A pirate's life - 1/6
Author: Daniela
Fandom: PotC: Pirates of the Caribbean
Pairing: Sparrington
Rating: R
Category: Angst, Adventure, Romance
Series/Sequel: Sequel to 'Stranded' and 'Me Treasure'
Summary: James is sobering up.
Warning: M/M, Slash
Disclaimer: I don't own them. Nobody is capable of owning them.
Feedback: Yes, please. It's my treasure.
Email: daniforblue@yahoo.de
Beta: Smith-Kingsley
Released: October 2023
Word Count: 4408
The first light of day raised James from a river of blissful dreams and hurled him into a sea of churning rage. Jack was gone. His unexpected abandonment hurt worse than the flogging by Wellington. The scribbled note was no comfort but made him punch his fist into the bedpost. Bloody hell! He ranted and raved about the menace of pirates and got dressed in a topsy-turvy way. Uncombed and unwashed, he startled the maid and Daniel, the butler, with his tirade as he rushed down the stairs. Never mind. He was chasing after a bastard who had fucked and then abandoned him like a coward. He would put the traitor in irons and kill him. It didn't matter if Jack had favoured him with his most beloved ring. James was tired of his games. He would hunt him down and rip him a new one. Bury him neck-deep in sand. Well said, yet... He burst into the parlour.
Sarah looked up from the book she was reading. Her expression was stern but understanding.
Bugger! "Why didn't you warn me?"
"Jack said it would be better this way. Easier."
"Jack said," he snarled, clenching his jaw. "Already falling for his tricks. Damn it." He paced the room.
"Not at all. You are safe here. He was not."
"I don't want to be safe. I want to be in charge."
"Well, what is your plan then? Didn't he leave you a note?" She pointed at the scrap of paper clutched in his hand.
"You can't call one scribbled word a note," James snapped. "That lying bugger!"
"James!"
"He can't be far. He is still limping, isn't he?"
"Let us take the carriage. We are faster this way and hidden from curious looks."
"I thought you and Patrick don't care about gossip?"
"Well, we don't. But you know how Father is. You want everything destroyed I fought for?"
He flushed. "No, of course not."
"Then let us take the carriage." She closed her book.
"I can go by myself."
"You could, but I won't let you." She rang for the butler.
"You are bloody stubborn," James growled, disarmed when he noticed her reading was still the past present from Tommy.
"That is a family tradition, dear."
*****
As James had feared, a ship had just sailed off and was vanishing beyond the horizon. Jack must be on it even though nobody remembered having seen a limping stranger with dreadlocks going on board. "Damn that bloody pirate, the filthy scoundrel," James fumed. Jack Sparrow had done it again and reaped himself a head start while James looked like the fool who had let him escape.
Sarah put a hand on his arm. "Only a small setback, dear."
"No, this is done," he said, straightening his unruly hair.
"Don't you plan to pursue him?"
"I am not chasing after a pirate. I will take a ship back to Port Royal and return to my life."
"I don't think that is a good idea."
He snorted. "It is not my first bad idea and not my worst either."
"Very well. I am coming with you."
"What for?"
"Keeping you from harm."
He snorted once more. "Too late."
She leaned into him. "Now, now, my darling. I know how tough you are."
"How lovely because I don't know anything anymore."
"Oh dear. This is lovers' talk."
"Shut up."
*****
At their arrival in Port Royal, James was still sulking.
"Oh my god," Sarah exhaled, putting a hand to her mouth.
"What is the matter?"
"Father is here," she muttered.
"You are joking?" He scanned the pier. Indeed, she was not. The familiar shape of Admiral Thomas Mallory was standing at the bay.
Even though he was in his sixties, he wasn't bothered by the heavy wind tugging at his hat or the shouting sailors running around him. He kept staring straight ahead at the anchoring ship.
James couldn't spot Thomas' command The Invincible, though. How had Thomas come here, and why? "Bugger!" He punched the railing. "I bet he knows everything already." The scars on his back twinged.
"As if! He knows nothing, and he came here because you were missing."
"Let us hope this to be true." Now he spotted Elizabeth and her husband, Will Turner, approaching the Admiral. Bloody hell! Such a fuss for no reason. I wasn't gone that long. Yet he had the feeling he had been away for months.
"Cheer up, for God's sake. Or do you wish he would send an armada to Tortuga to sink your Bonny's ship and raze the whole island to the ground?"
He shrugged, though he squared his shoulders and pulled a straight face. That would be for the best, wouldn't it? A clean sweep and a fresh start. Nothing left to lament being rid of.
Not the Admiral but Lt. Gillette, flushed to the roots of his hair, was the first to approach him. "Welcome back home, Commodore. We thought we'd lost you."
"There was no need for concern. I am fine." Still feeling lost, though. So, how long do I have to bear this deceptive play? How long until I can escape to my house and lose myself in improper fantasies? "What is more important is the current situation of the Black Pearl and its crew."
"Beg your pardon, sir. We fought down to the wire but in the end, they outran us."
"Well, don't lose heart! One day, we will succeed in obliterating them from our territory." Blimey! That lucky bugger Jack. He will be thrilled.
Elizabeth was next in line, shaming him with her delight. "I am so happy you are alive and well. We almost gave up hope."
"Thank you," James said, bracing himself for the Admiral. His foster father didn't look surprised at James' shabby appearance. He must have imagined his condition, hearing of his disappearance for over a week. Has it genuinely only been a week? How can this be? How can I feel like I'd shed my skin and soul?
Thomas Mallory's hair was white as the spray of the sea, his eyes as blue as its depths, his skin bronzed by the sun. The lines on his face had deepened since the loss of his wife and son and the rebellious marriage of his daughter. He winced at the sight of her. "Sarah? What are you doing here? How are you part of this?" He took his hat off and leaned in to kiss her on the cheek.
"Keeping my brother company since he turned up at my home. Isn't that what every devoted sister is supposed to do?"
"Where is your husband?"
"At sea."
"Well, good to hear he abides with his duties." He patted James' arm. "I am glad you are unharmed. So, the pirate scum is dead, isn't he?"
"Would I be here if he weren't?" You have no clue how hard it is to kill Captain Jack Sparrow. How hard not to get hard thinking of the bastard. "Do you think we had a good laugh fighting for survival after drifting at sea being at the sun's mercy?" Even right now.
"Of course not. Did you kill him yourself?"
"No, a pack of slave traders did. I was lucky I escaped them."
"Good heavens, James. Quite an ordeal you had to put up with. Did they... are you...?" The Admiral took a deep breath and cleared his throat.
Sarah smirked. "What is the matter, Father? Can't you put in words what you want to know?"
"Be quiet. That is no matter for a woman."
"Can you both stop that? I was flogged, that is all," James thrust out, then staggered to the left. For heaven's sake! What now?
"James!" The outcry of two women echoed over the rippled sea, whereas the Admiral swore like a common sailor in the presence of ladies.
"I am fine. A sudden dizziness. Back off!"
"Don't pretend." Sarah backstabbed him. "You were already unwell during our journey. You need immediate bed rest."
James glared at her. Thank you, dearest. Now Thomas is certain I was sodomized in the worst way possible. Well, I was, wasn't I? And liked every damn bit of it. "I can speak for myself." He rounded upon her, then shivered in the gentle breeze from the stirred-up sea.
"Sarah is right," the Admiral said, gripping his arm, and leading him down the plank. "You are bright red. You must have a fever. No matter what happened you must be worn out by the unfortunate events."
"Stop coddling me." Bloody hell! Now James was staggering even though he had the Admiral's support. Oh well. Nothing much had happened on the island. On the way from there to safety, though... too much.
"Indeed." Sarah agreed with her father and chortled. "That is why he cannot attend formal events, at least for a few days."
"What are you implying by that?" the Admiral said, and a muscle in his cheek twitched.
"I know you, Father. You didn't come this far only to look out for James, did you?"
"I have not the slightest idea what you are talking about."
"I bet someone young and nubile is waiting in the house of a decent family already. Where is she from? What is her background?"
James frowned. "What is she saying?"
"Nothing to concern you." The Admiral led James to the Turners' carriage. Will was looking devilishly curious.
The two wives followed at a slower pace. "I am glad James changed his mind about you," Sarah said to Elizabeth. "No offence, but a marriage with you wouldn't have made him happy."
"None taken," Elizabeth quipped, winking at her. "I was not the one changing his mind, though. You know that, don't you?"
Sarah pursed her lips. "Oh?"
"How is Jack? He is not dead, is he?"
"I have no clue what you are talking about." Sarah fluttered her eyelashes. "No pirate ever set foot in my home or took care of my dearly beloved brother or went sailing away by early sunrise, leaving us no choice but to pack our things and come here."
"Good gracious!" Elizabeth linked arms with her. "You must tell me everything about your lovely home and adventurous journey immediately."
"Yes, indeed!"
*****
Well, James had tempted fate. He had barely arrived at his home when a sudden and high fever crushed him down, and soon after, he was throwing up like a gutted fish. Sarah didn't even wince at the mess he made but took care of him immediately. She kept him dry and warm; she emptied the buckets of vomit, and she cheered him up with silly stories of her life with Patrick.
Blimey! Have mercy, dear. He couldn't laugh out loud because he was too damn unwell. A sickness called Captain Jack Sparrow. The curse of falling for him of all the bloody pirates menacing the Caribbean seas. Why had fate put that on him? Why couldn't he burn Jack out of his body with this very fever? And what would happen if he were never ever able to shake him off?
Still slightly feverish on the third day, he dreamed about burning hot fires, rousing waves, and sandy tussles during sunsets. Unfortunately, he fought nightmarish flashes of Wellington raping him as well. The bastard. The maniac. Why didn't he let Jack kill him no matter what had happened to Tommy? Oh, Jack. I miss your voice whispering naughty things. Your rough yet soothing touch. Your spicy and lasting taste.
"Please, grant me what only you can give," he cried out, then dropped into the invigorating sea with the ocean waves lapping at the shoreline and his tender flesh. There! A toothy shark jumped out of the water, tearing a big piece out of him. Screaming. Bloody red eyes everywhere. Broken skin. No, no. Don't fall for that. You know his tricks. Flee! Hide! Don't let him get close. Right. I am not coming after you. There is no point... stay away! Leave forever or....
He jerked awake. His skin felt parched, and his heart throbbed in his ears, though his lips were moist with drops of water. The light in the room was dim, but he could sense Sarah sitting on a stool, putting away a cup. Thank heavens! He couldn't bear anyone else being a witness to his misery.
"You will see him again," she said, wiping his forehead.
Did she hear what I cried out? Does she know how rotten I am? "I will not," he murmured, struggling to get the blanket off, cursing the itching scars on his back. The eternal mark. "I am done with the bugger."
"Of course you are. Why are you calling out for him then?"
"I have gone mad."
"Indeed."
He huffed and closed his eyes, pretending to fall back to sleep. That saved him from Sarah's teasing but not from the fantasies about Jack's consistent harassment in a world of limitless desires and cravings where nothing was forbidden. A happy place where he never stopped hunting Jack Sparrow, who was always eager to get caught and put in irons. Eager to be his booty. Oh, Lord! What was he thinking? Wasn't what he had done already condemnable enough? How could he ever get this low? Licking his boots and more. Sick indeed.
Jack is neither a friend nor an ally. He is not worth your thoughts and feelings by day or night. He is the kind who killed Tommy. He is the man with the black shark eyes. Oh. Sod it! The sight of the attack. The crazy fear of losing a man he didn't even know he cared for or wanted. The bliss. For God's sake! Quit this madness!
He dug his nails into his thighs, drawing blood. Yet he lapsed into a dream about running to the pier and entering a ship, any ship, to sail off to Tortuga and seek the satisfaction only the notorious pirate could give... a cruel twist of fate.
*****
James stayed in bed for a week. Only his butler Cedric, Sarah, and the doctor were allowed to enter his bedroom. Family and friends gossiped that this was because of his adventure, his stress and exhaustion, and almost drowning in the sea. Then the sunstroke, no food and water, the flogging, the fight for survival.
Only Sarah knew of the true origin of James' struggle. Once James had recovered, she warned him about a woman waiting to be properly introduced to him. Sarah didn't gloat about having been right that their father was pursuing his own agenda. He had tried to force her into a marriage once, too. But she already had been in love with Patrick, and she had insisted on marrying him or breaking apart from her father forever.
James didn't care, nor did he wonder about a girl he didn't know. He pondered instead if his home always had been this empty. So many rooms without warmth or laughter. Port Royal, too. Not the place he remembered. Small. Familiar. Ho-hum.
He snorted. Indeed. No pirate molesting me or slave traders hunting me down to sell me on the market, or worse, be abused by the purchasers. No striking heat or salty sweat affecting his light skin. No need to hide deviant desires. No shameful surrender. Seriously? What was he complaining about? The lack of wicked games or not sleeping on a coarse sandy beach anymore? Burnt up by the sun and constant longing to get fucked by a criminal? Was he that kind of man? Sex-crazed? A sodomite? In need of sexual thrills to feel alive? Just as mad as the bugger who had bunked off before sunrise to force him to show his true colours now or never: and would he?
******
As soon as James was back to perform his duties, the Admiral brought the girl in question to an official event in Governor Swann's home. There she was, strolling around in a light blue dress matching her eyes and flattering her fair and flawless skin. Antonia, the daughter of the first officer on Thomas' command, The Invincible. Granted, the girl was a pleasure to look at. Good family and fresh as a daisy. Prissy though. Nothing like Elizabeth. The opposite of Jack. The thought of being intimate with her was making James feel unwell again. The intention to get him married to this girl increased his longing to escape this strait-laced life that he couldn't endure much longer.
Antonia stoked his struggles by telling him that Thomas had sent The Invincible to Tortuga with her father in command to survey recent suspicious incidents.
"Indeed?" James deadpanned, concerned yet not surprised. Jack is there, isn't he? Sulking and wreaking havoc.
The matter worsened when Antonia shared more insight into her family history. "My honoured father and yours have much in common, dear sir. He hates pirates with a burning passion, too. He was once stabbed by one of their offspring at a hanging. Born under a bad influence and thus naturally evil to the mark, that criminal almost killed my father. This proves the evil must be weeded out by erasing the entire bloodline." She linked arms with James. "Don't you think so?"
"Indeed." James forced a smile. "How could I not?"
"Don't make me worry and chase after that sort of evil, please."
He shook his head. "My days of chasing after pirates are over. I am ready to settle down."
"Oh, that is good to hear, sir," Antonia said. "I shall go and write a letter to my father at once. He will be satisfied with your decision, as I am."
I doubt that. James kept smiling through gritted teeth and sought the company of his sister.
"So, how are matters with love and marriage?"
"Very well. She ran off to write to her father."
"Good heavens! Did you propose?"
"Of course not. However, I am not against a union. The fever is broken. And she is adequate."
"Aren't you at your most charming today?" Sarah clicked her tongue. "Well, and yet looking like hell."
"And haven't you the sharpest wit?" He did look like hell, didn't he? And the reason was Jack. But why was he missing him so much anyway? He had barely known him but for a few crazy days. What powers did he possess, to keep James on a leash? He sought strength in Jack's ring hanging around his neck, hidden under his uniform to keep anyone from asking curious questions. Hanged for treason was one. Being the laughingstock for the society of Port Royal was second. Now that he had learned Antonia's father was the officer who had forced Jack to watch the hanging of his parents, he had even more reason to keep the gem hidden. His future father-in-law. Bloody hell! What was his life? How could he still be here taking part in Thomas' play and not sailing after Jack? Was it pride or stupidity? Was it even cowardice?
In a fit of insanity or spite, he put Jack's gift on the ring finger of his left hand. Nobody was aware whom it belonged to originally anyway. Very well, then.
Antonia was either oblivious to its meaning, or raised too properly to say anything about it.
However, the Admiral glared at the thing as soon as he and James ran into each other. Yet he couldn't know, could he?
"What are you waiting for?" He challenged James on the spot. "Antonia is a proper match. It is about time to declare yourself. It is about time to produce some offspring."
"Indeed? I don't know how anyone can think I have any intentions towards that girl. I never even danced with her or gave her special attention."
"Regardless, I intended her for you."
"Is that right? I am sorry to disappoint you and her then."
"Is the reason you are staring at the horizon that you are hoping for a certain ship to enter port? Or is it this vulgar ring, dishonouring you and our good name?"
"Don't get worked up. Nobody knows anything."
"Don't they? You should listen to the gossip behind your back."
"I never cared about gossip."
"You don't care what they call you? What they think that they know?" Thomas spat at him as though firing cannonballs at an enemy ship.
"I am sure you told them these are only assumptions and lies."
"It doesn't matter. You must marry to silence them. Or the gossip about this ineffable incident will never end."
"By marrying a girl I don't care about and will certainly make miserable. No joy for me or her or the possible offspring who will watch us decay like a grounded ship on a sunless coast."
"You blow this out of all proportion, James."
"Easy for you to say." Damn it. How do I still feel baked by the sun and drowned in wet sand? What about this itch I cannot stop bothering me? What about people telling me how to live my life?
"I spoke my mind," Thomas finished, accepting a glass of rum from a servant. "Now it is up to you."
*****
It was, wasn't it? And still James kept stalling, losing himself in nightly cravings for the depths of the sea, the ploughing of waves against the stern of a ship, fighting its incredible pull, sunshine and wind in his hair, the taste of rum and salt on his tongue, looking at a promising glorious horizon. What the hell? He twitched. He would never drink on duty. He would also wear his wig and hat. Only a commoner stood bare-headed on deck. Or a criminal.
A pirate spanking him bent over the railing using a belaying pin. Once his arse was beaten good and sore, his ravisher penetrated him with the same thing. He squirted off digging splinters from the railing into his flesh. And barely done, he and the pirate rowed to the shore, rolling in flows of sand, starkers, kissing each other senseless. Holy god!
He jerked awake, aroused as well as shamed by such deviant desires. Though not too ashamed to act out on his cravings by beating his leaking shaft to a rich climax. Oh, Jack. I hate you for turning me into this bundle of itching flesh without honour or sense. I hate you for making me have these fantasies. How did you put this on me? I escaped your crew, vicious slave traders, and starvation on that damn isle and still want to go back and do it all over again. Aye! He was a bloody mess. The pirate's abandoned booty. The pirate's slut. Imprisoned and bound to him forever. So? Why was he stuck here then? Why didn't he go after him? Fuck him and get fucked. Sinking down to the lowest point in his life until he would break.
He snorted. Better to stay here and marry a girl he never wanted to touch. Not that she had any choice or say in this matter whatsoever. She is like me, bound to duty. Stuck in a life without passion or love. Yet, at the end of the day, I am better off without you, Jack. I must not pursue you even though I know where you are. Strolling through Tortuga, fucking every arse that walks past you or even looks at you by chance. Or do worse, believing the rumours spilling over from there. I am not naive. There is no future for us. No happily ever after. Right. He wouldn't chase a mirage. He would keep his good name and stay unattached until the day he died.
*****
The arrival of Sarah's husband, Patrick O'Neal, on board a British vessel a week later overturned James' decision right away. Patrick was the most honest lad, winning you over with his infectious laugh and fetching freckles spreading over his nose and cheeks. The joy about the unexpected reunion was overshadowed by the latest news he disclosed about Tortuga, though.
"The thugs there are in a bloody frenzy," he reported. "They do not only enter ships with valuable cargo, but they also kidnap young officers for whatever reason. It's an outrage. We only dock in Port Royal to store water and food, and then we'll go after those maniacs."
"I am going with you," James announced, clenching his jaw. "I can't risk your life or anyone's for my sake. I can't let that happen to you and Sarah." I need to teach him a lesson to go after my people. They shouldn't suffer in my place.
"How's this your fault?" Patrick said, biting into an apple Sarah had given him. "That's how pirates are, aren't they?"
"This is too long a story to explain but those incidents are my responsibility." James snorted. "I am the only one who can stop him."
"Who? What?" Patrick munched a piece of apple. "Nobody knows yet who pulls the strings in this mess."
Sarah giggled and nudged her brother. "That is the spirit. That is the man I have admired and loved since childhood."
James flushed. "I didn't mean it that way."
Sarah nestled against her befuddled husband. "I know, James. Not yet. You must hurry, though. Father is currently occupied with this unfortunate business too, but soon enough, he will push you to set a wedding date. I pity poor Antonia for the prospect of being stood up."
"Don't. Didn't you notice she is smitten with an officer from my unit? She even dared to question me about him, and I satisfied her curiosity, noble as I am."
"I don't understand anything," Patrick complained, munching on.
"I know, Pat. I will tell you later," Sarah promised. "You will get the jollies."
"Good heavens!" James groaned, adjusting his hat. The damn wig was itching like crazy. "Shut up! This is not one of your romanticised stories to rave about."
"Oh, I think it is, darling?" She kissed a bit of apple juice from the corner of Patrick's mouth.
"Ah. Got it now, mate," Patrick quipped, scratching his unshaven face. "Well then, I'm game. Let's sail for Tortuga and go after your bonny."
"How lucky I am." James rolled his eyes. "You and she are like two peas in a pod." And I am hurting to have none of that, instead the prospect of having to kill the man I shouldn't even want at all. Damn you, Jack.
to be continued
