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I make no profit from mucking about with these characters.
Just a Little More
“No, no, that’s too much on the tip. Just a little is all you need... that’s better.” Kay was patient with Captain Jack Sparrow, more patient than her stepbrother Will, who squirmed in the chair periodically and blinked at all the wrong times.
Black smeared under a chocolate eye.
“Blast! Can’t you sit still for a moment, whelp?” the exasperated pirate hissed.
Will stuck out his tongue in a most undignified manner, and Kay was beset with a fit of giggles. “None of that,” she warned. “There are children about!”
Jack tried to look scandalized at the suggestion that the mere sight of Will’s tongue would provoke him to act inappropriately around the little ones he was coming to see as his own nieces and nephews. But he had to admit the lovely and talented tongue sticking out at him like that did cause somewhat of a rush of blood to his loins. He grinned and remembered the night before, when Will had pinned him down face first on the deck, and licked one, long, wet unbroken line from his ankle all the way up to his ear. How he’d kept his tongue wet the whole time Jack would never fathom. Talented boy.
He shifted a little, in a vain attempt to hide the growing bulge in his trousers. It was bad enough that Will was wearing only his pants, since Jack’s first attempt had resulted in a spray of black powder across one of Franklin’s work shirts. Kay had whipped the shirt off Will with alarming speed, and set it to soak in sudsy water. But when Will shrugged rippling chest muscles topped by sun-kissed nipples enthralled Jack. He cleared his throat and squinted in a vaguely threatening way.
“Watch yourself, I’m armed,” he teased, holding up the intricately carved tool.
Kay looked the pirate up and down. “I’ll say,” she muttered, then swept a damp cloth over the smudged kohl.
The blush spread up Will’s cheeks, turning golden skin to burnished copper.
The smug look on Jack’s face gave Kay another fit of chuckling. “You two, you make a fine pair. Now get yer minds out of the gutter and pay attention. Will, you sit still. Jack, you relax your hand. You’re so tense you can’t concentrate.”
Jack took a deep breath and tried again. This time he laid just the right amount of kohl on the blunt end of the wooden stick, which he’d first dipped in oil, and put down an even, thin line along the edge of Will’s right lower eyelid. Will didn’t flinch this time and the result was perfect.
“Better! Now, I’ve cleaned off the upper lid too, so try again there.”
Will looked up at Jack, brown eyes wide and trusting. He gave a little smile, half shy half teasing. Then lowered lashes and sat still.
Jack took a deep breath. He didn’t want to paint kohl on the upper eyelid. He wanted to give it the faintest, gentlest lick, and then brush the softest kiss across it, and then make it fly open again when he plunged his tongue into Will’s sensitive ear. Alas, Kay stood beside him, waiting for him to prove he’d learned the lesson well. Time for ear licking would have to come later. He dipped the applicator lightly into the vial of powder and rested the side of his hand on Will’s cheekbone.
“Take your time, Jack,” Kay soothed.
He could feel the angle of the bone beneath his hand. His eyes strayed, following the hollow of the cheek on the other side, up to the temple where a thick, glossy curl wrapped around itself against golden skin. He could imagine sliding the tip of his finger into the curl and pulling lightly, watching the hair wind itself around him as if it had a mind of its own. Soft curls that flowed against Will’s long neck. Lovely curls that tickled his nose when he tried to sleep, that slid along his body like silk when Will kissed him all over, that teased and tantalized him whenever he wasn’t allowed to reach out and sink his hands into them.
The eye. Right. Time to paint the eye. He touched the stick carefully to the edge of the lid and drew it across slowly. The eye beneath the skin drifted up a bit, reacting to the tickling sensation of powder and oil, but Will stayed perfectly still this time.
“Good, now draw it out a bit at the edge there, that’s it. See that curve there? Hmm, yes, just let the tip drift up, you’ll feel the angle naturally.”
Jack let the sweep of Will’s face shape the line. This was art. He remembered the feeling of art. The feeling of the brush leading the hand, the form choosing itself. He lifted the stick from Will’s face and looked critically at his work.
“Good!” Kay was very pleased. She’d had a hunch the captain had an artistic streak, especially when it came to Will. “Now the other one, try to make it match but don’t fret over it. You get all vexed and it won’t be even.”
Jack nodded and cleaned off the applicator, coating it once more with the oil. He could think of a few other things he’d rather be doing with the oil. At least a dozen things, off the top of his head. All entailed the removal of the rest of Will’s clothes. But this was enjoyable enough, now that Will had stopped moving about and Kay wasn’t making fun of his arousal any more.
It wasn’t natural, a woman taking such an interest in the sex life of two men. What kind of woman was this? She seemed perfectly happy with her husband; she didn’t seem frustrated or bored. He supposed that if she found out Will was her stepbrother and there was a woman he was interested in, she might be taking the same interest. But Jack doubted it.
He stepped closer and tilted Will’s head back so the light from the window hit his eye fully. Will’s lips slid open, just a bit. An automatic response to leaning back? Or was he being deliberately enticing? That alluring tongue rested just behind even white teeth, hinting that it might like to come out and play. Jack fought to keep his moan inside. Soft, full lips curled just a bit, into a knowing smile, but the rest of Will’s face showed no emotion.
Oh, very deliberately.
Jack lowered his hand, fingers of one hand resting below the eye, putting gentle pressure on the skin to stretch the lower lid slightly. He forced his right hand to relax. The side of it rested against the side of Will’s nose. He could feel warm breath on his wrist. Now, how was he supposed to draw a straight line when that was happening? He willed all feeling in his wrist away and traced an elegant line below dark, arching lashes.
When he drew his hand away Kay murmured her approval.
Will kept his eyes closed, little smile playing around his lips. He angled one leg so his knee nestled between Jack’s thighs. He flexed his thigh, just enough so Jack could feel the muscle jump, the tiniest rub against his inner thighs. Jack’s breath hitched and Will’s little smile curled up.
“You are evil,” Jack whispered in the lowest voice possible.
“Hmmm.” Low, throaty. Not a purr, but close enough to cause the hairs on the back of Jack’s neck stand up.
“I like a challenge, whelp.”
“Challenge? It’s only a little kohl, Jack. Shouldn’t be a challenge for you.” Will cooed.
Kay laughed. “A little kohl is a challenge for Jack. Look at this!” She swept a hand in the direction of Jack’s thick-lined eyes. “This man has no sense of restraint.”
“I,” Jack growled, “Do not wear kohl for show, dear lady. This is so I can see further into the sun.”
“Now Captain Sparrow, nobody ever told you it’s a bad idea to look into the light?” Kay smirked now; impudent whelp’s sister.
Jack smirked. “Nobody has ever told me what to do for a long time. But since you seem so intent on me learning this skill of dubious value, shall we get on with it?”
Kay took hold of Jack’s sleeve and dragged him forcefully into the parlour. “Captain Sparrow, you will not cast any aspersions on the worth of anything involving my brother,” she hissed. “And in particular, I think you would do better to not doubt the value of this exercise. I know exactly what happened when I painted your eyes; I could read it on his face the next day as clear as I could read your face the morning after I painted his eyes. You’re learning to do this because you like it. And because I want you to. And you’re learning to do this because every time you see my brother with that kohl on his eyes you fall a little more in love with him.”
Jack stood, stunned, staring at this mad woman. “That’s what you want?”
Kay smiled broadly at him. “Jack, you’re a rogue and a scoundrel, but you’re in love with Will. I just want to make sure you never forget it, because he loves you back. And if you ever, ever forget how much you love him, I will not be forgiving.” Kay suddenly grabbed Jack, rather painfully, between the legs. “So consider this your warning. If you ever cause him any pain…”
“Savvy,” Jack choked out. He was very aware that this woman he had thought was a slightly perverted but loving mother had turned into a slightly demented, territorial and terrifyingly protective sister. The most frightening part of it was that her threat to the goods was not causing the goods to diminish in size in the slightest. Alarming.
Kay gave him a swift, only mildly painful, pat. “Good boy. Now we understand each other. Now, I think you want to finish this, because dusk is approaching, and it’s almost time for you to row out to that ship for the last time, because Alphonse is leaving tomorrow. Do not waste the opportunity. Savvy?”
Jack nodded, wriggling to rearrange his scandalized privates. He couldn’t imagine what had caused this further growth. He pondered what she’d done. He’d never been excited by having his bollocks threatened before, at least not when that much pain was involved. He pondered what she said. No, warnings of personal damage had never excited him in the past, not like this.
All that talk about being in love. It had never caused this kind of response before. But when he considered the notion that Will might be in love with him his still-nervous cock twitched. And grew a bit more.
Holy mother of… was Will in love with him? And he in love with Will?
He peeked around the corner. Kay was pouring a glass of water for Will. He laughed at something Kay said, and the skin around his eyes crinkled a little. Jack realized he loved those little crinkles when Will laughed. And he loved the sound of Will laughing. And he wanted to hear Will make all kinds of other noises as well, but he liked the laughing just as much of any of the others. Astounding.
Will looked all lopsided, with one eye lined completely and the other only on the bottom. If the cost of making him balanced again was to fall in love with him a little more, that was a price well worth paying.
Jack re-entered the kitchen and picked up the blackened stick. “If we’re going to do this, let’s do it proper,” he announced.
Kay nodded, smiling. Will tilted his head back obediently and closed his eyes. It was easy, just a light touch and sweep to the side, letting the kohl flow naturally. “Just a little more,” Jack whispered, and let his fingers guide the stick beyond where it seemed it should end, curving up ever so gracefully.
Then Will opened his eyes to look into Jack’s eyes, and Jack was pleased.
It was perfect. It was beautiful. So it suited Will.
Next: Chapter 33 Norrington's Gambit
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