to ride this thing?" she waved her hand at my bike.

"You and I will ride Cindy here," I told Jessie. "She's a hunk of old iron, but she's a lot more dependable than the bitch I named her after."

I showed Jessie where the rear foot pegs were. "We'll tuck up your skirts and you'll sit behind me and hold on to my waist."

Jessie grimaced. "If I must."

"As soon as the fog lifts, we'll go." I said.

Jessie glanced at the altar and then scrambled to put her feet on the proper pegs. "We have about 1 minute." She said.

I swung my leg over the bike and kicked her to life. As soon as the big V Twin roared, the fog vanished. Jessie pointed over my shoulder. "That way!" she cried.

I popped the clutch and we roared off down the slope in the direction she pointed. "Thanks!" I called back over my shoulder.

I raced across the flatlands at almost 60 miles an hour. I steered in the directions Jessie pointed out to me as we jounced along. I saw some horsemen off in the distance, but we were gone long before they got close enough to get a good look at us. I started seeing signs of habitation, cultivated fields etc. But I didn't see any people except at real long distances. I figured the sound of the Harley spooked them. I laughed aloud at that thought. Much the same thing happened back home when people heard the big V Twin talkin' at them.

Jessie was a good passenger, not trying to lean and just following my movements. I spotted a creek up ahead and to the right. I pulled over at a clump of trees near the water and shut down the bike. "Is this place safe to rest and maybe clean up a bit?" I asked my passenger.

"For now." Jessie said as she climbed down stiffly. "You ride this thing all the time?"

"Whenever possible." I shrugged as I started to undress. "Don't worry, you'll get used to it in time."

Jessie muttered something suspiciously like,” Not if I can help it." But I ignored her while I fished a bar of soap from the duffle bag.

The water was cold as hell, but better than the gritty and grimy feel of several days without a shower or a bath.

My time in prison had gotten me used to showering every other day at least.

Jessie watched me swim around for a little, then gave into the temptation and stripped off her clothes and the bandages on her feet and dove off a rock into the pool of water. She surfaced near me, teeth chattering at the shock of the cold water. "Nice of you to join me." I smirked.

She splashed me. I turned her around and lathered her hair with the bar of soap. She sputtered a bit, but I just dunked her to rinse the soap out. After that, she just let me scrub her clean. We climbed out onto the bank and stretched out to let the sun and warm breeze dry us off.

I put on the old clothes again once I was dry, and Jessie dressed as well. I checked her feet, but they were healed enough that I just put my oversized socks and the moccasins back on her feet again.

Once back on the bike, Jessie pointed us in the right direction.

Another 30 minutes of riding found us traveling down a dirt road bordered by stone walls.

Farmhouses and cottages were everywhere now, but still only fleeting glimpses of people as the roar of the Harley echoed from the stone walls.

We wheeled into a town laid out much like those I had seen in Europe in my Army days.

I pulled into the town square and killed the engine. "Is this the place?" I asked Jessie.

"We can stop for a meal here, and to pick up supplies, but our destination is a few miles further along the east road."

"Where's the food?" I asked Jessie. She pointed at a building with a cup painted above the door.

"You might want to order for us." I told Jessie. "You might understand me, but I don't speak the lingo here."

"True." Jessie said as I lifted her from the Harley.

She led the way into the inn. We found a seat easily enough, the place was nearly deserted.

I gave Jessie a handful of the metal bars that apparently passed for money here. "This should cover our bill." I told her.

The innkeeper came over nervously, wiping his hands on his apron. Jessie chattered something at him, and he answered back sharply. Jessie turned to me. "he says he doesn't serve my kind in here." She said.

"Tell the tub of lard that I am not ordering one of your kind, and that if I don't see food on the table in two minutes, I'm gonna turn his fat ass into dog-meat."

Jessie looked at me, then turned to the innkeeper and repeated what I had said. The man paled, but stood firm.

"Tell the man that time is running out. And I am hungry and irritable." I said. "And if he does not start bringing food, I am sure his widow or heirs will be much more reasonable."

Jessie spoke to the man again, then tossed him a gold ingot. The innkeeper bit the metal and inspected the dents his teeth left.

Suddenly he was smiling and eager to please. Wooden mugs full of rather flat beer arrived within moments, followed seconds later by a platter of roast beef and a savory stew.

A girl I took to be the innkeeper’s daughter brought out hot, steaming loaves of bread. Jessie and I at like a couple of starving wolves.

The beer may have been lousy, but the food was wonderful. I had Jessie tell the innkeeper that his cooks were the most talented I had come across in many years, and that the food was fit for the Gods. This made him preen and strut a bit, and he was definitely much friendlier.

Jessie and I decided to forgo buying supplies since our destination was so close.

Back on the road, we headed towards the nearby mountains. The surface of the road went from dirt and gravel to cobblestones, then to solid rock.

A few miles into the mountains, we came to a huge gate set in a wall that stretched from one side of the pass to the other. I stopped, and Jessie called up to the guard towers.

I didn't see anyone, but I figured that hidden bowmen from the arrow slits high above us were covering us. That's how I would have done it.

Whatever Jessie said to them, the gates creaked open. "Go ahead and pass through, do not stop until we are around the next bend in the road."

"Gotcha." I said. I let the clutch out and putted through the gate, then sped up slightly until we were well away from the gate. There was a second gate ahead, but it opened as well when my passenger stood on her foot pegs and shouted something.

I motored through that gate as well. A mile or so further, we passed through gates that were already open and into a city. People scattered as the Hawg's engine echoed off the stone walls of the buildings.

Jessie pointed over my shoulder and I swung off the street into the courtyard of an impressive building. I stopped near the marble steps leading to the big bronze doors. I put the kickstand down and got off the bike.

I lifted Jessie down and waited for her to make the next move.

"Bring the swords and booty from the mercenaries inside with us." She said.

I unstrapped the leather bundle from the sissy bar. I slung it over my left shoulder and we started up the steps.

As we approached the top of the stairs, the doors opened and a handsome man and a stunningly lovely woman came out. Jessie ran to them and hugged them both. I followed more slowly, the weight of all that metal on my shoulder was slowing me down.

"Come on inside." Jessie said gaily. The good-looking couple stepped aside to let us pass.

"Are these your parents?" I asked Jessie.

"Oh no," she laughed. "Marcus and Penelope are the heads of the household staff. They've been with us for ages."

"Well, who are we here to meet?" I asked. "My brother should be home. Our parents are away at our other home."

A youthful man came out of a side room and walked up to Jessie, holding out his hands to her. He barely gave me a glance until Jessie spoke to him. Then he looked me over carefully. He spoke to Jessie, but I didn't like the tone. She snapped back at him. Her brother raised his hand as if to slap her.

I wasn't aware I had moved until I saw the muzzle of the .44 pressing up under his chin. Jessie spoke to him rapidly and urgently. His face paled and he put both hands up in plain view. I uncocked the .44 and shoved it into the holster.

"Tell your brother that if he hits you, or even looks like he's going to, I'll remove his head and shit down the stump of his neck."

I handed him the bundle of hardware and turned to Jessie. "Go ahead. Tell him just what I told you."

Jessie spoke to her brother at length. When she was done, he gestured at me and asked her a question. Jessie blushed beet red and stammered out a one-word answer. Her brother looked at me with a new respect. He bowed slightly and smiled. "Ok, What did he ask?" I wanted to know."

Jessie blushed again. "He asked why you would protect me so fiercely." She said.

"And what did you tell him?"

She blushed even more. "He wanted to know if we were lovers." She hesitated again. "I said you were my betrothed."

I threw back my head and laughed. "Well why the hell not!" And I pulled her to me with my left arm and kissed her soundly.

Her brother watched all this with great amusement. Then he began examining the stuff taken from the mercenaries.

He asked Jessie a question, then looked at me. "He wants to know how you managed to kill the mercenaries." Jessie translated for me. "He wants to know where the rest of your men are."

"Tell him how it went down." I told her.

Jessie turned to her brother and they chattered back and forth for a while. Jessie looked back at me. "He wants to know how you killed all of them by yourself."

"There were only six of them." I said. "And I caught them off balance and never let them get set again."

Jessie translated for her brother. He laughed and clapped me on the shoulder. "He likes you." Jessie told me.

Jessie took my hand and led me to a large suite of rooms on the south wing of the house. "These are our rooms." She said.

"Can I get the bike brought inside? Someplace well ventilated and lit where I can work on it?"

"Of course." Jessie said. "I'll have it taken to the inner courtyard by the stables."

"Do your people understand distillation?" I asked Jessie.

She nodded. "We make grain alcohol for medicines and other purposes. Why?"

"Because I'll need pure alcohol to run my bike on when the gasoline runs out."

"I can get you a few barrels of pure alcohol." Jessie said. "But for right now, we have some unfinished business."

When I looked over at her, She was by the bed and was pulling her makeshift dress off over her head.

The last time I had passed up a chance to get a piece, she fanged my neck. I may be slow sometimes, but I seldom make the same mistake twice.

I shed my clothing as quickly as possible and joined Jessie on the bed. "Before we get started, just how old are you? The last thing I need is a statutory rape charge."

"I'm 40." Jessie said as she snuggled closer under the blankets.

"You're 40 years old? You don't look it." I said.

Jessie chuckled as she trailed kisses down my belly. "Not years silly, 40 decades." Then her mouth was too full to talk any more, and I was too distracted to continue the conversation. Well, except for things like, "Watch those damn teeth," etc.

Jessie was definitely not a novice at this, and I think I acquitted myself well, bringing her to climax at least three times.

I was so tired though, that I fell asleep with Jessie wrapped in my arms.

It was still light out when I went to sleep, but it was mid morning when I woke again. Sure enough, my neck ached again, and I found small scabs covering another set of fang marks.

Oh well, for sex like the last night, she could bite me now and then if she wanted.

The beautiful woman came silently into the room and gathered up the discarded clothing. "Ring when you want breakfast." she said softly when she saw that I was awake.

I looked over at Jessie, who was still sound asleep. " Breakfast can wait. Where is the garderobe?"

Garderobe? And I could understand her!

I fingered the punctures on my neck again. Unfinished business. Right.

The woman drew aside a curtain to reveal a door. "Right through here." She said.

Jessie pulled the covers over her head.

The woman smiled fondly at her and then left as silently as she had come. I got out of bed and opened the door behind the curtain. I could recognize a toilet with a tank atop a pipe over the toilet, and a dangling chain to flush it. There were soft corncobs to wipe with. I shrugged and just used the toilet. I felt much better after I was done. My morning breath would have to wait until I got at my duffle bag.

When I went back into the bedroom, I saw that my duffle was in the corner, as were my saddlebags.

I got out my toothbrush and the container that held the baking soda and salt mixture that I brushed with. I took care of that, then went back over to the bed.

I slipped under the covers and up to Jessie’s back. I put my arm over her and she snuggled her backside more firmly against me. Well, I wasn't about to pass up an opportunity like this. And I was definitely rising to the occasion. Jessie woke up in the middle of some rather energetic sex, and picked up the pace considerably. When we were finished, Jessie scrambled out of the bed and trotted over to the bathroom.

I went and got out my old jeans and shirts, but couldn't bring myself to put them on. I piled them all on a chair, then sat down on the bed. Jessie came out of the toilet looking entirely too chipper.

"How do I go about getting this stuff washed?"

Jessie pulled on a tasseled rope hanging near the wall. A cute girl in a mini-dress came in a moment later. "Yes mistress?" She said to Jessie.

Jessie pointed at the pile of clothes on the floor. "Take these and have them cleaned. Have a tailor come to the house to outfit Bill here with clothing suitable to his station."

The maid nodded and gathered up the clothes. As she closed the door behind her, I looked up at Jessie. "And what is my station?"

Jessie came and sat next to me on the bed. She placed her hand on my thigh and squeezed. "As my fiancée, you have status equal to a minor lord." She said. "Above that, you are a warrior, and I think, we will also call you a sorcerer."

"Great." And what does that mean in terms I can understand?"

"Your social rank will be slightly above my brother's. And roughly equal to my father."

"Where does your father's rank stand at court? How does he compare to the ruler here?" I wanted to know.

Jessie thought it over. "Picture a staircase." she said. "If the king is the top step, our father is the next step down."

I had to think about that one. "And how will your parents feel about all this?"

Jessie blinked. "We are about to find out. The maid who answered the bell serves my mother.

Now the part I have always dreaded in any relationship since I was a teen was meeting the parents of my girlfriend. For some reason, this had never once gone real well. "I thought your parents were gone away to your other home."

Jessie smiled happily. "My brother must have sent word that I was back and with a prospective husband in tow."

"Right. Couldn't let a thing like that go by without telling the folks." I said dryly.

Jessie covered her mouth with her hands and giggled. "I wonder what he told them." She said.

I walked over to my saddlebags and dug out the cleaning kit for the .44 mag. I sat at a small table and started to clean the pistol. "Hey sweetheart, not that I mind being naked... but I really want to have some clothes on when I meet your folks. If your mother is as beautiful as you, I'd be standing there with a hard-on you could do chin-ups on."

Jessie agreed that might not make a good first impression. She slipped into a dress and went to go find out where my clothes were.

I found a bowl of fruit on a table close to the other side of the bed. I took an orange and some grapes and took them back to munch on as I finished cleaning the gun. When the .44 was clean and oiled, I put the cleaning kit away and broke out my sharpening kit for the Bowie. I love a sharp edge on a knife, and I had not touched the blade up as much as I should.

I put a razor edge on my knife, then coated the blade lightly with oil and slipped it back into place in my boot.

I used the toilet again, then used the water I found in a pitcher to wash up as best I could.

Jessie popped back in a half hour later by my watch. She had a pair of my black jeans, my wizard T-shirt, and socks and a pair of boxers. All was neatly cleaned and pressed. Even my Kevlar lined leather jacket was softer and cleaner than it had ever been.

I thanked her with a kiss and got dressed. I settled my gun belt on again, this time letting the gun ride at an angle in front of my left hip. I always favored a cross-draw whenever possible. Not as fast as a strong side draw, but easier to access when sitting down, and the gun is easily available to either hand.

I pulled my hair back into a ponytail at the nape of my neck, using one of my few remaining hair ties. I cleaned my glasses and I was ready to go. "So let's get this done." I told Jessie.

She smiled up at me and tucked her hand into the crook of my arm as we went out and down to where her parents awaited us.

I had a mental picture of good old Darth Vader in my minds eye, and I deliberately copied the confident stride and body language.

Head up and eyes straight, I entered the room with Jessie matching me step for step. The older man who looked to be about my age could only be her father. Her mother was so lovely that I would have been flying the flag if I weren’t dressed.

We walked up to the couple. I bowed to Jessie’s mother and looked her father in the eyes and held my hand out for him to shake. He met my gaze calmly, then shook my hand with a firm, confident grip.

"I am Ranal." He said in a vibrant baritone. "This is my wife, Cassandra." Jessie’s mother nodded at me, he eyes friendly.

"I am Bill." I said. "It was my pleasure to aid your daughter when she was in need. And it is my great honor that she has chosen me for a husband."