She studied him curiously, sitting across from him in the tavern, drinking her rum at a far slower pace than he was.
"I'm curious," he slammed his mug down, well on the road to drunken stupor. "Why is it that you don't trust me?"
"Exchange our positions. Would you?"
"I haven't laid a hand on ya, love."
"That's what bothers me. Why?"
"Look over there," he gestured with his drink toward the bar, where a multitude
of dolled women were chatting. "Whores are a dime a dozen, love. And not just
here, but in any port we dock. But a beautiful woman, now that's something
special. That's something worth a little more." He smiled slyly at her. "You
are both my first mate and my guide to riches. Both are far more valuable than
forcing your company, as it were."
"You are drunk, sirrah."
"No. But I will be shortly." He chuckled in some secret amusement. "I wonder, love, where are you going to sleep tonight?"
"What?"
"There is only one bed. It would be unbefitting a gentleman to make a lady sleep there, but I am not," he leaned forward for emphasis, "sleeping on the floor."
Her face betrayed none of the emotions she felt. "Well then," she replied after a moment, "we best leave before you are drunk."
He laughed. "Quite right, beautiful." He threw down some coins on the table and stood, shakily taking her arm. "Let us go."
She crawled into bed long before he did, hoping that she could drown out the upcoming night's events in sleep, and awake pretending it would all be a nightmare. She did her best to disappear in the sheets, face to the wall, closed her eyes and tried to sleep. Sleep would not come, and she lay with her eyes closed, thoughts racing around her mind. She did not move when Jack got in, and the little bed shifted as he got comfortable, spooned up against her. She felt his lips brush against her shoulder, then the curve of her neck, while his hand ran up the side of her hip to rest on her waist. She had no earthly idea what to do.
"Some things, love," he whispered silkily behind her, "are worth far more."
With that, she felt his head rest itself between her shoulder blades, and his breathing grew slow and heavy. She laid there for quite some time, staring at the moonlight on the wall, caught in a fear that was born of complete confusion.