The Devil's Temptress: Dead Man's Chest || Book 2

VI. The Wicked Wench

Jack's first stop was making sure Gibbs had a proper heading, then he ensured the boy wasn't going to cause any trouble. After that Jack looked after himself, making sure he had a fresh bottle of rum in his hand and then that every knot in the rigging was perfect. And then...then he wound a path towards his cabin where Nicolette had made herself comfortable behind his desk with one of her bottles of wine already uncorked.

"Took your time." She whispered as he shut and locked the door, blocking out most of the natural light. Nicolette had lit candles, illuminating the cabin with patches of dim amber, one of which was on the desk making her face glow mysteriously.

"Duty called luv." He heard her hum doubtfully and after a second he started to walk to her, slowly with considerate steps. Jack wasn't afraid of her but he knew to be cautious, she had that unpredictable spark in her eye, her deep voice on and she was holding a relatively empty glass bottle. "How did you get to that Island with the boy?" He asked with a light smirk, genuinely curious as he took a seat opposite her where his guest usually sat.

He had first noticed the lack of ships on the horizon while walking the deck and trying to work out an honest lie to tell her, and he very much doubted they had swam from Tortuga.

"You don't get to ask the questions Jack." His smile dropped and Jack suddenly found himself very uncomfortable given his current position in the given situation. He didn't like seeing her in his seat, looking over his maps...wearing his shirt. Of course, she was always too impatient to let her clothes dry on her.

Just as his eyes started to wander down the translucency of his oversized shirt on her tiny frame, she scowled and crossed her arm - leaving him to ask himself what she was wearing on the bottom.

"Davy Jones." Nicolette started, voice dangerously low. Jack's mind cleared of all good thoughts. "That damn key. That one you kept going on about finding...and night after night I sat there wanting to strangle you..." Nic paused to take a long swig of her drink. "And not once did you mention Jones."

"You know of him?" Jack sounded surprised but he jumped in his seat when Nic slammed her bottle down hard on the table. The ornaments rattled from the force of the disturbance and she gritted her teeth, eyes looking around the cabin at anything but him.

"Hells Jack! Every sailor in this cesspool knows of Davy Jones! I heard his name every day I was married to Barbossa, the ever looming threat of the locker was enough to keep me quiet during the first few years." Jack pursed his lips and muttered an 'oh' as he sunk lower into his seat and cracked open his own bottle. "What did you do Jack?"

The same darkness inhabiting Nicolette spread to Jack as his eyes became a deeper shade of brown and he sat forward, resting his elbows upon his knees. "What makes you think I did anything lass?"

Nicolette mirrored his movements, leaning closer to him over the desk. Her lips pouted and although his rough tone was somewhat distracting, it wasn't enough so to take her away from the topic.

"Because as much as you deny it Jack I know you..." Her gaze suddenly moved to where Jack was massaging his wrapped hand with his other subconsciously. "And you've been doing that since you sat down."

Jack dropped his hands under the table to hide them from her view and shrugged. "Just a scratch luv, nothing to worry about." Nic's face softened before she chuckled softly under her breath and shook her head. She became hunched and her head dropped forward before she took a breath and relaxed back into the Captains chair.

"All these years Jack." She whispered slowly. "And you still can't tell me the truth." Maybe it was because she hadn't been expecting such a spanner in the works such as Davy Bloody Jones. Or maybe it was because she had told him everything over the past few months, from the mutiny to Barbossa, to her little gambling scrap, and he still couldn't tell her one story which didn't contain one lie.