My Voyage of Submission Ch. 14

"Mr. Greenbriar gave me an advance on my salary," Henderson said.

Henderson read over his contract, the English version, signed it, and passed it to Maahnoor, who also signed it. When she signed it, she said, "Qabul" three times, which Sahar said was Arabic for I accept. Fatima told Henderson to say the words three times himself. It showed he voluntarily accepted the contract. Lastly, Master and Farouk signed it, making it legal. Henderson and Maahnoor were now officially married according to Moroccan law.

They started serving the food and it was a regular feast. It started with a tomato soup called harira, and proceeded to roasted chicken with lemon and olives, tagine, which was like a hearty stew, Moroccan chicken bastilla, lamb served with prunes, something called rafissa, which was another chicken dish traditionally served to new mothers, grilled sardines stuffed with a marinade and couscous, the only dish I was familiar with. No alcohol was served in deference to the family.

Apparently, Pierre's cooking was also a hit with Farouk and Samir. They thought he must have cooked in Morocco, but he told them he was French, but enjoyed Moroccan food.

The meal polished off, it was time for Leo to take Farouk and Samir home. They said goodbye to Maahnoor again, believing she was in good hands. She said she'd come home after she delivered the baby so they could meet their grandchild. After they left, Master broke out a case of champagne for the crew, who toasted the new bride and groom. We put on some music and we danced until sunset. The bride and groom had jumped the gun on their wedding night when they had sex two nights ago, but it didn't seem to spoil the eyes they had for each other tonight. They left the dance early, going to the new room Hannah had arranged for them. Henderson picked his new bride up on the dance floor and carried her all the way to their room. Edgar slapped a do not disturb sign on the outside of the door.

The ship weighed anchor when Leo got back, cruising north for Lisbon.

******

"Do you think Maahnoor and Henderson will have problems?" Master asked after licking me to three, very satisfying orgasms. He was still in between my legs staring over the top of my mound.

"It's likely, Master. Like James and Ateefah, they're from two totally different worlds, but I think Henderson's heart is in the right place and he'll do his best to reach common ground with Maahnoor. He's a little older and more mature than James, which will help. I don't think the child bothers him. In the West, it's not uncommon for men to marry women who have children from other fathers. It might not be the ideal way to start a marriage, but I have hope.

"While Maahnoor is also young, she had a lifetime of experience. I still worry about the psychological affects from her slavery, sir. Drinking and drug problems aren't likely for Muslim girls because they weren't exposed to it. PTSD and sexual acting out may still be issues. I plan on talking to both of them and I'll ask Maahnoor to report any bad dreams or fantasies she starts having and Henderson to report any actions and behaviors he might consider unusual for someone of Maahnoor's upbringing and religious background."

"Like what, exactly?"

"If she suddenly starts to show off skin or even wants to go nude, sir. Baring her legs in front of any man, even swimming attire. Normally, those activities are kept separate by gender. Women will swim together and men together. They wouldn't all hop in a pool together which is why you gave them ladies spa nights. Any flirting or supposedly innocent touching of other males. Those behaviors, while relatively common in western societies, should be totally foreign to a woman raised like Maahnoor was. Even something like brushing the arm of another man is not considered innocent behavior. If she starts doing those things, it may be an indication of a larger problem. Of course we don't help by being the way we are and she may become more westernized, which might be okay, but Henry should be alert for it. If it starts becoming an issue we can perhaps nip it in the bud."

Master started kissing his way up my body. His cock was hard and barely swaying beneath him.

"So something like this, might be a problem?" He kissed the top of my mound.

"If done with anyone other than her husband, big problem, sir."

"And this?" He circled a nipple with his mouth, laving the hard bud as he gently sucked."

"Major problem, Master."

"And this?" His cock nudged my liquid cunt and I spread my legs wider.

"Henderson's life is about to get totally fucked up, sir."

He speared inside of me, filling me in an instant. I gasped, unable to breathe. "Call a divorce lawyer, Master."

"It's a good thing you weren't raised that way," Master said.

"It's a good thing your wife doesn't care if I fuck you, sir."

"A very good thing."

"A marvelous thing, sir," I agreed, leaning up to kiss him.

Another quick thrust, making me gasp again, already close.

"I'm close to cumming again, sir. May I please cum?"

"No, you may not."

Of course, he plunged into me again and I orgasmed, needy slut that I was.

"I wonder if Henderson punished her for any of those behaviors, if they'd stop."

My legs were wrapped around his waist as I shuddered through my climax, clutching his body against mine.

"They haven't stopped me, sir."

"That may be because I don't want them to stop."

"Perhaps, sir." I smiled.

I earned another sixty swats before Master finished in me. They'd be worth it.

******

Everything was pretty much back to normal the following day except Henry and Maahnoor didn't join us until past ten, and perhaps only then, because Henry had watch beginning at noon. I'd already taken care of Thomas, the winner of the Employee of the Day. Henderson had scrounged some food from the galley as they'd missed breakfast and were eating in the dining room for a little privacy.

"May I take a few moments of your time to speak to you?" I asked.

"Sure, what's up?" Henry said.

"I already had some of this conversation with James and Ateefah and I feel compelled to tell both of you a little of the same thing. First of all, I'm very happy for both of you and hope you have a long, happy life together."

"I feel a but coming here," Henderson said.

"Yes. There is a but. Actually, a few buts. The first is this one. You've both grown up very differently, under completely different belief systems. You haven't really had a chance to work through those cultural differences before now. There wasn't a long period of pre-marital adjustment. You essentially proposed and married on the same day and, without discussing anything beforehand, I imagine. There will be culture clash. That's a given, considering everything that happened and the way it happened. You can work through those clashes if you try to appreciate how vastly different you were raised. Sitting on opposite sides of the table last night was a small touch of what those differences are. As I understand it, Maahnoor also has restrictions on her having sex at various times of the month, during her blood flow is one, which won't be an issue while she's pregnant. But during times of religious fasting and purification is another, and you promised not to interfere in her religious needs, so be prepared.

"The second but is the issue of the sexual abuse Maahnoor underwent as a slave. I have an article I pulled up for Ben and Marian Hoffler so they might understand the issues Johanna might have. I'd like you read it as well, Henderson, because it might be similar to what Maahnoor might go through."

"Is that why Johanna did her parents the way she did?"

"The Dominance and submission were probably already there. The degree to which Johanna treated her parents could have been influenced by her abuse. I have no way of knowing, as I don't know what she was like before the abuse. There was anger against her mother in particular, before all this happened. That might also have played a part. All our actions are motivated by multi-layered responses. Your marriage yesterday might be an example.

"You had sympathy for Maahnoor, concern for her future and the future of her child, worry about how she might be treated by others, including her family, sexual feelings towards her, especially as you'd already had sex with her, admiration for her strength in overcoming her slavery. There is no one thing which makes us decide to do something. It's our entire life's experiences up to that point, and all your future decisions will have added more experiences to the pot. I would question if love even played a part. I doubt either of you had time to develop true love. That doesn't necessarily mean your marriage won't work. A lot of marriages in the world are arranged marriages, so you could be starting from a better point than most of them.

"You should be aware of what problems might crop up and be aware of symptoms, so issues can be addressed before they become problems. I told James and Ateefah to wait on having sex together because pre-marital sex is not usual for Muslim women so having them wait until they were married might give them clues as to whether she's suffering from any compulsive sexual behavior. You're already married. Sexual behavior towards you would be normal. Sexual behavior towards any other person, no matter how slight, might be a symptom of a future problem. Things that you, Henry, think is harmless flirting which you've witnessed thousands of times before, may be indicative of a huge issue cropping up.

"Muslim women don't normally expose their bare limbs to other men. Donning a swimsuit in mixed company would not be normal, showing her bare legs to other men would not be normal, touching another man, no matter how brief or innocent would not be normal. If she does any of these things, I would be suspicious. But the other thing to keep in mind is that her entire society is that way, and it's more apparent if she did things like that among them. It would be obvious. On this ship, she's exposed to us and all of the things we do, some of them outrageous by even normal Westernized standards. In the process, she's being changed, or Westernized herself. It already started during her slavery. She was living in Rio and exposed to normal behaviors there. It may cause a loosening of her pre-slavery behavior that isn't necessarily indicative she's going off the rails. The more she's exposed to Western behaviors, the more she'll be changed by it.

"Be aware though, that even though some behavior change is normal, some may not be. You have to judge what you think might be normal and what seems off and bring it to her and my attention. Another potential behavior problem is PTSD. With your military experience, you should be familiar with some of the symptoms. You need to be aware of them as well. You might be doing something you consider as relatively normal, having sex with your wife and all of a sudden, it might bring up a flashback to an unfortunate incident in her past. Maahnoor, you may start having bad dreams or unusual fantasies which you need to bring to the attention of your husband and me. They may be signs you're having problems, which will increase if not treated.

"In addition to the normal adjustments you need to make in your new marriage, there will be other things you'll have to keep an eye on. Just a friendly warning. Generally speaking, how did things go last night?"

"Hen-der-son, no Henry. He say call Henry, gentle with Maahnoor. Have good sex. Good sex many times. Good husband."

"Did you have any sex other than regular intercourse?"

"Yes. Maahnoor sucked my cock. Is that a problem?"

"To tell you the truth, I don't know. I don't know if Muslim women perform fellatio for their husbands normally. I'll talk to the others and ask. That may be an aspect of her slavery that works to your advantage. She may be willing to do things she never would have done before, but those might be the things that would most trigger an episode of PTSD if she's going to suffer from it. Anal sex, or an innocent pat on the ass. Things outside the norm of her previous expected behavior. You just won't know until it happens. Like I said, you have a lot of things to talk about and learn about one another. It's okay for newlyweds to have sex, but try to learn about each other too."

"Well you did warn me."

"What Beth warn about?"

"When I expressed an interest in possibly getting to know you, she said you might have problems in the future."

"When you have interest in Maahnoor?"

"Almost from the moment I met you. Then we were told not to ask you to do things, or order you around until we knew it was safe to do so. I would have talked to you right away if we weren't so cautious of how you'd been hurt."

"You like Maahnoor right away?"

"What's not to like."

"Too bad you work."

"Why's that."

"Maahnoor want sex again. Maybe Beth give sex."

"If I can't have sex with Beth, you can't have sex with Beth."

Maahnoor laughed. "I know rules. Tease Henry."

"I've got to go to work. I'll see you later." He gave her a kiss and left.

"Are you happy, Maahnoor?"

"Very happy, Beth."

******

I had all afternoon to work out and I was doing a little bit of everything; gun range, heavy bag, running, biking, rowing, and weights. Roberta and Sahar came down around two and worked out hard on the mats, grappling, punching, kicking, almost anything MMA like. Sahar wanted to learn self defense other than weapons. I watched a while during a rest break. When they stopped, they made an agreement to see each other later. Roberta left, wiping herself down with a towel.

"Are you having sex with Roberta?" I asked.

"Sometimes. She like sex with men, not mind sex with Sahar."

"Are you having sex with anyone else?"

"Darla, Jìngyi, Kelly and you."

"None of the other freed slaves?"

"Me think about sex with Hibbah. Not do yet. She exploring man again. Not sure she want sex with woman anymore. Maybe see. She have sex with pretty girl, maybe sex with me."

"Can I ask about what Islam allows in terms of sex?"

"Sure. Me tell."

"Sex before marriage?"

"Never. Woman be pure for husband. Sex no, even with future husband."

"Extra-marital sex?"

"No sex outside marriage. Divorce husband first, then sex with new husband okay."

"What if you divorce your old husband. If you're no longer pure, can you have sex with another man then?"

"Sex outside of marriage, always bad. Family is basic to Islam. Sex outside family is bad."

"Oral sex?"

"Oral sex undesirable, but sometimes acceptable, depending on Imam. The things before sex, before fucking, important in Islam..."

"You mean foreplay?"

"Yes, foreplay, make woman ready for sex. Important part of sex. Oral sex might be acceptable for foreplay, to prepare woman. Not be all sex, only part. Muslim should not have sex like animal, fuck like animal. Foreplay not like animal, important, but some say all oral sex bad."

"I see. What about anal sex?"

"Always bad, sin of Lot. Qur'an say always bad."

"Yes, I'm sure that according to the Qur'an, I'm going straight to hell."

"Me probably be there with you."

"Can Muslim women use contraception?"

"Okay to plan family. Contraception okay, but each person responsible for own. Woman cannot make husband wear condom or pull out. She plan, he plan, not make husband plan for wife or wife for husband."

"Abortion?"

"Abortion not good, but may save life of mother or prevent suffering of baby before 120 days. Sometimes special circumstance, poverty of family. Most Muslim seek guidance from Imam before abortion."

"Masturbation?"

"No masturbate. May not go to hell, depending on Imam, but always bad."

"I only get to masturbate when Master tells me to. I guess I get brownie points for that."

"Brownie points?"

"A made up word giving you credit for doing or not doing something. It's something from the Girl Scouts. I've heard women cannot have sex during her blood time. Is that right?"

"It true. Other time too. Woman know. Not have sex when she must abstain."

Is there anything else I should know about Muslims and sex?"

"Wife can demand sex. Husband cannot. Wife entitled to sex once every four months. Husband can't refuse. Wife can waive requirement but if she want, can force husband have sex."

"Once every four months isn't very often. I wouldn't survive only having sex every four months."

"Better than none."

"I guess it is."

******

I met with Henry and Maahnoor again just before supper in Master's cabin. Master was in the room, working on whatever he worked on. I talked to them both about what Muslim women normally considered acceptable sex. Maahnoor confirmed all that I said.

"But I do for Henry, what you do for Master," she said.

"I don't believe I'm committing sins by doing what I do for Master. You do. Ateefah said the same thing. She's willing to do all these sexual things she believes are wrong to please James. She doesn't want him to seek those things from other people, even though he's said he won't. What she's trying to do is be pleasing to her owner, or Master, or fiancé. It was trained into her during her slavery."

"Are you saying we can't have oral or anal sex?" Henry asked.

"I don't want to say you should never, ever do something, Henry. As I understand it, oral sex used as a form of foreplay to prepare a woman for sex is probably not damning. Some scholars said it's okay, others not. Maahnoor would probably not have done it before as a total sex act, sucking you off to make you cum, for example. For you to both be ready for intercourse, oral sex may not be considered as bad, and she may accept that as not being sinful. Anal sex is always considered a sin. She may do it for you now because it's been beaten into her, but it could be one of those things which triggers a PTSD episode or other negative behavior because she grew up believing it was sinful. She never chose to do it on her own, it was forced onto her. So be aware of the dangers of stepping outside her pre-slavery comfort zone. It does have risks, for both of you."

"I can see why it might be bad for her, but why for me?"

"People suffering from PTSD are prone to acts of violence when having an episode. Unplanned, unwanted, irrational violence, even towards loved ones. They don't always know what they're doing. If she has a flashback to something intolerable in her slavery when she either wanted to die, or kill her owner, or both, and has a weapon at hand, it's not beyond the realm of possibility she would use the weapon on you or herself. The thing is, anything which she would have conceived of as normal before her slavery, is probably safe. Anything she does because of her slavery poses risks. This is part of the cultural divide. Muslim men would not expect anal sex. You might. Just be careful anytime you stretch her cultural boundaries."

"I not kill Henry," Maahnoor protested. "Him good man, good husband."

"You might not even know it's Henry. In your mind, he could be anyone who hurt you, including Abdul or Mahmoud or Rodrigo. You would react with blind rage."

"Are there any drugs she can take?"

"Possibly, but Manuel can't prescribe them. A psychiatrist would have to. Even if I get licensed as a psychologist, I can't. That's why I stress you pay attention to each other and yourself and come to me if you think something's wrong."

"I never imagined it could be anything this bad."

"It may not be. I've already found these women to be much more resilient than I expected. In a way, their faith may have been a bulwark protecting them from what happened to them. It may not be sinful if it's forced on you by things beyond your control. They may have fewer side effects than I imagine, but I say prepare for the worst and count your blessings if they don't occur."