Chapter 11: Regressions

Eleanor opens her eyes slowly with a sigh.

Part of her had been hoping she would sleep well again, but she hadn't been so lucky. There had been nightmares and she woke up scared several times.

Each time she would glance at her balcony's door, hoping to see Charles. She left it unlocked so he would be able to get inside if he came.

It's silly and so not like her, but Eleanor just knows that the only way she will have a peaceful sleep again will be if Charles holds her in his arms. Something about him drives her nightmares away, makes her feel safe and warm.

And she doesn't know if she likes this.

Getting up and stepping out on her balcony, she sighs. Now that dawn came, there's no way he will show up.

She wraps her arms around herself, looking down at the pool. Maybe a good swim to start the day will do her some good.

Quickly heading to her walk-in closet, she undresses and puts on a swimsuit.

She walks to the door of her room before pausing and turning around to look at the balcony.

A smirk tugs at her lips as she moves away from the door, running to the other side of the room to step out on the balcony.

Quickly checking if there wasn't anyone around, she carefully climbed up on the railing, looking down at the pool.

Smirking to herself, Eleanor jumps, falling into the water below.

Staring down at his phone, Charles shakes his head briefly.

What the fuck is he doing?

A past life regression?

Hypnosis?

This won't work. He knows it.

But still, he lays down, pressing play and closing his eyes to concentrate on following the video's instructions.

Maybe he's too tired, because soon his brain feels foggy, his body heavy, and he doesn't think he can bring himself to open his eyes.

There's that pull on his mind again. He hesitates for a moment before giving in, and unconsciousness takes him over.

The first thing Charles registers is the sound of the waves crashing against something and the creaking wood.

Opening his eyes slowly, he looks around the place, only a few candles illuminating it.

There's a gentle rocking and it's so familiar to him as he lays on a bunk, staring up at a ceiling made of wood.

A ship?

He catches sight of a woman sitting at the edge of the bunk, wearing nothing but a shirt that clearly doesn't belong to her, her blonde hair a complete mess.

"What is it?" He hears his own voice say, rough with sleep.

She looks his way and the faint glow of the candles illuminates her face.

Eleanor.

She shakes her head lightly.

"It just feels strange to sleep in a ship."

It's not just that. He sees it in her eyes.

The urge to run. To leave his bed after they sleep together.

But she can't. Not this time.

He moves to sit up, staring at her.

"You're not going anywhere tonight. Unless you want to swim all the way back to the beach, be my guest."

She rolls her eyes.

"Why the hell did I let you bring me to the Ranger?"

"Because you were drunk and pissed off at your stupid father. And because you know that in two days my crew and I leave for a big hunt and won't be back for a long time."

She scoffs, getting up from the bunk and moving to the windows to look out at the ocean.

The moonlight illuminates her as she stands there in his cabin, wearing nothing but his shirt, that adorable frown refusing to leave her face.

Wait, his cabin? His shirt?

"Just let yourself relax. I'm not the enemy. Now come back here." He tells her and she looks at him, frown softening a bit.

With a sigh, she moves away from the windows.

He raises an eyebrow at her and she stares at him for a moment before climbing back into the bunk.

As they watch each other closely in the dark, she moves to straddle his hips, her hands going to his chest as his come to rest on her thighs, giving them a light squeeze.

She hesitates for a moment before moving to kiss him, a hum of approval leaving him as one of his hands moves to her messy hair.

A loud crash comes from the deck, followed by drunken laughter of the part of the crew that had stayed on the ship, causing them to break their kiss. Eleanor looks up in annoyance and Charles smirks.

"Don't mind them." He tells her, brushing her hair behind her ear.

"Fucking animals." She mumbles, looking back down at him as one of his hands goes under the shirt, caressing her side.

"Did you do what I asked you to do?" She asks as the hand slowly moves higher, heading to her chest.

"What?"

"Finding a way to keep your crew from wreaking havoc in the streets. To make them more civilized. Charles, seriously. They are giving me hell."

He sighs and another crash comes from the deck, glass breaking as a sword fight begins, the men laughing.

"Does that answer your question?" He asks as one of his hands finds one of her breasts, squeezing it.

"They are doing it on purpose to annoy me. They know I'm here." She says, trying to keep her breathing from speeding up because of his touch.

"Then just ignore them."

The hand on her thigh moves to the back of her neck, bringing her head down again and he kisses her lips, his thumb and index finger rolling her hardened nipple between them, and he takes advantage of her moment of distraction to roll them over in the bunk, trapping her beneath his body.

She looks at him with annoyance in her eyes, but it melts away as he continues his ministrations on her breast.

She leans forward to kiss him again and mask her heavy breathing, and after a moment he leaves her lips to trail kisses and bites down her neck to her other breast.

The swordfight on the deck starts getting more intense as drunken cheers from the rest of the crew drift down to the captain's quarters and she frowns.

"Jesus, Charles. Shouldn't you go up there?" She asks in a breathy voice that causes him to groan.

"Let them kill themselves." He says simply, moving to kiss her neck and bite her earlobe, one hand sliding down to the apex of her thighs, his fingers finding her slick entrance, a small moan escaping her.

"Always so fucking wet for me."

"Fuck..." Her voice is unsteady, hands tangling in his hair.

A snapping sound suddenly brings him back to reality, leaving that small piece of paradise behind as he looks around in confusion, realizing that a sound from the video had been used to bring him out of the trance.

Anger flows through him. He wasn't ready to come back.

Charles considers listening to the video again and hopefully going back to that same moment with Eleanor.

He remembers the name of the ship, thinking about Anne's dream. It was the same ship.

The redhead's voice reaches his ears, a strangled cry, as if she's waking up from a nightmare.

Frowning, he gets up, stepping out of his room and heading to the curtain of his accomplices' room.

Lifting it to look inside, he finds a startled Anne sitting up in bed.

"What happened?" He asks as she looks at him, quickly masking the dread that was in her eyes.

"Bad dream."

"About?"

"Battle at sea. There were 3 ships. Why?" She asks gruffly.

Stepping inside the room, he watches her as she looks around with a scowl.

"Where the fuck is Jack?" The redhead asks, voice still rough from sleep.

"I've no idea. Just woke up." Charles answers her, stepping over to look out the window of the room.

"Three ships, you say? Was one of them the Ranger?"

She snaps her head up to look at him.

"How did you know about the Ranger?"

Turning to look at her, he takes a step forward.

"Because I saw her, the ship, in my dream too."

Anne frowns at him and he sighs.

"There's something going on, Anne. And you and I are going to find out exactly what it is, alright?" He says and she nods, the two of them staring at each other in silence.

Eleanor sighs deeply as she leans against the column in the pool.

Her eyes close as she remembers the moments she had shared with Charles in this very spot.

No matter how hard she tries to banish him from her thoughts, it doesn't work.

It never works.

He's always there in her head, and in quiet moments like this, her thoughts drift to the kisses and caresses they had shared, causing fire to spread through her veins.

She wants more.

It will never be enough. She will never get enough of him.

Her quiet moment is interrupted when one of the servants comes to the small gate, calling her name before opening it and stepping into the pool area.

"There she is, Sir." She says and Eleanor frowns, pulling away from the column and swimming to the edge of the pool, her heart sinking when she sees who's with the woman.

"Miss Guthrie, Mr Rogers is here to see you. I'll leave you two alone." She says with a smile and leaves the pool area, while the arrogant idiot in his usual business suit looks over at the water and smiles.

Clenching her jaw, she reaches the pool's edge, holding on to it, knowing she should get out of the water to greet him properly but hating the idea of exposing her body to his eyes.

Forcing a smile, she makes her way to the pool ladder and he holds out his hand to help her. She doesn't take it, getting out of the water by herself.

"Good morning, my lady. Is it wise to go for a swim? You said you had a cold."

Oh, shit.

"I do. But the water is heated. Don't worry." She lies. The heating is off right now, and she just hopes he won't touch her and notice the cold water on her skin.

"I see. And how are you feeling today? Any better?"

"Sorry, but no. I have a headache that refuses to go away, and with this cold... I apologize, but unfortunately, I will have to decline your invitation."

She sees him clench his jaw for a split second, anger flickering through his eyes before he masks it.

Well, well. You don't know how to deal with women telling you "No", huh Woodes? She thinks, repressing the smug smirk that tries to come to her lips, really satisfied with herself.

"It's quite alright. Your health comes first. We can go some other time. Is there anything you need? Help with managing the Company during your father's absence? Someone to watch over you and take care of you while you're sick?"

Is he fucking serious?

"I can handle the Company. And I've been taking care of myself for years now, so don't worry." She tells him, glancing around the pool area, desperate to find something she could use to cover her exposed skin while noticing his eyes lingering over her body.

Why did she have to jump from the fucking balcony? Now she didn't have a towel or anything to cover herself.

At least the lower part of the swimsuit covers her scars. She really doesn't want Rogers seeing her greatest weakness.

His eyes come to the birthmark on her stomach and he frowns.

"Is that a scar, or were you born with it?"

"I've had it since birth." She replies, looking back at him.

His eyes cloud over for a moment and he blinks hard, scowling lightly and looking as if he was almost remembering something, but then shaking his head and smiling at her.

What the fuck?

Does he have déjà vu too?

Relief floods her when she remembers about the stack of towels at the alcove.

Quickly heading over to it, she picks one up and turns around to face Rogers again, catching him staring at her body.

"Like what you see?" Eleanor asks in annoyance and he averts his eyes.

"My apologies. I couldn't help myself."

What are you, some sort of animal? She thinks, disgusted.

"I must say, you caught me by surprise. I wasn't expecting to find you in a swimsuit. And with all due respect, you look impressive." He tells her, disappointment filling his eyes as she wraps the towel around herself, protecting her skin from his stare.

"I like to swim in the morning." She replies, feeling anxious from being out here alone with Rogers, wearing nothing but a swimsuit and a towel.

Go away...

"Swimming is good. But don't stay out here for too long, we don't want your cold to get worse, do we? The sooner you recover, the sooner I can enjoy your lovely company again." He says with a charming smile.

Self centered asshole.

Thankfully his phone rings and he grimaces. "Duty calls. I must go." He steps closer to her, and she's instantly alarmed, ready to put up a fight.

But he merely reaches for her hand to kiss it like he always does.

"Get well soon, Eleanor. Call me if you need anything." He says with a wink before leaving the pool area.

She sighs in relief, dropping the towel and heading over to the edge of the pool before sitting down, putting her feet in the water.

Each time she sees Rogers, she feels more repulsed by him.

Looks like Max and Mr. Scott are right. There is something bad about him.

And Eleanor doesn't know if she wants to find out what it is.

"Is this shit safe?" Anne asks as Charles brings his phone to his accomplices' bedroom.

"You ride the motorcycle in the most reckless way possible, almost killing yourself, and now you're worried about this being safe?" He raises an eyebrow at the redhead, handing her the phone.

"You don't play with this stuff, Charles. I heard stories. But fuck it. Let's do this." She says, taking a deep breath and laying down in bed.

"You have to relax. Close your eyes and follow the instructions. There's a sound at the end of the video to bring you out of the trance. If I notice anything's wrong I will skip right to it so you'll wake up." Charles tells her, lighting a cigarette.

"Jack's gonna kill us. He hates this stuff." Anne says with a frown.

"Well, he's not here right now, is he? He doesn't have to know."

She nods, staring up at the ceiling.

"Go on."

She sighs, pressing play and closing her eyes.

The minutes drag by and Charles watches as her breathing turns even and deep.

Good. It worked. She's in trance.

He keeps watching her closely, paying attention to her so he could intervene if he had to.

Jack would never forgive him if something happened to Anne.

She keeps frowning, occasionally becoming angry and trying to mumble something.

This was going to be interesting.

His thoughts drift to his own regression. He wasn't sure if he believed this whole thing yet. Maybe Anne's experience could be proof enough to convince him. If she and Jack were on the Ranger like she dreamed, it must mean that they all knew each other on their previous life, since he saw himself in the same ship.

With her.

The urge to see Eleanor again gets stronger and he shakes his head to clear his thoughts, focusing his attention on Anne again.

The sound used to bring people out of the trance comes just as the front door opens, Jack calling their names.

Anne comes back to reality with a strangled cry, sitting up in bed, her eyes wild as she looks around.

Jack comes into the room with a frown on his face when he sees the state she's in.

"What the hell is going on?" He demands to know, rushing to her side and trying to calm her down.

She tries to hit him at first, but then realizes who he is and lets him put his arms around her for a few seconds before pushing him away.

"I'm fine." She growls, and Jack looks down at Charles' phone.

"Past life regression?" He asks, looking between the two.

Charles shrugs and Anne just watches the curtain of the room.

"Unbelievable. I leave you two alone for a couple hours and look what happens." Jack complains, rubbing his forehead. "I heard this is dangerous. What if you weren't able to come back?" He says to Anne and she clenches her jaw.

"I said I'm fine!"

"What did you see?" Charles asks her and she looks at him.

"That ship again. You. You were our Captain. I saw battles, and death, and violence." She says with a far off look in her eyes. "I saw the Guthrie bitch. She fucked us. Took the ship from us."

Charles frowns at her words, resentment sparking in his chest.

The redhead looks at Jack.

"I don't care what you say. I will do it again. I want to see more."

He sighs, knowing it would be useless to try arguing with her.

"Did you do it too, Charles?"

He nods.

"Well...? What did you see?"

"I was at the captain's quarters. On the ship Anne mentioned. That's all you need to know." He growls, retrieving his phone and storming out of the room.

The full moon is high in the sky when Eleanor stops her car in front of Max and Idelle's place.

She quickly locks it before going to the door, not wanting to stay out in this neighborhood for too long at this hour.

Her friend opens the door for her and she goes inside, Max locking the door behind them.

"Guess who saw me in nothing but a swimsuit this morning." The blonde says with a grimace as she sits down on the couch.

"Hmm. I bet he freaked out." The other woman laughs, sitting down as well and jokingly raching to pull down the deep neckline of Eleanor's dress.

"Shut up. He stared a lot. It was awful."

"Sorry to say, darling, but now I think he won't leave you alone, no matter what you do. I've seen this body of yours and it's enough to drive anyone crazy."

"Are you drunk?"

"Almost there." She says with a wink, heading over to the kitchen and coming back with two glasses of vodka.

"Sorry. Couldn't wait until you got here." She says, handing her one glass and sitting back down. "There you go. Drink up, my beauty. Anything to forget that idiot staring at your body."

"Thanks. I really hope it works." Eleanor says, bringing the glass to her lips.

"So. Where are we going tonight?"

"The Demeter!" Max says gleefully.

"You just love that place, don't you?"

"Oh, shut it. You love it as much as I do."

"And do you plan on getting ready anytime soon?" the Trading Company's heir asks, gesturing at her friends clothes. Or lack thereof.

"What? Can't I go to the nightclub wearing just a shirt and panties?" She asks jokingly and Eleanor smirks.

"You're really happy tonight, aren't you." The blonde looks around the place. "Where's Idelle?"

"With a client somewhere, drunk off her ass. It's just you and me tonight, baby." She says the last sentence in a deep voice and laughs. "Did I sound like Rogers?"

Eleanor groans. "Thankfully, no." She downs the rest of the vodka at the mention of his name, getting up. "Come on. I'll help you with your makeup. You're tipsy."

"Yes ma'am." Max says, getting up and following her to the bedroom.

Back at the hideout, Jack sighs heavily before going over to the couch to stand in front of his two accomplices as they drink rum in silence.

"Okay, I've had enough of this." He says, causing Anne and Charles to look up at him with bored looks on their faces.

"You two have been moping since Anne's experience this morning, and it's driving me crazy." He reaches down to grab a hold of the redhead's left arm, making her get up from the couch.

"Have you lost your fucking mind?" She seethes at him as he begins to drag her back to their room, glancing back at Charles over his shoulder and meeting their leader's eyes.

"Get ready, Charles. We're going out to the Demeter tonight."

Next chapter teaser:

"I think you scared her."

"Oh please. Did you see her? She doesn't seem like the type who gets scared too easily." Max says, watching the door.