Midnight Readings:

"You don't believe me?"

"Not a word love."

Smirking, Elizabeth wrapped a blanket around her otherwise unclad body, and stood up, strolling over to rather crowded bookshelf. Biting her tongue in thought, her eyes glazed over the leather bound books, their gold titles flashing at her as if begging her to pull them off the shelf and read them all. Allowing a small "Ah," to slip from her mouth, she pulled a dark crimson book of the shelf, and strode back over to the bed confidently, where she sat cross-legged, using her inner arms to hold the blanket just over her front, leaving the wide pale span of her back visible.

Jack watched with interest as she began leafing through the pages from his leisurely position on the bed next to her, with the palm of his hand on his cheek to prop his head up for a better view. However, he quickly grew bored with watching the pages flip, and lifted a hand to begin trailing the tips of his rough hands down her sides, across her stomach, and up and down her back. She immediately stiffened, casting him an irate look.

"Must you always be so distracting?" Elizabeth inquired with her eyes glued back to the pages.

He grinned playfully, responding with an innocent tone, "M'not trying to be love. Perhaps you're just prone to get effortlessly sidetracked." He did not cease his actions, even daring enough to let his hand venture to her breast.

Holding back a moan, she rolled her eyes with difficulty, and with a grin, finally found the page she was looking for. Opening the book completely, she set it down between her and Jack, her slender finger tapping the weathered paper.

"Captain Jack Sparrow," she read aloud, causing his hand to pause and finally look at the pages, "Lord of the Caribbean; it is alleged that he was born in during the middle of a typhoon on his father's vessel, though the date of his exact birth is unknown." Grinning, she held the book up so he could gain a better view, her finger pointing to a picture that accompanied the article. When she spoke again, her voice was uneven with retained laughter. "And there you are, Captain Sparrow."

Jack's eyes widened in shock; the illustration was perfect, from his dusky black eyes, lined with a dark sooty ring of kohl that still managed to hold a bright gleam, to his arrow sharp cheekbones that gave him the resemblance of a feline. The artist even managed to catch that hint of a smirk on his lips even when he wasn't grinning. However, there was one thing with the drawing that made Jack baffled beyond belief.

"Where the bloody hell is my nose?!"

In the center of his face on the etching, there was nothing more than a wide hole where his nose would have been, leaving the illustration looking fairly gruesome. Sitting up quickly, he snatched the book into his hands, and began scanning the page.

"I told you," Elizabeth snickered.

Ignoring her, Jack's eyes continued to glaze over the page, until they stopped, apparently finding what was needed. Going back, he reread the sentence to himself and then aloud. "During a battle with a man by the name of Joshua Phillips who had betrayed him, Sparrow's nose was cut clean off, leaving nothing more then a hole." He looked at Elizabeth with annoyance. "That never bloody happened!"

"Obviously," she said, tweaking his nose with her fingers and smiling.

Scowling, Jack closed the book and tossed it onto the ground, where it landed with a loud thud. Elizabeth watched him with amusement.

"Stupid bloody book," he muttered, sending a glare at the inanimate object's way.

Feeling a twang of sympathy swell in her chest, Elizabeth quickly formed a lie that would hopefully lighten her captain's mood. "You didn't read the entire article, did you?" When he shook his head, she continued coyly, "It mentioned how you are lovers with the Pirate King, who cares for you despite that ghastly hole in your face."

His skeptical look quickly changed to a mischievous grin after a moment and his eyes raked about her face. "Lovers, you say?" His grin grew larger. "Perhaps we should prove that fact correct."

"Have we not already countless times?" she argued, sounding irate despite the traitorous feelings her body was already beginning to wreak upon her.

"Another time wouldn't hurt anyone."

"Says the man."

"Don't be a featherweight love."

She smacked his arm playfully. "Don't be inconsiderate."

He smirked. "Pirate."

And with that, he leaned forward and kissed her, proving the book to be right yet again that night.