Adeena Cole and the Curse of the Black Pearl

Chapter Six

I awoke suddenly to a knocking sound. Sitting up, I stared around groggily and my eyes found the door.

The knocking persisted, and I grabbed my cutlass from under the bed and padded toward the door, wondering who the hell was bothering me at this hour.

I swung the door open, my blade trained on whoever was on the other side, but relaxed when I saw who it was.

"Jack!" I hissed. I ignored the butterflies that erupted in my gut. "What do you want?"

He grinned and motioned for me to lower the sword. "Hello, love."

I dropped the weapon and glared at him, my cheeks flushing. "What, Jack?"

He shrugged. "I couldn't sleep. Wanna fence?"

I stared at him. He was so handsome, his shirt half open, some of his tattoos showing. "Right now?"

He nodded and swayed slightly.

I sighed and straightened my shirt, extremely
self-conscious. "Why not?"

After retrieving my baldric, we made our way above decks, careful to not wake Will.

"He would kill me," I whispered through the darkness.

He was above me, hopping up the stairs, the moonlight framing him. "Why?" A pause. "Are you two related?"

I shook my head as we cleared the top. "No, just friends. He has a very bleak outlook on pirates."

Jack smiled. "I see."

Then, he was attacking me, pushing me toward the railing. I quickly drew my blade and rushed to parry, our swords clinging and clanging as we pushed one another around.

We were evenly matched; neither of us could gain the upper hand, not to mention I was so distracted by all of him. I spun around and hit his blade out of the way, then found myself pressed against the doors of his cabin, Jack's cutlass pressed against my neck.

"I thought you said no kill shots?" I asked jokingly, though my voice shook a bit. He was so close, so bloody damn close...

He grinned, his gold teeth glimmering. "Never trust a pirate, love."

My eyes narrowed. "Is that a warning?"

He shrugged. "Maybe." Apparently he didn't notice my increasingly shaky insides.

I stared at him for a minute, studying his beautiful features. Then, suddenly, I knocked his blade up, jerked him forward by his collar, then turned him around so his back was to the door.

"Ha!" I laughed.

He smirked and pushed away my sword, the tip touching his chest. "Nice, very nice."

I sheathed my blade and let him away from the wall. "Will taught me how to use a sword after I watched him practice one day."

He put his sword away as well and turned, opening the doors and walking inside. "Did he, now?"

I nodded and followed, more than a little distracted by the skin showing from his half-buttoned up shirt. "Yes. He's quite accomplished with a sword; he may have beaten you, had you not cheated."

He smiled at this and picked up the compass, staring at the needle. "I could beat the eunuch with my eyes closed, savvy?"

I laughed and punched him lightly. "He's not a eunuch!"

He rolled his eyes in a whatever way and snapped the compass shut, then shook it vigorously. "Right, love."

I stared at his compass curiously. "Is it broken?"