Shores of Tripoli

The harbor at Algiers seemed almost to disappear altogether as the pirate ships moved into the deep-water port right up to the dock and then, when there was no more room at the docks, right up against the ship between them and the dock—and so on until the whole surface of the space between the two headlands encasing the harbor was just one continuous deck with a forest of masts.

Many of the vessels were part of a confederation that was forming to control the Mediterranean, all under the command of a towering pirate chief of indeterminate nationality who was called Khair ad-din, spoken of by that name because of his similarities to the sixteenth-century Turkish admiral and scourge of the Mediterranean, Barbarossa, whose real name—or so it was rumored—had been Khair ad-din.

The

Black Falcon

was lashed to Khair ad-din's ship, and the two pirate captains took to each other immediately. They both fancied themselves as superb card sharks, both enjoying various forms of poker. While they sat out events in the fight for Tripoli through the remainder of 1804 and into the next year, the two settled into high-stakes card games every other evening, one evening on Khair ad-din's ship and the other on the

Black Falcon

, with a day in between each meeting for whoever lost the worst to steal his next stake from under the nose of some other pirate in port. Both Billy and Dieter were permitted to attend these games, but they sat in the background—which didn't mean that they didn't get a full share of attention. Billy was twenty-one now, but still youthful looking and with a sensuality that made men gravitate to him and dream. Dieter claimed to be nineteen, but Billy wouldn't have been surprised if he was shaving a year or two off and was nearly the same age as Billy himself.

While banned from Ben's bed—temporarily, Billy hoped—he had been with a progression of lovers on the

Black Falcon

. A new generation of young Arab and Turkish pirates had come forth in the last decade as the pirates of old from the New World began to fade away. Having been with Mahmud Karamanli, Billy now had a taste for Mediterranean men. And, on the

Black Falcon

, he had come to know that now he enjoyed men who were younger than he was, virile and vigorous, and with finely toned bodies. Unfortunately, there weren't too many pirates that met these preferences, as yet. But there were enough on board the

Black Falcon

to keep Billy well cocked. And, for their part, the young Arab and Turkish pirates were happy for the chance to fuck Billy as long as their pirate chief did not cut off their balls for doing so and remained crazy enough not to touch Billy sexually himself.

One night in early 1805, Billy had felt unwell after supper and had not gone over to Khair ad-din's ship for the usual evening of card play. It had just been a passing indigestion, though, and he was feeling quite well enough within an hour to seek out the newest member of the crew, a young, strapping Turk, and was lying, splayed and drowsy and quite satisfied on his back on his berth with the cum inside his channel still warm, when Ben appeared at his cabin door.

Billy didn't like the almost apologetic look Ben was giving him.

"Gather your things, Billy. You are transferring over to Khair ad-din's ship."

He had said it with a soft voice, but it had hit Billy like a whip crack. Ben was looking everywhere in the cabin but at Billy.

"You should feel privileged. Khair ad-din insisted that you be put up for a bet. And he won. He won you in a card game."

Billy waited, breathless, for Ben to say that he would win him back at the next game. But he waited in vain for Ben to say that.

As Billy came out into the gangway with his kit, Dieter was standing in the distance, looking very pleased with himself about something. Billy wondered then if Dieter had suggested to Ben what he could use him as his stake in the card game when Billy hadn't gone over to the other ship with them. He further wondered at the possible origin of his brief indisposition following supper.

It never occurred to Billy when he bordered Khair ad-din's ship not to lie under the pirate chieftain. It had been made quite clear what the man expected of the young man he'd won in the poker game. The man had been eyeing Billy during earlier games when Billy was lingering in the background behind Ben, and Billy had eyed him back. It was clear to both that they would happily couple if Billy hadn't been with Ben. Billy was no longer with Ben when he boarded Khair ad-din's vessel, and the pirate chief took the young man directly to his cabin and his bed, Billy going willingly not only because he was angry at Ben for giving him up but also because the massive brute of a man, Khair ad-din made him harden. There in the captain's bed, Khair ad-din fucked Billy silly and Billy responded with enthusiasm.

Khair ad-din, a heavily tattooed and battle-scarred giant, with a massive chest and equally proportioned elsewhere with a strong hint of Turkic genes, was a master of the Kamasutra positions. Billy was exhausted that night, when the session was completed with the elite position of the Monkey, with Khair ad-din on his back, legs folded up almost to his chest, Billy sitting on his cock and buttocks, facing away from him, with Khair ad-din's huge feet flat on Billy's shoulder blades, his hands gripping Billy's wrists and pulling Billy's arms back. Both of their pelvises were in motion and both were moaning their pleasure as, using the leverage of his feet, Billy rose and fell on Khari ad-din's cock, which mined Billy's depths deeper than any other man had reached.

"The highest prize I have ever won in a card game," Khair had whispered to him as they were in a short cooling-off embrace before Khair thrust inside him again.

Clearly pleased with Billy's expertise at the sophisticated arts of the male Kamasutra positions, Khair ad-din kept Billy with him in his bed that night. Billy suspected that Khair ad-din also adhered to Mahmud Karamanli's seven-position ideal—but that he thought that double the ideal in a night was the best luck of all.

The next day, Billy was taken below in Khair ad-din's ship and locked in an eight-by-ten foot cage with a cot and a pisspot. He was told he was being thus imprisoned not because he displeased Khair ad-din, but because the pirate chief couldn't trust his men to keep their hands off Billy, and he didn't want to have to hang any of his crew from the yardarm for something they couldn't resist. Many were the nights, though, that Billy spent in Khair ad-din's bed rather than in the cage.

If Ben made an effort to win Billy back, it came of naught, and Billy now lived on Khair ad-din's flagship and was kept sexually satiated in the pirate chieftain's bed.

Later in the year of 1805, all of the maneuvering in Tripoli came to naught. The United States struck a treaty with Yussif Karamanli that lifted the blockade of Tripoli, handed Derne back to the pasha, included ransom to the tune of $60,000 for the hulk of the

Philadelphia

, settled that much more for the ransom of all of the

Philadelphia

's crew that still survived, which, to Billy's surprise and happiness, included the once cabin boy, Adam, and could be produced, and recommenced a new system of tribute, albeit at a reduced rate, to protect Mediterranean shipping from the Tripoli pirates, with the pirates toning down but not completely abandoning their activities.

Hamet Karamanli slipped out of Derne and made his way back to his Egyptian exile. Mahmud Karamanli didn't surface and was never again mentioned as a factor or a problem in the Tripoli pasha succession.

The blockade no longer needed, the U.S. frigates and other naval vessels went back to sea, clearly headed for Algiers—and the pirates congregating in Algiers fled before them, Khair ad-din's vessel and the

Black Falcon

taking off in different directions. Billy no longer had Ben close to hand or the hope that Ben would win him back. In the meantime, Billy couldn't complain at the size or expertise of cock Khair ad-din kept inside him.

* * * *

Billy was with Khair ad-din for nearly twelve years. In that time Billy had no other lover—not because he would not have liked variety and even, in the earlier years, greater frequency, nor that men did not continue to find him desirable, but because Khair ad-din limited the opportunity. No other man near to Khair ad-din—and thus to Billy—dared cross the pirate chief.

The first several months were intense in their lovemaking, and Billy was content, finding the pirate chief solicitous, vigorous, expert, and hugely endowed enough to keep Billy satisfied. As fearful and brutal a fighter Khair ad-din was in the Mediterranean, he was refined in bed. But over the years, slowly, as with any committed couple, the sexual passion became less and the need for companionship and shared experiences and counsel grew.

For nearly a year, Billy was kept in his cage in the ship's hold whenever he wasn't with Khair ad-din, and Billy lived in the despondency—except when he was lying under Khair ad-din—that his life seemed to be one of moving from one man's cage to the next. After that year, though, he was spending more and more time with Khair ad-din in the captain's cabin.

The pirate master's vessel only rarely left Algiers harbor once the Americans became weary of chasing pirates in the Mediterranean and pulled the bulk of their navy back nearer their own shores. Difficulties with the British that culminated in the War of 1812 had increased on the Atlantic coast. Khair ad-din tended to have the many pirate vessels under his command sail out from Algiers at his direction and then sail back to him with his share of the booty.

Thus it was on one afternoon when Khair ad-din was performing the position of the Tree on Billy on the exercise mat in the captain's cabin, with Billy on his back and the pirate captain crouched below his pelvis, raising Billy's entrance to his gently plowing cock while Billy had one foot resting on the pirate's breast and Khair ad-din was holding Billy's other leg to his hip, that, between grunts, Khair ad-din said, "We go on the prowl tomorrow. You will be in the cage more."

"Why?" Billy responded. "What is the need for that? Surely you trust me enough now—I would not lie with another man. Can we not get rid of the cage? And can I not just become a pirate like the rest?"

"You are too small, little one," was Khair ad-din's reply. Then he grinned and said, "You also are not ugly enough to be a pirate. You would be too much of a distraction."

This seemed always to be the response to Billy's desire to become a pirate—all the way back to when it had been Benjamin Palmer's answer as well.

Seeing that Billy looked hurt, the pirate captain changed to the position of the Yin and Yang, where he sat, legs crossed in a yoga position and Billy sat facing him, buttocks on the larger man's thighs, Khair ad-din's cock buried deep inside Billy's channel, and Billy's legs wrapped around the pirate chief's waist. In this most intimate position between the two, a position Khair ad-din reserved for when they were closest, most affectionate with each other, Billy rubbed the other man's nipples with his hands and let his fingers trace the tattooing and battle scars on the pirate's chest, while the pirate held Billy close with one arm, worked Billy's cock with the other, and rocked both of them back and forth, thus giving Billy's channel deep attention with the cock.

"I know you are strong and adept—for your size—Billy," Khair ad-din murmured when he felt Billy relax in this position and heard his sighs of sexual pleasure. "There was a seriousness to what I said about being ugly. You could handle one pirate trying to take you, but not three, and they would come in groups—and take you in groups."

"I have done that before—and enjoyed it," Billy whispered, but he quickly continued, "Not that I would want that anymore. You are all I need."

"You are not as young as you were when you were entertaining groups of rough men," the pirate answered. "And there is another reason why you cannot become a pirate and why you have to be locked in the cage much of the time we are at sea."

Billy didn't respond. He didn't want to hear any such reason.

So Khair ad-din continued without the invitation to do so. "I am ready to be lost myself—much of my life has been lived as if that was the day I would die. A pirate can do no other. And that's another reason I cannot let you become a pirate. I cannot bear the thought of any day being your last. So, if we become engaged in battle, you will be in the hold, in the cage, dressed as a merchantman, and able to say you are a captive, not a pirate."

"But . . ."

"And that would be the truth. You have ever been the captive here, make no mistake about that. You are here because I want you, and for no reason you have selected. You are here for me to fuck—and for no other man. You keep me vigorous, and I must have a man to fuck apart from the others. To take one or more of the crew as a lover would cause dissension. You are here because you are convenient. The truth is hard but there it is. You stay here because you have learned the Kamasutra positions, though." He laughed then, obviously attempting to take the edge off the hard truth. Seeing that Billy refused to be amused, though, he ended with more of the truth. "If you had not pleased my cock so, you would be dead now. And I would have another man in my bed, probably a young, handsome man like you—but younger—until I was tired of him."

"You take other, younger men to your bed now. I know that. You needn't pretend otherwise," Billy said. "And I don't object. I have no jealousy of that so I don't show any."

"I know. That's another reason I keep you. You are not all I need physically anymore. But you are all to me emotionally."

Billy was assured now that there was a great deal more involved now than sex—that he wasn't just a sexual toy for the pirate chief. He had wondered if Khair ad-din genuinely didn't realize that, after more than ten years, the two were much more to each other than that. But he hadn't spoken of that. He knew that the pirate chief's mind was clear on their relationship and was set on how Billy would be handled in that relationship. There was only one more ploy to play.

"And if your ship is lost and sinking, and I am locked in a cage in the hold . . .?"

"I have a key I have placed on a chain for around your neck that you can wear below your vest. In that eventuality you will have a chance to save yourself."

He had thought of everything. Billy felt defeated and powerless. His body relaxed and he let his arms dangle at his side.

"Yes, I feel my sap rising. I will finish you as master taking captive." The pirate's voice had taken on an excitement and was thick with lust. Billy let his torso arch back, arms dangling, legs trailing beyond the pirate's buttocks, as Khair ad-din came up on his knees in the Octopus position, grabbed Billy's waist and slammed his pelvis down on the pirate's cock. Once, twice, thrice, four . . . . twelve—Billy moaning hard—twenty, twenty-one. And the pirate came in a prodigious gush. He then placed the palm of one hand on Billy's heaving belly to signal that Billy was supposed to remain there, while, with the other, he slowly pumped Billy's cock to ejaculation.

* * * *

It was just as Khair ad-din had predicted. His vessel was far out into the Mediterranean, engaged on three sides by frigates of the U.S. Navy, focusing on the pirate king, determined to lop off the head of the sea dragon.

The pirates had had more than a decade of easy pickings on the sea, especially for the three years that the Americans and British had been engaged in their own sea war out in the Atlantic and for the years before that that the Americans and French had come close to war. The pirates had resumed taking American ships and demanding ransom for the return of the crews—and Khair ad-din's consortium had been the foremost in this activity. Occupied with troubles closer to home, the United States had been paying the ransom.

The War of 1812 over in early 1815, though, the United States could again turn its sights on the pin-pricking pirates of the Barbary Coast, from Tripoli through Tunisia and Algiers, to Morocco. Shortly after the end of the conflict between the United States and Britain, Tobias Lear, the U.S. consul general in Algiers refused to pay the annual tribute to Algiers and was expelled from the city by the Dey of Algiers, who, as the United States was hoping he would do, declared war on the United States, automatically bringing in Tripoli, Tunis, and Morocco, which were tied to Algiers by mutual defense treaties.

On March 3, 1815, the U.S. Congress authorized a naval force, under heroes of the first Barbary Coast war, Commodores Stephan Decatur and William Bainbridge—Billy's former commander on the

Philadelphia

—to attack the pirates in the Mediterranean. Using the pirate's tactics against them, Decatur and Bainbridge's armada sailed into Algiers harbor, with pirate vessels fleeing the port as the American vessels approached; bombarded the city; and sent Marines in for a land attack. When they pulled back, they took prisoners with them and then, as the pirates had done for centuries, demanded ransom for their return as well as $10,000 for the insult made to the United States. Not much more than a cardboard potentate in real power, the Dey of Algiers capitulated; a treaty was signed on June 30, 1915; and another Barbary Coast war—although not to be the last—was over.

Before attacking Algiers, though, the American fleet moved to thin out the pirates. They did so by targeting Khair ad-din and his motley, if large, fleet of loosely controlled privateers.

Striking at Khair ad-din's vessel at the heart of the consortium, Khair ad-din didn't have a chance when confronted with three U.S. frigates.

The feet that Billy heard on the stairs leading down into the hold of the pirate's flag ship as the battle on deck above was waning were those of American Navy men. They found Billy locked in his cage, dressed in the rags of a merchantman, and well prepared to give his story of thirteen years of captivity on the Barbary Coast. It helped that when William Bainbridge came aboard, he recognized in the thirty-two year old captive the man he had taken on as a naval man at the age of nineteen and who was of the family of wealthy merchantmen.

Billy was steeled to hear that Khair ad-din was dead when he was escorted topside, but he showed no wish to see the body. He just set his face—fighting hard not to show his true feelings—and muttered a "Good. Good riddance," upon being told he was truly free of the man's tyranny.

But Billy knew that it wasn't the U.S. Navy, really, who had set him free. It was his greatest lover, Khair ad-din, who had set him free.