Chapter 18
Eighteen
WILLIAM
The sex had been eye-opening and amazing, but Damon failed to mention how sore I’d be afterward.
I woke up the next morning with an ache that almost felt worse than when I’d dislocated my shoulder.
It took a few minutes for me to force myself out of bed, and I walked with a hitch in my step when I joined the crew on the deck.
I got a few looks, smirks that said the crew knew exactly what had happened between me and the captain, but no one seemed to judge me for it.
They really didn’t care about two men together. It was refreshing.
I went to the girls’ cabin first thing to check on them.
I’d been out a hell of a lot longer than I intended when I closed my eyes yesterday.
I thought I’d rest for a while before going back out.
I didn’t think I’d fall asleep until morning.
Or that Damon would even let me. I woke up groggy and confused, and worried about the girls’ wellbeing.
Damon said I needed to get past it. It wasn’t something I’d get over in a night.
I could still hear Jane’s cries, could still see the look in her eyes.
I wasn’t sure I’d ever get that out of my head.
But Damon was right. If I didn’t get past it, Jane never would.
I saw her watching me sometimes. If I was apprehensive around the crew, she would be too.
When I opened the door after knocking, I wasn’t surprised to find the girls already awake.
They were early risers, unlike their brother, who was still snoring.
I didn’t ever wake him up before I absolutely had to.
The longer he slept, the less I had to deal with him.
Instead, I tipped my head toward the deck and the girls followed me out, huddling close against the brisk morning breeze.
“Are you okay?”
Glancing over my shoulder, I eyed Daisy curiously. “I’m fine. Why?”
“I heard you and the captain shouting last night. It sounded like he was hurting you.”
Her statement was innocent, she had no idea what was happening last night, but my face flushed hard and I stumbled, nearly tripping over my own feet. I crashed against a warm body instead, and I hated in that moment how quickly my body responded to the smell of him.
“Falling for me already?” Damon commented.
I shoved away from him, my face still burning, but his smug grin didn’t piss me off like it normally did.
Instead, it reminded me of the last time he grinned like that, after shutting me up with his cock up my ass.
It took every ounce of self-control I had to not let it show on my face that I was thinking about it, and I obviously didn’t do a good enough job hiding it, because Damon’s smirk turned downright filthy.
“Did you need something?” I snapped, taking a step back to put more space between us.
He chuckled, like my attempts were amusing to him, but he didn’t talk about what happened in front of the girls.
“Wanted to make sure you weren’t being a shit keeping them hostage in their room again.
They’ve got chores to do.” He turned to look at Jane.
“No more going below deck. If Jameson brings you something to do, you finish it and hand it off to someone else to bring to him. Give it to your brother. If he gets his ass kicked, we’ll all enjoy it. ”
I bit back a snort. His attempt at humour wasn’t going to help Jane relax, but the warning was an important one. She shouldn’t have gone below deck in the first place. I’d wanted to ask what she had been thinking, but I wasn’t going to scold her after everything she’d been through.
“Yes, Captain,” she murmured, her eyes on the deck at her feet.
I could tell he wanted to say more, maybe something to comfort her, but he pushed the urge aside and looked at me instead.
“My room needs cleaning. Especially the sheets.” That smug smirk came back, and I glared at him to hide my blush.
“Do yourself a favour and grab some clothes of mine. You look ridiculous right now.”
I glanced down at my shirt. It got sliced open when Stiles tried to stab me, and I hadn’t put in any effort to fix it.
Plus, it was stained with blood, as were my breeches.
Unlike the Davenport children, who got their trunks once they were searched, I wasn’t entirely sure where my spare clothes were.
I’d been so busy trying to keep everyone alive and safe, I didn’t ask if they’d grabbed it.
There wasn’t anything in those bags that I was attached to anyway.
The clothes I was wearing could use a wash, so I didn’t argue with Damon.
I had to do his laundry anyway, so once I cleaned and mended my clothes, I could wash his and give them back.
Damon stayed with the girls while I went to change, and I tried not to look too deep at the unbridled pleasure I got from wearing his clothes.
It was one night. I didn’t need to start writing him sonnets.
When I came back out, Damon looked me over, and his dark eyes flared with heat. I wasn’t the only one who seemed to enjoy me in his clothes. I twisted my mouth to hide my grin, ruffling Daisy’s hair as I passed.
“I’m going to grab the tub so I can start on the washing.”
Damon’s only response was a grunt, and I could feel his eyes on me as I walked away. My stomach clenched at the attention, and the ache I woke up with that morning turned into a seductive reminder of what we might get up to later if I didn’t cause any trouble.
When I got back on deck, the girls were eating their breakfasts with Lockhart, while Damon stood at the helm just above their heads.
Lockhart brought a bowl for me too, so I sat to eat, enjoying the quiet morning.
Half the crew was still asleep, and with Henry in his room, it was downright peaceful.
It only lasted so long before the bustle of the crew picked up, and Henry was dragged from his bed to start on the chores.
He bitched and complained until someone threatened to cut out his tongue.
According to the crew, Lord Davenport didn’t need his son to have a tongue.
As long as his bollocks were intact, that was all that mattered for continuing the line.
The threat made Henry nervous enough to shut up.
It was just after lunch when Kendrick approached me. I was finished with Damon’s quarters, and I was taking a few minutes to mend my shirt. I looked up at him when his shadow fell over me, raising an eyebrow at him.
“Kendrick?”
“You’re less anxious. Good. How’d he get through to you?”
Damon was back at the helm after working at his desk for a while, and I heard him hide a laugh behind a cough. My face flushed, and with the girls sitting so close, I didn’t want to admit what finally got out of my head, so I skirted it a little with a half-truth.
“Sleep helped a lot.”
He hummed, his eyes narrowing as he considered my response. “Lack of sleep does seem to affect a great many things. I’ve got a tonic to help if you find you’re struggling to rest.”
Salty clapped him on the shoulder as he passed, a huge smirk on his face. “I think the captain’s got him covered, my friend. He knows how to get Will to relax.”
My chin dropped to my chest, and I let out a heavy sigh. I did my best to muffle myself the day before, but apparently I should’ve known better. A few people heard me, at the very least.
Kendrick frowned at Salty like he didn’t fully get it. Salty was nice enough not to say things outright, with Daisy listening to the exchange so intently. Instead, he wiggled his eyebrows at Kendrick. Kendrick’s eyebrows flew up.
“Oh! I see. Yes, I never would’ve considered that. I’m not sure I can recommend–”
I cleared my throat loudly and forced a laugh. “Yeah, well, I’m fine now. Thanks for checking on me. I’m sure you’ve got other things to do. I won’t keep you.”
That made Damon laugh out loud, and if I could’ve seen him without getting up, I would’ve glared at him.
He wasn’t helping. I didn’t need Daisy asking questions about what I was doing.
She was too little for that. Hell, I didn’t want Jane asking questions either.
I wanted the girls to keep their innocence as long as possible.
They didn’t need to hear about the captain buggering the shock out of me.
Thankfully, Salty dragged Kendrick away before he could say anything else, and Lockhart called the girls over to the bow to show them a pod of dolphins playing alongside the ship. It kept them distracted, and they forgot all about the conversation. My shoulders slumped with relief.
“What’s the matter? Embarrassed?” Damon looked over the rail of the helm down at me, that smug look still in place.
I rolled my eyes. “No. I’m just not going to explain what we were doing to children. Especially Daisy, who won’t drop a subject once she’s latched onto it.”
He didn’t argue with that point, since he’d been on the receiving end of one of Daisy’s interrogations before.
Once she was comfortable asking questions, she pestered him for hours about being a pirate, even asking how many people he’d killed.
I’d had to bring her back to her room to get her to drop the subject.
I got the feeling she was going to be someone famous one day.
Maybe a writer or a researcher of some kind.
She wasn’t going to let her gender hinder her, either.