Sea Change

Sea Change Chapter Six (NC-17)
Disclaimers Apply

A/N Goddess Foxfeather is a wondermous beta and gets many kilted Wataris… Readers/Reviewers: Sorry… I’ve been kind of sick so the chapter was late. To make up for it… smut!


Jack closed his eyes and inhaled, his senses soothed by the scent of the sea beneath him, the wood of the ship and even by the distinct aroma of people packed aboard a ship almost too small for them to coexist comfortably. His words of earlier haunted him… _Death seems to stalk you, little girl… _ He opened his eyes and stared out over the open water, stretching towards the shores of Spain so far away. He wished he had never left, he thought to himself. He wished he had never come to the Caribbean. Myrtle stood, heavy chains binding her arms, legs and torso, behind him. He could not look at her. The men were too quiet, waiting and watching. Some, he knew, were excited about this. They wanted to see death, the messier the better. The idea that it would be a woman was just further incitement for their eagerness. Anna Maria was still below deck with the body of her crewman, Gibbs with her, helping her wrap the body in oilcloth and clean the floor where the corpse had lain. Jack’s gaze shifted to the railing, the smooth wood worn down by countless touches, men running their hands along the surface as they walked the deck in the early hours of the morning, waiting for the sun to full rise, then again in the evening when the sea was quiet and their thoughts were not. Myrtle shifted in her chains, the clinking of metal preternaturally loud. She did not sniffle, did not cry. Jack was not sure whether to admire her or find it stupid that she did not even attempt to plea for her life after the initial outburst. She was too scared, he thought. She was resigned.

He had left her in the galley after their initial exchange, preparing to write her out of his life. He would have dinner with Anna Maria in her cabin, maybe visit in a more intimate way (being at sea made a man less picky about who he shared favors with, he reasoned, and a friend was better than a stranger), return to the Pearl and be on his way to Jamaica. He had not expected Anna Maria to invite Myrtle to dine in her cabin, though. The meal started quietly, the three chewing hardtack and picking at salted beef without speaking to each other. Finally, Anna Maria spoke. “Myrtle, Saums tells me you had words with one of the men.” She slid a sideways glance at Jack as if to gauge his reaction. “Threatened to kill him, he says.”
Myrtle stiffened, two spots of color showing high on her cheeks as she stared down at her trencher. “I said I’d kill him but I didn’t mean literally. It’s an expression. If you killed everyone you said you wanted to, Jack would be dead ten times over today alone.”
Jack snorted into his rum. “Just ten?” he asked, raising a brow. “I must be doing something right.”
Anna Maria shot him a glare. “Myrtle, talk.”
Myrtle swallowed a mouthful of hardtack and sighed. “He touched me in a way I did not invite. He seems to feel that a woman aboard a pirate ship is a whore. I explained to him using small words that he could understand that I am not a whore, that I was invited to join the crew, but he did not seem to believe me.” She could feel his hands on her still, hard and bruising on her breasts, his hot breath against her face, the stench of grog and his breakfast making her sick.
Anna Maria grunted around her bite of salted beef. “Men are like that, Myrtle. You should know that by now. Jack,” she switched focus, making them both choke on their rum. “What ever happened to that man on the Pearl, the one who liked to play grab the first mate when I was aboard?”
“That was me,” he growled, his olive skin suffusing with color. He finished the cup of rum and poured a generous serving out of the bottle to fill the empty space. He did not look at Myrtle. He was not ashamed of his exploits but for some reason, he found that he did not want to know the look on her face when she realized he had been to bed (and floor, and against the wall, and hammock) with Anna Maria. “How’s she doin’, then? As a crew member?”
“Slow,” Anna Maria groused, smiling slightly as Myrtle huffed in indignation. “But getting there. She’s a fast learner and I’m proud of her.”
Jack smiled. “That’s high praise, Anna Maria.”
‘Thank you, Captain,” Myrtle said, hiding her own smile. “I do my best.”
“Now,” the female captain said loudly, “enough of this sweetness. I’ve got things to be doin’ and so’ve you, Myrtle.”
Jack followed Myrtle to the galley as she removed the remains of their dinner to be added to the slop in the wooden crate below deck. It would be thrown over later, he knew, or possibly lobbed at another ship if things got desperate. Myrtle acted as if she did not know he were behind her but as soon as they were alone in the dark galley, she stopped and turned to face him. “Jack,” she said softly, “did you try to find me?”
His brows shot up towards his hairline and he tilted his head to one side. “What do you think?” He stepped closer, his booted heels thudding softly on the wooden floor. “Do you think I searched the Caribbean to find you since leaving Port Royale at the New Year?”
She sighed. “No… No I don’t. It’s just odd for you to be here. I was fairly certain I’d never see you again…” With some small amount of effort, she turned away from him and set to her duties, scraping the trenchers clean and setting them to one side. Later they would be scrubbed with sand from the bucket by the door and maybe rinsed with seawater.
Jack closed the distance between them, pressing against her soft body without a second thought. Her hair was bound up, off her neck, tied under a kerchief. She smelled like the sun, he thought, warm and sweet with coconut oil and a little bit of precious soap. He brushed a kiss against the back of her neck, pressing his hips against the curve of her backside. “You didn’t say anything when Anna Maria told her story,” he murmured, feeling her pulse quicken against his kiss.
“It’s not my business,” she breathed, shaking slightly. “Jack…” She could feel his growing arousal against her and her own sex grew warm and wet. She did not want to give in to her desires… she knew it would only break her heart in the end. _He’s a pirate, _ she chided herself inwardly. _Even if you were better than Anna Maria at this, even if you were a ship captain in your own right, you would only hurt yourself… He’s not the sort to stay tied to one woman. It’d be cruel to assume so… _Her thoughts were cut off abruptly as he kissed her neck again, more provocatively this time, his teeth nipping her flesh sharply before the tip of his tongue laved the spot. “We can’t.”
“Yes, we can,” he breathed. “We can, dove. Come to the Pearl with me. Just for this evening, if you’re so hellbent on being a pirate and insist on coming back to the Sea Witch… Come to my cabin and we can do this all we want…” He pressed his arousal against her again, his hands sliding down her arms before coming up to cup her breasts, squeezing slightly. “Come away…”
She shook slightly, closing her eyes for a moment before speaking. “Jack… find another woman to take your frustrations out on. I have duties.”
He paused for one long moment before pulling away. He would not admit to being hurt but he would admit to annoyance. “Good night, Myrtle,” he said softly. “In the morning, the Pearl will be gone and me with her…”
“Good night, Jack,” she replied, biting her lower lip.

Jack was jerked from his reverie by a sudden shout from behind. He turned sharply to see Myrtle being lifted over the heads of two of the tallest men. She did not cry out. “Stop!” His shout was unheeded at first. They were carrying her to the keel, Anna Maria leading the group. “STOP!”
“NO!” Anna Maria roared. “I will not harbor a murderer on this ship!”
“You don’t know that she did it!” he barked. “Put her down!”
“Don’t you dare,” she snarled at her men. “Are you protecting her, Jack? Protecting your pretty piece of muslin? She killed my first mate, in cold blood no less. She deserves punishment.”
“Then let me have her,” he said suddenly. “Let me take her aboard the Pearl. The men there haven’t seen a woman in months… they’ll make sure she knows her place.” He saw Myrtle tense before the struggling began.
Anna Maria stared at him, disgusted. “Keel hauling is less cruel,” she said softly. “You’ve changed, Jack. If you’re serious, you’ve changed.”
He did not change expression. “Let me have her. I’ll pay you for her personage. Ten gold pieces.” He winced inwardly at the sum he named, but Anna Maria smiled.
“Twelve and she’s yours.”