More Seductive Than Purity

Chapter Five



Jack had removed the various sashes and belts and trinkets that were swathed around his body. He had managed to peel off his shirt and one of his boots, but the other one was being more awkward. Jack absolutely refused to start lurching around the cabin clutching at the boot until it came off. It just wasn’t dignified, and also he didn’t want to wake Will. It hadn’t really occurred to him that sitting down would ease the process. All that mattered was speed and proximity to Will. Reluctantly averting his gaze from the figure on the bed, Jack shot the recalcitrant boot a look that conveyed a degree of malice usually only reserved for certain employees of certain naval organisations. The boot surrendered and Jack triumphantly dropped it onto the gradually mounting pile that was creeping across the floor. He stepped out of his breeches and, finally naked, raised a victorious eyebrow and smirked at the heap in front of him. Will always tried to make him put his clothes somewhere, anywhere sensible, like a chair, or even (by all that’s unholy) suggesting he use the carved mahogany armoire that stood near the bed, which was presently filled with sundry maps, bits of rope, and a stuffed ocelot that Jack had stolen from a merchant ship last year. Will had banished it from the cabin during his recuperation, due to its odoriferous presence and unsettling demeanour, which managed to be simultaneously baleful and piteous. There were no clothes at all in the armoire. Will’s clothes were either neatly folded in the squat chest of drawers, or hung from the back of the door.

“It makes it easier for you to find things when you get dressed again,” Will would insist, “And then you won’t start stomping around the cabin saying that something’s gone missing, or a rat’s run off with it. Plus we won’t have a repeat of last month.” (Last month they had been roused in the middle of the night when the alarm was raised by Gibbs that a small fire had broken out on deck. It turned out that Jack was unable to locate any garments whatsoever, save for his hat, his pistol, and one of his sashes. And it turned out that the fire had been caused by Mr Cotton’s parrot flapping into a lantern. Jack was so furious at being woken up because of ‘tha’ bloody beaky popinjay bastard’, that no one, not even Will, had had the courage to raise the merest ghost of a smile at the sight of Jack wildly brandishing his pistol, naked save for hat and strategically placed sash, striding around on deck trying his best to shoot the offending fowl.) Jack experimentally used his foot to insinuate the tangled mess under the bed, but was once again completely distracted by the sight of the sleeping Will, who seemed to be breathing more rapidly now. Absently, Jack trailed the fingers of one hand across his torso, circling the flat skin of his stomach, sticky in the heat. He ran his thumb across the crest of a jutting hipbone, his palm sliding over the dark curls between his legs, fingers running one by one up his swelling shaft to make a fist and…



Jack had stopped moving again. Will clenched his nails into his palm underneath the pillow, his teeth gritted. The waiting was almost unbearable now. His whole body thrummed with the tension of this self-imposed torture. He wouldn’t turn over. Not now. He knew that Jack was naked now and still watching him, and this thought vibrated across the tightly wound cord of desire binding his body. Involuntarily he breathed in sharply, shuddering slightly. And then…



Rapt in sensation as he watched Will, Jack vaguely thought about the Oriental belief in reincarnation that he’d encountered on his voyages. His brain started to follow its own special Gordian brand of Jack-logic, while his body was totally absorbed in its onanistic appreciation of Will.

“If I accept tha’… what’s the bloody thing called? Something Greek… Bloody would be… Oh yeah… metempsychosis is true, I must’ve been some kind of saint last time round. ‘Cause I know I don’t deserve this, this, lovely, mmm… God, your skin… You… Brave and awkward and beautiful and mine… Hang on, technically I’ve died once already in this lifetime and that weren’t so very terrible, so is this a new lifetime? But, technically both of these lifetimes have been characterised by a surfeit of wickedness, which don’t really bode favourably for the next go. Oh well, if I have to come back next time as a… a…” Jack tried to think of the thing he’d least like to be, but the most he could manage was a slug wearing Cutler Beckett’s wig. “It’s worth it. Oh, and I s’pose I don’t actually believe in it, so it’s all moot really. And anyway, if this is sin, it’s just, well, so much fun. Especially with you….” Jack shivered as Will sighed loudly, his chest rising and falling. Something like liquid fire shot through Jack’s solar plexus, and he felt the blood in his chest thumping. The syllogistic knot in his brain unravelled slightly, and for an instant he had one thought that he knew was absolutely right.

“Everythin’s better with Will.” His expression changed, the smirk loosened, darkened, became something altogether more determined and animalistic. And then…



Suddenly Will was aware of warm, wet pressure at the base of his spine, as Jack slithered his tongue up the long, damp groove of his back, all the way up to his neck, before he sank his teeth into the soft skin where it met the shoulder, biting down hard. Will gasped as his eyes snapped open,

“Ah, Jack! Ow!”

“Are you awake now?” Jack’s reply was close to a growl.

Will rolled over, and the bedsheet finally lost the battle to keep him covered. Jack didn’t get nearly enough time to appreciate this new visual delight before Will feverishly gripped his arms and pulled Jack down towards him.

“What took you so long?” Will breathed into Jack’s neck, his lips just brushing the edge of his earlobe. His fingers bit deep into Jack’s skin, sliding over his shoulder blades and tangling into the dark, labyrinthine skeins that hung down and curtained the faces of both men. Slightly mystified, Jack pulled his head back and looked at Will quizzically, feeling the tug against his scalp where Will had reined him in.

“Night watch tends to last exactly the time it takes until dawn, don’t it?”

This was a perfectly good answer, which of course was not what Will had meant by the question. Smiling enigmatically, he relinquished his grip on Jack’s hair, and got up onto his knees to face him. Jack wrapped his arms around Will and pulled him close. He was about to kiss him, then suddenly stopped and looked down, registering that Will’s cock was already hard too, jutting against him, the tip leaking a few drops onto his hip. Jack looked up at Will archly, and saw the already enigmatic smile become positively inscrutable. Will, to his chagrin, felt slightly bashful again and lowered his eyes, blushing very slightly, his dark eyelashes almost touching the flushed cheekbones.

“Will, I know I’m irresistible,” Jack drawled lasciviously as Will pouted in mock indignation, eyebrows raised as Jack leered at him, “but really, that is an impressively expeditious response.”

“I was having a very good dream,” Will said huskily.

“Oh, really? I see,” Jack raised his eyebrows and tilted his head, smiling flirtatiously. “Was I in it?”

Will regained his temerity but could barely stifle a snigger as he gave Jack the most innocent look he could muster, and replied,

“Yes Jack. You were very much in it.” Then he convulsed as the giggles got the better of him.

Jack threw his head back and crowed, gold teeth glinting, and hugged Will to him. When they had reached some degree of composure, Jack took Will’s face in his hands, pressed the full length of his body against him, and said,

“I s’pose this is my cue to interject a terrible pun about makin’ your dreams come true, is it darlin’?” The words were typically facetious, but somewhat undermined by Jack’s ardent tone, the intense look in his dark eyes, and the fact that Will could feel him trembling slightly. Will smiled gently and shook his head.

“I prefer being awake. And no jokes, Jack. Just you.”

And he put his lips to Jack’s and kissed him softly, wet and silky, feeling Jack’s mouth open. All Will could focus on was the giddying taste of Jack’s tongue, all spices and salt and heat and intoxication. He felt Jack deftly remove the queue binding his hair, sending shivers down his neck as Jack ran his fingers over the roots, spreading the ringlets over Will’s shoulders.

Will made to pull back so he could look into Jack’s face, but Jack caught his lower lip between his teeth, biting down gently at first, then harder as he felt Will clutch at his hips and surge against him, growling. Will raked his nails over Jack’s buttocks, and dug his fingers into the backs of his thighs. Jack gasped, a low chuckle rumbling at the back of his throat, and he reluctantly yielded the lip to its rightful owner. He relished how fiercely responsive Will was to every touch. Will was already retaliating by assaulting Jack’s neck and shoulders with his teeth, writhing against Jack’s sinuous body. Jack hooked Will tightly round the throat with one hand and drew him up until their faces were level with each other. With the other hand he softly ran his fingers over the reddened skin of Will’s afflicted lip. Will was panting hard, and gave Jack a look that was lustfully murderous.

“Bastard,” he hissed through his constricted windpipe. Jack laughed and relaxed his stranglehold. Resting his forehead against Will’s, he mouthed the word,

“Pirate,” then yelped as Will punched him in the ribs.

“Oh, okay, I s’pose I deserved that,” Jack conceded. Laughing, they leaned against each other, mouths close together, teasing, almost touching each other but not quite. Jack ran his finger over Will’s lip again, then followed it with his tongue, wrapping his arms round Will as he brought one knee up onto the bed, one hand against the curve of Will’s buttocks. Jack locked his hips with Will’s, bucking rhythmically against him as he covered his mouth with a kiss; deep, slow, and voluptuous. Time expanded with each heartbeat. Jack could hear the rushing sound of blood in his ears, the creak of the ship all around them, the whispering voice of the rain on the circling sea. He was aware most of all of the muffled purring sounds coming from Will, and of Will’s hands stroking down his back, and for a moment he felt dizzy, lost in the sensual music of skin on skin, mouth on mouth, cock on cock.

When they pulled apart they were both breathing raggedly. Jack took Will’s face in his hands again, and abandoning his usual verbosity said simply, hungrily,

“Suck me.”

Will closed his eyes and suddenly felt light-headed, clinging to Jack’s arms as he felt a flood of heat tingle over him. He tilted his head and kissed Jack again, hard, running his hands lightly over Jack’s chest, his thumbs brushing each nipple. This time when Will pulled back it was Jack who had his eyes shut, his jaw set tight, nostrils flaring. Jack’s eyes slowly opened, and he looked at Will from under his lashes, roguish, smouldering.

Will licked his lips, and bent his head to Jack’s neck, kissing a blood-hot path over his collarbone. He rested one hand in the small of Jack’s back, pulling him close, and brought the other up to Jack’s chest again, running his palm over the hardening peaks of his nipples, fully aware of the effect the callouses on his hands would have. Will bent his head lower, and his mouth closed over one of the sensitive mounds, pink against the brown of Jack’s chest. He rocked against Jack, listening to the intermittent rasping moans vibrate through Jack’s body as he licked and sucked at the nipple, his hand trailing slowly down over the taut skin of Jack’s abdomen. He moved across to the other nipple, and felt Jack bend to kiss the top of his head, his hands tangling in Will’s hair.

Will kissed and licked and sucked a trail down the middle of Jack’s body, his tongue outlining the edge of Jack’s ribcage. He bit into the soft skin at Jack’s waist, holding the flesh in his mouth, the musky scent of Jack’s skin on his lips, wanting the taste and texture of Jack to flood his mouth. He felt Jack grasp his shoulders, and slid both hands up Jack’s thighs, running his thumbs over the sharp hipbones, and bringing his hands round to grip at the hard muscle of Jack’s buttocks. Will felt his own body shiver, answering the tremor he felt running through Jack. He took his mouth away from Jack’s waist and leaned back slightly, cocking his head to admire the reddening mark he had left on the amber skin. He felt Jack’s hand under his chin, tilting his head back so that he could see Jack staring down at him, eyes heavy with desire.

“Will, I want your mouth on my cock.”

A little, inarticulate moan escaped from Will’s lips, and he flicked his eyes down to the hard, dark shaft between Jack’s hips, a pale bead glinting at its tip. He glanced up at Jack again, holding his gaze, and brought one hand up to his mouth, licking his thumb slowly. He reached down and slid his thumb over the head of Jack’s cock, slicking the moisture from the slit. Then he raised his thumb back to his mouth, ran it over his lips, and caught a stunned Jack by the hair, pulling him down into a kiss that tasted of Jack’s mouth and Jack’s cock at the same time. Will thought he might just explode with pleasure. Jack groaned into the kiss, and Will felt nails digging into his back as he used his tongue to thrust the taste of Jack deeper into Jack’s own mouth. Jack eventually wrenched his mouth away, panting. His tongue flicked over his lips as they curled into an obscene snarl.

“Are you tryin’ to kill me?” His voice was rough at the edges. “Let’s not finish this ‘fore we’ve even started.” Will’s only answer was to smile his prettiest smile, then in an instant he had crouched down and enveloped the head of Jack’s cock between his lips, one hand grasping the thick shaft, the other stroking along the dark trail of hair below Jack’s navel, over the fine skin of his hipbones, fingers raking through the curls on his tightening balls. From somewhere above his head, Will heard the gasp of several disjointed sentences, as he worked his mouth and tongue over Jack’s cock, his hand rhythmically pumping the shaft.

“Ohhh. I see… ah, yes… so you do mean to…ah!... kill me…. Mmm… yes, like that… I wouldn’t have… ooh… minded dying so much last time if… oh bloody hell, Will, yes!... if that had been the method… the hmm…. mmmethod of dispatch.”

Will was trying to get as much of Jack’s cock into his mouth as he could. He knew he hadn’t had as much of a chance to master this particular art as Jack, though student and teacher never missed a lesson. Will wondered absently if he might find it easier to concentrate if his mentor didn’t keep distracting him with a running commentary. Will slid his mouth down the shaft again, his thumb and two fingers grasping the base, feeling the head press against the back of his throat. His other hand cupped Jack’s balls, the fingers rubbing the sensitive ridge behind them. Jack’s voice had softened again to a whisper, his hips rocking very slightly, mindful of the few limitations Will still had.

“Will, ah, Will…Ohh yes! Steady… Ah, steady, luv…”

Will felt another flush of heat to his groin, and an ache ran though him as his cock throbbed, twitching up towards his belly. He relished doing this to Jack, partly because it gave him an immense sense of satisfaction to reduce Jack to a quivering wreck, but mainly because he couldn’t get enough of him. Will moaned and wrapped his arms round Jack’s waist, looking up into his eyes, wanting more than anything in that moment for Jack to fuck his mouth.

And Jack knew it; he was momentarily silenced as he cradled Will’s face in his hands, feeling his cheeks hollow as he sucked the tight skin of the head. Jack hardly dared to look at the sight of his cock sliding into Will’s mouth. He knew that Will didn’t realise the reason he talked so much while Will did this. It was one of the only ways Jack could focus his mind enough to keep himself from coming. And right now even Jack had run out of words, so he had to stop this right now because there was so much more he planned to do before he came. With some difficulty he regained the power of speech and said breathlessly,

“Will, lie on your back.” Will made an annoyed sound at the back of his throat. The resulting vibration made Jack sway slightly as he tried to pull back from his peak. Will clung more tightly to Jack’s waist, reluctant to let him go. Jack inhaled sharply,

“Will!” he barked, “that’s an order!”

That had the desired effect as Will laughed and leaned back, letting Jack’s cock ease out of his mouth.

“Insubordination, eh?” Jack said wryly, trying to give Will his sternest glare as he disentangled the strong arms from his waist.

“Mutiny, I’m afraid,” Will nodded sadly, his eyes laughing.

“Mutiny?” Jack tried to wrestle Will down onto the bed. “Really? Can’t stand for that, can I, darlin’?” Will was putting up a convincing semblance of a fight, grappling against each lock Jack tried to put him in, but he caved in when Jack nuzzled his neck and crooned,

“You’ve already won, you know.”

He pushed Will slowly down onto the pillows, his hands against Will’s chest, and leaned over him. He planted kisses on Will’s cheeks; his forehead, which Jack felt wrinkle with amusement; the end of his nose; the bare part of his chin between the patches of hair; and the petal-soft skin of his eyelids, the quivering lashes tickling against Jack’s mouth. Only then did Jack press his lips to Will’s, his hands running up Will’s arms, feeling the muscles flex as Will put his hands over Jack’s. He leaned back and looked down at Will. Will opened his eyes and Jack watched as Will looked over him, his eyes dark like Aztec cacao, running over Jack’s body.

“No,” Will said in a low, thick voice, “I think you won.”

He reached out a hand and rested it lightly on Jack’s hip, meeting Jack’s gaze.

“I want you so much, Jack.”

Those were the words Jack liked to hear Will say most of all. He knelt up on the bed, his right hand on Will, sketching a calligraphy of desire across his ribs. In a swift, well-practised series of movements, Jack opened the drawer on the beside table with his left hand, pulled out a small, many-faceted glass bottle, flipped open the lid, and paused fleetingly from his ministrations to remove the rings from his other hand before dripping the oil over it to anoint Will’s parted thighs. He leaned across Will to deposit the bottle back on the table, gold light shattering through it from the lamp. Will wrapped his arms around Jack, pulling him down on top of him, feeling the weight of him. He could feel Jack’s heartbeat pulsing against his chest, and felt Jack’s cock alongside his own, slick from his mouth and the oil on his thighs; he tilted his hips upwards to slide against it, watching the mercurial expressions on Jack’s face. Jack bent down and put his lips to Will’s, flicking his tongue in and out of Will’s mouth, rolling his hips in response and making the head of his cock rub against Will’s. Will moaned into Jack’s mouth, and he felt the slippery hand work its way down between their bodies and make a fist over both their cocks, rubbing over the length of them. Jack propped himself up on his free elbow and looked down at Will as he slithered his hand further down over Will’s aching balls, feeling them spasm slightly at his touch. He slid his knuckles over the mound of skin behind them, grinning as he saw Will’s mouth make a perfect ‘O’, then, one by one, brushed the oiled fingers against the pursed flesh of Will’s arse. Jack softly ran a finger in circles over the ridges of skin, pressing delicately but insistently at the entrance, watching as Will went very quiet and wide-eyed. Jack suddenly felt a rush of desire, felt the tight band of muscle throb, and slipped his finger inside. He felt the warm heat clamp around his fingertip, and slowly, inexorably, started to spiral the digit round, gradually easing the finger deeper and deeper into Will’s body. He saw Will heave a sobbing breath, a flush spreading up his chest and neck and blossoming into his lips and cheeks. Will tilted his hips up to impale himself further onto Jack’s finger, his hand locked round Jack’s right arm, driving him in. Jack licked across Will’s open mouth as he heard the strangled gasp,

“Oh, oh, Jack! Yesss.”

Jack nuzzled the tip of Will’s nose with his own and pulled back to look deep into the eyes that were now almost black, the rich brown swallowed up by the pupils. Resting his weight on his elbow, Jack put his left hand to Will’s face, tenderly brushing Will’s cheek with the back of his knuckles, the large amethyst ring on his finger catching the light and pooling a shard of violet onto Will’s face.

Will felt a another finger pressing against the taut ring between his legs, as Jack smiled down at him then bent his head to suck at Will’s Adam’s apple. Will brought his hands up over his head, hooked his fingers into the headboard and gripped the wood as he bore down onto the second finger. Jack growled, and Will felt the noise radiate across his throat. He felt Jack’s tongue slide over the crook of his neck, through the hair of his armpit, and up the thin, sensitive skin along the underside of his arm, paler and more silvery here than over his caramel shoulders. Here and there, a lock of Jack’s hair would tumble over onto Will’s chest or arms, or brush against his face in a soft, tingling kiss. The subtle shivers running through his body intensified as Jack blew gently against the wet streak his tongue had marked on Will’s arm. Then Jack curled his fingers up inside Will and pressed against the knot of nerves that made Will arch up off the bed like a bow, yelping,

“Nyaaah! Jack, please!” Will wasn’t quite sure what exactly he was begging for. Anything. Everything. Whatever it was he wanted it right now. He heard Jack laugh evilly, then watched him attack his chest with his tongue and teeth, nipping and biting at the skin, scoring a troupe of red marks across his waist with his nails that matched the streaks from days and nights before. Will thrashed under the onslaught and felt the fingers slide all the way in. Jack marked out so many convoluted, rapidly drawn trails over Will’s stomach with his tongue that his whole belly felt wet and frantic for more stimulation. He cried out again as first one, then the other nipple was squeezed brutally by Jack’s thumb and forefinger, then stroked and soothed with the lightest touch, until they were both red and throbbing. Beneath the splayed locks of Jack’s hair, Will saw him fasten his mouth over his navel, plundering it with his tongue as he looked up at Will, his eyes like sparks of black flint striking against steel. Will brought his hands down and tucked them at the back of Jack’s neck, drawing the hair back so he could see his face. Jack bent lower and ran the flat of his tongue over each of Will’s hipbones, the edge of his lower lip dragging across the glistening path. His palm was pressed against the centre of Will’s chest, right over his solar plexus, and Will could feel his heart hammering under Jack’s fingers. Jack lifted his head and leaned over Will’s pulsing cock. The tip was wet again, and each time it twitched Will felt the moisture leak further over his skin. Jack looked directly up at Will, and slowly started moving his hand down Will’s body. The two beads that swung from the plaits on Jack’s chin sat on either side of Will’s shaft, and Jack edged his neck forwards so that they ran along the length of it, allowing only this tortuously delicate stimulation as he watched Will with a devilish smile. Will saw lightening flare again as Jack changed the spiralling motion of his fingers into a rhythmic thrust, and thundered,

“Jack! Oh, please… I want… I want you to… Ooooh!”

“You’re gonna have to be more specific than that, luv.”

“Ahh! Dammit, Jack!” Jack’s reply was not only infuriating because of his feigned incomprehension of Will’s request, but also because when he spoke the beads danced excruciatingly over the head of Will’s cock. Jack’s hand was outlining the shape of Will’s shaft with a finger that he had slicked over the sticky wetness that was seeping onto Will’s abdomen. The fingers of the other hand between Will’s legs started scissoring open now every time Jack withdrew them. Will gripped the back of Jack’s neck, fighting to master the waves of sensation that were washing over him and threatened to pull him under. He managed to draw enough air into his lungs to groan,

“Your mouth. Use your mouth on me.”

Jack gripped Will’s right hip firmly, his forearm and elbow pressing against the thigh, anticipating the response he would get a moment later as he shifted further down the bed, laying his head between Will’s splayed thighs. He watched his own fingers moving inside Will for a moment, watched the rippling contractions pulse round them, then lifted his head and ran his tongue over the hair on Will’s balls. Not the skin, just the fine, smoky hair wreathing his groin. Jack clutched at the bucking hip and forced it down onto the bed, jerking his head back before Will could rear forwards and into Jack’s mouth. Jack inclined his head again, and put his lips to the quivering skin on the inside of one of Will’s thighs, running a tantalising line of kisses up towards the juncture of Will’s grinding hips. Jack moved over Will’s balls again, this time only allowing a long, hot, exhalation over the maddened skin, before kissing another line down the inside of the other thigh. He rested his head there for just long enough to remove his hand briefly from the wriggling hips to smack at one of Will’s hands, which were balled into fists that gripped at Jack’s hair, tugging roughly. It was not the kind of distraction he needed when he was doing his best to torture Will.

“Oi! Hands off me trinkets!” Jack grumbled, then heard the crotchety response,

“What do you expect me to do?” The kisses Jack bestowed on the thighs turned into increasingly savage bites, and the hands were back in his hair again as Will clamped his legs round Jack’s head.

“Oh! Ow! Jack. Jack….JACK?!”

“Wha’?” came the muffled reply.

“You know damn well what!”

“Oh, wha’, like this?”

Jack twisted his fingers inside Will, who responded with a guttural moan and unclenched his thighs. Jack extended his tongue and swiped it along the underside of Will’s balls, opening his mouth wide and drawing one of the sacs between his lips, rolling it against the roof of his mouth.

“Mnnhhh… Just like that.” Jack peered over the edge of Will’s hip and saw the satisfied smile curving Will’s lips. He licked across to the other ball and flicked light kisses over its tightening surface. Relinquishing his grasp on the grinding hip, pigmented red by his grip, he trailed his fingers over towards Will’s cock. He dangled the hand temptingly over the weeping shaft, which twitched upwards, trying to meet the promise of friction. Extending his forefinger, he softly meandered it up along the pulsing vein, then circled the ridge around the head, slicking the wetness he found there over the minute, hypersensitive thread under the heart-shaped tip. Will dug his fingers into the scruff of Jack’s neck and writhed, his mouth opening wide,

“Ahhhh! More!”

That did the trick. Jack didn’t wait to hear the loud, shuddering cry subside before he extracted another, even more raucous howl as he ran his tongue along the path his finger had made, finally allowing himself the privilege of the taste of Will. He wrapped his hand around the swollen shaft tightly, the heated skin searing his fist, and as he brought it to his lips he started to add a third finger to the two already inside Will. He heard the fitful panting moans rise a pitch as he lapped his tongue over the glistening tip again. Will tasted like hot paradise and everlasting torment, like flames and bitter seawater, like musk and tears. “He tastes like he’s mine,” Jack thought. He glanced up again, and saw that Will had propped himself up on one arm, the fingers of his hand playing with his own nipple, his head lolling against his shoulder, biting his lip between gasps, his eyes half-mast. He was watching Jack’s every move. Jack recognised the silent challenge in Will’s eyes, and felt the wild, dangerous craving for him tighten like a fetter around his chest. Without taking his eyes off Will, Jack opened his mouth and moistened his lower lip, then began to run the head of Will’s cock languorously over the glossy wet skin. Will’s eyes had started to get wider. “Good,” Jack thought. The third finger extended fully into the sleek, velvety hole, and Jack lingeringly spread them apart, stroking the tender spot inside. Will’s head snapped back as he yelped, the bronze curls flying over his shoulders. “Even better,” Jack observed with approval. Will was watching him again, one eyebrow raised in mute admiration. Slowly, deliberately, Jack flicked out his tongue out across the head of Will’s cock, gliding it over the crown before blowing lightly across the engorged flesh. He couldn’t stop the edges of his mouth curving wantonly as he slid his tongue out again. He pressed the pointed tip into the wet slit on the head of Will’s cock, flickering it in and out of the tiny hole, teasing, tasting. Fucking it with his tongue. He lapped at the taste of Will, the milky droplets as potent as any opiate.

Will had stopped breathing. His eyes were huge. His cheeks, crimson.

“Excellent,” thought Jack, with more than a little pride. He withdrew his tongue again and whispered with a broad grin,

“Just how you like it, eh?” Will nodded, a slightly dazed smile forming at his mouth. He tried to say something, but the most he could manage was,

“Nngh.” Then his arm gave way and he slumped back into the pillow as Jack’s mouth fastened over his cock and slid down it until his lips and nose were buried in the mass of dark curls at the root. Will clasped his hands to his temples, as though trying to shield himself from being overwhelmed too quickly as his cock slid down Jack’s throat again, and Jack’s finger’s slid up into his arse. Will’s hips started to pulse of their own accord, and Jack shimmied his hand up over the scratches on Will’s waist, the thumb brushing across his damp navel. Jack sucked at the crown of Will’s cock, twisting his head from side to side, pressing his lower lip against the tender pleat of skin under the head until Will was making feral noises of need.

Jack’s fingers traced a line up Will’s neck, over the sensitive skin at the edge of his ear, and along his jaw, his jet eyes fixed on Will’s face, watching him bite at his lip as Jack’s fiendish mouth continued to suck at Will’s cock. Will turned his head, his mouth sheathing one of Jack’s fingers in warm wetness right up to its jewelled hilt, his teeth worrying at Jack’s knuckle, his tongue emulating the movement at his groin. Jack moaned around Will’s cock as he felt the echo on his finger of what his own mouth was doing. He was still desperately hard himself, grinding against the mattress. He continued the low, humming vibration of the moan, buzzing against the cockhead at the back of his throat. Jack’s head was suddenly gripped between Will thighs again. He felt sharp white teeth fasten round the finger inside Will’s mouth, the fingers in Will’s arse gripped by the sudden muscle spasms. Will was shaking his head from side to side, strangled words ravelled into incoherence by the digit between his lips. Jack stopped moving and lay motionless, watching the delirious expression on Will’s face. He thought to himself,

“Would the words you’re looking for be, ‘Wait! Stop! I’m going to come!’ by any chance, dear William?”

Will was aware of the hand prizing open his jaw, and the finger tugging out from between his clenched teeth. He was close, but he wanted more, and it was taking all his self-control not to release into the wet heat pulling on his groin. The words spilled over his lips.

“Ah! Jack! Mmmmph… Please…oh!…Please… Now!”

Jack sucked up along the length of Will’s cock, and flicked his tongue over the fine seam of skin under the head, before allowing it to pop out of his mouth long enough for him to demand,

“What’s the magic word?” Then Will’s cock was trapped in the hot prison of Jack’s mouth again.

“Uh… ohhh. What? Mmm… Please?”

Jack shook his head, the soft musical sound of his hair accompanying Will’s moans as his mouth twisted around Will’s cock, the corners twitching up into a grin. Will sighed as he realised what Jack was intimating.

“Oh Jack, really? Do I have to?” Will shot a look of good-natured scorn at the head between his thighs.

Jack looked up into Will’s eyes, and very slowly took all of his cock in his mouth, sucking hard, then angled his fingers up inside Will again, caressing the sensitive nerve endings.

“Ooohhh! Jaaaack!” Will became a tightly bound knot of pleasure, white-hot sparks in front of his eyes. “Not yet,” he thought desperately, “not yet.” Catching his breath, he conceded that now was probably not the right time to make a stand on matters of principal. This time the clever fingers moving inside him elicited the correct response from Will, but with a resigned roll of his eyes.

“Please, Captain…” Will gasped as his cock slid out from between Jack’s lips, and Jack rested his head against Will’s thigh.

“That weren’t so difficult, was it, luv?” Will saw the look of exultant amusement on Jack’s face, and murmured,

“You’re incorrigible.”

“Ta. I like to think so. You’re not so virtuous yourself. Anymore.” He scissored his fingers open again inside Will, demonstrating by example. Will grabbed Jack by the hair and howled,

“Jack, stop talking and come up here and kiss me. Now!”

Jack gave Will’s cock one last, long lick, then ran his tongue up the quivering body, pausing only to lap at each nipple, then drew his tongue over Will’s throat, the coarse hair on his jaw, and into Will’s open mouth. Will’s hands gripped the back of Jack’s head, pulling him deeper into the kiss, sliding his own tongue against Jack’s, thrilling at the taste of himself in Jack’s mouth. Jack crooked his fingers up inside him again, and Will moaned uncontrollably. Eyes squeezed shut; he tore his mouth away from the kiss to whimper,

“Jack, please. Fuck me. I want you inside me. I want your cock inside me.”

Jack’s breath caught in his chest, and he bent his head to kiss the new layer of sweat that had broken out on Will’s forehead, moisture running into the already soaking whorls at his temples. Will’s head snapped towards the table where the small bottle of oil shimmered conspiratorially, and he flailed out his right hand. Jack’s fingers kept up the incessant, delicious circling motion as he silently watched Will liberally smear both hands with oil, then reach down and slide the glistening digits over the smooth, tight skin of Jack’s cock. Jack hissed as the callouses on Will’s fingers ran over the sensitive skin of the head. His tongue traced the outline of Will’s ear and he whispered,

“You want me?” A lascivious curl tweaked up one corner of his mouth. Will half-opened his eyes, and he fixed Jack with a heavy-lidded gaze that was all embers and smoke. His lips noiselessly formed the single word, “Yes,” as his thumbs glided over the ridge along the underside of Jack’s shaft. Molten with pleasure at Will’s touch, and desperate to maintain some semblance of control, Jack didn’t wait for any further encouragement. Using his free hand, he spread Will’s thighs open wider, withdrew his fingers one by one, sliding his cock over the slippery cleft, pushing just the very tip past the pulsing ring of muscle into the tight entrance. Will arched his head back, snapping his teeth, the cords of his long neck rippling. Jack leaned forward onto his forearms, inch by inch bringing his whole body into contact with Will’s, then inclined his head to kiss the tense neck muscles and the crest of the collarbone. Jack’s thoughts strayed back to the first few times he had done this with Will, how this was as far as he had dared to breach the trembling body beneath him without causing pain. How many things had changed since then. Jack felt Will’s fingers scrape down his back, digging into his buttocks, and he heard the melodious, throaty voice saying,

“Don’t tease me, Jack. I want all of you. You know I can take it.”

Perhaps there are some things that are more seductive than purity.

Then Jack saw the candid, open, utterly trusting look on Will’s face, and with a surge of affection realised that some things don’t change. Will’s expressive face told Jack all the things that Will’s mouth would not. Pure, and wanton, and wonderful. Jack willingly surrendered, and buried his face in Will’s neck.

Will felt the familiar, slow-burning slide as Jack eased into him. He felt the blissful ache as his muscles stretched, felt shivers run like sweat over him; felt the throb of blood humming through his cock as it was pressed between Jack’s belly and his own. He sensed wave after wave of contractions running though him as the feeling of fullness mounted until it was almost unbearable. And all the while Jack was suckling at his neck, laving wetly at the responsive skin. Will hazily recalled when the intimacy between them had begun, how Jack had been all soft whispers and gentleness to soothe Will’s nerves. The tenderness between them remained, but now it was matched with the bites, scratches, straining thrusts and loud moans.

Will tilted his hips upwards and felt Jack press the last few fractions into him, their bodies locking together, always bringing the sense of, “at last”. Will breathed into the dizzying, spiralling sensation curling round his spine and up the back of his neck, feeling the hairs stand up in electric pinpricks. Jack rested his forearms either side of Will’s torso, his hands tucked under Will’s shoulders, and leant his forehead against Will, his eyes closed. Will wrapped his arms round Jack, opening up to him, feeling all the sinews under his hands tense as Jack concentrated on keeping absolutely still. Will ground his hips very slightly, squeezing the skin-tight muscles that were surrounding Jack’s cock. Jack’s eyes flashed open and he groaned,

“Wrap your legs around my waist.”

First one impossibly long leg, then the other, lifted up and locked around Jack. Jack pressed his face into Will’s shoulder and Will felt him gradually pulling backwards as he ran one hand along Will’s side down to his thigh, forcing it even more closely against him. Will felt the sharp hipbones digging into the flesh between his legs as Jack withdrew nearly all the way. Jack gave him a little smile, running a finger along the side of his face. Then his eyes clouded, dark and stormy, and Will braced himself as Jack thrust back into him. Will arched up to meet him, fastening his teeth on Jack’s earlobe as he felt the increasing pressure on his aching cock as it was imprisoned between the skin of their stomachs, slick with sweat, and he was filled with Jack again. Jack’s eyes were half-open, his black-smeared eyelids fluttering, and he hissed into the hot skin of Will’s neck,

“So tight.” He rolled his hips again, “Ooh God, Will… So fuckin’ tight…”

Will threw his head back, the wave of too-delicious sensation flooding over him as Jack set a purposeful but unhurried rhythm. He felt Jack licking a wet line from his collarbone up to his chin and set his teeth, and he clutched at Jack buttocks, driving him in deeper.

“Can’t hold back for much longer,” he thought, as he watched Jack reach back and grasp his calves, swinging his legs up over his shoulders. Jack was still moving at a lingering pace, and Will managed to grind out,

“Harder… oooh... want… Faster!”

Jack’s reply was to slide his tongue into Will’s mouth, giving him a kiss as slow and sensual as the motion between his thighs. Then Jack reared onto his knees, the front of his thighs pressed against the backs of Will’s, his hands splayed across Will’s hips, holding him steady as Will tried to buck faster against Jack.

“Jaaack!” Will tossed his head from side to side, “What are you…?” He was silenced by a strong hand gripping his jaw, and saw Jack give him a look that made him go quiet, heart hammering with anticipation. Jack’s hand moved back to Will’s thigh, but his eyes stayed on him as he pulled out of Will almost completely. Then Will felt him start flicking his hips. Tiny thrusts with just the head of his cock, maddening the oil-slicked skin of the sensitive ring of muscle of Will’s arse. This was usually the best way to divest Will of every last scrap of decorum.

“Ah, Jack! For fuck’s sake, give it to me!”

Will’s nails scratched a path up Jack’s back and shoulders, and he brought one hand up to his face and pressed it to his forehead and over his eyes in a little gesture of desperation. He locked his thighs tighter and grated his hips as much as he could under Jack’s firm hands. Then he felt one of the hands move over and fasten round his cock, twisting up and over the head with every stroke. Will bared his teeth and peered out through his fingers. Jack had his head tilted to one side. He was biting at his lips and looking down between Will’s thighs. He was watching himself moving inside Will. Jack took the other hand away from Will’s hip, but instead of surging forwards to impale himself again, Will held his breath and waited to see what Jack would do. He felt Jack brush his hand over the curve of Will’s buttocks, then felt his thumb gliding around the tightly stretched skin of Will’s arse that encircled his cock, pressing at the sensitive ring. Will let out a sobbing cry and felt his balls start to draw up into his body. Jack glanced up and grinned as he caught Will giving him a look that was a mixture of annoyance and lust.

“Sorry darlin’. It’s just such a pretty thing to look at.” He lowered himself back down onto Will’s heaving chest, bringing both arms up to wrap them under Will’s neck, and slid all the way back into Will, tilting his hips at just the right angle to make Will see God.

“Oooh! Don’t stop. I’m so close…” Will demanded, then ran his tongue over Jack’s mouth. Jack pressed close into the kiss, then started to undulate his body against Will in a snakelike ripple. His hips thrusted, slow, sure, striking the point inside that made Will forget where his skin ended and Jack’s began.

“That’s it darlin’,” Jack whispered against his lips. “Mmm. You like that, don’t you.”

Will thrashed against him, unable to make any noise now other than guttural moans. He looked up with wild, fierce eyes, panting as he felt the contractions deep inside him starting. The hard, determined look on Jack’s face softened into something that bordered on wonder, and Will was aware of a hand wrapping around his cock again, and of the shameless noises he was making. He was transfixed by Jack’s eyes, black like all the best kinds of sin he had come to taste. Will thought they might be the most exquisite thing he had ever seen,

“Exquisite, yes, not execrable,” he muttered vaguely, almost to himself. He saw Jack swallow hard, then he bent to Will’s ear, tickling with the hair round his mouth and the tip of his tongue, and heard him whisper in a deep, urgent growl,

“Will. I’m gonna make you come. All over your belly. ‘N then I’m gonna lick you clean.”

Will arched up off the bed, stifling the scream as much as he could, as he felt Jack slam into him and felt his whole body turn into one, white-hot explosion of tight, incandescent euphoria. The contractions pulsed through him over and over again, and he felt Jack’s tongue claiming his mouth as he came hard, spurting into Jack’s fist and feeling the drops splash over his belly and ribcage, branding his body with rapture. For a moment he went limp, then sighed at the loss as Jack wriggled free from the confines of his body.

Jack took a moment to catch his breath and quiet the clamour of need that was coming from his still-hard cock. He lay on his side next to Will and admired the marks of his handiwork on the quivering body; pearlescent streaks, almond-white over the tanned skin, glittering in the lamplight. Once again Jack’s mind strayed to thoughts of treasure. He bent his head and heard Will whimper as he traced his tongue over the sticky fretwork, licking every last remnant of the taste and claiming it for his own. Will sighed again, and Jack felt his hands petting his hair. He felt the blood pulsing heavily in his cock, enflamed further by the heady taste of Will. He ran his tongue up Will’s body, grasping him by the waist, and licking into his mouth. Will’s hands fluttered down his back, feathery, and all the more infuriating for their lightness of touch. Jack wanted more; his cock was pressed against Will’s thigh, and it wanted to be between them again. He felt Will’s hands on either side of his face, pulling him out of the kiss. Will was looking at him interestedly, his eyebrow threatening to rise into a perfect, Romanesque arch,

“You haven’t come yet.”

Jack flashed the most devilish, bullion-filled grin he had in his pirate captain’s arsenal and said wolfishly,

“Full marks for observation, Mr Turner. Now turn over onto your knees.”

Jack leaned back to give Will room to turn, watching the wide-eyed, coy look that Will gave him. The look that suddenly turned into an entirely different (though not unexpected) expression. Jack felt Will’s knee against his thigh, and his fingers circling Jack’s arms, and before he knew it he’d been flipped onto his back. Jack’s wiry body and wily mind could withstand most situations, but they were no match for the former blacksmith’s big hands and determination. Particularly because Jack thought they were rather nice hands. Probably some of the nicest he’d ever seen, in fact.

Will straddled Jack’s waist, still half-kneeling over one of his thighs, wriggling slightly against Jack’s cock, trying to disguise the amusement on his face with an approximation of masterful debauchedness. In other words, he was doing his best impression of Jack.

Jack glared up at him and turned his palms up in mock-surrender.

“Well, now you’ve actually got me, what do you propose to do with me? As you can see,” Jack jerked his hips upwards, “I have a rather pressing engagement, so if you’d be so kind…”

Will’s expression changed into one of genuine, seething desire, and he clamped one hand over Jack’s mouth, rose up slightly on his knees, and used the other hand to guide Jack’s cock towards the damp seam between his legs. Even if there hadn’t been a large hand over his mouth, Jack had gone unusually quiet, feeling another twinge run through his cock at Will’s touch. His hands were still palm-up, either side of his head. As soon as Jack’s cock made contact with the entrance to Will’s arse, Will took his hand off Jack’s cock again, and gripped Jack’s hip, holding him still. The leg curved over Jack’s thigh on the other side did the trick of restricting movement thoroughly. Will looked down at Jack, pulsing the ring of muscle that just held the tip of his cock. Jack squeezed his eyes shut, then let out a long, muffled moan as Will started to lower himself excruciatingly slowly on Jack’s cock, and once again Jack felt himself surrounded by impossibly tight, velvet heat. Will slid his leg over Jack’s and brought it down onto the bed, and pushed down the last two inches until Jack was buried balls deep inside him. Jack kissed the palm that was pressed against his lips, and felt it slide over to run through his hair, Will’s thumb against his cheek. Jack opened his eyes and was greeted with the heart-stopping sight of Will straddled across him, covered in sweat and impaled on his cock. Then the vision drew his hands along Jack’s body, rested them behind him on Jack’s legs, tilted his hips and arched his back, the muscles in his thighs swelling as he rose up. Jack felt that that tight, tight pressure sliding along up the length of his cock, before abruptly slamming down again. Jack let out a rather surprised yelp, then another, and another, as Will pounded against him hard and fast, his hair flying round his face.

“Will, luv,’ Jack gasped, ‘slow down.”

Will leaned forward and put his hands on Jack’s shoulders, bending his head until the loose, cinnamon curls brushed against Jack’s cheeks, his hips keeping the constant grind against Jack. He bent his head until their lips almost touched, and snarled, “No,” his voice low and fierce.

“No?!” Jack said, with an expression of incredulous glee.

“No,” Will said authoritatively, leaning back to look into Jack’s face, his hands sliding down onto Jack’s chest to circle his nipples. “I want you to watch me. I want to know that your eyes are on me while I do this to you. I want you to see how you make me feel. I want you to see how much I want you.”

Hmm. Predatory Will. Jack liked predatory Will. Will leaned forwards again, interlacing his fingers with Jack’s and pushing them up over his head. Jack shivered as Will brushed his lips with a fleeting kiss, then allowed his mouth to be pillaged, sucking at Will’s tongue as it plunged in and out, matching the speed of his hips.

There were many objects in the cabin that caught the glow of the lamplight; golden statuettes from Indonesia with rubies for eyes; a silver inlaid trinket box showing the abduction of Ganymede; the hilt of Will’s sword propped up by the door. But none of them glittered so wickedly as Jack’s black eyes, framed with sooty kohl as they fixed on Will.

Jack explored the territory in front of him, caressing Will’s body with his eyes and his hands. Will was hard again; Jack was torn between wanting to touch Will’s cock, to feel it’s addictive heat under his fingers, and just wanting to watch as it jerked up towards Will’s belly with every movement. For now, Jack was content to keep his hands on Will’s writhing hips and watch, feeling the ache growing more and more urgent in his cock and the liquid electricity in his stomach swirling. Jack moaned as Will threw his head back, accentuating the curve of his long neck, his hips tilted forwards, changing the angle of his thrust. Jack started to thrust up with him, feeling the pressure of that magic bundle of nerves inside Will against the head of his cock. Will responded immediately, arching his head forwards again to look straight at Jack, groaning,

“Mmm. Like that. Feels so good.”

Jack narrowed his eyes and made an obscene little gesture as his tongue flicked out and the tip curled up and pressed against the edge of his upper lip. He felt Will contract around him in response, then Will put his hands over Jack’s and started gyrating his hips in a figure eight motion. Jack felt his cock throb and his balls jump.

“Ooh god, yes… Will,” Jack bit his lip and sat up, sliding his hands all the way from Will’s hips and wrapping them around his throat, pressing against his jugular. Will opened his mouth in a choking gasp and Jack slipped his tongue inside, his thumbs tight against the front of Will’s neck, his fingers at the back massaging into his hair. Jack could feel Will’s blood pulsing under his hands, and felt an even tighter squeeze around his cock, making him catch his breath. Will had his arms wrapped around Jack, and Jack could feel one of Will’s nipple circling his own. Will was whimpering into the kiss and rubbing his body against Jack with each twist of his hips, gradually pushing him back down onto the pillow. Jack could tell from the pitch of the noises Will was starting to make and the pulsating grip around his cock that Will was going to come again very soon. Jack left one of his hands hooked round Will’s neck and ran the other up the back of his neck and through his hair, pulling away from Will’s mouth to moan,

“Fuck me.”

Will half sat up again, his hands flat against Jack’s chest, pinching his nipples and rocking against him hard. Jack snarled and very slightly tightened the hand around Will’s throat, running the other up and down in a long line from neck to knee. Will sobbed and slid his hands further down Jack’s body, pressing his fingers against his belly. Jack grasped one of Will’s hands and moved it onto Will’s cock, hissing,

“Lemme see you touch yourself.” Jack watched as Will wrapped his hand round his cock, his chin tilted down, resting on the back of Jack’s hand, staring back at him intently from under his brows. Will growled as he started pumping his fist, and slammed his hips against Jack. Jack gripped Will’s hip and pulled him down on each stroke, feeling the iron grip around his cock make him gasp again,

“So fuckin’ tight… ooh…mine, you are…” Jack’s hips were arching up off the bed to drive up into Will with every thrust. He softened his grip on Will’s neck, running his thumb softly over the jugular. Will took a deep, shuddering breath, and let it out again in a snarl as Jack took his hand off his hip and slid it across to interlace his fingers with Will’s over his cock.

“Ah! Jack, deeper... You feel so good inside me.”

Jack felt the tingling ache that was skittering all over his body start to condense and concentrate on the throbbing centre that was swallowed up inside the tight heat of Will’s body. Jack pulled Will down towards him, their hands pressed between them, and whispered urgently,

“Kiss me.” He felt Will crush his mouth against him, Will’s breath heaving in sobs as he tried to hold off his own climax. Jack gripped the back of Will’s head, arching up into the kiss, then he suddenly went perfectly still, and pulled away from Will’s mouth. The cabin lit up with another bright blue flash from the storm raging outside. Jack looked into Will’s eyes, and breathlessly moaned over the thunder,

“Make me come, make me come. Ah, Will! Want you so much.” Will pounded against him, and Jack felt like the lightening went through him, as a shuddering tide of blinding ecstasy tore through him, and the blood pounding through him drowned out every noise and thought, and for a moment he wasn’t Jack, and Will wasn’t Will. It was all one, this moment, broken through the boundaries of flesh and identity into that bright horizon. Then he heard his own voice moaning Will’s name and felt wet heat pulsing against his belly, and Will gasping,

“Oh, fuck, Jack! I can feel you coming inside me!”



Then there were several minutes where neither one of them said anything. There were just arms and legs wrapped round each other in a sticky tangle; soft caresses, little kisses and lingering glances, as they both tried to remember how to breathe, and which way was up. They listened to the storm pass over them, leaving a lingering tingle of electricity in the air.

Once the bliss of the afterglow had subsided enough to allow them the luxury of coherent thought again, and once they had stopped arguing over who looked more ridiculous with a beatific grin on his face, Will asked Jack where it was they were going to dock that afternoon. Will was lying on Jack’s shoulder, one hand across Jack’s chest playing with a lock of his hair. Jack was running one finger over Will’s ribcage, and using the other hand to punctuate his sentences with descriptive curlicues.

“So what’s this place called that we’re going to? And more to the point, why didn’t you tell me about it before?” Will interrogated.

“It’s called the Isla de Diavolo. An’ I only remembered it was there the other night. It’s sort of the same shape as the mark you’ve got on the inside of your thigh. Reminded me it was round here, like.” Jack hoped Will wouldn’t notice what a poor show he was making of looking innocent.

“Huh, what so you plotted a course based on the inside of my thigh? And yet you failed to mention it me? Sounds about right.”

Jack protested,

“It didn’t really seem to be the appropriate circumstance. Considerin’ how it was I saw it at all, and what I was doin’ at the time.” All this talk of thighs and plotting courses on them was not helping him to concentrate. Will ignored him and continued,

“Isla de Diavolo? The Devil’s Island? What’s there, dare I ask?”

“A ruby the size of a small boy’s head. Oh, and a goat what can do card tricks.”

“JACK!” Will tugged at the hair between his fingers.

“Oi! Alrigh’, I might have made up the part about the goat…”

“So presumably we have to get past The Devil to get to this jewel of unlikely proportions?” Jack observed the damned perfectly arched brow, and wondered if Will would mind if he licked it.

“Not The Devil. A devil. Probably. Maybe only a small demon. Not really of any consequence. A demonette, if you will, Will.”

“Don’t try to distract me with terrible puns, or that.” He looked pointedly at his chest.

Jack was waving one hand above their heads, languidly describing arabesques in the air, while the fingers of the other hand were now plucking repeatedly at one of Will’s nipples.

“Now really, luv,” Jack chided, “Have I ever landed us in a situation I didn’t think you could get us out of?”

Will snorted, a near-silent chuckle making the bed vibrate. He batted away the offending hand from his chest, and leaned in to Jack’s mouth, smiling in response to the feel of Jack grinning at the series of kisses. He settled his head back against the pillow, feeling the soft mesh of Jack’s hair against his face, and in mock-reproach said,

“Why is it always me having to rescue you, Jack?” Jack looked at him silently for a moment, then lifted his head and turned to blow out the guttering lamp. In the dark cocoon of the cabin, the deep blue light of the nubilous dawn was shut out by the heavy curtains at the windows. Moments passed. Will wondered anxiously if he’d unintentionally managed to say the wrong thing, his heart hammering in his chest. Then he felt Jack’s arm slide over his shoulder, trailing over the scars on his back and waist, his lips against Will’s cheek. Finally, the reply came.

“Because you’re the only one I’d ever want to rescue me.” This time, there was no trace of sarcasm in Jack’s voice.

And even in the dark, Jack knew Will was smiling.