Pirates, Kings, and Love. Oh my.

Chapter 11 (updated, so read through all)

“Tarryn? Are you, uh, sure you want to, uh, do this?”

I rolled my eyes as Tuck stumbled over his words. I could tell that his face was as red a juicy strawberry, even though he was standing outside my room behind the closed curtain, facing away with his eyes closed. What a boy.

I walked to the door and poked my head out from behind the curtain.

“For the seventh time Tuck, yes. Now will you hand me the breeches?”

I held out my hand, waiting. Tuck turned around, his eyes clamped tightly, and held out the breeches to me.

“Tuck, your other left.”

“Oh, right. Sorry.”

I sighed as a took the breeches from him. I pulled them over my ankles, glided them over my calves, past my thighs, and over my hips. Tuck and I had finally found an old pair buried in a well hidden crate as well as a cloth shirt, boots, and an old hat.

“Ok, shirt please.” I said, back in the doorway.

“I just don’t see why your dress wouldn’t work. You looked great and you weren’t so… exposed.”

“What, you don’t think it’s okay for a woman to dress like a man, yet men patronize bars where the women wear next to nothing?” I said sweetly.

“No! It’s just, uh, well… you see…”

I pulled the shirt over my head. I watched as it fell into place and billowed around me. I tucked the ends into the breeches and buttoned the two rows of three brass buttons on the front. I looked into the mirror.

The shirt went only a few inches below my chest until it was tucked into the waist of my pants. The breeches had a very high waist that ended right below my ribs. The colums of buttons were vertical and about five inches apart down the waist of the breeches. The breeches were a bit snug and hugged my legs all the way to my ankles. The boots went almost to my knee and were black. Everything fit perfectly.

“See what?” I asked as I tied back the curtain.

“It’s just not right. You’re a girl. You’re not supposed to wear mens clothes. Its just not right. They wont even fit you.”

“Really? Well they seem to fit me pretty well. Why don’t you see for yourself?”

Slowly, Tuck opened his eyes. He noticed my pile of clothes that was my dress and many skirts and then looked at me.

“Whoa…” he let out a slow breath. I turned in a circle to let him inspect my garb.

“So, what do you think?” I asked. I couldn’t stop smiling. It felt so wonderful to not be restrained by a mass of skirts.

“You sure don’t look like a boy!”

“Yes, that’s a trait I’ve had since birth.”

Tuck smiled a bit maliciously to my remark.

“Ok smarty pants. Just because you’re dress like a boy doesn’t mean you can tease me, ya hear?”

“Oh but Tuck, it doesn’t matter what I wear, I can tease you whenever!”

Tuck’s smile faded a bit. “That’s true.” He said quietly.

I laughed.

“Tuck, really. What do you think?”

“I think,” said a voice in the door. “That you look very nice.” My head whipped to the doorway. Heath was standing there, a small smile playing at the side of his mouth. He walked in, took the three cornered hat off the desk, and place it firmly on my head. His fingers gently trailed down the sides of my face. I blushed.

“Welcome to the crew.”

That night I had the dream again. The same one I had when I had been sick, only this time it was much more lurid. Rain came in sheets down onto the deck as I stared up in revulsion at Preston’s malicious face looming over me, smiling.

“Hello, Colette.”

I immediately remembered what came next and sidestepped Preston. The boat rocked so violently that the rail dipped into the cadaverous waters. Water rushed into my boots as the boat righted itself suddenly.

Preston grabbed my wrist and pulled me to him. His other hand clasped around my throat. I felt all five fingers slowly molding themselves into my skin, crushing my neck.

“Preston, what are you…why?” I choked.

“Because, Colette. You are mine. And you ran away from me. Then I realized that my fiancé, my beloved wife to be didn’t want to be with me. Now, as you probably could guess I was greatly distressed finding out that my pretty little Colette lived on a pirate ship full of boisterous, loud, disgusting thieves who should all be hanged.

“Now, I’m a reasonable man. And I always get what is mine. So, I’m giving you a second chance. You’ll be able to see your mother and father again. You’ll be able to hear little Julia playing the pianoforte in the parlor, you’ll see dear Benjamin and Marianne happily married. You’ll wear fine gowns and never get those delicate hands of yours dirtied with work. You’ll have all of this and more.”

I could barely breathe. Every second I could feel his fingers burying themselves deeper and deeper into my flesh. I knew I was dying, but I would fight with every ounce in me.

“What do you want?” I said viciously.

“Just you. Oh, and to know the identity of Prince Dastan.”

My vision started to go black, and I couldn’t think straight.

“Who?” I muttered feebly.

“Prince Dastan. Or maybe his alliace will be more clear.” He looked straight into my eyes and every cell in my body could feel his poisonous soul bearing into mine. “A Captain Hea—“

I could vaguely hear the sound of a man screaming. I could barely see Preston falling to the ground. The second his hand loosed its grip of my neck I slumped to the ground, too weak to do anything else. I saw a face, a face that shone with light. The lips were moving. I was almost sure they were saying my name, but I wasn’t certain. Then everything went black.

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authors comment: 

so, what do you think? im so sorry it has taken 2 months for me to write anymore of this story! i know it gets a lot of reads and im disappointing many people when i dont upload sooner. trust me the next part of this chapter will get exciting!! like always, dont forget to comment and vote if you really do like it! i want feedback so just send a quickie little post saying what you did/didnt like. its your comments that make me a better writer so you wont be reading crap! like always, dont forget to comment and vote if you really do like it!