Divine Artifact in a Scientific World

Back on the yacht, Katie asked, "Wait, if it's serious, should we have invited Kevin and them to join us?"

"I thought about that," replied Jack. "But I just didn't want to be cockblocked by relative strangers."

Katie let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, good. I was thinking the same thing. That's why I didn't invite them. I just..."

"Didn't want to be the only one thinking with their gonads?"

She giggled. "Yes."

They passed another set of large buoys.

She stood and said, "Come on, let's head down to the main deck."

She took off the jacket, folded it and put it back under the couch seat. Jack did the same, then followed her down to the main deck.

She opened the glass door and walked towards the front of the yacht.

There was a large C-shaped couch on the left and two seats on the right that filled the back half of the enclosed portion of the main deck. Past that was a larger dashboard and steering wheel on the left, just before a set of stairs that led belowdecks.

Instead of a single raised chair, like what was in front of the flying bridge's dashboard, there was a wide, couch-like seat, big enough for two people to sit comfortably.

The steering wheel was situated closer to the midline of the yacht, so when he stopped next to Katie, she pointed at the spot on the seat closer to the outside of the yacht. He slid in, and she sat next to him.

She scanned the water past the windshield, then pushed the throttle forward.

The gentle rumble became a deep-throated growl, and the yacht surged forward, raising out of the water.

There was almost no wind, so the surface of the lake was fairly calm. But as they plowed through the water towards the center of the lake, Jack could feel the yacht rising and falling gently as it rode over wide, shallow swells.

The sun had set, and the world was cast in greys, with jewel-like lights dotting the far shore. And the steel grey surface of the lake was mostly empty, with only a few red and green lights dotting the surface in the distance.

After only a few minutes, Katie slowly pulled the throttle back until the yacht was only drifting on momentum.

She fiddled with some buttons on the dashboard, then turned to him.

"I've enabled station keeping, so we don't need to worry about drifting from this spot.

Then she grabbed his hand and pulled as she got up from the seat.

"Come on, I'll give you a quick tour."

She pointed opposite the dashboard to where he could see a sink.

"This is the bar, with a sink, wine fridge, and booze fridge."

Then she led him down a set of stairs.

She pointed to the right and said, "This is the kitchen. Sink, stove, oven, and whatnot."

Then, pointing down a narrow hallway towards the front of the yacht, she said, "At the end is a bedroom with a double bed. On the right is the door to a bathroom with a shower, and on the left is a small bedroom with two single beds."

Then she turned to their left. "Through here is the master suite."

She pulled him through a narrow doorway.

"This is the master bath," she said, pointing to his right. Then she pointed behind him and said, "Please close that door."

She pulled him down a set of stairs to what was clearly the master bedroom of the yacht. The bed looked to be queen-sized, and on either side were drawers and cabinets in a rich dark wood.

She stopped at the foot of the bed and turned to face him.

Her earlier enthusiasm and confidence evaporated. She nibbled her lower lip while her hands fussed with her dress.

He moved closer to her, intending to hug her, but she held up a hand.

"Wait, please," she said in a serious tone. "There's something I need to say."

"Okay, go on."

"I... I'm still a virgin. But... Um... I didn't want my first time to be painful. I um, also wanted to know what it would feel like. So I, um, used a cucumber-"

He chuckled.

"What?" she said indignantly.

"Sorry, I'm not laughing at you. It's just that Madison said she did the same thing."

"She did?"

"She did. But I'm guessing, given your background, you're worried I'll think badly of you if I don't see blood?"

She nodded.

He stepped forward and pulled her into a hug.

"I will admit to feeling a special sort of thrill, knowing I'm the first, and hopefully only, man to ever enter you. But I also want you to know that I would not think poorly of you if I was not your first."

"You wouldn't?" she sounded dubious.

"I would not. One of my other girlfriends had several previous partners and was concerned I would think less of her because of it. I didn't and don't."

"Several?"

"I didn't ask for specific numbers, but I suspect it was somewhere between six and ten."

"What?! That's..."

"Enough experience, so she really appreciates the way I treat her. I'm not sure, but I suspect it's the contrast between me and her previous relationships that is the only reason she is seriously trying to accept sharing me with others."

"And it really doesn't bother you that she's..."

"Not really. I mean, sure, there's a tiny part of me that wishes I was her first and only. But I think that's just instinct, biology. The larger, more rational part of me understands that her value as a person, as a partner, is not diminished by her past relationships."

"I guess that makes sense."

Sensing that she was still nervous, he ran his hands gently over her back, but didn't try to do anything else.

In response, she started tracing the contour of his back with her fingers while nuzzling his neck with her face.

They stood like that for a few minutes before she stood on her toes and kissed his cheek.

Then she moved her head and kissed the corner of his mouth.

Something told him that, unlike Samantha, she needed a more delicate, restrained approach. So he let her take the initiative, at least for the moment.