Page 17

Aftermath

I woke with pounding pain between my ears and confusion.

Where am I? The water… Did I drown? Am I dead?

“He’s awake, Dinesh. Look.”

Domingo’s voice.

Then I heard the captain’s frantic tones as I struggled to open my eyes.

“Rooster! Dear God, Simon. Talk to me. Wake up! Please…”

A hand pressed to my forehead and then warm palms against my cheeks, and the softest touch of lips to mine.

My eyelids fluttered open. Dinesh’s face came into focus as his frown turned into a jubilant smile. If I’d doubted his love before this moment, the truth was plain in the look he gave me now.

“Oh, thank heavens.”

“My dear, you gave us quite the fright,” Domingo murmured, and even he was gazing upon me with much affection and relief.

“Where am I?” I croaked.

“In my rooms, where you should be. Always. I’ve a mind to keep you here under lock and key.” They were harsh words uttered lovingly.

Domingo laughed. “Now, now. Don’t be ridiculous.”

“What happened?” I asked, trying to make sense of what I remembered.

An explosion. Then I was drowning, then I was… Oh no…

Captain Martin put a steadying hand on my arm.

“We’re safe on the Arrow , Simon. We’re away.”

“I unleashed my power again, didn’t I? The storm…”

Domingo and Dinesh glanced at each other.

“Is everyone all right?” I whispered.

Captain Martin nodded, but he looked grave. “Most of them. There are a couple of men who—” He glanced at Domingo again, and Domingo frowned and gave his head a little shake. “—we don’t know what happened to…”

I felt sick. “Because of me?”

“No, Rooster. You saved us. Again,” Captain Martin said. “But two men are missing. They didn’t get to the skiff in time.”

I took in this information. But I needed to know. “Who?”

“Mr Silk, the carpenter’s mate. And Duncan, the coxswain.”

Mr Silk could tell a yarn like no other, and Duncan played his hornpipe for anyone who asked. They’d be missed.

“Are they still on the isle?”

No one answered me. Then Captain Martin smiled in a reassuring way.

“The ordeal is over now. Rest. How are you feeling?”

He was distracting me from my worry, and I decided to go along with his plan, at least for now.

“My head feels like my brains got blown to pieces,” I said. “My ears are ringing.”

“Yes, there was an explosion. Most of us are dealing with that. Faraday says the sound will go away.”

I lifted a hand from the bedcover to put my fingers to my head, but I froze when I saw the linen bandage wrapped around my palm. I looked at Dinesh.

“The storm. It helped us get away?”

“It did.”

Domingo snorted with disdain. “Fuck, White, you brought down a vicious blast from the heavens. I wouldn’t call that a storm.”

“What would you call it, Domingo?” I asked.

“A judgement,” he said, quite definitively.

He and Dinesh looked at each other again, and the gravity of their expressions worried me.

“What are you not telling me?”

Captain Martin’s expression melded into one of exaggerated unconcern.

“Oh, no, don’t worry. You saved us, once again. That’s all.”

“But the last time this happened, I obliterated an entire ship and its crew. Was there no damage done?” I stared at Captain Martin, who continued to smile, although the sentiment didn’t reach his eyes.

“Are you a witch, Rooster?” Domingo asked in hushed tones.

“I have no idea,” I said, tired of the question. Tired of wondering myself.

“Never mind,” Captain Martin said. “Simon needs to eat. I’ll go see Guthrie.”

“There was some damage,” Domingo said then, and Dinesh levelled a sober stare his way. “To the dock. Enough that they couldn’t come after us.”

Captain Martin sighed.

“Yes. Well done,” he said, but there was no enthusiasm to his words.

My stomach rumbled, and I wondered if some food might help my head. I couldn’t worry about the secrets they were keeping, not right now.

“Could you please ask Guthrie if he’s had time to make any of his raisin scones? How long have I been out of it?”

“You’ve been sleeping for nigh on two days, I’m afraid. I’m sure he’s made all your favorite foods. Everyone’s worried about you,” he said.

“Truly?”

“Yes, Rooster. You’ve made many friends here.”

Domingo stood. He’d changed from his robe into a pair of linen trousers and one of the captain’s white shirts. The garment, much too big for him, made him look sweet and small. His dark hair was tied back with a ribbon, and the look suited him.

He lifted his chin and spread his arms, showing off. “I’m a buccaneer now, Mr White, ain’t I? Perhaps I’ll try living a different life.”

“I think you’ll have to,” Captain Martin said. “You must have some skills beyond…” His face turned red, and he coughed.

Domingo grinned. “Beyond sodomy and prick eating, you mean?”

“Well…”

“Perhaps I do, but I don’t know what they are.”

That made me smile. I was pleased that Domingo was on board the Arrow and safe from harm, either from the Spanish invaders or from the men who bought his services. Perhaps he could find some skill that would serve him well in the future. For now, I supposed, he was crew.

As if reading my mind, Captain Martin turned to Domingo.

“I’ll make an announcement to the crew that you’re not to be trifled with. They respect and admire me, and I’ll have your back, don’t worry.”

“Thank you, Dinesh.”

“Guthrie has a spacious room near the kitchens. Perhaps you can bunk with him. The man is committed to celibacy, believe me. I’ve challenged that position for years but he won’t budge. You’ll be safe with him.”

My eyes went wide. “What do you mean? Have you tried to bed Mr Guthrie? ”

“Oh my goodness, no. For heaven’s sake.” He waved his hand in the air. “Merely philosophical discussions, around the idea and practice of celibacy. Don’t be ridiculous.”

I frowned. “He ain’t a bad looking man, Mr Guthrie. I’d tup him.”

The fib was worth seeing the look on the captain’s shocked face and hearing Domingo’s laughter.

Dinesh soon realized I was having him on.

“Shit disturber,” he said.

“Philanderer.”

“I’m not a—” Captain Martin started, then saw the grin on my face. “Dear God, nothing can keep you down for long, Rooster. I’m glad to see.”

“I am honoured to be under your protection, Captain Martin,” Domingo said with grace and inclined his head as the captain left for the kitchens.

Domingo glanced at my wrapped hands with some concern. “How are they?” he asked.

I shrugged. “The last time they were burned well and truly,” I muttered. “Blistered and broken.”

“Are they sore?”

“A bit. Raw, you know? Like when you stay in the sun for far too long.”

Domingo nodded and opened his mouth but then closed it.

“You want to know what I am.”

His gaze met mine. “I’m…curious. And a little…frightened, to be frank. And there’s not a lot that frightens me anymore.”

“There’s nothing to be frightened of though. Everyone I care for turns out all right after. At least, they have so far.”

Domingo’s face betrayed astonishment. “Do you… Do you care for me, Simon White?”

“Of course, I do.”

Domingo gave an astonished little laugh. “You’d be surprised how few ever have.”

“That’s horrible.”

He shrugged. “Goes with the life I lead, I’m afraid.” He frowned. “Led, I suppose. Perhaps that’s all over now.” His tone held a somber note.

“Will you miss that life?”

He pondered my question, tracing a finger along the seam of his trousers. “It’s only that I’ve been living that way for so long. I feel…unmoored. I’ll miss the silks and the finery, for certain. That part of the lifestyle I quite enjoyed.”

I gazed on him with concern. “I’m certain we can find some fancy clothes for you, Domingo. Somehow.”

“I’m not sure how practical that would be here on the ship.”

I snorted. “Fuck practicality. Do what you want.”

Domingo grinned, his eyes sparking. “Oh, I do like you, Rooster.”

I smiled, too, my head beginning to feel much better and the ringing in my ears lessened.

*

T he first time I ventured on deck after our escape, the men were predictably avoidant.

The Arrow had departed from parts near Tortuga and now sailed freely to the east, towards the Turks Islands. The morning had turned from overcast to bright, and the winds were steady. The creaking of her hull and the splashes of spray against her solid sides as the Arrow surged forward through the waves were a reassuring accompaniment.

Most of the men paid me as little attention as possible, pretending to be busy with important tasks. I’m sure they were busy, but the avoidance was intentional. They made sure they knew where I was.

Others were kinder.

Squid came right up to me and put his hand on my arm. “I thank you very much, Mr White. I thought I was a goner.”

“We couldn’t have left you, Squid. You’re one of us now.”

Then Lahiri and Martinez brought me some flowers.

I blinked in surprise at the kind gesture. “But where did you get them?”

“They’re herbs, really. Mr Guthrie threatened to serve us up for supper when he saw us in his kitchen. But we grabbed these and ran.”

I looked at the pretty sprigs that had been tied with a length of blue ribbon and thought about Guthrie in his galley watching them running away.

“You braved Guthrie’s wrath for me? I’m honored. I hope he doesn’t shit in your soup.”

Their mouths gaped, and they glanced at each other in horror.

“Oh, I’m sure he won’t. Probably,” I added.

“We was wondering about that long-haired fellow youse brought aboard,” Martinez said, glancing at Lahiri. “Is he what…we think he is?”

“What do you think he is?” I asked, blinking benignly.

Lahiri looked down and shook his head, but Martinez continued.

“A whore?” he said in hushed tones.

I stared at Martinez and frowned.

“Well, he doesn’t do that any longer,” I asserted.

Lahiri glanced up from his ropework nearby. “Aye. He’s crew now. Whatever he did before don’t matter.”

I nodded and Martinez gave me a long look, then nodded in return.

“S’pose that makes sense. Most of us have pasts with some shame tied to ’em, I reckon.”

“I reckon,” I agreed. “His name is Domingo, and he’s very sweet. Also tough. So I wouldn’t say anything untoward to the man. He’ll have you hung on the mainsail. He’s tight with Captain Martin.”

Martinez chuckled, then frowned. “Wait. How tight?”

“Never mind. We’re friends, the three of us. That’s all.”

Martinez looked skeptical, and Lahiri rolled his eyes.

The captain’s voice came from behind me.

“Ah, Rooster, there you are.”

I turned around and was delighted to see him in his fancy captain’s garb again. I couldn’t help but admire the fine figure he cut.

“Do you need me, Captain?” I asked with exaggerated innocence, my gaze dragging down his body like a fishnet dropping over a swimming shark.

“Most urgently, Roost—” He cleared his throat, smiling. “—Mr White.” He corrected himself, a slight pink hue to his cheeks. He put his hands on his hips, trying to look sober and businesslike. “Ah, there’s a…situation that I need you to…uh…address.”

Snickers from Martinez and Lahiri as they took their leave.

“A situation?” I asked, my face a mask of concern. “My God, what kind of situation?”

Captain Martin checked his surroundings as he approached me. When he got close—too close for a regular gentleman’s chat—he leaned in to my ear.

“The usual one.”

I couldn’t help the laugh that escaped me, and the smug look on Captain Martin’s face was my reward.

“Oh, I see.” I folded my arms across my chest and leaned against the rail. “And I’m supposed to simply jump, whenever you come to me asking for help with this?”

The captain said nothing, simply gazed at me with lust and longing. He shrugged.

I rolled my eyes. “Fine. Come along. I’ll have you sorted in a moment.”

“A moment!” he exclaimed, true shock on his handsome face. “I should hope it’ll take longer than that.”

I smirked. “If you’re lucky.”

Back in the captain’s cabin, I took charge. Captain Martin observed me with amusement as I prepared the bed and bade him stand still whilst I took my time removing his lovely vestments.

“You know, my sweet red rooster, watching you fuck Domingo was a treat. I think on that evening often.”

I grinned at him. “Do you?”

“I do. And you?”

I sighed. “Aye. But, to be honest, I only enjoyed our romp because you were there. I don’t know if I’d have liked such an encounter as much otherwise.”

“That’s just as well,” Captain Martin said.

“Is it?”

“Aye. Because I don’t want you in another man’s arms unless I’m involved somehow. Does that make me a terrible person?”

“Not at all. As I feel the same about you.”

“Well, then.”

“Well, then.”

I folded his jacket neatly and put the garment on the chair. Then I stood before him and took my time unbuttoning his shirt.

“How are your hands?” Dinesh asked, gazing down at them.

When I’d removed the linen bandages, my palms had looked completely normal, which I had anticipated, as the same thing had happened previously. I showed him.

He took my wrist in his fingers and brought my palm towards him to examine the surface. Then he pressed his lips to the skin briefly and released me. He did the same to the other one.

I’d not known a kiss in that particular place could go straight to my cock, but it shot through me like lightning. I gasped and smiled. I went back to my unbuttoning. When I pulled the tails of his shirt out of his breeches, his hands wandered around my waist and went to cup my behind.

“No, no. Hands off. Let me do this. It’s like Christmas morning.”

He laughed. “Fine.”

“Once you’re naked you can take over. All right?”

“All right. Meanwhile, I shall contemplate all the horrible things I’m going to do to you.”

“I’m sure they will be shocking and terrible.”

“Most surely. You will be wracked with agony.”

“As always.” I grinned at him.

“As always.” He matched my smile.

Although an agonizing trial to float in a haze of intense arousal, whilst not being allowed to finish, the experience also proved euphoric and blissful in a strange way, so I couldn’t complain. Suffering at the hands of this man was everything.

I think letting me take my time with his disrobing was giving the captain a taste of his own medicine. He tried to go for me again, and I twisted away.

“No. Stop. Not yet.”

He rolled his eyes and made a frustrated sound.

“Huh. Not much fun being on the other side of such torment?”

“Ah, but you see, it’s against my dominant nature.”

“Hmm. You think I’m naturally submissive?”

“Aren’t you?”

“I suppose so,” I admitted, not in the mood to argue. And he was probably right. “Yes, I’ll give you that.”

I unfastened his breeches and tugged them down, noticing that he had forgone the cotton undergarments he usually wore underneath.

“My goodness, Captain. How daring. What if we were suddenly set upon by vagabonds?”

“I’d wave my prick at them.”

“They’d want to stay.”

“No doubt.”

The prick in question was full and standing, I was pleased to see. I went to my knees, hearing his sudden intake of breath.

“Rooster…”

“Yes, Captain?” I asked, gazing up and blinking innocently.

His expression was sober. “I want to thank you…for saving us all once again.”

I stared at him in silence for a moment, unwilling to think on what had occurred—not right at this moment.

“Don’t. I can’t think about that.”

“But you must. We need to figure out a way to control your powers.”

I couldn’t believe he was talking about this now.

“ We? You mean, I need to.”

“Well, I’ll help you.”

“I don’t want to talk about this now.”

“We will need to at some point,” he insisted, and I wondered why he was insisting on a future conversation about something that confused and horrified me.

I lifted my hand. “Fine. But not now. Right now, I want to make your knees weak as you spend down my throat.”

He gasped and nodded quite vigorously.

“Quite right. We can talk later.”

However, I hoped that by the time we were done here, he would be too exhausted and satisfied to remember.

*

D omingo made friends easily.

He had taken to wearing the linen pants and too-large shirt with panache, by tying a red sash that he’d gotten somewhere around his slim waist and wearing bedroom slippers on deck. He must have brought the slippers with him somehow, because I recalled him wearing them in the room of our passionate encounter. I wasn’t sure where they’d been tucked away on his person when he’d escaped with us, but I didn’t want to contemplate it.

He’d also asked Lahiri to pierce one of his ears and now had a hammered metal fish hook hanging from his dainty lobe. He liked to tilt his head this way and that to have the charm glimmer in the sunshine. A vainer person I’d never met, yet he charmed the fuck out of us all. Perhaps that was why he’d been so good at his previous employment.

Esmaralda often hopped about on Domingo’s shoulder as he walked around the ship and offered rude comments on the regular to the absolute delight of the crew. They’d even been teaching her new ones, which could scare the shit out of a person if you didn’t know the bird was near, as she sounded just like the person who taught her.

“Got a fag? Got a fag?” she would say in Martinéz’s voice, or, “Give over, Your Highness,” in a perfect replication of Lahiri’s sardonic tones. I was extremely proud of the “Your prick’s the size of a gnat!” that I’d taught her. I knew for a fact that one fellow had been ready to pummel me for the insult as he’d not been aware of Esmaralda’s presence and thought the speaker was me. The captain had had to demand that we stop teaching her these things because he anticipated the situation would end in bedlam and bruised egos.

But it proved impossible to unteach her what she’d learned, so we had to put up with the damage that had been done. I was secretly pleased that the endeavour had already earned me one spanking, and I had big plans to go against Dinesh’s wishes and teach her to say, “The captain’s dick is a truncheon!” because that would amuse me and certainly wouldn’t lead to any misconstrued slights.

Mr Guthrie had been resistant to the idea of having help in the galley, but since Domingo didn’t have any hands-on skills other than, as he himself described his proficiencies, ‘sodomy and prick eating’, Mr Guthrie agreed to the posting on a trial basis. He had also been reluctant to share his quarters with Domingo, knowing of his background, but they had soon eased into a benign association that might even be called a friendship.

Perhaps Domingo was relieved to be staying with a man who had sworn off sexual adventures of any kind and Mr Guthrie had realized that Domingo had had more than enough intimate encounters in his past to look for them now.

Our way was fairly easy. We avoided other vessels as much as possible, and if we did see any, we made sure to fly our decoy Dutch flag so we didn’t become a target and were able to continue on without issue. The captain and Hillier had made the decision to sail eastward toward China.

Captain Martin had grand ideas about exploring the Asian lands. He said attitudes toward men tupping other men were different there, and he wanted to see if that was true and what that might mean for the two of us. Whether the crew realized that their beloved captain was thinking about abandoning his ship in favor of a land adventure, I wasn’t sure.

I didn’t say a thing about the captain’s plans to anybody, but I was excited at the possibility of making a new life somewhere that wasn’t on the ocean. I was grateful to be aboard the Arrow ; don’t get me wrong. The captain and his ship had saved me when I was most desperate and lost, and I treasured my place here. But I wasn’t sure I wanted to live the rest of my life on this ship, and I had come to understand that neither was Captain Martin.