The Black Pearl

 What in the world? Suzanna could not have been more amazed to find herself leaving Will and Elizabeth’s house in the back of her uncle’s carriage. She had imagined a rather classic, furtive escape and exchanging clothes with the kitchen staff or something, but instead she was here in her red dress with only her face shielded from view as was Jack’s, which was obscured by an utterly unJack-like hat borrowed from Will. Prying eyes led astray by hidden faces and fancy dress and the governor himself in the carriage, himself of course beyond suspicion, the trio rolled down the long drive with comfort and finery intact. Will and Elizabeth had arranged things, and now Jack and Suzanna, if not reeling with shock, were at least a little woozy with surprise.

Jack sat back and looked at the governor with thoughtful eyes and pursed lips, and at last asked the question, “So please believe that I am not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, having been gifted with numerous fortunes in my life to date, but I can’t help but be curious as to what we owe this largess on your part, since I had frankly thought you most anxious to see these pirate bones decorating the entrance to your harbor?” His choice of words made Suzanna shudder and wonder how he could joke about that.

“Captain, whatever else I may have said or not said in my position as governor, in my position as father you have saved my daughter’s life several times over, facilitated her marriage to a man who unfailingly considers her happiness in all things, and through truly the strangest twist of fate imaginable, made her rich beyond even my wildest dreams. So if now my perpetually obstreperous niece has found happiness with you, why should I not lend a helping hand? Besides, mine is the one carriage you could leave in that they would not dare search.” He sighed. “And who am I to stand in the way of true love?” he mumbled, prompting an exclamation and a kiss on the cheek from Suzanna.

“I knew it! You are a closet romantic just like father was, aren’t you?”

“I’m afraid it is rather a family tradition to spend one’s time with those one has actually fallen in love with rather than those that would be more convenient, no matter how inconvenient that may be to others,” he added a bit wistfully, she thought.

“Suzanna,” he looked at her with great tenderness now, “your father could never have imagined this for you, but I know that somewhere he and your mother are full to bursting at seeing you smile like this again.” Jack reached for her hand and he could feel the sobs travel though her, as she hugged her uncle and then settled back against him.

They rode the rest of the way to the small cove in silence, and when they arrived, Suzanna gave him her honest best wishes and then Jack took his leave. “It seems that Elizabeth’s father and Suzanna’s uncle is also a good man, whatever title he may be called by,” and with a squeeze of Jack’s hand and a kiss from Suzanna on the cheek they were gone.

The governor found himself unaccountably pleased by their good opinion, and the feeling stayed with him as the carriage rolled another half mile along the waterfront to a small salmon-colored house. The door was opened by a beautiful and elegant woman with flawless skin the color of cafe au lait, and a smile under the warmth of which even he could feel truly himself.

********************

The crew had made sure there was a small boat tucked away just where Jack would be able to find it, and the governor’s footman had found himself in this most unlikely of situations of loading the belongings of a pirate and a noblewoman onto the tiny craft and watching them row away. They had played it a bit close and dawn was just holding its breath to give them a few more moments of darkness in which to get to the ship. Suzanna sat down next to Jack and held an oar awkwardly in her hand, and he looked at her as if she were slightly out of her mind. “Well aren’t I a crew member now? Shouldn’t I be helping?”

“Well, no actually, not quite yet,” he told her, taking her by the waist and moving her to the seat opposite him. “You know there is a good chance someone may be wanting to shoot at us any minute now, so I’m rather anxious to put some distance between us and the shore rather quickly, and that requires rather a more practiced hand. But I do very much appreciate the sentiment, and I am certain we can find you some more suitable duties almost immediately.” He grinned at her and she rolled her eyes back at him, and then was silent for a bit.

“We have quite a bit to work out still, don’t we?”

He caught the seriousness of her mood and answered her in kind. “We do. But I think you’ll find that the air is far more conducive to thinking here. Actually you are too far away over there, come back.” He shifted so that she could sit between his legs and then he placed her hands on the oars just above his, showing her how to stroke with a smooth steady pull that had them gliding towards the Pearl. “Hmmm, that is much better after all, luv.”

Dawn finally surrendered to the inevitable and appeared over the horizon just as Jack and Suzanna were tugged up to the deck. Without a word, Jack led her with him to the tip of the bow and held her for a moment, his lips just brushing against hers. “Just enjoy it for a moment and I’ll be back.”

Orders were given in relative quiet, the anchor was pulled up, and the ship rolled its hips seeming to test the waters. There was a rustle like the sound of a great bird taking flight as Jack turned the wheel and then a snap of release as the Pearl shuddered and flew forward. Suzanna cried out in utter exaltation at being drenched in a fine spray. By the time Jack reached her, she was already dizzy from the warm wind and the sun that caressed her face and his kisses did not have far to take her.

********************

After an all too brief nap, trying unsuccessfully to atone for the sleepless night, Jack and Suzanna roused themselves out of bed, sunlight pouring in the cabin windows throwing everything into sharp relief. Jack watched as she reached for his shirt and he caught her elbow, tugging her up to stand in front of where he sat on the edge of the bed. He slid his hands up her arms and traced over her slowly, just with his eyes while his hands held her shoulders firmly. At last he let go and let his arms wrap around her waist. “You really have lost quite a bit of weight. I shall give Murphy the strictest orders to plump you back up to your previous pulchritude.”

“Perhaps this is just my new lithe pirate look, handier for scampering through the rigging or something.”

He chuckled. “No sorry, you’ll have to scamper with a few more pounds on you then. I like too well how my hands just fit perfectly here,” he said quietly, one hand siding up, “and here,” the other sliding down and around, his face nuzzling her belly, “and this soft roundness here.”

It was hard to resist feeling so worshipped like this, but she didn’t think they should spend the entire first day on board in bed, after all there was the crew to consider. The warmth of his breath on her skin almost made her resolve crumble but then she remembered what she had tucked away and she wanted to see the look on his face. She put her hands on his shoulders and took a step back with a small sigh. “Alright will you please go up on deck and... and captain or something and give me a few minutes here?” He looked at her as if this was a highly dubious proposal. “I promise I’ll be right out as soon as I get dressed.”

When she did emerge on deck, Jack was speaking with Anna Maria and Gibbs at the helm. Anna Maria’s face cracked into a huge smile accompanied by a shake of her head, and Mr. Gibbs gave out a “Bloody Hell!” followed by a much belated, “begging the captain’s pardon of course,” as Jack turned around.

“Bloody Hell!” Jack echoed far more quietly as Suzanna walked toward him, and he drank it all in as fast as he could. On top was a kind of rose-colored...well it looked like the top of one of her dresses, though perhaps more comfortable but still showing off her curves and leaving her shoulders bare, and stopping about mid-thigh or so. On the bottom she wore fawn-colored leggings tucked into buttery soft suede boots. Around her waist was a leather belt and scabbard from which protruded a beautifully wrought sword handle.

Anna Maria was cackling with appreciation at the look on Jack’s face. “I’ll say one thing for ye Suzanna, you’ve got a proper pirate style no matter how fancy you are!” she told her.

Jack still stared and fairly choked out his words. “Those are the few things you had to go pick up in town?”

“Well some of them.”

“And the sword? Can I assume our dear William is responsible for that?”

“He is,” she drew it out for the others to examine.

“It’s a veritable work of art,” he admired, turning it over in his hands. “Though it is rather smaller than usual.”

“Well that’s on purpose. You may have failed to notice, but I am neither as tall as you nor do I have your muscles, and he thought this might work well. He also suggested, Anna Maria if you’re willing, that you might give me some lessons because there are some things different about fighting as a smaller person. He says if you try this out and you like it, he’ll make you one as well.”

“Aye, that’s a bargain then!”

Jack looked at the two grinning women, and said in a stage whisper to Gibbs, “It is not one woman on board but two that may prove to be bad luck. Suddenly they are making agreements to which you are not party to...not good.”

“Can we start right now then?” Suzanna’s eyes danced with excitement and her whole body seemed to bounce on its toes. Both women turned to the captain with a silent but loud question on their faces.

His look of acquiescence was obvious even before he could open his mouth, and they disappeared before he had a chance to utter a word. Gibbs fixed him again with a look that clearly said, “You have brought ruin on all our heads.”

********************

It had been a good day. Well, come to think of it, Suzanna had never really had a bad day on the Pearl, though certainly some were tougher than others. They had spent a fair amount of time on the open ocean over the past 6 weeks, giving Port Royal quite a wide berth, and even for a pirate ship that meant inevitable lulls in wind and occupation. Which meant that the crew had time to talk to her.

The most difficult of the interviews by far was Matumba’s story. They had spent an afternoon with him recounting his life in slavery and how he came to be on the Pearl. The nightmare-unreal feeling of his capture and the horrors of the slave ship had Suzanna waking up screaming in the middle of the night and tossing and turning the rest of it, even Jack was unable to distract her or calm her down. It was truly a nightmare come to life, and she shivered with the memory. But now that she had gotten to the writing of it, she was undeniably pleased with the results. For those back in England who refused to acknowledge the barbary of the practice, preferring to shut their eyes to what brought them many of the goods they had come to enjoy, she was certain it would be one hell of a shock.

Jack seemed to be searching for something in the sheaf of maps and charts on his desk when she got back to the cabin. Suzanna dug out a bottle of port, uncorked it, and poured herself a glass and closed her eyes as she took a sip. It was ruby red, sweet but not too sweet, and she could sense the combination of fruit, spices, and alcohol dancing on the tip of her tongue and behind her front teeth. “Mmmm,” she sighed with pleasure while savoring the taste. It was good to think that turning pirate didn’t mean you had to give up good wine.

“That’s a dangerous sound, luv. You’ve quite distracted me from whatever it was I’ve forgotten I was doing. I’m usually the reason behind that sound.”

“Well, feel free to get behind it,” she said with a sly smile, never opening her eyes. Jack slid his way behind her on the bench and wrapped his arms around her waist, nuzzling her shoulder while Suzanna stretched herself out and nestled in closer.

“You look as though you are feeling quite pleased with yourself today, the cat with the proverbial cream,” he told her, reaching for her class to help himself and then licking his lips appreciatively. “Mmmmm and quite the delicious cream you’ve found there as well.”

The back of her neck was just starting to get slightly sticky from the port-flavored kisses when Tiny’s gentle knock rattled the door on its hinges.

“Come,” Jack said rather dispiritedly.

“It’s the Dauntless, sir. Much smaller crew than usual though, and they’ve got the white flag flying. Anna Maria wants to know how to proceed.”

“Norrington! Damn the man to the depths, he plagues me like a bad doubloon! By rights, I should fire on him just for that night in the wine cellar, and here he is interrupting me again.” Jack kissed her neck one more time for emphasis.

“Oh, hell, tell Anna Maria he can come on board, then send him in then.”

********************

“The governor sent me to speak with you, and he wishes me to do it alone,” Norrington addressed Suzanna.

Jack scoffed, “Well he can wish whatever he likes, mate, but on my ship it’s my rules, and if you think I’m leaving you alone in here with her, you are madder than they say I am.”

He moved to the far end of the long table. “If it will ease your mind, Commodore, as you are unarmed, I will sit right here in this chair,” Jack began removing the pistol from his belt and setting it on top of the table in front of him, “well away from you. But it should not appear in any way that you are threatening her, because if it does, I guarantee you will not leave this room. Have I made myself clear?”

“Inescapably, it seems”

“Good.”

Jack settled himself into his favorite worn leather chair with boots propped up on the table and settled back to watch what he was certain would be very interesting indeed.

“Very well then, since you insist,” Norrington began. “The governor has sent me personally to warn you about your brother.”

“Richard? What has he done now?”

Jack hadn’t expected that. He leaned forward now, paying close attention.

“Apparently word has reached the governor that there has been some sort of scandal at court. Your brother has left the country in disgrace and apparently traced your whereabouts as far as Port Royal. He is enroute to the Caribbean. The governor is understandably concerned about what the man will do when he discovers your recent actions and fears he may try to visit some harm upon the both of you.”

“May try?! Some harm?! He is ruthless, James. When he finds out what’s happened, he will stop at nothing to undo what I’ve done! You’ve got to protect Elizabeth. She is in real danger. I am deadly serious. Damn, I didn’t anticipate this. The rotten little bastard.”

Norrington flinched which made Suzanna more aware of what she had said. “Well that’s telling isn’t it. I can call him a bastard or a son of a bitch and who am I really insulting? Even when we aim a pistol at a man, it’s the woman behind him that gets shot.” Jack could feel her temper rising now, and he wondered if the commodore was as aware of it as he should be.

“He further asked me to tell you,” and his voice got rather quiet, not that he would escape Jack’s hearing, “that if you refute this new life you have...”

“Chosen, James. The word is chosen.”

“This life you have chosen and return with me to Port Royal, he will do everything in his power to protect you.” Suzanna looked about to interrupt but Norrington held up a hand to ask to be allowed to finish and got even quieter. “He asked me to tell you that he feels that the damage to your reputation is not yet irreparable, for instance that you might return to France if not England,” he seemed to shudder at the very thought and in utter bewilderment of this woman, lost his usual professional demeanor.

“You are a very handsome woman, Lady Harcourt. Surely it is not out of the question that you might still remarry and have a respectable life again. Why would you do this? How can you possibly give up everything others dream about for this? A pirate ship!”

Jack’s face was a mask of calm, not so much as a muscle twitched, which frankly Norrington almost found more disturbing than anything he might have said. Suzanna’s however was one of barely suppressed rage.

“He does have your best interests at heart,” Norrington offered finally.

Suzanna thought back to her parting with her uncle and found she could concede that point. But that was all. “My uncle means well and wants to protect me the only way he knows how,” she said quietly.

“And I give you my word,” Norringon said, slightly encouraged, “that no harm will befall you.”

“That is not a promise you could keep!” she spat back at him, but he was affronted as well.

“Are you doubting my word as a gentleman?” he demanded, appalled

“I am doubting the word of any gentleman! It is the fruit of the poisonous tree, all built on lies at the very roots, and none of you would know the truth if it bit you in the arse! James, you have been sent here on a fool’s errand, and I am sure my uncle knows it as well. But as you say, he means well. You on the other hand may also mean well, in fact I think you do, but you are unforgivably naive for a man in your position. So I am going to shoot the messenger, and I want you to understand why.

”James, you live in a world, the one I was raised in, where some people matter and some do not. Where the color of your skin can determine that you will live your life under the lash, and the curve of your body determine that you live it on your back. If that is your lot in life, you have no more say about it than does that chair whether I move it here or there. It is mine to do with as I please, and no one can legally gainsay me. Technically, if I am a man and poor, I do have some rights, but the tyranny of the stomach soon takes them away from me, for I must feed myself and my family and be subject to the will of those who have the power to pay me. So I am not much better off.”

“Yes, well there may be some truth to what you are saying but I fail to see how this applies to you. You were a titled woman of property...”

“As a married titled woman, I was property! My husband could do whatever he wanted with me, and did, and I had nothing to say about it! And when I did have something to say about it,” she leaned in very close to him now and pulled back her hair so he could see her face clearly and traced along her eyebrow, “when I questioned why he would bother with me after a night of drinking and whoring, this is where he hit me. But he made sure the doctor did a very good job, because after all he was protecting his investment.”

Norrington was aghast. Some part of him knew that such things went on in the lower classes but he would never imagine that royalty would be capable of such brutality. “I had no idea,” was all he could say.

“No and even if you knew me then, you wouldn’t, James, because ladies and gentlemen do not speak of such things.”

It was silent for some time before she went on.

“And so when as a married woman I was not being subjected to his physical demands, what else was expected of me? To give orders and manage the servants. To support my husband in his ambitions, however he asked me to. But most importantly, to be decorative. Like a lovely English teacup, with just a hint of French styling to make me that much more attractive. My days were spent in short bursts of terror followed by long periods of inexorable boredom. Being a teacup he could raise to his lips at a party to show off its fine lines. And me just wishing he would choke to death.

”So now I’ve left all that safe respectability behind and thrown in with a group of bloodthirsty pirates, what is my life like? I read. I write. I strategize with Jack, which quite frankly should make you very afraid as together we are even more impressive than we are apart.” Norrington scowled at that, and Jack grinned.

“We make love five times a day if we feel like it,” the grin got a lot bigger, the shift of his shoulders indicating his urge to crow here a bit, “if we both feel like it,” Suzanna added.
“Ah I’ve made you blush. Well, that’s true, ladies and gentlemen don’t talk about that either do they? Well why would they? A wife’s virtue and fidelity must be protected at all costs, her eyes are on heaven—well where else would they be since she is always on her bac—and she should just pray for it to be over as quickly as possible.” Norrington was as red as the apple in Jack’s hand. “But here is a tip, for if you find yourself a nice girl, it can be quite the extraordinary thing if you approach it from the point of view that both people matter.” Jack was sure the commodore would rather be anywhere else in the world but here right now, whereas he would not have missed this for the world.

“I do what I want when I feel like doing it. I dress how I want to. I eat what and when I want to and very well I might add! And I have the most amazing conversations with these men,” she pointed to the door,” who tell me the truth about their lives and how they came to be here and what they think about things. And you know why they tell me the truth? Because they have no reason to lie. They are not angling for position or influence or thinking about how it will affect their futures. They just talk. And they are fascinating. Imagine people just talking to each other without wanting anything more. One of my favorite things to do in the whole world is to talk to people, and I feel like I haven’t really done it in years until now. And they treat me with respect, because I listen to them.

“So now that you have heard a bit more of the truth, can you not see where my best interests truly lie? What would you rather be if you were me, James, a pirate or a teacup?”

Norrington was quiet for sometime. “I take your warnings about Elizabeth seriously, and I will do my best to ensure her safety. I shall take the governor your reply, Suzanna, though I get the impression he will not be greatly surprised. I, on the other hand, find myself more than a little disoriented right now, I must confess.”

“Seems to me, you need to get yourself a compass, mate,” said Jack, getting up and wrapping his arm around Suzanna’s waist now that the discussion was over. “One that does more than just point north.”

********************

A week later, the Pearl had dropped Jack and Suzanna on the far side of Terre de Haut, Guadeloupe, to a beach of buttery soft white sand that felt fantastic on bare feet when you walked along the edge of the sea. Royal palms lined the beach with bursts and tangles of pink and purple bougainvillea, and the lushness was simply startling. There was not a soul apart from them for miles and as she had been in her gown from the town earlier that day, it was now carefully hung from a tree while she tromped about in the chemise that Jack had first seen her in the day he discovered her true identity. There were soft blankets spread on the sand and a full compliment of food and wine. They could probably survive for a week on what Murphy had packed them for only one night. It seemed that he had taken Jack’s orders quite seriously and was responsible for filling in those curves as best he could over the past week. Jack smiled to see Suzanna looking not only fuller but with some real color in her face and on her skin and those irresistible flashing eyes that had been cheeky enough to wink at him across the table.

When they had left the ship, there had been some teasing and leering from the crew that was rather unusual. Suzanna knew something was going on but she didn’t know what. Anna Maria had shouted down to her, “Drink a lot of rum!” which was reasonable enough advice in and of it self but she couldn’t imagine why she felt compelled to give it. And Gibbs had looked particularly disgusted with the state of the world. Even for him.

They had been gathering wood and dried palm fronds for a fire to cook their supper that night when he took the frond she was carrying out of her hands and gathered her to him for a long sweet kiss. She could feel something in that kiss. “What? What is it you are up to?” she asked him.

“Nothing. Everything. Just you here.”

“Well it’s a very good thing you appear to be so smitten with me because it does appear,” she looked exaggeratedly up and down the beach, “that you are quite stuck with me for little other chance of company.”

“And it is a terrible hardship I’ll have you know,” he answered solemnly. “Though in truth, I have every confidence that you will not throw our picnic into the sea, nor begin an inferno of combustibles whilst I’m sleeping, and thus I shall do my very best to bear up accordingly.”

They dined that night as finely as any member of the royal family, on duck roasted on a spit and basted with wild cherries soaked in brandy and rice shot through with succulent wild mushrooms and piquant peppers in reds and yellows. There was a bottle of round red wine, and both the company and the scenery were a vast improvement over anything to be found in the palace. They laughed together until they cried and cried until they laughed as yet untold chapters of their lives tumbled out onto the beach beside the magic of a fire.

When the talking was done, Jack rummaged at his belt for a small leather pouch that Suzanna had not noticed before, one that hung just next to his compass. From the basket of food he took out a flagon of rum and, after tossing the remains of a glass of wine into the fire, poured more than a generous measure into it. He dropped several small items from the bag inside the drink and set the glass down on the other side of him from the fire where she could not quite see. This was the source of the anticipation she had felt earlier. Not just about the two of them, but something bigger. And very much about the two of them.

“Alright then, Suzanna Katherine Worthington Harcourt, no longer Duchess or Vicomtesse of sundry places, do you now in this place and in this moment have the courage and fortitude to commit yourself to the Black Pearl? Do you swear loyalty to her captain and promise to follow orders…” they looked at each other, and he knew this would never work as it was, “on all matters of ships business and pirating and whatnot?” he added. She still looked at him. “Knowing that he of course sees you as a woman of tremendous intelligence and cunning and that he greatly values your advice and will be certain to seek it regularly?”

She broke into a smile at that. “Aye, I do,” she told him, her lips just brushing against his.

He picked up the glass and fished out the objects but held them close in his hand. “Then drink this down.” Considering it was his first ‘order’ and she could catch the look in his eye, she decided perhaps just this one time that she’d acquiesce. While she drank, he helped himself to his own generous measure and then held out his hand to reveal two small but lustrous black pearl earrings and a sharp needle.

She took a deep breath and stuck her chin out just slightly. Jack could easily picture her defending the castle to the last man, dressed in armor rather than silk. It was an image that both cheered and dismayed him, for she was not one to shrink from a fight. “May this be the only blood you ever spill on her behalf,” he said in not much more than a whisper, and pushed the needle through in one swift motion. She flinched but she did not make more than the smallest cry until he in turn pushed it through his own ear, which she found much harder to watch. Earrings quickly threaded through, he hastened now to fill the glass with seawater and pour it carefully over her ear, the salt stinging at first but quickly setting about its blessings of healing and benediction.

“Welcome to the Black Pearl, Suzanna,” he kissed her on both cheeks, quite formally, sagged just for a moment with visible relief that that was done, then set his jaw again.

He handed her the flagon and they both drank a bit more before he reached into the small pouch again.

“Now one more thing,” he began, and she shivered again with a memory of their first night together, “I’m hardly the marrying kind, Suzanna...”

“What?! Did you hear nothing...” she began, but he cut her off with a swift kiss.

“And it has certainly been none too kind to you either,” and she smiled at his understanding that that was not a path she ever wanted to walk again either.

“Most importantly, I don’t believe I need anyone’s permission to love you but your own.”

“Which I have granted with great enthusiasm,” she teased him a bit, his solemnity both thrilling and scaring her just a bit.

“I’ve had this for a long time, and I’ve been waiting till something struck me. Then the other morning at Will and Elizabeth’s, I was staring at my favorite collar bones,” he told her as his fingers traced them, “it struck me how good it would look just there.” He traced his way to her breast bone, over her heart. He reached around the back of her neck, making her shiver yet again, and fastened a silver chain and let his gift settle itself over her, a black pearl nestled within a tiny white oyster shell gleaming in the light of the fire.

“Oh, Jack,” was all she could manage, her words deserting her now as this was a story that only touch could tell. She kissed him, trying her best to pour every inch of love and gratitude she felt for what had become of her life, but it wasn’t enough. It could never be enough. Her hands moved to undo him as she asked breathless, “And what comes next in this ritual? Are we up to the celebration part?”

“Oh, yes,” he breathed out as he stopped her hands for just a moment and turned her around to look at the water and the sky. While they had been talking by the fire they had been so engrossed in one another she had not really noticed, but now she looked to see a breath-stealing full moon hanging as if by a thread in the sky just above them and positively pouring herself down on their heads.

In all her years of longing, she had never known moonlight like this. She held out her arms, like she had on those nights when she was a small girl, and it had weight to it, both solid and liquid, its silver spilling through her fingertips and onto the ground in an ancient blessing.

When she turned back to him, he stood before her in only his skin, so sleek and perfect that she could not imagine why he would ever bother with all those cumbersome clothes. His hands reached to the sides of her thighs, gathering up the material and then pulling the cloth over her head. His mouth found hers and just reveled there—pushing, pressing, and exploring—but soon he is too restless. He wants all of her and right now, his lips sliding over every bit of skin there is to find. But she wants all of him as well and cannot rest. And so the very best kind of battle is fought, each side desperate for the other’s victory, each side giving while they take. His lips and tongue at her nipples, her teeth at his hip, hands in perpetual motion to feel every muscle and sinew, every angle and curve. More, always more, wanting and hungry. They are both fierce and tender with each other. Those perfect hands of his hold on to her while he nips and licks but when at last two of those long elegant fingers slide into all the heat they have created, she can no longer remain kneeling, her whole body shaking as he lowers her down to the blanket and moves to taste the salty bliss he knows is so close. Her hands in his hair as the world goes white and she explodes and Jack drinking her in, this sacred cup of honeyed mead blessed by the moon light and their love and desire for one another.

He slides behind her now, helping her to sit up in front of him and lean back against his chest. She is a few minutes before she returns to herself, but when she does, she can feel his cock pressing at her back and she just has to turn her head to reach out and lick at a nipple with her warm tongue and Jack moans. He gives her a moment there, it feels so incredible he doesn’t want to rush as she kisses her way up his chest, and begins to suckle at his neck in earnest. When he can stand it no longer and lays down flat on the blanket, bringing her up against him, her back to his chest as he lays her on top of him to face the stars. He takes hold of her hips to slide inside her and then holds her still, fighting his now consuming desire to stay in this moment as long as possible.

But it is a losing battle as her feet slide across the tops of his where the skin is smooth and she finds some purchase there, pulsing herself upward to slide almost off him while he in turn pulls her down. She is disappearing into the sensation as the spirals grow tighter. “Open your eyes,” he reminds her, wanting her to feel the weight of the sky and see their part in it all, his hands sliding over her breasts, the calluses on his palms sending ripples through her, the kisses on her face growing more urgent now as fingers slide through silk and her back bows, her hands clutching at his thighs. Their bodies glowing now in the moonlight and spiraling that much higher as she watches his hands open her even further to him and the press of the stars above, the two of them moving together until her whole body is on fire, both sacrifice and celebrant as they burst into flames.

In the morning she is amazed to find that the sand beneath them has not turned to glass.

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