Here's to Freedom -- Part 2
Their lips met and it took every ounce of propriety that existed in his wily body to avoid losing control over himself. He'd kissed many a girl in his day, and his trysts with them had been a lot less tame than this, but he'd never felt this before. It was like--
He was tugged from his musings when he felt her pull away from him. Startled, he searched her expression for some clue as to what she was thinking, and he was rewarded with a smile. Resting her forehead against his, she sighed, "Jack."
With a grin, he lifted his hands to cup her face, wondering if his name had ever sounded better than it did coming from Natalie's incredible lips at that very moment. Unable to resist her any longer, he moved in once more, brushing his mouth over hers with an increased fervor that all but took his breath away.
She couldn't believe what was happening. She was on an all-male pirate vessel, kissing the famed buccaneer captain, Jack Sparrow, in her nightclothes! If the circumstances weren't shocking enough, the feelings he had roused in her were.
She had never felt so alive! Clinging to him as he took the very air from her lungs, Natalie smiled against his lips. This was where she belonged; sailing the open seas with this man, nothing stopping them from chasing the endless horizon. This was absolute freedom.
Jack needed to put an end to this or he would end up taking her right there on the quarter deck! This was all he needed; another reason for the already irritable commodore and company to hang him. Yes, he was almost positive that running off with the governor's daughter would rank rather high on the long list of offenses the honorable James Norrington would love to watch him swing for.
With great difficulty, he withdrew from the circle of her arms and turned away. He had his crew to protect, and she needed to go back to where she belonged, this wasn't the time to get selfish. Leaning over the railing, he took a deep breath to help him regain his composure.
Natalie simply stared at him, his back facing her as he hung over the banister, in complete confusion. "Jack?" she asked, stepping towards him. Just seconds ago he had been holding her tight and now he wouldn't even face her. Something was wrong.
He heard the uncertainty in her voice and it tore him to pieces inside. He needed to pull himself together! He was Captain Jack Sparrow, the most terrible pirate in all the world! He wasn't about to be taken out by a pretty face when he'd beaten all manner of enemies, human, supernatural, and otherwise, in his long and not-so-distinguished career!
Turning on his heel, Jack's plan withered and died as his gaze slammed into hers, shimmering with unshed tears, her lips trembling, unabashed hurt washing over her lovely features. "I--um...What?" he muttered, trying, in vain, to get his lips to form the correct words.
"What's wrong, Jack?" she asked, moving closer. Natalie reached out her hand and rested it on his forearm, but he promptly shook it off.
Plastering a grin on his face, he slurred, "Oh, nothing, really. I-- Oh, bugger." His face twisted in defeat as hers darkened in anger. "Natalie, I can't get into this."
She stood there, frozen in shock, but nodded with a smile to avoid embarrassing herself further. "I understand." No, she really didn't, and she wanted so much to tell him so, to shake him and bring him back to Earth because she couldn't be the only one feeling this.
"Good," he said with a smile, inwardly hoping she didn't. He furrowed his brow at his thoughts. No he didn't. Shaking his head, he pulled himself from confusion and bit her good night. "I really must be getting back to the helm, lo--lass. Good night."
She watched as Jack swaggered off, down the stairs and to the wheel, barking at the nearest sailor to get him some more rum. Shaking her head, she cast a final glance over the sea and sky, now beginning to lighten with the first rays of dawn, and walked off below deck to her cabin.
* * * *
"They've been 'ere, Commodore!" one soldier yelled, running up the gangway to the Dauntless with a group of seven following him. It had taken them long enough to get back to where the vessel was anchored, hidden in a cove under an ever-brightening sky on the opposite side of the scalawag port, Tortuga.
The stately man simply nodded at the information. "When were they last seen?"
The man pulled off his cap and wiped the sweat off of his brow. It had helped conceal his identity, for no one would have cooperated if they had known he was of the British Royal Navy, but it itched like the devil. Finally garnishing his superior with an answer, he said, "Sparrah was spotted three days ago. Dragged a dark-haired lass by the wrist, he did. It 'as to be Miss Swann, sir. Seems like the whole town saw 'em. Sailed west from 'ere."
"Good work, gentlemen," he replied with another curt nod. Raising his voice so all aboard could hear, Commodore Norrington shouted, "Hoist the anchor, we sail at dawn."
* * * *
After a long night of constant thinking about the man who refused to be forgotten, Natalie had finally fallen into a restless sleep. When she awoke the following day, the sun was high in the bright blue sky and spilling mercilessly into her cabin window as a reminder that she couldn't possibly stay inside forever.
With a hopeless sigh, she threw back the covers and sat up in the surprisingly comfortable cot. While it was far from the plump down mattress that she was accustomed to sleeping on, it didn't bother her in the slightest anymore, a fact which chilled her.
She was getting entirely too used to life aboard the Cara Mia, and she hadn't the faintest idea as to how long she would be welcome. After last night's fiasco, the good captain probably had the plank all set up, ready to turn her into fish fodder.
Shaking her head, she swung her legs over the side of the bed and dragged herself to her feet. It wasn't going to be easy, but she had to go on as usual or things would get even worse.
Natalie crossed the room to the chair where she had left her clothes the night before, quickly slipping out of her nightgown and into the pair of worn breeches and white shirt that she had picked up while in Tortuga. Smiling to herself, she remembered Jack pressing her about the matter just as soon as he was through hollering at her about running off. She never had told him where she'd gotten her pirate lass garb.
In truth, she had simply come across a man who was fervently admiring the frock, and not the woman inside it, so she offered to trade. It was all rather funny, remembering how ecstatic the burly, weather-worn scallawag had been about his marvelous stroke of good luck! Lord knows what crazy idea Jack had put into his head about the whole thing, but Natalie was perfectly content to let it fester in that rock hard skull of his.
With a smile, she tossed her auburn waves over her shoulder and hurried up on deck. She wouldn't want to anger the captain, after all!
* * * *
Taking care to be as quiet as was humanly possible, Will slowly pushed open the door to the cabin he was sharing with Elizabeth, and crept across the wooden floorboards to her side. It was almost noon and everyone else had been awake and on deck for a while, but he couldn't bring himself to rouse her. She hadn't been the same since Natalie's capture and she deserved her rest.
With a smile, he sat down on the edge of her bed and brushed a lock of deep blonde hair from her face. God, she was beautiful. Sometimes, when he woke to see her sleeping peacefully beside him it was all he could do to stare like a slack-jawed idiot in wonderment of his marvelous fortune.
Elizabeth was the best thing that had ever happened to him and nothing but death would ever get in the way of his love for her.
"Hmm," she groaned, turning in bed to face him as her eyelids fluttered open. Dreamily, she smiled up at him murmuring, "Will."
Will brought her hand to his lips and gave it a kiss, softly saying, "Good morning, darling. I apologize if I woke you. I wanted to look in and see if you were well."
Raising a hand, she brushed her fingertips across his cheek and replied, "What did I ever do to deserve you, William Turner?"
He covered her hand with his own and furrowed his brow as he gazed down upon her, wondering how she could ever wonder such a thing. "Elizabeth, dear, you were you. There's no better reason in all the world."
Her face suddenly slipped back into seriousness. "Will, what do you suppose Jack wanted with Natalie?" Her eyes met his and she continued, "Do you think he's in trouble?"
Will just smiled, leaning over and planting a kiss on her forehead before replying, "With a Swann lady on board, that man is most definitely in trouble!"
* * * *
It had been less than an hour since Natalie had waltzed up on deck, looking delightful in the midday sun as she laughed and joked with the crew, and, already, he wanted to throw something.
He had downed nearly a bottle and a third of good strong rum from the time he'd left her the evening before, and now his head felt as though it would simply roll off of his shoulders, thudding all the way. And to add to his frustration, she was acting so...so...
So NORMAL! It was as though last night had never happened! Jack quirked his lips to one side, knowing that this had been his intention when he cut their little assignation short, but it was the principle of the thing. He was irresistible to women, so how is it that this one wasn't under his thumb?
Damn frustrating, it was!
So there he stood, slouched over the wheel sneering at her as she gave her brilliant smile to everyone on the damn boat but himself. In fact, she was making a point of avoiding him. Aha!
Jack's discovery withered and died in his foggy brain as she spun about and their eyes met in a devastating collision. She seemed to stare right into his soul, and that scared the living daylights from him. God knows what she would find in there.
Much to his surprise, she started over to the helm, stopping a hair's breadth from his own form. "Good afternoon, Captain. I trust you are in good spirits on this fine day, hum?"
He had to grit his teeth of gold to hold back a string of expletives that threatened to burst forth at the cold formality of her address and her perfectly ordinary behavior. "I'm fine, Miss Swann, thanks for inquirin'," he replied, trying to look past her to the ocean stretched out before the Cara Mia.
She simply nodded and turned to walk away, and Jack suddenly snapped! "Are you infirm or something, Miss?!" he said in a harsh whisper, grabbing her forearm and whipping her around to face him.
He saw shock flash momentarily in her startling emerald eyes before quickly darkening in anger. "Excuse me, Mister Sparrow. You will unhand me immediately," Natalie said, slowly and dangerously.
"It hasn't even been a full day since I had you callin' me name and now all of a sudden you're acting as though it never happened!" Jack said, mere inches separating their faces.
Natalie's eyes grew lethal and, without warning, she slapped him soundly across the face, muttering, "You are a heartless cad, Jack Sparrow! Good day!" And with that, she stormed off, disappearing below deck to work through her blind rage.
Jack furrowed his brow and ran his hand over his stinging cheek, visibly shaking with fury. Withdrawing a flask from his pocket, he pulled out the stopper and chugged the entire thing, hurling it overboard when he was through. More than a few crew members looked over at their captain in concern as the container whizzed past their heads, and all he could do was growl.
"Damn women! It must be a Swann family trait to be completely VEXING!"