Disclaimer: I tried to lure Jack into my house with rum, but Disney got in my way, so he's not mine.
AN: I swear that nothing happened after that last chapter between Jack and Rose; lots of kissing and cuddling, but nothing more! Anyway, here is the link to yet another outfit of Rose's, though it's more for the later part of the chapter: www (dot) hinab (dot) com (slash) sarees (slash) s16 (dot) htm. I'm sure you'll recognize it when you see/read about it. Meanwhile, I hope that you all like the outfit, since I think it's just wonderfully simple and elegant. Don't forget to review!
Chapter 9: Quality Time:
Yawning, I slowly woke and sighed as a firm, muscular arm wrapped itself tighter around my waist. A smile of pure contentment soon found itself on my lips, a smile that quickly developed into a grin when I heard a similar sigh from behind me. The sigh was quickly followed by a snore, which made me giggle softly to myself.
'Jack,' I thought fondly, my eyes drifting shut once more.
"Hmm…you awake, luv?" he whispered into my ear, rousing me.
"No," I whispered back, grinning slightly. "This is me talking in my sleep."
Behind me, Jack chuckled. "Well, then, since you're being so honest with me…how about a kiss?"
I immediately began shifting around in the bed, turning so that I lay on my right side and could face the man I loved. Looking up into his handsome face, I saw that his eyes were open just enough for me to see the dark brown of his gaze. A smile was on his lips, and as I settled back down into the mattress, the smile became a grin. I could feel his right arm tighten on me, pulling me closer against his warm, shirtless body.
"Jack!" I said, keeping my voice soft while I blushed in embarrassment.
He chuckled. "Oh, come now, luv, it's not like we did anything…sinful last night," he said, his hand sliding up my back. "Though I very much wish we had…"
I couldn't help but roll my eyes. "You mean besides throwing me over your shoulder and carrying me off like a wench up to our room?" I asked sarcastically, thankful that I had at least put on a nightgown last night. Not long after tossing me onto the bed, Jack had been patient enough to let me slip into a nightdress, then climb back into bed for a rather affectionate night together…with limits.
Jack pretended to look thoughtful for a moment before grinning broadly at me once more. "Well, there was that…" he said. "And then there was all of that lovely kissing and naughty cuddling we did after you put that silky nightdress on…"
An indignant squeal erupted from my lips. "Jack!" I cried, clamping a hand over his mouth.
He gave me a wicked look as he reached up with his other hand and removed mine from his lips. "It's true, darling," he said, leaning closer for a kiss. "And I must say that if your cuddling abilities are any indication, then I can hardly wait for the honeymoon!"
Before I could make a sound of protest, Jack was kissing me, his arms wrapping around my waist to pin me to the bed, making me his prisoner. It was pointless to resist the wonderful ways he touched, held, and kissed me, so I merely lay there and savored every moment. Besides, his hands were so gentle, it was hard to believe they belonged to a pirate.
A knock at the door broke the blissful moment, and Jack pulled away with a growl.
"Bloody hell, who is it?" he snapped, glaring at the offending piece of wood even as he stayed poised above me, propped up on his arms.
Meanwhile, I sighed and leaned back into the pillows, trying to catch my breath. If one thing could be said about Jack Sparrow, it had to be that he was a very experienced kisser. Once I caught my breath, I looked up at him.
"Should we answer it?" I asked, keeping my voice low.
"No," he immediately replied, turning his attention back towards me. "We'll just ignore them and hope they go away, that's all."
Without waiting another moment, Jack leaned down and engaged me in another intense kiss. Happy to do so, I returned it, wrapping my arms around him and savoring the feel of his body against mine.
Everything was right with the world. Rose was here, in his arms, and the little sighs of contentment she made were slowly driving him insane. Last night had been like flying up towards Heaven and stopping just short of reaching it, as Rose had prevented them from doing anything further than touch. He had been disappointed, but it was what she wanted, and he would die rather than force her.
Now he was once more taking that flight towards Heaven; his beautiful Rose was pressed against him, and he could feel the warmth of her body through the thin nightdress she was wearing. Oh, how he wished she wasn't wearing the damned thing, but it kept them from going too far before their wedding night. For now, kisses, caresses, and embraces were all that were to occur between them, and he savored every single one of them.
Another knock on the door interrupted the pleasurable moment that was forming, and Jack bit back a string of curses as Rose pulled away from their kiss. The dazed look on her face was a good sign, and Jack leaned forwards, pressing another kiss to her lips even as he prayed for their unwanted visitor to leave. For a moment, Rose was eager to follow his example, but when a third round of knocking, this one louder than the previous two, interrupted them, she sighed and pulled back.
"One of us might as well answer that," she whispered, giving him an apologetic smile. "They won't leave until one of us does."
Jack felt ready to break something, preferably the head of whomever was knocking again at their door. "Let them keep knocking," he said, rubbing his nose against hers. "Maybe they'll think we're asleep and go away."
He spoke too soon.
I nearly burst out laughing upon hearing the voice coming through the door.
"Jack Sparrow, I know you're awake!" Padma yelled, pounding on the door once more. "You always were an early riser! Now, let me talk to Rose; we have much to do today!"
This time I did laugh, since it was at that moment that Will Turner joined Padma at the door.
"Jack, I need to talk to you about something, and you promised to help me with a few things!" William declared after a brief greeting to Padma.
As I stifled my giggles, I managed to keep Jack close to me by securing my arms around his neck. Pulling him closer, I noticed that his frustration was slowly fading underneath my touch, and as I pressed comforting kisses to his nose, cheeks, and lips, I felt his body begin to relax. Giving him one last kiss, I pulled away and smiled up at him.
"They're right, it's time to get up," I said, my fingers beginning to play with his unusual hair.
"The hell they are," Jack muttered, giving me another kiss. "I've finally got you right where I want you and the bloody Whelp has to come and interrupt!" He kissed me again. "Padma would be sure to understand the situation, but the Whelp is clueless about such things."
I chuckled and gave his jaw a quick peck. "Well, now it's time to get up. You promised William something, and I've got to meet Padma for more wedding planning." I paused, hesitant to go on. "You probably won't see much of me for a while, at least until the plans are firmly in place."
Jack looked at me, long and hard. "Rose, you know that I'll loose my mind if I don't see you at least three times a day," he said, a hand moving to caress my face as though for the last time. "I don't think I could stand not seeing you at all during the day."
Giving him a soft smile, I quickly gave him a comforting hug. "I'm sure we'll see each other at meals and such," I said as he gave me a tight squeeze.
"Not enough, luv," he muttered into my hair. Jack tensed and growled when another round of knocking occurred.
"Jack, for goodness sakes, let's go!" William yelled through the door.
Turning his head, Jack glared at the offending sound and yelled back, "Just a bloody minute, Whelp! My lady and I are busy!"
"Jack!" I cried as a blush stained my cheeks. "What will they think of us?"
My pirate merely grinned at me. "Well, it certainly shut them up, now, didn't it?" he asked as he cocked his head, listening.
True enough, everything had gone silent. I knew that Will and Padma were still outside the door, but at least they had stopped knocking. Finally, I heard mutters before the sound of loud footsteps stalking away reached my ears.
I looked up at Jack. "That wasn't very nice," I commented with a small smile.
"I'm a pirate," he retorted while glaring at the door once more. "I don't do nice when I'm interrupted in the middle of something important!"
Sighing, I shook my head. "Well, I suppose we should get up," I said. "Also, we didn't have dinner last night and I'm hungry."
I laughed as Jack rolled his eyes and gave up, rolling off of me to collapse onto his side of the bed. Besides, he knew it was pointless to argue with me so early in the morning.
From that day forwards, every morning after breakfast, Jack watched as Rose was literally snatched away from him by Padma, Nidhi, and Elizabeth. He didn't even get the chance to kiss her goodbye before the three other women descended upon them and dragged her away to go make more plans. The women would then be locked away in a secret room for hours, only emerging for lunch, a light tea, and dinner. By the time the evening meal was over and it was time for bed, Rose was too exhausted to do anything except kiss Jack on the cheek and fall asleep!
During the time that Rose had been cooped up with her three fellow planners, Jack had taken to focusing on the other lady in his life: the Black Pearl. Once he figured out that he wasn't going to spend much time with Rose in the near future, Jack decided it would be best to amuse himself with some much-needed chores. With his crewmen trailing behind him, Jack headed down to his ship to give it some long overdue attention. The first and main chore that was seen to was the scraping of the ship's hull.
Once they had found a spit of beach close to the port and to Jan's house, they'd hauled the Pearl out of the water, and began cleaning it of barnacles, seaweed, and other annoying ocean wildlife which could harm the wooden underside of the ship. Jack didn't trust anyone to oversee the project, so he spent most of his days there; the only time he went back to the house was for meals, mostly in the hopes of seeing Rose.
Finally, after three weeks of not seeing his fiancée, Jack Sparrow had had enough. Except for at meals and seeing her unconscious form on their bed, he hadn't had more than five minutes a day with her. Seeing Rose looking so tired, worried, and stressed over their wedding only made things worse; even when she had been working on the Pearl she hadn't looked so drained. The moment that Jack saw dark circles forming under her eyes, he knew that it was time to take action.
That was when, when she least expected it, Jack Sparrow kidnapped the woman he loved and hauled her off like a sack of precious loot.
Three weeks into planning my wedding, I felt ready to collapse. So many questions, clothing samples, food ideas, and wedding cake designs were floating through my head that it carried over into my dreams at night! The only peaceful times both inside my head and out were when I was near Jack. Whether it was at the dinner table or dozing off in bed, Jack's presence made all of my troubles vanish; the touch of his hand and the feel of his arm around my waist made everything else in the world disappear, just the two of us remaining in each other's blissful presence.
Then, one day, my wedding planning routine was shattered by unexpected events.
I had woken up at the usual time in the bed I shared with Jack, and had expected him to be there when I rolled over to look at him. To my surprise, his side of the bed was empty, and instead there was a beautiful sari outfit. The garment was in three pieces: a top with thin straps, a skirt, and a thin veil that were all the color of a clear blue sky. Thinking they were from Padma, I picked them up on my way out of bed and went behind a changing screen to get dressed. When I was finished, I was surprised at what my reflection showed me when I went to check my appearance.
The top was short, though not as short as the one I had used to seduce Jack so long ago. It showed a bit of my stomach, but not as much as the other had. The top was covered in white-and-silver threaded embroidery, and the skirt and veil were edged in an elegant lace that matched the top. Blue was my favorite color, and I felt so exquisite in this sari outfit that I couldn't help but preen in front of the mirror.
"You do look delightful in that color, luv," Jack's rough-yet-silky voice said from behind me.
I squeaked in surprise as I whirled around to face him. "Jack! You scared me!" I said, pouting.
"Ah," he said, a broad grin on his face as he approached, dressed in a clean white shirt, black pants, black boots and his usual red-and-white striped sash. "Then I shall have to make it up to you."
Pulling me into his arms, Jack proceeded to kiss me thoroughly, his lips both soft and demanding. I felt his warm hands on my back as I melted against him, all anger towards him gone; I had nearly forgotten how it felt to be kissed by the man I loved. His moustache tickled just the tiniest bit as he kissed me, and his unique smell of rum, ocean, and male musk hugged me as warmly as his arms did.
Sighing, Jack pulled back, letting us both catch our breaths, though he refused to let me go. "Missed you, darling," he whispered as he leaned forward, rubbing his nose along my neck.
I nearly fainted at the feel of his warm breath caressing my skin, remembering how seductive he could be. "I missed you, too," I softly replied as he hugged me tighter.
A gentle kiss was pressed against my neck. "Care to join me for a day on the beach?" he whispered.
Oh, he had no idea how tempting that was! But the wedding was coming up soon, and things had yet to be considered and done. This caused me to sigh and lean into Jack's embrace even more.
"I can't," I said, my heart sinking in my chest. "There's still so much to do…"
He sighed and pulled back to look me in the eye. "Well, then, if that's the case…"
I nearly screamed as Jack lifted me up and tossed me over his shoulder, just as he had weeks ago. "Jack, put me down!" I cried as he wrapped an arm around my legs, preventing me from kicking him.
"Sorry, luv, but a pretty beach awaits us," he said. I could almost hear the amusement in his voice.
"Jack Sparrow!" I said while squirming on his shoulder. "What would the others think if they see me being hauled all over town like this?"
"They'd say, 'now that is a very lucky man,' of course!" he replied, moving his hand to pat me on the rump and causing me to squeak in protest. "And it would certainly be true!"
Helplessly watching the hallway pass by, I saw Padma give me an astounded look before grinning and winking at me. Meanwhile, Jack proceeded to carry me down the hall, down the stairs, and out into the gardens where he carefully set me down on my feet, grinning while I shook out my skirt and veil.
"Jack Sparrow," I huffed while I smoothed the material and avoided his gaze.
Jack merely wrapped an arm around my waist. "Pirate," he said. "Now, about that beach…"
Rolling my eyes, I surrendered. "Alright, if you're going to be so insistent about it…"
To my surprise, he gave me an incredibly lust-filled look. "Believe me, darling, when it comes to me, you'll know insistent when you see it. Think of this as a…little glimpse of the future."
I blushed as he began leading me down a tiny pathway and into lush foliage.
When he led Rose out onto the sand, Jack knew that this had all been worth it. The gasp that escaped her lips was evidence of her awe for the sight before her: golden-white sand, palm trees, and water that was as blue as her wonderful sari.
'Definitely a good idea,' he thought with a proud grin.
Catching sight of the blanket with the picnic basket on top of it, Jack began to gently pull Rose behind him, leading her to his destination. She tried to protest, but he could tell her heart wasn't in it; she was too busy looking at the beautiful sights around them. When they reached the blanket, Jack carefully sat down upon it and looked up at her, his arms reaching for her and begging her to join him.
He watched as a sweet, loving smile graced her lips, and his heart flipped in his chest as she reached for him, her soft form falling into his arms. Twisting his body, Jack quickly pinned Rose beneath him, relishing the laughter that fell from her perfect lips. Smiling down at her, he kissed her once, oh-so-gently, before finally speaking.
"Shall we partake in the lovely meal that Jan's cook has so graciously provided for us?" he asked.
Once again she gave him that particular smile which melted his insides. "I'd like that," she whispered, one hand moving up to caress his face. "Then afterwards…we'll have to wait and see…"
Jack sighed as he pulled Rose even tighter into an embrace, his chin resting on the top of her head as they watched the sun go down. Her arms were wrapped around his waist even as his were firmly around her shoulders, one hand currently tangled in her loose, wind-whipped hair.
"This was wonderful, Jack," she whispered, her face tucked into the open front of his shirt.
"Aye, it certainly was," he softly replied, fingers still combing through her hair.
The day had been quiet and peaceful, the two of them spending the entire day talking, nibbling on food, walking along the beach, or lying on the blanket, wrapped in each other's arms. They had even splashed about in the water together, though it had been Rose who had thrown the first handful of saltwater into his face. The result had been the two of them getting into a water fight, both getting soaked to the skin before stretching out on the blanket to dry.
'No doubt her outfit is ruined now,' Jack thought as he pressed a kiss to her forehead.
It had been worth it, though. For one full day, he'd had complete possession of his future bride, and it had been unbelievable. The last time they had been on a beach together, their special moment had been ruined by the crew's horrible timing. This time, everything had been perfect, even the sunset.
"Jack?" Rose whispered. He pulled back to look at her. "Promise me that we'll do this again soon…before we're married?"
"Aye, luv," he said, leaning in to kiss her. "I give my word as a pirate captain on that."
She smiled and tilted her head back to accept his kiss. "And we all know you keep your word," she whispered, barely finishing her sentence before his lips claimed hers.
AN: I love sap, don't you? The wedding will be coming up soon, so keep a sharp eye! Review!