Ch 1 and 2 published under title 'A Sex Tale in Feudal Japan'. Ch 3 -Taste of a dame Mariko swivelled and commanded imperiously even from where she stood in the pool: 'You there! Come out immediately!' She had surely been surprised surely by some wandering peasant and was not willing to let this insolence go by without a reprimand. She slowly waded her way back to the edge of the pool as she continued to observe the movement beyond the leaves of the huge ferns that hid the rascal. A man emerged from the shrubs into the clearing dressed only in his undergarment and a katana at the hand. From the shaved pate, she knew automatically that this was no farmhand. This samurai was unknown to her but she was not the kind to fear anyone. After all, she was samurai too as had been her family for as far back as their lineage was recorded. The man was well built, taller than most men she knew. His body looked as if chiselled and the muscles on his forearms and thighs were lean and taut. She guessed that the katana he was carrying must have played a significant part in forging the muscular frame that carried him confidently. His chest was thick and the absence of any hairs further accentuated the hard muscle definition. The rippling torso further enhanced the impression of balance and strength that emanated as vividly as a perfume from a flower. His legs and calves were no less muscular without the aggravating deformity of overdeveloped muscles. For some reason, this man who appeared out of nowhere triggered something in her and she felt an arousal that she had not experienced in a long time. 'This is a fine specimen of a man...' Mariko smiled silently to herself. 'Maybe...' She had now reached the shore and confronted the man as angrily as she could pretend. 'What exactly are you playing at, spying on a bathing lady? Don't you have any manners?' she asked tersely. Quite surprisingly, he fell to his knees in a prostrating posture. She did not expect him to show penance that suddenly. 'My lady! I apologise unreservedly. It was not my intention to spy on you like this. I have myself enjoyed the onsen long before you came and I was resting further up on the hill when I heard some noise. I came down and did not have a chance to retrace my path back before you took notice of my presence.' 'Hmmm...and how long have you been lurking behind these leaves?' 'For not too long, my lady.' 'What have you seen? And speak truthfully!' 'Well, I saw you bathing but also...' 'Also?' 'You were pleasuring yourself, my lady,' he replied awkwardly. 'I am sorry - it was not my fault that I came upon you this way.' 'That could well be but I don't know for sure. Tell me now... did you like what you saw then?' she asked affecting a falsely demure head tilt with a faint smile. 'Was it to your liking? Was it a pleasant sight to your senses?' She did not wait for him to answer and looked down to his waist where his erection had not ebbed away completely. She smiled with not a little mischief. The sounds of the forest trees rustling under the breeze, the smell of grass and the chirping birds -all of this was intoxicating and she wanted this man inside her. 'I think that you have been here for a while and the scene was rather enjoyable. Your body is betraying you, samurai...' 'My name is ...' he started but before he could finish, a graceful hand had shot to his lips. 'Shhhh... I don't need to know your name,' she said, shaking her head absentmindedly. She let her hand slowly drop from his face to his chest, stroking a nipple and opening her figures like a claw, she ran them nails forward on this abdomen till she reached the loincloth. She disrobed him skilfully revealing his semi-erect member. Even in this semi-aroused state, it was an appetising promise. He was shaven throughout and his shaft was a glistening spire from which two well shaped balls hung dutifully well enrobed in a thick sack. She imagined what it would feel like to have it deep into her and felt her loins turning liquid almost instantaneously Saito was taken aback by the woman's move. He was expecting a reprimand of some sort, indeed maybe a string of abuse for the covert impertinence he had exhibited. Not quite what she was doing now. At the same time, a few minutes ago he had wished for this and the Gods had smiled on him. 'What the hell,' he thought. 'If this is what she wants...' Mariko had laid down still naked loving the tingle of the soft grass again her skin. The forest was quiet except for the occasional cooing of some birds high up in the trees. The sweet aromas of the wood filled up her senses and she felt united with nature. She sighed serenely and parted her thighs slightly to make her back comfortable. 'Come,' she said gently to him. 'Your eyes have had a taste of me already. Enjoy the full feast now.' Saito knelt in the grass and paused for a moment to enjoy the sight of her. The droplets of translucent water covering her body enhanced his desire tenfold. Her breasts were moving slowly up and down from the calm rhythmic breathing. She had closed her eyes partly and her pink lips were detached only just revealing sets of perfect opal-like teeth. At the top of her pubis, the mound was a little hillock like a soft rising of silk cloth. As he reaches out to caress the inside of thighs, he realises the luscious softness of her and he let the tip of his fingers appreciate the voyage up and down. For long minutes, he taunted her like this as she was willing him to take the journey higher up to her cleft. He was in no rush though enjoying the soft moans that she made. More than anything, he felt a need to arouse her further before giving her what she clearly pined for. His playful fingers danced around the thighs and calves and when he decided that it was enough, he placed a thumb of his clitoral hood. She gasped at the touch and arched her waist up as if to welcome the feeling. Saito started to rub the meaty pad of the thumb softly against her clitoris with his fingers resting on her mound. The lady was getting wetter and wetter. 'Give me your tongue now,' she pleaded. 'I need to feel it all over me. Now!' The samurai uncurved himself from the prostrating position he had assumed and opening her legs further wide leaving her spread-eagled. Offered to him now she was. Like a sacrificial lamb, she enjoyed the sweet pain of surrender to her master. She hissed softly as he straightened his body on the ground and let his mouth to her pussy. She senses a sudden torrent of carnal euphoria wash over her, further quickening of her already frantic pulse. Her heart was pounding against her chest like a wild animal tearing at a lease. That was how she saw herself - a wild animal. His tongue was exploring all the layers of her sex - he was all over, inside, outside, bottom and top. She felt him thrusting it further inside wanting to the meaty tip to go as further up as was possible. She gasped as he unashamedly raked her clitoris up and down leading the juices of hers to flow out effortlessly. He was lapping everything up with relish and he clearly was a lover who enjoyed pleasuring as much as being pleasured. He slid further down and left a short but tempting tinge of a kiss over her asshole. He waited a split second for her reaction and when she whispered a pleading yes, he proceeded to lick her anus more vigorously. She had never experienced such a trance ever and abruptly felt the climax, each tremor deeper and longer than the one before. She arose from her erotic pinnacle with a contented smile on her face. Saito rose but she was not done with him yet. 'There is no rush,' she chuckled, as she knelt in front of him. 'Will you allow me to return the favour, please, samurai-san?' Without waiting for the answer, she seized his penis. It had grown into a thick yet smooth rod of steel and its scent was an intriguing blend of musk and sweat. As she reached down to gently caress his scrotum, she started to lick the top of his erect member, slowly running her tongue around the glans. The samurai let out a groan of appreciation as much as embarrassment. He looked not too sure whether to encourage her in her endeavours or stop her from sucking him. She decided for him by pulling his ass cheeks towards her face and taking his cock full on into her mouth. He was long and big and she sensed the tip extending down her throat. She pumped gleefully letting her tongue outside to lick the whole of his manhood. He seemed to grow larger as she salivated blissfully over him. She now wanted a taste of his balls and pushed him gently to the ground. He allowed her the lead and dutifully obeyed as she knelt before him and proceeded to slurp up his testicles. His sack was thick and she gobbled the balls one after the other. Having satisfied this particular need, she resumed her sucking with even more vigour. He joined her in the movement with a cadenced sway of hips as he pushed his cock further and further into her mouth. She felt his body tense as his climax loomed and soon enough she felt a hot stream of sperm in her mouth. She enjoyed the salty taste of his cum squeezing out every drop until he relaxed back into a half-dazed state. Mariko stood and reached out for a strikingly blue kimono of pure silk that she had laid on a branch. She quickly dressed up and disappeared into the forest without another word. Saito stayed there for a while wondering whether he had been waylaid by a kami or whether the whole adventure was just a fabrication of his imagination. Then he saw the green silk ribbon that she had left tied to the branch. Smiling to himself, he got up only to note that his friend the robin was back and looking down at him with a somewhat knowing look on its pert little face. Ch 4 - An inn incident It was soon time for Saito to get back on the road. The next post-station was still more than two days away and the thought of spending the night out in the wild was not an appealing idea. Surely further down the road, he would find at least a hovel or a farmer's hut where he could rest for the night. He gathered his horse from where it was resting and set out on the Tokaido again. The road was busier in the latter part of the day with many tradesmen and merchants pulling their carts by hand. The samurai and lords owned most of the horses. Samurai were not mercenaries roaming the country and offering their services to the highest bidder. They were duty bound to a specific lord, a daimyo as set out in the Bushido, the warrior's code. So when a lone samurai like him was passing the peasants on the road, the folks knew that he was a ronin. And ronins were not welcome - most of them had been dishonoured through lost battles or more embarrassingly cast off by their masters. It was no surprise then that a great many of them turned into brigands and highwaymen, incapable as they were often to find a new patron. They cast suspicious eyes at him and stood well way from the reach of his katanas, just in case some evil thoughts preyed upon his mind. Oblivious to the angst that he was causing amongst the peasants, Saito marched on, the lavender perfume of his onsen lover drifting in and out of his senses. Regardless of the intense oral sex they had gratified each over, he had felt a peculiar attraction to the woman. His memory of her was still very vivid but a detail had not escaped his attention. There were some bruises on her arms and shoulders that did not appear to have happened of a horse accident. They looked like hand marks and he felt increasingly apprehensive as to how these come have arisen. Suddenly, his senses warned him of a growing commotion coming from the rear of the file. He gripped the pommel and turned across is saddle to see all the lagging peasants hastily jumping off the road to make way for an oncoming party. They knelt down head on the dirt as a troop of horsemen in full war attire careened through. At the head of this fifty-men strong posse, was a huge samurai with an imposing armor of red iron plates with fine silk roped lacing up the array of shoulder and shin guards and the thigh and chest protectors. The distinctive bowl-shaped kabuto - helmet - completed this formidable ensemble of the leader who was clearly of some importance given the deference showed by everyone around him. Saito did not dismount - even as an outcast, he retained his status as samurai and was not required to kneel in the obsequious but necessary manner displayed by the lower classes. He bowed his head politely to the main man as he arrowed past him. Two horizontal slits under the helmet glanced sharply at him and he felt the cold stare as clearly as cubes of ice dropped on his neck. Saito had been around enough lords to guess that the ruthlessness that such a look betrayed. There would be no coming back for whoever offended this mountain of a man. Soon the war party was out of sight and the travellers chatter came back on. He spurred on though - there was something that bothered him about the man he just saw but he could not quite place it. Quickening the pace of his horse, he thought he might catch up with them further down the road. After some hard running, he came upon a ridge overlooking a ryokan at the mouth of a dirtied brown dry river. The outer yard of the inn was already packed with soldiers garbed with the same colours as the ones he had crossed only a few hours before. Surely this was their base or at least, their stop for the night. He led his horse gently downhill and under the gazeful watch of nearly a hundred heavily armed and armored samurai, he approached their makeshift camp. 'You ronin! Stop right there!' barked a sentry. 'What do you want?' He was a young one, eager to impress clearly and his impetuousness betrayed his nervousness. Saito was not in the mood to indulge a young wolf's need of self-confidence. Without so much of a warning, his still sheathed sword had shot to the young man's head throwing him off balance into the muddy bank of the river. To add further to his embarrassment, his comrades broke into large guffaws as Saito strode into the inner yard. Alerted by the scuffle, the innkeeper came out - he was a fussy little rotund man and clearly did not want any trouble with the large host he was entertaining. 'There is no need for this,' he complained as he wiped his hands from kitchen duties. 'Yes,' replied Saito. 'No need at all but he has learn some manners, this cub. I need a room for the night, that's all.' 'As you see, we barely have any space left. Lord Takeda Hirate has requisitioned all my rooms.' 'I see. What about the barn. Are they using it too?' 'You want to sleep with the horses. Suit yourself but you pay a room, eh?' It was a bad deal but he did not want to argue further and settled for a place in the haystack and a bowl of soup. Night had already fallen by then and the air was chillier in the mountains. Soon, all the men had retreated inside aiming for the warmth of the chimney fires and through the door of the barn, he could only hear the hiss of the wind. Saito set up a cozy corner at the furthest end from the entrance to avoid the sting of the gusts that flew in from time to time and settled there. The hot miso soup was bare with a few strands of meat but it warmed him nonetheless. With nothing left to do, he soon fell asleep to the sound the horses munching fodder. He awoke abruptly to cries of what sounded like a wounded bird. The barn was completely dark, the few torches having burnt themselves out while he was sleeping. Daybreak would not be here before three hours and his eyes had to adjust to the penumbra. He tattered slowly amongst the sleeping animals until he stepped outside. He heard the cries again but it was not a bird, this time. It was the wailing of a woman further up in one of larger chalets of the inn. From dim yellowish light coming out of its shojis - paper doors - he could distinguish two very agitated shadows. The weeping, mournful and harrowed, rose higher the next time still sending a shudder into his soul. He had to find out what was going on up there. He picked up both the katana and the shorter wakizashi from where he laid and stealthily crept up the rocky pathway to the ryokan. As he approached he could hear blows being dealt amidst more muffled screams. He reached the shoji door and drew his breath. Opening it slightly, he saw a huge shadow crouched over a woman in a ruffled kimono. The man was forcing himself into the lady with an animal-like ferocity, penetrating her from behind whilst clamping her mouth shut. She was writhing with pain and the muffled cries that came out from her throat revealed the hurt that was being done to her. In contrast the expression on the man's face was one of sheer contentment as he banged his massive frame into the petite woman. She managed to free her face from his huge hands and as she turned towards the door, she saw Saito. Saito recognised her immediately as the lady in the forest. 'My lady!' he exclaimed as he pushed inside the room, dropping the shorter sword and moving forward with the katana blade in a distinctive attack stance. The man turned round and he also recognised the slanted cold eyes that glanced upon him earlier that day. A quizzical frown appeared between his eyebrows as he realised that the intruder knew the woman he was molesting. 'From where do you know this rascal, you slut.' He slapped her hard as he spat out the words in low drawl. Mariko's lips exploded into a red stream of blood as his knuckles connected full on with her mouth and she collapsed noiselessly onto the tatami. 'You fiend,' hissed Saito. The lord laughed back at him. 'Fiend? I have never been called thus, insolent bastard. You shall be the first and the last. My dogs will play with your balls tomorrow morning.' Oblivious of his grotesque nakedness, he reached out for his sword and rose up rather swiftly for such a huge man to face Saito. They faced up to each other each man trying to measure up the other before launching an attack. Takeda was the first to pounce and with two hand grip he launched himself at Saito with a fearsome yell. The blade came down with speed and power but Saito was ready for a direct attack. He stepped deftly to his right, leaving his assailant lurching wildly into space. Turning a full circle, he brought his blade to the open throat and with a smooth precise movement, cut it open wide. Takeda's eyes open wide in a moment of incredulity followed the rapid realisation that he was already in death throes . He slumped to the floor as a pool of dark blood soaked the white tatami to a crimson hue like a tide that will not recede. Saito jumped across to the still unconscious woman and covered her up with the remains of the torn kimono. A bottle of sake was lying on the floor. He sprinkled her face with some drops and shortly, she came back. It took Mariko her quite a moment to recollect what was happening. The rape, the intervention of the stranger. But where was her husband? They were in danger. He had to leave. Right now. Then her eyes wandered across the room to the lump that laid prostate and her eyes opened up in shock and terror. 'Is he...?' she asked. 'Yes, my lady. He left me no choice.' She started sobbing uncontrollably, pounding his head and chests. He could not understand what was happening to her. This man was violating her and she seemed to grief stricken by his demise. He had no words. 'But he was forcing himself onto you.' 'Yes,' she said. 'Not for the first time but now his father will want my head and before that he might just give me to his bodyguards for enjoyment. You don't understand? How do I explain this?' 'This was an attack on you and on him. That's it. You were alone with him and someone sneaked up on him and killed him. You passed away. Is there any gold here?'