Thirty-seven strokes. Stede stopped counting when he felt the dinghy run up against the sand with a gentle Thud. Rolling his aching shoulders, he pulled the oars into the rowboat and grabbed the empty tar bucket, the main reason for his now fifth trip to the Revenge and back so far.

The ship was floating in the middle of the bay, about five hundred yards from the beach, bobbing gently on the placid water, held in place by the spare anchor. It had been a huge relief for Stede when Ed declared that the damage was mostly limited to splintered and broken planks around the port bow hawsehole, an easy repair that should take no more than a day.

The crew got to work right after dropping anchor, splitting into two teams; half of them stayed on board to tend to all necessary repairs while the other half set up camp on the beach, and before long, a large campfire was burning merrily. The aroma from the biggest of the cast-iron pots hanging from one of the cooking tripods, however, was far from mouth-watering.

Ed, together with Wee John and Roach, had taken on the task of heating two barrels of tar, which was needed to seal the numerous leaks on the Revenge. Stede nearly gagged at his first few whiffs of boiling pitch, his stomach heaving and eyes watering from the pungent odor and acrid fumes. Ed, Roach and John, however, soldiered on undeterred, each of them taking turns feeding and stoking the fire underneath the kettle and stirring the stinking thick sludge that was essential in keeping their ship afloat.

Stede had assigned himself the job of rowing the buckets of boiling-hot pitch to the Revenge, where Fang, Ivan, Frenchie and Black Pete were working the bilge pumps and patching up some other minor damages from the club-hauling maneuver under the watchful eye of Buttons as the ship's acting carpenter.

Stede pulled the dinghy further up onto the sand and made a beeline for the water station. Although only mid-morning, the sun and the humidity were already gearing up for a full assault on them all. An hour from now it would be sweltering, making this already back-breaking work even harder, and Stede made a mental note to give out extra rations of grog to everyone at dinner tonight.

Taking a long drink from the water barrel's ladle, he let his eyes drift over the bustle of activity on the beach. To his delight he noticed that, between his last trip to the ship and back, Ed had stripped out of his jacket and t-shirt, his bare chest glistening with perspiration from the heat as he stoked the fire with a large poker. His hair was tied back, held in place by Stede's black cravat, but a few sweat-soaked strands were curled on either side of his head. Smudges of ash or soot ran across his cheek and the bridge of his nose, mixing with the sweat from his brow, giving him a look as if he was wearing warpaint.

He was gorgeous, and Stede couldn't help but stare at the host of previously unseen tattoos on Ed's chest and belly. He was too far to properly take in their shapes, however, and had to squint his eyes to even make out their outlines.

He wanted to see them, touch them with his fingers and maybe, if Ed would let him, even with his mouth….

The untimely termination of their makeout session this morning and Stede's subsequent solitary completion had left him eager for more, Ed's phantom hand still caressing his cheek, the ghost of Ed's kisses still tingling on his lips.

Last week he didn't even know that kissing like this existed; now, each kiss with Ed was like taking a small sip of water and getting more thirsty with every taste and Stede didn't think he would ever drink his fill.

"You know, I could sketch him like that for you, if you want."

Stede visibly flinched at the unexpected sound of Lucius' voice right next to him. Where did he pop up from all of a sudden?

"I wonder if he knows what a lucky guy he is," the scribe said as he regarded Stede with a fond look. He was holding a tray with several large tankards filled to the brim with what Stede hoped was water and not rum. "To be at the receiving end of that kind of searing stare…"

Stede could feel warmth creeping into his cheeks. "I wasn't staring, I was…."

"Captain, if you stared any harder, the veins in your eyeballs would pop. You do realize that your face is literally the most open book ever, right?" Lucius leaned in and his voice dropped to a conspiratorial murmur. "So…. have you hit that yet?" He nodded in Edward's direction.

"Hit?" Stede's brows knit together in confusion. He looked between Lucius and Ed. "Why would I hit Ed?"

"Never mind." Lucius let out a long-suffering sigh, then shoved the tray into Stede's hands. "Here, why don't you bring the gang their drinks? That way you'll get a closer look at the tatts." The younger man winked at him, turned and walked away, mumbling something that sounded like sweet summer child under his breath.

Stede's gaze refocused on Ed as he crossed the sand towards the sweating men. Lucius was right, it was an excellent opportunity to expand upon his knowledge of nautical tattoos, and the three most heavily tattooed men on his ship just happened to be clustered together only a few feet away. Not that he was overly interested in the origins of John's and Roach's designs, but every pirate captain worth his salt needed to be at least somewhat familiar with all the different meanings of his crew members' and especially his co-captains' adornments, right? Strictly for intellectual purposes, of course!

Ed was bent over the tar cauldron, but when he saw Stede coming he smiled and rose, stretching his arms to work some kinks out of his shoulders. The wings of the hawk upon his breastbone seemed to stretch as if by magic and Stede was mesmerized by it for a moment, but snapped out of it when Ed grabbed two of the tankards off the tray.

"Thanks, mate. Perfect timing."

He gulped down the content of the first one in two long swallows, then poured the water from the second one over his sweaty head and torso. There was nothing salacious about the gesture, simply a man cooling off, but Stede's mouth went dry at the sight. He barely noticed when Roach and John took their respective mugs from the tray.

"That hit the spot," Ed sighed blissfully, blinking the water out of his eyes. "You're the best."

Stede said out loud the first thing that popped into his head. "Well, you're working very hard. I was actually thinking…. how about I fix you a nice hot bath later?" He smiled, but instead of accepting the offer, Ed cocked his head to regard him with a peculiarly speculative look.

"A bath, huh?"

"Yes, once we wrap things up here and get back to the Revenge, I thought that…. uhm, Ed?"

Ed clearly wasn't listening anymore. Instead, he was staring beyond Stede's shoulder with a look in his eyes that told Stede that he was thinking about something, and thinking hard.

Stede cleared his throat, not sure how to proceed, but suddenly, Ed's eyes refocused on Stede's face. Apparently, he had come to a decision.

"Tell you what," he said. "Let's take a break. Roach can take the last of this sludge back to the ship. Wanna see something cool?"

Stede blinked. "Okay."

"All right! Come on, then." Ed reached behind him for the discarded purple shirt laying on the sand, and a small, mysterious smile appeared on his face as he shrugged into it. He grabbed two lanterns from the supplies pile nearby, jerked his head in a "follow me" gesture and set off down the beach, leaving a bewildered Stede to trot after him.

The beach stretched out alongside the water for at least a mile in either direction, but Ed led them to an outcropping of rock that began at the waterline and became gradually larger and higher the farther inland they trekked. The tropical forest was growing denser around them until Stede could barely make out the coastline through the trees and he couldn't help but flash back to their 'day of adventure' on St. Augustine. Back then, Blackbeard had shuffled behind him, grumbling and complaining; now Edward was scampering ahead, eyes searching the rock wall, as excited as a kid, and this time the flies didn't seem to bother him in the least.

It was a pretty area; the verdant landscape around them was perfumed with the aromas of a dozen different flowers, their blossoms dotting the forest floor with a rainbow of colors. Birds were calling to each other, and high above them, shadowy simian forms were jumping between the tree tops. Stede tried to take it all in while staying no more than half a dozen steps behind Ed, but the ground was getting rockier and steeper. He asked himself for the umpteenth time where they were headed.

"We probably should have told the crew where we're going," he called out. "Seemed kind of rude to just take off by ourselves."

Ed looked over his shoulder. "We don't have to tell them anything, Stede. We're the captains," he said and held out a hand to help Stede navigate around a large rock. "If we wanna take off, just you and me, then we just take off."

They leaned against the boulder to catch their breaths and Ed turned to him. "They're not gonna worry, they'll probably just think we're sneaking away to fuck," he said nonchalantly, then grinned at the scandalized look on Stede's face. "Besides, I don't want anyone else to know where we're going."

"And where exactly are we going, Edward?"

Ed made a sweeping open-handed gesture with his arm. "Right here."

Stede leaned around Ed to follow the trajectory of his hand, but 'right here' was…nothing. Just more rock face, moss-covered and naturally decorated with ferns, vines and bushes of half a dozen sizes and even more shades of green. He gave Ed a puzzled look, but his co-captain just smiled and gestured to follow him.

They clambered a few feet further up the rocky hillside until Ed stopped in front of a large shrubbery that in no way, shape or form distinguished itself from any of the other half dozen bushes in its vicinity. About five feet in height, its large gnarled branches grew directly out of the stony ground and snaked upwards along the rock facade. They were covered in thick green foliage and dotted throughout with small, star-shaped pink blossoms that reminded Stede vaguely of Bougainvillea. It was…pretty, but nothing he would have gone out of his way to look at. He was about to say so out loud when Ed reached into the bush and pulled the two biggest branches towards him. The moment they came away from the rock face, Stede saw it; a hole, roughly oval-shaped, maybe five feet high, going right into the side of the mountain. He craned his neck a bit, but it was black as night beyond the threshold.

It was the most perfectly camouflaged cave entrance Stede had ever seen.

"How on earth did you find this?" he marveled.

Ed chuckled. "Total coincidence, man. I was exploring the forest and stopped down there for a drink –" he pointed towards the bottom of the gravel bank where a creek was merrily burbling along. "- and a piss, when I heard a noise and saw a full-grown anteater coming out from behind that bush. It was way too big to hide in that scrub, so once it fucked off, I got curious and took a closer look. And whaddayaknow? Big hole, right behind it."

"That was risky," Stede said. "Could've been its den."

Ed nodded. "Could've been, but wasn't. Just your average, everyday cave."

One look at Ed's smirking face, however, told Stede that this cave was anything but average.

Ed pulled a match out of his pocket, caught it on the heel of his boot and lit the two lanterns they had brought along. He handed one to Stede, squeezed behind the branches of the shrubbery, ducked and disappeared through the opening. Warily, Stede followed behind him.

Inside, he noted with relief that the natural corridor they found themselves in was high and wide enough to comfortably walk upright. After a few steps, however, a musty, acrid odor began to fill his nostrils.

"You may have peed outside, but someone definitely peed in here," he noted, wrinkling his nose.

"Yeah, you might want to watch your step," Ed said at the same time as Stede's shoe sank into something with a distinct squishing sound. He angled the lantern downwards to find the ground covered in dark, manure-looking splotches. Several bugs scattered out of the way of the light and Stede swallowed thickly.

"Eww, what is that?"

"Bat shit," came Ed's decidedly-too-casual reply and Stede stopped in his tracks.

"Bats?"

"Yeah, look up."

And unfortunately, Stede did. He raised the lantern with a trembling hand and the light revealed a ceiling alive with innumerable black spots, a virtual sea of triangular furry shapes undulating not five feet above him. Ed must have seen the horrified look on his face, because before Stede could open his mouth to scream, Ed was already covering it with his free hand.

"Shhh, don't startle them!" he murmured with quiet urgency, his voice right by Stede's ear while Stede breathed loudly over Ed's fingers, trying desperately to calm down his racing heart.

They stood motionless for a few moments, Ed waiting until Stede's breathing evened out.

"Ohmygod, I hope this wasn't what you wanted to show me," Stede whispered when Ed's hand finally left his mouth.

"No, but we gotta go through them to get to it," Ed said. "It's worth it, though. Come on." Stede felt Ed's hand slide into his, intertwining their fingers, and he held onto the offered digits for dear life as Ed guided them further down the corridor. Mercifully, the walk was brief and suddenly, they stepped from the passageway into a cavern-like room.

In here, the air smelled much better but heavier, a kind of dense warmth, suffused with briny humidity. Stede held his lantern aloft to see lichen growing along the cave walls and spreading out onto the stone floor, but the lantern's light didn't do much to illuminate much else of the cave.

Ed squeezed his hand. "Stay here, I'm gonna light this place up a bit more," he said as if he had read Stede's mind. Stede did as told and a few moments later another lantern, then a second one, flickered to life on the other side of the room, and while Ed spaced the extra lanterns apart, Stede took in the cavern that was being revealed in open-mouthed wonder.

The sight before him was stunning; the room was huge, dozens of stalactites, some of them absolutely massive, hanging from the high ceiling while on the ground an equal amount – if not more – of stalagmites were rising up all around them. Some of those enormous stone formations had merged, creating majestic columns of a height and girth that Stede had never seen before. Works of art derived from water and time, clad in hues of brown and gold. It took his breath away.

"Magnificent," he whispered.

"Over here, Stede."

Stede wrest his eyes away and wove between the spiky rocks to follow Ed's voice to a far corner of the cavern where the stalactites were especially dense. Here, in the light from their combined lanterns, the floor by Ed's feet seemed to ripple.

"This is what I wanted to show you!" Ed exclaimed, a note of pride in his voice, and Stede took a closer look.

Water. An entire pool in the shape of a rough oval, at least ten feet across, filled with the most crystalline turquoise he had ever laid eyes on. Clear enough to see all the way to the bottom, yet here and there the surface was shimmering with tiny patches of….mist? Stede leaned closer and, yes, there were definitely tendrils of steam twirling from the surface.

A hot spring!

"Oh, Ed, this is…." He put the lantern down, crouched to dip his hand into the water and his eyes went round. "The temperature is perfect!" he exclaimed with delight. "It's like the biggest bathtub I've ever seen." And definitely bigger than the one on the Revenge, he added in his mind with a smile, now that the mystery of Ed's odd behavior on the beach was solved.

"And that's exactly what it feels like when you're in there," Ed said, beaming down at him, clearly pleased with Stede's reaction. "Why don't you take a dip while I go fetch some stuff I left behind last time I was here." And with that, Ed walked around the edge of the pool and towards a dense cluster of formidable stalagmites at the far side of the cave. A moment later he disappeared from Stede's line of sight behind the row of stone columns.

Wiggling his fingers, which were still submerged in the warmth, Stede looked out over the pool, marveling at nature's architectural genius. He had read about these natural bathing chambers, the waters fed by unseen thermal vents that supplied both heat and healing minerals. It looked and felt awfully inviting.

Take a dip. Why not?

He had done a lot of rowing all morning, and his sore arms and shoulders would surely benefit from a hot soak. And since there was no chance of anyone walking in on them in here, he didn't have to worry about proper bathing attire. As a matter of fact, he realized with a start and a flush, he didn't have to worry about any kind of bathing attire.

It didn't take long to undress, and soon his shirt, breeches, smallclothes and stockings were in a neatly folded pile next to his shoes.

Stede eased himself into the pool. A blissful moan escaped his lips as the hot water enveloped him, welcoming him, and he walked towards the middle of the pool until the water reached up to his chest.

He sank into it up to his neck, breathing in the faint mineral scent all around him as he let the heat soak into his muscles. And slowly, his soul relaxed. He tilted his body backwards, leaning into the cozy hug of the water until he was floating, arms and legs stretched out like a starfish, his grin growing slowly into a broad smile. This was great.

He blinked up at the ceiling, where, in the lambent light of the lanterns, the reflection of the water rippled across the stone, making it dance. It was hypnotizing and beautiful, and something in his chest unraveled. He sighed with contentment.

Suddenly, it didn't matter that they were fugitives from the Navy, with every vessel of the Royal Fleet on the lookout for them from now on, especially after the stunt they pulled on Badminton yesterday; wanted criminals with a rap sheet that was probably getting longer by the hour.

It might matter in the real world, but not in here, in this magical pool in this majestic cave, alone with Ed.

Edward – with whom he was sailing into uncharted waters, both figuratively, because of the life they were going to build together, as well as in the very literal sense of attempting a voyage halfway around the world in a ship quite unsuitable for the task, and with a crew even more unsuitable.

Stede blinked up at the ceiling. The perils along the route were too numerous to count - yet none of that mattered, because he'd be facing it all side by side with Ed.

And suddenly, he simply knew with a certainty he could not put into words that everything was going to be okay.

The sound of a heavy Thunk jolted Stede out of his reverie. Suddenly very aware of his nakedness, he reluctantly repositioned his feet back on the floor of the pool. A few feet away, Ed was standing between two large burlap sacks. Each seemed to be at least halfway filled with bulky contents. One of the sacks fell over and something spilled from it with a metallic clank, but Stede was too far to make out what it was. Ed didn't bother to pick it up, turning instead to grin towards Stede in the pool.

"How do you like it?" he called.

"This is incredible," Stede called back, splashing a bit in emphasis before pointing at the sacks. "Do you need a hand?"

Ed waved him off. "No, no. You stay in there. Enjoy yourself. I got this."

So Stede stayed in the pool, relaxing and savoring the heat while he watched Ed disappear into and reemerge out of the shadows two more times until he was standing amongst six large and well-filled burlap bags.

By now Stede didn't need to interpret the clinks and clunks coming from the bags to identify the origins of their contents. He gave Ed a wry look. "Whatever happened to 'Pirates don't bury treasure'?"

"Ha! I didn't bury any of this," Ed said and jerked his thumb over his shoulder. "Just stashed it all behind that pillar over there."

Stede cocked his head. "Semantics, really?" he grinned. "That's not a pillar, by the way. That's a Stalagmite."

"Whatever. I'm getting in there with you." Ed promptly began stripping off his jacket and Stede's heartbeat instantly doubled. His t-shirt and cravat followed, then his boots and weapons belt. When his hands went to the fastenings on his pants, Stede automatically averted his gaze, civil manners still too deeply rooted in his brain. He couldn't close off his ears, however, and the slide of leather over skin sent a shiver down his spine. It was followed by a wave of nervousness; should he watch Ed step into the pool? He wanted to, but did Ed want him to? What was the etiquette while skinny-dipping in a cave hot spring?

His dilemma was resolved an instant later when a shape hurled past him, the barest glimpse of tattooed skin and pulled-up knees as Ed cannonballed into the water with a whoop. Stede wasn't sure whether it was a laugh or a shriek that escaped his mouth. Not that it mattered, since it was all cut off by a face full of hot water from the backwash. Stede was wiping drops from his eyes when Ed's head broke through the surface, hair plastered to his face, his mouth splitting into a toothy grin.

"Is this fucking amazing or what?" He stayed submerged up to his neck. His lovely grey mane, darkened by the water, was trailing behind him like a cape.

"It definitely is." Stede sank back down into the wet heat until only his head was above the waterline as well, and the two men simply bobbed in the water, relished the heat.

"So, who else on your crew knows about this place?" Stede asked after a long moment.

"No one." Ed's head in the water moved a little bit closer. "The whole point of a secret hiding place is that they don't know my hidey-hole and I don't know about any of theirs. Besides, if Izzy knew about this pool, he would probably want to get in here with me." Ed made a face that clearly showed his sentiments about that particular situation, and Stede couldn't help but grimace in sympathy.

"So I'm the only one you've ever brought here," Stede concluded, touched. "Well, in that case…thank you," he said quietly, then elaborated at the puzzled expression that came over Ed's face. "For your trust in me."

"No need to thank me for that, mate, but if it makes you feel better –"

Ed rose out of the moist heat, water streaming in rivulets down his upper body, and suddenly, surrounded by water, Stede's mouth went dry at the sight of Ed coming towards him, wearing nothing but the ink on his skin.

Beneath the gallery of tattoos, Ed's contoured upper body was all muscle and sinew, a testament to many years of hard physical labor – and so different from his own, but before Stede had the time feel insecure about those differences, Ed closed the distance between them and his smile turned a bit wicked.

" – I don't mind you showing me how grateful you are."

Ed's hand gathered at the back of Stede's neck while Stede rose up to meet him, drawing him in for a kiss.

At a loss as to what to do with his hands, Stede wrapped them around Ed's waist and in response, Ed's arm snaked around his own waist. Stede gasped into the kiss when Ed's hand grabbed a firm hold of a butt cheek, and Ed – ever the strategist – took that moment of advantage to slide his tongue between Stede's lips. Happily outmaneuvered, Stede angled his head so that Ed could deepen the kiss, and suddenly he was back in his bed in the captain's quarters, that same delicious feeling rushing through him when Ed had kissed him this way for the first time. It had been incredible then and it wasn't any less amazing now. And he needed more!

"Ed, I…" Stede met Ed's eyes when they pulled apart. "I really liked what happened this morning,"

"So did I," Ed held Stede's gaze. "Was nice."

Stede had no doubt that it would have turned even nicer if it hadn't been for Izzy's interruption. And with a start he realized that there would be no interruptions now. If Stede could work up the guts to take the plunge and go for what he really wanted.

Breathe, just breathe.

"Ed…" he began tentatively.

"Yeah?"

"Remember when you said that the crew probably thinks we're off somewhere, erm…. fucking?" By now, Stede's heart was pounding so hard in his chest that he briefly wondered whether it could create ripples on the water's surface.

"Mmh?"

Stede took a breath and plunged ahead. "What if we…. prove them right?"

Ed pulled back a little and his gaze seared into Stede, heating him from the inside in ways that had nothing to do with the temperature of the pool. He could feel his cheeks reddening.

"I mean, if you…"

Ed was back in his face in a heartbeat. "Yes. Fuck, yes!" This time, there was nothing tentative in the way Ed's lips descended upon his, his tongue plunging back into Stede's mouth and Stede kissed him back with every ounce of passion he possessed.

Lip-locked, Ed walked him backwards until Stede was pressed with his back against the edge of the pool, Ed's tongue in his mouth, Ed's body pressed up against his, skin against naked skin, wet hands buried in wet hair… Stede shuddered and rocked forward, and Ed was right there, hot and hard against him, holding their bodies together and grinding right back.

Stede's hair follicles tingled and his toes curled, goosebumps were crawling up and down his arms. It was both too much and not enough, a rush he had never experienced, not in ten years of marriage. Feeling bold, he swept Ed's hair aside to kiss the side of his neck. Ed made a noise between a sigh and a moan and craned his neck to allow him access to as much skin as possible. Stede made copious use of that invitation, exploring the side of Ed's neck with eager curiosity.

The world had somehow shrunk to the size of this cavern, this pool, Ed's mouth and skin, their pricks rubbing against each other – a frisson of raw need shot through Stede's body and if he didn't say it out loud right now, he was going to explode.

Be brave.

"Ed, I…. I want you," he panted when they finally parted. His lips grazed the skin just below Ed's earlobe. Ed shuddered and instinctively pressed himself tighter to him. Stede's breath quickened in response.

"Feeling's mutual, mate." Ed's voice was right by his ear, low and husky.

Stede ran his hand over Ed's chest, his fingertips gliding across the eagle. "Yes, I think I can tell."

They kissed once more, dragging it out until they were both breathless. When they finally did break apart, however, they stayed as close as they could, foreheads touching, noses bumping, as each man simply enjoyed the other one's closeness, the intimacy so new, so full of promise of things to come - things Stede realized he simply didn't want to wait for any longer.

"I want to finish the unfinished business between us from this morning," he mumbled against Ed's lips. "I just don't exactly know….how."

He felt more than saw Ed smile. "I can show you."

"Yes," Stede whispered, "please."

They sealed this promise between them with another kiss, and when Ed let his thumbnail graze a nipple, Stede jerked.

Ed smiled. "Sensitive?"

"Yes," Stede breathed, genuinely surprised. "I….I guess I am."

"Well, let's find out how much," Ed said, sinking back down in the water to replace his hand with his mouth and, for the next few minutes, proceeded to show Stede just how sensitive these parts of his anatomy – which he himself had thus far hardly ever paid any attention to – actually were. His tongue's ministrations left Stede gasping, and when his teeth grazed one hard nub, Stede's cock responded with an almost violent jerk. And as close as Ed was pressed up against him, there was no way that he hadn't felt that.

"Ed –" The name fell from Stede's lips like a benediction, and Ed rewarded him with another suckle before he straightened up to kiss Stede once more.

Ed captured Stede's face between his hands, and his warm brown eyes sparkled in the lamp light as held Stede's gaze. "Do you trust me, Stede?"

Stede's reply was instant. "Of course."

"Then sit up on the edge of the pool for me."

With the help of Ed's hands on his hips, Stede hoisted himself out of the water. When his butt connected with the ground on the edge of the pool, however, he immediately felt exposed. He fought the instinct to cover himself and instead firmly put his hands on either side of him. He kept his eyes on Ed, who took in the sight of his nude body like a man dying of thirst, and tried not to feel too self-conscious about it.

Ed placed his hands on Stede's knees, then slowly pushed until they were far enough apart to settle in between them.

His touch made Stede shiver despite the balmy warmth of the cave, sent a tingle of anticipation through his chest. He wasn't sure what to expect next, but it wasn't Ed leaning in and pressing a kiss to the inside of his knee. Stede's breath hitched as Ed's gentle fingers began massaging the outside of his thigh while his lips moved up along the inside, placing kisses onto the sensitive skin, inch by inch in an agonizingly slow progression. The combination of soft lips and rough stubble sent sparks right up Stede's spine and by the time Ed arrived at the junction of thigh and hip, Stede's leg muscles were trembling and he was harder than he had ever been before in his life.

Ed looked up, asking permission with his eyes, and what he saw on Stede's face must have been good enough to proceed, for the next thing Stede knew, Ed's hand encircled where no one had ever touched him before.

Ed gave a tentative tug, squeezing with just the right amount of pressure, and Stede swallowed hard around the sudden lump in his throat. Then Ed's mouth closed over the head of his cock, his tongue touching the tip, and Stede could not suppress a gasp, shock and pleasure colliding in his chest. His fingertips scrabbled at the ground, but there was nothing to hold on to, and then he forgot about his hands altogether, forgot about the hot spring, the cave, - hell, the entire island – as Ed settled into a rhythm, eager mouth and nimble tongue, one hand working the base of Stede's cock, while with the other one he kept up the gentle caress of his thigh.

The feeling was incredible, a rush Stede had never encountered in his life, a high he didn't know his body was capable of producing.

But of course, it wasn't him who was producing this rush, it was Ed. It was all Ed – his skills, enthusiasm, knowledge –

All wasted on him.

And just like that, Stede felt out of his depth, useless and inadequate just sitting there, staring, while Ed did all the work. Surely there was something he was supposed to do, to say, some way he was supposed to behave, or at least react. Reciprocate in some way, but of course he didn't know, didn't know anything about this….ignorant buffoon…

"Stede."

A hand touched his face and Stede's eyes flew open – when had he closed them? – to find that Ed had risen out of the water and was regarding him with a look of concern.

"Hey, relax. Relax, mate," he said softly, running his hands over Stede's shoulders and down his arms until they were cupping the fists he didn't realize were clenched so tightly that his nails were cutting into his palms. Ed's fingers were massaging his knuckles until Stede relaxed his hands.

"You good?" Ed queried. "I can stop if…"

"No!" Stede all but whined. Inadequacy be damned. "Don't stop – please."

Ed smiled in approval, then leaned in to kiss him deeply before he resumed his place between Stede's knees.

"Isn't there…." Stede began, "shouldn't I do…something?"

"Enjoy would be a good start, but since it seems like you need something to do with your hands…" The corner of Ed's mouth curved up as he reached for Stede's hand and put it on his head. "Audience participation is highly encouraged."

It should have been embarrassing; to sit here, naked and wet at the edge of a pool, with his knees spread wide and his prick as hard as a rock. It would have been in his earlier life, but Stede now finally realized that he was no longer the person he had been back then, constrained by society, his marriage and his own head. Ed had shown him the way onto a new path, and Stede found that he couldn't wait to walk it.

So he dared to run his hand through Ed's hair, pushing a bit, and Ed promptly took him in deeper, slowly and carefully. Stede choked off a groan. Wide-eyed, he watched his length disappear further into Ed's mouth, marveling at the sensation of heat, friction and the delicious feel of Ed's tongue.

Mary had never done anything like this. Stede didn´t think Mary knew something like this existed. Heck, he never really knew something like this existed…had only read about an allusion to a practice like this once, veiled and shadowy, in a book of disreputable nature. But nothing could have prepared him for the real thing - the view alone was incredible; Ed in the water before him, looking up at him through those pretty, long eyelashes, smiling slyly around the cock in his mouth, and Stede could not have looked away even if every stalactite in this cave suddenly dropped from the roof and onto the floor.

He tugged a bit more on the beautiful dark wet mess of Ed's hair, and Ed´s head promptly began bobbing up and down with an enthusiasm that made Stede's breath stutter in his chest.

Time ceased to have meaning, and just as Stede felt a tingle of pride at being able to hold out as long as he had, Ed let out a throaty hum that reverberated through his cock and into his body, spreading warm waves all the way into his fingertips and toes.

Goosebumps broke out all along his arms. Stede bit his lip; this was it.

Fire, hot and wonderful, started to pool in his groin. The end was inevitable and Stede could do nothing but raise a mental white flag and surrender. His whole body shuddered as he arched up, pleasure washing over him like a tidal wave. A groan tore loose from his very core as he came and Ed swallowed everything he had to give.

When the world stopped spinning, the first thing Stede saw was the smirk that Ed couldn't quite seem to keep off his face.

"Good?" Ed asked.

Stede's mouth was working, but he did not yet have the mental wherewithal for words, so he just nodded. He felt blissed out, drained; Yet, he also felt – new, like Ed had taken him apart and rebuilt him. The Stede Bonnet walking out of this cave would be a different man from the Stede Bonnet who had walked into it. And he was absolutely fine with that.

"Oh, this is a good look on you," Ed said with a grin and the satisfied air of a general who had just won a famous victory. He grabbed Stede by the hands, and Stede let himself get pulled back into the warm waters of the pool. Ed opened his mouth, but whatever it was that he had to say, it could wait, because Stede needed to kiss him right now.

Which was exactly what he did. Again and again, and then once more for good measure.

"I didn't…." he began when they came up for air. "I didn't know…"

"...that it could feel like this?" Ed prompted with a gentle smile.

"Yes."

Ed stroked his cheek. "That's exactly how it should feel, and I'm gonna try to make you feel like this every time."

Every time. The thought alone made something spark in Stede's chest. He tightened his arms around Ed. Ed leaned in, and a sudden jolt of awareness surged through Stede at the feeling of Ed's hardness pressing against his groin.

"Right. Your turn now," he said resolutely. "We could swap places and I can try to…"

Ed shook his head and smiled. "It's okay. You don't have to do anything. I got it covered."

He maneuvered them until Stede's back was once again pressed up against the edge of the pool. Stede's hand moved over the hard, tattooed topography of Ed's chest while Ed kissed him

and moved in between his legs. His straining arousal dug into Stede's hipbone and the Gentleman Pirate gasped at the feeling.

"Just as long as you can remain upright for a little while longer…" With one hand on the stone edge behind Stede and the other one clutching his shoulder, Ed ground his groin into Stede's hip and Stede instinctively pressed back.

His arm came around Ed's waist, hugging him tightly while at the same time he wound his fingers back into Ed's hair, pulling him in for a languid, tongue-filled kiss. Ed made a strangled sound, moving in a steady rhythm against Stede, but it didn't take long until his movements became less coordinated and more urgent. Before long, he groaned into Stede's open mouth, chest heaving, and the knowledge of his lover's release left Stede almost as breathless as his own turn had done a few minutes ago. He tightly held on to Ed's shuddering body, pressing his lips to the junction of Ed's neck and shoulder to feel the pulse there beating wildly. He kissed and nibbled at the throbbing vein until Ed's breathing evened out.

"I could have…you know…lent a hand," he protested weakly into the warm skin.

"Yeah, but you looked a bit…dazed…there a few minutes ago. Didn't want to overwhelm you, mate." Ed hummed. "I'll take you up on that offer next time, tho."

Stede lifted his head from Ed's neck and smiled into his lover's face. "Deal."

And then it was Ed's turn to take up nibbling up the side of Stede's neck, kissing his jaw and tugging gently at his earlobe with his lips.

Stede craned his neck and let Ed do as he pleased, taking a long moment to take in the profoundness of what had happened between them today, the new bond they had created – and found that he was already looking forward to next time.

But first…

"Ed?"

"Uh-huh?"

"I would love to make time stand still, but I'm afraid that, if we stay in here much longer, we'll end up looking like boiled lobsters."

Ed chuckled. "I hear you." He gave Stede's earlobe one last nip before he slowly disentangled himself. "I need your help anyway, to sort through my stuff. C'mon."

They waded to the other side of the pool where Ed's stash sat waiting.

"You don't happen to have any towels here?" Stede asked.

"Nope, we'll have to air-dry."

Ed was the first one out of the hot spring, completely heedless about his nudity, and by the time Stede had heaved himself out of the water, Ed was already busy dumping the contents of the sacks onto the damp stone floor.

Stede grabbed one of the extra lanterns and padded closer. Carelessly scattered around the ground was Ed's personal treasure horde; hundreds upon hundreds of coins of silver and gold intermixed with rings, bracelets and other jewelry, the light of the lantern reflecting off cut emeralds, rubies, diamonds and pearls. And that was only from the first two bags.

Stede took in the riches laid out before him with a look of utter disbelief. "Ed, this is a fortune!"

"If you say so." Ed surveyed his loot with an impassive look. "To be honest, I don't have a clue how much most of this is worth. This is just stuff I had no use for right away and was taking up space on my boat. Not everyone has a cabin like you." He winked at Stede.

A memory surfaced before Stede's eyes. 'I have more riches than you can shake a fucking stick at!' Ed's furious voice, as he stood over the French captain's prone body during their first raid together, reverberated through his mind. Turned out, Ed hadn't been grandstanding back then. Hadn't even been exaggerating.

His own nakedness forgotten, Stede knelt and let the coins run through his fingers; doubloons, reales, pieces of eight, ducats and guineas as well as handfuls of shiny silver and gold coins whose origins he couldn't place. There were also what looked to be several dozen gold bullion and silver ingots, and Stede couldn't stifle a chuckle when he recognized the stamp of the Bank of England on the bars.

Ed took one of the bars, smoothing his thumb over the stamp. "That was one of our best hauls," he said with a reminiscent smile. "Came upon what we thought was just a normal trader, but turned out to be carrying a hidden cache of bullion from England to the Colonies. Some kind of freelance job for the bank bigwigs, according to the captain." He reached into a sack and pulled out a leather belt with an elaborately decorated silver buckle, which he handed to Stede. "Took that off the captain, too, while we were at it. Looked pretty damn funny having him stand there with his trousers around his ankles while we were loading the gold onto our ship."

They shared a chuckle, and Stede let his eyes drift over all the glitter once again. He knew the answer, but he asked anyway. "So, all of this is loot, huh?"

Ed gave him a pointed look. "'s the only job I ever had, mate."

The rest of the bags revealed yet more of the already astounding myriad of jewelry; necklaces, pocket watches, brooches, earrings and hair ornaments, but also swords, daggers and even a few letter openers, each fitted with hilts of gold, silver or ivory and inlaid with precious stones of half a dozen colors, all dazzling in the lamplight.

Mixed in with all the precious metals were several other interesting items. Stede picked up a pair of what he assumed to be whale teeth, one depicting an exquisite scrimshaw painting of a sailing ship while the other one showed a kraken in such elaborate detail that Stede could make out dozens of suction cups on each tentacle. He mentally allocated them a place of honor in the display case in his cabin.

There were also ornamental medals of various sizes and ranks, a matching set of four gleaming silver goblets, a pair of small but exquisitely carved and gilded picture frames with the portraits ripped out of them, and at least half a dozen elaborately sculpted ivory figures which appeared to be pieces of a chess game. Hoping to find the rest of the set, Stede scoured the rest of Ed's plunder until his eyes suddenly caught sight of a triangular patch of red material poking out from beneath a layer of coins.

"Oh, what do we have here?" Stede gave it a tug and kept pulling until he was holding a scarf of delicate silk in hues of deep burgundy red, beautifully embroidered with white designs of flowers, leaves and vines. The stitching was so artfully done and vivid that the leaves seemed to float in the wind when Stede moved the fabric. It was beyond lovely.

"A gift for my mother," Ed said, his eyes never leaving the fabric. "I just haven't had the chance to give it to her."

"Well, then let's present it to her now," Stede exclaimed brightly. "We can make a pit stop at your home port, just quick enough to…" his words died off at the rueful look on Ed's face. "Oh dear."

"Yeah, she died. Going on three years now."

"Oh, Ed, I'm so sorry."

"'s life, mate," Ed said, fingering the fabric the way Stede had seen him do it with the red piece of silk he was always carrying in his pocket. "At least it was quick, or so I was told. Started with a cough, and then three days later…" Ed let the sentence trail off and Stede simply waited, watching him scoop his hand into a heap of coins and letting them cascade back through his fingers.

"After I signed on to sail with Hornigold, I didn't see her much," he continued after a moment. "Checked on her whenever I was in my home port, though. She remarried again. I figured she would; hard to support yourself when you don't have any marketable skills, you know. She seemed happy, or at least happier than she was with my father."

Stede took Ed's hand, squeezed it. "I would love to have met her."

Ed chuckled. "You would have charmed the socks off her. I know it." Stede smiled in reply.

"I would love to hear more about her," he said. "If that's all right with you."

Ed nodded solemnly. "I'll tell you about her. Lots of time for stories on the way to China, after all."

Ed reached for the scarf again, pulled the fabric gently out of Stede's hands, then laid it around his neck.

"What're you…" Stede cast Ed a confused look. "This was supposed to be for..."

"It was supposed to be for a person I love." Ed's eyes bore into him. "And I'm pretty sure I love you."

Three little words. Spoken with such sincerity and accompanied by Ed's open and honest gaze.

Stede stopped moving, stopped blinking, stopped breathing.

Words flittered through his head at lightning speed, and he had to tell, had to tell Ed that -

I love everything about you, I love being near you, breathing the same air….

Instead, he opened his mouth and said, "What can I do to get the 'pretty' out of that sentence?"

A small smile played around Ed's mouth. "Just keep being you."

"I can do that." Stede's gaze roamed Ed's face, that ridiculously handsome face, and Stede wanted to say it back to him, but simply replying I love you too didn't seem nearly enough to convey what Stede was feeling for this dangerous and beautiful man. Not as a boy, a man or a husband had he ever felt like this towards another human being before. Stede wanted to reach inside his chest, pull out his heart and hand it to Ed, which was both morbid and at the same time strangely fitting. Ed was a pirate, after all.

He opened his mouth at the exact same time as Ed – whose fingers were still wrapped around the ends of the scarf – gave a sharp tug and Stede surged forward and into Ed's arms. Together they sank down to the floor, already kissing, as they fell on top of the carpet of coins, jewels and weapons surrounding them.

They had been at the cave a long time already, but the world could wait another hour for Stede Bonnet and Edward Teach to reemerge into it.

TBC...