![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
smackenzieBut once he had an idea what would please her, he went at it with gusto, enthusiastically if not especially skilfully. They paused to open the wine and drink it, and then went back to each other.
"You taste of wine," Maggie murmured against the priest's mouth. She licked at his lips. "I like it."
"I can tell."
There was very little she did not like about him in bed. But she was not sorry she had put him off for so long.
"Imagine if you had said yes to me on board your ship," he said, as if he could read her mind. "We could have been doing this so much more often."
"I was never going to sleep with you while we were at sea. We have had this conversation many times. But we are no longer at sea. We may rock the bed, however."
By now they had rolled over so she was on her back and he on top of her. His breathing grew shallow as he moved against her, inside her, and he wrapped his arms around her head and pressed his forehead to hers as he reached his climax for what she knew was the last time that night.
He rolled off her after a bit, and she directed him in the use of his hand and his mouth to bring her off. And then they both just lay there, catching their breath, letting the sweat cool on their skin.
The priest rolled onto his side, brushed his lips over Maggie's cheek, and pulled her on top of him as he flopped onto his back. She pulled the blankets up over them.
"You will need a priest in your navy," he said, sounding half-asleep already.
"And why is that?"
"Because. Because."
"Because you wish to come with me. Do you realize you are thinking of yourself as a priest again?"
"Priests do not take women to bed."
"May I remind you that this woman took you to bed."
"Mmhm."
She patted his cheek. "Go to sleep, priest. I will kick you out in the morning, but I do not wish to do so if you have not slept well."
He did not answer, but after a minute he snored faintly. Maggie chuckled, curled against him, and fell asleep herself.
In the morning she did make him leave, as promised, and after she had bathed and dressed and eaten, she turned her mind to two things: raising her pirate navy, and refitting the Black Lightning in preparation. She would have to raise her reputation so that her fellow pirate captains would listen to her and their crews would follow her, and to do that she guessed she would need to capture bigger and wealthier ships, or perhaps just more ships, and she would have to stop acting in ways that would cause other pirates to see her as merciful and soft.
Mercy was a weakness on a pirate ship. Maggie did not relish the thought of putting men to the sword if they would not join her crew, but perhaps she would be lucky and it would only infrequently come to that, and the more ships she captured and the more frightening she seemed, the more men and women on captured ships would choose to join her crew rather than be slain.
But she would need some help getting started. Pirates were not a particularly communal group of people - they were competitive and independent and not inclined to take a consensus for anything beyond the running of their own ships. If she was going to lead a navy - if she was going to convince enough ships to sail under her flag - she would need friends.
She spent the day looking up other captains she knew, to feel them out and get a sense of how strongly each of them would support a pirate navy. It was merely information-gathering, reconnaissance, but she was disappointed that so few of them seemed interested. But it was early yet, and perhaps she would need to set sail and demonstrate through her actions at sea how qualified she was to lead a navy, and how profitable such a venture could be.
And in the meantime, she had a ship to repair and resupply, and she had friends and crew members to see and talk to, and that night she once again brought the priest up to her rooms, although it would be more fair to say he came on his own.
"Did you expect one night to satisfy me?" he asked. "Did you imagine I had tired of you already?"
Maggie shrugged. She would not turn him away, but she had not expected him and she had had an exhausting day and she wished to sleep.
"I do not have the energy, priest," she told him. "Of course you may stay, but I am tired and can make no promises."
But once she had joined him in bed it was another matter. He was quick, but they were both satisfied at the end of it. He curled against her back like a casually-clinging human barnacle, his arm draped over her waist and his breath warm and even against her neck.
"Today I walked down to the docks to look at the ships," he said. "There was a military ship flying the Tannen flag. Have you received your ransom yet?"
"No, and I have not heard from the king's representative. I am not worried. The noble is secure. He will not die. We will receive our money." She yawned. "Were the docks very interesting?"
"No, but I needed a place to think."
"Have you been thinking about what you will do now that we are back on land?"
"I thought I would sail with you."
Maggie laughed. What an absurd idea. "You are no pirate. You were useless to me on the Black Lightning."
"Perhaps your crew would find it useful to have a man of God to minister to their spiritual needs."
Another laugh. "You still do not know anything about pirates, priest. They are a superstitious lot, not a spiritual one. Besides, if your only skill lies in ministering to the faithful, you are of no use to me. I need women and men who can sail, who will board a captured ship without fear, and who will fight to gain and keep their treasure. I have seen your capability on board a ship, and I believe you will be better served on land."
"What I do not know I can learn."
"You do not want to come with me. I must become more bloodthirsty and more ruthless in my ventures if I am to draw the attention of other pirate captains. I must become someone they would follow, whose orders they would take. You do not want to follow me on this path. You are still a priest in your heart, and I believe you still wish to welcomed back to your church. You cannot be that man and still live my life."
"You cannot put me off your ship."
"Perhaps." She yawned. "I will not discuss this now. Tomorrow, perhaps. Or next week."
"You will make your own plans," the priest said quietly, "and I will make mine. You know they will intersect."
Perhaps they would. She could do nothing about the path he chose for himself.
It was the path she was choosing for herself that mattered. She wished to take the same crew back out to sea, and for the most part they returned. She finally received the ransom for the noble from Tanne - the king's representative had not even tried to negotiate, much to Maggie's relief and distributed shares of the money to as many of her former crew as she could find. Bernade had finally returned with the Cormorant and Maggie sought her out for advice, which was unsurprisingly "Build your navy and I will sail with it".
Maggie sank money into improvements to the Black Lightning, she bought provisions and sailcloth and rope and gunpowder, she thought about buying a plantation or at least a large house with her ill-gotten gains, she wrote up and discarded a great many plans for her navy, and after three weeks she sent word around Port Doras that was ready to set sail again.
She was watching off the bow of the ship when Yora arrived with the man who must have been her husband, the cobbler. He was tall and bony, his skin a shade lighter than hers, his head nearly shaved and his feet looking immense in their brown boots. He stooped to kiss his wife and watched her trot down the dock to where a rope ladder hung over the side of the Black Lightning. Yora shimmied up it, waved at her husband, and vanished from his sight into the gun deck.
Yuna brought an even dozen of the former slave women and explained to Maggie that yes, they did understand what they were undertaking, they had grown stronger and healthier during their time in Port Doras, and they were choosing a life of piracy for the limitless freedom it offered them. Maggie needed as many hands as she could get, and she could not turn them away.
And Doren, to Maggie's great surprise, brought a cat.
words: 1500
total words: 23,605
"You taste of wine," Maggie murmured against the priest's mouth. She licked at his lips. "I like it."
"I can tell."
There was very little she did not like about him in bed. But she was not sorry she had put him off for so long.
"Imagine if you had said yes to me on board your ship," he said, as if he could read her mind. "We could have been doing this so much more often."
"I was never going to sleep with you while we were at sea. We have had this conversation many times. But we are no longer at sea. We may rock the bed, however."
By now they had rolled over so she was on her back and he on top of her. His breathing grew shallow as he moved against her, inside her, and he wrapped his arms around her head and pressed his forehead to hers as he reached his climax for what she knew was the last time that night.
He rolled off her after a bit, and she directed him in the use of his hand and his mouth to bring her off. And then they both just lay there, catching their breath, letting the sweat cool on their skin.
The priest rolled onto his side, brushed his lips over Maggie's cheek, and pulled her on top of him as he flopped onto his back. She pulled the blankets up over them.
"You will need a priest in your navy," he said, sounding half-asleep already.
"And why is that?"
"Because. Because."
"Because you wish to come with me. Do you realize you are thinking of yourself as a priest again?"
"Priests do not take women to bed."
"May I remind you that this woman took you to bed."
"Mmhm."
She patted his cheek. "Go to sleep, priest. I will kick you out in the morning, but I do not wish to do so if you have not slept well."
He did not answer, but after a minute he snored faintly. Maggie chuckled, curled against him, and fell asleep herself.
In the morning she did make him leave, as promised, and after she had bathed and dressed and eaten, she turned her mind to two things: raising her pirate navy, and refitting the Black Lightning in preparation. She would have to raise her reputation so that her fellow pirate captains would listen to her and their crews would follow her, and to do that she guessed she would need to capture bigger and wealthier ships, or perhaps just more ships, and she would have to stop acting in ways that would cause other pirates to see her as merciful and soft.
Mercy was a weakness on a pirate ship. Maggie did not relish the thought of putting men to the sword if they would not join her crew, but perhaps she would be lucky and it would only infrequently come to that, and the more ships she captured and the more frightening she seemed, the more men and women on captured ships would choose to join her crew rather than be slain.
But she would need some help getting started. Pirates were not a particularly communal group of people - they were competitive and independent and not inclined to take a consensus for anything beyond the running of their own ships. If she was going to lead a navy - if she was going to convince enough ships to sail under her flag - she would need friends.
She spent the day looking up other captains she knew, to feel them out and get a sense of how strongly each of them would support a pirate navy. It was merely information-gathering, reconnaissance, but she was disappointed that so few of them seemed interested. But it was early yet, and perhaps she would need to set sail and demonstrate through her actions at sea how qualified she was to lead a navy, and how profitable such a venture could be.
And in the meantime, she had a ship to repair and resupply, and she had friends and crew members to see and talk to, and that night she once again brought the priest up to her rooms, although it would be more fair to say he came on his own.
"Did you expect one night to satisfy me?" he asked. "Did you imagine I had tired of you already?"
Maggie shrugged. She would not turn him away, but she had not expected him and she had had an exhausting day and she wished to sleep.
"I do not have the energy, priest," she told him. "Of course you may stay, but I am tired and can make no promises."
But once she had joined him in bed it was another matter. He was quick, but they were both satisfied at the end of it. He curled against her back like a casually-clinging human barnacle, his arm draped over her waist and his breath warm and even against her neck.
"Today I walked down to the docks to look at the ships," he said. "There was a military ship flying the Tannen flag. Have you received your ransom yet?"
"No, and I have not heard from the king's representative. I am not worried. The noble is secure. He will not die. We will receive our money." She yawned. "Were the docks very interesting?"
"No, but I needed a place to think."
"Have you been thinking about what you will do now that we are back on land?"
"I thought I would sail with you."
Maggie laughed. What an absurd idea. "You are no pirate. You were useless to me on the Black Lightning."
"Perhaps your crew would find it useful to have a man of God to minister to their spiritual needs."
Another laugh. "You still do not know anything about pirates, priest. They are a superstitious lot, not a spiritual one. Besides, if your only skill lies in ministering to the faithful, you are of no use to me. I need women and men who can sail, who will board a captured ship without fear, and who will fight to gain and keep their treasure. I have seen your capability on board a ship, and I believe you will be better served on land."
"What I do not know I can learn."
"You do not want to come with me. I must become more bloodthirsty and more ruthless in my ventures if I am to draw the attention of other pirate captains. I must become someone they would follow, whose orders they would take. You do not want to follow me on this path. You are still a priest in your heart, and I believe you still wish to welcomed back to your church. You cannot be that man and still live my life."
"You cannot put me off your ship."
"Perhaps." She yawned. "I will not discuss this now. Tomorrow, perhaps. Or next week."
"You will make your own plans," the priest said quietly, "and I will make mine. You know they will intersect."
Perhaps they would. She could do nothing about the path he chose for himself.
It was the path she was choosing for herself that mattered. She wished to take the same crew back out to sea, and for the most part they returned. She finally received the ransom for the noble from Tanne - the king's representative had not even tried to negotiate, much to Maggie's relief and distributed shares of the money to as many of her former crew as she could find. Bernade had finally returned with the Cormorant and Maggie sought her out for advice, which was unsurprisingly "Build your navy and I will sail with it".
Maggie sank money into improvements to the Black Lightning, she bought provisions and sailcloth and rope and gunpowder, she thought about buying a plantation or at least a large house with her ill-gotten gains, she wrote up and discarded a great many plans for her navy, and after three weeks she sent word around Port Doras that was ready to set sail again.
She was watching off the bow of the ship when Yora arrived with the man who must have been her husband, the cobbler. He was tall and bony, his skin a shade lighter than hers, his head nearly shaved and his feet looking immense in their brown boots. He stooped to kiss his wife and watched her trot down the dock to where a rope ladder hung over the side of the Black Lightning. Yora shimmied up it, waved at her husband, and vanished from his sight into the gun deck.
Yuna brought an even dozen of the former slave women and explained to Maggie that yes, they did understand what they were undertaking, they had grown stronger and healthier during their time in Port Doras, and they were choosing a life of piracy for the limitless freedom it offered them. Maggie needed as many hands as she could get, and she could not turn them away.
And Doren, to Maggie's great surprise, brought a cat.
words: 1500
total words: 23,605
