When Elizabeth's eyes fluttered open, she immediately moaned which only made her head pound harder. For a few seconds, she couldn't remember what had happened. As she continued to wake up and became more alert, memories began to flood into her sluggish brain. Leaving her cabin. Wanting to quiet her thoughts for a while. Finding the rum. Damn. The rum. That explained the pounding inside her skull. She'd only planned to drink enough to make her internal dialogue stop, but apparently it had required more than she'd thought it would. She felt awful.

And what a dream she'd had. Of course, it had involved Barbossa, which was not what she needed, and –

A sound from the other side of the bed made Elizabeth roll over so fast it made her head spin, and she gasped when she saw who was in bed with her. Her dream had not been a dream!

Elizabeth's heart pounded hard and fast in her chest. She quickly took inventory – she was under sheet cover while he was on top…they were both dressed…she hadn't woken up in his arms…so hopefully that means –

"Nothin' happened, if that's what yer tryin' to figure out," Barbossa told her through a yawn. His voice was deep and raspy, having just woke. He often didn't sleep well with someone else in his bed – years of mistrust caused that – but surprisingly, he'd slept most of the night with her.

"Then why did you sleep with me in my bed last night?" Elizabeth asked quietly, not wishing to make her headache worse, though she really wanted to yell at him.

Barbossa swung his legs over the side of the bed, slipped his boots on and stood while Elizabeth sat up slowly since her head felt like it was spinning. With his back to her, he put on his jacket and said, "Well, I recall tellin' yeh that the next time I carried yeh to bed I would be joinin' yeh. Last night, yeh could barely walk so I had to carry yeh. And yeh told me I must keep me honor, so I did." He turned around to face her. "Why were yeh splicin' the main brace, anyway?"

Elizabeth shrugged and looked down at the blanket piled in her lap. "I just wanted to quiet some thoughts was all."

Barbossa lifted one eyebrow, wondering if he'd been anywhere in those thoughts. "I see. And did it work?"

She glanced up at him and then looked away again. "Temporarily."

Barbossa smirked and placed both hands on the mattress which caught her immediate attention. "Why don't yeh think about the fact that this awful, despicable pirate didn't lay a hand on yeh all night when I could have done that and more, thanks to yer brilliant idea."

Elizabeth blushed and remained silent as Barbossa turned and walked out of the cabin.

Fifteen minutes later, Ragetti brought Elizabeth her breakfast, telling her it was captain's orders to rest for a couple hours before starting on her duties since she wasn't feeling good. Just after Barbossa had left her cabin, she'd vomited – which had only served to make her feel even worse – and she'd promised herself right then that she'd never drink like that again. She still couldn't believe that she'd shared a bed with the captain the night before. Nothing could have prepared her for rolling over and seeing him there. For the briefest moment, she'd been terrified that something had happened, but after seeing that they were still clothed, that he wasn't under the sheet with her and that she experienced no pain in her most private area, she felt confident that he was telling the truth when he'd said that nothing had happened.

Elizabeth told herself that they could not continue like that. She couldn't pretend that she didn't have a decision to make – too many cards had been put on the table to walk away. And she couldn't continue to tell herself that she wasn't interested because she was. Their journey had only begun – they would share many nights together on the ship. She needed to decide if they'd share a bed, as well.

After lunch, Elizabeth – still sporting a slight headache – found herself drowning in her thoughts once more. It had dawned on her that while betrothed to Will, she'd kissed Jack, Sao Feng and James. Granted, one had not been welcomed, but she'd kissed Jack willingly, and she hadn't pushed James away when he'd kissed her. None of them were situations similar to Barbossa, but all of them had happened while she was engaged to Will. Technically, she'd betrayed their vows from the beginning. That realization was not what she needed.

But then she remembered how angry she'd been with Will when he'd left her out of the plans with Sao Feng. She'd never thought he'd do such a thing – which was completely hypocritical of her, she knew – but it had shown her that he could be deceitful, too. He could be selfish, just like her. Maybe it was time to stop making things so complicated. Neither of them was perfect, and both of them had proven it many times over.

Suddenly, Elizabeth wasn't as confused as she had been.

When she joined the captain for dinner later, Elizabeth was feeling much better, both physically and mentally. Her mind had finally stopped waging war against her – even if only temporary – and the situation with Barbossa seemed much less daunting. Apparently, it was noticeable.

"What has yeh in such an agreeable mood tonight?" Barbossa asked after they'd finished eating. It was nice to see her looking relaxed for a change, even though it was a bit of a surprise.

"Not sure," Elizabeth answered with a shrug. "Perhaps waking up with a man in my bed had something to do with it."

One eyebrow lifted in response to her coquettish comment and playful tone of voice. Barbossa briefly wondered if she'd finally decided to forget her whelp husband for a while. "That so? Maybe we should consider makin' the arrangement permanent then, after all, it is my responsibility to make sure the king's stay aboard is as pleasant as it can be."

"Is it now?" Elizabeth was flirting with him as she sipped her wine, but for a change, she was all right with it.

"It is, and I take me responsibilities quite serious, as yeh know."

"Yes, you do," Elizabeth agreed. "It's lucky that I'm king then, isn't it? You would have looked rather silly in my bed if I was male, aye?"

Barbossa chuckled. He liked this version of her and hoped it would remain around a while. "If yeh were male, I would not have been in yer bed," he clarified.

Elizabeth set her glass down and looked at him squarely with a twinkle in her eye. "Oh I see. So because I'm a female king, I get special treatment?"

"Aye. And if you'd let me, you could have extra special treatment."

A feigned expression of shock appeared on Elizabeth's face. "Why Captain, that's rather bold, isn't it?"

"You be the one that invited me into yer bed."

Elizabeth shook her head. "I did no such thing."

"Yeh didn't tell me to leave. Same thing." Barbossa wished that she'd be that playful all the time.

"I think your perspective is a little off."

Barbossa finished his sip of wine and waved the glass towards himself as he spoke. "I wasn't the one clutchin' a rum bottle and singin'."

Elizabeth's eyes enlarged; that was new information. "I was singing?"

Barbossa smiled at the memory. "Aye."

"I don't remember singing."

"Well yeh did."

"What was I singing?"

"Somethin' about 'drink up me hearties, yo ho'."

Elizabeth didn't remember singing, but she did know what song he was talking about. It was the one that she'd taught Jack on the beach when Barbossa deserted them years ago. Thinking about Jack caused her to remember betraying him on the Pearl which brought her round to her thoughts from earlier in the day.

"I've already betrayed him, you know." Her playful tone was gone.

Barbossa's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Pardon?"

"Will. I've already betrayed him with three other men."

Barbossa had no idea what she was on about, but his curiosity was thoroughly piqued. "Praytell, Elizabeth."

"You know Jack went to the locker because of me," Elizabeth began. "But what you don't know is how. He'd been rather brazen with me on the ship – offered to marry us even – and I took advantage of him. He deserted us when the Kraken attacked, and even though he returned, I was furious with him for having left, and I knew that the Kraken would come after him – after all of us – so I lied…I told him thank you – told him that I always knew he was a good man. Then I kissed him. I kissed him hard with more passion than I'd ever kissed anyone before so that I could catch him off guard and shackle him to the ship."

Barbossa's eyebrows lifted. Not much surprised him, but her confession had. "I'd always wondered about that," he admitted, finding a tiny bit of perverse pleasure in her story. "But who were the others?"

"You remember when Sao Feng invited me to dinner?" Barbossa nodded. "Just before he made me captain, he'd kissed me, intending to do much more than that."

"I'm not surprised. I remember the gleam in his eyes." Barbossa shook his head. "Suppose yeh have Turner to thank for that."

Elizabeth started to protest, but she realized that she couldn't. "I guess that's true," she said with a shrug. "I never thought about that. Then kissing James was his fault, too – sort of."

"Who?"

"James Norrington. He was Commodore of Port Royal before losing the position, but he was also the one that helped us escape from the Dutchman," Elizabeth explained. "I panicked – I told him to come with us, but he refused. When he told me that our paths had always been intersected but never joined and then kissed me, I was surprised, but I didn't fight it. Then Will's father discovered what he'd done and – since he was still under the ship's curse at the time – he stabbed James."

"Seems yeh've kissed all the captains but me," Barbossa teased, choosing to steer the conversation away from their muddled past. "I say we remedy this travesty at once. Yer cabin or mine?"

Elizabeth laughed and shook her head. "It certainly doesn't make me look very good, does it? Here I am all concerned about Will and our relationship, and I kissed three men before we even married."

Barbossa shrugged. "It don't bother me none. All of us did what was necessary at the time."

Elizabeth sipped her wine, thankful again for his lack of reaction to her behavior. She didn't want to talk about her past anymore and decided to change the subject. "Do you ever have regrets?"

Barbossa immediately shook his head. "Nay. I don't allow it. They be pointless. We only have right now – right this very minute – in which to live. And after bein' dead like I was – well, nothin' can be that bad. I'm thankful for every day that I have because I know what it's like to not have it, and I know how quickly it can be taken away."

Overwhelmed with an emotion that she couldn't name, Elizabeth got up and walked over to Barbossa. She leaned over and kissed his rough cheek. Even though he could drive her mad, she admired him and his outlook on life. It wasn't typical.

"Thank you for being a gentleman last night," she said. "Goodnight."

After the door closed behind her, Barbossa smiled and shook his head. The more he learned about Elizabeth, the more he wanted her – and not just for his bed.

Barbossa sat at the table in his cabin. It was late, but he couldn't sleep. The map was in front of him, and he decided to check their course. He'd always been one to double and triple check such things. The sound of the door opening and closing made him spin around.

"Awfully late for a visit, ain't it?" he asked as Elizabeth slowly walked towards him.

He noticed that she looked different, but he couldn't put a finger on why. She wore only her thin nightgown as she padded over to him in bare feet, her brown locks loose and mussed where they fell over her shoulders, and her chestnut colored eyes twinkled from the nearby lanterns.

"It is late, but I didn't think you'd mind," she spoke softly. "Besides, I've been doing some thinking, and you're right."

Barbossa looked up at her from where he still sat. "About what?"

To his surprise and delight, Elizabeth pulled up her gown some and then sat down in his lap facing him, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Right about when you'd said I'd kissed those other captains and not you. Right when you said we needed to remedy that at once."

The warmth of Elizabeth's body on his made certain parts of him immediately excited. Before he could reply, she leaned forward and pressed her lips to his in the softest kiss that he'd ever experienced. As she deepened their kiss, slowly teasing his tongue with hers, he allowed his hands to trail a path from the curve of her hips and waist to her back, holding her tight and pressing her against him. He cared not what had possessed her to come to him – he just hoped she'd do it again.

"You're the only one who doesn't judge me, Hector," she murmured in between kisses. "You're the only one I can be my true, wicked self around."

Barbossa wasn't used to hearing his first name, but it dripped from her lips like honey. "That's because I be just as wicked, my dear. I would never put expectations or restrictions on yeh, anyway. Yeh need to be who yeh are."

"Right now, I need you," she breathed. "Loosen your breeches, Hector. I'm ready."

Barbossa did not need to be told twice, quickly unfastening his pants to release himself for her. She lifted her hips as he guided his length to her entrance.

"Slowly," she whispered. "It's been a while."

Barbossa liked it rough, but he knew that was a time to be gentle. "Yes, m'lady," he replied, pushing into her ever so carefully. Elizabeth whimpered and moaned against his lips as they kissed, and he wondered if he'd last more than a few seconds as her body welcomed him in. It had been too long since he'd felt such pleasure – too many years without being able to feel physical connections.

"Yes, Hector," Elizabeth moaned, dropping her head back. "You fit perfectly. A little faster."

Barbossa happily complied, though sitting in the chair made their union difficult.

"I think we need to move to the bed for me to take yeh properly," he told her.

"Yes, Hector. Carry me to the bed then."

Barbossa lifted her up easily and carried her over, carefully placing her down and crawling on top of her. Her locks were splayed out on the pillow like curled pieces of chocolate, and he thought that she'd never looked more beautiful.

BAM!

Barbossa woke up in a panic and frantically looked around the room. Damn! Little Jack had knocked some books onto the floor and had woken him up. Why did he always have to wake up from good dreams? He was never disturbed during bad ones.

And what a good dream that had been. As Barbossa lay back down, his mind was filled with images of Elizabeth underneath him in bed.

"Ready to steer the ship?"

"What?"

"Are yeh ready to steer the ship? We be only a couple days from Madagascar. The water is a bit calmer, so this be a good place, if yeh want to."

Elizabeth was surprised at Barbossa's offer; he did not turn the wheel over to just anyone.

"Well – I – yes," she stammered, following him to the helm. "I'd love to."

Barbossa stepped up onto the wooden platform and motioned for her to stand in front of him. Elizabeth stepped up and was immediately overwhelmed at the sight before her. She could see glimpses of the ocean's horizon as the ship rose and swell with its gentle rhythm. Everyone on deck was busy with assigned tasks; the din of their conversations littered with periodic laughs and whistles. The blue sky above her was clear as far as she could see, and she couldn't help but breathe deeply. That was certainly where she belonged; there was no question. She loved being at sea.

"Breathtakin', ain't it?" she heard from immediately behind her, quickly snapping her back to reality.

Elizabeth nodded. "It's beautiful," she agreed as she felt Barbossa reach for her hands and gently guide them to the thick wooden spokes of the wheel. She was suddenly very aware of his presence behind her again, and her stomach fluttered in response. She gripped the spokes tightly, but Barbossa massaged her hands to relax them.

"Not so tight," he instructed, his rough voice unusually soft near her ear. "Let them sort of rest in yer hands…yeah…like that."

Elizabeth swallowed as she tried to concentrate on his words. She could feel the edges of his clothing brushing against hers, and she resisted the urge – again – to lean back against him as his weathered hands remained over hers.

"Be easy," Barbossa continued, slowly turning the wheel to the right and then to the left. "Except for hard turns, yeh want to steer the ship easy over the waves like this. Don't fight her – guide her."

Elizabeth's skin felt like it was on fire where his hands were touching hers. "Another instance of your gentleness," she pointed out as her pulse quickened.

She heard Barbossa chuckle low in his throat before he closed what little distance had been between them and stifled a gasp when his body pressed to hers. He leaned in and allowed his lips to boldly caress her ear and rasped, "When guidin' beautiful vessels through unchartered territory, I always be gentle with them." He kept his hands over hers as he spoke, lightly rubbing her soft skin, making his meaning as clear as glass. They'd been rather playful in conversation the past couple weeks, but he was ready for more. And his dreams were driving him crazy. "For us men, steerin' a ship be like layin' with a lover. We guide them through the rise and fall of their pleasures, ridin' wave upon wave of their release until we've no choice but to surrender ourselves to our passions and to the undertow of ecstasy." She could feel the scratch of his beard against her cheek and closed her eyes. In that moment, she felt like she was exactly where she was supposed to be, everything else be damned. "Can yeh do that, Elizabeth? Can yeh surrender yerself to yer passion?"

Elizabeth didn't know that he was capable of such romantic talk. Her resolve had been slowly disappearing over the past number of days, anyway. "I want to," she whispered before her brain could stop her.

Barbossa squeezed her hands. "I'll be here to guide yeh when yer ready," he whispered, removing his hands and stepping down from the small platform to leave her alone at the helm.

Elizabeth's eyes flew open as she watched Barbossa saunter across the deck in his uneven swagger, quite certain she saw a smirk on his tanned face. Her hands still burned where he'd touched her, and her breath was ragged. Part of her couldn't believe that she'd answered his question so honestly. She inhaled deeply and tried to calm her nerves as she casually glanced around at the crew to see if any were paying any attention to what had just happened, but it didn't work. She felt expectant – like she was waiting for a lit cannon to explode. Hell, for that matter, she felt like she was the lit cannon that was about to explode. She was anxious and jittery, unsure of when the inevitable explosion would take place.

Damn that pirate. And damn her decision for joining him. Damn, damn, damn.

A couple hours later after Barbossa had returned to the helm, Elizabeth's expectancy had not dwindled. She mentally chastised herself for her recent behavior – she'd been exceedingly playful with him – but she couldn't help it. She'd tried to act proper, but she was just unable to do so. She knew she wanted him, and she had little reason to tell him no. Dammit – she didn't want to tell him no at all. That was the problem.

When she glanced over at him where he stood at that damn helm, Elizabeth caught his eye. Keeping his gaze fixed upon her, Barbossa began to slowly stroke the inner spokes of the wheel, as if caressing them, and when she imagined how it would feel between her thighs, she gasped at her thoughts and looked away from him.

This was bad. So very bad.

Thanks to UbiquitousPitt, BrunetteAuthorette99, Preciossa, lostsocks54, Bloodsired, LinderrCurlise and SeaChange79 for leaving reviews for the last chapter. I am SO thankful for them, and I will thank you every time. It helps to have even just a little feedback when I'm working on future chapters. And there ARE some good ones on the way. *wink wink*

Don't forget my Twitter account - VelvetStormFF. I post updates and other favorite fics of mine, plus I just recently made a photo manip of our two main characters. Go check it out and let me know what you think!