Chancing Fate - Jack Sparrow x OC

Part 1 - Chapter 6

A quiet peace was present in the early morning of Tortuga. Most people were still passed out aside from a few that were staggering around from their late night. Somewhere out beyond the walls of the inn, distant voices drifted through the streets followed by a burst of laughter that faded just as quickly. It wasn't the quiet that Caroline noticed as she started to wake up though. Shifting slightly and burying her face deeper into the pillow, she tried to hide from the sunlight pouring through the narrow window.

The mattress dipped beneath her movement.

Immediately after shifting, something else caught her attention. Eyes flying open, she froze before carefully sliding back only to find herself tangled awkwardly in the blanket. No more than a few breaths apart, Jack laid beside her, breathing softly while sprawled out on his stomach, left arm and leg draped heavily over her as though he had belonged there all night.

For one sharp second, Caroline forgot how to breathe. Heat rushed straight to her face as she stared at him in disbelief. At some point during the night, he must have actually joined her in the bed. Worse still, she had slept deeply enough not to notice.

Holding her breath, Caroline watched him carefully for another moment before slowly relaxing once she realized he was still asleep. One braid had come partially undone during the night, beads scattered against the pillow while his face remained turned toward her, entirely unaware of the crisis currently unfolding beside him. Very carefully, she reached down and tried to free herself from the blanket without jostling him awake. His arm shifted slightly with the movement and she immediately stilled again, pulse jumping hard enough she could feel it in her throat.

After another cautious tug, she finally managed to slide out from beneath his arm.

That was as far as she got.

Jack shifted at nearly the same moment, eyes cracking open just in time to catch her frozen halfway through escaping.

"Mornin', Lena. Sleep well?" he asked casually, voice rough with sleep as though nothing about the situation was unusual. Rolling onto his side, he shifted closer again, pressing warm against her.

"Morning... and I did." Caroline slowly sat up straighter, trying to ignore both the intimacy of the position and the blush steadily climbing into her cheeks. She focused instead on untangling the blanket from around her legs. "And yourself?"

"Slept like a baby." His eyes flicked over her face with obvious amusement. "Must have something to do with such lovely company."

Caroline refused to look directly at him. Instead, she scooted another few inches toward the edge of the mattress only for Jack to shift again and close the space just as easily. The motion made her stomach twist strangely and, uncomfortable now for entirely different reasons than before, she sprang from the bed altogether and crossed toward the table near the window, tucking loose strands of hair behind her ear as she went.

The morning air hit her immediately, cold compared to the lingering warmth trapped beneath the blankets. A shiver rolled through her as she attempted to straighten out both her wrinkled shirt and her composure.

"That is the only time you will have my company, so remember that."

Jack broke into laughter behind her as the bed creaked loudly with his movement. "You are somethin' else," he drawled. "Ready to make a scene one minute, shy the next."

She heard him approach before she felt him.

"I think you like it though," he purred softly.

Before she could move away, he brushed her hair aside from where it had fallen over her shoulder and rested a hand lightly against her back. "Am I right?"