He had way too much on his mind. He often succeeded in categorizing problems and finding the most adapt solution to each one of them, always gaining the best outcome for himself and Anne out of it. But at the moment, he didn't know why, he found himself at loss of words and, most importantly, at loss of guesses.
He told her the truth when he said he didn't have a fucking idea as to why his new business, the brothel, was such a failure. He didn't understand the cause of it and consequently he didn't know how the hell to fix it. He was used to booby pirates, boozy pirates, even bloodthirsty pirates, and he had always managed them quite well. They named him their quartermaster for fuck sake! But with women he always found himself quite lost. He wasn't certainly immune to their charms, Anne was the living proof of it, but the real challenge for him was that they had a way of thinking, a way of managing all kind of situations that he started to think was way out of his league.
Was what Anne implied right? That he wasn't that clever to begin with? Did he overestimate himself? He was able to run a ship full of scummy men, most of the time at sea without any food and sex and now he was clueless as to how to operate an house full of barely clad women? How was it even possible?
He was mulling all of this, and much more, while he lain on the bed, tied to it and incapable of every move. And stark naked. He cursed again at Anne for having left him there like an idiot. Well, maybe he kind of deserved it after having gone limp on her not one, not two but three times that morning. But Jesus Christ she was always horny! Not that he complained of course, but a man needed some time for himself, and he was a man of brain more that a man of muscle and he needed a moment to think at his plots without having his woman irrupt every time in their room asking for sex. Demanding for sex. Well, maybe she knew he had a lot on his mind and choose to leave him there all alone and tied up to the bed as a incentive to help him solve his problems. So nice of her.
He blown all the air out of his lungs and lift up his head a little from the pillow, looking at the muddy French window to his right. The whitish curtains were very thin, thus the rays of the midday sun pierced the window quite well and he was starting to get hot despite him being nude. He tested the strings that bound his wrists to the headboard but, as expected of Anne's work, they were quite resilient. He didn't even try the one at his ankles.
Clearing up his voice a little he waited for the right moment when any feminine figure passed the French window to his left to call for help "Is anyone there?"
The figure stopped and a light voice replied "Yes, Mr. Rackham."
After a moment, in which Jack tried to recognize the voice, he gambled "Adele, is that you?"
"It's Idelle, Mr. Rackham" she replied with a tinge of annoyance for having misspell her name, to which he berated himself. Idelle, right. The whore he send to Charles to clean up his wounds a few weeks ago.
"Right. Sorry, Idelle. Could you please come in here, just for a moment. Please?"
She stayed silent and when he started to wonder if he had told something wrong she explained the source of her reluctance "Miss Bonny forbade us to come into your room, Mr. Rackham. She was very adamant when she explained to us all what she would do if we were to infringe her disallowance."
That shut him up for a minute, while he tried to process that information, came completely out of the loop for him. "Where is Miss Bonny right now, my dear? Is she downstairs, perhaps?"
"No, she went out an hour ago. Don't know where she's gone."
"Good, then I think you could come in here for just a minute, lend me a hand in this tiny little matter she left me hanging in and, if you will be quiet about it, I will not tell her that you were even here. How does it sound to you?"
She seemed to consider it, but after a moment she said "There are plenty of whores in here who will not let escape an opportunity like this to have me cast out of this house, or worst, left death by the docks. They have no balls to do it themselves so spilling this to Miss Bonny would be a chance to big not to take. No Idelle in here, more earnings for them. I'm quite a customer's favorite, you know. And I'd like to stay one." She finished and then she started to move away from his room.
"Wait, wait Miss Idelle. I assure you that even if Miss Bonny would ever know about this, nothing will ever happen to you regarding this, I promise. I'm only asking for your help to resolve a little situation in which I'm in and that I simply cannot resolve by myself. Please!"
The curiosity seemed to have the better of her, finally one thing about women he knew and was still capable to exploit, because she quietly opened the door a little to give a peek inside. She spotted him on the bed and seemed quite shocked at first. The she barely hid her laugh and, after checking behind her if anyone had seen her, swiftly entered the room firmly closing the door behind. She lingered there for a while, studying him with a keen eye and a sly smile on her face. When she didn't move from her spot he inbreathed deeply and smiled tightly at her.
"Would you be so kind to untie me? Or would you just stand there watching me all day? This is starting to be kind of awkward, you know." He asked, barely containing his misery.
"Sure you won't prefer a different kind of service from me, Mr. Rackham?" she said alluringly, licking her lips and giving him a look he discovered he was kind of afraid of. "As a patron of this house you have many benefits, one of them being the privilege of having all the girls for free. Anytime you want." Interesting. Another thing he didn't have absolutely idea of.
"Do I seem wanting to be serviced right now, Miss Idelle?" he said, disconcerted.
She focused her eyes on his limp cock and smiled seductively "I can certainly do something about it, you know." Great. Apparently Anne's veto had instantly vanished from her mind. He wondered why. He wasn't at the best of his charms right now.
"Please stop. Just untie me, now!"
"All right, Mr. Rackham." She started, for his chagrin, to unbind his calves, doing it quite slowly, enjoying the view of him tied up and completely helpless. "As you command." She didn't hid her mischievous smile this time. She certainly was having fun, wasn't she.
He grind his teeth and lifted his gaze to the ceiling, waiting to be freed. Once she undid the bind at his feet she circled the bed and loosed the headscarf at his right wrist and she said "You know, she did a really good job out of this. She seems like a pro." She seemed quite impressed in fact. Well, wasn't that fucking amusing. Her savior praising his warder's work.
"Yes, I assure you she is." He muttered, lowering his eyes to look at her working on the strings, urging her to make it quick with one nasty look. "Sometimes I inquire myself how the fuck can I keep up with her all the time."
Her smile became soft as she moved to unbind his left wrist too. "In my experience, if an independent and beautiful woman like Miss Bonny stays with only one man and refuses to take other lovers, always returning to the one she choose… well, that's what I would call love, Mr. Rackham."
He sighed, letting his head fell on the pillow again. "I just… I would prefer, sometimes, something a little less violent and more… sweet from her." He said, nearly nauseated by his words, but nonetheless voicing what he very well knew was the truth.
" I understand, but we live in a violent world. Maybe she doesn't know how to be tender. Even if… let me tell you, she seems pretty different when she is with you. More at ease, more herself, maybe? I have a good eye for this things, trust me."
Finally freed of his bindings, he quickly got up and picked up his clothes, which Anne unceremoniously had thrown on the floor when she disrobed him a few hours before, that very morning. He gathered his clads and covered his crotch with them, trying to retake his composure. "Thank you for your assistance, Miss Idelle. It was very much appreciated."
Being dismissed, the woman smiled at him and went for the door. Before opening it she turned to Jack and said "If you ever need some advice as to how to please her more or surprise her, I could give you some tips. Just the doctrine, no physical demonstrations as to not infringe any of Miss Bonny's rules. For the right price, of course."
"Of course." He replied with a little smile.
She then left him alone and as he dressed he thought at Idelle's proposal, which didn't sound so bad after all. Someone one day told him that no matter how strong of a person you were, there was always someone who could make you weak. Anne was obviously that very person to him. He didn't mind it, he made his peace with this fact long ago because it was a small price to pay for having her in his life. But was he a weakness for her as well? Did she ever feel weak when she was with him? Maybe it was time to find out. Perhaps with a little help, from an unlikely ally.