The Longest Night: A Meridian Society Christtmas (TheCorsair & Madame Mim)

"Of course we would be honest with each other," Erik agreed quickly, starting to get used to the idea. "I wouldn't even expect it to become a regular thing. Perhaps just...every now and then. To switch things up a little." It could be really hot, actually...

Then she asked Anne Marie for input. The older woman was the obvious choice, and she was beautiful...but she was a coworker. Erik couldn't claim he'd never thought of her in a lustful way; when he'd first joined the Society and started working with her he'd found himself fantasizing about her a good deal. But that had been years ago, and he'd come to think of her in quite a different way since then. Wouldn't it be awkward?

"If it is something you both agree to, something you both think will make your relationship stronger, I don't see a problem with it," Anne Marie answered with a shrug. "You will both have to be on the same page at all times, and laying down ground rules is an excellent idea. But I've seen this sort of arrangement save many a marriage or relationship." She glanced at Erik to gauge his comfort level before offering, "Of course, my services are always available if that is something you both agree on and are comfortable with. But you don't have to limit yourself to professionals, obviously." God that made her sound like a whore. But she'd never been able to read how comfortable Erik was with her line of work outside of the Society--her day job, anyway--so she wasn't sure whether naming it aloud would push him away from this sort of resolution.

...Of course, my services are always available... If Anne Marie hadn't said it, Sam didn't think it woukd have occurred to her. Oh, sure, a number of her fantasies about the same sex revolved around that one afternoon she's spent with the French woman. But... well, Anne Marie had become a combination of friend, teacher, and doctor. Sam saw her every other week for help wirking through her probkems - her self-image and her struggles with her own sexuality, because she frequently felt ambivalent and awkward around any of it.

She was a friend. But, yeah. She would be a good starting point. A safe starting point.

She kissed Erik tenderly. "Ah'm gonna ask y'all somethin'. An' if'n heh say 'no', that'll be th' end o' it." She kissed him again, feeling suddenly shy and zwkward. "Kin Ah... while y'all watch, kin Ah... kin Ah..." Damnit! She was bkushing and stammering niw.

"Ah... want Anne Marie... ta jiin us. If'n yer willin', Erik." Drawing aa deep breath, she plunged in. "She helped me figger out mah own... mah tastes, an', an' Ah trust her, an' Ah like her. An" Gawd but Ah want yeh ta see us. Together."

Sam hemmed and hawed around what she was about to propose. Erik knew what she would eventually manage to get out and he wanted to help her but couldn't quite find the words. Her...and Anne Marie...It was difficult but not impossible to imagine, and that imagining stirred something deep inside of him. But there was something else, too: a voice of caution and traditionalism which most often sounded like his mother, screaming that it was wrong. Perverse. Disgusting. The two sides of him warred silently while the women looked at him expectantly, and all he could manage was an incomprehensible stammer.

Anne Marie, for her part, was almost positive she knew what the German was thinking. Sam's quick acquiescence hadn't surprised her and neither did his hesitation, but if they were up here for much longer the others might get suspicious without need. Growing a little impatient, she decided to break the stalemate and pulled Sam into a hard, passionate kiss. It lasted for several long seconds, but to Erik it seemed to last for hours.

"There," Anne Marie said firmly. "Yes or no?"

"I uh...or rather...I mean..." Erik's mind had gone completely blank. That had been really hot! "I ah...yes...?"

"Well then, since that is settled what happens now is between the two of you. But might I suggest you begin by watching?"

Without further comment or conversation Anne Marie turned her whole attention to Sam. Slowly she began undoing the silk buttons of her blouse before sliding it off of her shoulders and leaning in to kiss her neck softly. Quietly she whispered in the Ranger's ear to relax before carefully unclasping her brassiere then tracing kisses from her shoulder to her breast. She heard a sharp intake of breath from Erik but ignored it for now. Sam needed to have the self-esteem boost of knowing she could command the complete attention of two people at once.

Sam, to be perfectly honest, hadn't quite known what to expect at this point. She waited with bated breath, excited and anxious and, oddly enough, a little ashamed. Was... well, reality of this was such a shock, as was saying the words out loud. Waht if...

Anne Marie stopped her doubts - hell, her brain and nearly her heart - by kissing her. The kind of kiss that Erik gave her, when the bith if them were about ready to rip each ither's clothes off. It felt shocking, to feel another woman pressed against her. Good, good enough that she moaned into Anne Marie's mouth as she sucked at the French woman's tongue, but shocking. Shocking and scandalous and delightful to kiss another woman as Erik watched. When Anne Marie finally broke the kiss, she gasped and looked at Erik with a hungry, slightly glassy expression.

He'd probably recognize that look. He'd seen it enough, when he'd out of nowhere got her so turned on she could barely think. But she still managed to comprehend Erik's slightly strangled agreement, and then Anne Marie was opening her blouse and stroking and kissing her body. She shivered, a little from the chill in the room and mostly from the exquisite sensation. "Gawd... Anne Marie..." she groaned, arching her back and offering her small breasts to her smooth lips and hands.

She wanted more, even as she delighted in the feel of Anne Marie's mouth on her nipple. Urgently she pulled her back up, glimpsing Erik out of the corner of her eye as she kissed Anne Marie hungrily. Let him watch, she smiled as her tongue slipped past red-painted lips. I want him to watch me, she thought as her hands fumbled with the buttons of her blouse. She wasn't as graceful about ot as Anne Marie had been - she could undo Erik's shirt easily, but fir some fool reason blouses put the buttons on backwards - but perseverence was rewarded with the feell of soft, rounded skin. "Gawd, yer beautiful," she husked, watching as she slid the other woman's blouse off.

The statement gave her a momentary pang of doubt,nas she compared herself to Anne Marie. But a quick glance at Erik, a glance that showed the hunger in his lovely eyes, reminded her that Erik thought shewas beautiful. And the not entirely professional expression on Anne Marie's face reminded her that - as they'd talked about more than once - beauty was very much in the eye of the beholder.

She kissed Anne Marie hungrily again, bunching up her long skirts until she could run a hand over a silk-stockinged thigh. "Gawd," she husked, managing to look at them both. "I want y''all so much..."

Erik's brain had frozen completely. He wasn't even aware until he was halfway through that he'd undone his trousers to alleviate the discomfort of the confinement of his rock hard cock. His fingers curled around it and slid slowly up and down as he watched Sam slide Anne Marie's blouse off. Her breasts were soft and heavy, nothing like Sam's but still every bit as beautiful as he'd imagined when he had still imagined her naked in his early days in the Society. Better, though, was watching as Anne Marie unbuttoned Sam's trousers and slid her hand beneath the cloth. The older woman's flank was exposed but all he could see was the sexy way Sam's fingers flexed and extended as she bunched up the skirts and slid her hand over her thigh.

"You're so beautiful," he murmured, unable to take his eyes off of them. Before he was aware of it he had knelt on the bed behind Anne Marie, reaching around to tangle a hand in Sam's hair and kiss her hard over Anne Marie's shoulder. The Frenchwoman busied herself with attentions to Sam's neck, shoulder, and breasts while reaching behind to undo the large buttons on her skirt. Erik was more than happy to help, leaving her in nothing but silk stockings and high heels.

Despite Erik interfering so early, Anne Marie tried to maintain control. This was, after all, to explore Sam's sexuality. She felt Erik's hands on her back and rear as she gently pushed Sam to the mattress, pulling off her shoes before managing to get her trousers, underwear, and socks off all in one go. It was a trick she'd been quite proud of the first time she'd managed it about ten years ago. She felt Erik's body over her as he leaned up to kiss Sam hard, but ignored it as she placed gentle kisses up her legs from her ankles to her calves, to the sides of her knees, to the insides of her thighs. Finally she kissed Sam's waiting lips and ran her tongue slowly between them, sucking on her clit.

"Why don't you watch for now," she suggested evenly, trying not to sound annoyed at Erik's crowding her, "and we invite you later?" He didn't know what he was doing and was only getting in the way for now.

"Sorry," he muttered, flushing brightly and clambering off the bed and taking a seat in a well-positioned chair. Anne Marie favored him with a brief smile before returning her attention to Sam.

She slid her tongue between her lips again, moaning quietly into her wet pussy and gripping her hips. After spending a brief time here she kissed her way up Sam's stomach, to her breasts, then again to her lips. One hand slid from her hip to her flank, then to her thigh, pulling one of Sam's legs over Anne Marie's hip. Gently she grinded against her, keeping one hand on Sam's hip while the other slid to her nipple. Out of the corner of her eye she caught the movement of Erik's hand sliding up and down his shaft, and it seemed to take a concerted effort on his part not to be in a hurry.

"Do you want me to lay down?" she asked Sam gently, still grinding against her. "Do you want to explore, or be explored?"

"Gawd..." Sam moaned, running her fingers through Anne Marie's long hair and opening her legs wider as the older woman's tongue explored her. Her whole body biwed for a moment as Anne Marie sucked at her clit, and then the sensation was gone as Anne Marie turned to talk to Erik. As tgey spoke she stroked two fingers over her sex, cupping a breast and rolling her nipple with her free hand. Fuck, even that was hot, mastrubating before them both. But then a gentle hand moved her fingers and a warm mouth and a soft skilled tongue replaced them, and swiftly Sam was writhing and joyously blaspheming under the attention.

It wasn't that Anne Marie was better, precisely. Erik had gotten her off with just his mouth more times than she could remember. But she was different, with a better sense of what was goddamn good versus fucking amazing and then she was gine! Her lips were exploring up her body , leaving her writhing on the edge of a mind-shattering orgasm. She moaned helplessly as Anne Marie rubbed against her mound and sucked ather tit and asjed her what she wanted to do next.

"Fuck! Anne... you... you... French tease…" she gasped, rubbing herself against the other woman's hip. Hungry hands pulled them into a kiss, and she greedily sucked her taste from the other woman's lips and tongue. Then with a grunt she rolled them both over, pinning Anne Marie's wrists to the bed and kissing her again, rubbing herself against her hip and grinding a hard-muscled thigh against her slick sex. "Ah want you..." she husked, bithing Anne Marie's throat. "Ah want y'all as hot an' hungry fer me as Ah amm fer you."

She slid down the French woman's body, sampling soft curves she'd seen once in a delicious hour in London and fantasized about for months after. Callosed hands molded to soft breasts and firm belly as she kissed and nipped lower, finally sliding from the bed to kneel between Anne Marie's legs. "Do y'all... shave?" she wondered aloud, stroking slick, hairless lips as she inhaled the rich aroma of her arousal. "Should Ah do that, Ah winder?"

Turning her head slightly, she stared at Erik and licked her lips at the sight of his hand wrapped around his gorgeous thick cock. "Cos Ah reckon," she continued, watching his reaction, "that it'd make this a mite easier..." She ran her tongue iver the other woman's folds, tasting tge arousal that dewed her flesh. "An this..." Two fingers spread Anne Marie open, allowing Sam's tongue to explore more deeply. "An this..." She thriust her tongue in as deep as it would go, drinking Anne Marie's pleasure as she moaned hungrily. Then she had in idea.

Sucking at Anne Marie's clit, she slid her habd dowwn her own belly and slid three fingers into her own cunt. She gasped, clenching around the digits, but withdrew them before she could cum. No, she had something else in mind. A slick finger teased Anne Marie's ass, leaving sticky trails behind. Then, carefully, she pressed on finger in

It had felt fucking amazing, the one time Erik had fucked her ass. Maybe Anne Marie would appreciate it?

Anne Marie had felt the orgasm building up inside Sam, but now was too soon. She would bring her to the edge several times before she let herself fall over into blinding bliss. When Sam cursed and called her a tease she smiled against her flesh. The smile faltered for a second and she gasped quietly as the Ranger took her by surprise and flipped them. She moaned and arched her back when Sam bit her throat and promised to make her want her. Not likely, but she could pretend. Part of her dayjob outside of the Society was making her patients feel--know--that they were desirable. She put up a token struggle against the strong, calloused hands pinning her arms to the mattress, but they soon lifted to explore her breasts and the rest of her body.

"Mais oui," Anne Marie answered Sam's curiosity, gasping as her tongue ran along her lips. Then she wondered aloud whether she should do such a thing. "Only if it pleases you, cherie." But she realized then that Sam was more talking to Erik than to herself. She writhed and moaned under Sam's--admittedly amateure--ministrations, sliding a hand to her own breast and tilting her face to watch Erik's reaction.

Erik's mouth was dry and his hand had stopped moving in a conscious effort not to cum so soon. Mutely he nodded when Sam suggested that shaving down there would make eating her out easier. His cock throbbed in his hand as he watched this beautiful woman spread Anne Marie's lips and thrust her tongue inside her. Erik bit his lip, groaning softly, wishing so badly he could just take Sam here and now while she ate out the Frenchwoman. But Anne Marie had sounded firm so he restrained himself. Instead he sat with his throbbing shaft in his hand, slowly stroking it again, as he watched Anne Marie writhe carefully with Sam's lips on her clit and one finger in her ass.

God. Sam was pretty sure - at least, she was hoping thst what she was doing was having an effect on Anne Marie. Pretty sure, because she could hear the French woman moan, but not convinced. She'd heard of 'faking it', after all, even though she'd never understood it. Why not just tell your lover you needed more? So she was hoping but pretty sure, but also extremely sure that she was getting herself even more worked up. Hell, she nearly xame just by brushing her thighs together as she shifted position.

"Ah... Ah wanna taste y'all cummin'," Sam said, looking up to meet Anne Marie's gaze. "Any..." She shivered, feeling her own arousal leaking diwn her thighs. "Any suggestions?" A sidelong glance at Erik revealed him still staring raptly, too engrosed in what he was watching to do anything but lightly grip is cock. With a smile, she nipped at Anne Marie's inner thigh and turned her attention back to her bare sex. "Yer mah teacher, after all," she murmured, circling the other woman's clit with her tongue. "What kin Ah do?"

Fuck, but she wanted Erik right then and there. But she also wanted Anne Marie, wanted her body moving with hers and her lips and tongue and fingers all over her. Wanted to see her lose her composure and cum hard. "What do Ah gotta do ta get y'all off?"

"Samantha," Anne Marie chided lightly before interrupting herself with a gentle moan. "This is about you-oooh-ooh..." She pressed her heels into the mattress and arched her back gracefully. She bit her lip to regain her composure and an idea came to her. "If you'll let me up, mon cherie, I can show you what to do."

Once Sam had let her go Anne Marie flipped them so that Sam was once again underneath her. Sliding a finger along her clit only very briefly, Anne Marie peppered her body with kisses from stomach to forehead. Carefully, so as not to kneel on the Ranger's hair, she placed her knees on either side of Sam's head and sat back on her heels for a moment. She turned her gaze to the dumbfounded German and motioned with her head for him to finally join them then, with the same deliberateness, peppered Sam's body with more kisses from forehead to stomach.

"This, my dear," she said as she spread Sam's lips and felt Erik kneeling onto the mattress, "is what we call the soixante-neuf."

Erik felt drunk and almost detached even has he groaned with the pleasure of finally being inside Sam. It didn't feel real to watch her finger slide again into Anne Marie's ass, to pound Sam desperately even as he felt Anne Marie's tongue slip from Sam's clit to his cock. He felt the Frenchwoman's hand slip around Sam's spread thighs and was almost certain she had slipped a long, slender finger into her ass, but he was too consumed by the hedonistic pleasure of feeling Sam's twitching cunt around him as he slid his hands down Anne Marie's smooth back to her ass. When Anne Marie carefully sat up and he fell to suckle at her soft, heavy breasts--so different from the ones he was used to--and he felt her hand grip his hair while his hands slid over Sam's perfect nipples and her fingers rubbed Sam's clit furiously, it felt like he might have accidentally wandered into one of his adolescent wet dreams. But it was real.

And it was real when Anne Marie's voice rose in pitch and volume. "There," she moaned, fucking Sam's face desperately. Her fingers gripped Erik's hair harder as he obsessed over both her breasts and Sam's. "Yes there...don't stop...!" With little warning Anne Marie went rigid, her entire body convulsing once with a whimper and her pussy pulsing around Sam's tongue.

Horny and aching, Sam was more than happy to let Anne Marie show her what to do. And she even thought she knew what the French woman had in mind, when Anne Marie rolled her on her back and straddled her face, and she was just starting to run her hands over her shaply rear and try to tongue her pussy when Anne Marie said something about a "soozan-noof". And then the bed shifted, and...

"Jesus fuck!" she shouted into Anne Marie's pussy as Erik filled her with his thick cock. And then she screamed again, bucking and thrashing against the weight of two bodies as she felt Anne Marie's tongue on her clit andoh dear God she was getting licked and fucked at the same time and it was almost too much. Almost.

She went to work on Anne Marie with a desperate intensity, licking the other woman's slit and sucking her clit ans best she could between deleriously blasphemous cries of pure sensation. Her hands brushed Eriks, and she moaned as she realized he was trying to fuck them both. Fuck, what would it be like to lick hercehile Erik fucked Anne Marie?

Then Anne Marie's long, slim finger filled her ass, and ratiinal thought fled. All that remaiined was sensation. Erik's thick cock and his hands on her cit and breasts and Anne Marie's weight and her scream of "There!" and the amazing sensatiin of slick walls ckenching around her tongue as she came. Sam came as well, screaming into Anne Marie's core as her own cunt tightened like a vise arounfd Erik, begging him to fill her as she writhed and moaned in abandon between her two lovers.

It was all too much. Erik had never experienced such selfish, divine pleasure and it was too much. He came without warning, biting Anne Marie's shoulder to keep from making too much noise as he was blinded by ecstatic bliss. He clung to Anne Marie for support, breathing heavily as he emptied himself into Sam and pressing kisses to the older woman's olive skin.

"That...I can't...Oh mein Gott!" Erik panted, still clinging for support.

Anne Marie chuckled and kissed the top of his head as he sagged on her chest. "Mai oui," she agreed, panting. Carefully she disentangled herself from the couple and tested the integrity of her thighs before putting her weight on them. "And now you know."

"Now I know. I--Wait, you are going?"

She shrugged before adjusting her stockings and pulling her skirt back on. "But of course. I have done my job--and I think I have done it well--and it is for you two to decide what it means for you." Anne Marie leaned over and kissed Sam where she still tasted her own arousal. "You were magnificent, Samantha. Never think you couldn't have any woman you desired." She turned to Erik and kissed him also. "You too, chere." She pulled on the bra that had been dangling from her hand and hooked it. "But I was in the middle of a conversation with Professor Swift and I'm afraid I have been gone long enough that I will be missed. Given Erik's reservations about broadcasting your sex life I don't imagine you will want the others to deduce what just happened. We are a society of detectives and spies, after all." Anne Marie winked as she finished buttoning her last button, adjusted her hair in the mirror, and left.

"Well..." Erik said after a long, quiet moment, finally having caught his breath and found his voice. He slid carefully from Sam and kissed her. "I would say we have solved our problem, wouldn't you?"

"Ah'll say y'all have," Sam murmured, still lying in a spent heap on the bed as Anne Marie explained where she was going. "Done a damn good job o' it, too." She tried to sit up to watch the other woman dress, but found that her muscles felt pleasantly like gelatin after the mind-blowing orgasm she'd had. So she settled for a little wave, and a pout of disappointment as she felt Erik slip from her.

"Well..." Erik said, kissing her. "I would say we have solved our problem, wouldn't you?"

Smiling, she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him down over him, kissing him and sighing as his weight pressed her down into the mattress. "Well, fer th' moment," she said slowly, biting at his lower lip. "But Ah got me a whole 'nother problem, Erik. See..." She kissed him again, and ran a finger down his chest. "Y'all got ta watch me fuck another woman, but Ah didn't get ta see you fuck another woman while Ah watched." Her teeth nibbled down his throat. "Would y'like that, Erik? Let me watch y'all fuck someone, so y'all kin show me how hot it is?"

---

Algernon gestured at the pot on the stove as Anne Marie returned to the kitchen. "I took the liberty of chopping the rest of the vegetables you picked out for the stew," he said, turning back to the deer carcass he was carving up. "I didn't know what spices you had in mind for it, though, so it is entirely rabbit and root vegetables at this moment." Looking up, he noted how her hair was ever so slightly disarrayed. "Have you helped reduce the tensions between Samantha and Erik?"

He didn't feel jealous, which he might have expected even though he refused to examine the source of that potential jealousy closely. But he felt a bit... wistful. Which was nonsense, of course. He was married, and she was just slightly less than half his age, and any thought of a... well, it was nonsense. "Also," he added without looking, "you missed a strand of hair, just behind your left ear."

Erik's cock twitched at the idea of Sam watching him be with someone else. "Well I..." he started, then stopped. He examined his emotions closely, then started again. "If that is something you would like," he said finally. "I want to make you happy, but Samantha...I don't want anyone else. I want you." He leaned down to kiss her head then rolled onto his side, pulling her close. "If being with other women makes you happy, and me watching you with other women makes you happy, then this is a thing I will more than gladly do. If watching me with another woman is something you desire, then this I will also do...but I would do it to make you happy, and not because I desire another." It was a tempting thought. And he was still a man and not blind; he did notice beautiful women and find them desirable...but he would trade one night each with a thousand beautiful women for a thousand nights with the woman in his arms. Another idea came to mind and he smiled.

"I think, if that was something you really wanted, I would much rather find a woman to tie up and punish," he admitted, "and watch you tease her. And if she came before we told her to we'd have to start all over again."

~*~

Anne Marie returned to the kitchen and picked up her knife, only to frown confusedly at her cutting board. When Algie explained she nodded and began pulling spices and herbs from the pantry. Rosemary, thyme, salt, among others. She lifted the lid on the pot to smell it before smiling contentedly and replacing the lid.

"I think so," she answered casually. "It was a lack of communication, really." But then he added that she'd missed a bit of hair and suddenly she wished she could just melt into the floor from embarrassment. Anne Marie didn't know why she felt this way. He knew what she did, after all, and that she'd been forced into far worse with her late husband. Pink tinged her cheeks and she tucked the lock of hair into a bobby pin with a quiet "Merci." After a moment of grinding rosemary in a mortar she said without looking over, "Am I always that obvious? My patients would be devastated if they knew."

Algernon smiled and shook his head. "Obvious? Hardly. You are the soul of discretion, Anne Marie. I dare say that you were merely rushed, perhaps bowing to Herr Schmidt's desire to maintain the illusion that he and Samantha are involved?" He shook his head. "Although, to tell the truth, I find his desire fir privacy refreshing. Have you listened to the vulgarities that pass for popular music?"

Gathering up his knives he moved to the sink and began running the wwter. "Of course, I seem to recall my father saying the same of my choice in entertainments. And I rather suspect thst Samantha will say the same of her grandchildren. Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose, oui?" He peered at the pot as he washed. "Would I be out of line to suggest that a dash of red wine would enhance the flavor?"

---

Colin sat in his chair, idly staring into the fire and considering conversational gambits. He was beginning to develop a bit of a genuine affection for the Fenian rogue who sat to his left, which made the fact that they had so little in common such a frustrating thing. Oh, certainly they both captained aeronaval vessels. And there was the sex, of course, but that was hardly a topic of conversation fir a drawing room.

"Well," he observed as he watched Madame La Monte walk past. "Hopefully, our happy couple is resolving their differences right now. I wish them well."

He sipped his brandy, then turned to look at Kieran. "Daft question, but do pirates celebrate Christmas? I'd think it a terribly sentimental holiday for them, but one never knows."

"Vulgarities?" Anne Marie laughed lightly. "I happen to like the new music. It has an interesting sound. A refreshing change from all the same old variations of the same old composers. Not that there's anything wrong with the old composers."

Algie admitted then that every generation seemed to criticize the one after it. "That, as they say, is the way it goes. If every generation were as shiftless and lacking in morals as the previous generation claimed, the human race would have crumbled to dust centuries ago. It is our destiny to hate our children's music." She smiled wistfully before trying a bit of the stew.

"Mm... White, I think," she said after a moment before opening a bottle and splashing a bit into the pot. Once the wine had been stirred in and Anne Marie had tasted to make sure that it had been the right choice, she retrieved two glasses and poured some of the remaining wine into each. Once Algie was done washing up she handed him his. "Everyone else is drinking, why shouldn't we?" she gave him a wry smile over the rim of her glass before taking a sip.

~*~

The seamen sat in silence and Kieran wasn't sure whether it were entirely comfortable. The sex was explosive, but the two had little in common. The pirate cast about for something to say and Colin seemed to be doing the same.

"Do we what?" Kieran couldn't help but laugh at his question. It was a daft one. "It's nothing like this, not all chestnuts roasting on an open fire and all that rot, but of course we celebrate Christmas. 'Cept the ones as isn't Christian, of course," he added. "They do... Well I dunno what they do, but they do it. Mostly it's a day off, lotsa drinking, extra rations at meals. Just coz we're pirates doesn't mean we don't have hearts, love." He looked serious for a moment then added, "I never let 'em down on shore Christmas Eve or Christmas Day though. There's just some things oughta stay sacred."

After looking into the fire for a few long moments he figured it was his turn to keep the conversation going. "So... How do they do it in the Navy?"

"Naval men," Colin deadpanned, "do it for months in end, in cramoed quarters with rigorous discipline." He let that hang for a minute, before continuing in a sprit of mock realization. "Oh, you mean Christmas!"

He sipped his drink. "The chaplain celebrates mass, of course. Then it's an extra rum allotment fir the crew, and oranges and roast beef, and the captain distributes a few guineas to each crewman. The captain also hosts a formal dinner for the officers, dress whites and all, and toasts are offered between courses." Another ship. "When possible I try to make port and grant the crew leave to visit family." He smiled. "Some even use it for that purpose."

Hix glass was empty, he discovered. Frowning, he started to reach fir thdbrandy before selecting a carafe of water. "And what of your family? How is Christmas celebratec at home?"

---

Algernon toom the proffered glass. "And why not? To good friends," he added, tapping his glass against hers. "May they grow dearer with each year that passes."

Sipping the wine, he paused and frowned into the glass. "Ah, yes. I remember why I relegated this vintage to the kitchen. Passable, but uninspiring. I shall have to fetch a more pleasant bottle from the cellar, before dinner."

The lights fkickered, and he glanced at them sharply before they stabilized. "Cursed thing," he murmured. "We're too far out for electrucal cables, so I installed one of the new Edison-Moore generators. Based on the radium engine, but powered by thorium instead. Reliable, but a little tempermental."

Kieran raised an eyebrow and smirked at Colin's description of how Naval men "do it." "Land must be a refreshing change for you then," he quipped, sipping his drink. Colin appeared to stop drinking, but he didn't intend to. If it was to be a proper celebratory few days then he'd not drunk nearly enough. "Family," he said as though just remembering. "Aye, I do let 'em down for that, but only the men I know have 'em. Ya don't get as many men with families signing up for piracy."

Kieran frowned when Colin asked how his family did Christmas. "Ain't been back in a few years," he admitted, "since Ma died. Growin' up she'd take us to Mass Christmas morning, even after the midnight Christmas Eve service. Not much one for religion but Midnight Mass was always my favorite." He smiled wistfully. "After that...?" He shrugged. "We got the day off from work, mostly. We'd go out and play in the snow, make up games inside when we got cold enough to come in. Ma was sometimes able to scrape enough together to give one of us new shoes er sommat, but only one of us at a time. She'd cook up a couple Cornish game hens and we'd split 'em 'tween the eight of us. One year though, one year this rich fella got himself a conscience and donated a goose and we managed to get an entire half of it since we were the biggest family in the parish." He looked to Colin, almost forgetting for a moment that he was exactly the sort of rich fop he'd fought against. "What about you? What'd you do for Christmas?"

~*~

Anne Marie chuckled and shrugged. "I figured it was better than nothing. And between Samantha and Kieran we've got a lot of catching up to do." As she took another sip the lights dimmed briefly and she frowned. Curiously she moved the curtain aside and found a full-blown blizzard raging outside. Between the rumpus upstairs and the hum of conversation downstairs the snow had gone largely unnoticed and at least two feet had fallen since everyone had come inside, with no signs of stopping.

"Can they withstand a storm like this?" she wondered, pushing the curtain wider for Algie to see. "I am glad we've got plenty of firewood stocked. We may need it to last quite a while."

Algernon stood beside Anne Marie, staring out into the driving snow. "The thorium piles should be capable of generating power for around six thousand years." Wind howled, driving snow against the glass. "The machinery that converts that power into usabke electricity is guaranteed to function with the consistency and precision one finds in all of Mister Edison's products."

Another gust of wind, and the lights seemed to fkucjer in sympathy. "Here's hoping that his reputatiin is all it is cracked up to be, hm? And when do you suppose the stew will be ready? It smells delightful, and I've worked up quite tge appetite from hunting."

---

"Oh, God," Colin groaned. "Christmas at Drake Hall was the kind of hardship only achievable by landed gentry. They weren't holidays, or festivities, or any such. They were diplomatic and business affairs, in which my brothers and sisters were paraded before potential matches. Particularly my older brothers and my younger sister, who were expected to make a good match." He sipped his water.

"I got off lightly. An advantageous match for a third sin would have been nice, but hardly necessary. But it was still a tedious round of stuffy peers and endless formal banquets and... well, let's say I frequently claim to be otherwise occupied on business in December, and leave it at that."

---

Sam wasn't sure exactly what to make of Erik's ideas, but she didn't much care just then. "Long as she's into it as well," she shrugged, then smiled and kissed him. "An' hell, it ain't like Ah'm th' onky woman in th' world what likes gettin' tued uo, right?"

She kissed him again. "That reminds me," she murmured, stroking a finger iver his bare chest. "Ah'm o:' two minds, right now. Part o' me wants ta get y'all hard, an' ride you while you tell me whay y'liked best abiut watchin' me wit' Anne Marie." Her hand curled around his sticky cock, and she grinned. "Cause Ah know y'all liked it. But another part o' me wants ta get dressed an' see if dinner's ready yet."

Her hand stroked him kightly, teasing him to life once more. "So. Whaddya mire hungry fer, lover..?"

Erik drew in a sharp hiss of breath when Sam teased his cock. He groaned before pulling her into a kiss. "I want you," he murmured. Then, regretfully, "But I need sustenance. I've not eaten since this morning and I'm afraid I'm rather hungry." He smiled ruefully before pushing himself into a sitting position and reaching for his shirt.

"Think of it this way: I'm getting sustenance so I can keep you satisfied all the long night." Erik's smile turned impish as he buttoned up his shirt. "Besides, dinner smells wonderful, and we don't want the Captains to start speculating were we got off to."

~*~

"Not much of a Christmas at all," Kieran agreed. "Still, I'd take yours over mine. At least you were warm and fed."

He couldn't help but feel a little resentful. Colin made Christmas with his family sound like a chore when Kieran had counted himself lucky to get the day off from working down the coal mines. Two tiny little hens split among eight mouths was hardly enough to feed them on a normal day, never mind as a special treat for Christmas. The pirate grit his teeth and clenched his hand a little more firmly around his glass.

"Oi woman! When's supper?"

~*~

"When you can learn to ask politely," Anne Marie called back, finishing her glass and letting the curtain fall closed. She crossed to the pot and tasted the stew. "Mm...I think this will do nicely," she added, offering a spoonful for Algie to taste. The lights flickered again and she looked up at them dubiously. "Have I ever mentioned how much more confidence I have in the inventions of Nicola Tesla than I do in Edison's?"

Dinner was served shortly in what Anne Marie had once heard called "family style," which she found appropriate for the company and time of year. She'd never hosted a gathering such as this; that was to say, somewhat large but very informal. The stew pot was placed in the middle of the table and passed around, as well as fresh yeast rolls she'd picked up from a bakery before they'd started up the mountain. Algie brought a better wine from the cellar and that went around as well as some mulled cider. All in all it was a cheerful meal and, though she would never admit it, Anne Marie felt closer to having a loving family than she had since her parents had died. A brief grace had been said for the faithful among them--mostly just Erik but she caught Kieran crossing himself out of the corner of her eye--when the lights flickered once...twice...and finally failed.

"Oh dear..." Erik murmured before standing. "I saw some candles earlier in the parlor. I'll go fetch them, you eat."

There was enough light coming from the roaring fire in the parlor for the diners to be able to see their meals, but just barely. In short time Erik had returned with four candlesticks and a long match usually meant for fireplaces. He'd been unable to find anything else. After spacing the candles evenly along the table they passed down the lit match to one by one illuminate their meal.

"Thanks," Kieran said around a mouthful of bread. "Tha's much better."

"Hopeless," Professor Swift growled, emerging from the cellar. He threw down his tool kit in disgust. "Utterly useless. Perhaps with better light I could determine what has gone wrong - I suspect a short in the cabling, but cannot prove it." He stalked over to the fireplace, warming his hands. "But if we had better light, the power would be working and I wouldn't need it.""

After a moment he sighed. "Still, this could be worse. There are small wood stoves in each bedroom, sufficient to keep the worst of the chill at bay, and plenty of quilts and blankets. We should not freeze before morning."

"Speak fer yerself," Sam grumbled, pulling her collar up around her ears. "Ain't never liked th' cold."

The Professor cinsidered that for a moment, then stooped and handed her an object loke a long-handled frying pan. "What in tarnatiin is this?" she wondered aloud, taking it gingerly.

"A bed warmer," he replied. "Fill it with coals, and slide it beneath your blankets. Just remember to take it out befire you climb in. And the cold air will be bracing, like going camping."

"Ah always hated sleepin' rough," Sam grumbled, glaring at Colin when he coughed something that sounded suspiciously like "Berlin". "Are we gonna be stuck like this 'till th'stirm breaks?"

"I suspect nor," Algernon answered. "Tomorrow I will be abke to see well enough to effect repairs, and things will be back to normal. You simply need to keep warm until morning."

"Don't s'pose Tejas ever gets cold enough for one o' those, eh?" Kieran said, realizing that this winter may have been Sam's first time seeing snow. "I'm sure there's hot water bottles or summat 'round here, too." When Sam claimed she didn't like "sleepin' rough" he sniggered when Colin coughed what sounded like "Berlin." With a glance at the other captain he stretched lazily.

"S'pose we had better conserve wood though, just in case," he suggested casually. "Would be easier to do that with two to a room."

"Not a bad idea," Erik agreed, thinking only that it would provide a decent excuse for he and Sam to share a bed. Her revelation about the captains still hadn't sunken in completely, and was temporarily forgotten in the afterglow of what had happened with Anne Marie.

"No, it isn't," Anne Marie chimed in. "Samantha and Erik, naturellement..."

"S'pose we'll bunk together," Kieran added, motioning to Colin then himself. "Already used to close quarters and all that."

"Of course." Anne Marie was grateful for the dark and its concealment of the color which had tinted her cheeks. She didn't mention who that would leave to share, and neither did the pirate.

There was a scratching sound, and a flare of light and a stink of sulphur as Colon lit the match. The twist of paper caught, igniting the small shavings of wood stacked around it. He knew it was his imagination, but the sight of the small crackling flames seemed to take the chill off the room. He knew it was his imagination, because he could see traceries of frost on the inside of the glass as he drew the curtains.

"One thing I like about the aeronavy," he declared as he spread another quilt in the bed, "is that I so rarely need to worry about the cold." He chuckled. "Oh, sure, it's chilly at twenty thousand feet. But the ship has plenty of power, and the waste heat of the engines warms the ship admirably."

Satisfied, he shucjed his outer clothes and climbed beneath the covers. "Still, it should be a pkeasant enough night fir most of us. But Madame LaMonte and Professor Swift? I can't imagine how awkward that must be."

---

Algernon Swift, it turned out, wore a terrycloth robe over an ankle-length nightshirt when he prepared for bed. And a woolen nightcap. He puttered about his bedroom, busying himself with hanging the heavy curtains from the canopy supported by the ancient oaken posts of his bed. They were thich and heavy, and intended for this very purpose - to keep the occupants warm. It waa something they did so well, in fact, that usually he did without them.

The room was paneled in dark wood, and the wooden floors were mostly hidden by thick oriental rugs. Solid antique furnature - wardrobe, dresser, and desk - lurked around the walls. The effect was stark and solid, almost austere. The only relief was two nature scenes hanging on the walls to either side of the bed. They were unsigned, save for the initials "M.S."

There was a knock at the door, and he opened it promptly. "Ah, Anne Marie. Do come in."

"Don't need to tell me about aeroships," Kieran said as he stripped to his underwear before quickly sliding between the covers. "There's a reason the captain's cabin's so near the exhaust, hey?" He chuckled and snuggled down, scooting close to Colin. When he mentioned Madame LaMonte and Professor Swift he burst into laughter.

"Oh God to be a fly on that wall!" he laughed. "Can you imagine them? Both of them?" He turned onto his back and laid there stiffly, chin tucked into his chest, arms straight at his sides, with a slightly wall-eyed look before bursting into laughter again and turning back onto his side. Over the months he'd come to learn that he was quite a snuggler. Perfect for a night like this. "I'm torn as to whether to ask them in the morning how it went."

~*~

Anne Marie stepped into the dark, austere room. Her eyes landed on the Professor, however, and she clapped her hands over her mouth to avoid sniggering. It didn't work.

"Oh I'm sorry Algie," she said, still giggling. "It's just you look so very Dickensian. It's quite endearing." She pushed her hair out of her face--damp from a quick bath but combed--and looked a bit self-consciously down at her nightgown and robe. She wasn't quite so well prepared as her companion. "I'm afraid I hadn't considered the possibility of no heat," she said demurely, plucking self-consciously at her nightgown, "and, slave to fashion that I am, I packed satin. Silk satin mind you; I purged my closet of any of those synthetics after Berlin."

Stepping further into the room she looked around. There were two paintings on either side of the bed, but given the initials Anne Marie was able to deduce that they were likely by his deceased wife and she chose not to mention them. The room wasn't warm by normal standards, but it was far warmer than the hallway and the bed looked like it would be even warmer. Anne Marie slipped between the covers before daring to take off her robe and drop it on the floor. She looked at him from the bed and gave what she hoped was an easy smile. This was possibly the most awkward experience she'd ever had.

"Well, come on Ebeneezer Scrooge," she teased, patting the bed next to her before laying down and pulling the covers up to her shoulders, "I don't bite. Kick a little, or so I've been told, but not bite." Her natural inclination was to be flirtatious and alluring, to take the position of power before he could and take control of the situation. But Anne Marie was certain that being flirtatious with her boss, mentor, and friend would make things even more awkward so she fought her instinct.

Algernon swallowed nervously at the sight of Anne Marie. Yes, he knew she was a woman. Yes, he knew she was a beautiful woman. But somehow, this simple yet beautiful nightgown combined with the fact that they would be sharing a bed combined to make him feel very awkward. Which was absurd. They were two adults, and good friends. They could share a bed for one night, without anything untoward happening. He had no need to act upon the feelings he had suppressed...

No, top right there. That way lay... temptation. Temptation, and possibly destroying a friendship for a thing that could not be.

"Dickensian?" he laughed. "Say, rather, warm." He shut the door, watching her look around the room. "Unlike your own clothing, I fear. I can offer you a spare set, although I fear they would be unflattering."

She parted the curtains and burrowed under the covers before removing her robe. The smile she gave him thrilled his blood, which was also absurd. It was just a smile. "Well, come on Ebeneezer Scrooge," she teased, patting the bed next to her before laying down and pulling the covers up to her shoulders, "I don't bite. Kick a little, or so I've been told, but not bite."

"Kick? I shall consider myself warned, then." He climbed onto the bed and pulled the curtains closed, then slipped beneath the covers. "And I hardly consider myself to be Ebeneezer Scrooge. If I were, then I should not be celebrating Christmas by inviting you to my chalet." He hesitated. "The team, I mean. Nor, I suppose, shall I be visited by the dread spirits of Christmases present and yet to come."

He could hear her breathing in the darkness, and feel her body close to his. Not touching, but within easy reach. How long had it been, since he'd shared a bed with a woman? "I've not been known to bite, either," he declared. "I have a tendency to hog the covers, however. And normally I sleep in the center of the bed, so you may need to poke me repeatedly if I attempt that tonight." He chuckled, trying hard not to imagine moving closer and wrapping his arms around her. "Kicking may be justified, in that event."

Anne Marie raised an eyebrow and smiled wryly that his bedclothes were warm rather than Dickensian. "You look like an old man who's just got back from overseeing orphans at the workhouse," she said frankly. When he insisted he wasn't a Scrooge she chuckled. "No. Nor are you an old man nor a slave driver exploiting orphans in a factory. But the fact remains that you still look the part, dear Algie."

When he slipped beneath the covers next to her Anne Marie tensed a little before forcing herself to relax, though her heart still thudded against her ribs. She didn't want him to think she was uncomfortable sharing a bed with him. She wasn't uncomfortable sharing a bed with anyone. It was just that she was acutely aware of her attraction to him. She'd only become consciously aware of it within the past year or so, but she supposed it had been there for much longer. When she was a child, she knew, she had thought him handsome though her affection had been almost purely filial. Almost. It was perfectly reasonable, she felt, to have developed an attraction to the man who had in essence saved her. She'd forgiven him long ago for what had been done to her, and once she was done being an angry young woman all that had remained were her feelings. But those were inappropriate thoughts for a night such as this; he missed his wife, and even if he weren't still married to a dead woman Anne Marie was sure that she would be the last woman he would consider, so there was no point in thinking on it.

Suddenly he declared that he didn't bite either, but that he did sleep in the center of the bed and hog the covers. Normally Anne Marie would have come back with something flirtatious, but this was Algie. That would have been more than inappropriate. "Well," she said slowly, "the closer we are the warmer we are, and I am tres cold-natured. I may not object to your sleeping a little closer, so long as you relinquish the covers once I pull at them." She shifted a little and wiggled closer to the center of the bed, then froze when she felt her back touch his chest. Well, she hadn't wasted time in cocking that up. Instead of moving away to make things more awkward she laid there as though she'd meant to get that close, leaving moving away up to him.