Cavalier Prince of Pirates (Post 9)

My eyes fluttered open, and I watched, my vision still hazy with sleep, as a naked Howel Davis picked up his clothes from the floor, his hair in tangles about his face. God, but he was well-made. So many men I’d known in my time who went to the gym every day, relentlessly, and never achieved a body like his. Something to be said for spending most your life as a sailor — and a pirate — in the days when life aboard a ship was difficult, dangerous.

In spite of his chiseled form, it would have taken a bit of cosmetic tweaking to make him the 21st century ideal: He was hairy, with plenty of thick dark hair on his legs and chest, as well as in between; he had a serious farmer’s tan, as his forearms, neck and face were burnt brown while the rest of his skin was several shades lighter; it had been a while since his last real bath, and his scent was a rich stew of sweat and environment (luckily, I liked his personal odor enough that it didn’t bother me — quite on the contrary, it drove me crazy). Not that I was one to talk — despite my compulsive scrubbing, I too was constantly sweating and immersed in a swirl of seawater and filth. The smells of the 18th century became intrinsic to everyday life, something I simply didn’t notice anymore (unless they were particularly offensive).

I thought back in amusement on how much preparation had gone into seducing Jake, all the bikini waxes, face masks, eyebrow-plucking, blow-drying, toenail-painting… And here I was now, a good twenty-four hours since my last sponge bath with a semi-clean rag, being told by a man that he preferred I not shave my legs.

Ha!

Miraculously I hadn’t been infested with lice or fleas yet. I didn’t know for sure if Howel had them, and basically tried not to think about it. Just like I tried not to wonder whether I was at risk for sexually transmitted diseases, or, for that matter, pregnancy…

Yikes.

And despite all these horrible things, I wanted him, couldn’t stop longing for him.

As Howel began to pull his shirt on, I protested, “Noooooo,” smiling, my face half-hidden beneath the blanket.

He turned and smiled back at me. “You’re awake,” he said. He leaned over me and kissed me, and I wrapped my arms around his neck, trying to pull him down on me.

“Again,” I whispered coyly against his mouth.

He chuckled, rumbling against me. “Sabrina, I have to… We must… Official business, you know…” I was distracting him with my kisses, my nibbles, my touch. He groaned and said, “Oh, sod it! We’re newlyweds, aren’t we? The governor will understand, I’m sure…”

Afterward, as we lay together, I asked him, “Why did that take so long?”

His face was blissful, relaxed. He blinked. “Bleed me! I’ve never heard a woman complain of that before. Do women in 2009 like it to be quick?”

I let out a laugh. “No, that’s not what I meant. I meant, why did it take so long for anything to happen between us? Why were you holding out on me?”

“Ah.” He smiled, a bit wistfully. “I had me reasons.”

“Tell me. I need to know,” I insisted.

Howel became thoughtful, gazing up at the ceiling. “I’ve wanted you, Sabrina, since I first realized you was a lass, aboard the Cadogan. When the Igbo woman talked about Sabrina the Charmed Woman, I realized that you weren’t just another pretty lass to have me way with.” He hesitated. “I know you had something to do with me release from the gaol. They might’ve charged and convicted me of piracy in any case, were it not for you. And when I was released, there you were, waiting for me. You have a magic about you, Sabrina. Something that drew me in, beyond mere attraction. Then, at the Black Dog, you told me you were from the future, said you were determined to change me fate. Something in the way you said it…”

He rubbed his face and exhaled slowly. “I had already decided what me course of action was. I decided to go on the account while locked up in the hold of the Cadogan, and here you were, reading me thoughts, your face so open and trusting, so full of faith in me, a man who’d already decided to turn pirate. It was… too much for me.”

I listened attentively, gently stroking the hair that trailed down from his navel. “And so you left me.”

Howel looked at me gravely, capturing my wandering hand with his. “Aye. I had to do what was in me heart, and though I wanted you, magical woman from the future, you held me in too high regard. You believed in me, when I had lost all belief in meself. And when you followed me, I thought I couldn’t go through with it. I had to put you away from me, if not in the physical sense, then in me mind.”

“And now?” I laughed uneasily. “Did I just wear you down?”

He stroked my cheek with his callused sailor’s hands. “I was going to be a pirate. You were going to try and stop me. And I was tired of denying this… magic.” He smiled that familiar roguish smile of his. “This ploy… Having you pose as me wife. It was to get you in me bed as much as it was to fool the Portuguese.”

I smiled broadly. “You didn’t have to go through all that trouble, you know. You could have had me that night after your first capture. I wouldn’t have resisted one bit.” Hell, if I was being completely honest with myself, he could have had me way back on the Cadogan, before the mutiny. I wasn’t sure how such an admission would go over with Howel’s 1719 sensibilities, though.

He lifted an eyebrow playfully. “Is that so? And are the women of 2009 all such brazen hussies?”

I rolled on top of him and smacked his arm, laughing. “Life in 2009 is really quite boring compared to all of this. And the women are no more brazen than your Meg.”

He laughed at this. “So the women of 2009 are no more brazen than a whore of 1719? Damn me! I’m living in the wrong era, apparently.”

We began to kiss again, and Howel mumbled, “Woman, you will spend me… I am useless to do anything but your bidding…”

And that was just the way I wanted it, thank you very much.

At some point in the late morning, Walter Kennedy and Thomas Anstis came looking for their captain, knocking on the door and calling for “Captain Reed.” When Howel answered the door in  a state of disarray, his clothes only partially on, and a crooked smiled on his face, the two men grinned.

“‘Twas about time,” Walter grumbled, winking at me playfully. “Good day, Will… er… Madam.”

I stood, fully dressed, my hair still down. I could not look the two grinning pirates in the face for the life of me. I felt my cheeks flaming. “Good day, gentlemen.”

Walter turned his attention back to Howel. “The governor is getting a good chuckle from your… er… inability to leave your bedchamber, Cap’n.”

Howel scratched his head. “Aye, I’ll wager he is, the lecherous old scoundrel.” He looked at me slyly. “He has an eye for Sabrina.” He scooped his stockings from the floor and said, “Tell him I’m on me way…”

“Nay, Cap’n,” Walter said, smiling. “He wanted us to ask you to dine with him in the evening, but to enjoy your pretty little wife and take your leisure.” Walter’s eyes were bright with excitement. “He wants the men of the Buck to come ashore and enjoy the city. A real fop, he is, a real dandy!”

Howel rubbed chin. “Is that so? Then maybe we’ll tarry a while here in São Nicolau, what think you, Wife?” He looked at me and smiled.

He would hear no objections from me. If lounging about, making love to Howel Davis, and taking advantage of Governor Agostinho’s generosity were what was on the agenda, then hell yes, we should tarry! Tarry away.

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