After the entirely unexpected sexual intercourse with Meera to put it gently, Ulrich stood silently by the desk. He used a torn scrap of his previous ruined clothing to wipe himself clean before pulling his rough trousers back up and securing the lacing.
Meanwhile, directly in front of him, Meera was still lying flat on her back across the desk. Her legs remained splayed, her thighs slick with his release, and she was panting heavily, her face completely flushed with a mix of pleasure and disbelief.
"Ahh... so that was sex? That was... so good... I have never felt anything that good in my entire life," she mumbled, staring blankly up at the low wooden ceiling.
Ulrich glanced at her as he thoroughly cleaned his hands and fingers with another scrap of cloth before tossing the soiled rags into a heap in the corner.
"You have kept your legs spread long enough. You can close them now," he said.
Meera propped herself up on her elbows and flashed him a wicked smile.
"What? Getting turned on again? You can take me again, you know," she teased, grinning widely.
Ulrich's eye twitched.
"Are you descended from a succubus?" He asked.
He had never actually met one, but he knew that demonic species existed.
Meera finally closed her legs and slid off the edge of the desk. But the moment her bare feet hit the floorboards, her knees buckled. A sharp, stinging discomfort flared between her thighs and deep in her abdomen, throwing her entirely off balance.
"Ahh..." She pitched forward, but Ulrich caught her instantly, wrapping his arm securely around her waist to keep her upright.
He glanced down at her.
"It was your first time. You will likely feel some discomfort for a while," he said.
"I definitely feel discomfort," she nodded, gripping his arm tightly as he pulled her fully upright.
She looked up at him.
"But honestly, I think it's mostly because you fucked me while holding my legs spread that wide for so long. They just went numb," she said, blushing hotly.
Ulrich stared at her in complete silence for a moment before slowly reaching his hand toward the hem of her loose tunic.
"I—I knew it! Here! This time, do me from behind! I've seen so many people do it like that, and I've always been really curious about—"
Completely ignoring her noisy rambling, Ulrich tore a clean strip of fabric from the hem of her tunic. He raised it to her neck, gently wiping away a stray drop of his semen from her collarbone.
Meera blinked, finally realizing what he was doing, and her face immediately fell in sharp disappointment.
She had genuinely thought he was going in for a second round.
"Clean yourself properly," he said, handing her the scrap of cloth.
Meera smirked, watching him turn away and take a seat in the chair by the wall.
She took the cloth and quickly wiped her stomach and between her thighs, cleaning herself as best she could.
Suddenly, her eyes widened as if realization had just hit her.
"Wait! You pulled out!" She said, spinning to face him.
"I pulled out," he repeated, reaching up to the shelf to grab the exact same book on magical theory he had left there a week ago. Thankfully they hadn't thrown it away.
"W—Why?!" Meera asked, stumbling slightly as she took a confused step toward him.
Ulrich glanced at her over the cover of the book, wondering if she was joking, but her expression was one of pure confusion.
"That was my first time! You should have finished inside me! I've heard it feels so much better that way!" She complained.
"Are you stupid?" He asked her.
"W—What? I felt your hot rod inside me and it felt amazing, so obviously your hot stuff would have felt even better!" She argued stubbornly.
"I am not prepared to raise a bastard," Ulrich cut her off coldly, looking back down at his book.
Meera froze. And then, she finally understood.
"I—If you didn't want a child, then fine! I am not ready either for one anyway! I would have just taken a potion afterward. There are plenty of merchants selling draughts to prevent that," she huffed.
"I do not trust you," Ulrich replied without looking up.
"W—What?" Meera stared at him, bewildered.
Ulrich lowered the book and gave her a distinctly stern glare.
"I do not trust that you would actually take it," he said.
For a nobleman in his position, an illegitimate child could rapidly become a political nightmare. In the worst-case scenario, a bastard could be actively weaponized against him by his enemies, and he intended to avoid that vulnerability at all costs.
Meera was momentarily speechless, but then her eyes widened in sudden realization.
"You... you are Ulrich Van Rubenhart, aren't you?" She asked, pointing a sharp finger directly at him.
Ulrich kept his gaze locked on the pages of his book and didn't even bother replying.
Meera took two quick steps forward and immediately dropped herself right back onto his lap.
Ulrich's eyes narrowed in irritation, pulling the book back as she boldly grabbed him by the collar of his tunic.
"You are the Count," she said, a winning smirk spreading across her face.
"Do you want a prize for figuring it out?" He asked.
"No," she shook her head, her smile lingering.
"Then get off."
"I don't want to. I'm sore between my legs, and you are the reason why, so you can take responsibility," she said.
"I am going to throw you off the ship," Ulrich retorted, holding her gaze with a dark stare.
"It's my ship," she said, shrugging lightly.
"I am going to throw you off your ship," he repeated.
"You really aren't any fun," she sulked, though her smirk immediately returned as she leaned her face closer to his. "But honestly, that only makes you cuter. And far more handsome," she whispered, her breath ghosting warmly over his lips.
"After we return to port, I will pay you, and you will forget everything that happened here. Nothing happened," he told her.
"Nothing happened?! There is no way in any hell I could ever forget Count Rubenhart fucking me on a desk in the cabin of my own ship! That was my first time, you know!" She shot back, glaring at him.
"It was mine as well. Am I making an ordeal out of it?" He asked, glaring right back.
Meera's eyes went wide as saucers in shock.
"T—That was your first time too?!" She asked in disbelief. "There is no way! You were entirely too good for it to be your first time!"
"How would you know if I was good for a first time?" Hee replied wincing.
"I felt it! And you acted like you knew exactly what you were doing!" She argued.
Ulrich didn't bother to explain.
It was definitely his first time in this life, at least, so technically, it wasn't a lie.
"W—Wait... does that mean I just took the Count Rubenhart's maidenhood?!"
A thick vein visibly throbbed on Ulrich's forehead as he grabbed her legs and forcefully shoved her off his lap.
She stumbled, but only slightly, catching her balance and pressing her bare hip lightly against his thigh, radiating warmth.
She cast a sideways glance at him, offering one final, deeply satisfied smirk, before finally standing up straight.
Walking over to a large, ornate rectangular chest in the corner, she finally began to change into proper clothing, brazenly undressing right there in the open. Much to her dismay, however, Ulrich didn't so much as glance up from his book the entire time.
When she was finally dressed, she grabbed the desk which had been shoved quite a distance across the floor during their quite animated sexual encounter, and dragged it back in front of Ulrich. She then hopped up onto the edge, crossing her legs and flashing him a bright, expectant smile.
He gave her nothing more than a fleeting glance before his eyes dropped right back to his book.
She let out a sigh. Finally feeling exhaustion catching up to her, she decided it was time to rest. She slipped off the desk and walked over to the bed nailed securely into the corner of the cabin, her bed.
The rest of her crew either slept on the main deck or down in the cramped storage hold, but obviously, the Captain slept in a real bed.
As for Ulrich, she hadn't seen him sleep during the entire first trip, and he certainly didn't look like he had any intention of sleeping now on the journey back.
She lay down, turning onto her side to face him, watching the rigid line of his back as he sat in the chair.
Her aqua-blue eyes lingered on him for a long, quiet moment before she finally spoke.
"Did you get what you came for?" She asked quietly and curiously.
There was a moment of pause before she saw him nodding slightly.
Emboldened she continued.
"You may rest in my bed if you feel sleepy, Count Rubenhart. My bed and legs are always open to you."
Ulrich offered no answer this time much obviously.
But Meera simply giggled softly to herself, pulled the thin blanket over her shoulder, and slowly let her eyes drift shut.