The Thrill Of You

Chapter 11

Stede's POV

"I don't know how you could stand wearing this thing. It's so tight," Ed remarks as he moves the shirt around a bit, sighing in defeat. I had caught him doing that quite a lot, tilting my head as I looked away from the book that I had been reading. "Wear what? A shirt?" I was more or less obviously confused, trying to think if something was wrong with the shirt. "Well, the thing underneath," He told me, moving his shoulder and sighing as he held his hand there.

"What do you mean? If you put something on wrong I may be of service," I offered to him, walking over and looking at Ed with reassurance, though I was a little closer than originally intended to be. Ed looked a little awkward about the situation, but he slowly unbuttoned the shirt. I felt my face fill with heat like it had this morning as he revealed a lace top that did nothing but reveal his chest with the design over his tattoos.

"Oh, dear! Ed, you're- oh god-" Embarrassed, I turned around and couldn't calm the heat from my face, unable to look at Ed who was more than likely confused. I didn't know I had accidentally grabbed one of the lace tops in Mary and I's shared closet, thinking back to where I had accidentally grabbed it. Possibly in a panic to not have Mary see that I had been moving things about, but I still couldn't find a reason that Ed would put it on. It is pretty small, so I would understand why it was hurting or bothering him all day. Though what I thought about the most was trying to think more of if it showed through the white shirt more than how he looked with it on.

"... Is it not done right?" Ed asked after a while of silence, his body heat behind me radiating and joining with my own heat. I hadn't even heard him coming up behind me, though the thought of knowing he had his shirt mostly off was lingering a bit as I stood there. "No- no, no, it's actually done quite nicely but you don't have to wear that," I whispered, not looking in Ed's direction. I couldn't look at him, I didn't want these thoughts of how toned his chest looked or how cool his tattoos looked that sat between the chiseled collarbones.

"Well, that's a relief, the back of it was starting to bother me... I'll go change," He told me, soon feeling a lack of heat as Ed had left to the closet to change, most likely back into the robe he had been wearing. He looked rather comfortable in it too. I had to act quickly once again, thinking midway through changing that I should have really just used the bathroom as a changing room or even the library behind the curtains. I couldn't dwell on it as I had quickly put on my nightgown after having taken off my shirt. I didn't find it comfortable in the slightest when I decided to sleep with my nightgown over my shirt, it was hot in the morning and the sleeve endings tried to get all the way to my shoulders in the middle of the night.

After successfully having taken off my shirt and put the nightgown on, I slid off my pants and put the articles of clothing away in my actual closet. It wasn't long before Ed came out, his shoulders slouched with exhaustion and his hair in a tangle, probably being worse as it wasn't tied up anymore. "That fucking thing is a diabolical death trap and I'm surprised anyone wears it," He grumbled tiredly, to which I nodded and still felt the need to tell him what it was. It had been sitting in the back of my mind, seeing as he had survived in it for an entire day, he was obligated to have the truth.

"Well... It's not a men's article of clothing- er- it wasn't really meant to fit you, rather it was... It's lady's lingerie," I whispered sheepishly, finding myself looking anywhere but Ed because I certainly was not wanting to see his reaction. "Ah, so you're... Were you expecting to bring a lady aboard at some point?" He asked gently, to which I snapped my head in his direction and felt the need to frantically shake my head. It had almost made my neck snap, or that was what it had felt like.

"No- no! It was, um, it was my wife's. I had accidentally grabbed it, supposedly, when I had just grabbed everything of mine by the hangers... I don't really feel like I had really been attracted to the idea of being in a married state, you know? It was sort of arranged, we surely didn't love each other," I explained in a frantic mess for some unknown reason, just feeling the need to explain myself thoroughly so everything made sense. "Ah, so- cool... Could I get the window side?" Ed asked, to which I had chuckled a bit, nodding and stepping aside so he could tiredly crawl to the other side of the bed.

I looked at Ed as he situated himself under the blanket, keeping it at his waist. He kept his chest revealed, which I couldn't blame him since it was kind of hot in the little space with two bodies. I lied down under the blanket, looking toward the window, just kind of looking past Ed to see the moon peeking out from the horizon. It was nearing the full moon, having to do the math of how many days it had been. It took us over 7 days, taking constant shifts back and forth to sail to my hometown, and since, it's been 2 days. So, the days had been going by, but the moon seemed to be the only thing I had been tracking, all the way up to it being a full moon; if I was correct, it should be just a couple of more days now. Though as I started to realize Ed was snoring softly, I let my thoughts rest, trying to get some sleep myself. The day hadn't felt that long, but somehow, I was just really tired.