Usual disclaimers... pah!

There are only four chapters today... this first one has not been edited by Mul as it has been lost in the internet void and, despite being sent on five occasions, has yet to arrive. Sometimes the connections between the UK and Australia can be so damned cantankerous!

Anyway... read on... and Pen, you were almost right!

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Chapter 37 - Clean & Dirty

Joshamee Gibbs could not believe the gossip that flew around Tortuga the next morning. Jack had a woman called Bessie and he had killed Archibald Hughes over this woman. Giselle had wasted no time heading for the taverns and wailing her loss to the other whores... and it had spread like wildfire. Joshamee guessed that the crew had added to the gossip considering the graphic descriptions of Captain Hughes' demise. He shook his head and hoped that nobody would make the connection to Horace Masters. Nursing his hangover he rowed slowly back to the Black Pearl with a number of the crew only to find Jack rowing back to town. Both boats stopped.

"Jack!" Joshamee cried in disbelief. "Where are you going?"

"To town... Bessie needs some things..." Jack explained, puzzled by Joshamee's apparent concern.

"I'm coming with you," Joshamee sighed. "Do you have any idea of the gossip that is flying at the moment?" He scrambled awkwardly across to the other boat, leaving the crew to row back to the Black Pearl. "The whole town knows you have a woman called Bessie!" he chided. "What on earth possessed you to leave Giselle? She was furious!"

Jack grinned unrepentantly. "Bessie!" he smiled, handing the oars to his quartermaster. "Th' sun is shinin', we're in Tortuga an' all is well with th' world..."

"So the two of you have made up then?" Joshamee frowned, relieved that the matter seemed to have been resolved.

"In a manner of speakin'..." Jack sighed. "She won't trust me but she won't deny me at least... I'm still workin' on th' trust matter."

"And how do you propose to do that?" he puzzled.

"By teachin' her t' read!" Jack grinned.

"Bessie can't..." Joshamee gasped in disbelief.

"Her mother never taught her," Jack sighed. "Too busy runnin' from pirates... I should be able t' find a slate an' some chalk in town." He paused, glancing back towards the ship. Joshamee shook his head, jumping from the boat as it bumped against the dock and making it quickly secure. "I need t' buy her some clothes too... can't have her in m' old clothes all th' time."

Joshamee rolled his eyes, but made no comment as he trailed Jack around the town, carrying some items whilst having others sent back to the ship. Knowing she was uncomfortable in trousers he bought several dresses that she would be able to work in before his eye was caught by a rich plum-coloured brocade. His fingers caressed the fabric.

"Your lady would look beautiful in that Captain," the storekeeper tempted, having heard the rumours, but he could see that Jack was already taken with it. "I have a cream undershift that would look stunning beneath it..."

"I'll take both, an' two cotton undershifts if yer have some," Jack agreed, smiling as the man found what he asked for, placing them on the counter. Jack held them up, inspecting the fabric for damage but was relieved to find there was none. He haggled briefly before heading back to the Black Pearl, pleased with his purchases and wanting to see Bessie's face over the dress.

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Bessie looked at the numerous parcels in disbelief, spluttering as Jack held up the plum dress. "Will yer wear this fer me?" he asked. "It comes with an undershift... an' I've got yer some plain undershifts too..."

"No undergarments?" she ventured, her eyes still hypnotised by the dress.

"I wouldn't buy them here... yer want a proper seamstress fer that..." He grinned mischievously, wrapping his arms about her and inching his hand up her shirt. "An' it means I can get t' yer easier!" He squeezed her breast, teasing her nipple.

"Jack!" she protested, aware of Joshamee Gibbs just about to enter the cabin carrying yet more parcels.

"These have just arrived... and the other thing" he said, studiously ignoring Jack's roving hand and placing the parcels on the table. "I'll shut the door behind me."

Jack grinned, leaving Bessie for long enough to lock the door as Joshamee left, but no longer. "Why don't yer try it on..." he suggested, reaching for the buttons on her shirt.

"But..." she stuttered, aware that he was backing her towards the side cabin - and his bunk.

"But what?" he smiled innocently, kissing her.

"But it's morning!" she countered.

"So?" he shrugged, stopping as she bumped against the bunk, pushing her now undone shirt from her shoulders. His hands reached for her trousers. "Undress me," he murmured, nuzzling her neck, nipping, teasing as he slid her trousers downwards. Realising the futility of any further protests now that she was naked, Bessie removed his belt and sash, gradually removing his waistcoat and shirt. He groaned as her hands reached towards his trousers. "Bessie," he sighed as he laid her backwards on the bunk, climbing nimbly in beside her, his hands unceasing in their movement as they caressed her body. She gasped as he kissed her, working his way slowly towards her toes and then back again, easing her legs apart.

"Please," she whispered, forcing him back up her body until he lay above her, wrapping her legs possessively about his hips, desperately wanting to relive the previous night. Jack grinned, accepting her invitation, shuddering with pleasure as he entered her.

Bessie jumped on hearing a loud bump outside of the cabin window, Jack groaning with delight at her sudden movement. Joshamee's voice called out. "Thirty minutes Jack!"

"Aye!" he replied.

"What was that about?" Bessie frowned, wondering at Jack's wide grin.

"You'll have t' wait an' see Missy!" he laughed, grinding his hips against her, smiling as she gasped and arched against him. "But fer that thirty minutes yer are mine!"

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Jack slipped from the bunk and pulled on his trousers. "Stay here," he said, "an' no peekin'!" He pulled the drape across the door, ensuring her privacy as well as maintaining his secret for a few moments longer. He unlocked the cabin door, smiling as he saw two crewmen waiting for him to emerge. "Carry it in lads!" he ordered. They carried the bulky object carefully, trying to lose as little water as possible. Jack tossed them a gold piece each. "Disappear!" he ordered and they quickly scrambled over the side of the ship, heading shorewards, knowing smirks on their faces.

He turned back to the cabin, shutting and locking the doors and returned to the side cabin, grinning when he saw Bessie was still waiting for him in the bunk. "Close yer eyes an' come with me," he smiled, holding his hands out to her. "Trust me..."

"Should I dress?" Bessie frowned, biting back a comment about never trusting him.

"Yer are perfect as yer are," Jack grinned, his eyes roaming her body. "Th' doors are locked an' yer will be quite safe." Slowly she put her hands in his, sliding off the bunk until she stood before him. "Close yer eyes!" he repeated, walking backwards as he led her through into the main cabin. Releasing her hands he walked around behind her, wrapping his arms about her waist. "M' gift fer yer," he whispered.

Slowly Bessie opened her eyes, unsure what she would find. "A bath!" she gasped, looking in disbelief at it.

"Yer don't know how hard it was t' find in Tortuga," Jack joked. "Us pirates bein' dirty creatures an' all..."

Bessie stared at the bath, still not believing what she was seeing. Unlike her old battered tin bath, this one was enamelled inside, painted with dainty blue flowers. It had clearly come from a very rich household. Cautiously she trailed her fingers in the water, finding although it smelled of the sea it pleasantly warm but not over hot.

Jack turned to the table, searching for something he had bought earlier in the day. "I've got soap too," he grinned, presenting it to her with a flourish. Bessie smiled in delight for she had not been able to have a bath since the night that Archibald Hughes had abducted her.

"Still hate me?" Jack teased, laughing as she scowled at him. "Come on, I'll wash yer back!"

Carefully Bessie climbed into the bath, laughing as some of the water spilled over the rim. "I can wash myself," she assured him.

"Let me?" Jack snatched at the soap, holding the bar out of her reach. "I've been wantin' t' do this since th' first time I spied on yer," he admitted. Slowly Bessie leaned forwards and Jack wetted the soap, working up a lather as well as getting himself in one. He loved her soft skin, how it was so pale where it had not been exposed to the Caribbean sun. "Now lean back..." he tempted, washing her hair before paying particular attention to her breasts.

"Jack!" she protested, but he just smiled, moving his ministrations to her shoulders, gradually washing each arm.

"Stand up," he ordered.

"What?" Bessie puzzled.

"Stand up... go on!" He grinned as she rose, standing in the bath before him. Slowly he worked down her body, his hands automatically easing her legs apart slightly.

She leaned back, wobbling alarmingly. "If you want me again Jack then you can bathe as well!"

"I thought yer'd never ask," he slurred, shedding his trousers before sighing regretfully in the realisation that there was not enough room for two in the bath. He finished rinsing her off and helped her out, watching the water as it ran in rivulets down her body. "Will yer return th' favour?" he asked hopefully.

Bessie blushed. "If you want..." she replied cautiously.

"If I want?" he gasped. "Of course I bloody want!" He handed her the soap, grinning in delight. He remembered the last time a woman had bathed him, although he had to pay good gold for the experience - but the brothel in Bridgetown had been very exclusive. He shuddered in delight as she started to soap his back.

"How should I do your hair?" Bessie asked, staring in bafflement at the beaded plaits before her.

"Take th' beads out carefully an' I'll show yer how t' plait them back in later..." Jack instructed, reaching up to help her. Once free of adornment she washed his hair, soaping it well for she dreaded to think when it had last been clean.

Cautiously she started to wash his chest, her fingers tracing the outline of the two shot scars that marked his body. He slowly stood up in the bath, his arousal from her ministrations clear to see. "An th' rest of me... all of me..." He smiled to himself as he saw her gulp but she continued to wash him until he was clean. She stepped back when she had finished and Jack reluctantly climbed out of the bath, dripping water on the floor as he wrapped his arms about her. "I seem t' remember an interestin' offer..." he teased, kissing her demandingly and guided her back to the side cabin - trying on the dress could wait!

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Down Ani... and you can mop up that slobber!