Of Magic and Rum (Beyond a Contemporary Mythos)

Chapter 18

Who would’ve guessed the only woman ever to steal my heart would make me equally angry and entirely captivated by her? It’s someone’s idea of a cruel joke or the most profound gift. Whatever the case, I’m eternally grateful this someone or something saw fit to introduce us. And that she fancies me to boot. I’ve plundered goods, gold, and gems, but nothing is more valuable than the sea nymph sleeping contentedly in my arms.

Truffles remains splayed on his pillow, all four limbs stretched like a star, his tail lazily swaying in his slumber. I don’t dare move, let alone breathe, from fear of disturbing her, but when she stirs awake, moaning and rubbing her head against my chest, I pull her to me tighter.

“Morning,” I mumble into her hair, my voice gravelly as it usually is first thing when I wake up.

Anne’s fingertips trail my bare chest, tantalizing the bit of hair at my sternum. “Mm, what happened last night?”

An iceberg can’t compare to how frozen I’ve become. I rhythmically tap my forefinger on her shoulder, treading lightly on my following words. “You—don’t remember?”

She yawns and turns until she’s almost entirely on top of me, resting her elbow on my chest. “I remember the Charybdis and us fighting it underwater. But after it hit me, things started to get fuzzy.”

I’m still a rock-solid statue save for my eyes blinking and fingers relentlessly tapping. “You’ve got to be shitting me.”

The corners of her lips twitch before she breaks into a fit of laughter, making the hammock sway and nearly toppling us out of it. “I am. I am shitting with you.”

Blowing out a breath and holding the hammock taut to keep it from making a full spin, I drag a hand down my face. “I knew that.”

“Yeah? You looked a little worried—possibly mortified.” Smiling brightly, Anne tugs my beard.

Snaking my hand down her smooth back until I reach her ass, I grab it. “You’re right. You should probably recount last night in grand detail to reassure me.”

“Or—” Anne starts, trailing her hand up my thigh until she reaches my cock, fisting it. “We can repeat it this morning, step by step.” She enunciates the last “p,” and I move my lips to hers, my length twitching in her grasp, eager to feel her again.

Meow.

My eyes fly open, and I peel away with my lips still parted.

“My cat has other plans,” I say through gritted, grinding teeth, flashing Truffles a seething glare.

Truffles blinks once and flicks his tail, moseying to the door where he plops onto his butt and waits, facing it.

“Does he usually relieve himself inside of your cabin?” Anne asks, biting back a smile.

Groaning, I shift a leg from the hammock and slowly crawl out, holding it for Anne. “Christ, no. My cabin already smells questionable without adding cat piss to it.”

Anne climbs down, those fiery tresses hanging over her porcelain back like a waterfall ablaze. “Well, you can’t deprive him of shitting simply because you want your piece wet again.” Her hand grips my cock— hard, and I groan, kissing her before Truffles’ whining meows plague my eardrums.

“I know, I know,” I mumble, swiping my trousers from the floor and hopping into them. “Lest I neglect either of my pussies.”

Anne rolls her eyes but still grins and slaps my ass. “Go, Jack. I need to get dressed and wash up.”

After giving her a final peck on the lips, I open the door and waltz on deck, shirtless and bootless. Truffles screeches and sprints to the back corner of the ship, where the crew’s wooden crate is filled with sand for him to do his business.

Duke approaches first, his thumbs looped in his belt, and he whistles some random sea shanty. “G’morning,” he says as if his body language alone doesn’t spell it out.

“Yes, we fucked. Am I to be ashamed of such a feat?” I arch my back toward the sun’s warming rays, stretching and scratching my head.

“’Course not. It’s only a bit unconventional the way it happened. You were furious with her over failing to mention that a giant mythical beast has been chasing her.” Duke drums his fingers at his hips.

“Your point?” Combing my beard with my fingers, I move past him, my bare feet slapping against the moist deck wood.

Duke chuckles, following several paces behind me. “You’re a strange bird, Jack.”

“I wouldn’t say that. My anger stemmed from her ability to pull the wool over my eyes, which, ironically, was the exact reason she also impressed the hell out of me.” I yank a bottle of grog from Ragnar’s crate as he passes, ignoring his grumblings. Popping the cork, I take several swigs and wipe the back of my hand over my mouth. “We’re both passionate people, Duke. What do you want me to say?”

Duke folds his arms, shaking his head as if he doesn’t know what to do with me. “I stand by my statement. Strange. Bird.”

Flashing a devious grin and lifting the bottle, I whisper, “We’ve seen stranger.”

“At least you’re happy, son.”

The word takes a moment to process—happiness. After England went to shit, few things have given me glee over the past few years—rum, the oceans, piracy, sailing, gold, the smell of gunpowder, and the rare warmth of a woman’s touch. But if I boil it down, these trivial things keep me satisfied or content. The connection I have with Anne, however, this is pure pleasure—pure merriment . We’re two drops of water, she and I, despite my mortality and her ethereal background. In her, I’ve met my equal, someone who can go toe-to-toe with me and fancy sex afterward—a woman skilled with a sword in more ways than one. And I’ve seen the loyalty dancing in her gaze. It wasn’t there when she first boarded, but it glinted from her teary eyes when she rescued me, fearing my death. And it poured out when I questioned my trust in her. Her expression in response to that still stings my heart.

Anne clears her throat behind me, fully dressed in a tri-corner hat, tunic shirt, and cutlass slung on her hip. “Captain.” She fights desperately not to let her eyes linger on my exposed chest, clearly trying to hide the smile from memories of last night dancing through her mind. She clasps her hands in front of her as if resisting the urge to touch me.

How long can she keep this up?

“Bonny,” I answer, bowing my head and not trying to disguise my smile.

Anne folds a piece of hair over her ear, only glancing at Duke long enough to acknowledge his presence. “Duke. I should get to my duties.”

She rushes past me, and I sidestep so my ribs brush her chest. The gasp that escapes her throat and her brief pause to regain her composure has me immediately ravenous for her. And if it wasn’t for Mary calling her over, I may have escorted her right back to my cabin.

“Are you going to tell her the crew doesn’t give a shit if the two of you are together?” Duke asks, tapping his sword’s hilt.

After taking another long swig from my bottle, I shove the cork in it. “Soon enough.”

Anne won’t be able to last long if she’s anything like me, and I know she is. She’ll eventually find any excuse to sneak a kiss around a hidden corner or nonchalantly fondle my ass, my cock beneath my trousers. The only question is: how long will it take to drive her mad? Knowing she may think the same things about me makes my attraction to her swell.

“Captain,” Red shouts, sprinting with a fishing rod in one hand, his other closed into a fist. “Captain, a word?”

Duke eyes Red suspiciously as he circles his beard with his hand.

“Talk to me, Red.” I press my shoulder to the mast, crossing my bare feet at the ankles.

Red stands straight, fighting the compulsion to salute his superior, as he had countless times in the Navy. “We was fishing as we do. And when the boys hauled the net in from last night, they found this .” He opens his hand, revealing a gold piece. The bits left untarnished or chipped catch the sun’s glint.

“Is that what I think it is?” I whisper, as if speaking too loudly would make it vanish. But there’s no mistaking the crossed symbol on the side facing me.

Red grins and nods, dropping the coin in my open palm. “Spanish gold.”

“And where there’s one—” Trailing off, I lick my thumb and rub some dirt away. The sight of such a coveted beauty makes my mouth water.

“There’s bound to be more,” Red finishes for me, rubbing his hands together.

The possibilities race through my mind, and I clutch the coin in my fist. “Get Squid’s attention and have him watch for an island. Whoever found this was bound to be on their way to Nassau to spend such coin.”

“Aye, Captain. I’ll do you one better and alert the whole damn crew to be on the lookout.” Red barks a laugh before hurrying away.

“Suppose I should get dressed,” I tell Duke, keeping the coin within my vice-like grip.

“Suppose you should. This could be a hell of a score before a hopefully, much bigger one.” Duke continues to stroke his beard, and holds back a cough.

Grinning, I clap a hand on Duke’s shoulder and turn for my cabin. A slender arm encircles my waist and pulls me to the side. Anne has my face in her hands, her lips pressing to mine before I can take a breath.

After pulling away from the kiss, a guttural chuckle escapes my throat. “Miss me already?”

“Be quiet. You know what you do to me, Jack.” Anne chews on her bottom lip, her petite fingers playing at the top of my trousers.

“Mm, I seem to have forgotten. Perhaps you should remind me.” I slip a hand to her ass, pulling her tighter against me.

Anne gasps, frantically looking around and pushing my chest. “We can’t.”

And here I thought Anne would be the first to break. But if I’m being honest, I want to touch and kiss her whenever I damn well please, and this simply will not do.

“You realize there’s no fraternization rules between crewmates, right?”

Anne pauses, her hands still resting on my skin, and blinks. “I guess I assumed—I mean, you’re the captain .”

“The only rules—” I trail my hand up her back, pressing it between her shoulder blades and groaning at the sound of her sensual whimpers. “—are the ones you swore by. And not claiming what’s yours in public wasn’t one of them.”

“Don’t worry, we heard you staking your claim all of last night,” Glog says in passing, carrying a basket of bread and snort-laughing.

Anne’s cheeks turn a light shade of pink, but otherwise, she doesn’t seem embarrassed. “I can be a tad loud, can’t I?”

“I did promise you a ravishing.” I point a stern finger.

Anne runs one of the thin braids in her hair between two fingers. “I have a confession.”

“Oh? How scandalous.” Playing along, I lower my ear to her mouth.

“You—” After licking her lips, she lowers her voice. “—you were my first.”

Unintentionally, my spine zips straight. “I—hold on.” Catching her by the elbow, I lead her into my cabin, checking for snooping ears before closing the door. “I’m your first? Don’t tell me you’re a virgin. Your age. How is that?—”

Anne laughs and grabs my biceps. “No, no. I’m not. You were my first—” Her gaze pans to my chest, and she hesitates. “—human.”

“Hold on. Wait. Then what the bloody hell have you been with? Dolphins?”

The idea sounds absurd, but I cannot think of any other explanation, and I pray I’m wrong.

Anne’s nose scrunches like Truffles left a heaping pile of shit on my desk. “By the Seas, no .”

“You’re going to have to level with me here, Annie. Though I believed in all of this—” I circle my finger in front of her. “—long before we met, I only recently found out I was right .”

Anne wraps her arms around herself and taps her foot, her gaze darting from one side of my cabin to the other. “Mostly—mermen.”

Heat prickles the back of my neck, and a peculiar mix of confusion and jealousy fills my mind. “Mermen?” I repeat, in case she said something other than grown men with fishtails served as her previous lovers.

“Yes,” she answers, wincing.

I nod questioningly. “And so does that entail doing something, or do you release eggs into the water that they’re intended to fertilize or—?” The thoughts plaguing me are enough to turn my stomach into the world’s most complicated sailor’s knot.

“Oh, my—no. Fertilize, Jack? Really?” Anne’s face reddens, and she rubs her forehead before continuing. “It’s like how dolphins or sharks—” she pauses, scratching her head as if mulling over the proper word “—mate.”

“And it’s—” I point at my pecker. “—different?”

Anne bites the inside of her cheek to avoid showing she’s amused by my discomfort. “Yes.”

“How different?” The frown that distorts my features is unavoidable now.

Anne saunters toward me, her fingernails walking the length of my stomach. “Let’s just say I now know why other nymphs would go on and on about their mortal escapades.”

My cock is superior to ethereal men fish—a stroke to my ego if there ever was one.

I clear my throat and flex my arms. “And you were never curious to indulge?”

Anne stays silent and shakes her head.

“Why’s that?” I inch closer, trailing the back of my knuckles over her cheekbone.

“I’ve never met one who could keep up with me.” Those jade eyes fall to my mouth, her tongue skirting her bottom lip.

“And how, pray tell—” Sliding a hand over her hip, I massage her there. “—do I compare to these mermen ?”

Anne laughs and tugs my beard. “One step at a time here, Jack. We wouldn’t want your head to explode.”

“It is far too late for that, lovely.” I close the remaining distance between us, pressing the hardened bulge building in my trousers against her stomach.

Her hands snake around my neck, and she grins wildly before planting her mouth to mine. I pick her up from the waist, carrying her until we reach the desk.

Knock. Fucking knock.

“Captain? Sorry to interrupt. But we’ve spotted an island,” Red announces from the other side of the door.

Groaning, I hold my head low. “I swear to God they do this on purpose.”

“You did ask them to look for an island. You should be excited.” Anne is still smiling, and she bumps a knuckle under my chin.

I slide my lips against hers, soft and fleeting, with a tenderness reserved solely for her. “You’re right.”

I splash water on my face and pause at the mirror. The reflection is of a man freed of all bindings. A rebellious, adventurous, and untamed man. How far I’ve come since my days as a merchant.

“Think you can keep your hands to yourself long enough for me to take the wheel?” I let my lips melt into a cheeky grin at Anne.

She picks up my sash from the desk and throws it at me. “A good captain wouldn’t let such a petty thing distract him.”

I catch the sash with one hand, work it around my waist, and tie it in a knot on my right hip. “And how would you know that? Have you been with that many captains?” Hovering over her, I bump the inside of her thigh with my knee, teasing her. “Or am I a first there, too?”

A shaky breath brushes past her lips, and she parts stray strands of hair from my forehead. “You’re a lot of firsts, Jack.”

The words have my heart racing, and I give her cheek a quick peck, slide away, and adjust my trousers. If I’d done anything else, the crew would’ve beaten down the door in the middle of Anne bent over my desk with me behind her. And I don’t need them seeing everything .

“Ready?” I offer her my arm, which she accepts with a sparkling smile.

Heavens above, let this island have more of this coveted coin. We still have a long voyage ahead of us before reaching Greece. And nothing will boost the crew’s morale more than a bit of gold jingling in their pockets.