As she stepped out into the garden of the state, Elizabeth was feeling in an incredibly good mood.
James´ private disposition came very much in handy sometimes, as there were very few neighbouring states nearby and none of them were close enough to have to worry about unwanted guests.
After her room, the garden was probably her favourite place on the entire estate. It wasn´t the ornamented popular kind, the ones that were excessively decorated with varied types of flowers that would be carefully arranged to look as extravagant as possible; but it was big, the hedges along the iron fence were very well maintained, and the wildflowers that grew naturally on the grass suited it very nicely.
What she probably liked the best was the narrow stone path that cut thru the trees and led to the miles of forest behind the property and into the mountains on the outskirt of town, although she hadn´t had the occasion to explore it yet.
The only problem was the early hour of the morning. Due to his obligations, he had requested practice to be very early in the morning. She had been excited, believing it to be a perfect arrangement... right until the moment he pulled her out of bed before dawn.
Even with the sun already out, the weather was unusually chilly for the time of the year, it was cloudy, the grass was wet with morning mist and she was still sleepy. Her enthusiasm had been slightly dampened by the sleepiness, but she had hastily pulled herself from under the covers the second he threatened to leave for the fort when she failed to get out of the bed quickly enough.
The best part were the new clothes that she now owned. The trousers and shirts the tailor had made for her were fantastic, and the experience had been more entertaining that she would have imagined.
Although the man had arrived to the state in a haste as soon as he had been summoned, he had been shocked to learn that he had been called to procure some clothes for her and not the Commodore. The discussion that ensued had been as funny as it was exasperating. Old Mr. Wilson had vehemently voiced his concern, and she had to assure him on multiple occasions that he would get in no trouble and that the Commodore would not throw him on a prison cell as soon as he found out.
She was as happy as she was affronted to discover that her new garments were comfortable, incredibly so, they fit well and allowed her to move around much more freely. And she could tell they had been were with high quality fabrics, nothing like the pieces of uniforms that had been procured for her in a haste on The Dauntless. It made her oddly happy.
How come women were supposed to wear stuffy, heavy dresses while men got to move around this comfortably? It truly was unfair.
She did have to admit that it wasn´t like she completely hated dresses, they were pretty and she looked marvellous in them. And remembering the way James would stare at her with interest whenever she donned a new one -and what would ensue late at night after they retire to their room- she couldn't help but smirk. It was true they were not without its advantages.
Although trousers might not be dismissed on that front, her mind supplied helpfully as she caught a glimpse of her husband's eyes staring down at her behind with intrigue. It would have been a lie to say she wasn´t enjoying the attention.
When she pivoted back to face him, his head shot up to her face.
It was rare to see him out of his uniform and in such casual attire, his simple white shirt folded to the elbows, black trousers and loose hair would have probably made most others look shabby but he still managed to make himself look presentable. It was a very pleasant change, without his uniform and stiff mien he gave a very different impression… roguish almost. She found it quite attractive.
When he realized he´d been caught, he crossed his arms and feigned ignorance.
"Do you think these will suffice?" she teased him, resting her hands on her hips and twisting this way and the other as to call his focus back to the tight, black trousers that hugged her legs.
Finally giving up his pretence, he shook his head lightly as he admitted with a satisfied smirk "You look magnificent, Love"
She would never confess it to him but, the day after he had mocked her idea, she had gone into his armoire and taken some of his civilian shirts and trousers to try on while he was away on business. She´d gotten the silly idea of wanting to prove him wrong and that she could, in fact, wear his clothes if she wanted.
James was a tall man and she knew how different his body was from hers, but he was lean and fit. Therefore, she had assumed that he had only been teasing her. But the moment she put on his clothes, she realized he was right. His shirts hung loosely off her shoulders even when all the buttons were secured, and his trousers would not stay in place even while she stood still. It made her feel like a child trying grown up clothes.
It wasn´t only that he was taller but he was bigger.
It was embarrassing how much the realization had… aroused her, and smelling his scent surrounding all around her had taken her mind back to the night before, remembering the way his body had been wrapped around hers so encompassing and his skin… that's when she had to discard the idea of wearing his clothes. At least outside their bedroom. Otherwise she would just be creating a predicament for herself.
"So what comes first!?" she exclaimed -maybe a little too loudly- but she needed to distract herself from the flush that was starting to creep up her chest. Before James could answer she asked "Where's my sword?" shoving her hand in front of him impatiently.
His smile became tender at her excitement and he pointed a thumb to one of the columns of the back porch. When she followed it, she discovered that she had completely missed the pair of swords leaning against the wood rail.
Her excitement took over her as she ran to pick one up, until she was close enough grab one and unsheathe it. As she turned the hilt in her hand, her confusion grew more and more. "These... they're wood" it came out more like a question, but it was too obvious the blade win front of her couldn´t be anything but wood.
She turned to look at him, incredulous. But James was completely unperturbed by her findings.
"They´re practice swords. Of course they are." his nonchalant remark was coated with amusement, which irked her.
She walked back with purposeful steps until she was right in front of him. Her eyes narrowed at him as she clarified with dissatisfaction "Well, I want to use real ones"
He smiled became so wide his teeth showed, before he asked with merriment "You thought I was going to teach you how to handle a sword with a real one?" he became a little but more serious when she realized she wasn´t joking "That's not happening" he responded simply still keeping a slight smile on his face.
She felt the way her chin jutted out and her scowl became even more evident "I´m perfectly capable of handling it"
He was shaking his head before he even started talking. "True as that might be, I'm not going to risk injuring you, Love" even if his words meant to be soothing, his calm, confident composure annoyed her.
"You're too confident" she informed him. Crossing her arms her face relaxed as she added with a challenge "You could be the one to get injured, if you´re not careful enough you could even end up without a limb."
But he ignored her provocation him and simply responded "And I would prefer to avoid any of that from happening as well. I need all my limbs intact as to avoid early retirement," then he added with a tease as one of his palms cupped her face "besides, I'm fairly confident you do have some appreciation for my hands"
Huffing just a little, she looked to the side and agreed -albeit sullenly- "Fine"
He gave a small sigh as he let go of her cheek and instead used his thumb to pull her chin up, telling her "Please take this seriously, Elizabeth. Swords are weapons, dangerous ones. I don´t want you getting hurt by accident."
She pouted harder "I know that"
"And you will listen, alright?" when she didn´t make any effort to answer, he added "You are the one who asked me"
Eventually she turned her towards his and nodded once.
He only arched an eyebrow and he insisted "Properly"
"I will" she drawled out, resigning herself to the stupid wood sword… for now.
Although he had acquired a much understanding of his wife in the couple of months they´ve been married and they had become closer thanks to that... Sometimes their personalities seemed to clash in unexpected ways, which usually resulted in them getting into illogical arguments about the oddest of things, and those were the types of fights they had more often than not.
They´re latest one had occurred the night they assisted Madam Johnson´s latest gathering. The old woman liked to call them that but to him, it looked like a very thinly veiled excuse to throw a party.
He had grown with enough affluence to have been taught how to properly behave in high society, but he could admit that, he found them dull and taxing, so he had made a point of avoiding them whenever he could. It hadn´t resulted very difficult to do when his excuses involved the vigilance and protection of Port Royal and its people.
Elizabeth seemed to have been content with using him as an excuse to get away from assisting as well. But when she had been unable to tell her Father no this time.
He hadn´t minded, the time of the year was making the weather grow chillier and the tides rise and become more aggressive, because of that, the entrance of merchant ships on port would diminish considerably for a couple of months. In years past, he used to take advantage of all that to venture into the caves and hunt for pirates, but now that he had managed to get those invading pests under control, he could use his time in a better way.
And then there were times he worried he might be becoming much too bold towards her, particularly when they were alone.
The argument that ensued after they came back home had been difficult for him to understand.
He was doing his best to support Elizabeth as struggled against him, stumbling through the stairs to try to get to the second floor. All while he kept trying to make sense of what had happened.
It was the first time they had attended publicly as a married couple, and he had been immensely pleased to arrive with Elizabeth in his arm. Although aside from that, it had been as typical gathering as any of the other ones. He had remained stuck to his wife´s side, until the moment the Governor caught him and insisted on him having a drink with the other men.
Even then, he had enjoyed stealing glances at her and feeling a rush of excitement whenever her eyes met his with a dazzling smile on her face. Sometimes she would even bat her eyelashes at him in an exaggerated way that made his lips pull up every time. The night had progressed calmly like that, until the one occasion that he turned to her and he had been unable to find her anywhere nearby her group of friends.
He had tried waiting for her return, but eventually he had excused himself to go look for her.
He had been very surprised when he had found his wife in one of the balconies together with a couple other ladies, about to slap a woman that he found vaguely familiar but could not remember the name of. He had rushed to stop Elizabeth and dragged her away from the situation, but when he asked once they were alone, she had gotten angry at him, refused to tell him what the problem was, forced her way back into the ballroom and proceeded to drink herself silly.
He had tried to insist, but the more he asked, the angrier she got. He had given up on convincing her and instead directed his efforts into trying to prevent as many glasses as he could from reaching her lips, even if he had to drink them himself. She had not been at all amused by his feat and had stopped talking to him altogether after the third time he did it.
Now he could ascertain they both had one too many drinks, as he was having a terrible time maintaining a straight path while supporting her weight. "Whatever the problem was, you should not use physical violence on those women, even if they offended you. You´re definitely stronger" he reminded her for the fifth time that night.
Her face was currently buried on his shoulder but he was still able to hear her unhappy whine. "It´s your fault" she grumbled against his clothes, and when he detected the subtle slur of her words he sighed.
He realized his mistake the moment she tried to pull away from him but careened back in her attempt to. Luckily, he managed to get a hold of her before she hit the wall.
"….you´re too drunk, Elizabeth" he realized with concern, standing her up and brushing her hair away from her face so he could look into her eyes.
"So what if I am?" she retorted, pushing away from him and moving towards their room.
He called after her "Elizabeth" following right behind her.
As soon as they passed the door´s threshold, she started pulling angrily on the lace at her back to try and get it loose.
"What are you so angry about?" he tried once more, trying to understand what had upset her so.
"Because you forced me to attend that stupid party!" she growled at him.
He frowned at that. "You promised your father you would attend, I was simply escorting you." he reminded her, not sure why he seemed to be the main recipient of her anger now.
"That was before I knew that witch Perry would be there" she hissed, resuming her endeavour to get rid of her clothes and pawing even harder at them.
He finally got exasperated and walked to her, holding her hands in his. "Please calm down" he begged, softly stroking her tense knuckles.
She jutted her chin at him but relaxed her shoulders and stopped her jerky movements.
He knew Elizabeth had a tenuous relationship with some of the other noble ladies but he was unfamiliar with the one she had confronted tonight "What did that woman do to anger you?"
She stared at him for a long moment before she told him sharply "You were too attentive towards her!"
"Pardon?" The accusation was as perplexing as it was untrue "I don´t understand what you mean by that."
"You took her side!" she complained defensively. He felt her fist tighten again, but her eyes were getting red and her lips trembled as she spoke.
He felt honestly dumbfounded for a second. "Elizabeth, I truly did not intend that. I was only trying to prevent the argument from going any further." He didn´t even remember speaking to any of them apart from when he offered a superficial apology as he took her away.
"Liar"
"I saw your posture, you were getting ready to strike her"
"You didn't even allow me to, you took me away before I could decide."
He knew that was untrue by the way her shoulders had squared back.
Suddenly her expression soured even further and she asked in a demanding tone "Do you like her that much or what?"
"I don´t even know her, Love" he denied, bringing her close and trying to soothe her, feeling extremely confused by the degree of Elizabeth´s hostility towards that other woman.
"She started it" his wife argued in a unexpectedly childish way.
"Will you tell me what she did, please?"
She stared angrily at the rug before muttering with reluctance "I heard her brag to the other two dullards about how easy it would be to have you if she so desired to."
Oh. He was unsure of what was the appropriate way to react to that, his first instinct was to scoff at the woman´s audacity but even if the idea was completely ridiculous to him, it was clear that Elizabeth was truly upset about it. If the way she was sniffing was any indicator.
He knew she cared about him and he didn´t question it, but learning that she was this defensive of him was slightly shocking and against reason, it made him feel surprisingly elated, which also made him guilty.
His hands travelled up her arms comfortingly as his forehead met hers softly "She can't have me" he reassured her "She can never have me. I´ll promise you that." he vowed, brushing her hair back.
The scowl that had been marring her face finally disappeared and her body leaned into his.
"So, stop being mad already?" he pleaded nicely, inches away from her mouth. Her warmth was hitting his face and he wanted to kiss her, but he was sure if she would like that at the moment.
But his concern alleviated when she nodded and leaned her face closer to his, brushing his lips almost imperceptibly "You have to comfort me then" she ordered him, finally smiling again.
"How would you like me to do that?" he whispered against her mouth at the same time that his arms took a secure hold of her middle.
"You have to figure that out by yourself, James"
But she was kind enough to offer him a clue when her hands moved to rid him of his clothing he made no attempt to try and stop her, but he was concerned she might be much too drunk.
"You´re not sober, Love" he reminded her, brushing her hair back and giving the top of her head a kiss "I´m not about to take advantage of my impaired wife"
"And what if your impaired wife wants to be taken advantage of?"
It was a testament to how drunk he had been, when he didn´t questioned her any further, instead picking her in his arms and taking her to bed.
He had only wanted to keep her happy and his plan had sounded like a brilliant idea to his impaired brain. But, in the heat of the moment, he had gone out of his mind and done something to her that was truly outrageous.
At no point had he had the mind to stop, and the seductive noises he managed to draw out of her kept encouraging him.
It wasn´t until the feverish rush of lust receded that he came back to himself. He had been truly mortified and appalled at himself and his gall, feeling equal parts shame and excitement at the lingering taste of her in his mouth.
Before he could decide what to do or say next... he heard her giggle adorably over him, and when their eyes met, she had surprised him by grinning wickedly at him, asking with euphoric delight "What was that!?"
What had that been indeed. He had no clue what had possessed him to dare do something so barbaric. Even when she had called him a knave before, he had never thought himself capable of acting like a true one.
To his relief, she seemed completely unaffected by his actions... No, not unaffected, he had definitely provoked a reaction out of her. The sparkle of contentment in her eyes as she extended her arms towards him, allowed him to relax and return her smile.
Once he climbed his way back up her body so he could embraced her, Elizabeth tangled her lithe fingers into his hair and kissed him to oblivion.
...
James had hoped that would be the end of that incident but Elizabeth of course would not let that happen.
A couple of days after, he had found himself arguing with her again, about a completely different matter this time. One that was much more awkward for him to deal with.
He, of course, had realized she had enjoyed his ministrations that night, and he was glad she had. Unfortunately, she had gotten it into her head that she wished to 'return the favour' as she had put it. And had started relentlessly needling him about wanting to try the same thing he had done, on him.
"No." he had repeated for the tenth time that week.
"Why not? You did it to me!" the loud careless reminder made him flinch a little in his seat. "I´ll make sure it feels good for you!" and her blatant, confident remarks made his stomach tingle with anticipation and heat climb up the back of his neck.
That was definitely not his main concern.
"That is absolutely not the issue, Love." he argued in vain "I can not allow you to do such a thing."
"You´ll enjoy it, I promise you."
He had to fight to keep the groan from coming up his throat as his imagination offered him a very vivid image at those words. While it did make him preen a little on the inside... he still knew he shouldn´t, so he finally gave up on the book in his hand and shut it close with a dull thud closed before he warned her "I won´t do it again if you persist."
That threat made her still abruptly. She looked equal parts conflicted and annoyed, and the childish resentful glare that she threw at him was rather attractive to him. "I want to try it." she repeated stubbornly, crossing her arms in front of her.
"You know it´s not acceptable for a lady to do... that. Havens, I was not supposed to do it either"
"I´m happy you did" she argued quickly, then showed him a confident smirk. "And since when has propriety ever been an impediment for me to do anything anyways?" she asked, with what he considered was an incredible amount of pride at herself for her lack of restrain.
But her persistence was seriously starting to wear him out; the idea of her beautiful, clever lips around him was… too much.
It wasn´t that her request didn´t hold his interest, on the contrary, he found himself more and more tempted to let her do what she wanted with each day that passed, but he loathed the idea that she might ever believe him willing to treat her as one would a… He only wanted to treat her with due respect, even if she did not seem at all concerned that what she was asking for, was a completely inappropriate request.
"Elizabeth, just... please stop asking me" he begged, feeling uncomfortably warm in spite of the cold weather outside.
She had stared at him, completely unfazed, and then turned and walked out of the library without another word, like nothing happened.
He naively believed that had sufficed. Then discovered he had been entirely mistaken when -that same night,- he woke up to the feeling of her dainty hands and plush lips brushing down his abdomen, and suddenly her warm, wet mouth had been surrounding him.
For a moment he could have sworn there were stars behind his lids, unable to do much more than become an incoherent mess under her incredibly dexterous hands.
She had been right, it had felt absolutely magnificent. And, by the way she had looked at him with an immense look of vindication, she knew it too.
"I told you it would feel good" she had arrogantly bragged afterwards, petting his head as they laid together. He could do nothing besides curl his body around hers and give her a weak nod.
After that night he had become practically unable to deny her anything she wanted in bed, but he no longer had the will to care about it.
Extra note
Hey! so my stats have not registered any traffic to the story whatsoever for more than a week now, and I am starting to wonder if there is anyone still around? because I truly can´t tell. So if anyone could be kind enough to let me know they have accessed this chap so I know I´m not chucking it into the void, I would be grateful. Hope that if you do read it, you enjoy it. That´s all, thanks!