Even if I didn't know Marianne, I'd know she was the captain of the ship. She walked with purpose. Her boots were like thundersteps against the wooden floors.
I sometimes sat back and just admired her on my three days on the ship. I never had the chance to truly get to know her like a lover should in years past. But it was my chance now. I could know more than our shared loss of Neville. I could get to know her expressions, her mannerisms, and the good and bad of her. It excited me.
But I didn't anticipate how much of her I didn't know.
"I'm going to wait for Jack to wake up," I said before we could make it back to Marianne's chambers. I knew well that once we went in, we wouldn't be out for awhile.
Marianne squinted a bit as if confused. "I was going to have him taken back to his own bed before he woke."
"Oh, okay. Then have your men take him to the abbey. Brother Tuck will know him. And have them say I'm with you and safe."
She nodded. "Of course." Looking around, she summoned one of her men and calmly gave those instructions, ending with, "And if a hair on his head is harmed, all of ye will have me to answer to."
The pirate side-eyed me as if he was sizing me up, but I believe he was curious about who I was to Robin. He was wearing tattered, but good-quality clothes. Clothes that were comfortable, but truly made to be worn out. He didn't have a face I'd remember easily, but it takes a striking face for me to remember.
Like Marianne's.
"Thank you," I said to her, avoiding the accusing eyes of the pirate. Or...were they accusing? Curious? I was overthinking it.
"Whatareya doing standin' there?" Marianne barked at the pirate. "Go! We sail when ye return."
The pirate scampered. With a deep sigh, Marianne said, "I want to take you to my chambers to have my way with you, but we need to make sure everything's ready to sail. You can go and rest if you nee-"
"Not a chance!" I said with a laugh. "I'm coming with you."
"Aye-aye, then," she said, grinning. "We'll check the supplies."
"I should ask though," I said. "When will we return to Nottingham?"
"We'll discuss that in a bit," Marianne said without hesitation before walking off.
I have a flaw. I trust too easily. When Marianne said that, I made an assumption that we just didn't have the time to discuss a return trip then. After all, we were setting off to sea in a few moments and I didn't want to delay seeing it.
Never would I have questioned Marianne's intentions of letting me go home. I never questioned Marianne's intentions at all. To me, she was still that girl standing by the oak tree with messy brown hair and bright indigo eyes that looked like they were illuminated by the sun.
A girl who chose adventure of her own over adventure with me, and I'd always respected that because I'd made that decision before. "Let's go check the storage then," I said.
She motioned for me to follow her and led me to a grate on the ground. Pulling it up, she revealed a ladder. "Go down before me," she said. "Help me down when I get lower. I can do it myself, but it gets tricky."
I did as she said, and she led me through the hall to storage. "In actuality," she said. "This is the majority of our loot. A majority of the treasure can fit in a single room, if that."
I was stunned. "From what I've heard, your ship is so full of gold it can't hold anymore."
She laughed. "That's how I lured you in. We pirates love our treasure and gold, but true value," she said, opening a barrel of smoked meat. "True value is in utility. Not currency. We take enough so we can retire if we'd like. Not so much it's a risk."
She opened another barrel, and I smelled a rich, bittersweet scent from it. Putting her hand in, she pulled out a handful of tiny oval beans. It looked and smelled so inviting I wanted to put my face in the barrel and immerse myself in them.
"Coffee," she said, smiling. "From the New World."
"The..."
"You've never seen many of the things on this ship, Robin, and if I hadn't been lucky, neither would I. No one in your time has seen these. No one except the people in the New World." She grimaced. "And how those people are treated by ours is simply barbaric. The land is so beautiful though. But land makes men so greedy, beautiful or not."
I was in awe of her. "You've traveled so much."
"Not only on the sea, Robin." She reached for my hair, the sweet aroma of coffee drifting from her fingertips. Running her thumb across my lips, she leaned forward and kissed me. At first, our kiss was soft, but then it became hungry for all the years lost. The kiss took its time but took no prisoners.
"We're alone," she said, gasping.
"I thought you needed to check-"
She was already fiddling with the strings on my trousers. "They know what to do," Marianne said, pulling me free. The cool air on my bare, sensitive skin was too much. I wanted warmth again. Specifically, hers.
I quickly figured out how to work with her trousers, pulling them down and throwing them aside. I nibbled at her earlobe. "This was so much easier when you were in a dress," I said.
Marianne giggled and kissed my neck, sending a wave of pleasure through me. "Nothing good comes easy."
"You certainly do," I said, cheekily, before lowering to my knees, kissing every part of her skin on the way down. When I reached her thighs, I slowed down, not letting her have what I knew she wanted until she begged me. I pulled one of her legs over my shoulder so I could tease her further, running my fingers through the curly hair between her legs and licking the thin skin between her cunt and her thigh. Her moans were going to kill me.
"Robin," she whined when she felt my breath on her. With a finger, I slowly felt her wetness. She was already dripping, and I released my own moan feeling it. I was trying to tease her to the point of begging, but at this point, I was torturing myself.
Without warning, I pressed my face into her and tasted her for the first time in years. She was just the same as I remembered, but with the salt of the sea in her sweat. I tasted all of her greedily, taking everything in. "Oh god Robin," I vaguely heard her say. "Come up here."
She pulled me up and over to the nearest wall. The leg that had been over my shoulder now wrapped around my waist. I didn't wait to push into her and kiss her. Both of us gasping from the relief that quickly gave way to further desperation. This time, I was able to go on a bit longer, but still, I bit my lip trying to slow myself until I felt her shudder and whimper my name.
That was enough to push me over the edge as well. I clutched her to me as my body lost control. She kissed me to hold back my screams until I relaxed and we remembered where we were.