The Accidental Seduction of Edward Teach by Stede Bonnet, Gentleman Pirate

Chapter 28 - Adrift on the Ocean

It was amazing how different warm ocean water was to a bath.

Ed hadn't imagined there was any significant difference until he found himself surrounded in water far more uniformly warm than anything he'd experienced before.

Throughout the bath, Stede kept speaking to him. The words didn't matter so much as the tone. His voice, which was nasal and squeaky when excited, was soft and gentle in that moment, pitched low and punctuated by whispers.

At one point, Stede asked him if he wanted his hair washed. Ed nodded vaguely, and soon, Stede was using a small pitcher to spill warm water over his head.

He closed his eyes as Stede rubbed his fingers through his hair, massaging firmly, but gently along his scalp. He felt the bubbles fizz and pop as the other man slipped his hands down his long lengths of salt and pepper hair with great tenderness but fussy thoroughness.

Ed had never trusted anyone so completely in his life.

"Come on, then. You're going to shrivel right up if you stay in there much longer," said Stede after a time, as he gently spilled cool, fresh water over Ed's head and rinsed out the last of the soap. He felt gentle tugs along the lengths, then felt Stede twisting it into a simple plait.

With help, Ed got out of the bath. Stede patted him dry, gently buffing at his skin, while being mindful of his injuries.

Ed was slowly coming back to himself with each gentle touch. The detachment of his body and mind slowly started to fade as everything slowly came back into focus. He watched Stede as the man took his task of drying him off, then checking his wounds, with a very serious look on his face.

"Your hands, love. They're a mess. We'd better get them cleaned up." Stede inspected both of Ed's hands gently, fingers brushing over his raw and bloodied knuckles. He led Ed back out to the cabin, which was now lit by lantern light and the fire he had lit to warm the bathwater.

The sting of alcohol that Stede dabbed onto his knuckles finally brought Ed fully back in sync. He sucked in a lungful of air and lurched forward a little.

Stede reached out a hand to steady him. "Stay still. This one's quite deep. Oh, I bet you broke the jaw of whoever you punched. Well done, you," he drawled, then looked up at Ed and smiled.

Ed looked into the other man's eyes - eyes that were unremarkable in colour but utterly spectacular in warmth and vitality. His hair was mussed, but still held remnants of careful styling. There were gentle laugh lines around his mouth and eyes. His skin showed subtle signs of the age that his energy and optimism often canceled out.

Stede's touches were utterly gentle, but guiding. He spoke with a caretaker's grace, and with the power of a man finely attuned to the mood of others.

And Ed, in that moment, felt profoundly unworthy of his affection.

All of the pain he tried to escape from instinctively slammed into him like a tsunami. He bucked forward and grabbed handfuls of the front of Stede's waistcoat. He buried his face against his neck. Sobs crested through him with such force that he felt deeply nauseous and unable to catch his breath.

"I'm a monster, Stede," Ed said between ragged breaths. "When you see that..." he pawed at the other man, "...when you see that, you'll leave me."

"Ed, Ed...oh, darling. Calm down...shh, now..." Stede guided him gently to the floor so his unsteadiness wouldn't knock them both over.

Ed's face felt hot and flushed and he felt large tears snaking down his face. His throat was clenched and painful. He leaned his full weight against Stede as his body vibrated with grief for something that hadn't happened.

Stede slid his arms around him and rocked slowly back and forth. "Edward Teach, do you think I don't know who you are?" he gently admonished.

Ed looked up at Stede, his hair wet and clinging to the side of his face, his eyes bloodshot, his face streaked with tears. "How could you? You wouldn't be here if you really understood. I'm a murderer. I've...tortured people. I've betrayed...friends. The very worst things they've said pirates do, I've done."

Stede drew in a long breath. "Ed, I spent my entire life reading about you in books. And those were written about people who don't like you very much, so they weren't exactly kind." He smiled a little and canted his head. "Oh, some of them might have been impressed, but those books definitely cast you as a villain." He brushed a bit of wet hair that had escaped from the braid back from Ed's face. "If you're a monster, then...well, I suppose, I love a monster," he said matter-of-factly and with a little harrumph sound. "It doesn't matter, the things you've done. Do you know why?"

Ed shook his head.

"Because I know your heart. And because I see how much your past haunts you. I'm starting to understand that out here, men don't become hard because they want to. They become hard to survive. I can't begrudge you that. Because that kept you alive. And brought you into my life." Stede leaned in and pressed a kiss to Ed's temple.

Ed closed his eyes and savored the sensation of lips pressed along his hairline.

"I have no doubt that you would have been a poet, or an artist, or a performer," Stede said with a flourish, "...if the world had let you." He slid a hand under Ed's jaw and gently stroked the still-damp whiskers. "But I know you," he whispered, "And I know that you have never enjoyed a single dark act you've done. I know you've lost yourself to it, at times. But there is a difference between a man who inflicts pain because he enjoys it, and a man who does it because he feels he has no other choice."

All the while he spoke, Stede rocked Ed gently.

Ed slumped heavily against his shoulder, one arm grasping behind Stede, the other holding on to a handful of his shirt. Stede smelled faintly of sweat from the raid, faintly of lavender from the bath. The two scents combined to create a smell that was both masculine and gentle. It soothed Ed's aching soul. "You're too kind, Stede. That's going too easy on me," he rumbled.

"Maybe. But..." Stede patted his shoulder. "I'm an optimist! Maybe that's a failing on my part, but I'm not going to change." There was a stubborn note to his words. "And I promise you, I'm not going to suddenly sail away just because I'm confronted with the reality of your past. Give me a little more credit than that."

Ed looked up at him, his eyes wide and vulnerable, his expression open and radiating affection.

"...ah, do you..." Stede quirked a shy little smile and turned a bit pink, "...are you aware...of how..." he cleared his throat, "...absolutely weak that look makes me?"

Ed sat up a little and let a smile tug at his lips, "Well, I am now," he murmured.

"Oh, that's going to get me in trouble later, isn't it?"

"Yip," said Ed, simply. "Don't give me power, Stede. I will use it."

"Ah...too...too late for that, I'm afraid," Stede stammered endearingly.

Then Ed leaned in to kiss him gently, lingeringly.

Gratefully.