“No chance, the bus is right here,” Tim said as he dislodged her hand.
“I will drive straight home and tell mom! We can check the bus schedule and meet you at every stop, if that’s how it has to be!”
Tim was silent for a moment. The last thing he wanted was for his sister to get involved. It seemed like all of the women in his life, whether heavily affected by the curse or not, were intent on forcing themselves into his business. He didn’t want anything to happen with his sister that might warp their relationship. He also didn’t want to put her into a potentially dangerous situation. But it didn’t seem like he had much of a choice.
“Fine, sis,” he said with a sigh. “You win. But you can’t breathe a word of any of this to anyone, ever.”
“Fair enough, Tim.”
The three of them proceeded to climb into her car, Tim riding shotgun and Marco in back, and then set off.
CHAPTER 14
A light silence hung over the group as they made their way out to the coast. Music played throughout the car, and as Tim listened to it, he couldn’t help but think about what lay ahead. The route was bumpy and under maintained, and seemed as though every turn led them into even more rural territory.
“So what have you heard about this boat, anyway?” asked Marco from the back.
“About as much as I’ve told you,” replied Tim. “Which is to say, nothing.”
Kate was silent. Tim couldn’t help but empathize with her position. Was she in this of her free will, or did the curse have something to do with it? Regardless of the catalyst, she was here, and it was his responsibility to protect her.
But protect her from what? Just why is it that the old man needed to send him in his steed, anyway? Everything from the map and compass, to the ancient tome, to the sword, all of it seemed to scream of not just adventure, but also danger. As much as he wanted to be able to reassure his sister that there would be no trouble on the path ahead, he could not do it in good faith.
Several hours passed by. The sun began to rise up on the horizon, heating up the car with the rays of mid-morning.
“We should stop for food,” suggested Kate. Tim realized that in her hurry to tail them, she must have skipped breakfast.
“Where, exactly?” asked Marco. “There’s nothing here!”
It was true. The long road ahead of them led through nothing but empty fields and dense forests. There were no buildings in sight, nothing but nature for miles around.
“We’ll keep our eyes out for something,” said Tim. “I wouldn’t mind getting a bite before setting out to sea, either.”
They continued down the road for a while, and all of the sudden, the ocean was in front of them. A small collection of buildings lay next to a tiny dock. Tim wondered for a moment if they had come the right way, but as he read the placard above one of the buildings, his concerns were put to doubt.
“Manai Tourism Center” he read out loud as they pulled into the dirt parking lot. “This must be it.”
The three of them stepped out of the car and stretched their legs. The sounds of the waves crashing against the shore filled their ears, along with the unmistakably familiar smell of the ocean.
“Did the old man give you a ticket, or the name of somebody to meet, or something?” asked Kate.
Tim shook his head. He looked around as he approached the building. Other than a couple of tiny rafts and fishing boats, there were no other seaworthy vehicles in sight. He walked up to the door of the main boathouse and knocked a couple of times. It opened easily under the force of his fist, swinging on its hinges with an eerie creaking noise.
“Hello? Anybody home?” Tim asked as he gingerly stepped across the threshold. The inside was dark, lit only by a single candle. It was only a single room, and though he could see a desk with what looked like a travel ledger sprawled across it, there was nobody present.
“Jarovian’s squire, I presume?”
The voice had come from a blind spot to the left of the door. Tim jumped as it echoed through the room.
“What?” he said, confusion evident in his voice. The man who had greeted him was dressed in a robe similar to the one the old man had always been wearing. He was tall and lithe, and as he walked towards Tim he extended one of his hands in greeting.
“My name is Mathias,” he said, eyes talking stock of the three teenagers. “I will be your guardian and escort for the voyage across the ocean.”
Tim looked over to Marco, and then to Kate, and then back to the man before reaching out and reciprocating the handshake.
“I’m Tim, nice to meet you,” he said.
There was a strange silence immediately after. Tim waited to see of the man would offer any sort of insight in to his current situation, and got nothing.
“So, how is this all going to work, exactly?” he asked after a couple of tense moments. “I don’t see any ships here that could take us across the ocean.”
“You are impatient, this I have been told already,” Mathias said. “None of these ships are for you.”
He spoke with an authoritative voice, and again, Tim found the room filled with a strange and infinite seeming silence. This time he continued to wait, until the man continued.
“The ship that will take you to Manai is on its way,” he said. “It is a ship of, how do you say? Money travelers and gawkers.”
“Tourists? You mean tourists?” Marco jumped into the conversation. “Like a cruise ship?”
“Ah yes, that is what I mean,” Mathias said. He moved over to the desk in the cabin and took a seat. “Normally we fill these ships with one hundred, two hundred people. From the cities, we bring them to Manai and back. This time the ship will be empty…”
“Our own personal vacation voyage,” Tim said, smiling. “Now this I can get behind.”
“I’m starting to feel really glad that I decided to follow you,” said Kate. She grabbed onto Tim’s arm and playfully rested her head against his shoulder.
The three of them waited outside the shack for the boat to arrive. They all took their stuff out of Kate’s car and she proceeded to lock it, using the remote on her keys as though it was a magic wand.
“Will it be okay here?” she asked Mathias. “Or should I move it a little further off the road?”
“This is no longer a commonly used pick up spot for the ship, it will be fine,”
It wasn’t too long before they spotted the ship off in the distance. As it drew closer, Tim realized just how big of a craft it really was. There were at least three decks, including the main one. It completely dwarfed any type of ship he had ever been on before. It slowly pulled up to the dock. It was still about 30 feet away when it came to a halt, and Tim began to wonder just how they would get onto it. As if to answer his question, a long plank like platform folded out off one of the sides, reminiscent of a medieval draw bridge.
“I will be going with the three of you,” said Mathias as they all gathered at the end of the dock. “If you need anything, you can either ask me or one of the ship staff.”
Tim hadn’t given any thought to who else would be on the ship. It did make perfect sense, given its size, that there would be at least a couple of people on it beyond them and the captain.
The group made their way across the water and up to the ship. The deck was polished wood, and the huge, multi-level cabin seemed to be made of some type of white, polished composite material.
“How is this possible?” asked Tim. “Why are we so important as to justify using a ship like this just to give us passage?”
“You are the ones who come seeking Jarovian’s daughter,” said Mathias. “There are many within Manai who would gladly support such a cause, even at great expense. I would give my money or my life to see her again, and for her to have another chance at proving her claim to the throne.”
Tim, Kate, and Marco exchanged a quick series of looks.
“What the hell have you gotten us into, Tim?” asked Marco. Kate glared at him, and then rubbe
d Tim’s arm reassuringly.
“Just sit back and enjoy the ride, Marco,” he said, patting his friend on the back. “Of course at this point, you don’t really have any other choice.”
CHAPTER 15
As Tim looked round the deck, he spotted some of the staff members of the ship. His jaw almost dropped as they made their way over. They were all gorgeous women, tanned with curvy and luscious bodies. As far as Tim could tell, there was not a single man in the bunch.
“Hello, I’m Leah,” one of the women said as she stepped forward and introduced herself. “You must be the one that Jarovian told us he would send?”
Out of all of the women, Leah was the most attractive, by far. She was wearing the same ship uniform as the rest of them, which consisted of a pink bikini top and a long, purple skirt that seemed to billow outwards like hanging flow petals. She had nice breasts, a thin waist, and curvy hips that filled out her body in all the right places.
“Yeah, I’m your guy,” he said to her with a smile. “For that, and more. My name is Tim.”
He felt his sister elbow him hard in the side. Leah, just like all of the girls he encountered since undergoing the curse, seemed to flirt with him through her eyes. She stood a couple feet away, and her body language seemed open and inviting. Tim felt his heart pound slightly as he looked at her. For the first time since this had all begun, he had found a girl that seemed naturally beautiful and attractive to him.
“Nice to meet you, Tim,” said Leah. “If there is anything I can do to make your stay more comfortable, please don’t hesitate to let me know.”
Every one of her words seemed to be punctuated in a way that sent blood rushing to Tim’s dick. They held eye contact for a moment longer, and the tension between them was hot and almost visible. Finally, Leah stepped back to the group of women, and they walked inside the ship. Kate shot daggers at them with her eyes as they left.
Mathias led the three of them below decks and down several winding hallways. The entire ship seemed to be encased with an almost antiseptic gleam. It felt as though it had been cleaned several times over in anticipation of them, and everything looked new and fresh. As they walked through the main lobby, Tim noticed not one, but three chandeliers hanging from the ceiling at various intervals.
“How is this possible?” he asked Mathias as they walked. “I have never heard of Manai before, where is the money for a ship like this coming from?”
“We take advantage of our small profile,” he replied. “There are many among the rich and elite that would prefer an island vacation experience that is a little more nuanced, and hidden from the public eye. They pay top dollar for what we provide.”
The group turned down another corner. Ahead of Tim was a hallway of identical looking doorways. Mathias stopped in front of one right in the middle.
“We have cabins that sleep two or three, but I assumed each of you would want a private room,” he said, handing them keycards and gesturing to the doors on either side of the one he was in front of. “Head inside and take some time to get settled, we will be departing very shortly,”
He walked back the way they had come. After sharing a quick glance with Kate and Marco, Tim inserted his keycard into the doorway and then pushed it open.
The room was immaculate, and full of everything anyone would expect out of a luxury cruise liner. The three teenagers walked inside, and gaped at the attention to detail that had obviously gone into every corner of the suite.
“Wow, not too shabby,” said Kate. She walked over to the large, king sized bed, and collapsed backwards onto it. “Hop on, bro, it’s so soft.”
Tim smiled, and then walked over and sat down on the bed.
“Yeah it is, I definitely won’t mind sleeping on this tonight,” he said. “If they keep up this treatment when we get to the island, I might have to take my time tracking down this girl.”
“I’m going to drop my stuff off in my room,” Marco said. He shouldered his back pack and walked over to his room.
“Tim, we should curl up and watch a movie tonight,” Kate said. Tim noticed that she had slid over right next to him on the bed. Her finger tips began to caress his neck.
“Uh, I don’t know, sis,” he said to her. It hadn’t been as obvious immediately, but she was under the effect of the curse, too. Tim was beginning to see it more evidently. “I might just turn in early, and get some sleep,”
“Oh, come on!” She said to him, exasperated. Kate sat up on the bed and hooked her arm around her brother’s, resting her head against his shoulder. “It will be fun. We might even be able to get room service to bring us some wine, if we’re lucky…”
“Can I get back to you on this later? Like, after I’ve found this Lucia girl and set everything back to normal?”
“What are you so afraid of, Tim?” Kate’s hand had meandered its way down his chest and came to a rest on his crotch. It was only then that Tim realized just how horny and pent up he was. The sight of the staff girls from before had excited him, and apparently his dick was eager for action, as it quickly began to harden at his sister’s touch.
“Kate, I don’t think you should…” his words trailed off as his sister began to massage his package. It felt amazing. Her touch seemed to melt his objections away like soft butter.
“You have such a hard task ahead of you,” she said to him. Her voice had shifted into a tone that Tim had never heard before, soft and seductive. “It’s a very hard task, little bro. Just let your sweet sister help you out a little…”
Kate began to unzip his pants. Tim felt like he was only half awake. The scene was so unreal, so dreamlike, and he couldn’t bring himself to stop it. His cock stood to attention as his sister pulled it out of his pants. She started stroking it gently.
“That’s right Tim, it’s okay,” she said to him, drawing her face down closer to his cock. “Just let me work my magic…”
A knock on the door interrupted them from their reverie.
“Hey, can you guys let me in?” Marco’s voice could be heard from outside. “The doors lock automatically…”
Tim snapped back to his senses. He pushed back the face of his beautiful sister and stuffed his cock back into her hands. Kate had a crestfallen look on her face. Tim put his hand on her cheek and kissed her on the forehead tenderly.
“I love you Kate,” he whispered to her. “Let’s just keep things simple for now.”
Tim got up and let Marco back into his cabin. A tense and awkward silence settled into the room immediately after he walked in.
“What, what’s up?” he asked. Kate was blushing fiercely, and Tim did his best to avoid everyone’s eye contact.
“Nothing, man,” said Tim, after another moment had passed. “Why don’t we all go and explore the rest of the ship?”
“Good thinking, I’m starving,” said Marco. Kate gave Tim an embarrassed look, and then the three of them walked out of the room and into the hallway.
CHAPTER 16
They soon discovered that the ship was much larger than any of them had expected. It took them several minutes just to make it back to the lobby full of chandeliers. The ship was like a maze of catacombs, and it was easy to get lost. Everything seemed like it had been designed for a load of passengers a magnitude greater than what it was currently carrying. Eventually, they made their way back out onto the deck.
The sky had opened up, and the sun was in full bloom. The ship had been out of port for a while, and Tim could only just see a hint of the shoreline behind them. Ahead was nothing but the open ocean, and served as a sobering reminder, to him at least, of the uncharted nature of the journey ahead of him. They walked over to the edge of the deck and looked over the railing at the azure blue waves and sea foam below.
“It’s nice, isn’t it?” Leah had made her way over and smiled at the three of them as they gaped at the ocean. “I like the trips we go on with a smaller passenger group. It makes for such a peaceful trip.”
She was gorgeous, Tim agai
n realized. Her eyes glinted at him like beautiful green gemstones, and at first he could only smile back.
“Yeah, it is,” he said. “If my entire journey is going to be like this, I might as well start calling it a vacation.”
A shadow passed across Leah’s face, and for a moment, she was quiet. She leaned against the railing next to Tim and put her hand on top of his.
“I hope your entire journey is like this, Tim,” she said to him somberly.
Another moment went by in silence. Then Marco took a step back, and sighed loudly.
“I need to get some food! Can we get to the dining room, already?” he asked.
“Yes, of course,” said Leah. “We’ve already had lunch, but there should still be some left down in the kitchens. Most of our dining staff is back on Manai…”
“Thanks, Leah,” said Tim. Her hand was still on top of his, and he squeezed it encouragingly. Her face broke out into a beautiful smile, and she returned the gesture. Tim let the moment hang on the air, and then a thought popped into his head.
“So did the old man command you guys to come out and pick us up?” he asked. “It seems weird that someone with so much authority would be working in a dingy prop shop…”
Leah shook her head. “Jarovian did many great things for the islanders while he was in power. Just because he has been exiled does not mean that the people of Manai hold no love for him.”
Her response only seemed to raise more questions in Tim’s head than it answered. He looked to Marco, who seemed oblivious to anything other than the possibility of food, and then to Kate, who seemed like she was pouting over Leah being present.
“Why is everything concerning this man and his daughter explained to me and such a cryptic way?” he asked. “You’d think that he would want to explain the whole story to the one tasked with her rescue…”
Curse Of Desire: Complete And Uncut (Taboo Erotica) Page 6
