They had only fallen asleep just before dawn but Charles was too used to life on board and was woken by the ship's bell. It was almost time for the morning watch to begin. Even though he had not gotten much sleep he knew it was no use trying to get back to sleep. Abigail was once again draped over his body. Her head on his chest, a leg flung over his.
As much as he wanted to stay, his body had different needs for now. He slowly began extracting himself from Abigail but failed in not disturbing her. She woke up with a groan of protest and clutched Charles tighter. "Where you goin'," was all he could hear. He kissed her on the head and promptly got up. No need to be careful now that she was awake. "Time to get up."
She mumbled her response into the mattress and he could not make out a word. Suddenly though he was stricken from behind. He could not believe it! She had thrown a pillow at him. At him! He was one of the world's most notorious pirate captains and she started a pillow fight with him.
Abigail was worried. He was taking entirely too long to respond. She did not know why she had thrown the pillow and was berating herself for it. She started to scramble out of bed and was rushing to apologize when she realized that Charles was laughing. He was, in fact, laughing so hard he had to support himself on the table.
A few moments later, he spun around and stalked in Abigail's direction. He was advancing on her fast and there was nowhere for her to go. He grabbed her and the kiss that followed left her breathless. Suddenly she was hoisted up in the air by him. She wrapped her legs around his waist and their kissing intensified. Charles turned them towards the wall and pressed Abigail against it. As soon as he had done that, Abigail winced loudly. FUCK! For a moment he had forgotten about her back. He backed away from the wall and let her down, "Fuck, sorry. Got distracted, somebody threw a pillow at me." Abigail had to laugh despite the pain. She looked up at him and stroked his cheek. He had been intimidating that first time she had talked to him in her cell which had not been that long ago. But now she just knew she would never have to fear anything from him. He rested his forehead against hers and they stood like that for a while.
Charles was the first to speak, "The bandages need changing. Wait here." He squeezed her hand briefly before quickly walking out the door. He took a little detour to relieve himself on the way to the doctor's but he was soon back in the cabin. The sight that greeted him upon his return almost made him drop the supplies. Abigail had surprised him once again. She had removed her shirt and the bandages while he was gone. She also had apparently grabbed her book and was back in bed, lying on her stomach already drawn into the story. He could not even see her breasts, just the creamy white skin on her back and sides. But his arousal was back threefold and he wanted nothing more than to touch her.
He made his way over to the bed. Abigail had been alerted to his presence through the closing of the door and she smiled up at him. He sat down next to her, "I'll clean and redress it. It'll probably hurt." Abigail closed her book and rested her head on his thigh, "I can take it."
And so, Charles got to work. The wound looked horrific but there was no sign of infection. They would be able to take the stitches out in a few days. Abigail stayed quiet during the treatment but considering how hard she was gripping his leg she must have been in quite a lot of pain. When he was finally done, Abigail stayed in position for a little longer. Cleaning the wound had hurt a lot and lying close to Charles made her feel much better.
Unfortunately, she could not lie here all-day long. Not that she had anything to do but Charles was surely needed. Abigail sat up and reached for the new bandage. She started wrapping the bandage around her but Charles's hands stopped her arms from covering her breasts. She raised her head to look at him but Charles gaze was drawn to her breasts. In this moment he wanted nothing more than to touch them, but he would not do so without her permission so for now he just looked, the image searing itself into his brain.
Even though it was an accident, she did not mind showing herself to him. In fact, the opposite was true, she realized. She wanted him to see all of her. The way he looked at her made her feel powerful. After what felt like forever, he finally released her arms and helped her wrap the bandage around herself.
Before he could get up, Abigail climbed into his lap. She grabbed his head in her hands and gave him a big kiss. "Thank you," she said before giving him another kiss. "I never formally accepted so yes, please, I'd like very much to stay," she continued. "I'm afraid I don't know much about sailing or fighting but I'm sure I could be useful somehow… ," she trailed off. Charles pulled her closer and mumbled, "You are useful. After all, you already saved the Captain once."
"Though," he said, straightening up, "teaching you to fight is a good idea. It would be foolish to think you won't ever need it." Their tender moment over for now, Abigail climbed off Charles' lap and proceeded to put her shirt back on, tucking it securely into her trousers. Charles got up from the bed and moved to the door. "Food first. Let's go."
They made their way to the mess hall where everybody but the night's watch had already assembled. The morning shift was quickly wolfing down their breakfast before they were needed on deck. The other shifts taking more time, slowly waking up. The room got noticeably quieter when Charles and Abigail entered, and Charles decided that this time was as good as any to inform the crew that Abigail would be staying. "Listen up," he yelled, immediately commanding the attention of everybody in the room, "This is Abigail. Saved my life, as such I offered her a place on the crew and she accepted. Some of you may remember her from before, forget about that. And if you fuck with her, you're dead."
Charles was ushering her towards the food, when Sam the Cook spoke up, "But Captain, she 'asn't been read the Articles of Agreement, yet." With a mischievous twinkle in his eyes, Sam turned to Abigail and continued, "We 'ave to make sure that the lass knows how to behave, too. Isn't that right, boys?" The entire mess hall broke out in raucous laughter. Charles shook his head in defeat. "You're lucky you're a good cook, Sam." He turned to face his crew and shouted, "Alright, alright. Let's get it over with."
Abigail was swept up in the excitement of the moment and was grinning from ear to ear while Charles recited the Articles. At the end, he made her swear to adhere to the code or fear the punishments listed therein. The crew had calmed down by the time Charles and Abigail had finished and they were finally able to eat their breakfast.