Unforgivable

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Jack sighed happily. He’d a belly full of food and rum, and the prospect of another delightful evening spent in the most pleasurable of company stretched invitingly before him.

Providing, of course, that said company was finally awake. The last time he’d checked she’d been flat out still, and he’d left her meal on the desk then crept away to eat his own in the galley, not wanting to disturb her.

That had been more than an hour ago - and now, he grinned, seemed the opportune moment for a little disturbing.

Sauntering back to his cabin, he flung the door wide – and stopped dead.

Slowly his eyes travelled over the naked rear and long slim legs of his lover as she bent over to swipe at her feet with a dripping rag.

Her screech bought him out of his appreciative daze with a jolt and he stepped hurriedly inside, slamming the door shut behind him.

“Sorry luv!”

She threw the wet cloth at him and he caught it neatly.

“Honestly Jack! You seeing me naked is one thing – letting the entire crew see me is quite another!”

“Bugger. I’ll havta tell the lads. Lookin’ forward to that, they were.” He shook his head sadly, then ducked as a towel came flying towards him.

“Horrible man! And give that back. I’m not finished.”

“I can help!” he volunteered eagerly, but she snatched the cloth from his outstretched fingers and shook her head.

“I’m sure you can. Except that we both know where that would lead and at the moment I’m more interested in talking.”

“Mmmm.” Nodding vaguely, he watched, mesmerised, as she rubbed the wet rag between her legs.

“Jack! Close your mouth and stop staring! I need you to pay attention.”

“I am luv, I swear I am…”

“I meant to my face, Jack! To what I’m saying!”

She threw the cloth down and reached for her shirt, ignoring his pout.

“I think ye missed a bit, darlin’. Want me to show you?”

“No thank you, Captain!”

“Please? We can talk later…”

Grinning, she leaned in to plant a kiss on his parted lips then stepped smartly out of reach.

“S’that it? S’all I get?”

“For now, yes. And don’t whine. Legendary pirate captains aren’t supposed to whine.”

“You’re a cruel woman, Elizabeth Swann.”

Grumbling, Jack slouched to his chair and sat down, sighing regretfully as she covered her thoroughly delectable body with a decidedly less appealing shirt and pair of breeches.

His mood brightened considerably however, when she lowered herself gracefully onto his lap.

“Now then,” she started, “About our wager...”

“Ye’ve buttoned this shirt all wrong, Lizzie…let me unfasten it fer ye and set it right…”

Impatiently she slapped his wandering fingers away.

“The terms of our wager, Jack!”

Rolling his eyes, he heaved a long-suffering sigh.

“You won, I lost. I graciously accept defeat and cede to yer claim that I can, in point of fact, not survive without rolling yer under me for longer than an hour. Satisfied? Good. Now I do believe it’s been considerably more than an hour already…”

“Captain Sparrow! Take your hand out of my shirt and CONCENTRATE!”

“Buggering hell, Lizzie, yer no bloody fun! Talkin’s highly overrated, y’know.”

“Nevertheless, if you want to enjoy – what was it? ‘Rolling me under you’ – again, you need to settle your debt to me.”

Jack groaned. “Best get on wiv it then. Can’t say me patience will last very long. Specially not considering what yer sitting on. Case yer didn’t notice.”

“Oh I noticed. Hard not to.”

“Decidedly hard,” he smirked, pressing her more firmly against him.

“Will you please stop!”

“Go on then,” he grumbled. “What is it yer want, Lizzie? What’s me punishment?”

“Three things,” she smirked, and his eyes widened in alarm. “My reward is that you have to give me three things.”

“What? Three? But I never …That’s not what we…Bloody pirate!”

“Exactly. You taught me well, my love.”

“Too bloody well,” he muttered darkly. Then, grinning, “So… ye’ll be wanting it once wiv me hands, once wiv me mouth and once wiv me…”

“Jack! There are other things in life, you know!”

His jutting lower lip and wounded expression told her he couldn’t think of any he’d prefer at that moment.

“First of all,” she announced, ignoring him, “I want a bath.”

“But yer clean already!”

“A proper bath. With hot, scented water in a proper bathtub.”

“Next time we make port I’ll sort it.” His hand slid between her thighs. “S’long as I get to be the soap...”

“Secondly,” she continued, grabbing his fingers before they could travel any higher, “I want a story.”

Jack smirked.

“A clean one.”

The smirk faltered.

“And true. Something about your past. Who you were, before all this.”

“Why d’you want to know about me past, Lizzie?”

“I’m curious. About you, not your legend. There’s so much about you I don’t know. And I want to know, everything. Everything you are willing to tell me.”

“Lizzie. Isn’t what’s here an’ now more important than what went before?”

“What went before is what made you who you are. The complicated, exasperating and annoyingly charming pirate who holds my heart. Will you tell me, Jack? Just one story.”

“Just one?” He narrowed his eyes, considering the matter. “Let me think on it. M’sure there’s a reasonably clean, mostly true one somewhere…”

“Thank you.”

He tilted his face towards her and looked pointedly at her mouth.

“Put yer thank you where it counts!”

She obliged, but he broke the kiss after a moment to stare at her quizzically.

“What is it, darlin’? Ye’ve something on yer mind. What’s the third thing?”

Elizabeth frowned, feeling suddenly nervous.

“C’mon. Out wiv it. What is it ye want of me, luv?”

She shifted uneasily in his embrace. In the hours before dawn it had seemed such an easy thing to ask. With his arms wrapped tight around her and the steady rhythm of his heartbeat beneath her palm there had been no question in her mind that he would say yes.

But the man who held her was more than just her lover. He was a pirate, a man who lived by his own rules and valued freedom above all else. What had seemed a natural and obvious request suddenly seemed a huge and unreasonable demand, yet she had to ask it of him.

Whatever the consequences.

She took a deep, steadying breath.

“I want your name, Jack.”

“Me…what?”

“Your name. I want you to give me your name.”

He shot her a puzzled look and shook his head.

“Why, luv? T’wouldn’t work. Wouldn’t suit ye. Sorry darlin’. There can only be one Captain Jack Sparrow. An’ that’s me. Besides - Lizzie suits ye much better.”

“Oh fine!”

She sprang to her feet with an abruptness that made him flinch. She was suddenly, inexplicably furious.

“How dare you make jokes! You’re happy to bed me, claim me as yours, have me bear your children – but sharing your name with me is too much to ask?”

“Lizzie wait!”

He caught up with her at the cabin door, swung her round to face him.

“Let me go!”

“No.”

His voice brooked no argument and she slumped, defeated.

“It doesn’t matter. Never mind. Forget I said anything.”

“Can’t.”

Firmly he steered her towards the bunk, pushed her down and sat beside her. One arm slid round her shoulders, preventing her escape.

“Now then. Let’s try again, shall we?”

She remained silent, staring defiantly at her hands.

Jack sighed.

“Lizabeth. Stop actin’ like a bloody female! Talk to me. What’s got ye so vexed?”

“It may have escaped your notice but I AM a female, Captain Sparrow!”

“Oh luv, there’s no mistakin’ that. I meant ye don’t often act like one. Not all…” he wriggled his fingers, searching for the right word. “…Well, y’know. All hysterical and nonsensical and – er – unfathomable.”

“Thank you. I think.”

“Welcome, luv.” He sighed again. “So…tell me. What exactly is it yer askin me for, Lizzie?”

She shrugged.

“Marriage is it? S’what yer talkin’ about isn’t it? S’what yer askin’ of me?”

“No. Yes. I don’t know. I’m not asking for a fancy wedding and a piece of paper. Just – something. Something to say we belong to each other. To make it official.”

“Ah. I see.”

For several agonising minutes he was silent, and Elizabeth squeezed her eyes shut, wishing she’d never started this.

“I told you, it doesn’t matter, Jack,” she said wearily.

“It most evidently does though, darlin’. Seems like it matters to you a fair bit, in fact.”

“It was just an idea. A suggestion. Not important.”

“I beg to differ. Why’d ye try an’ storm out o’me cabin if it don’t really matter? Didn’t even give me chance to think on it, did ye lass? Can’t spring marriage on a man wiv no warning and expect a straight answer. Not this man, anyway.”

“It can’t have been that unexpected Jack! You have my body, my heart – and now we are trying to make a child together. None of which would be permissible without a legal marriage in most societies.”

“M’ a pirate luv. Not bound by society. An’ neither are you.”

“Are you telling me no, then? You won’t give me this?”

“Elizabeth…”

“Perhaps I should find a man who will then.”

“Perhaps you should.”

Hot, bitter tears stung her eyes and she tried to struggle out of his embrace, but he tightened his grip.

“Don’t threaten me, darlin’,” he said quietly. “If ye want to go I’ll not stop ye, no matter how much losin’ ye would cost me.”

“I don’t want to go,” she sniffed. “I love you, you know that. I just want the rest of the world to know it too.”

“To what purpose? S’long as we know it?”

“To the purpose of giving me a place, a proper title on this ship Jack, and among the crew. What am I? They know the nature of our relationship – but what am I? A wench bought on board to warm Captain Sparrow’s bed ? And when my belly is full of your child – what shall I be then?”

He released her so suddenly she almost lost her balance, stalked to his desk and yanked open one of the drawers.

“I’ll show yer exactly what ye are, Miss Swann.”

Pulling out a small wooden box, he tucked it into his sash then turned back to her and held out his hand.

“C’mon. Come wiv me. Now.”

She went, wiping her eyes, and obediently curled her fingers into his.

“What is that? Where are we going, Jack?”

But her questions fell on deaf ears as he tugged her in his wake.

When they reached the helm he stopped abruptly.

From his position at the wheel Gibbs gave them a curious glance.

Releasing Elizabeth’s hand, he muttered something to the older man. Gibbs cast a quick, curious glance at his Captain, nodded and scurried away.

Then turning back to Elizabeth, Jack looked her up and down and shook his head.

“No. Not good. Won’t do. Ye’ll have to change.”

“What? Why? Jack what are you…”

“No no!! No talkin’. No arguin’!” he waved his hands at her. “Go on. Go! Hurry up! Go an’ look fer that dress I don’t have in me cabin. ‘Tis in the trunk by the window.”

When she didn’t move he placed a hand on her shoulder and turned her firmly towards the steps.

“Are ye still here? Go! Shoo!”


Elizabeth discovered that dressing in haste was not an easy task when one’s whole body trembled with nervous excitement, and her attempts were further impeded by the fact that she had to keep stopping to wipe her eyes.

The trunk had yielded, amongst other things, a fine cotton shift trimmed with lace and a daringly low-cut dress of pale lemon silk, fastened at the front with a row of tiny, impossibly fiddly buttons. There was no corset – to her infinite relief – but there was a delicate lace shawl that looked to have started life as white, which she draped strategically over her exposed cleavage.

Having used her fingers to comb the worst tangles from her hair, she looked down at herself and sighed. After so long spent in breeches this feminine attire felt strange and unfamiliar. The dress, which judging from its musty smell had resided in the trunk for some time, hung loosely on her slim frame. And donning it had stirred unwelcome memories of her last, aborted wedding…

With this final thought she frowned. What exactly DID he have in mind?

Was he, despite his initial reluctance, intending to wed her after all, right now? And if so – how? Surely he wouldn’t – couldn’t conduct his own marriage? Then again, he was, as he frequently reminded her, Captain Jack Sparrow… A sudden vision of her eccentric pirate leaping wildly from the role of officiator to groom and back again filled her head, and she winced. Crawling into the bunk and pulling the covers over her head suddenly seemed an infinitely more appealing idea…

Her musings were rudely interrupted when the door flew open to admit her future – or not – husband, who stalked into the cabin and glared at her accusingly.

“C’mon luv! What’re ye sitting there for? Go! On deck! Right now!”

Elizabeth had opened her mouth to protest when he forestalled her with a low, appreciative whistle.

“Lovely, darlin’. Not so lovely as what ye weren’t wearing earlier – but ye’ll certainly do for this.”

“What is this, Jack? What are you planning?”

“Not entirely sure meself yet. But if ye get yer undeniably and entirely too tempting self on deck and allow whatever is about to transpire to – well – transpire, we can progress to the more pleasurable part of the proceedings without delay. Savvy?”

“Jack…”

“Oh. And bring me chair.”

“But I…”

“Never mind. I’ll bring it meself.”


Elizabeth’s nerves were not improved when she emerged from the cabin. It seemed the entire crew were jostling for position outside the Captain’s quarters, and her appearance triggered off a surge of muttering and muted laughter.

She tugged the shawl higher, and when Jack barged past, chair held out in front of him like a shield, she scurried after him gratefully.

Having set the chair down near the wheel and instructed Elizabeth to sit on it, Jack turned to his men and silenced their chatter with a stern look.

“Somethin’ I need fer yous all to witness, lads,” he announced, and winked. Then he turned to Elizabeth.

“Last night, Miss Swann, did ye or did ye not lay claim to the permanent and long-standing possession of me body, heart and soul?”

“I…er...”

And less’n half an hour ago did ye not also request addin’ me very name to yer list of demands?”

“Jack! What on earth are you…”

“Well, Miss Swann? Tell me – tell me again, in front of all these here witnesses - exactly what it is yer askin’ of me.”

He stared at her and she stared right back, torn between the desire to slap his face, push him overboard or fling herself into his arms.

Finally she lifted her chin determinedly and looked past him to the watching crew.

“What I want,” she said loudly, “Is for Captain Sparrow to make a public acknowledgement of our union. To let every man, on this ship and beyond it, know that I am his and he is mine.”

Jack smiled approvingly and stepped towards her. His arm snaked round her shoulders, gave a comforting squeeze.

“Never gave much care to what the rest o’ the world thinks o’ me Lizzie,” he told her softly. “ S’long as we know it, that’s all that matters to me.”

Then he turned back to his goggle-eyed men.

“I don’t give me name away to anyone who asks, y’know lads. Tis one of the few things in this world men like us can claim fer our own. But I want it known by every last swab standin’ here that I’d be honoured to have this fine wench share it. If me gorgeous little swan wants to be a sparrow then I’m good wiv it. More than good wiv it.”

Pulling the wooden box from his sash, he pressed into Elizabeth’s hand. It fitted neatly into her palm, the wood smooth and unmarked and offering no clue to its contents.

“Open it, darlin’.” he told her, and she lifted the lid.

Inside, nestled on a swathe of faded blue silk, was a plain gold band.

“Was me mum’s,” Jack told her quietly. “All I have of her. Will ye wear it fer me Lizzie? Let me bind it in yer hair?”

Elizabeth was suddenly incapable of speech. Instead she turned, wrapped both arms around his waist and hugged him tight. Behind her came a collective “Aaah!” of approval, and some distant part of her mind registered amusement to hear such a sound from the lips of supposedly bloodthirsty pirates.

“Ye want it then?”

An emphatic nod, and he dropped a tender kiss on her bent head before pushing her gently away.

“Turn round then. An’ keep still!”

Elizabeth leaned back obediently, his mother’s ring cradled in her palm, and attempted to make sense of the emotions that swelled in her chest as he set to work.

Happiness? Yes, but more, much more than that. Love? Oh, never did a word seem so inadequate to express the depth of feelings she had for this man! Peaceful? Yes, there was a sense of peace that she’d never experienced before, as though she’d finally reached a place that she’d always known, in her heart, she was meant to be. Exhilarated? Yes. She could take on the world with him beside her. Nothing and no one could stand in her way; his very presence filled her with a joy so fierce and intense it that made her feel invincible.

She closed her eyes and let the feelings wash over her, scarcely noticing when he leaned over to pluck the ring from her hand. Then he was patting her shoulder, announcing it was done, and she dragged herself reluctantly back to earth.

“Here,” he said, guiding her fingers along the smooth braid which started at the nape of her neck. Near the end was the ring, woven neatly into her hair.

“Oh Jack!”

“Don’t be getting all tearful on me now Lizzie!” he mumbled, hearing the wobble in her voice.

Swinging round to face him, the expression in his dark brown eyes made her breath catch and she threw herself into his embrace.

They stood like that, swaying in each others arms, oblivious to their fascinated audience, until both had recovered their composure.

Then an amused voice from the deck broke the silence.

“Cap’n? Will ye be needing us to witness yer honeymoon an all?”

Jack lifted his head and bared his teeth in a feral grin.

“Nay lad,” he drawled. “I think meself and Miss Swann - er – Sparrow – can manage that part by ourselves.” Sliding his hands from her waist to her backside, he pulled her against him and gave an exaggerated thrust of his hips. She squawked in protest and his men roared their appreciation.

“We’ll be leaving ye to the care of Mr Gibbs,” he continued, “Along wiv somethin’ from the rum locker fer you all to toast our – well, our unwedded weddin’-like bliss.”

Amid the cheering which greeted this announcement, he relaxed his hold on a blushing Elizabeth and pushed her gently round to face the crew. Slinging one arm possessively round her shoulders, he waited patiently for the noise to abate.

“Y’see, luv,” he told her in a loud, very audible whisper, “If they make enough noise wiv their celebratory celebrations they’ll mebbe drown out the noises we’ll be makin’ durin’ our own pleasurable appreciation of our marriagey-type nuptials. Savvy?”

Jack’s recently renamed lover responded by squirming out of his embrace and pulling the shawl quickly over her head.

“Indeed, Captain Sparrow?” came a muffled voice from beneath the grubby white lace. “Then they’ll need to be VERY loud to mask the sounds of your face being repeatedly slapped!”

With as much dignity as she could muster – which admittedly wasn’t much – Elizabeth stalked away, the sniggering pirates hastily parting to let her through.

Once the loud slamming of his cabin door announced that she’d reached her destination, Jack rolled his eyes and gave an exaggerated sigh.

“I tell ye, lads,” he groaned dramatically, “Tis bloody hard work bein’ an unlawfully married man!”