Charles had Jackie pinned down so that she could barely move while he pushed deeper inside of her. Her hips arched off the ground, her head rolled back, and her lips parted slightly as she softly let out her release. He knew exactly where to touch her; how to be just rough enough so that he never seriously hurt her. They made a deal to never have sex when they were angry. If they punched each other when they weren't getting off, it would be hard to imagine the damage they could do if they were turned on.
"Charles Vane!" A woman's voice filled with fury came from outside the tent.
Even before she stormed through the flaps of the canvas tent, Charles knew who it was. The princess of the island had sent several men to summon him to a business meeting, but Charles preferred the company of the Guthrie currently underneath him.
"Fuck!" he rolled off of Jackie and haphazardly tried to dress.
Eleanor barely registered that Vane was there. Her eyes fell immediately to Jacquelyn; her sister. Slowly, she realized what she was seeing. Jacquelyn was here in Nassau, in Charles Vane's tent, naked. Charles Vane was standing before her, buttoning his pants. Vane was fucking her long lost sister.
"You lying, conniving, fucking, asshole!" Eleanor shouted. Her hand closed on the object closest to her, an empty tankard, and she hurled it at Vane. "I've been looking for her for six years and she's here! With you!"
"Eleanor," Jackie sighed. She still reclined in the makeshift bed having made no effort to get dressed. "You're interrupting."
Eleanor huffed. "Vane. You're needed in a meeting. Now."
He looked at Jackie partially in hopes she would tell Eleanor to go fuck herself. But the other part of him was curious what business could be so important. Jackie reached for her shirt and pulled it on before rolling over, dismissing her lover.
"Oh, no," he picked her up and set her on her feet. "You're coming."
Jackie glowered at him, but pulled on her pants. "This is a bad idea," she muttered as they walked towards the tavern and Eleanor's office.
Eleanor was surprised that Vane was bringing Jackie along, but wasn't going to start a fight by forbidding Jacquelyn to be there no matter how much she wanted to.
Captain Flint, Mr. Gates, and Jack were already in Eleanor's office when the trio arrived. Jackie took a seat away from the main circle while Charles planted himself in a chair that offered him a view of both her and Flint. "So why am I here?" Charles asked.
"The Urca," Eleanor told him. "Flint needs a second ship."
He grimaced. The Urca should be his prize anyway. "So terms?" he found himself saying.
"I want to talk about Mosiah," Flint declared.
Jackie blinked. Who the hell is Mosiah.
"What about him?" Jack asked for the group.
"He's dead. And before we 'rise above' anything," Flint explained, mocking something Jack must have said earlier. "I want to hear your cowardly fuck of a captain apologize for it."
Charles hadn't been giving Flint's words much credence, but the word cowardly pissed him off. He raised his eyebrows and exhaled the smoke from his cigar in Flint's direction.
"I'd like a moment to confer with my colleague," Mr. Gates said through gritted teeth. "Outside."
The two left and Charles looked at Jackie. She was sitting longways across the window seat, feet up and back against the wall. He noticed that she was avoiding eye contact with everyone, but knew it was to avoid Eleanor.
"Did he just call me cowardly?" he asked in an attempt to break the silence before Eleanor could talk to Jackie.
"Sounded like it," Jackie smirked at him.
Flint returned followed momentarily by Gates who tried to start the meeting again. "What Captain Flint meant to say was: we have a crew to answer to. Whether or not we can reach an agreement around this table is meaningless if we can't sell it to our men. They have lost a valued and respected brother. They will want to know what's being done about it."
"Without accepting responsibility," Jack spoke carefully. "I can see a small allowance being made in appreciation for your loss. How much did you have in mind?"
"Ten thousand pounds," Flint demanded.
Charles glared at him. What was he playing at?
"That's for Mosiah," Flint continued. "Now let's talk about his man that you killed."
Gates sighed.
"Oh no, that's alright. We can wait," Jack smirked at Gates and the two stepped outside.
Yelling could be heard through the thin wooden door while those who remained in the room, poured drinks. Jack excused himself to "take a piss" adding further to the uncomfortable silence.
"Did you murder his men?" Eleanor asked suddenly.
"I didn't," Charles answered honestly.
"No?"
"No, you're sister did," he told her.
Jackie glared at him. She had been trying her hardest not to acknowledge or speak to Eleanor because she was afraid of what she might say and what she might hear. Charles only shrugged. He hadn't intentionally put Jackie on the spot, but it would be good for her to acknowledge the girl who was running this town.
"What?" Eleanor started. "Jacquelyn? So you're a murderer now too?"
Ever meet a pirate who hasn't killed someone? Jackie thought, but bit her tongue. "It's good to see you too. How's Daddy?" she smiled.
Charles snorted into his drink causing Eleanor to glare at him.
She was upset that he had laughed. He had no right to be involved in their conversation. It was his fault Jacquelyn was like this. "What?" she demanded of him.
"I'm just surprised," he said. "I'm one of the only ones behaving properly."
Jack returned, followed shortly by Gates and Flint. Finally able to discuss terms, Jackie settled back, knowing she had no say in the proceedings. "A share per man. Two for the captain, two additional for use of the ship, and five set aside in case of injury and repayments," Jack was saying.
Gates eyed Flint who shook his head. "A share for your captain and the ship- that's coming out of your end. But you may get priority on unique items."
Jackie wanted to ask what the fuck "unique items" meant, but then she made eye contact with Charles he nodded, signaling to Jack.
"Done," Jack agreed.
Jackie stood and crossed by Charles, ready to make a run out the door.
"Oh one more thing," Jack added, stopping her.
Jackie cursed and sat down where she was- on Charles's lap. He welcomed her by wrapping his arm around her waist and waited for Jack's final stipulation.
"Who will enforce the terms?" he asked.
"What the fuck are you talking about?" Eleanor sighed.
Jackie laughed, causing everyone in the room to stare at her. "Sorry, I just never thought I'd hear you curse. You were such a good girl when I left. Guess things do change."
Eleanor rolled her eyes. "You were saying, Jack."
"Your role in propping up Flint was clear when you assaulted my captain the other night. What's to stop you from altering the terms of the deal after the fact?" Jack asked. I'd feel much better if our deal had a more impartial guarantor."
Jackie knit her brows together. If Eleanor liked Flint, then she must not know who ferried off of Nassau. That would have to be corrected when she had the chance. Because that's why she hates Charles, right? Fuck, I'm going to have to have an actual conversation with her? When Jackie pulled out of her own thoughts, the men were closing the deal.
"Her word's good enough for me," Charles said. "And it's good enough for you too."
"Good. It's a deal," Jackie said and jumped off of Charles's lap and practically ran out of the door.
Charles caught up with her and gentle placed a hand on her back. "Thanks for not starting a fight."
"I wanted to," Jackie frowned. "She just puts me on edge. And Flint? I'm going to have to talk to her because she hates you for something Flint did."
"You don't have to. You'll just end up fighting her," Charles said. "Which by the way, I've wanted to ask: you were always angry and always fought, but how'd you become a killer?"
"I remember this one time I was watching you in the streets and you delivered this really subtle threat," Jackie recalled. "I don't remember who he was, but he didn't like your threat and introduced himself as though he was someone important. You introduced yourself next to be polite, but it was a threat also. You said "Charles Vane, of the Ranger" and the man just slunk away. I wanted that kind of power."
"So you got a reputation for killing?" Charles clarified.
Jackie nodded. "Yep, watch." She turned her head to the side so she was looking at Charles and ran into a man. "Watch where the fuck you're going!" she growled at him.
"Cunt!" he spat. "Who do you think you are?"
"Bloody Jackie," she sneered back.
The man changed his posture, backing down. "Right," he nodded and continued on his way.
"And now you have it," Charles smiled proudly at her.
Jack had been following behind, trying to catch up. "Captain?" he interrupted when he finally did. "We have a mess to clean up."
"Right," Charles sighed, reminded of the whore that had ruined everything. "I'll meet you later," he kissed Jackie on the forehead.
"Where are you going?" she demanded.
"Just business," he said because truthfully he did not know what he was going to do with the girl.
Jackie reached up and twirled the one loose strand of hair around her finger. "Don't lie to me," she said sweetly, words loaded with a threat.
"We have to take care of the whore that screwed us with the deal," he admitted.
It was enough of an answer that she let him go. Though she wondered why he wasn't going to kill Max. If he was; he would have brought her along instead of Jack.
