Bath time

As awkward as it is for Stewart to bathe in the presence of his sister with no opportunity for privacy — particularly in his sexually-aroused state, he realizes he really does need to get cleaned up after his long travels if he is going to be presentable for the festivities. In light of this, he is grateful that Adella is so engrossed in the book.

As she sits on the bed, with her back to him, flipping through the book’s pages, Stewart prepares his bath and tries valiantly to **** his thoughts away from sexual matters.

“Think about dead puppies,” he says to himself, as he checks the temperature of the bath water. “Think about that time Grandmother got confused and undressed at the banquet table.... Think about the Marquess and her voluminous folds of fat....” He went through all the mental exercises he could to distract himself before quickly stripping off his clothes and submerging his body in the soapy bath water.

He glances to his left, confirming that Adella is still engrossed in the book. Even the positioning of the tub seems designed to combat any efforts at privacy, since he is **** to sit with his side facing her, rather than being able to turn his back on his mostly-naked sister.

Taking a sponge, he quickly sets to work scrubbing off the dust from his travels, continuing his mental exercises of imagining the most non-erotic things imaginable. “Dirty diapers.... rabid wolves.... Myrtle Smigmaven’s bucktoothed, cross-eyed face and the puss from her pimple-infested complexion....”

“Oh, this is fascinating,” exclaims Adella.

Instinctively, Stewart begins to turn his face in her direction, but stops himself when he remembers that looking at her —even from behind — will likely undo any success he has experienced in allowing his penis to relax from its full extension.

“It looks like the original problems between our two people stemmed from our great-grandfather’s time,” she says, with her nose still buried in the book. “Some of these phrases are difficult to make out, but it looks like the leader of the magical beings made a proposal of marriage to a member of the royal court, and it was misunderstood as some kind of request to sacrifice a virgin in a fertility ritual.”

“I can see how misunderstandings could have taken place,” says Stewart. “If I didn’t have you with me, I wouldn’t have gotten past Althesire’s first words to me without slugging him. What was it he said — that he wanted to give me deep pelvic thrusts?”

Adella giggles. “It has been entertaining to watch you try to keep a straight face throughout all of this. I was disappointed that you didn’t take the lady’s offer to fellate you; from the way your eyes were glued to her fur-covered breasts, I was just sure you were going to ask me to step outside to give you two some time alone.”

The memory of the tiger-woman returns in a flash, and Stewart recalls just how exotically sexy she was. In an instant, his erection returns. “I probably should have filled the tub with ice water,” he laments to himself.

Trying to change the topic to something less arousing, he asks, “Is there anything in the book that will help us with negotiating with Althesire? Other than not jumping to the conclusion that he wants one of our virgins to sacrifice?”

“It’s a good thing, too, because there aren’t too many of those to be found anymore — thanks in no small part to you and Duncan.... But yes, I think I’m gaining some valuable insight. Do you know their concept of marriage is much different than ours? There’s no exclusivity in the relationship at all. At best, it’s kind of a swinger-type lifestyle.”

Groaning, Stewart realizes he needs to just finish the bath and get dressed. Perhaps he can go for a brisk walk to clear his mind before dinner. He finishes his scrubbing and is about to get out of the tub, when there is a knock on the door.

He is about to ask Adella to answer the door, when he remembers that she is topless. Of course, he cannot answer it in his present state.