Lost at Sea Bk. 02 Ch. 25

"Oh, my apologies," Will said. "This is Jaqueline Hunter. She's the expedition leader who hired me onto the ship I mentioned."

"Leader?" Shae said, finally looking Jack in the eyes. "You'll have to forgive me, Miss Hunter. With Mister Sterling's reputation, I thought he was the one in charge."

"Looks can be deceiving," Jack said with a forgiving smile and uncaring eyes.

"Indeed true," Shae said with a tight lipped, conspiratorial smile. "I've found that to be taken seriously as a woman in a man's world, I've had to dress to impress. I rarely have anyone mistake me for an underling."

"You certainly do stand out. I've found that if I'm good at my job, I can dress how I want. The truth is, I find trousers more practical." Jack said with a shrug and a self effacing laugh.

Shae sighed with exaggerated envy. "I wish I had that luxury. I suppose there are benefits to a small crew and a lack of notoriety."

"Oh, I agree," Jack admitted. "I'm still young enough that I enjoy doing things myself. Of course, I enjoy getting dressed up as much as any woman, but I'd probably look rather silly discovering lost treasures in an old ball gown,"

"That would be a sight to see," Shea tittered. "I'm rather fond of tales of lost treasures. There aren't really many treasure hunters of note, and I'm acquainted with most of them. Mister Sterling was one of the few I hadn't met yet. They all come through my port at some point. I'm surprised I haven't heard of you though."

"I publish with the Imperial Historical Society. I'm sure you've heard of them. They get most of the prestige for anything their members find. My name gets thrown about at Society galas and court functions every once in a while. The recognition is nice I suppose, but really I just like having my name on the manuscripts. If you find yourself at court on Empire Day, you'll probably see some of my work on display," Jack dithered blythely. In spite of her words, her tone sounded as vapid as Will had ever heard. Wheels started turning in his head as he watched the byplay.

Shae nodded along slowly as Jack talked, showing an understated level of impressedness. "How nice for you. I prefer a bit more individualism myself. The idea of working so hard and having someone else get the credit rankles me."

"I suppose. As you said though, women often have to do things they'd rather not to get the respect they deserve. Academia is unfortunately political," Jack mused.

"So is commerce," Shea agreed. "There's a certain amount of meritocracy to it though. Recognition is usually well earned."

"True. Have you ever been? To court, I mean?" Jack asked blythely.

Shae exhaled sadly. "Can't say that I've had the pleasure. The various bounties on my head make traveling to the mainland a bit tricky."

"I hope you have the opportunity some day. I think you'd fit right in," Jack said sweetly.

"How kind of you to say," Shae smiled wide again.

Will did his best to keep his surprise off his face. Jack hated court. She could go on for hours about how insipid, conniving, and self important high society was. Coming from Jack, fitting in at court was a brutal insult.

They were duling, but there were no blades in their tone. Anyone listening would hear only women sounding supportive and finding common ground in shared experience, but they both knew better. Every word was a carefully chosen cut. They never parried. That would be admitting there had been an attack. Instead they sidestepped and countered.

Will lifted his glass to drink and realized he had almost poured out the fine brandy onto the table. He was holding the cup very tilted. His blood ran cold. Vertigo washed over him as he steadied his hand again. He took a drink and interrupted, forcing himself to chuckle like he'd suddenly realized something. "Jack, do you remember what we were talking about earlier? About the monkey and the gun?"

Jack's eyes snapped to him far too quickly. "Of course. What about it?"

"I just thought of where it could be. We should go back to the ship," Will said.

"What's this?" Shea asked, putting a hand on Will's forearm to halt him. "A monkey and a gun? Sounds amusing."

"During the shipwreck, I lost a pistol. A friend of ours has a pet monkey with a knack for getting into trouble. We were concerned about what might happen if the money found my gun." The lie rolled off his tongue effortlessly.

Shae laughed. "That would be something."

"We've done what we set out to do," Jack said, standing up from the table. "Better than expected, really. It's a bit late to be heading back through the jungle, but perhaps we can hire a rowboat to take us around the shoreline."

"Good idea," Will said. "The sooner we get back, the sooner we can get the ship to port here."

Shae kept her hand on Will's forearm. "Oh, I'm afraid it isn't quite as simple as that. My docks are all rented out. Both my drydocks are booked for at least the next few weeks."

"We don't need much. We could beach our ship somewhere close while we wait," Will said.

"There is a stretch of land on the south side of the cove. We usually keep it clear for privacy's sake, but since you won't be flying a distress flag you shouldn't attract attention," Shae said. "There's a switchback cut between some old Akula carvings that will take you to the top of the ridge right above us." She gestured upward absently.

"We'll send our captain here to negotiate the repairs we need," Will said, trying to get up again.

Shea gently pulled him back down to his seat again. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were trying to run away from me," she laughed. "It only takes one of you to go back to your ship. Stay, Mister Sterling! I have an offer I think you'll want to hear."

Will glanced at Jack, then back to Shae. "What did you have in mind?"

"I have need of your skills. If you can help me plan a few shipping routes, I'd be willing to rearrange the line for the drydock," Shae leaned in, sounding like she was offering him honey and wine. Her arms squished her breasts up and forward to the point where Will thought they might fall out of her fancy dress.

His eyes flicked down to the intricate webs and the spidery legs emerging from her cleavage. "That is... tempting. I still think I should go, for now. I'd be happy to make some maps for you when I get back tomorrow."

"I'm afraid it can't wait. The most important map I need is for a ship that is scheduled to leave in the morning," Shae said sadly. "This is a now or never offer."

"Your ship is leaving tomorrow, without a route planned?" Will asked incredulously.

"Of course not," Shae laughed. "My ship is leaving tomorrow without a route planned by you."

"Ah. Alright," Will took a deep breath and looked at Jack. "Getting into the drydock sooner would certainly help us."

"What about the gun?" Jack asked pointedly. "And the monkey?"

"Oh, I'm sure he can tell you where to look for it," Shae said. "You did mention how you are an expert at finding lost things."

Will said to Jack. "If you go back to the ship, the monkey won't be a danger. I'm the one that always sets the monkey off anyway. Me staying here is probably best for the whole crew, at least until the gun is safe again."

"Excellent," Shae said, turning her gaze to Jack triumphantly. "I'll take good care of him."

Jack only gave Shae a fleeting glance. Her eyes were locked on Will's. "Keep out of trouble. I'll be back tomorrow."

Shae raised her voice. "Mister Hatch!" After a few moments, the big man with the blue scar bisecting his face came up the stairs.

"Yes, Miss Shae?" he answered.

"Mister Hatch, Miss Hunter needs to hire a rowboat to take her around the shoreline. See to it, won't you?" Shae said, sounding like she was enticing the favor of a vassal.

"It would be my pleasure, Miss Shae," Mister Hatch said with a small bow. "Follow me, Miss Hunter."

With a last glance towards Will, Jack headed back down the stairs. The last thing she saw of him was Shae scooting closer and refilling his glass. Her eyes met Jack's with a small, gloating smirk, and then they were out of sight.

"Tell me Mister Stirling, what do you know of the Malaharan coast?" Shae asked Will.

"A fair amount," Will said as he watched Jack's flipping braid disappear down the stairs. "All the major trade lanes, the weather, the ports, the islands, where the northern reef is. I'm rusty on the patrol routes, and I'm out of date on which sultans control which parts of the coast though."

"They do tend to change hands rather frequently, don't they," Shae said with a tight lipped, amused smile. She gestured over her shoulder to summon an attendant. "Here, let me show you the route as it currently is. I'm hoping you can make some suggestions."

___________________________________

"Everything hurts and I'm dying," Tonya whined. She trudged a few feet and was about to flop herself down onto Will's bed, but Caine's hand snapped out and grabbed her by her messy ponytail. "Ow!" she snapped, whipping around in shock and surprise. Caine let go. "What the fuck was that for?"

"If you had anything else to grab, I would have gone for that," Caine said simply.

She put her hands on her hips and planted her feed wide. Her naked body was covered in dust and dirt, streaked through with lines of perspiration. "What did you need to grab me for at all?" she said angrily. "Fuck, if you're gonna grab me, at least make it fun."

"You were going to get into bed," Caine said.

"Yeah? And?" Tonya demanded.

"Tonya, you're filthy," Janie said with a slight wince. "We have to sleep in that bed."

Tonya looked down at herself. "Oh. Right."

Caine took a drink and pointed to the washroom. "Bath."

"I'm so tiiiired!" Tonya pouted, but her eyes twinkled with mischief. "I can barely lift my arms!"

Caine rolled his eyes and didn't move. "You already used that line when you made us help you get your boots off. Now you want someone to wash you too?"

Tonya nodded.

Janie sighed. "I need my bandages changed anyway. You can help me get them off."

"I don't know how to do that," Tonya said, a bit of worry pushing through her pout. "What if I tear your scabs open again?"

Caine and Janie's eyes met. He didn't say anything, but after a moment she gave him a resigned nod.

"Alright," Caine said, setting his big tankard down on Will's dresser. "I'll show you how to change a dressing."

Tonya grinned. "Baths are always better in groups." She managed to find enough energy to skip into the washroom, her pert butt bouncing as she glanced over her shoulder at them.

"Seems like her legs are fine," Janie deadpanned.

Caine looked at Janie again. "You sure about this?"

"It's just a bath, and nothing you haven't seen before. If we are going to be living here for a while, we might as well get comfortable with each other," Janie said.

"Nobody's got anything I haven't seen before. Doesn't mean I've seen yours," Caine said. "I could just as easily change your bandages after your bath."

"I'm too worn out to care," Janie shrugged. "The sooner we get all this done, the sooner we can go to... wait, you haven't? I thought you'd seen..." Janie trailed off.

"I've seen you wearing some things that didn't leave much to the imagination, but I haven't seen you wearing nothing," Caine said.

"I just assumed you'd looked. You had a few opportunities," Janie said. "Didn't you help get my bustier off after I was hurt? With the mirror?"

"You were face down on the table," Caine said. "Cerise and I did our best to protect your modesty from all the eyes in the doorway."

Janie gave Caine an amused look. "Only you would worry about protecting someone's modesty in a brothel. I think you're secretly the most gentlemanly man I've ever met."

"The competition ain't much. You spend all your time in churches and whorehouses," Caine countered.

Janie let out a laugh. "True enough."

"I can't make the water go!" Tonya called from the other room.

"Just pump the handle," Caine called back.

"My arms huuuurt!" Tonya whined.

Janie rolled her eyes and started to lift her dirty acolyte's robes over her head. She winced as the wounds on her back protested. Bending down stretched the healing skin painfully, and she worried about tearing her scabs. "I think I'm going to need some help as well." She raised her arms over her head with a resigned, annoyed expression on her face.

Caine knelt down, gathered the hem of Janie's robes in her hand and carefully pulled it over her head. She stood there in a sweat soaked white shift, feeling her nipples harden in the cooler evening air. She blushed a little, but was surprised at how comfortable she felt with the situation. A few weeks ago she would have been mortified. A month ago she would have run away and been in a panic over it for days. Now, she could feel her cheeks growing hot, but that was mostly because she was anxious about whether or not she smelled.

She realized Caine wasn't looking at her. He wasn't awkward or embarrassed about it. He had helped her strip with the same mix of stoicism and mild exasperation that he did everything with. She was sure he could see her in his periphery. He just kept his eyes away and downcast, off of her body. She suppressed an unexpected laugh, and sighed at the absurdity of how they were behaving.

"Well aren't we a pair," she said with a thin smile. "Why are we both acting as though you seeing me undressed would hurt me somehow."

"Can't speak for you. My eyes don't go where they're not wanted," Caine said.

"I told you I didn't mind," Janie asaid, a bit confused. She found herself a bit offended that he seemed not to want to see her undressed, but quickly quashed that feeling as childish.

"Not minding is different than wanting," Caine said.

You're an odd man, Mister Caine," Janie said with a bemused shake of her head. "I've seen you and Tonya being intimate, and it never occurred to me that I should look away."

"Difference is, Tonya wanted to be looked at. She likes it," Caine said. "You don't."

Janie hadn't really considered the difference. "Fair enough." She found herself wanting to tell him that he was wrong. She did like being watched. She liked it a great deal. It just flustered her. She felt herself grow unexpectedly wet between her legs, and she blushed even more.

Caine raised an eyebrow at her, like he was waiting for her to say whatever was clearly on her mind.

Relief flooded through Janie as Tonya came back into the doorway. "If you two don't get your slow asses in here, I'm going to bed, dirty or not."

Janie and Caine exchanged a long-suffering glance, and Janie lifted her arms over her head again. Caine carefully took the hem of her damp shift and pulled it up over her body. He gathered it into his hands as he went, rather than just peeling it off and turning it inside out. Inch by inch her pale skin was exposed, but his attention stayed detached and concerned, never lecherous. He moved carefully around her, making sure not to tug on her bandages. After the fabric was free of her wounds, he pulled it the rest of the way over her head with a quick tug. He let it unfurl in his hands so she could see the red-brown stains. "You bled through."

"Nothing a little soda and soap won't fix," Janie said, taking the bloody cloth from him. "We'll soak it in the tub with us for now."

She walked into the washroom, deliberately putting just a little extra swing in her step. Caine might not be looking, but the idea that he might was a little exciting.

"Here, help me," she said, taking the pump handle in both hands. Tonya made a face bit did as she was told. Together, they cranked the squeaky pump until water started filling the wash basin.

"Stupid dinky tub," Tonya complained. Then she rolled her eyes at herself. "When I was a kid, a tub like this seemed like a luxury. When I got to bathe, I did it in the ocean. Now, going from the hot spring to this seems awful."

"Yes, awful is having two people bathe you," Janie deadpanned. "Get in."

Tonya stepped into the cool water with a huff. "Well when you put it like that..."

Caine walked into the room naked, holding a stack of folded laundry and started hanging them on the hooks Will had anchored into the stone wall.

"Well hey there, sailor," Tonya leered.

"Where did you find those?" Janie asked, feeling her cheeks get redder as she tried not to look at the swinging member between Caine's legs.

"Top drawer," Caine said.

"They're old sails," Janie said, exasperated. "At least you found clean ones."

"Soap's in that sack," Caine said, gesturing to the old bird bath Will had managed to drag up the stairs into the washroom. In the bird bath was a collection of toiletry items, including an oilcloth sack.

Tonya picked it up and opened it. With a confused look, she dipped her finger into the bag, drawing it out again covered in gritty white powder. "This is soap?" With a small shrug she poured some into her hand and started rubbing it on herself. She made a face. "Feels like sand."

Janie poured some of the soap onto a small washrag and dipped it in the washtub, trying to give herself something to focus on other than pointedly ignoring Caine's manhood. She began to wash Tonya's back, turning her body so that Caine wasn't in her periphery. Her thoughts were a jumble. She knew liked watching. She'd even discovered that she liked being watched. Why was this so hard? She never reacted like this when Tonya saw her naked, and Tonya had been very clear about her lustful feelings towards her. Was it because Caine was a man? Or was it just because it was Caine?

With all her empathy and training regarding reading others, it frustrated her that she couldn't figure herself out. She wished she could talk to Bella.

Caine joined her, soaping up Tonya's front side with another washcloth. Their tiny friend was loving being the center of attention. "We should do this every day."

Janie knelt to scrub Tonya's legs, moving carefully so she didn't pull her healing wounds. She kept her eyes downcast. She could see Caine's legs, but thankfully the rest of him was blocked by Tonya's body. She could feel her heartbeat thumping in her ears. She was nervous, but also growing more excited, and it confused her. Tonya shifted and wiggled happily.

"Stop that," Caine said tersely. "If you have enough energy to do that, you have enough energy to do your hair." He slapped some more soap into her palm and rung his cloth out over her head.

"You're no fun," Tonya pouted, shutting her eyes tight so she didn't get soap in them. She started petulantly washing her hair.

Janie's eyes went wide as she realized what Tonya had been doing with her hands.

Caine started pulling his sudsy cloth down Tonya's arm, and Janie found herself suddenly face to face with his semi-hard cock. Whatever Janie had been doing, it had clearly been enough to start working. It was right in front of her face, less than a foot away, and she felt paralyzed staring at it.

Caine looked down at her, then moved himself so Tonya was blocking Janie's view again. He didn't say anything. He just moved to Tonya's other arm.

Janie realized she'd been washing Tonya's leg without realizing it, her hands moving up and down of their own volition while her mind seized up. She changed legs, but stayed where she was. The last thing she wanted was to follow Caine to the other side of Tonya's body.

And yet, part of her wanted to do exactly that.

Guilt flooded through her. What would Will think? Would he care? Did it matter if he cared? She obviously cared. That was the important part. She wasn't in love with Caine. She certainly didn't want to have sex with him. What was wrong with her?

"We're done," Caine said, slapping the washrag into Tonya's outstretched hand. "Finish up the rest yourself." He turned around and started using the pump to fill a bucket.