Free Me

chapter five

Chapter five:

The air had fallen silent once more. Another barrier had been torn down and discarded with the wind. Jack had exposed his innermost wound to Rose; his heart.

Hope seemed to flicker within glimmering eyes and she found the strength to move her hand from the rail. This time, it was her who shakily placed her hand upon his cheek and felt the warmth there. The touch affected him visibly causing him to tremor just slightly to notice.

‘’What are you offering me, Jack?’’

Jack broke their stare; watching the left hand still firmly attached to the rail where her gaudy diamond sat on the fourth finger; an eternal reminder that she belonged to another man. A man who would never deserve her. A man who seemed to have everything to offer her but in reality; he had nothing but the apparent upper hand.

‘’I want you to be safe. I want you to make decisions for yourself. You should have that much.’’

Her hand didn’t waver from his face.

‘’And what of you? When you return home?’’

Jack exhaled deeply. ‘’I live my life from day to day; I never plan past this moment right here because this is what I will never want to let go of.’’

Rose blinked her eyes; his stare returned to fix on her and she became paralysed once more and only became aware of the feel of his skin beneath her fingers and then his own fingers as they curled around her own in a way that only lovers would.

‘'Of me?’’

‘’Yes of you. The memory of us.’’

As her teeth wanted to chatter once more, Rose managed to gain some control over her nerves.

Did he know the great power he had over her? With a single stare she felt rooted to the spot. An ache within her started in her stomach and worked its way through her entire body. His fingers continued to caress hers ever so gently and as she breathed out, she noted the cloud of fog which surrounded them.

The pads of his fingers were rough, calloused from the years of work, of drawing and using his hands to create brilliance in various forms. Now, they were touching hers, threading through her own soft and unworked hands. It seemed to be a slow, almost seductive caress and it affected her stomach, her legs...

‘’No-no matter what happens,’' she stammered over her hesitation and the cold; she didn’t know which affected her the most. ‘’When the ship docks, I am getting off with you.’’

Once it was said, it was sealed. The weight which had been burdened upon her shoulders had finally disintegrated. Jack’s eyes filled with such a surprise that Rose was sure they had grown watery as his brows raised.

‘’Are you serious?’’

‘’Yes.’’ And she was. ‘’I trust you, Jack. More than anything in my life I have never been more sure  about the faith that you have in me and in turn I trust you, implicitly.’’

His fingers stopped caressing hers and he took her hands within his, slowly he brought her right hand to his lips and lightly pressed them against her freezing knuckles just once. Her breathing hitched; a single kiss upon her hand caused her to tremble. The first time he had done it, her hand had been gloved; the second time it was ever so brief but this time, his stare had not left hers as he did it. The kiss sealed something of their fate.

‘’No matter what happens, I will keep you safe.’’ Jack whispered against her fingers before lightly pressing his lips to them again, to one and then the other.