Chapter Twenty-Two: Not a One as Lovely as Yours
Pur'a'ti had pronounced Reanna fine after she had been brought to her cabin, and had expressly ordered that she be allowed to sleep. Devon had volunteered to stay with Reanna until she woke up and to tell her that the ship was in good shape. Ana Maria and Mr. Gibbs (sober, for once) could handle things well enough until Reanna was capable to captain the ship once more.
He couldn't believe he had so thoroughly lost the wager they had laid before the storm had finally caught them. Now he was going to have to deal with two months sans pay. But that wasn't the thought foremost in his mind at the moment. She had taken the ship through the storm almost completely by herself. Even he wouldn't have run about the ship during such a severe gale. He would have been tied to the rail with the rest of the crew.
It blew his mind that she had so put herself at risk to make sure that her ship made it through the storm completely intact. With the Lady Pandora, he would have done the best he could to make sure that the ship made it, but only to the extent that it would still be able to carry them to the next port for repairs. The Black Pearl had not only made it through the storm intact, but not a single sail had been ripped, the masts hadn't splintered in the slightest, and the leaks had been skillfully stopped to be repaired better when the storm had passed.
It was no wonder she had fainted after the squall. He had been fumbling with getting himself untied when Reanna had called out the order for the crew to make sure everything was in shape, and when she had started to fall, he had forced his numb fingers to move faster so he could get to her. He hadn't made it before she fell to the deck, but he had carried her to her cabin afterwards with Pur'a'ti and a worried Elvin woman that he could only assume was Y'lorani following on his heels.
Y'lorani didn't trust him, he knew. She had glared at him when he had volunteered to stay with Reanna, and before she followed Pur'a'ti out the door she whispered a threat that if he ever hurt Reanna in any sense that she would see him dead. More than ever he wondered what Reanna was that she commanded such strong emotions from all those that knew her. He also dearly wanted to know how these elves had been found and what had made them come into the human world after they had been gone for so long that they were thought to be myths.
He was wrapped up in these thoughts when Reanna started awake, making him fall off of the stool he had been sitting on. When he pulled himself up onto his knees, his elbows propped on the edge of her bed, she asked, "Why am I here? How's the ship? Is everyone alive?"
"You're in here because you passed out, the ship is in perfect shape and we should reach St. Maarten tomorrow, and yes, everyone is alive and well, if a bit battered," he answered.
She relaxed, laying her head back down on her pillow. "Why are you in here with me when you're supposed to be running the ship?" she asked wearily.
"Because your crew has yet to trust me, for one, and another...Ana Maria knows well enough how to handle the ship while you recuperate."
She seemed to know that there was more that he wasn't telling her, and so she stared at him patiently.
"Alright, alright, and I also wanted to tell you how amazing you are."
Her brows lifted nearly into her hairline. He suspected that she had expected him to tell her some dreadful news.
"Well you took the ship through the storm all by yourself when even I would have tied myself to the rail and prayed that the ship was in good enough shape afterwards that we could make it to the next port for repairs. You went above and beyond what you had to, and I really respect you for that." By the time his speech was over, he couldn't look her in the eye anymore and his cheeks were on fire.
"You're wrong," she said. He looked up, unsure of what she meant. "I did exactly what I had to do, Devon. This was my father's ship, he loved it as much as he loved my mother and me. He would have done the same, and I would hate to disappoint him. So I'm not amazing, I'm just a good captain." She grinned, then, "But you respect me now, that's good. I might not have to throw you in the brig for not trusting my storm sense after all!"
He smiled back, even though he didn't agree with her assessment of herself. "If Pur'a'ti and Y'lorani wouldn't kill me for it, I'd break out some wine and toast your seventeenth birthday," he said.
She sat up and got out of bed, then realized that she wasn't wearing anything. "Oh damn," she muttered as she hurried over to her wardrobe to grab a shirt and a pair of breeches. "Why, oh why couldn't they have put something dry on me?"
"Well I don't mind at all," Devon said, and she turned around to find him grinning at her as he looked her up and down. She blushed deeply and pulled the long shirt on, wrapping it around herself as though to protect her body from his eyes. He laughed. "At least we're even now, right?" he said coyly. She blushed deeper. "Why, Captain, I do believe I've embarrassed you!" "With comments and stares like yours were, any woman would be embarrassed!" she tartly replied.
"You would think so, wouldn't you? I've met many a woman who was proud to show off her body, however, and not a one of them has had one so lovely as yours. Or so tan! Tell me, what did you wear outside to make the whole of your long legs so brown?"
"That's none of your business!" she said, and grabbed a bottle of wine instead of putting on a pair of pants. She took a long swig of it, draining nearly a third of the bottle. He stared at her appreciatively, glad that she seemed to have forgotten about pants. Her legs were gorgeous, and even though the shirt now covered her torso, he remembered her flat and well-toned stomach had looked, as well as her nicely rounded breasts.
He wouldn't soon be forgetting the curves of her glorious body, and he suspected that they would haunt his dreams for many nights to come. He had only told the truth when he had said that he had never before seen a woman's body so beautiful as hers. If she didn't believe him, well, then she was a fool.
"Here, hand that over," he said when she had taken the bottle from her mouth. Her tongue slipped out to clean them of the wine, and he found himself wishing that it was his tongue that removed the last traces of the wine from those lips. Instead of staring, he poured some wine into two mugs and handed her one, raising his own for a toast.
"To Reanna, the best captain in the world, on her birthday--what little is left of it, anyway. May the next one not bring anger to the gods of the sea!"
With that, they both tipped their mugs up and drank deeply of the wine. When he put his mug down, he said, "So...you're not going to tell Y'lorani and Pur'a'ti that I got you drunk, are you?"
She laughed. "I'm not quite drunk yet, Devon," she said, her less- than-perfectly pronounced words belying her statement. She finished off her cup then and sat on the bed beside him, still wearing only the shirt. "Alright, so maybe I'm a little drunk," she amended. "Drunk enough to do this," she said, then leaned forward and kissed his lips lightly. "But I'm not drunk enough to do anything that I know I wouldn't want to do," she said, still leaning close enough that her breath caressed his mouth. "And I most certainly want to do this." She kissed him again, and then again, wrapping an arm around his neck.
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Alrighty, so now to reply to reviews that I forgot to say anything about in the last chapter, as well as the one review I got for that chapter!
Rin: In response to your review of chapter twenty, I don't blame you for not trusting Devon. I don't really trust him either, but we'll just have to see where that leads us. And of course I wouldn't change him and thereby ruin my plot (even though I really don't know the whole of my plot...)! Thanks muchly for the review of chapter twenty-one, 'twas appreciated.
Mae Rae, Vuzznut, Miss Presh, and Tracy, I haven't heard from you guys in a while, let me know what you think! I'd love to hear your comments! ...Ok, READ your comments...lol.
Pur'a'ti had pronounced Reanna fine after she had been brought to her cabin, and had expressly ordered that she be allowed to sleep. Devon had volunteered to stay with Reanna until she woke up and to tell her that the ship was in good shape. Ana Maria and Mr. Gibbs (sober, for once) could handle things well enough until Reanna was capable to captain the ship once more.
He couldn't believe he had so thoroughly lost the wager they had laid before the storm had finally caught them. Now he was going to have to deal with two months sans pay. But that wasn't the thought foremost in his mind at the moment. She had taken the ship through the storm almost completely by herself. Even he wouldn't have run about the ship during such a severe gale. He would have been tied to the rail with the rest of the crew.
It blew his mind that she had so put herself at risk to make sure that her ship made it through the storm completely intact. With the Lady Pandora, he would have done the best he could to make sure that the ship made it, but only to the extent that it would still be able to carry them to the next port for repairs. The Black Pearl had not only made it through the storm intact, but not a single sail had been ripped, the masts hadn't splintered in the slightest, and the leaks had been skillfully stopped to be repaired better when the storm had passed.
It was no wonder she had fainted after the squall. He had been fumbling with getting himself untied when Reanna had called out the order for the crew to make sure everything was in shape, and when she had started to fall, he had forced his numb fingers to move faster so he could get to her. He hadn't made it before she fell to the deck, but he had carried her to her cabin afterwards with Pur'a'ti and a worried Elvin woman that he could only assume was Y'lorani following on his heels.
Y'lorani didn't trust him, he knew. She had glared at him when he had volunteered to stay with Reanna, and before she followed Pur'a'ti out the door she whispered a threat that if he ever hurt Reanna in any sense that she would see him dead. More than ever he wondered what Reanna was that she commanded such strong emotions from all those that knew her. He also dearly wanted to know how these elves had been found and what had made them come into the human world after they had been gone for so long that they were thought to be myths.
He was wrapped up in these thoughts when Reanna started awake, making him fall off of the stool he had been sitting on. When he pulled himself up onto his knees, his elbows propped on the edge of her bed, she asked, "Why am I here? How's the ship? Is everyone alive?"
"You're in here because you passed out, the ship is in perfect shape and we should reach St. Maarten tomorrow, and yes, everyone is alive and well, if a bit battered," he answered.
She relaxed, laying her head back down on her pillow. "Why are you in here with me when you're supposed to be running the ship?" she asked wearily.
"Because your crew has yet to trust me, for one, and another...Ana Maria knows well enough how to handle the ship while you recuperate."
She seemed to know that there was more that he wasn't telling her, and so she stared at him patiently.
"Alright, alright, and I also wanted to tell you how amazing you are."
Her brows lifted nearly into her hairline. He suspected that she had expected him to tell her some dreadful news.
"Well you took the ship through the storm all by yourself when even I would have tied myself to the rail and prayed that the ship was in good enough shape afterwards that we could make it to the next port for repairs. You went above and beyond what you had to, and I really respect you for that." By the time his speech was over, he couldn't look her in the eye anymore and his cheeks were on fire.
"You're wrong," she said. He looked up, unsure of what she meant. "I did exactly what I had to do, Devon. This was my father's ship, he loved it as much as he loved my mother and me. He would have done the same, and I would hate to disappoint him. So I'm not amazing, I'm just a good captain." She grinned, then, "But you respect me now, that's good. I might not have to throw you in the brig for not trusting my storm sense after all!"
He smiled back, even though he didn't agree with her assessment of herself. "If Pur'a'ti and Y'lorani wouldn't kill me for it, I'd break out some wine and toast your seventeenth birthday," he said.
She sat up and got out of bed, then realized that she wasn't wearing anything. "Oh damn," she muttered as she hurried over to her wardrobe to grab a shirt and a pair of breeches. "Why, oh why couldn't they have put something dry on me?"
"Well I don't mind at all," Devon said, and she turned around to find him grinning at her as he looked her up and down. She blushed deeply and pulled the long shirt on, wrapping it around herself as though to protect her body from his eyes. He laughed. "At least we're even now, right?" he said coyly. She blushed deeper. "Why, Captain, I do believe I've embarrassed you!" "With comments and stares like yours were, any woman would be embarrassed!" she tartly replied.
"You would think so, wouldn't you? I've met many a woman who was proud to show off her body, however, and not a one of them has had one so lovely as yours. Or so tan! Tell me, what did you wear outside to make the whole of your long legs so brown?"
"That's none of your business!" she said, and grabbed a bottle of wine instead of putting on a pair of pants. She took a long swig of it, draining nearly a third of the bottle. He stared at her appreciatively, glad that she seemed to have forgotten about pants. Her legs were gorgeous, and even though the shirt now covered her torso, he remembered her flat and well-toned stomach had looked, as well as her nicely rounded breasts.
He wouldn't soon be forgetting the curves of her glorious body, and he suspected that they would haunt his dreams for many nights to come. He had only told the truth when he had said that he had never before seen a woman's body so beautiful as hers. If she didn't believe him, well, then she was a fool.
"Here, hand that over," he said when she had taken the bottle from her mouth. Her tongue slipped out to clean them of the wine, and he found himself wishing that it was his tongue that removed the last traces of the wine from those lips. Instead of staring, he poured some wine into two mugs and handed her one, raising his own for a toast.
"To Reanna, the best captain in the world, on her birthday--what little is left of it, anyway. May the next one not bring anger to the gods of the sea!"
With that, they both tipped their mugs up and drank deeply of the wine. When he put his mug down, he said, "So...you're not going to tell Y'lorani and Pur'a'ti that I got you drunk, are you?"
She laughed. "I'm not quite drunk yet, Devon," she said, her less- than-perfectly pronounced words belying her statement. She finished off her cup then and sat on the bed beside him, still wearing only the shirt. "Alright, so maybe I'm a little drunk," she amended. "Drunk enough to do this," she said, then leaned forward and kissed his lips lightly. "But I'm not drunk enough to do anything that I know I wouldn't want to do," she said, still leaning close enough that her breath caressed his mouth. "And I most certainly want to do this." She kissed him again, and then again, wrapping an arm around his neck.
************************************************************************
Alrighty, so now to reply to reviews that I forgot to say anything about in the last chapter, as well as the one review I got for that chapter!
Rin: In response to your review of chapter twenty, I don't blame you for not trusting Devon. I don't really trust him either, but we'll just have to see where that leads us. And of course I wouldn't change him and thereby ruin my plot (even though I really don't know the whole of my plot...)! Thanks muchly for the review of chapter twenty-one, 'twas appreciated.
Mae Rae, Vuzznut, Miss Presh, and Tracy, I haven't heard from you guys in a while, let me know what you think! I'd love to hear your comments! ...Ok, READ your comments...lol.