Resist Everything Except Temptation

Chapter 3

As food cleared from the dining tables and the barrels of ale steadily emptied, the crew became rambunctious. Louis watched as hard exteriors were shed and replaced with blood rushed cheeks, loose-lipped smiles, and boyish banter. The moon hung above The Siren's Scream, its ivory glow illuminating the rowdy pirates below.

At some point, two guitars were brought up from below deck. Niall was quick to swipe one of them, his fingers easily plucking the strings even though his eyes were reduced to small drunken slits. Louis had his arm slung around Niall's shoulders, slurring along a melody to a song he wasn't sure even existed. A stocky ginger was perched by Niall's other side, a pirate who Louis learned was the head rigger named Edward Sheeran. After the first hour, Steve wound his way to their table. His palms rattled the side of an empty barrel he sat upon, providing percussion for the motley accompaniment.

"Think we could make a quart – Um, a quart...Buggering quart somethin'" Niall garbled out, his nose scrunched as he tried to make sense of his own words.

Louis cackled in response, his head tossed back as laughter pulled from his stomach, "D'you mean quartet, Neil?"

Niall swatted him in the gut, "I've told ye a million times you cunting bastard, it's not Neil. It's Niall, Niall Horan."

"Neil Whorehain."

"Twat," Niall rolled his eyes. His nimble fingers fiddled with the strings as the melody morphed into something more upbeat. "Bring it up, Aoki," he nodded towards the other man.

Steve rolled his palms against the barrel in quick successions, matching the pace of Niall and Edward's harmonies. He had an easy grin smacked on his face, his sleek black hair glistening from the moonlight and nearly burnt-out candles.

"Keep that up Horan and you'll 'ave the captain dancing!" Liam hollered from the opposite end of the table.

It was the first time in the past hour that Louis had thought about Harry. With help from spiced rum, he was allowing his drunken state to numb what Niall had suggested earlier in the evening. However, Liam's statement had his thought process derailed back towards the captain and away from the bottle tightly clutched in his hand. Louis craned his neck towards the head of the table, frowning when he saw the ornately decorated chair empty.

"Looking for someone, Tomlinson?"

Louis jolted in his chair, his head whipping around to see Harry standing behind him with a smug expression. Immediately, Louis contorted his face to get rid of the blatant shock and replace it with something closer to disinterest. He narrowed his eyes and cocked his eyebrow, the rum giving him more confidence than he would have in a sober state of being.

"I was actually," Louis dryly answered.

Harry took a step closer, his hips gently swaying as if they were a current attempting to pull Louis out to sea. He ran his ring clad fingers through his matted curls, his tone suggestive as he asked, "And did you find him?"

"Not a him, Captain," Louis rolled his eyes, reveling in the open confusion that flitted over the pirate's face. "I was looking for your sister, to be specific."

"My sister," The captain openly blanched as he rocked back on his heels, "You've got your sights on Gemma?"

"I have a proposition for her," Louis airily responded, his shoulders slightly lifting to feign nonchalance.

Harry's eyes narrowed impossibly small and his chin jutted upwards, "What proposition?"

Louis pushed himself up from his seat. His legs slightly wobbled from a mix of liquor and having sat in one place for a handful of hours. He cocked his hip and bit back a smirk as Harry's eyes followed the movement.