HMS Belvidera - 34. Chapter 34

June, 1796

Granger lay in his cot, trying unsuccessfully to sleep. He was fatigued after such a long day, but his conversation with Cardona, and Cardona’s reaction, had really upset him. It was as if the Spaniard had forgotten all Granger had done for him, that he had risked damaging his career for the life of one ungrateful aristocrat, and had instead heaped scorn on Granger for sharing a very personal secret.

He sat upright in the cot, panicked. What if Cardona told others about him, that he’d willingly committed sodomy? News like that was certain to reach England. After all the suspicion about him and Calvert, and the raised eyebrows over his friendship with Arthur, Granger would be labeled as a homosexual and pushed to the sidelines of society, the influence of the Brotherhood notwithstanding. Caroline would suffer; she would be devastated. And his children would live in the shadow of his shame. Then logic reasserted itself. Cardona had given his word as a Grandee of Spain. He would not talk. He may be shocked and disgusted, but he would not say anything. To do so would be to surrender his honor, and no Grandee would willingly do that.

He lay back in the bed and actually calmed himself enough to doze. He was sleeping lightly when he heard the door open, the door from Cardona’s cabin. He looked down his nose without moving his head and watched Cardona come in. Cardona was naked, his body illuminated by the lanterns shining through the stern windows and quarter gallery, and Granger could not help but appreciate how attractive he was. The light seemed to accentuate all of his best attributes: his smooth chest, his muscular legs, and his dick that dangled over his balls, not quite limp but certainly not erect.

Granger sat up, exposing his own naked torso. “You need something?” His tone was friendly but guarded.

“I do,” Cardona said nervously. He stood in front of Granger, his cock not more than two feet from Granger’s face. Granger motioned him to sit on the cot next to him. “I need your forgiveness.”

“You need my forgiveness?” Granger asked, surprised.

“Yes,” Cardona said. “You shared with me when I asked you to, and I reacted rudely. It really was inexcusable, but I am hoping that you will consider that this has not been the best of days for me.”

“It is not easy to talk about,” Granger said, validating his comment. “You cannot sleep?”

“No. When I do, I think back to that. It was so humiliating. That was worse even than the pain.”

“There was a pirate who was going to take the next turn. He had a huge cock. If he would have gotten it, you might think otherwise,” Granger said, trying to throw just a bit of humor in to ease the tension.

“I think that is when I truly wished for death, when I looked back and saw that monstrous thing,” Cardona said jovially. “I have never been with another man.”

“It is not something you have to do. I did not mean to suggest that you should,” Granger said nervously.

“I have never wanted to,” he said honestly. “I never looked at another man and thought about him that way. Not before now.”

“Before now?” Granger asked, confused.

“Before I met you,” Cardona said. Before Granger could react, Cardona moved in and kissed him. It was a tentative kiss, one that was restrained by the nervousness they both felt, but they were young men, and it was not long before their passion overcame their internal objections.

Granger pulled Cardona down onto his cot and pushed him onto his back. He kissed him again, allowing his hand to wander across Cardona’s chest, down his abdomen, and to his cock. Granger smiled internally when he reached it. It felt to be about the same length and girth as his own. Cardona moaned into his mouth as Granger stroked his dick, and was surprised to feel Cardona’s hand on his own. His soft, caring touch was intoxicating.

He broke their kiss off and moved his mouth down Cardona’s body, following the same path his hand had just traveled. He licked Cardona’s nipples, then bit them softly, causing the Spaniard to moan and thrust his dick up into Granger’s hand. Having found something Cardona liked, Granger indulged him, gently stroking his cock while he gnawed on his nipples. Cardona’s body seemed to writhe in passion as he did, but Granger wanted to show him more. He moved his mouth down to Cardona’s groin and took his cock into his mouth. He had an unpleasant smell, which Granger decided was probably due to not having bathed recently, and to all his traumas. Granger bobbed up and down on Cardona’s cock just a few times before he felt the young Spaniard swell up and explode in his mouth. He took the Spaniard’s huge load, swallowing it while using his mouth to nurse every last drop out of him, until the man was spent.

“That was wonderful,” Cardona said breathlessly. He reached down to stroke Granger’s cock, but Granger stopped him.

“I will let you recover, then let you really pleasure me,” Granger said, grinning.

“I think that will not take too long,” Cardona said. The Spaniard lay on his back, his arms crossed behind his head, while Granger allowed his own hands to gently explore the Spaniard’s body. He used light, fleeting touches to relax Cardona. It didn’t take long for him to get erect again.

Granger grabbed some lanolin and lubricated his ass, then Cardona’s cock. The Spaniard watched him wide-eyed as Granger knelt over him. Granger slowly lowered himself down, guiding Cardona’s dick inside him. He felt the head pierce his ring, then felt that heavenly feeling of being filled up by another man. “You see, this can be fun,” Granger whispered into his ear as he began to slide up and down on Cardona’s dick. Cardona lasted a long time, just letting Granger do all the work, using his dick like a dildo. Granger, for his part, focused on his own pleasure. He leaned back and started stroking his own dick, relishing the feel of the Spaniard inside him, until his own orgasm drowned out all reasonable thought. It was only after he came that he realized Cardona had cum again as well.

“That was even better,” Cardona said, smiling at Granger. Then he got nervous. “May I sleep here with you tonight?”

“But of course,” Granger said. He pulled Cardona to him and wrapped his body around the Spaniard, who surprisingly enough fell right to sleep.

A very tired George Granger stood in front of a very angry Governor O’Hara. For a man who had never contemplated having sex with another man, Cardona certainly was game enough now that he’d started. No sooner would Granger fall asleep than he’d feel the young Spaniard penetrating him again. He’d gotten almost no sleep last night at all. Granger heard the Governor’s words rip into him, but he deflected most of their unpleasantness by focusing all of his efforts on not yawning.

“What in God’s name possessed you to attack one of the Dey of Algier’s ships? And to defend a damned Spaniard? We’re all but at war with them now!” O’Hara ranted.

“One of the passengers on the brig was a person of some substance, Your Excellency,” Granger said lamely. “It seemed inappropriate to leave him to the fate the pirates had in mind for him.”

“And what fate was that Granger? Torture? Death? You think some Spaniard would defy orders to save you in a similar circumstance? Do not delude yourself.”

“I cannot say what would happen, I only know that it seemed to be the right thing to do at the time,” Granger replied. “I am sorry to have caused Your Excellency additional problems.”

That seemed to mellow the Governor. “We’ll have to figure out a way to set this right with the Dey of Algiers.”

“Yes, Your Excellency. I had an idea about that, if I may be so bold as to advance it.”

“Go ahead, Granger,” the Governor said dubiously.

“As I see it, Your Excellency, the prize we brought back is technically the property of the Dey. We could sell it here, and probably for much more than he’d get for it in Algiers. Then I could take the gold it fetched and deliver it to him with a personal apology.”

“He’d probably throw you in prison and Sir John would have to send a fleet to release you.”

“I fear that if Sir John is compelled to do that, Your Excellency, I would fare better as a prisoner of the Dey,” Granger said, risking a joke.

“You may very well be right,” the Governor said. “So who is this Spaniard you saved?”

“The Duke of Cardona, son of the Duke of Medinaceli, Your Excellency,” Granger said. He watched those names resonate with the Governor.

“You got lucky Granger. He’s important enough that you may just get out of this one.”

“I can only hope, Your Excellency,” Granger said. He was finding that O’Hara was as susceptible to his flirtatious charm as Hood and Jervis were.

A knock at the door interrupted their interview, and the door opened to reveal a nervous Colonel Harleton. “Begging your pardon, Your Excellency, but His Excellency the Duke de Cardona has requested to be allowed an audience.”

The Governor gave Granger a frustrated look, as if Granger had instigated this interruption. “Very well. Send him in.” Harleton vanished and produced the Duke almost immediately. He must have been waiting outside, listening to the loud voices while Granger was dressed down.

Granger pulled himself out of his speculation and remembered his manners. He was trying to decide who had precedence: a Royal Governor or a Spanish Grandee. “May I introduce you?” Granger asked of both of them, dodging that issue. “His Excellency General O’Hara, Governor of His Britannic Majesty’s Colony of Gibraltar. His Excellency The Duke de Cardona, Grandee of Spain.” Granger thought he’d done it clumsily, but it seemed to suffice.

“Welcome to Gibraltar, Your Excellency,” the Governor said with a polite bow.

“I am most pleased to be here, Your Excellency,” The Duke responded, with a bow slightly less low than O’Hara’s. He was clearly in no doubt as to who had precedence here. “I must thank you and your countrymen for most nobly saving me from the hazards of my journey.”

“Nothing could give us more pleasure,” O’Hara said diplomatically.

“I am before you to request yet another favor,” Cardona said. “As I have explained to Captain Granger, I was interrupted on my voyage to Cadiz. I am hopeful that you and he would be willing to help me finish my journey.”

“You want Belvidera to take you to Cadiz?” The Governor asked, stunned at such a huge request.

But Granger understood the implications of what Cardona was saying. “Your Excellency, if you would give me your dispensation, I would have no problem conveying the Duke to Cadiz.”

The Governor eyed them both carefully. “Very well Granger. While you’re gone, I’ll endeavor to dispose of the prize you brought in, and you can implement the other part of your plan.”

“Thank you, Your Excellency, Captain,” Cardona said, smiling.

“If you would be willing to wait for me, Your Excellency,” Granger said to Cardona, “Perhaps we can return to the ship together?”

“But of course,” Cardona said. He took his leave of the Governor with the usual Continental floweriness, and then left Granger alone with the Governor.

“I hope you don’t mind me offering to do that, Your Excellency. It may be valuable to actually enter Cadiz and see what they Dons are up to.”

“I think that’s a great idea, Granger. In fact, you’ll probably get more information than Admiral Mann has been able to acquire throughout his blockade. I’ll draft stringent orders instructing you to make limited contact with his squadron.”

“Thank you, Your Excellency,” Granger said, grinning back at the governor, who was clearly overcome with glee at how much it would irritate Mann to have Belvidera dangled in front of him while he could only rage impotently at Granger.

Granger took his leave of the Governor and escorted Cardona down Main Street to the harbor when he passed by a familiar building. “Would you like to take a bath?”

“A bath?” Cardona asked.

“Yes, a bath,” Granger said. “I promise you will enjoy it.”

“You have yet to promise me pleasure and then fail to deliver,” the Duke said, smiling. Granger led them into the hotel he’d been to with Travers when he was a midshipman and asked for the same room with the huge bathtub. He led Cardona upstairs, and together they slowly disrobed.

Granger sank into the warm bath and guided Cardona in after him, so he was sitting on top of Granger. Granger’s hard dick buried itself in Cardona’s crack, a fact the Spaniard seemed to enjoy as he slid up and down, letting Granger’s cockhead graze over his hole. Granger pulled the Spaniard back to him, so his chest was to Cardona’s back, and began to wash him. Granger nibbled on his neck as he did, telling the handsome Spaniard how sexy he was, and how horny he was making Granger.

Cardona seemed to forget himself, writhing against Granger’s body, the soapy water merely accentuating the feel of their skin as it slid across each other. And then, Cardona moved himself forward a bit too far and let Granger’s cock press against his ass. Granger couldn’t restrain himself, so overcome was he by lust, and he thrust his hips forward, sliding his cock gently into Cardona’s ass.

Granger felt the Spaniard freeze at this unexpected intruder, felt him rebel against having another dick in his ass where he’d only had rough, angry ones there before. “Shhh,” Granger cooed in his ear. “Let me make you feel better. If you let me, I will make you feel good, and you will forget about those other men.”

“I don’t know if I can,” Cardona cried. Granger ran his hands down Cardona’s sexy body to his groin and grabbed his softening dick, getting him hard again.

“You can,” Granger said soothingly. “You just have to let me. You trust me don’t you? Haven’t I made you feel good?”

“You have,” Cardona said. Granger moved slightly, pushing his dick into Cardona’s prostate. “Mmmm,” the Spaniard said, and thrust back into Granger. Now he was with him willingly, no more objections, and with every thrust Cardona became more and more enthusiastic, more and more active, until he was all but begging Granger to fuck him. Granger slid his hand up and down the Spaniard’s nice dick, stroking him in time to his own thrusts, until he felt the young man begin to tighten up as his orgasm hit.

Granger felt Cardona’s dick swell up and then throb as it exploded, while his ass tensed and released in time to his spurts, pushing Granger over the edge. Granger pumped his load into Cardona, nursing the Spaniard along the entire time, until both of them were sated. Cardona let Granger’s dick slip out of him, then rolled over to kiss Granger passionately.

“I understand what you were trying to say to me now. Thank you,” he said lovingly.

“It was truly my pleasure,” Granger said, and kissed him back. “I’m hoping this doesn’t mean that now that I’ve shown you my magic elixir, you won’t want to do this anymore.”

Cardona laughed. “Not a chance. I am praying for winds that are dead foul to Cadiz.”

Granger smiled to himself as HMS Belvidera made her final approaches to the harbor of Cadiz. Cardona had gotten his wish. It had taken them a week to reach Cadiz, a week of wild, passionate sex offset by Granger’s almost constant need to be on deck as Belvidera thrashed her way into the wind. Then yesterday, as if by a complete fluke, the wind had veered almost 180 degrees. A Levanter took over, pushing them westerly, and pushing Mann’s squadron and patrolling frigates out into the Atlantic. Granger’s smile grew even bigger when he realized that he’d be able to write in his report that not a sail was in sight when he approached Cadiz. He’d caught Mann’s squadron with their pants down, as it were.

A Guarda Costa lugger appeared around the point, seemingly anxious to intercept them before they could see too much. It was too late for that. The entire vista of the port bloomed before them. The area of the port that was the most interesting to Granger, the roads that housed most of Spain’s fleet, was busily being quantified and described by the men in the masts.

The lugger bore up to Belvidera’s leeward side and hooked on, looking to all the world like a small dog on a leash, the leash being pulled by Belvidera, as the small dog was drug somewhere it did not want to go. A tall Spanish Captain strode aboard, stopping to be civil and acknowledge the honor guard put out for him.

“I am Capitan Juan Alvarado de Santiago,” he said, bowing low.

“Captain The Honorable George Granger,” Granger said, bowing just as low.

“While I am honored and pleasured to make your acquaintance, Capitan, I am surprised to find you here uninvited,” Santiago said, trying to ask Granger as politely as he could why Granger was here, on the doorstep of Spain’s major naval base. Granger knew that without Cardona, such an incursion may very well end up with Belvidera impounded by the Spanish authorities in Cadiz while their two respective governments railed against each other.

“I hope my presence does not inconvenience you, Capitan,” Granger said affably. “But I fear your assumption is incorrect. I am here as an invited guest.”

“And who has invited you, senor?” Santiago said, letting his irritation show through his cultivated demeanor.

“I have,” Cardona said in his native language, as he climbed up to the quarterdeck. Granger saw Santiago stare at Cardona, and the fact that he did not know who he was made Cardona’s presence all that more powerful. “I am Luis Joaquín Fernandez de Córdoba, Duke de Cardona, Grandee of Spain.” Granger watched with satisfaction as Santiago blanched.

“It is a pleasure to meet Your Excellency,” Santiago stammered. “We had no idea we would find someone of your status on an English frigate.”

Cardona switched to French, to include Granger in their conversation. “Perhaps, Capitan, if our own fleet were more active in patrolling His Most Catholic Majesty’s waters, the ship I was traveling in would not have been captured by pirates. And perhaps, if Captain Granger had been less of a gentleman and not saved me from their clutches, I would not be sailing into Cadiz, marveling at how unwelcome my hosts and I are being made to feel,” Cardona snapped.

“Of course, Your Excellency,” Santiago stammered. He pulled himself together enough to give Granger orders on where to anchor, and his nervousness had caused him to make that anchorage quite close to the Spanish flagship itself. Granger guided Belvidera in carefully, making sure to show the Spaniards their best seamanship. Only after they had anchored did Granger have time to look around at the harbor that contained him.

“A beautiful city and harbor,” Granger said to Santiago. Santiago had no use for Granger; he was still nearly panicked by the presence of this powerful duke on a British frigate.

“Perhaps you would allow me to conduct you ashore, Your Excellency,” Santiago suggested to Cardona. Granger thought he caught a small smile on Cardona’s face, a mischievous smile.

“You may go and inform the Governor and Admiral Langara that I will await a more suitable delegation,” Cardona said dismissively. Santiago nodded, bowed, and all but fled over the side. “Will you join me below Captain?”

“With pleasure,” Granger said. He followed Cardona down to his cabin, and to his sleeping compartment for one more fast coupling.

“I will miss you,” Cardona said lovingly.

“I will miss you too,” Granger said, and realized as he did that he’d developed some pretty strong feelings for this Spaniard. “If it were my choice, you’d spend your years sailing around with us.”

“That option is more attractive than you can know,” Cardona said. “I have enjoyed getting to know you. I hope that, even as war envelopes our nations, you will write to me?”

“I would consider it an honor,” Granger said. They pulled their clothes on, pulled themselves together, then went back up on deck. An ornate barge came into view, approaching the Belvidera with purpose.

“That will be my ride,” Cardona joked. The boat was hailed, and no one less than the Governor himself came aboard to pay his respects. Granger was quick to make sure that the correct salute was fired off, and the correct number of sideboys were present.

Granger was painfully polite to the governor, who just like Santiago had no use for him, but was full of abject apologies to the young Duke. Granger left them alone to converse in Spanish, regretting his lack of facility in that language. He stood at the taffrail and let the Spaniards talk, studying the ship nearest him.

The Santissima Trinidad, or Santísima Trinidad y Nuestra Señora del Buen Fin in official Spanish parlance, was the largest warship in the world. A four-decked monstrosity carrying over 130 guns, she could probably sink Belvidera with a single broadside. But Granger knew that with Cardona as his guardian he had nothing to fear from this behemoth, with her red and gold painted sides. She flew the flag of Admiral de Langara, a man Granger had met during the siege of Toulon.

“I fear I must take my leave of you, Captain,” Granger heard Cardona say. “I hope you will stay in harbor until tomorrow? Admiral Langara is hosting a reception to celebrate my arrival, and we would be honored if you and some of your officers would attend.”

Granger bowed low. “It would give me the greatest of pleasure.” Then with all the additional niceties required, Granger guided Cardona and the Governor over the side. After they were gone, he summoned Roberts over. “Mr. Roberts, we are unlikely to get as close a view as this again. Delegate officers to study the port carefully and make notes. If we have any who can sketch, get them to do it, noting the number and state of the ships in port.”

“Aye aye sir,” he said.

“Captain Somers!” Granger called.

“Sir?” the redcoat asked. Granger had completely neglected him during their trip to Cadiz, so enraptured had he been by Cardona, but Somers seemed to take it all in stride.

“As our resident soldier, your job is to do as good of a survey of the defenses as you can.”

“Aye aye sir,” Somers said crisply. Having given his orders, Granger allowed himself to scan the entire port. Huge Spanish three-deckers seemed to be everywhere, but off in the corner of the harbor was an even more interesting sight, and one that was the reason for Mann’s blockade: Rear Admiral de Richery’s squadron. The French admiral had escaped British capture only by seeking refuge here in the neutral Spanish port.

He looked at the 80-gun French flagship, Victoire, and noted how badly maintained she appeared. It cannot be easy to try and keep a French fleet of six ships of the line and three frigates equipped in a port where the entire Spanish navy would take precedence, Granger thought to himself. But he wasn’t foolish enough to conclude that meant Victoire and her consorts weren’t able to fight. His more immediate concern was with the three French Frigates, but they appeared to be completely unready for sea. He would have nothing to fear from them upon his departure tomorrow.

They spent their day like that, making frantic notes and sketches. They often had questions about which ship was which, but the Spanish merchants that came on board to sell them fruit, vegetables, and other items filled in the blanks for them. Granger treated his officers to an extravagant dinner, full of delicacies Lefavre was able to make because of the supplies acquired there. Then he readied himself for the evening reception. Winkler had gotten his best uniform in truly perfect condition, with his breeches and shirt as white as snow. He was pleased to see Clifton and Somers, the two he’d invited to join him, looking just as well-turned-out. Santiago came to pick them up, with a distinctly more friendly attitude, and had them rowed the short distance to the Santissima Trinidad.

Granger climbed her massive sides and hauled himself gracefully through her entry port, his Order of Carlos III falling heavily against his chest as he did. The Spaniards put out the appropriate honors for him, and there was a handsome Spanish Captain waiting to guide them aft to see the Admiral. The decks had been cleared and partitions removed to make the Admiral’s cabin grander than even before. Granger arrived at the after cabin with Somers and Clifton at his elbows, as if they were afraid to be separated from him. He scanned the room and instinctively saw Cardona first. The young Duke detached himself and came over to greet them amicably.

“Welcome gentlemen,” he said. They bowed in response to his greeting. “I have taken the liberty of assuring Admiral Langara that you would not be opposed to him inviting your French enemies, although surely they won’t be enemies tonight?” Granger smiled at Cardona’s tone and mood, both undoubtedly illustrating his manners, the same manners he’d use when he was at court.

“We are not opposed to that at all,” Granger said, although he remembered his less than pleasant encounter with French officers in Roses. But Rear Admiral de Richery, in command of the French forces here, was no republican; he was a product of the Ancien Regime, so Granger was confident that good manners would reign. “We would be delighted to meet our adversaries under such pleasant circumstances.”

“Welcome,” Granger heard a smooth voice say. He turned to find himself face to face, once again, with Admiral Langara.

“It is a pleasure to see you again, sir,” Granger said. “I am sure you do not remember me, but I was one of Admiral Hood’s flag lieutenants at Toulon.”

“I fear you are wrong, Captain, and it pains me to have to point it out to you,” Langara said, full of that effusive continental language that stymied British officers not used to it. “I remember you well, and how gallantly you supported our troops.”

“You are too kind, sir,” Granger said. He presented his officers to the admiral, then Cardona took him firmly under his wing.

“I’ve created quite the uproar, leading you right into our principle harbor,” he said to Granger sotto voce, almost joking.

“I have learned that you enjoy creating a little uproar,” Granger whispered back, making them both laugh.

“Allow me to present Rear Admiral de Richery, commanding the French squadron visiting Cadiz,” Cardona said, introducing him to the elderly French admiral. They both bowed low.

“It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Admiral,” Granger said respectfully. Richery smiled, as if relieved that he was in the presence of a gentleman and not a boor like Mann or Campbell.

“The pleasure is all mine,” he said politely.

“I understand that you served with Admiral de Suffren?” Granger asked. Suffren had been the best French admiral thus far (or at least in Granger’s opinion), and he saw Richery fall for his flattery, for being equated with him.

“I had that honor,” he said.

“He was a foe to respect, even if he caused my country some serious inconveniences,” Granger said, smiling.

“That must be the mark of a good admiral, one who causes the enemy inconveniences,” he said, laughing. Granger noted the Spaniards watching them curiously, these two enemies who would run each other through with swords in battle, but could have a civil conversation in a neutral setting. Spaniards were well known for being so courteous, so their curiosity was not so much over the thought he and Richery could do this, but that they, in fact, were.

“It has been a pleasure meeting you, admiral. I hope that if we have the honor to meet in battle, you will find me to be as gallant and honorable as you have always been.”

Richery bowed at the nice compliment. “I fear, Capitan, that you are much more likely to exhibit those characteristics than my new colleagues,” he said, referring obliquely to one of the Captains with Richery who scowled at them. “We must hope that is not the new world order.” Then with a final bow, he was off. After the initial conversations, Granger found he enjoyed the reception, and that really was surprising. Usually he thought of events like these as being tedious affairs one attended solely because one was required to.

Sadly, the hour drew when he and his officers had to take their leave. He said his goodbyes to the French, the Spaniards, and finally to Cardona. Granger found it was hard to restrain his emotions as he bid a final farewell to this young Iberian whom he had gotten so attached to in such a short period of time.