James Kidd/ Mary Read x Reader

You are a new barmaid at the Old Avery tavern. It's your first day so you are told to shadow your fellow barmaid, Anne Bonny, so you can get the gist of how things work. By time night falls you know the routine and are given the opportunity to try everything on your own.

"(Y/N), I'll be right back." Anne said before disappearing. It was long before you were called to bring drinks to drunken pirates. You were left alone for an hour before Anne came back and you had been flirted with, almost molested, and so close to going off on one of the more aggressive customers. You practically overwhelmed by the sheer amount of men in the tavern calling for drinks and propositioning you every five seconds. Just when Anne returned followed by a group of pirates the aggressive man had grabbed a hold of your dress and pulled you toward him, trying to kiss you. He was quickly stopped when Anne rushed over and pulled you away.

"What do you think you're doing?" Anne said standing between you and the drunk man. You watch on, worried about Anne. You are pulled away by one of the men that walked in with Anne before you can step in.

"Leave it alone, love. Anne can handle herself." Said a appealingly husky yet dulcet voice. A strong hand was wrapped around your waist while another pushed through the crowded tavern to lead you away from the only person you knew and thought you could trust in the tavern. But something about the voice of the person made you relax in their hold and willingly follow them. You turn you eyes to the man holding you. You find him quite handsome. He was a little taller than you, obviously a pirate, dressed like a captain, he had hypnotic chocolate brown eyes, brown hair with a few braids, a scar running across his eye, and a red bandana on his head.

"Where are you taking me?" Your voice only loud enough for him to hear you. His eye flash to look directly into yours. You see a flickering of emotion before he looks forward again.

"Somewhere relatively safe. Well safe compared t' where ye were." He explained, vaguely. He led you to the table containing the other men he and Anne walked in with. Your eyes traveled over the men nervously. When the man stopped walking you shyly stayed tucked into his side as the pirates in front of you scanned you. Eventually you noticed their attention shift to the arm laid comfortably around your waist. You took in the looks of surprise, astonishment, and confusion.

"Who's th' lass Kidd?" Asked a blonde. The man holding me opened his mouth to respond but before he could speak Anne pulled you away.

"There you are (Y/N). Let's get back to work. That scumbag won't be bothering you anymore." She said pulling you towards a large group of men waiting for drinks. You threw yourself into your work but couldn't help looking at the red bandana wearing pirate every once in a while. You would immediately blush and look away when your eyes would meet though. You were curious about who he was and why he pulled you away. You really wanted to know who he was but you were too nervous to ask. Eventually you couldn't take the anticipation of finding out his name anymore and turned to Anne.

"Hey Anne, can I ask you something?" You both were filling up cups to take to a particularly large group of rambunctious men.

"What do you need to know?" She paused, nodding, and turned towards you waiting for your question.

"Well, I don't exactly need to know but I was curious. Who was that guy that pulled me away earlier?" She looked at you, confused.

"Which guy?" She asked.

"The one with the red bandana."

"Oh. That be Captain James Kidd. Why?" She watched you curiously.

"No reason. I was just curious." You said smiling nervously before quickly walking to the table, faking a smile for your drunk customers.

"Hey pretty lady. Want t' see ye my ship?" Slurred one of the men, reeking of rum, while you dispensed the drinks.

"Sorry I'm not interested." You said, turning away only to be grabbed by your arm and pulled you back.

"Oh come on. I know ye're just playing hard t' get." You tried to pull away but his grip tightened painfully. You yelped slightly and winced, closing your eyes. Not a minute passed before the painful grip was gone and you heard a groan of pain from the drunk man. You opened your eyes to see the drunk man laid out on the ground with a bloody nose and Captain Kidd standing over him. You watched in awe as Captain Kidd then turned and walked out of the tavern, dismissing the stares all around. You shook yourself out of it and tried to move your arm only to wince in pain. You turn to Anne, who was just approaching.

"What happened here?" She asks, her eyes traveling from the bloody man on the floor to your already bruising arm.

"I don't think I can keep working tonight." You said, showing her your hurt arm, rather than answering.

"That does look bad. Alright, go home tonight and tomorrow night come back so I can see how you're doing. If your arm is no better I'll just send you home and explain everything and if it is then you can work." She said patting your shoulder.

You nod in thanks and head toward the exit. You walk down the road for a few minutes before noticing a lone figure up ahead looking away from you. As you get closer you notice the figure to be the pirate captain that just rescued you. You approach him and he turns to face you curiously.

"I just wanted to thank you for helping me." You said smiling shyly at him. He gave you a smirk and nodded before his eyes moved to your bruised arm, making his jaw clench.

"It was no problem lass. He did more damage than I thought." He responded, gently taking a hold of you arm. His expression softened as you winced despite his gentle hold.

"It's fine. Had you not been there it would have been much worse." You smiled through the pain as he tested different areas for pain until he reached near your wrist. Your face twisted in pain and you clenched your jaw to hold in a yell and your knees buckled slightly making you grab onto him with a tight fist. He looked at you in alarm before wrapping an arm around you and gently leading you to a better lit area. He moved your arm in the light to see the area. Your forearm was already turning blue and seemed to be swelling. You gasped and tried to jerk your arm away to get a closer look but that only caused you to jostle the bone and brought tears to eyes as your legs gave out from the shocking pain. Captain Kidd quickly caught you and held you to him while cradling your arm.

"I guess it was a lot worse than I thought. Luckily it's not broken. We need t' get ye bandaged up." He said and only the soothing sound of his voice kept you from just crying. You nod and try to pull away but he keeps his arm around you. You blush before nodding your head to the north.

"I have some supplies at home." You said leading him to your small home. He held the door for you and you lead him to you bedroom before opening the drawer on your bedside table and put out your medical kit. He took the kit from you and took out ointment and bandages. He put the ointment on your arm before carefully bandaging it and tying it off. You watched in awe as he put everything away.

"I'll be right back." He left the room and came back a few minutes later with pieces of wood. He then set to work, constructing a splint for my arm. When he was done it was quiet. You both sat for a few minutes, avoiding looking at each other, before you took a deep breath and looked straight at him.

"Thank you Captain Kidd." You said a bright smile. He returned your smile and moved to the door.

"As I said before, it's no problem lass." He smirked before walking out.

*The Next Day*

You were on your way to see Anne like you agreed to the night before. You entered the Old Avery tavern and looked around. Once you sighted her you approached. She turned to look at you and smiled but it soon diminished when she caught sight of your splint.

"You're definitely not working today. How bad is it?" She asked, sincerely worried.

"It hurt quite a bit last night but Captain Kidd said it wasn't broken and-" You said before freezing and blushing at the fact that you basically just told her that he was the one to bandage your arm. She looked at you in surprise.

"What were you doing with him? Why would he know it's not broken?" Anne asked herding you toward an area where you could speak privately. She appeared confused and suspicious.

"Nothing. He just bandaged my arm and made a splint." You said looking away nervously although you weren't sure why you were so nervous.

"Why? And how? I highly doubt he carries bandages and the likes around with him." She pressed.

"Yeah well I might've brought him to my house and let him use my supplies." You said, shifting slightly.

"But why?"

"I don't know." You answered simply. She watched you for a minutes before accepting your answer and sighing.

"Alright well go home and get some rest." She said patting your shoulder before returning to work. You nodded and went to make your way out. You looked behind you to say goodbye to Anne when you accidentally crashed into someone. You almost fell but was caught by an arm around your waist.

"I'm so sorry!" You said looking up to the person who caught. That person just so happened to be Captain Kidd and he smirked before pulling you up against him then letting go.

"It's fine, lass." He whispered. You were a few inches shorter than him so you had to look up at him and couldn't help but blush at the lack of distance between you two.

"I'll j-just be going now." You said and stepped back. You walked around him and glanced back to see him watching you with a mixture amusement and interest. You blush even brighter and then quickly make your way home.

*Later that week*

You had been back at work for a couple days now and was doing just fine. Your arm was pretty much healed and you were in high spirits. Since the previous display by Captain Kidd, men had taken to keeping their advances strictly verbal rather than physical. It seemed as if he had an unofficial, and unspoken, claim of sorts on you that kept men from being too forward. Of course neither of you reputed the claim seeing as no one ever asked but you especially didn't want to outright say anything because you enjoyed the freedom to do your job without getting hurt. Anne had introduced you to the group of pirates that frequented the tavern and generally accompanied the pirate captain you had secretly become fond of. Whenever you were around Captain Kidd seemed to take a particular interest in, keeping you in his line of sight and while not being blatantly affectionate and flirtatious had subtly made it clear to everyone that he was interested in you. He was also incredibly aware of your presence and paid special attention to you, treating you with respect and kindness even when surrounded by other men. He especially loved to make you blush and Edward Kenway, a friend and fellow pirate of Captain Kidd, took to making sure that you did it as much as possible. It was as if the two made a game out of making you blush. Kidd had a way of speaking that made his words subtly flirty but appearing innocent and smooth enough that a person wouldn't realize what he said until afterwards and would have to question whether he meant it in that context or not. Of course being the incredibly naive and innocent person you are you didn't realize his flirting and continued to shyly watch from afar.

"I don't understand how you can't see that he's absolutely infatuated with you." Anne said. You had just seen Captain Kidd for the first time that night and he had sensually kissed your hand in greeting before telling you to just call him James. You blushed throughout the ordeal, nodding and walking away. Anne, who had watched the entire thing, playfully questioned it only for you to deny any meaning behind it beyond friendly. She was now truly aware of how painfully oblivious, shy, and innocent you were. Before meeting you she never believed a woman could truly be so virginal and questioned how that was possible while living on the island of Nassau.

"What are you talking about?" You asked, curiously.

"James, (Y/N). He is obviously interested in you but you're so oblivious that everyone around can tell the undeniable sexual tension between you two. It's driving me mad." Anne looked at you tiredly.

"No he's not. He's just really nice to me. Besides I'm sure I'm not the only woman he treats like this." You answered, not wanting to get your hopes up but one look at James smirking at you while he talked killed that effort.

"Yes he is polite toward women but never to the same degree as he is to you. You don't see him kissing the hand of every lass he meets nor do you see him paying them as much attention as he does to you. He wants you, (Y/N)." Anne stressed. You wanted to believe her but you couldn't put your heart on the line. You shook your head at her and sadly denied it.

"That means nothing." You answered and went back to work, avoiding looking at either James or Anne. You did however take note of when Anne whispered something into James' ear. Once work was over you were quick to leave and tried to avoid any confrontation with the two. You were doing really good until you passed by an alley. You found yourself pulled in but when you went to let a scream a hand quickly covered your mouth.

"Relax, (Y/N). It's me." James said and you started to calm down. Once he removed his hand you glared fiercely at him.

"Why the heck would you do that?! You almost gave me a bloody heart attack! I thought you were a rapist!" You yelled at him.

"I needed t' talk t' ye and ye've been avoiding me all night." He shrugged.

"That doesn't mean you should snatch me off the streets in the middle of the night like a bloody creeper!" You boomed out.

"Yes it does. If I hadn't ye would have just ran away like ye've been doing all night." He pointed out and you lost a little steam at the truth of his statement.

"Well then I obviously didn't want to talk and you should have just left me alone." You argued weakly.

"See, that's the thing. I couldn't do that." He responded making you look at him questioningly.

"Why not?"

"Because it seems I haven't been blatant enough with making my feelings known. I just couldn't let ye leave knowing ye were completely oblivious t' What I've been making completely obvious." He answered, moving closer and trapping you against the wall. You blushed, looking away from him.

"I don't understand. What are you talking about, James?" You mumbled shyly.

"I want ye." He said, gently taking a hold of your chin and forcing you to look at him. You quickly squashed any lingering feeling of hope before you could break your own heart.

"I don't know what you mean. What do you want me for?" You asked trying not to make something out of nothing. His eyes narrowed on you and his face moved closer.

"T' be mine." He answered, looking you in the eye, before diving for your lips and kissing you. You gasped in surprise as he pressed a firm yet gentle kiss to your lips and before confused and panicked thoughts could began to race in your mind you shut your brain down and gave in to the kiss. As you kissed back it got progressively harder until you had to cling to him to keep yourself upright. By the time he pulled back your arms were wrapped around his neck, your eyes were closed, you were panting, and you were in something of a daze.

"I think I understand now." You whispered. James smiles and laughs.

"Good" He smiled at you and leaned down to place another lingering kiss on your lips. You shyly smiled into the kiss and licked your lips when he pulled away. His eyes watched the motion and you could practically see the internal debate he was having with himself.

"I-I don't think it's a g-good idea to stay here." You stuttered. He pretended to think and consider it.

"Well I don't know. I'm enjoying myself here." He joked. You blushed and looked away.

"What now?" You asked.