The Passenger Ch. 05

"I don't sleep much, though."

I nodded.

"But you do sleep some, and you do need it."

"You, too," she said. "You look exhausted. Ship's time is whatever we say it is, right? So why don't we go back to bed and get a little rest? It's not like we're going to miss a big sunrise out there."

And so we did. I felt her relax against me as we lay there, my arms around her, the summer-and-sunshine fragrance of her hair in my nostrils. For a moment I wondered if I had done the right thing. But as I held her, I knew the answer. It had been hard, and would be harder still, but it had been the right thing to do.

Then everything went away as I drifted off in the blissful darkness of sleep.

* * *

Anne continued to wrestle with herself over the next few days. There wasn't too much in-flight maintenance we could do on the Starman's Pride; she wasn't our ship and I wasn't as familiar with her as I was with the Slowboat.

When you spend a major part of your life flying a ship, you get to know it as intimately as you know your own body. In fact, it goes even further: the bond you build with your ship is much like a marriage. I know that the whole thing about the captain going down with the ship is a tired old cliché at best, and that there are plenty of examples of captains simply choosing death over being held responsible for the shipping disaster they caused, but there is at least a grain of truth in it. I know plenty of captains who would put the wellbeing of their ships before their own. I know I do. Or did, at least, while I was still single. But my relationship was with the Slowboat, not with the 'Pride

The lack of work was a mixed blessing. On the one hand, it did give Anne the time she needed to work through all this. On the other, she could probably have done with some distraction every now and then. More than once I found her staring into the luminous black non-void beyond the front viewport.

"You're not going to find any answers out there," I said.

"I know," she said softly.

For a few moments she stood there, gazing at the viewport. Then she turned around.

"How can you be sure that your own memories are real?" she asked. "I mean, how can you tell?"

I thought for a moment.

"I can't. And the philosophical ramifications of that are fairly well-worn. How can anyone be sure that what we think of reality is real? What if this is all just a perfect illusion and you and I are not really here? But that way lies madness, or at least solipsism." I shrugged. "If you start to question your own reality too much, you quickly get to the point where you either have to accept things for what they appear to be, or twist your mind into such a knot that you can't function anymore."

Her look was thoughtful.

"So how do you know you're not a droid, too?" she asked.

I shrugged.

"Well, the medpack doesn't get any anomalous readings from me like it gets from you. Other than that, I'm just assuming that I'm not, and that will have to do until I learn otherwise. Either I accepting things for what I think they are, or I question everything all the time until I go mad. It's that simple."

She sighed and glanced at the viewport again.

"I can't stop thinking about it," she said. "It's almost like... I don't really know who I am."

"That's part of growing up. Everyone goes through stages like that."

She turned to face me.

"That's not even remotely funny," she said.

"I'm not trying to be funny, Anne. I'm serious. In a very specific and very unusual way, you are going through a growth phase. Learning new things about yourself, finding out who you are and coming to grips with it are all part of that."

"Well, it sucks."

I smiled and nodded.

"Yeah. Growing up always seems to work out that way."

She nodded slowly, then turned away form me and gazed at the hyperspatial nothingness outside the ship. I walked up to her, stood behind her and put my arms around her. I held her that way, her back against my chest, her soft, golden hair caressing my face, and again I realized that its heathery fragrance was one of the most wonderful things I'd ever smelled.

"I'm not sure I'm in the mood for a lot of self-discovery right now," she said softly. "What about that other thing that you discover when you grow up?"

She ran her finger down the fastener along the front of her coveralls, parting it, right down to her waist. Then she took my hand and slowly slid it under the fabric until it touched the warm, soft, smooth curve of her breast.

I didn't need any further encouragement. I gently caressed the silky-smooth, creamy skin with the palm of my hand, tracing the round, warm shape of her breast with my fingertips. My thumb brushed her nipple and she sucked in a short, sharp breath as I caressed that sweet nub with my fingers until I felt it swell and grow larger and harder under my touch. She sighed, holding my wrist to keep my hand where it was.

I kissed the side of her neck, and she moved her head back, crooning softly. My lips slid across her skin, moving forward to her cheek, her throat, then down to her shoulder. She lifted her other hand to caress my face. She had her eyes closed, and I felt her breast rise and fall as her breathing deepened.

We make love for many different reasons. While lust, desire and pleasure usually rank high on most lists, there are other (and often better) reasons as well: the expression of love for one another; the desire to give each other pleasure; maintaining the high level of intimacy so important in a good relationship. These are all very good motives. But sometimes all we want is comfort and reassurance, and I had a feeling this was one of those times. I'd happily do what I could to give her that.

"Come," she whispered.

I followed her into Raz' cabin, and a few moments later our clothes were in a heap on the floor. No matter how often I had seen her naked before, her beauty was still mesmerizing and I still couldn't help staring at her. Her lovely face with the deep green eyes, framed by her golden locks; her slender neck; her delicately shaped shoulders; the finely chiseled collarbones... Her smooth creamy skin; the curve of her perfectly sized and shaped breasts; the pink, hard nipples crowning them... Her slender waist; the swell of her hips; the perfectly shaped thighs with the moist, pink lips between them... Her beauty was almost ethereal.

She smiled, an amused look in her eyes, and I suppose I must have looked a little silly as I stared at her.

"Gods, you're beautiful," I said, my voice sounding a little hoarse.

She put her hands on my chest, caressing what passes for my pectorals.

"You're not so bad looking yourself, you know," she said.

I should point out at this point that I'm not overly muscular. Of course, I'd been using the Slowboat's gym almost daily for many years. You have to, if you don't want the job to turn you into a flabby blob after a few years. So I've kept in shape, but I'm by no means anything special.

Anne seemed to disagree, though. She ran her hands across my chest, then to my upper arms, gently squeezing my very modest biceps.

"I like big, husky captains," she said.

"So why are you wasting your time with me?" I joked.

"Well, you are the biggest, huskiest captain on this whole ship, captain."

I chuckled.

"You have a point there, my loyal crew."

She stepped into my arms, her lips parting as they met mine. Our tongues touched as we kissed, exploring, tasting, feeling, and soon our kissing gained the sort of depth and enthusiasm that not just promised much more, but simply demanded it.

When we came up for air we gazed into each other's eyes for a long moment, and then she smiled. She sank down on her knees before me, put her hands on my butt, and with one fell swoop she took my still flaccid cock in her mouth. She wrapped her lips around the head, ran her tongue across the underside. It didn't take another second before I felt my cock began to swell and harden in her mouth.

She looked up at me, a smile in her eyes, and she began to suck me, gently at first but then more insistently. I felt my still semi-flaccid cock expand in her mouth, causing it to swell even more quickly. The bigger and harder it got, the further it slipped into her warm, wet mouth.

After a while she let go of my now fully rigid cock, then smiled as she looked at the fruit of her labors, standing proudly before her and nodding with the beat of my heart as my blood pulsed through it.

"Hmm..." she said. "Feeling you grow hard is kind of nice."

"Nice is an understatement," I replied. "I don't think I've ever gotten this hard this quickly."

She took my steely shaft in her hand and kissed the tip. She slowly moved her hand up and down its length, then began to lick the underside of the head with the tip of her tongue. I couldn't stifle a moan. Then she put her lips around the head and slowly drew my cock into her mouth. Her slick, wet lips slid across the head, then wrapped themselves around the crown, and the top of her tongue caressed the sensitive underside. I gasped; the feeling was so wonderful.

She put both her hands back on my butt and pulled me closer to her until my rigid length slid further into her mouth. I moaned again when she sucked me, and I felt myself being drawn into her mouth further and further. On and on she coaxed me, until the swollen head of my cock slid past the back of her tongue and I felt the tightness of her throat surround me. It was one of the best things I'd ever felt in my entire life.

She caressed my balls with her fingertips, her lips around the base of my cock. She held me inside her for a few moments, then slowly drew back until she had the head of my cock in the front of her mouth again. She slid her lips back and forth across the sensitive ridgeand teased the hole with the tip of her tongue. Then, slowly but deliberately, she drew me back in, until I felt the tightness of her throat envelop me once again. She bobbed her head back and forth a few times, and my moans grew louder.

Slowly, so deliciously slowly, she drew back, and as soon as she had the head of my cock out of her throat she began to suck me, hard, while drawing me out of her mouth, and the wet plop with which her lips finally released the engorged head of my cock was almost as loud as my gasps of pleasure.

She smiled and gave the tip of my rigid length a playful little lick, drawing a glistening thread of pre-cum when she sat back.

"I wanted to know how deep I could take you," she said, looking up at me. "I don't know if I've ever done this before. Have I?"

I nodded.

"Oh yes. You have."

She gazed at the bulkhead for a brief moment, then she smiled again and shrugged.

"It doesn't matter," she said. "Finding out is fun, too."

"Fun? It's amazing."

"It felt so nice when you got hard in my mouth."

Her smile turned into a happy grin.

"But feeling you cum will be even better, "she went on. " I have an idea. Lie down on your back. "

"Oh?"

"Yes. I want to know what this is like. Lie down."

"Aye, aye, ma'am." I said with a smile, and complied.

She giggled and knelt down on the bed next to me, facing away from me. She lifted one leg to straddle my face, then lowered herself upon me until the lips of her pussy almost touched my mouth. She bent forward and I felt her hand around my rigid shaft.

"The last one to cum wins," she said.

"Huh? Hey!" I protested. "That's not fair. After the way you took me in your mouth, you've got me more than halfway there already!"

"Fair enough," she said. "Okay. I'll give you two minutes head start."

"Head start? That's a terrible pun."

"One minute fifty..." she said in a sweet, teasing voice.

Right.

I put my hands on the smooth, round curves of her butt and gently pulled her toward me. Taking the hint, she moved her knees a little further apart, lowering herself, until her pussy touched my mouth. I moved my hands and gently spread the lips of her pussy with my fingers. While necessary, that also added to the challenge when the fragrance of her arousal hit me in the face and went straight to my hindbrain, but with some effort I managed to focus on the job at hand. The first drop of her juices awaited me there, between those sweet, velvety folds, and I dipped my tongue into it, savoring its sweet flavor and honey-like texture. I still think it's the most wonderful thing I'd ever tasted. Anne seemed to enjoy it as well, because she moaned softly when my tongue invaded her opening.

I began to lick along the lips of her pussy, first the outside, then between them. With every lick I moved a little closer to her clit. With my hands I caressed the creamy skin of her glorious butt, gently massaging and squeezing those lovely, firm, rounded shapes. Then the tip of my tongue touched her clit, briefly and every so lightly, and I felt the muscles in her thighs twitch as she let out another soft moan.

I flicked my tongue across her opening, noting how more of her juices had begun to pool between the lips of her pussy, and this time I touched the tip of her clit with my tongue more firmly. She shuddered, and she moved to give me even better access to her pleasure button. I needed no more encouragement and began to lick the smooth little nub, carefully and gently at first, but as I felt it swell and grow harder against my tongue I began to apply more pressure. She moaned again, and I tasted her juices as they began to flow copiously under my ministrations.

As I continued my caresses she began to squirm, but I gripped her firmly, my hands on her butt. First I just held her buttocks, but then I pulled them apart and moved my hands inward until I touched her puckered little hole with one fingertip. She shuddered again and her moans grew louder.

Her rear passage was too dry for me to enter it with my finger, so I just caressed the tight little pucker with my finger, meanwhile concentrating on her hard and now fully exposed clit with my tongue. I felt some of her nectar run down my face as her arousal rose further and further, and when I licked between the lips of her pussy I got almost a mouthful of it. I paused for a moment to enjoy the sweet flavor of it before resuming my attentions to her clit. She let out a little "Oooh!" when I the tip of my tongue once again found her little pleasure button, taut and rock-hard now, and I knew that this was not the time to stop.

With some effort I managed to put my lips on her clit and began to suck it while my tongue flicked across its tip, my finger still caressing the puckered little hole between her buttocks. Suddenly she loosened up slightly, back there, and the tip of my finger slipped into her tight rear entrance. She cried out, loudly, and I felt the muscles in her legs grow tense. Still sucking her clit, I applied more friction with the tip of my tongue, and this proved her undoing. Her cries became a scream and I felt her thighs clasp the sides of my head as her pleasure suddenly peaked and her orgasm exploded inside her.

The fountain of her pleasure erupted into my mouth, and I felt her asshole suddenly squeeze the tip of my finger, again and again, and with each contraction her juices flowed out of her. She shuddered on top of me, and I was glad I had had the foresight to take a deep breath as soon as she started to cum, because she pressed herself down on my face, shaking and shuddering with the force of her orgasm, making it all but impossible for me to breathe. Her climax lasted for quite a while before I felt her relax, although I could still feel the aftershocks as her release slowly burned itself out.

"Oooooohhhhh...." she sighed, as she collapsed on top of me.

"Mmm mmmblll hmm," I replied.

I had been holding my breath while she climaxed against my face, but I wouldn't be able to do that for much longer. She lifted herself off me and looked over her shoulder.

"Are you alright?" she asked, smiling at me.

I nodded.

"Better than alright. That was so sexy. Also, I think I've won this one. Although that was a little over two minutes, I guess."

"Oh!" she said, a look of utter surprise on her face. "I forgot... I completely forgot..."

I felt a big grin split my wet face, and she collapsed on top of me again, this time shaking with laughter. After a few moments she pushed herself up, moved her leg across to lift herself off me. Then she sat down on her knees on the bed next to me, still giggling.

"Do you want a rematch?" I offered.

She smiled and shook her head.

"Uh-uh. I let myself be distracted by that wonderful tongue of yours. So you've won fair and square."

She bent down and we kissed, long and deep, her lips soft against mine, our tongues playing with each other.

"So, captain..." she said softly when we finally broke our kiss. "What are your orders?"

"Well, my local crew, for starters I believe we should continue where we left off, don't you think?"

She smiled a big, happy smile.

"Aye aye, captain. I was hoping you'd say that."

She turned around and lifted her leg to straddle my face again, resuming her earlier position on top of me. She wiggled her lovely ass, and her pussy seemed to wink at me. I could clearly see how aroused she was. Her nether lips were fully engorged and open, glistening with the creamy juices that still pooled between them. She scooted back a little on her knees until that lovely flower hovered directly before and above my mouth, and I could hardly wait to taste it again.

She apparently felt the same way, because she wasted no time on her side of the operation. I felt how she took my cock in her hand and began to stroke it, her hand gently pulling the skin around the rock-hard shaft up and down, her fingers spreading pre-cum across the taut, engorged head, lubricating it. With her other hand she played with my balls, lifting them, rolling them around, then caressing my sac with her fingertips, which is something that never fails to drive me wild. She began to pump me more insistently.

"Anne... Slow down," I said softly. "I want this to last."

She backed off a little, to a point where I felt I could safely focus on the job at hand without losing control.

I put my hands on her butt and gently pulled her down toward me until my mouth touched her pussy. She froze at the contact, my cock in her hands momentarily forgotten as she let out what was half a sigh, half a long, low moan, and I gave her pussy a long, lazy lick to hold her attention. She moaned again, and her legs parted a little further.

"Oh, Harvey," she sighed, and the tone of her voice stirred something in my soul.

I don't want to get overly sentimental here, but I feel I need to say this: while sex is great, even awesome, to me the best part is the giving. Receiving pleasure is wonderful, and some women have their skills perfected to the point where their slightest touch is a heavenly pleasure. They can play a man's body like a fine instrument, taking their virtuoso performance all the way from the overture to a roaring crescendo. But exquisite as that may be, none of it comes even close to giving a woman what she needs and wants most.

I know of only one thing in life that's better than making a woman sigh, moan and finally scream with pleasure and give her toe-curling, gut-wrenching orgasms until she can cum no more, and that is to do that kind of thing out of love. Doing it because you want her to feel good; because you really and truly love her, knowing that she loves you the same way... That is better than anything else in this universe. Simply having sex is a physical thing, but making love with the woman you truly love and who loves you is so much more.

By now I had had a chance to get to know Anne's body fairly well, and I know how she liked to be touched. I knew her most sensitive spots, and how to arouse her; how to drive her wild and how to take her up and up, until her pleasure reached its peak and the fireworks started.