Jewel of the Sea [Black Sails]

Chapter Nineteen

(Alira)

I woke wrapped in Captain Vane's strong arms with a smile on my face. Beams of warm sunlight spilled in from the window and I jolted upright. It was incredibly rare for me to sleep past sunrise. Captain Vane stirred beside me at my sudden movement.

"What's wrong?" He grumbled groggily, I didn't think his voice could get any huskier or sexier but dear god his just awoken voice nearly made me swoon. What the hell was wrong with me?!

"The sun's already up."

Captain Vane propped himself up on his elbows and looked to the window. "So it is." He chuckled at the flabbergasted expression on my face. "You've missed your early morning training."

"Sh-shut up!" I snapped and swatted at him, "it's your fault for being so fucking comfortable."

He chuckled at this as my face reddened as I rethought my words. "That right?"

"Ugh!" I shoved him away from me and moved to scramble out of bed only to let out a squeal as he caught me in his strong arms and pulled me back to him. "W-what are you doing?!"

His warm breath danced across the nape of my neck sending a delightful shiver down my spine. "I thought you might be fun to tease early in the morning." He smirked. "I was right."

"Piss off!" I elbowed him in the gut and flipped out of bed.

He smirked as he watched me gather my weapons and get them all into place. "Instead of your ridiculous training regimen on the beach, that will now be difficult since everyone else is awake, why don't you train with me and my men instead?"

I frowned. "I don't like training with other people, they slow me down."

His smirk grew. "Feisty as ever."

I folded my arms in front of my chest and grumbled, "I guess I'll give it a go."

Captain Vane slowly stretched his lithe taut body and I felt my face grow hot as my gaze was glued to each well-defined muscle as he stretched. Heat spread through my core and I hurriedly looked away from him as my body burned. Thinking back on the greatest night of sleep I'd ever had I could remember the feel of his sculpted body against mine and how perfectly I fit in his arms.

"Are we going or not?" I cleared my throat and moved toward the door turning my back on him not sure I could take watching him change without needing to fan myself.

Captain Vane chuckled. I heard the sound of rustling cloth before I heard him putting on his boots and securing a cutlass at his hip. He approached me and I jumped as I felt his warm fingers tenderly brush the nape of my neck urging a soft gasp from my lips. We arrived at the courtyard to find most of his men already gathered. I could hear the clash of metal against metal and spotted two men standing in the center of the circle sparring.

Their movements were untrained but had a lot of power behind them. They were all untrained. The skills they'd picked up were through necessity only. I frowned as I watched their sparring match.

"Not impressed?" Captain Vane asked me softly.

"Should I be?" I retorted.

"In comparison to my crew you killed?" He asked curiously. There was no malice or blame in his voice, it was a simple question.

"Stronger yes, but no more skilled with a blade. Though I'm sure they'll do more damage." I shrugged.