“Well, Rooster, you see,” Captain Martin said, lifting his cheroot to his lips and inhaling.He shut his eyes, let the smoke out in soft puffs, then opened them.“I figured that, with only a few men aboard, and those busy with repairs, you and I can celebrate properly the fact that you are no longer plagued by an evil spirit.If you understand what I mean…”
I gave him a puzzled look.
“Are you going to hang me from the yardarm and fuck me?”
He coughed, the smoke exiting his mouth in a large cloud that he waved as he tried to contain his amusement at my suggestion.
“As much as that idea might appeal to me, I fear it would be imprudent to fuck you out in the open.”
“Well, then, who cares if the crew is here or not?”
Dinesh stepped forward and cupped my chin, making sure to keep the end of his cheroot from my skin.
“You see, Rooster, I only want to forget about everyone and everything when we are in our rooms this evening.I do not want to risk being interrupted…and distracted from my plans.”
“Plans?”
“Yes.My filthy, depraved plans.”
My favourite kind.
“Filthy?Depraved?”
“So filthy.So depraved.”
“Well, then, I suppose it’s wise to make sure there’s nobody around to hear me begging you for mercy.”
He gave me a slow smile as his eyes flashed with desire.
***
We’dbeentemperateinour drinking, and all of the crew but the carpenter and a handful of others had departed in the early evening to continue their celebrations in the taverns of Port Royal.
Captain Martin led me back to our rooms with mischief in his eyes and hands no doubt itchy to wield the soft ropes.My belly swirled with excitement at the prospect of a proper session in them, now that my strength had returned.
Dinesh tossed a ham hock onto Pearl’s blanket, and she immediately got to work, chewing the remnants of meat off it with happy little snarls and smacks.
“What’s on the menu then?”I asked.“Teasing?Torture?Toys?”
He turned and gave me a mysterious smile as he wiped his hand on a cloth.
“Only, Captain, I do think you should know, now that I am a powerful and short-tempered witch, you should be ever more appreciative that I willingly submit to this sort of thing.”
“Believe me, Rooster, I am.Certainly, the fact that you could at any moment cast a terrible spell on me if you are not pleased at how things are proceeding will always be in the back of my mind.”
I stopped walking.“Dinesh, I would never wield my power against you.”
“A jest, that’s all.I trust you, in the same way that you’ve trusted me since the beginnings of our entanglement.”
He reached for my hand and pulled me along behind him.
Once in his rooms, he told me to strip, whilst he gathered a few different lengths of his prized red rope and tossed them onto the bed, the sight of which provoked an instant response in me.
I wondered what he had in mind.
“I can tell you are trying to outfox me.But you cannot.”
“I only want to prepare myself for whatever depraved idea has taken hold of you.”
