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“And what would you be hiding down there?”

Rough fingers grazed the skin between her breasts and the all too delicate gold chain that disappeared down into warmth and darkness was enticed, more than forced, to reveal its secret. He was a bit too close..those formal dances she had learned guaranteed a certain distance, but this man, she doubted, ever did the waltz, and he was a bit too close. And what’s more he had her locket in his hand, her locket that was still around her neck.

“Now that’s a pretty thing” his thumb flipping the catch preceded a grin that made her wonder what it was he was referring to “Ahh…your lovely mother..I can see the likeness” His eyes swept to the other side of the cabin where the familial traits were there to be selected from while his fingers held the locket, twisting it in the sun that struggled to sneak its way through the narrow windows
“Very pretty indeed”

“Unhand my daughter you scoundrel” Her father, well he hadn’t anticipated this, just a short trip in the Caribbean he had said, some business to attend to and then home “Why don’t you come my Dear? Some air will do you good..” She could recall him now speaking as the maid packed her things; clearly her answer had been anticipated if not actually predetermined.

Her father had a way of referring to something without actually referring to it, and quite why the air aboard ship would do her any more good than the normal amount she took on the shore everyday he didn’t make clear. He wanted her close, well in any case she wasn’t to be left home alone, not that you ever quite could be with the cook, the maids, the gardener, the whole house had someone in each room. Never quite alone. Sometimes she wanted to just go get her own glass of milk, wash her own dishes, pick her own rose..pick her own husband.

That had been the trouble, though how one could pick from that assortment she wasn’t sure, what on earth would be the criteria? No one white wig on a selection of friends of her father seemed more attractive than the next, none of them even came close to the inspiring the sort of excitement she could feel at the tug of a wave or the gust of a sea wind over the ramparts. But the last one, perhaps he hadn’t quite deserved that lashing, with her tongue of course. Anyway the audience that had taken in the spectacle at least had something more interesting to discuss than the latest fashions from London.

Alright, so she didn’t really think all that in the time it took the pirate to speak, she just felt her stomach tighten- she had thought about it enough that her body just used shorthand.

“Haven’t laid a single finger on her mate- well, that’s not entirely true- she may have felt a very small tingle.”

And now here they were with pirates over running the ship, riffling through trunks and casting whole caskets of no doubt important papers in to the salty sea. A trail of them already floating off in the wake of the ship still carried forward by the current despite the dropping of the sails. If someone was expecting an SOS, an impassioned plea for rescue, they would be disappointed by the company accounts. Here she was with a pirate so close she could taste him, she stopped to work out the exact sense on her tongue- salt and sweat and rough alcohol and spice and something else…something like a man. No powder and no floral waters and nothing like civilisation.

The snap of the locket closing broke her musing and she felt his hand pull at the top of her dress, sudden cool slipping down next to her skin
“Think I will be leaving that with you Luv, though it would fetch me a penny or two, lets say the memory of it being exactly where it is right now will bring me more pleasure..”

“Thank you”. Damnation. Why on earth had she said that? Thanking a pirate, the very notion was faintly ridiculous, but it made him stop and look again at her. His head on one side and his mouth, well that looked about to speak a couple of times before he actually did.

“Now that’s curious. They not teach you the bit about not having to be polite to lesser mortals? Didn’t tell you the bit where you say “You’ll hang for this you bloody pirate? Actually.. Don’t answer that- would spoil the moment..” a smile that wasn’t and he was across the room in a fluid movement like someone tipped a glass
“Now if you will excuse me, Sir, the purpose of this little escapade being two fold, I have reason to speak to your crew.” And with something of an exaggerated bow he backed from the room, closing the door behind him.

“Andrew, will you DO something? There are pirates all over the ship, it is simply horrendous”

Kate’s father looked at the door with a sigh
“What would you have me do exactly Martha- swing from the rigging with a cutlass in my teeth and fight them off single handed?”

“Surely some of the men must be loyal?”

“On what we pay them? Are you quite mad Martha?- what little we do pay I will guarantee goes almost entirely into he pockets of that villain that has the bare faced cheek to call himself Captain.”

Their argument was interspersed with what Kate was straining to hear- a low powerful voice, catching in the wind, so that some of its notes reached her ear and others were carried across the water.
“Father, what is he doing?” a question that her body intended having an answer to as she moved to get closer, all protestations lost in the catch of the door.

The Captain was tied in an undignified manner to the mast, unable to correct the jaunty angle of his hat on account of his hands being tied, his words bound in the cloth around his mouth, though Kate mused quickly that since he had a knife to his throat he probably had decided against speaking of his own accord.

Her eyes widened at the lack of outrage this new development seemed to engender, the men evidently preferring to listen to the pirate, and she lifted her head to take the full picture of him in. It wasn’t exactly clear why he didn’t fall over board, but on the edge of the ship, his heavily ringed hand just glancing the rigging, his legs seemed to bend with the waves like he had every swell contained. Or at least accounted for.

“So what’ll it be? The life of a pirate or the slavery that is the British Merchant Navy? Now don’t get me wrong lads..It’s only the bravest..the most intrepid.. the most independent that will ever make it as a pirate..not all of you poor souls will be suited for a life of freedom.” She followed his hand to where it rested somewhat emphatically, she thought, on the tanned skin of his chest, the colour of which she could see quite plainly due to the rather improper amount exposed to the sea breeze but well, there was no doubt that this man could hold his audience, all eyes following the circles of his hands through the air and the tide of his voice
“But for those that are.. I have need of more crew to sail on Black Pearl and free passage to Tortuga, with all that it can offer, for the rest, which I guarantee is more than any of you will ever be able to swallow in a life time..Now..What do you say? Can you sail under Captain Jack Sparrow or can you not..”

Whispers were growing in the huddles of men that grew to mutters and outright chatter as he stood watching the effect of his name spread through the ship like fire through a timber store, a grin on his face at the ease of it. Well Kate supposed had these men had something to stay for then perhaps they would, but a shout came which grew to a roar, and Kate watched the eyes of the Captain and the First Mate bulge as men scattered to collect what ever meagre belongings they might have from the below deck. What there wasn’t Kate noticed, was blood, nor threats, nor fighting and walking the plank, indeed this perhaps had more order, matter of fact, than the investors meeting she had heard through the thick wooden doors back at home.

“And what of you my pretty- Are you ready to turn pirate?”

She hadn’t even seen him step down, and there he was. Too close again. And now, here on deck, he was mixed up with the taste of the wind

“If I investigated for some considerable time, proper attention given to your proclivities and talents, I am of a mind that I could come up with a whole raft of duties for you..” He had yet to look her in the eye, but obviously found it all extraordinarily amusing, since he had that grin on his face again, his eyes seemed however intent on committing her body to memory, anticipating rather reluctantly her answer

“Jack Sparrow..”

The pirate rolled his eyes at the man standing next to him and was about to speak when Kate blurted out
“I am soon to be engaged and married..” which whilst it was a lie she felt had some import all the same “what possible reason would I have for jumping ship, leaving my father and mother, and accompanying you as some kind of maid..”

He looked at her then
“A maid not quite what I had in mind Luv..but if you insist a few additional light cleaning duties might not go amiss”

“He likes his back scrubbed so he does, Captain Sparrow” The man by his side piped up, and Kate could feel her cheeks burning despite the coolness of the air. They were laughing at her and she felt her stomach knot again, no doubt the sort of proprietary knots despised by pirates she thought bitterly until he dipped his head and caught her chin in his hand

“Mr Gibbs..we have insulted her enough” a small bow, that hid his smile “Please accept my humble apologies, Gibbs here is shamefully base- pirate- I am led to believe. Should you prefer to scrub the decks I am sure I could find some small merit in that.”
Kate was still furrowing her brow to work out exactly what it was that he had said when he winked
“But since you ask Missy, I will give you an example of the very best reason you might find for jumping this ship. With your permission naturally..”

“Kate!” her father’s voice was behind her
She wasn’t quite sure what came first, the thunk of metal embedding itself in wood about an inch from her father’s head, the high scream of her mother or the touch of his lips on hers, she was only sure which had her attention. His mouth was surprisingly soft, hardly even touching hers and Kate, being herself, decided to wait to see how things transpired before ruling out what might in any normal circumstance be considered unwise.

Finding her at least not resistant, if not quite responsive, Jack Sparrow pressed his advantage and parted her lips with his tongue, his hands cupping her cheeks, further discouraging any movement that might necessitate breaking off what was turning out to be a rather more promising experience than he had imagined.

The tip of his tongue entering her mouth sent a shocked wave right through her, someone different was inside her body and the jolt at the pit of her belly that she was sure he could feel, was hardly slamming the door shut. She felt him grin before those hands slipped round her back to hold her and his tongue dipped into her mouth and Kate let herself fall open, the swirl she could feel and the beads of his beard and the spicy tang of his kisses eventually making her pull away, gasping and quite dizzy.
She was amazed that he was still breathing normally, his hands which she now somewhat blushingly felt on her collar bone, apparently quite reluctant to leave her skin.

“Just a small reason Luv..a shot across the bow if you will..” a whisper in her ear before he swung round to face her father.. A step or two to retrieve his knife

“It is past time I was on my way. Being the honourable man and a pirate, I will be leaving your daughter in tact, against some of me better judgements. A crew of sorts” he looked at the Captain and the four others standing beside him with something beyond contempt
“Who can sail you back into port, though if I was you mate I’d start praying to Neptune that he doesn’t wave that trident since these scabrous dogs don’t look like they could sail a boat in the bath never mind a storm. And I will not be burning your ship..on account of this lovely daughter of yours, well and the fact that you will of course return to tell the tale of the day you escaped Captain Jack Sparrow with only your life. The fact that your coffers were full of demands for money will be our little secret ..” he clearly was enjoying himself despite the poor bounty that day
“Oh and one last thing..”
Jack Sparrow the last of the pirates to walk the connecting planks back to what must have been both the most tatty and most imposing looking ship she had ever seen, his voice carrying over even as the ropes slid away
“A piece of advice..If I was you I would find her a husband who can kiss like that, something of a difficult, some of them might say nigh impossible task I grant you, but you might want to try before she sets sail in a dingy to come find me- or I come back for her..”