Hehe romantic Jack 3 Love to my reviewers, you make me happy :D xxx
N is for… Night
"Perfect. Sign the roster." Angelica glanced over to where Gibbs was approving a fourth man's application to join the crew.
They were sitting in a corner of the Faithful Bride, how ironic a name for a tavern in Tortuga. Gibbs sat at one end, Jack in the middle and Angelica on Jack's other side, slightly turned so that her back rested against Jack. He had one arm casually draped around her.
"Any room for some old faces aboard the Pearl?" a voice asked. They all glanced up and Angelica noticed a broad grin appear on both the faces of Gibbs and Jack. She, too, recognised the four men, and a bird, but could not remember where she had seen them before.
"Marty! Cotton! Pintel and Ragetti!" Gibbs exclaimed. Angelica nodded as realisation dawned on her; they were members of Jack's former crew. She had met them once or twice many years ago, before Barbossa's mutiny.
Jack's grin had turned to a frown of confusion, now.
"How are you all alive?" he asked
"Eh?" Pintel was confused.
"I heard what happened to the Pearl, Barbossa thought he was the only one to escape alive."
"Captain Turner found us, near dead we was but not quite." Ragetti explained.
"Aye. Him and old Bootstrap got us back to land and we managed to find somewhere to rest and recover." Little Marty added.
"I see." Jack nodded, slowly.
"So what d'ya say, Cap'n?" Pintel asked.
"We set sail tomorrow noon." Jack was grinning again. "Be at the ship then."
By the end of the evening, they had successfully recruited three more men for a total of 11 new recruits. Jack and Gibbs went over to the opposite corner to talk quietly for a moment. About what Angelica did not know, but she assumed it was about the new crew. Jack said one last thing and Gibbs nodded before scuttling out of the door. Jack watched him go and then returned to Angelica, offering her his arm.
"Shall we?"
She smiled and rose to her feet, accepting his arm. Together they left the tavern, just in time it seemed, for not a moment after the door shut behind them they heard the familiar sounds of breaking glass and men arguing.
They walked through the town for a while before returning to the Pearl. When Angelica stepped on deck, she gasped. Candles lit the deck and a wine bottle was placed on a small table, two glasses next to it and a single red rose, the thorns removed, in front of the bottle and glasses.
"What is all of this?" She asked, turning to Jack who grinned broadly. He stepped to the table and picked up the rose, turning and walking back to Angelica. He removed her hat before securing the rose in her hair. He then returned to the table where he placed her hat down and picked up the glasses, throwing one to Angelica who caught it easily. Jack uncorked the bottle and poured some of the contents into each glass. At last, he spoke.
"Actions speak louder than words, love." He said, softly. Angelica smiled.
"But how… this was not here when we left."
"Gibbs." Jack said. "After we had a crew signed up, I asked him to set this up. I'd like to say I planned the weather too." They glanced up to the sky which was perfectly black, dotted with millions of silver diamonds. "He is spending the night in the town and will be here shortly before the new recruits arrive tomorrow noon."
Angelica raised an eyebrow, bringing her glass to her lips to take a sip.
"So we have the ship to ourselves?"
"Aye. All night." Jack grinned.
"I wonder what we can do on an empty ship." Angelica smiled coyly.
"Well I have a few ideas."
There was silence whilst they finished their wine and then put the glasses down on the table, never breaking eye contact. Jack held out his hands.
"Dance with me?"
"There is no music."
"Who said you need music?" He took her hands in his and they began to dance as they had done on board the Queen Anne's Revenge that night. This time, though, they did not talk. When Jack dropped her to the floor and bent down over her, she propped herself up and Jack quickly closed the gap between them, his lips meetings hers, and pushed her back to the ground as the kiss became deeper and more passionate.
It was at this point that they had been interrupted several times over the past few days, just as the kiss was leading somewhere. This time, however, the ship was empty. There was no one to interrupt them and so the kiss was free to lead them where they had been wanting to go since before Jack had returned for Angelica.