*credits to ffh for Snow's initials and to O/P for his lumber suggestions*

Part 4 of 4

Snow lay fainting on the pile of folded canvas in the store-room where his captor has finally overcome him with some arcane sorcery known only to pirate queens. He rallies as much as he is able as she kneels above him, greedily drinking in his charms, "You have drugged me! I was right the first time, you ARE a fiend! After everything we've been through this past week, the battles, the sword-fights, my repeated kidnappings, not to mention evading both the Royal Navy and other pirate hordes, this is the thanks I get for trusting you and standing steadfast by your side?"

His words seem to pierce her reverie and she gives him a startled look, "Why do you say that?"

He lifts himself up onto one elbow, all he can manage as his whole body feels like it belongs to someone else, "I did not want you to fall into the cruel hands of the navy, and it was in my own best interests to avoid being captured by pirates unknown as I felt that you at least have some shred of decency in you otherwise I'd be… be…" His resonant voice chokes.

Her gaze is alarmed, "Or else you'd be what?"

"Else I'd already be used and discarded as so much jetsam! Or do you have something more heinous in mind for me beyond my defilement? Keel-hauling? Walking the plank? Shark baiting?"

She flinches more and more as he speaks, almost cringing away from him, her eyes growing haunted. "Of course you can trust me! Haven't I proven myself to you time and again? And how can you say such horrible things to me?" she quavers huskily, looking down at him now not with hunger but with horror.

He throws himself down onto the canvas, his strength at an end, "Because it is my fate to be ruined by you. Well then, proceed, have your way with me. You will have to initiate our forced intimacy; I cannot assist as I know not the ways of the flesh." His eyes are stony, his voice betrayed, his body stiff and wooden.

Her eyes flare madly then soften into something he has no name for as she whispers, "You don't? Truly?" He doesn't reply. He is a man determined to meet his doom with as much bravery as he can so it is with something of a shock when she folds down atop him, cradles his face in her hands, and croons, "Oh, my most wonderful sweet spoils of war, thank you!"

"For what?" is all he can think to say in his astonishment.

Her mouth drifts down to whisper against his temple, "For giving me the most precious gift I could ask for. I said you could trust me and I meant it for I have a dark and deadly secret that I've been afraid to acknowledge but which you have helped me to face with your great and noble heart."

He stares up into her glowing eyes, his lips trembling beneath her fingertips soft caress, "A secret? I helped you? You are afraid?"

"Yes," she breathes against his cheek, her lips hot as coals, "and now I will reveal that secret to you… only to you… for I trust you, Captain Snow, wholly and completely, with my own heart, as battered and bruised as it is. I trust you to heal me, to love me as I love you."

Her lips have brushed closer and closer to his mouth and he is shocked at the tingling itch as his own lips now experience a kiss unlike anything he's ever imagined, warm and tender, lingering and halting, hungry and demanding. A line from a school lesson wafts through his mind. Is this what 'true love's kiss' feels like? If so, he suddenly seethes for more! His arms snake around her and she..."

Silence rings loud in the little house as Camille pauses and Richard wakes as if from a dream. He clears his throat and coughs hoarsely, "Don't stop there! What happens next?!"

She closes the book with a little smile, "This time they aren't interrupted."

He stares at her for a long time then drops his eyes, "Oh. Um. Good." She watches him think and lays the book down. After a full minute of consideration, he clears his throat again and says hesitantly, "Um, I think I'll read the last bit by myself, later, if you don't mind. It doesn't sound like something to be shared in polite company." He gives her a sheepish look, "As odd as it sounds, I am strangely intrigued by this book. It resonates with me on some deep level. I don't know why. Perhaps it is the nautical theme…"

She stands up and moves gracefully about the room, straightening small items, lining up books, flicking non-existent dust off of polished wood, "Oh, um, I should probably mention that the last few pages are missing."

His face blanks, his eyes widen, his hands snatch up the book to frantically riffle to the end… only to see the exposed inside spine of the book where pages are obviously NOT THERE! "Noooo," he whispers low. He holds the book up and shakes it only to have page 11 slip out and flutter to the floor. He picks this up absently and re-inserts it without thought before laying the book back down. Slumping forward, he puts his face in his hands and just sits.

After a few moments, he groans faintly, "I can't believe… I can't…" Whatever he is going to say, he doesn't say it. He just shakes his head and is silent.

Camille's voice sounds sympathetic, "Yeah, it's hard not knowing the ending, isn't it? I mean, you can imagine, extrapolate, deduce… but you won't really know, will you? Unless…"

He can't help but look up with hope, "Yes, unless?"

She's meandered around behind him. Is she headed for the kitchen? He is just about to turn his head to see what she's doing when a small warm finger taps his nape and he freezes. The taps turn into tiny caresses that jolt him harder and harder with each stroke. When she is sure she has his complete undivided riveted attention, she leans down onto his shoulders and whispers, "But perhaps a re-enactment? I've read this part. Many times. I know how it goes."

"DO you?" he husks, his arms beginning to tremble where he grips the chair.

She brushes her lips against his hair as she slips to his other ear to whisper, "Yes, I do. I told you I had a deep dark secret earlier, didn't I? I'm really hoping you have a secret too. Do you trust me? Will you let me show you what I've been wanting to show you for so long?"

He can barely get the words out. His head is bent back and his eyes are closed as her hands slip over his shoulders to brush down his tie, his suddenly too restrictive tie. "Yes, Camille, I think I'd like that very much. Perhaps as much as Snow did."

She pauses in kissing his ear, "Yes, good old Captain P.D. Snow. And I don't intend to make you walk the plank. No, not at all."

He turns his head, waiting for that kiss to find his mouth, "P.D.? I don't remember…"

Her lips are on his cheek, teasing, teasing, "Oh, it's not in the book, but that's what we call him. P.D., Pure as the Driven Snow. It suits him, don't you think?"

He chuckles faintly, "Perhaps, but I don't think it will suit him for long. And no plank for me?"

The kiss hovers just out of his reach. He trusts in his trust and holds still as she murmurs, "No, that's for me… I'm really looking forward to riding the plank here, with you…"

The kiss finally lands and all his hair stands on end as lightning flares across his skin. Nevertheless, when their lips part, he must correct her, "It's 'walk the plank', Camille, not…"

She eels around him and slides onto his lap, all the better for his aching arms to wrap around her in welcome relief as she presses her forehead to his and whispers, "No, I don't intend to walk anything anywhere. Riding is much more enjoyable, for me as well as for Fairechild. I know for a fact she enjoys it immensely."

"Mmmm," he groans, "I'm not even going to ask about keel-hauling or sharks."

She stands, takes his hand, lifts him to his feet, "No, dearest, it's probably best if you don't. Sometimes reality is much better than fiction. Somehow I just know that even the best Chick Fic will pale when it comes to you." She runs hot eyes over him, "You and your timbers."

As she draws him to his bed, he grins small, "Well then, just call me B.T. Poole."

As she pulls him down upon the snowy linens, she pauses, "B.T.?"

He sinks down upon her and takes her in his arms, "I'll let you puzzle that one out, shall I?"

END