Chapter 21
"Up, Captain."
Groaning, Hook discovered he was suddenly lucid again… and not too happy about it. Tiger Lily gripped his upper arm, pulling firmly; Smee had a hand behind his back, ready to assist. Every inch of him aching, the captain reached for his face, intending to rub at bleary eyes, but the fairy caught his hand. Hook groaned again.
"Day Two," Tiger Lily stated, as if that explained everything. "On your feet, now."
The two others soon had him standing, reluctant and wobbly, and immediately, Tiger Lily began leading him by the hand toward the cave exit. Smee followed close behind. Hook staggered the first few steps before regaining his balance. When he was more steady, he irritably pushed away the fairy's grip.
"Where the bloody hell are we going?"
His throat felt raw, almost burned; he remembered then a miserable amount of vomiting, or at least retching once his stomach was empty. Not much else from the day before, beyond the pain and sickness. That would explain the remarkable soreness of the muscles in his core.
"Some of the herbs I gave you yesterday caused you to sweat excessively - one way of removing toxins from your body. Now it's time to scrub it all away."
The trio trekked through the moonlit jungle; Tiger Lily set a brisk pace that soon had both pirates puffing with exertion.
"Well if we're to bathe together, let me suggest we leave Mister Smee behind. He does tend to kill the mood a bit."
Hook couldn't decide if the raspiness of his voice added to or detracted from the innuendo. Tiger Lily gave no indication that she'd even heard the comment.
Not long afterward, the trees gave way to a beautiful, green-ringed pool. A perfect reflection of the full moon gave the impression that one could enter the water and find oneself floating amongst the stars. The trio halted on the shore and Tiger Lily turned briskly toward Hook.
"Strip," she commanded. Hook raised a suggestive eyebrow.
"Ladies first, love."
But the former fairy had no intention of playing along. She waded out fully clothed until the water came up to her waist, casting shivery ripples that waved the night sky like a flag. Deflated, Hook released a sigh and kicked off his boots. Smee knelt to pull off his socks as Hook worked on the buttons of his shirt.
"No crocodiles, I take it?" asked the captain, only half jesting.
"Not since last week," Tiger Lily smirked. "Want to know why I'm not afraid?"
"Why's that, then?"
The fairy watched Smee gingerly work the shirt from Hook's shoulders before answering.
"I hear they're partial to the taste of pirate flesh. I should be perfectly safe."
Hook sneered back at her. She gestured for them to hurry, and with a dramatic eye roll, Hook reached down to undo his belt and trousers. In no time at all, he stood bare at the water's edge, leering at the obvious appreciation in the fairy's eyes. As he began to wade out to meet her, he teased,
"I may have forgotten to mention: I'm irresistible. No need to be ashamed, lass; yours is quite the common reaction."
When he reached her side, Hook struck a casual pose: head tilted, bottom lip between his teeth, eyes narrowed provocatively. Tiger Lily lifted a hand, water droplets sparkling as they cascaded off her wrist… and she tapped the brace, businesslike.
"This too."
Seduction forgotten, Hook glowered in startled indignation. "Only a scant few have dared speak to me so boldly and lived to tell the tale."
Tiger Lily folded her arms. "We're doing things my way, Hook. You're welcome to leave if you don't like it."
She met his challenging glare for a long moment, not backing down in the slightest. Finally, Hook slowly reached across his torso to work on the buckles, eyes never leaving hers; daring her to comment or judge him on his deformity. He slid the brace off, turned slightly, and tossed it to Smee, who still waited awkwardly at the water's edge. Then, with his stump resting stiffly against his abdomen, Hook brazenly faced Tiger Lily.
The fairy didn't even take an instant to satisfy any curiosity she might have. Instead, she stalked around behind him, pulling a small wooden box and some sort of rough stone from a pouch slung across her shoulder. As she vanished from view, she called over to Smee,
"You may as well wash his clothing. Make yourself useful."
Hook felt her hand on his good shoulder.
"Dunk yourself under; get your skin wet."
He complied stiffly. The water temperature was actually not bad; he would have preferred slightly warmer for his sore muscles, but it wasn't cold enough to trigger goosebumps, even when he rose back to his feet and stood glistening in the night air. A slight sting drew his attention to his right arm; his quick examination left him momentarily confused… until he made sense of the scratches, dredging up vague memories of the previous evening's near-hallucinatory creativity.
Bringing him back to the present, Tiger Lily spread some sort of paste onto the back of his neck and upper spine, then used her rock to scrub vigorously at his skin. Just roughly enough to be irritating, especially when she neared the still-tender injury on his shoulder blade, although she was more careful around the area and did not touch the wound itself. Hook gritted his teeth, grumbling,
"I'm perfectly capable of washing myself, you know."
Even though that wasn't exactly the truth, especially when it came to his back. Tiger Lily's only response was to move farther down, applying more paste when she deemed it necessary. The slight aroma of mint, mixed with other plants and herbs, carried on the breeze.
She didn't shy away from touching his backside, scrubbing the muscles and even between the cheeks with the same detached vigor as the rest of him. Moving down the backs of his legs, she didn't seem to care that he was submerged, nor that she had to stoop lower and get her shirt wet. Following quiet words of instruction, Hook lifted each foot in turn to give her access to his calves, ankles, and feet. Then she had him kneel again while she carefully washed his hair; small prickles of pleasure accompanied her fingernails against his scalp, and he fought rising desire.
That enjoyment was immediately quashed when she waded around to his front and scrubbed particularly roughly at his face, not paying much heed to whether she got water or her soap into his eyes or nose. When finally she allowed him to rinse, he spent several heartbeats running his hand again and again over his eyes until he could open them without too much discomfort. By then, she had finished with his throat and was working on his collarbone and chest, once more showing a bit of restraint around his wound.
What caused him the most pain was when she insisted on lifting his left arm to access his armpit - that brought the original anguish of the wound racing back to mind, and by the time she had finished, his hand was nearly numb from the pounding of his heart. As he hissed a few breaths, it was almost enough to distract him from her touch on his stump. But not quite. Though she was gentle, the rarely-uncovered skin was unused to this sort of contact; it tickled and burned all at the same time, and he cringed back with a grimace.
Ever methodical, Tiger Lily did not linger. She cleaned his other arm and hand, heedless of his scratched forearm, then moved on to his abdomen. Hook allowed her to get as low as he could stand, then grabbed her wrist.
"Allow me this one concession, love," he murmured in a husky voice, and she relented, smearing some of the paste into his palm and allowing him to clean his most sensitive areas - although she did watch with a critical eye, ordering him to repeat himself until she was satisfied.
It didn't exactly match his fantasies of finding himself naked in the water with a beautiful woman.
Tiger Lily took charge again, working her way down his legs, until finally she declared him clean. He certainly felt it; he doubted he had ever been bathed quite so thoroughly before. The fairy commanded him to submerge himself again for once last rinse, and by the time he had come back up, she was already moving toward shore.
"Won't you allow me to return the favor?" he called after her. She was busy wringing water out of her braid and did not deign to reply. Hook sloshed himself out of the pond, where Smee held his dripping shirt for him to slip into. "Have I offended you, lass? I… seem to recall feeling a bit less… inhibited yesterday. Anything I may have uttered in that state should be taken with a grain of salt."
Tiger Lily finally met his eyes, a twinkle in her own to accompany her amused grin. "I'm well aware."
He gulped and scratched behind his ear. "Aye? Anything you'd care to repeat?"
Beside him, it appeared that Smee was attempting to hold back mirth as well. The captain raised an eyebrow, slight irritation building. "I'll have you know it's bad form to mock a man dispossessed of his faculties."
Smee bit his lip, but the corners of his mouth still curved upwards. "It's not mocking, sir… you… you should feel flattered. You're very entertaining when you loosen up a little."
Scowling, Hook waved a hand at his trousers, feeling a flush rising up his neck and face. "Are you going to carry out your duties and assist me, or shall I set about finding myself a new first mate?"
As Smee bent to clutch the garment, he muttered just loud enough for Hook to hear,
"I thought I was your favorite."
Before Hook could snap back, or make a move to step into his pants, Tiger Lily snatched them from Smee.
"Don't bother," she smirked. "Back to the cave now."
Taken aback, Hook growled,
"If you think I'm about to parade through the bloody jungle with my arse on display-"
"Trust me, Captain," she called from several yards ahead, having already set out on the journey back to her cave. "They'll just be in the way today."
All color left Hook's face as apprehension washed over him. "What the bloody hell does that mean?!"