A/N: In an attempt to put as little space between me, the rabid fans, and their slash, most of this week's author notes will be with the review responses. The one important thing I must mention here is that I said this chapter would be censored here. But I also said that I'd only censoring the bits with nekkid man-bits, and as it turns out, this chapter lacks them. So it is complete. Next chapter will most likely be an all-out smut-fest, so I may not post it here at all. It and all further smut will be located at this addy. http://adultfan.nexcess.net/aff/story.php?no=9930&PHPSESSID=8c5fc44f154c002e7a9b83a356863752

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Will woke immediately, the conversation from the night before echoing in his head. Despite a slight hangover—he was quickly re-learning how to hold his alcohol—he felt /brilliant/. Jack did want him, and he would finally have what he had been wanting for over a year now, even if he hadn't realized it earlier.

Anticipation had caused him to wake earlier than usual, so the sky was only just beginning to lighten when his eyes snapped open. Every morning before this one by the time Will woke, Jack was already up, anchor raised and well on their way. Today, the captain still lay sleeping. Feeling more pleased than he had in a long time, Will decided take the rare opportunity and study Jack without having to worry about justifying the scrutiny.

Jack was sprawled out slovenly, lower half on the main deck, upper on the quarterdeck, fully clothed and dead to the world. Jack always seemed to sleep not only fully clothed—which, until this morning had been a great relief to Will—but fully armed as well. For a man with Jack's justifiable paranoia, that was heavily armed indeed. Will figured it couldn't be comfortable with all those weapons and twirled around in that position, but the sleeping Jack didn't seem to notice.

They both had opted to sleep on deck each night, Will following Jack's example while Jack insisted that it was an 'impediment on hospitality' to sleep in another captain's quarters. It hadn't occurred to him to sleep in the crew's quarters. Of course it hadn't. The old ship's bunks were nearly as soft as the worn wooden deck anyhow, so Will didn't particularly mind.

The sky lightened enough that Will could see quite clearly. He moved closer to Jack's sleeping form, careful not to wake him, sitting as close as he could without touching him. In Will's experience, most people looked innocent in their sleep. Jack did not. He didn't look anything, really. The normally expressive face looked like a blank canvas, waiting for an emotion to convey or feign. Will took in the nose, the dark-rimmed eyes, the sensuous mouth, and tried to figure what about them caused such unparallel desire in him. Separately, each was beautiful to be sure, but common enough. Men before him had that nose. Women, those eyes, and lined them with heavy colors just the same. Those lips—the finest feature—were exquisite, rare, but there were surely women, much desired, with that same natural pout. Meeting those features separately on the street, Will wouldn't give them a second glance. If he did happen to admire them, it was for aesthetic appreciation rather than for physical desire. Yet somehow, combined and coupled with the irrepressible personality, they were truly irresistible. Will knew he would happily walk to the end of the earth and one step beyond for them.

And now he had permission to act out all of his desires. Jack had practically given him an invitation, albeit only after rejecting him a second time. And, Will realized, Jack had had justifiable worries and had shown a surprising amount of sensitivity for even considering them. However. It /was/ morning, and Will /was/ thinking quite clearly, and that meant…

Will reached up tentatively—for all his bravado he still had little idea how to go about this, and little confidence in his own abilities—and gently brushed Jack's cheek with his fingertips.

Suddenly the world shifted and he was flat on his back, a sword at his throat and an imposing figure looming over him. Jack frowned down at Will, looking slightly surprised.

"Not wise," the pirate growled darkly. He kept his sword at Will's neck just long enough for Will to worry, but then grunted and put it up. His gaze shifted to the sun, just beginning to rise above the horizon, then back to Will. He sat again, legs stretched out in front of him aligned opposite Will's, just slightly brushing.

Pleasantly, conversely, "What was it you wanted, then?"

Will propped himself up with one arm, rubbing his neck with the other. He felt completely thrown off-kilter, which seemed a relatively common emotion when dealing with Jack. He figured he should stop being surprised by being surprised.

"What do you recall about last night?" he asked cautiously, feeling less confident from the death threat. Jack had been drinking as well, after all. Perhaps /he/ had been the one that would have had regrets.

Jack made a show of searching his memory. "Last night, laaast niiiight… was dark. Being night and all. Three bottles of bad wine, not that I'm complaining, long as it's booze, eh?" He smiled pleasantly. Will tried to smile back through crushing disappointment. Perhaps Jack had proposed the escape clause for himself rather than Will. "And," Jack continued, "if memory serves, a strapping young blacksmith attempted to copulate with my second favorite hand."

Will, weary of the emotional whirlwind Jack had set him in, tried not to get his hopes up yet again. "So, last night… what you said…"

"God's honest truth," Jack said.

"Honestly? So you're not—that is—you want to?…"

Jack smiled at him, quite amused. "My dear, I would be more than pleased to strip you of your innocence in the most pleasant way imaginable. However—"

"/No/," Will said before he could stop himself. He simply wouldn't be able to bear being rejected once more for his own sake. "No! If you're going to reject me again for an honest reason, like you don't fancy me, /fine/. But if you're going to insist that I'll regret it eventually, I refuse to hear it. I /know/ what I want, and I promise you, the only possible regret I'll have is that we didn't get to it sooner!"

Jack stared at him for a long moment, face pleasantly blank. Will felt overflowing with all the emotion he's been experiencing lately—lust and hurt and hope and anger, all blended together, waiting for Jack's reaction so one could overrun the others.

Jack suddenly beamed at him. Joy surged up at the sight. "Alright, then," Jack said, shifting to trail fingers up Will's calf. "So glad that's been cleared up."

With Jack's fingers tracing lines and whorls along Will's thinly dressed leg lust was clearly winning, but Will suddenly felt trepidatious. It was honestly happening, but he didn't really know what this sort of thing involved. Jack obviously did. He had as much experience as any man could in carnal acts, if his familiarity with women of ill repute was any indication. What if Will couldn't measure up? What if Jack saw there was no fun to be had in him, and threw him aside? Jack's fingers brushed a particularly sensitive spot on the underside of Will's knee, and Will's entire body jerked.

Smiling, Jack began scaling Will's prone body, slowly crawling up until they were face to face. Will took a deep breath, surrounded on all sides, arms feeling nearly too weak to hold him up. Jack propped himself above Will on hands and knees, their lower halves apart but chests brushing, close enough to breathe each other's scents. Through it all Jack kept the smirk on his face, closely examining Will's own wide-eyed, awed expression.

"You've never done this," Jack said into Will's slack mouth

"Never," Will said earnestly.

A short sounds, which could have been a laugh but sounded too joyous to seem at all cruel. "Wonderful," he said, and then pressed his lips to Will's.

It stole Will's breath away, made his heart pound and all fears melt away in a press of moist lips and slightly rough beard. Jack sucked Will's lower lip gently, worried and nipped at it, and Will didn't think anything had ever felt so good. Trepidation faded completely, instinct took over. He couldn't help wrapping an arm around Jack's shoulders, pulling him down with him when one arm wasn't enough to hold both their weight. Jack released the captive lip, dipped his tongue into the panting mouth just long enough to sample the sweet taste there, and moved on to upper lip, which he gave the same skilled treatment. It made things low in Will's stomach clench; the gentle rhythmic suction, blunt teeth gently gnawing, followed closely by a slick tongue to sooth the damage. Will's tongue darted out, trying to taste Jack, and Jack took the opportunity to seize Will's mouth completely, plunge his tongue in and plunder to his heart's content. It was shocking how perfect it felt to be explored by a mouth as lithe in action as it was in words, slick tongue gracing over the roof of Will's mouth, licking the backs of his teeth, tasting like everything that was ever forbidden to him.

On a whim Will pulled Jack's tongue further into his mouth and sucked gently, trying to imitate the natural rhythm that seemed to drive Jack. Jack moaned and went completely limp for a moment, thrusting the length of their bodies together. Pleased with the result, Will sucked more firmly and caressed Jack's tongue with his own.

He moaned with genuine loss when his treat was taken from him

Jack buried his face in Will's hair, laughing breathlessly. "Best not keep that up for much longer, love." He licked a long, slow line up Will's ear and blew on it, hot and cold in turns. Will moaned and arched delectably closer. "You're positive you've never done this before?"

Before Will could gather enough sense to answer Jack placed a sucking kiss where jaw met neck, effectively stealing all conscious thought. Jack worked his way slowly down Will's neck, licking and nipping and sucking, and Will lost all sense of himself beyond the warm, pulling pleasure. He was moaning continuously now, making sounds that would have normally made him blush furiously, and was completely beyond caring. Jack's teeth graced over a spot that made Will's entire body tense, lightning coursing down his spine. Jack latched onto that spot, suckling mercilessly, biting hard enough to be nearly painful and wholly exquisite. Will felt lost, filled and filled until he could take no more. A sharp bite and a firm, smooth thrust of hips, and Will's world exploded, white behind clenched eyes, the world fading and pleasure sharpening to an unbearable point.

It seemed an eternity before it receded, gradually deposited him back in his body. Despite being flat on his back Will was trembling violently, heart beating more rapidly than it had in years, somehow both hot and chilled at once. He felt weak, but incredibly stated… and, looking into Jack's smug expression, slightly embarrassed. His knowledge of these acts was rudimentary, but he was fairly certain that last bit was meant to happen… last. Judging from the hardness nestled against his belly, Jack was hardly finished.

Will blushed.

"Well," Jack said, clearly amused, "now I believe you've never done this before."