Fingering the Idol

"What happened to you?" Lex asked, his brow furrowed a little. It looked like he had been scratching his stitches, I could see a little blood on the very small scales near his hairline. He had an ugly little statue in his hands. It looked like a beetle or an armadillo, not that I was looking at the statue.

He had ridges of slightly larger scales on the bony part of his cheekbones, on the tip of his chin and the corners of his jaw. Around his eyes and mouth, the scales were finer and more neutral colored. Except for those iridescent scales, scattered like a mix between war paint and freckles.

I sighed sleepily. "Captain had me go get the sailors from the girls and the drinks. Bernard was so drunk he thought I was trying to fight him for the wench."

Lex laughed out loud. "I wouldn't have minded if we had stayed a night... They had some lovely girls, I noticed. I couldn't stop while the others were with me. But maybe I would've been left behind."

That was discouraging.

But I wouldn't give up. I just wanted to see what he looked like naked. I'd seen humans, elves, half-elves, and even an old half-orc named Nils. (Gigantic, now that you ask. Nice fella, though.)

Never seen a spellscale naked before.

I could barely keep my eyes open. Much as I wanted to. I went below deck to take a few hours in my hammock before I made my move.

---

Bright-eyed and horny, I got on deck.

The wind was going fiercely, and in the right direction for once. We were going in a quick straight line, and I couldn't see anything on the horizon except a line of uninhabited islands and coral, like beads on a string. The sun was slowly lowering down to that string of islands, like a gigantic blood-orange.

On a day like this when our patchy sail was hard and pregnant with air, almost no one had work. Barrett had four men working to scour the place down so we didn't get lazy, but they went lackadaisically about it.

Francis and Rat were sparring, this time with the trident. They both had a roughly equal amount of painful welts on their forearms. Ana was flirting with Bernard.

I sniffed. I wondered if she'd still be hanging on his meaty arm if she had seen how much vomit he got on the bar-wench last night.

Lex was stretched out on deck like a lizard, soaking up the sun and fiddling with that beetle statue.

"How's your head?" I asked him, dropping down to the deck to be at his level.

He grimaced cheerfully. "Well enough... What about your eye?"

I shrugged. "Just means I can wink more easily. Strikes fear into the hearts of my enemies, so on."

He got this funny wry little smile on his face. It reminded me of the smile old biddies get on their faces when young girls talk about boys. Maybe I was a virgin when it came to having enemies.

"What's with the statue? Do you think it might be valuable?"

He shrugged. "It's definitely mysterious. We found it inside a small ribcage. We think it's from a little girl that died a year ago on the island." He sighed. "I just got to see her family and tell them I found their kid's skeleton. They... didn't take it well."

Huh. So not your average mercenaries, then. Any random thug would have gone searching for the little black idol, but not many would have gone to find the family.

Half baked plans of how to get him to one of the half-dozen hideaways on this ship evaporated (Well, I saved them for later, anyhow.) I rested a hand on his shoulder. "You did the right thing. At least now they know."

I could feel his slick scales under the linen cloth of his shirt, chosen for it's bright red color. He had little beads of bright tin at the tips of the laces. I could see bright stones in many of his earrings.

In a visible effort to move on from that rut in the conversation, Lex held up the idol. Looking at it more closely, I realized it wasn't a beetle, but a sort of funny hump-backed turtle-thing.

With teeth.

"We also met an... Interesting... young man who was calling me 'Fig Tree'. He called Rat 'Willow' and Ana 'Laburnum'. He went insane exactly a year ago." He moved his hand in a lazy gesture, connecting imaginary points. "The same time the girl went missing."

He made another grimace. "If you don't already have enough reasons, don't sneak up behind Rat. I thought she had killed the poor boy. Only knocked him out, but we almost got in a lot of trouble.

"So... Are you going to sell it?"

"Maybe. Gonna try and find somebody who knows what it is and what it can do, because it definitely isn't just an inert statue. There's something special about it..."

He started digging at it, trying to squeeze his index finger under the turtle's belly. "There's some kind of loose piece under here, but I can't reach it, can't get it out, and can't figure out what it is. Can you try?"

Maybe now was the time to tell Lex that I was a massive coward.

"Um, sure?"

The thing wasn't really that much like a turtle, other than the shell. I really didn't like it much. Especially after the lovely little history Lex had filled me in on. Especially-especially after he told me he was absolutely sure it wasn't a harmless inert idol.

"If this chops off my finger, you owe me a big favor." I grumbled. That way, if it did eat my finger, I would get laid. Nobody could ever accuse me of not planning ahead.

The turtle-beast was carved from an oily black stone, and resting on a pedestal of the same material. I gingerly tried to squeeze my finger under the turtle belly. I think that my fingers were actually bigger than Lex's. Guy had small hands.

I did feel the loose piece he mentioned though. Just barely. When I pushed my fingertip in and out I could feel it rattling around. But when I shook the statue near my ear, I couldn't hear anything.

I shrugged. "I can feel it, but, look at our hands." HA! Clever excuse to hold hands.

I held my hand with the fingers outstretched and placed his hand palm-to-palm with mine. He didn't have any scales on the palms of his hands, the skin was soft, like human skin. His fingertips only came up to the first joint of my fingers. His fingernails were all tinted deep rosy purple.

He didn't seem to take the hint. Or even notice how feely I was trying to be. Airhead.

"Yeah, I wonder if Ana has small hands..." He idly went back to sticking his fingers under the idol.

"Ouch!"

I flinched, and whirled back around, horrified and ready to bind up a missing finger. But Lex was frowning down at his finger, which had a big red drop of blood welling at the tip.

I relaxed. "Did it bite you?" I teased, taking his hand to get a closer look. He was so innocent to my intentions... I decided to kick it up a notch.

"Your poor finger..." I cooed, and then I looked right into his eyes as I gently sucked the tip of his finger into my mouth.

"Oh... oh... OH."

It was fun watching his cheeks turn a brighter, more robust purple. His eyes widen with shock. I felt myself smiling around his fingertip. I swirled the tip of my tongue around the tip one more time before I let go.

"You... um. You thought that I was... um." The statue was completely forgotten, and Lex was stammering. It was pretty cute, and it made me relax a bit. Not every man was as forgiving when it came to this. He mostly just seemed confused, a little nervous, and he was straining not to be impolite.

Good signs, overall.

"Lex, Lex... listen to me." I laughed. "I know which one you prefer. I'm not a dark highwayman who's gonna bash you over the head and take your coins. I'm not some predator in a tavern, ready to spike your beer with hemp oil and leave you waking up drunk and alone, wondering why your asshole is the size of a dinner plate."

His eyes went about as wide as dinner plates.

Maybe I had a little too much fun teasing him. Maybe.

"Well... What are you then?" He murmured. He looked apprehensive. But I wasn't hearing a no.

"A friend." I said lightly. "Just a friend." Had to go careful, tease him in. Like a fish on a line.

I was losing him, I could feel it. He was just too flustered and nervous, he was going to say no. I put up my hands in a calming gesture. "Think about it. Just think about it." I got up.

"You know the main hold?" I asked him off-hand, before I walked away.

He still looked a little lost, but he nodded. "Behind all the crates of furs, barrels of beer and oysters, there's a little spot you can't see from the hatch." I tried to put on my most winning smile. "If you want to try the other side of the sheets for once, meet me there at ten bells. I'll make it worth your while."

I couldn't help getting in one last jab. "Might do you good to finger someone else for a change."

He looked down at the idol and flushed magenta as I strutted away.

---

By the time I was in my hiding place, I was half-sure he would come.

I tried to set it up extra-special. Thankfully, the corner was near the fur-crates, and not the undeniably ripe-smelling oysters.

I cracked open a crate and strewed the furs until they made a soft pad about four feet wide and maybe six inches deep. The pelts were soft and luxurious. Barrett would kill me if he saw me doing this, but Barrett was immensely predictable. He fell asleep at eight bells, and woke up at four bells every day. Only a storm or pirates could drag him out once he was asleep.

I did this all by the light of a candle stub. When I heard some creaking, I quickly puffed it out, sitting perfectly still in my fur nest.

I could tell by the noise that it wasn't Lex. Spend enough time working with anybody and you could tell who they are without looking. I could recognize Webb's heavy mouth-breathing and half-drunk shuffle even in the dark.

Once he left, it got really quiet. I could hear the Antelope creaking and gently shifting. The wind was weakening, but we were still moving in the right direction. I couldn't hear much talking or moving around. Most people were sleeping.

On deck, Francis rang ten bells.

I had hopefully scoured myself clean in anticipation. But as the seconds ticked by, I started to think it had been a waste of hot water.

I lay back on the soft furs in the inky darkness. I sighed. I was surrounded by ten other men on the daily basis. One or two of them were even okay to look at. But damn it if it didn't start to feel lonely after a while.

I pushed down my breeches and wiggled my ass against the fur. Two reasons. It felt nice, and it was funny trying to imagine Barrett's face while I did it.

I lazily imagined Lex's soft scale-less lips around my cock. Imagined what kind of noise he would make riding me. I started to breathe a little faster, and tug at my prick.

'Course, I was never expecting anything like that to happen. First-timers were greedy, in a helpless sort of way. Most of the time you had to twist their arms just so they'd give you a reach-around. Reciprocation? Might as well ask for the moon.

I knew I was just being bitter. I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up. I had a shift from midnight to midday, so I knew I should've just stowed the furs and gone up to my hammock to get some rest.

I stayed in the hold mostly out of a desire to masturbate in peace.

I spat in my hand and thought back to pleasant memories of the last time I got laid. Seemed like forever ago. That elf had been so flexible...

I froze as the hatch creaked open. Barrett kept saying he would oil the hatch, but he never quite got around to it. I heard a soft thud and an exhale as somebody jumped down the hatch, ignoring the stepladder. I listened very carefully. It was somebody small, with quiet breathing.

I peeked over the ledge of fur crates. I could just barely see an outline standing under the dim grey square of the open hatch. The outline reached up and closed the hatch behind him, and then it was completely dark.

"... James?" He whispered. His voice was drifting a little closer. I could hear him moving slowly, brushing his hands over the edges of the crates and barrels to squeeze in between. "Hello? Are you here?"

"Hey, stranger." I whispered back. I tried to quash the delight in my voice. Didn't want to sound too desperate.

"Um. Where are you? I don't have a light spell... Or a candle." He sounded sheepish. I bet he was blushing.

"Feel the crates... Do you feel the wall against your right hand?"

"Um... no... wait... yes."

"Follow the dulcet tones of my voice." I giggled. "And watch out for the--"

He crashed to the ground. I was actually worried for a moment, but then he let out an exaggerated groan and I knew he was okay. "--The ribs... There are bare boards here."

I reached in the darkness, and I felt his hand resting on the edges of my furs. His hand clasped gently and I held it, pulling him back to me.

"Nice to have you." I whispered. I traced his wrist with my free hand, spidering my hand up his arm. He had a loose shirt on, I loved the texture of his thin linen shirt over his dry smooth scales. I touched his shoulder, cupped the back of his neck. I was on my knees, and he was, too. Now that he had crawled back onto the fur pad with me.

He wasn't saying anything, and I couldn't see his face. "You here with me, Lex? Or did you sleepwalk?" I whispered.

My hand was on his neck, I could feel him shake his head. "Didn't sleepwalk. Just... I've never done this before." He was so close I could feel his breath feathering on my lips and chin. He smelled like mint, he must have chewed some leaves before he came down.

That was endearing. You didn't chew mint unless you cared, at least a little. Maybe I had low standards.

"Nothing you don't want..." I caressed up the back of his neck, sliding my palm so I was cupping his cheek. "Has anyone ever told you how handsome you are? Purple and all?"

He shrugged. "Two or three."

I chuckled. "Slut." I leaned forward. I carefully bumped the tips of our noses together so he knew I was coming. And damn it if the hot little spellscale didn't lean into it. I could feel his hands tentatively resting on my legs.

He knew how to kiss. Hell, probably could have given me a pointer or two. But he was used to being the one in charge, the one pushing for more. His breath tasted hot and divine. I could touch his sharpened canines with the tip of my tongue.

I reached for his laces, but the saucy little thing never kept them tied. Instead, I slipped a hand down the wide v-gap of his unlaced shirt to feel at his chest. He didn't seem to have nipples. Just a ridge of scales. But when I caressed under that ridge I could feel him shiver a little. I smiled against his mouth and sucked his tongue between my teeth.

I felt his hands rising, at my hips, digging deftly under the hem of my shirt. I let him tug it off. I leaned into him as he touched me with his hands. I sidled up closer, and hey-hey, I could feel something coming up.

"You sure you haven't done this before?" I whispered into his pointed ear, husky and soft. I cupped the front of his breeches. The soft well-worn leather was distended, and pretty big for such a little guy. I gently squeezed, to hear his little gasp against my neck.

He kissed my neck. The suave sonofabitch, I was sensitive there. "I've done this plenty of times." He whispered indignantly. "Just... Just never on another man."

"Lucky me." I purred. I let out a happy little moan when he made a seal against my neck with his mouth. He traced the tip of his tongue against my skin and sucked a rosy hickey onto the side of my neck.

I untied the laces at the front of his breeches, and pulled out his loincloth with a deft yank. He slipped out of his shirt. I ran my hands down the smooth large scales that went down his spine, the soft small scales under his arms, down his sides. His body heat was tremendous, through the yielding scales. It was like stroking the sides of a dragon.

"You keep... petting me. Like I'm a cat or something." He whispered.

"Do you want me to stop?" I teased the waistband of his breeches down. I cupped the underside of his cock, gently pushing the tip of it against his scaly belly. He was making these soft breathy sounds as I closed my fingers around it.

"It feels nice." He whispered. I could feel where the scales stopped around his groin, the skin on his cock and testes was soft and scale-less.

"Lay back, Lex." I murmured. "I'll make you feel really good." I wanted to taste him. I wanted to see what his come tasted like. It was a little different with every race. I guess you could call me bit of a connoisseur. Elves had a bitter aftertaste. Humans were saltier. The half-orc had come with an oily texture and a sour taste.

That didn't make it sound too appetizing, but I was curious, believe you-me.

He rested down against the furs, I tickled my fingertips down his inner thighs, teasing his legs apart. I kissed his stomach to feel it flinch under the gentle touch of my lips.

I started lapping at the underside of his cock, tasting him.

"Oh... Oh you are good at that." He gasped.

"Thank you," I whispered, gently sucking one of his stones into my mouth. I let it slide out with a lewd pop while he squirmed. "After, you'll have to tell me how I compare."

His cock was nice and thick, with a defined tube on the underside. It tapered up to a narrower point. I wondered if the shape was just him, or if it was a racial trait. I knew it would feel good, to have that thin tip poke in, and have it get thicker and thicker at the base. I swirled my tongue around the tip of his cock to sense the shape. His precome tasted almost sweet.

He didn't have even a strand of hair or a whisper of stubble around his groin. It was different to feel the smooth tender skin. In a good way.

I moved down on his cock so I could thrust his head past the resistance in the back of my throat over and over. I held back on my gag reflex (hey, I had a lot of practice) and listened to him gasp at the sensation.

He twined one hand in my short hair and moaned. I could wrap him around my little finger when he was like this. I stroked his smooth scaly inner thighs and carefully started working my fingers back. I was curious.

He twitched when my fingertip first brushed his puckered anus. His heavy breathing stuttered a little and I could feel his hand tighten a little, twined in my hair. I carefully massaged the area with my fingertip.

"I can't." He whispered. He reached between his legs to try and move my hand away, but I had already moved it back. I took a quick break from his throbbing cock to breathe, and to reassure him.

"Lex... I was just checking. Even the ladies-men sometimes like a little stimulation back there. I wont do it again."

"Oh... Um. Thank you, James. I'm sorry."

I grinned in the dark and gave his plump cock a few strokes. "Don't worry about it. You sweet thing, you."

I was about to gobble him down, but to my immense surprise, he stopped me.

It was a strange thing, his seduction. He had a lot of experience with it, but he was almost timid when it came to using his wiles on me.

He was pulling me up while he leaned back so I was crawling on top of him. He lay back in the fur, his fingertips traced my skin, tweaking gently at my nipples and stroking down my back. When I was on top of him I didn't lean forward. I made him do a little of the work. And he did. He wrapped his legs around my waist and leaned up to kiss me. Even right after I sucked his cock.

I decided then that I liked Lex quite a bit. Not just as a hot little piece of ass. He wasn't afraid to try new things. And as a new thing, I found that endearing.

On top of him like this, I really wanted to fuck him, but that was a no-no. The little guy didn't even like my fingertip, so I wasn't gonna subject him to anything else.

And besides, I could feel him shifting his weight, rolling so he was on top of me instead. This was interesting.