Woman Overboard

Chapter 4 : Gold (3)

Edward

August 21st, 1820

(11:52 PM)

Edward laid on the lumpy mattress, examining the intricate twists of braided braids on Alessandra's head.

They wound around each other like Medusa's snakes or the vines of a sentient plant. They glinted in the candlelight, each strand luminescent and gold, fine as cornsilk. He knotted his fingers together, forcing himself not to reach out and touch it.

Below them on a makeshift bed of cushions and extra clothing slept Danielle, her face innocent as an angel's as she dreamed. She had fallen asleep the moment they were assigned a room.

This cabin, apparently, was the captain's quarters. The captain herself had migrated to Abigail's room, as had five of the other women. Their empty rooms were now occupied by three people apiece. Edward had been assigned a tiny cabin to share with Christopher and Jackson, but he had removed himself as soon as he remembered Jackson's chronic snoring problem.

Alessandra had opened her door when he knocked, an unpleasant but unsurprising sour expression on her face. Without a word, she had shoved the door toward him and sat back down at the captain's desk.

Now, Edward laid staring as she sat on the edge of the bed, unwinding her thick ropes of hair. He watched them cascade down her back like the currents of a stiff waterfall, hanging in stunted stalks on her back. She slid one over her shoulder beginning to unravel it.

She had not spoken to him since their kiss on the burning ship. Edward knew she must be very upset about losing The Elizabeth, but couldn't bring himself to ask her. Instead, he sidled closer and took a coil of hair in his hands, gently unwinding it from itself.

"How was your talk with the captain?" he asked in a soft voice, both to avoid waking Danielle and to appease Aless herself. He knew from experience that she got very snippy when she felt pressured or patronized. She resented men with gruff voices, which, Edward supposed, was one reason why she'd been drawn to Daniel with his silky tone and eloquent words.

Aless stiffened, pushing his hand away. "Alright."

"What did she say?"

"She isn't very happy with the way you all have been treating them."

Edward cupped his hand around her waist, his veins buzzing with a desire to touch her. "We have to be careful with these negroes," he said. "You never know when they're going to betray you."

Again, Aless batted him away. This time, she stood from the bed and threw herself down on the desk chair instead. "Until we stand on our own two feet, we will speak no ill of them," she said. Her fingers danced through her hair with the deftness of a woman weaving a tapestry.

Edward sat up, shaking his head. "I just don't want you to be blindsided, Aless."

"That's Captain."

He leaned forward, kissing the soft slope of her jaw. "You will always be Aless to me."

The Captain's face hardened. She leaned away, frowning at him. "Listen to me now, Edward," she said, lethal fingers digging into her twisted hair with renewed vigor. "We are nothing, we never will be anything, and we never have been. I am your captain, and you are to treat me that way. Do I make myself clear?"

He felt a shot of panic rush through his blood. "Nothing?"

"Nothing," Aless repeated.

Edward avoided her eyes, unable to stop himself from touching her anyway. His hands caressed her cheek, then the base of her neck. They slid down the front of her night gown, then slipped under it. Aless watched him with flashing eyes as if daring him to go on.

He lifted her from the chair, placing her gently down on the bed. Placing a kiss on her neck, he waited. She neither responded nor protested. He moved up to her jaw, then to her lips, where he lingered as long as he could before she sat up with a sigh and said, "Danielle's asleep. I don't want to wake her."

Placing his hands on the sides of her neck, he whispered, "She sleeps like a log, Aless."

"Well, I'm tired, Edward."

He sighed. "Why must you be so complicated?"

"What do you mean?" She sounded weary, like she didn't really want to know.

"One moment, you want me, the next, you don't," he told her. When he saw she wasn't listening, he pulled his body on top of hers, pinning her to the bed. "I haven't done anything wrong, Aless. I don't see how I deserve this from you."

Alessandra sighed, unraveling the rest of her braid with one sharp pull. This, she did to the other two. Shaking out her shimmering mane of hidden gold, she offered him a tiny smile. "It isn't anything you did, Edward." She grabbed her brush from the desk, beginning to tug it through her locks.

He watched her for a moment before asking, "You aren't mad at me?" She shook her head. "Then can I brush your hair?" She nodded, handing him the brush without a word.

Edward took it, turning the item in his hand like a sword. In front of him, Aless's hair flowed into his lap where it pooled in a puddle of glittering gold. He began to work the brush through her absurdly long hair, savoring the way it rippled through his fingers like still water on a lake.

"You have such lovely hair," he whispered in her ear. "Why do you hide it away?"

She leaned back, relaxing on Edward's chest. "I don't want all of them thinking of me the way you do," she said. "I don't want to be a woman to them. I want to be a captain who just happens to be a woman."

Edward nodded, continuing his task. He was tempted to kiss her but didn't want to break this fragile equilibrium they'd fallen into.

Soon, her hair was all brushed and again tucked away, but this time in a long, flowing ponytail that Edward kept his fingers twined in throughout the night. Alessandra fell asleep within minutes, but he laid awake for a long time, trying to memorize how it felt to hold her, just in case she never let him do it again.