John Ringo - There Will Be Dragons

“I certainly hope not,” Rachel replied. “What are you guys doing?”

“We were just headed over to the baths,” Herzer said then paused awkwardly.

Rachel looked at both of them in the pause until Shilan chuckled.

“I think what he is avoiding saying is ‘would you like to come along?’ ” Shilan explained.

“Well, two’s company and three’s a crowd,” Rachel replied dryly. “And if it’s just more company, I’m truly not interested.”

“It’s not like that…” Herzer started to say.

“What Herzer would be saying if he could get his foot out of his mouth is that he would appreciate a chaperone,” Shilan said, pursing her lips.

“It’s not like that either!” Herzer said desperately.’

“So, what is it like?” Rachel asked, putting her hands on her hips. “First you go trotting off with Bast, then you’re rolling around in the woods with one of the serving girls and next you’re going to the baths with two women!”

“Hmmm, since you put it that way,” Shilan said, standing up and putting her hands on her own hips. She gave Herzer a mock scowl. “Would you care to explain yourself?”

“Oh for pity’s sake!” Herzer said, throwing his hands in the air. “How did I get myself into this?”

“I lured you into it if you’ll remember,” Shilan finally relented. “Come on, Rachel, it will be fun. And Herzer really would prefer someone else along. He’s got this weird thing about me and Cruz.”

“Who’s Cruz?” Rachel asked.

“I’ll tell you when we’re up to our necks in hot water,” Shilan said.

“Oh, all right,” Rachel replied. “And I’ll tell you all of Herzer’s dirty little secrets.”

“Deal,” Shilan said, sticking out her hand.

“And I’ll buy,” Herzer added, heaving himself to his feet. “That way I can brag about getting two women in the bath with me with a straight face.”

“If you do you will rue the day,” Rachel warned.

The baths, while not deserted, were not overrun either. Having stored their gear and collected their receipts, they worked their way through the stations. Herzer was as careful as possible about keeping his eyes in his head but he had to admit that both of the girls were extremely pretty, with or without clothes. Shilan was long and cool with high pert breasts and carefully sculpted hips and bottom. There was just enough rounding there to draw the male eye, but it was understated enough to be fashionable. Rachel on the other hand was very near his ideal of the female form: high, firm, well-rounded breasts with just enough sag to really accentuate their shape, lovely ribcage, narrow but not tiny waist, rounded hips, not wide but definitely flaring out from the waist and the most perfectly rounded bottom he had ever seen.

Not for the first time he wondered how much of his liking for the form was early canalization; he had had a crush on Rachel since before he knew what to do about it. Almost all of his “heroines” to be rescued had looked somewhat like Rachel, complete to the red hair and blue eyes.

He was very cautious not to let them catch him glancing and was even more cautious to control the natural male reaction to the situation. As he turned around to finish rinsing off he started to recite the names of all the Spartans at Thermopylae. When that, initially, was insufficient, he started at the end and worked his way back. The mental attention to details other than perky breasts, pertly rounded bottoms and mons venus worked and by the time he had a towel wrapped around him it wasn’t clear that he was evincing any interest at all. Then, of course, the sight of Rachel in a nearly transparent bath sheet caused him to start reciting again. The fact that the towel barely made it to the top of her thighs while being tugged down far enough to show a tremendous amount of cleavage, required that he concentrate on doing so in the order and nature of their deaths.

“Herzer, what are you muttering,” Rachel asked.

“Military history,” he said in an only slightly strained voice. “You first.”

Looking at anything but the two girls who preceded him, he followed Rachel to a tub that was unoccupied. There were about ten people in the room scattered around in groups and more than one of the males watched the two girls with a healthy amount of interest.

“This is why I hate coming in here,” Rachel said, turning around to sweep the other bathers with a glare. “I hate to be ogled.” She waited until she was sure no one was looking and shifted the skimpy towel around so that she could use it as a shield as she lowered herself into the bath.

Herzer thought it was quite the most erotic thing he had ever seen.

“Well I don’t ogle you,” he said, primly.

“Well, of course not,” she snorted. She lowered herself until everything from the neck down was submerged in water and let out a sigh. “We’ve known each other since we were kids; of course you don’t look.”

“Well, yeah,” Herzer said, taking a covert deep breath and willing himself to utter flaccidity. Once he was sure he was under control he flipped the towel off with becoming modesty and lowered himself into the bath quickly.

“What about me?” Shilan asked, raising one eyebrow and smiling in what could be taken as invitation.

“You’re a friend,” Herzer replied with a shrug. Down boy! Down! Bad boy!

Shilan wrinkled her eyebrows and peered at him as if attempting to divine what his real answer was.

“Shilan,” Herzer sighed. “Do you want to go to bed? Or more precisely, do you want to go to bed to have sex?” When her face closed down he nodded. “Even if I was interested, it would take a real son of a bitch to press you right now, right?”

“Yes,” she said quietly.

“I am many things. Well… I can be a son of a bitch. But in this, I’m not willing to be.”

She wrinkled a brow again and then nodded, accepting the statement but still puzzled.

“Herzer,” Rachel said dryly, but looking at him in a very searching way, “always the paladin.”

“Not… always,” Herzer corrected with a grin. “Paladins don’t get laid much.”

Shilan laughed delightedly and even Rachel had to smile.

“Can anyone join this party or are only young folk allowed?”

The man who addressed them was small and wiry with a graying beard and bright blue eyes.

“Hello, Augustus,” Rachel said. “Of course you can join us.”

The man whipped off his towel immodestly and hopped into the water like a frog.

“These were a grand idea,” he said, ducking his head under the water and coming back up blowing. “I’d prefer a leathern tun, but we haven’t enough leather to make a decent shoe!”

“And, Lord knows, we’ve got wood,” Herzer said, shaking his head ruefully.

“Augustus, this is Herzer Herrick and… Hsu Shilan. They’re in one of the apprenticeship programs. Herzer, Shilan, Augustus Scharpf. He’s one of the reenactors who’s started an industry since the Fall, in his case, tanning. You’ll probably be working with him sometime soon.”

“And you’ve been cutting wood, have you?” Augustus asked, peering at them dubiously. He seemed to like what he saw for after a moment he nodded at them approvingly. “It’s good that you’ve gotten experience in the woods, you’ll be needing it!”

“Why?” Shilan asked. “I mean, we don’t have any idea what we’re going to be doing. I might never go into the woods again. I understand most people who were in period didn’t.”

“Well, there’s period and period,” Augustus said. “We’re more early industrial pioneer than High Middle Ages. And I meant for the Great Hunt, lassie.”