After that incident, Arthur punished Ivan by giving him overtime clean-up duty. After that, he mostly forgave his crew member, although there was some minor animosity between them.
And as Arthur and Yao's relationship developed, so did their level of intimacy. They progressed from just kissing to fondling all within the span of two months. Since they already shared the same bed, they would spend their time cuddling with one another before going to sleep. And they could not be happier.
Arthur still spent his days raiding ships and robbing them off their valuables. But now Yao understood that it was merely a pirate's way of life – in spite of everything, it was in Arthur's blood. And he was starting to realise that maybe being a pirate wasn't so bad after all – he got to experience so many adventures he would never have as a noble. He got to see the world from the eyes of an ordinary man.
One night, Arthur and his crew were celebrating the success of a particular raid on a merchant's ship. Yao was sitting in a corner, sipping on his wine, and watching Arthur sing with his crew members.
Arthur caught sight of his lover sitting alone, and sauntered over to where Yao sat. "Hi, beautiful," he said cheekily as a slow tune began playing. "Care to dance?" He bowed and held out a hand.
"Dance?" Yao looked at Arthur in astonishment. "But I've never… I can't…"
"Don't worry," Arthur declared. "I'll teach you."
"Um… okay," Yao replied, taking Arthur's proffered hand as he was led to the middle of the main deck. He tried to ignore the wolf-whistles Arthur's crew members sent their way.
Arthur gave Yao an encouraging smile. He placed his right hand on Yao's waist and extended his left hand to his side, facing Yao. With that hand, he took Yao's right hand in a loose grip, and he placed Yao's left hand on his right shoulder as he, too, placed his right hand on Yao's left shoulder. "Follow me," he whispered.
Yao nodded, wide-eyed. On the first beat, Arthur stepped forward gracefully with his left foot. Yao followed his lead by stepping back with his right foot. On the second beat, Arthur stepped forward and to the right, and Yao followed. On the next beat, Arthur slid his left foot over to his right, and stepped back with his right foot. Then, he stepped back and to the left with his left foot, and slid his right foot toward his left until his feet were together. Yao followed his every step.
"Isn't it easy?" Arthur spoke softly into Yao's ear.
"I… I guess…" Yao replied, still feeling unsure of himself.
They reached a rhythm, twirling around the deck, with Arthur leading and Yao following his steps. It even got to the point where Arthur was daring enough to give Yao a whirl.
When it ended and they finished dancing, there was a loud applause and a few catcalls. Arthur led Yao back to where he was sitting as the crew continued partying. "Did you enjoy that?"
"Yeah," Yao replied breathlessly with a smile. He stood on tiptoe and kissed Arthur on the lips, which Arthur reciprocated with much fervour.
After a while, they broke apart, panting. "Should we… should we take this to the bedroom?" Arthur asked, his eyes filled with lust.
Yao nodded. He didn't trust himself to speak. As Arthur took his hand, he allowed himself to be led to their bedroom.
As soon as Arthur closed the door behind him, he pounced on Yao, kissing him. He explored every crevice of Yao's opened mouth, and the Asian man let out a long moan at the exploration.
Yao felt himself backed towards the bed as he was being kissed, and allowed himself to fall back onto the bed when the back of his leg hit the side of the bed.
Arthur toppled on top of the Asian man. Hungrily, he undid the buttons on Yao's shirt, and planted kisses all over Yao's exposed chest.
Yao tried to remove Arthur's top as well, but it was far too complicated for him. As he fumbled with the many clasps and buttons Arthur's top had, Arthur had to stifle a chuckle as he paused to remove that article of clothing.
When his top was finally shed, Arthur resumed kissing Yao's body, his hands running through Yao's hair as he undid the hair-tie that held his hair in a ponytail. The Asian writhed and moaned underneath him, and tried to reciprocate Arthur's actions by running his fingers through Arthur's soft blonde locks. "Your touch makes my body tingle," Yao gasped.
"Mmm… I'm glad," Arthur replied as he nibbed and sucked the junction between Yao's ear and head, planting wet kisses there and making Yao shiver in delight. "I love you – those three words have my life in them," he murmured softly into Yao's ear.
Yao giggled breathlessly. "You romantic bastard," he chided, before he was silenced by Arthur pinching and rolling his nipples between his fingers. He moaned and ran his hands up and down Arthur's back in response.
Arthur hooked his fingers over Yao's pants and began pulling them down. Yao lifted his hips to assist Arthur in the process.
Then Arthur resumed attacking Yao's nipples, this time with his teeth. He nibbled on them, making Yao gasp; his whole body was suddenly very sensitive to Arthur's touch.
Arthur licked Yao's neck all the way down to his belly button, and Yao shuddered in pleasure when Arthur dipped his tongue into his belly button.
Arthur tasted Yao's skin with his mouth, coaxing moans and sighs of pleasure from the Asian man. Yao responded to Arthur's motions by licking and nibbling the side of Arthur's neck when it was within reach.
Arthur pulled down Yao's underwear, stopping to admire a naked Yao for a moment. He was beautiful – panting in exertion, face flushed in desire; it made Arthur want to take him right there and then. But he knew he couldn't – he had to prepare the Asian man first, or it would hurt like hell.
Arthur began licking Yao's exposed semi-erect penis, lapping on it as if milking it. Yao panted and arched his back, his hands not leaving Arthur's head. Arthur forced his fingers into Yao's mouth as the more petit man licked and sucked on the digits.
Then Arthur reached for the side table and opened the drawer, retrieving a bottle of lubricant. He poured a substantial amount of it on Yao's backside and stuck a finger in.
Yao gasped at the intrusion, but was silenced by a kiss on his lips by Arthur. He could no longer think straight as his body was plunged into bliss. His mind was fogging up, and as Arthur increased the number of fingers he used and made a scissoring motion to stretch Yao out, he could only moan and squirm in pleasure. Yao was aware of how very hot his body was getting.
When Arthur decided that Yao was ready, he took off his own pants and placed his own penis at Yao's entrance.
Slowly, Arthur entered Yao; that elicited a sharp cry from the Asian man at the intrusion. He kissed Yao on the lips, as if calming him down and reassuring him that it was going to be alright.
Yao arched his back, gasping and panting as Arthur moved to completely sheathe himself within him. The intrusion hurt, but it felt so good. When he was settled and comfortable, Arthur made sure Yao was comfortable as well. "You okay?"
Yao grunted and nodded.
Arthur then moved and thrust within Yao, trying to find the elusive pleasure spot. When he hit it, Yao cried out as he saw stars. Arthur grinned victoriously, and began stroking Yao's neglected penis. Arthur moved and hit Yao's pleasure spot a few more times before Yao stiffened; he had ejaculated onto his stomach.
A while later, Arthur spilled his seed into Yao. He pulled out of the Asian man, and wiped the sweat off Yao's forehead. He kissed Yao on the forehead, and the smaller man gazed lovingly at him. "I love you," Yao murmured softly.
"Mmm, I love you too," Arthur replied, kissing Yao on the lips again. When he pulled away, he found that the Asian man had fallen asleep.
He smiled endearingly at the sleeping figure. He grabbed a towel that was lying by the side of the bed and cleaned Yao up before he, too, snuggled into bed beside Yao.
"Sweet dreams," he whispered to the now-sleeping Yao, before he, too drifted into sleep.