Several seconds went by, and Jade still hadn't received an answer from the Lord, who was still quite drunk where he remained across the cabin. With his arms lifeless against his sides as if they alone weighed as a ton of lead and his gaze fixed beneath him at the floor. It was rather clear to her that he had no clue of what to say. If her reply had been of a taunting manner, or with a mocking tone, he would have known what to answer right away, Jade was sure of it. The Lord's wits often caused her speechlessness, and he had a spineless custom of avoiding the actual question. Honesty, however, did not come to him naturally, and it appeared the truth in her voice had diminished him. He had expected another protest from her side, now instead he was left mute and dense.
"Why do you stay, Jade?" he wondered, while he dared to cast a somber glance at her. The question did not imply something else, it was not scornful or dry as his usual comments. His voice had been sincere and so was his expression. This time it was Jade's turn to become wordless.
"Because I was stupid enough to fall for you" she shrugged her shoulders with a timid smile. To her surprise, Beckett scoffed. Without purpose, he writhed and Jade thought she saw how his bottom lip trembled. He let out an indistinct sound, as if he had begun to speak then quickly changed his mind and fallen quiet once more. While she collected courage, she took a step closer to the Lord. Her movement merely caused him to stumble backwards. "How can this come as such a surprise for you, Cutler?" she wondered with a puzzled expression. "Did you think I only stayed with you because of your charm?"
To her great relief, Beckett chuckled. Without grace or elegance, he finally shifted position. "No" he shook his head, "certainly not because of my charm, nor my lack of it" he tilted his head up, now a thin smile was placed over his lips. "I have never considered myself very successful when it comes to romance, you see, I never paid much interest in it, truly. Still, none of the women paid much interest in me either" he shrugged. "I was always the awkward little brother, it was Jonathan Jr. and Bartholomew the ladies and their families were curious of, not their sickly smaller brother who spent most of his time inside with a book instead of horse riding or sword fencing, or other matters they considered useful" he inhaled. "So yes, I am surprised" he met her eyes.
"Well, I can't say I find horse riding or sword fencing very appealing" she told him with a wrinkled nose. "I'd rather choose the awkward, sickly, little brother"
With a smile on his lips, Beckett nodded and shut his eyes. "And I would much rather choose the rowdy but actually quite sweet pirate over a highborn lady"
It was hard to tell whether the Lord himself or Jade found it more surprising that he had, in truth, spoken those words. Beckett could not decide if the expression on her face was caused by sorrow or joy. When a laugh escaped her lips, and she wiped the tears from her cheek, he dared to breath out. "Bloody hell then, what have we been fighting about?" she burst out with a wide smile, while she appeared not to be able to stop laughing or prevent the tears from welling up in her eyes.
With his hands held out, he shuddered. "Apparently of nothing significant" Then he inhaled shortly and took a step further. Before he had time to consider how drunk he still was, or premeditate just how many mistakes he could possibly be making in this particular moment, he placed a nervous hand on Jade's cheek and decreased the distance between their faces. Her lips tasted of salt and her skin was slightly wet against his. Still, the Lord figured he was no better, and could not complain, for he most certainly tasted of rum. His face was also damped, although not by tears, which were the case with Jade, but from sweat. This, however, did not seem to bother her, for she fondly pulled him closer towards her by placing her arms around his neck. If Beckett, who was rather inexperienced when it came to intimacy, were to decide the pace of this kiss, they most likely would stand still, with their lips gently against the others. So wide was his experience. Of course, he could put his hands on her waist, or run his fingers through her hair, although these attempts were highly improvised. Jade, on the other hand, was no stranger to kissing. Confidently, she moved her lips over his, in a manner which caused him to flush. She seemed to have no intention to stop either, for she continued pressing her lips across his. Beckett's eyes were opened wide when he felt how she nibbled at his bottom lip. Ever so slowly, her tongue sought its way between his lips, and separated them. Hesitantly, he let her, and felt her tongue play against his. A moan escaped his lips as his hands found her hips. A soft giggle came from Jade when she withdrew, her mirth grew more radiant as she saw the unmistakeable redness upon his cheeks. Quickly he tilted his head down, in a rather poor attempt to conceal what she had already noticed. Gently she put a hand on his cheek, and leaned in to place a kiss on his forehead. That, however, was not what Beckett appeared to have in mind, before she was able to, he led her across the cabin and still with a grip around her hips he lifted her to the table. With his waist, he separated her thighs, now instead of the timid expression, he smirked in certitude as she was familiar with.
"Rum seems to make you bold, m'lord" she whispered while he placed kisses on her neck. As confirmation of her statement, he fingered over the lacing of her gown and without permission from her side he ripped it open. It was indeed unlike him, Jade figured, the Lord commonly was more patient with such matters than she was. Although, not this time it seemed, for he paid no thought to the fact that the gown was now useless until Miss Goodwright had replaced the lacing. Unless she wished to meet the Lord's family in a gown with an open back, of course. Surely, she would be able to convince them it was the latest fashion in Paris, still that course of action did not seemed optimal. All this matter with the ruined gown, was nothing Jade cared much for, she was busy with unbuttoning the Lord's coat, while he let her gown slide down and leave her torso bare. The slightly chill and damped air within the cabin made the hair on her back stand. She shuddered when he dragged his fingers over her skin. She leaned her head back and felt her shape hit the cold wood table, and heard how he began unlacing his trousers. She gasped, and reached the side of the table, when he pressed his waist against hers. He grasped her thigh and lifted her leg higher up. Then he began to thrust before her, first slowly, then after a while, more confidently. Jade arched her back and giggled softly, while a groan escaped his lips. When the movement became quicker, she sat up and placed her arms around his neck. Her sudden change in position caused the Lord to stumble to the side, which revealed that he still had some rum in his blood. Beckett stopped moving, and felt how Jade took a firmer grip around his shoulders to prevent him from losing his balance once more. He looked up at her with wary eyes, but no harm was done, for she still smiled and leaned in to place a kiss on his lips. A glimpse of mischief flickered in her eyes when she began to rotate her hips, which caused him to moan. The smile on her lips got wider when she received the effect that she'd wished for. He narrowed his eyes slightly, but could not prevent himself from smiling. He took a hold around the small of her back, as he began rolling his waist once again. Jade gasped and leaned in to place her forehead against his neck. She heard how he panted as the grip on her back became firmer, she nudged her hips closer to him. He grunted and buried his face in her hair, as he thrust back and forth. His breaths became rapid, while he tilted his head up with a slightly opened mouth. His grimaced in delight while he quickly shoved his waist against hers, a long moan escaped his lips as he shuddered. With his head against her shoulder, he caught his breath.
Even if Beckett's first acquaintance with First mate Brady, and the other crew members hadn't precisely been to his pleasure, he still joined Jade to the quarters the following evenings of their journey. Of course he drank no more rum, for he still considered it just as vulgar as before he had been more or less forced into trying it. Despite this, he accompanied her and sat patiently besides her while she drank and sang with the other men. Perhaps more for her sake than for his own. When he, after some time, had grown more bored of sitting all quiet than bitter over the poor manners of the sailors, he had in fact found himself enjoying discussing with Brady rather more than he had expected. The man was ill educated, no doubt, yet frank and righteous in his approach. Perhaps, mostly of all, what made the Lord grow fond of speaking with the First mate was that they shared a similar contempt for pirates. Which was quite ironic, in fact, because both of them were quite fond of Jade.
On the starboard side they now caught a sight of Britain, still not much was seen of it at this hour for the Irish Sea rested in a thick fog which had surrounded them whence the darkness had come. Just as every other night, Brady offered Beckett the rum, by holding the bottle before him with raised brows. Just as every other night, the Lord declined. To begin with, the First mate had made this gesture out of sincerity, to be certain Beckett didn't want a drink after all, when he had filled his own cup. Now, some evenings later, Brady merely did it in order to mock the Lord, for he was already fully aware of what the answer would be. Beckett himself had given up on any attempt of practiced friendliness and the polite excuse for why he declined the so kind offer, and now simply shook his head with a slightly irritated countenance. This only caused Brady to chuckle more each time he joined the Lord.
"Ye're not much for rum, r'ye?" he sneered as he took his own cup to his mouth. There had been a storm, which had required the whole crew's effort the previous night. The result of this was a quite tired crew. A few of them had already gone to sleep, a truly particular thing for the hour was not even past midnight. The few who still were present were red eyed and weary. This, however, did not stop the Scot from playing his violin. Most of the crew who by the beginning of the evening, had enough spirit to dance, had now returned to their seats and the only two still on the floor were Jade and Vincent. Her loud giggle resonated in the warm air, while Vincent, as a result from lack of sleep combined with several glasses of rum too much, stumbled over the end of her gown and almost landed on her. Beckett's eyes lingered upon her, as she merely laughed while she attempted to help him to his feet once more, then he remembered Brady had spoken to him.
"Pardon?" he asked while he turned to the First mate, while another sailor had to join Jade in her struggle to get the drunken Frenchman up from the floor.
"I said" continued Brady, who was not at all bothered by the Lord's lack of attention towards their conversation, for he as well observed the happenings before them. "Ye're not much for rum, good thing ye're not a sailor, ye wouldn't last a day without it" he patted on his cup with a sigh.
"I suppose you're right" he agreed, but not entirely for the reason he was not very fond of rum, for he was certain he would learn to drink if it was required. Boats, however, was something he would not learn to endure, nor the constant rocking. "Still, I'm convinced you wouldn't do very well in an office"
"I would certainly not" Brady shook his head as he leaned back in his seat. "I've never been much for paperwork and that wig looks awfully uncomfortable" he nodded at the Lord's head.
"You get used to it"
"Ye get used to tis, too" the First mate raised his cup. When he had emptied it, he reached for another bottle and sighed loudly when he realized it was dry. He cast an eye over the table, in search for another one, but when he saw none, he placed the cup back on the table and straightened. "Vincent, did ye drink all t'God damned rum again?" he bellowed across the quarters. All answer he was given from the frenchmen was a indistinct murmur as he raised one hand in the air. Vincent sat against the wall on the flooring, his head leaned against his chest as Jade had to hold him up in order for him to remain upright. That was an answer enough, and Brady appeared to accept the fact that his cup would remain empty for the rest of the night. "Ye never told us how ye captured the siren"
Beckett remained quiet for some time, for he was not certain of what he would reply. Of course, he could not tell the truth, for the truth was, indeed, highly inappropriate. Commonly, the Lord was quick to his wits, but those matters were often of work and such, not something as private as this. "In fact, she was the one who ran into me"
Brady nodded slowly with raised brows, while he ran a hand through his brown, neck long, hair. "Well, consider yerself lucky then, inn't everyday such a sight for sore eyes swims right into yer net" he gestured at Jade, who held a hand around Vincent's arm to assist him when he attempted to rise. To that Beckett only dared to smile nervously, while he forced his eyes away from her and the Frenchman. In fact, the Lord hadn't often considered himself as lucky, and commonly reflected that his life would most certainly had been much simpler if he hadn't encountered Miss Lockhart. If she wouldn't have, by accident, run into him that day in Port Royal, when the crows sang their throaty song to celebrate all the rotting flesh that was thrown into the sea, then she would have become one of the many corpses. She would have been hanged for her crimes against The Crown, as she ought to have been. Although, Beckett was not entirely certain that was what he wished for her, for the thought of her miss treated, lifeless figure hanging along with the others caused his mouth to become dry.
The Lord woke up from his thoughts when suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder. Jade had approached them, with rosy cheeks and a wide smile on her lips. Her merry spirit lifted the unease from Beckett, and he nudged to the side so she could sit down. She giggled, and it was evident that she wished to tell them something, but was unable to get the words out.
"Vincent-" she began, but when she saw the slightly cynical expression on Beckett's face, it caused her to giggle even louder. She covered her face with her hand, and intended to calm herself down as she inhaled. "Vincent wants you to know that he didn't mean to drink all your rum" she burst out quickly, with her eyes fixed at Brady, as if she feared that if she spoke too slowly another outburst of laugher would prevent her from speaking. Her voice was unsteady and mirthful, which revealed that she, too, had drunk quite a bit.
"It seems he was not t'only one" smirked Brady as he watched her with warm eyes.
Jade only shook her head, she covered her mouth as she laughed. Instead of sitting down next to the Lord, where he had made room for her, she sank down into his lap without much difficulty. The unexpected gesture caused Beckett to nearly fall backwards, yet he managed to find balance with Jade around his neck. He exhaled, but did not appear to mind her choice in seat any further, for he made no attempt to make her rise. "He" she breathed, while she wiped away tears from the corners of her eyes. "He asked me if I knew that this is the rum the king drinks"
"I hardly believe it is" Beckett spoke, with one arm around the small of Jade's back, and with his other placed upon her lap. The First mate just chuckled while he shook his head. When Jade had finally stopped giggling, she was able to catch her breath, and rested her forehead against the Lord's cheek. Her eyelids had fallen, and her head slowly sank down and was caught by his shoulder. "I believe we ought to return to our cabin" he nodded to Brady, and turned his head towards her. "Jade" he began, as he carefully patted on her shoulder. Her eyes flushed opened, and she rubbed them.
It was with fatigued hands she attempted to untie the lacing of her gown before the looking glass. The ribbons seemed not to cooperate with her and the further she tried to undo them, they only closed around her waist firmer. She sighed in frustration, for all she wished to do was to go to sleep after the late night. The Lord sat on the bed, with a book in his hand. Yet, his eyes were not fixed on the book but on Jade, as he observed her with his head to the side.
"Would you need some assistance?" he asked, while she, with one of her arms over her head and the other curved around her back, desperately struggled to be rid of the unpleasant gown. She cast a somber glance over her shoulder.
"Yes, please" she whined. Courteous phases, such as 'please', was indeed uncommon for her to utter, so it was with a nearly unnoticeable smirk on his lips, he placed the book aside and rose from the bed. When he approached her, she let her arms fall to her sides. Before he began unlacing the gown, he cast an eye at the mess of ribbons she had achieved while she had tried to undo it herself. Yet, he could not blame her, for she was both drunk and tired, and if he had drunk the same amount of rum as she had, he wouldn't have still been standing. So, instead of mocking her about it, as he first had intended to, he inhaled and begun to sort out the ribbons which crossed and tangled into each other. In the looking glass, he saw the impatient expression on her face, and considered it would not have been wise to taunt her anyhow.
"Tomorrow we will reach the coast of England" he began, as he struggled with a knot. He cast an eye at her, and swallowed. "And as the deal required, which you insisted on, you shall then behave as a proper lady once we visit my family"
"It was a silly deal" Jade spoke, and the Lord's sharp gaze found her through the looking glass once more. "But yes, I will behave as a proper lady" she saw how he breathed out in relief, as he returned to the lacing.
"Excellent" he nodded, and began to loosen the ribbons below her nape. When the knots were unraveled, the process was not very difficult and when he had come half way down, she breathed in sharply, as if she finally could catch her breath.
She closed her eyes, and her bosom rose and sank. "Thank you, by the way," she began with a relieved smile on her lips. She wiped away a lock of hair from her forehead and fastened it behind her ear. "for joining me to the quarters, I know it's not what you prefer" Her words were followed by a silence, until Beckett nodded shortly and swallowed. His posture had stiffened somewhat, and it was evident he was uncertain of what to answer. When Jade realized she would receive no answer, she glanced down. "If you want me to behave as a proper lady, you will have to tell me how"
The Lord, who had untied her lacing, took a step backwards. With indistinct eyes, he observed her as she let the gown fall over her shoulder and drop to the floor. Quickly, he let his gaze drop, as he, in the corner of his eyes, saw how she pulled her nightgown over her head. "Um" he cleared his throat, and Jade cast a glance at him over her shoulder. "A proper lady would most certainly not drink rum with a handful of other unwed men" he dared to face her, and noticed that she was smiling. She nodded and gestured at him to continue. "Furthermore, it is not considered as appropriate for a lady to have been with child, before wed, therefore I would be grateful if you left that part out. I would also like you to speak more properly, when we meet my family"
Jade scoffed, while she nodded. "Your demands aren't small" she shuddered. "But I will not embarrass you in front of your family"
Author's note
I would like to thank all of you for the support and comments I've received while working on this story. I started writing this in February last year when a reader to the first part, 'Bittersweet' wondered if I was planning a sequel, and until then I wasn't. I'm so grateful because if I had not received that question I wouldn't have written this sequel, and it's been so much fun and I hope you all liked it! There will be a third part, where they reach England and Jade gets to meet his family.
Sending love, Hillevi