A new little Sparrabeth story. Read, review, and enjoy! Rated M for future chapters.
The world rained.
Warm pellets of crystalline drops fell from the deep void of black that shuttered two tied souls from what was beyond, the thirsty wet wood swallowing the rain up with each screaming descent it made, exploding in small cascades of fragmented water.
The sky was dark.
A faint smattering of bright stars peeked out from the billowing outlines of the clouds, as though they were hiding from an unknown evil. The moon sat perched in a corner all alone, beaming light through the inky atmosphere.
Swooping and swimming around the great fire-charred ship, a symphony of noises pierced the air, the crashing of waves against the hull, the creaking of the wood, the whispering of sails high above their heads, and the whistle of the wind that whipped around them.
The deck was a battleground then, a battle of wills close to being broken with a simple step forward or a simple step backward. It was an ultimatum, an ending, a beginning…
A joining.
Fated by the world, guided with a gentle hand in the timeline, twisting things here and there.
But the two of them would have found their way to each other anyway.
Anyone else, any other two, and a great splinter would have struck between them at the first raised voice, and the first lie...but not even death could keep their eyes searching for each other.
They searched for each other through the thick shroud of anger, despite a mess of confusion, and because nothing else in the world could handle them better than the other.
Made for each other, a sparrow and a swan, their hearts of one body, their minds of one thought, and their souls of one beauty.
The reaper himself had failed to separate them.
Now it was the world's turn.
The crack of a lightning strike lit up the hawk-like dark eyes, pinning her frozen and silent with their intense gaze, storm and writhing desire pouring out of them. Something else too, something...pure, a beautifully harsh sparkle shattered with the falling rain.
A step back, water squishing in her boot, her hair sticking to her shirt, while her shirt stuck to everywhere...she took large gulps of air when her throat allowed it, the warmth of it rushing into her lungs, and then back out...and a step forward, his body moving with the grace of sensuality, dark and smooth, his face a hypnotizing canvas of bronze skin and an expression that made her feel like prey.
She'd been so close to that face not so long ago, forced to stand and watch as the crushing weight of what she had just done filled him with shock, and her with the desire to see her life end where she stood, her fingers parting with the hard metal of the manacle that had secured his wrist to the main mast...the only way, she had whispered, a paltry excuse.
Never had she felt such a monstrous poison within her, never had she felt so dirty, not when she was covered in sweat, not when she was covered in sea grime...and after, something gripped the cavity of her chest, her heart, with a constriction that had been stealing the life from her with every passing second.
It was as though her soul had taken leave of her, sinking away with him and his ship, and his heart...his beautiful eyes, hands...never to be returned to her again, because of her.
Her lips still tingled from that damning kiss, a kiss that was shared with fire and heat...something thick and forceful had grown between them, a desire so strong it almost didn't matter that they were both facing death, it had filled her body, her heart, mind, invaded until she could think of nothing else but him.
Even after they had escaped, even while she had isolated herself in every dark corner she could find, even in her dreams, and with everything happening around her, every movement of every person, every conversation...all of those memories faded away when she saw his face again…
She would never forget the absence of Jack in them that day...they'd looked inhuman, cold, as though his soul had not only left, but died.
Until he had locked eyes with her.
Jack Sparrow had looked at her with the gaze of a man that had remembered his heart was beating.
A shock, a look of relief, and then, a look of confusion, anger, hurt, all battling to stay on the surface.
Her own anger had consumed her for a long two months without him, anger at the world for letting her leave the only man she loved to die, anger at herself for realizing she loved him too late, and anger at Jack for making her fall in love with him...and the absolute devastation that nothing was ever going to be the same for them...no more teasing, no more heated arguments, snappy words or looks of barely hidden wanting.
Then she had discovered something that sent her all asunder, that made her north south, her west east, her up down, and her heart soar with hope, a small flame amidst all of the tears.
He didn't hate her.
But as with all things involving Jack Sparrow, she barely knew what he did feel for her, because knowing anything about what was going on inside his head...it was folly.
So she waited.
Bid her time, let him have his space, let him stay where he wanted to stay...slowly he acknowledged her...but that was all he did.
Gave her orders, treated her...like a person. Just another person that happened to be on his ship.
It was torture, and she felt empty. She wanted everything from him, wanted to be let back in, wanted to...wanted him to see her again, needed him to look at her like he used to...like she was better than even the most golden jewel encrusted treasure.
Something was going to happen, she knew...what, she didn't know, but it was growing, building, gaining strength with each breath the other took...and soon, it was going to explode.
Taking another step back, and him a step forward, this monster between them of terrifying need was threatening to consume them both, and they were both going to happily let it.
You need to tell him.
A voice in her head, small and quiet, pleaded at her to listen, but she could barely hear it, drowned out from the writhing excitement buzzing in her body.
Her throat worked, tightened...her heart was throwing itself against her chest begging her to end this sweet misery...tell him.
Then that claw of pain found its way home again into her, sending a cold chill through her skin.
You can't. You can't tell him.
Don't deserve it, don't deserve it, she told herself, whispered back at the voice cowering now in a dark corner of her own mind, like she had cowered away from everyone in his absence...her pirate's absence.
Rainwater dripped into her eyes, blinding her for a moment, and then passed down to fall against her cheek, making a path onto her chin, disappearing down into the faded white cloth of her soaked shirt.
She knew he could see everything...the faint outline of her nipples, the pointed peak, the taut line of her stomach, the slight curve of her breasts...and she knew he was looking, just like she was mesmerized by the fullness of his lips, the sinfulness of the dark neat beard adorning his face...those high cheekbones, fading down into a strong jawline...the power those lips had held over her as they had slanted over her own, tasting her, sharing his soul with her...pouring himself into her with every delicate stroke of his tongue against hers.
The world had let her eat from the apple, had let her take a journey into sweet madness, into a dangerous rapture, only to make her tear her heart out and leave it bleeding and broken on the deck of the Pearl in front of him, too ashamed of herself to try and pick it up, because the only person she could think of offering it to for mending…she had just killed.
Fantasizing and wondering...the vividness of his lips on her skin, his hands on her, fingers within her, then other parts within her, his body moving against hers, her dreams were so real sometimes, even when she would allow herself to slip into a world not of this one, sitting on deck staring at the ocean, and suddenly she would be lifted away to a place where only the two of them existed, a terrible dream, yet a beautiful dream…
It was nothing like the real thing, nothing like the warmth of his body against hers, the screaming knowledge that it was Jack, her pirate, her infuriating problem, pressed against her, his scratchy jacket rubbing against her fingers and his kiss making her burn for more of him.
She was burning now.
The warmth of the rain made her feel fevered, restless, out of her damn mind...and she didn't care, didn't care if a monster wave took them both, if only she could have him this once, and she knew this was the only way...this jarring tumultuous storm rushing around both of them and drawing them together within its ferocity.
Another step forward, another step back...time had slowed down, a crawl meant to draw every last drop of slithering anticipation through her veins to mingle with the heat coming from his eyes as he kept dragging them up and down her body.
Tell him, the feeble voice pleaded again, but she knocked it away, telling herself that this was how it had to be, this was the only way...it was going to happen here and now, in the pouring rain and the darkness...and there was nothing that either of them could do to stop it.
The world would fail too.
She just hoped that they wouldn't after it was all done.