Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

JULY 29TH, 1666

F ox was jittery, pent up, and spoiling for a fight. So when he first spotted the sails of a huge merchant ship on the horizon, it was like all his prayers had been answered.

But now, sitting in the rigging of the Siren Song , looking down the barrel of his rifle, he could feel only regret, a sinking feeling that reminded him of the first time he'd been seasick. It was like time had slowed when he spotted the man on the deck of the Kraken's Fury . Fox considered just shooting him. Just doing his job. He had the shot. He aimed. His finger found the trigger. Then the man looked up with that all too familiar face, and his gaze seemed to find Fox in the rigging.

Ga?l.

Fox took his finger from the trigger. Despite his hatred for the man, he couldn't do it.

Then everything was suddenly on fire, and he lost sight of Ga?l in the smoke and chaos. He scrambled down the rigging but didn't get very far.

"Fox!"

Henri's deep voice barely reached him in a lull between volleys of cannon fire. He looked over and saw Henri through the smoke, his large frame dangling from one hand on the lowest yardarm. His rifle was on the deck twenty feet below, and one long leg was tangled in a bit of rigging. The sail crackled with fire. Dangerously close. Fox climbed out onto the yardarm, the fire hot on his face.

"Hen—"

"Help," Henri croaked. His clothes and dark skin were streaked with ash.

Fox grasped the back of his shirt and tried to haul Henri back onto the yardarm. He was much bigger than Fox, and between the smoke blowing into his eyes and the rolling of the ship, it was next to impossible.

A tongue of flame jumped from the sail to his pant leg, and Henri shouted in pain. He couldn't move away, tangled as he was in the ropes.

"Cut me free! Cut me free!" He was panicking, wriggling and writhing to get away from the fire.

"But—"

The ropes slackened, burned through, and Henri's body weight suddenly swinging free was too much. His grip on the yard slipped. Fox surged forward, but his fingertips just brushed Henri's outstretched hand. He watched in horror as Henri plummeted to the deck, tongues of fire following him down. He bounced off a bundle of stowed cargo and thudded to the deck itself. Several crew members rushed to him, immediately putting out the fire on his clothes.

Henri's eyelids fluttered and opened. He looked up into the rigging and gave Fox a shaky thumbs up.

Fox scampered down, determined to help his friend. But by the time he made it there, the battle seemed to be over.

Fox's feet hit the deck as the Kraken's Fury drew up beside them, and Logan motioned Fox towards where he and Captain Rowan stood at the rail. A spark of anger lit inside him as he saw Ga?l's face in the crowd. The Deep Water Demon had trapped them…hurt his friend… Fox worked up a wad of saliva in the back of his throat, wanting to see if he could spit the distance. Logan's gentle hand on his arm stopped him.

The two captains began talking, but Fox couldn't pay attention. His eyes found Ga?l again. Ga?l stared back at him, expression blank, almost surprised.

Good. Fox hoped seeing him again after all these years was a very unpleasant surprise. He scowled over the gap between the two ships.

Then Ga?l was coming aboard, and they found themselves walking side by side, following the captains and first mates. Before Fox knew it, he was being left to guard the door alone in the hallway with his ex-best friend.

Fox tried his best not to look at his former friend. But his eyes kept straying to that once beloved face. The years since his abrupt departure from Fox's life had been kind to him. He was taller, his shoulders broader, body more muscled. He looked confident. Composed. Deadly.

But he was familiar too. His cheeks had filled out with adequate food, but his broad, high cheekbones still underlined his angular eyes, and his jaw was sharp enough to cut.

He looked like he hadn't smiled in a long time.

Ga?l's magnetic gray eyes slid sideways to look at Fox. He swallowed, as if he was about to say something.

The door to the captain's quarters opened, and Logan stuck his head out.

"The captain wants wine." He looked back over his shoulder to where the Deep Water Demon was lounging in a chair as if he owned the place. "The good wine."

Fox caught a passing crewman and sent him for the wine.

The hallway was plagued by silence. Fox thought about Henri. How badly was he injured? The burns were nasty enough, but he couldn't have come out of that fall unscathed either. Fox itched to go check on his friend.

The delivery of the wine interrupted his thoughts.

"Henri's fine," the crewman said, seeing Fox's frown. "Just a few burns and a broken leg."

Fox thanked him, feeling some of the tension in his shoulders lighten. He knocked on the cabin door and handed the wine to Logan.

Silence again. Fox refused to look at Ga?l.

"How have you been?"

The question caught Fox off guard, and he whipped his head around, long brown hair getting in his eyes. Ga?l gave no indication he'd even spoken.

"Fine," Fox muttered.

Ga?l looked over at him, those fathomless storm cloud eyes boring into him.

"We need to talk. "

"Oh? Do we?" Fox leaned back against the wall, crossing his arms. "What is there to talk about?"

"You know," Ga?l said in a low voice.

He did.

"I'm sure I don't," Fox lied. His characteristic obstinance coming out. Let Ga?l say it. Let him acknowledge exactly what had happened.

Ga?l swore under his breath. He looked away and ran a frustrated hand through his black hair.

Fox felt a little bad for a moment, then scolded himself for it.

He wasn't the reason for all of this.

"If you really don't want to talk to me, I'll respect your wishes," Ga?l said, his voice wavering slightly. "But I have some things to say that would be better said in private."

"Who says I'll listen?"

"Only you."

This was…strange. Fox didn't quite know what to do. He was used to people getting angry at his stubbornness, not this defeated acceptance. He examined Ga?l for a moment longer.

"Come with me."

Fox led Ga?l down the hall to the small cabin he shared with Logan. He didn't like being in such close quarters with his former best friend, but it couldn't be helped. He stood with his back to Ga?l, staring at the stacked bunks, trying to prepare himself for whatever it was his ex-friend had to say. He heard the door close.

"Spit it out then?—"

When he turned around, Ga?l was on his knees, head bowed in contrition.

"I'm sorry." Ga?l bowed further, forehead resting on the floorboards between flat hands.

Fox backed up a step, sinking heavily onto the edge of the low bunk.

"What?" Early on, he'd imagined this a thousand times, all the cutting, cruel things he would say if he ever got the chance. But now his brain felt sluggish.

"I'm sorry," Ga?l repeated.

The past came crashing back to Fox all at once. The hurt. The confusion. The betrayal and feeling of worthlessness that had haunted him since that day .

Fox and Ga?l had been best friends since they were children. Nearly inseparable. Ga?l's merchant parents from Gosoya, in the far east, had died when he was young, leaving him an orphan. No one in the little Laslandish port town wanted to take him in as their own, so he ended up working on Fox's family farm.

Fox's father was not a kind man. If he had no love for his own son, he had even less for the foreign kid he'd hired off the street. And when life at home became unbearable, they'd run away together. They were so young they didn't even remember their family names. All they knew was that they had each other.

First they became gutter kids. Then thieves.

Eventually they'd gotten work as powder monkeys on a privateer ship. It was good for a while. They were warm. Fed. Together. But their relationship changed, and one night after a bit of drinking in a sleazy dockside tavern, they'd ended up in bed together.

Fox realized he was in love the moment Ga?l's lips touched his. And when the kiss broke, Ga?l confessed his love in the most gentle and quiet voice. A voice that spoke as if these feelings were the most obvious and natural thing in the world. I love you, Foxy. I always have and I always will. Fox couldn't quite remember what he'd said in return, but Ga?l's words were eternally branded on Fox's heart, an open wound he tried to soothe with the attention of others.

It was all a lie in the end. In the morning Ga?l was gone, leaving him in a strange port city where he had no friends, little money, and barely spoke the language. The only thing Ga?l had left behind was the broken remnants of the leather bracelet Fox had made him when they were younger and living on the streets.

Fox's heart ached at the memory, old hurts he'd thought long buried rushing up to the surface. He'd stolen and starved for a while after that, unable to get honest work until Captain Rowan saw him get into a street brawl one day and took Fox under his wing.

Fox had tried to sink all that hurt, all that worthlessness, to the bottom of the sea. But since then he'd been a little more loose with his favors than he'd like to admit. He'd slept his way through a good portion of the Islands and the Siren 's crew. Men or women, it didn't matter. Sometimes it was fun, sometimes it only served as an attempt to drown out the memory of Ga?l's touch. But no matter what he did, he couldn't forget the betrayal of his best friend and first love.

This hurt that he'd been carrying inside for so long felt insurmountable now. Like it was a vital part of him.

"Why?" His voice came out quiet and small.

When Ga?l looked up, he had tears in his eyes.

"I was afraid."

"Afraid? AFRAID?" Hurt turned to rage in an instant, spreading like fire. "Don't you think I was afraid when I woke up and you were gone? Don't you think I was afraid, being left alone in a strange country? I hoped you were dead . At least then it wouldn't have been your choice to leave me." He was shouting now, but his voice caught on the last word, turning into a sob, unable to stop the hot tears coursing down his face.

Ga?l wouldn't look him in the eye.

"There's no excuse that will take away what I did," he said.

"That's right," Fox agreed, angrily dashing the tears from his cheeks.

"I don't deserve your time." It didn't feel like a guilt trip. It felt honest, like Ga?l truly believed he was the lowest scum to walk the earth.

"Then leave," Fox spat.

Ga?l began to stand, but the ship rolled suddenly, sending him back to his knees at Fox's feet.

Ga?l looked up into his eyes then, fat tears rolling down his sharp cheeks. And some of Fox's anger dulled to a faint, familiar ache.

"I just wanted you to know I regret it," Ga?l said, his eyes searching Fox's face as if to memorize his features. "The moment I ran, I regretted it and still do. But I was afraid of what happened, afraid of my feelings and"—he gulped—"afraid you would hate me."

His words ached as a constant thrum in Fox's chest. But he couldn't look away from the face of the man he'd once loved, that he might love still.

"I looked for you," Ga?l continued. "I kept trying to get back to Wave Harbor to find you again, but by the time I returned, you were gone…and I'm so ashamed that I failed you, that I didn't have the strength to face my fears for your sake." His hands trembled, and he brought them up to his lips as if to stop himself from saying anything more.

Fox's heart cracked a bit at that, seeing the pain in Ga?l's face, hearing the shame in his voice. And that small crack exposed the part of his heart long buried.

His hand twitched in its place on the edge of the bunk, itching to touch Ga?l.

"What do you want? Forgiveness?"

"I don't think I can hope for that. I want to know that you are happy."

Fox took a steadying breath. "What would you do? To make me happy?"

Ga?l's eyes widened. "Anything."

"Would you betray your captain?"

Ga?l flinched. "Yes."

"Would you jump into the sea?"

"Yes."

Fox was silent for a long time.

"Would you kiss me?"

Ga?l sat back on his heels. "Is that what you want?"

What Fox wanted was to see if that old spark was still there. If he had the capability to set aside the past and give himself back to Ga?l.

"Yes."

Ga?l straightened up so they were eye to eye. He leaned forward slowly, giving Fox ample time to change his mind. When their lips were about to touch, he whispered, "Are you sure?"

Fox didn't answer. He acted.

The kiss was tender. Hesitant. But it was full of something that no kiss since that night had ever had. Ga?l made a small noise in the back of his throat, and pulled away but not far. He searched Fox's expression, a small desperate hope in his eyes. And slowly the red fire of rage and hurt that had been burning for so long began to soften to its old warm glow.

Their lips were still only a whisper away, and Fox could tell that Ga?l was desperate to touch him again. But he held back, waiting for Fox to make the next move, to push him away. To tell him to leave and never come back.

But Fox didn't want that. He wanted more. He wanted to be closer. He moved, and Ga?l flinched like he would hit him, but Fox's hand curled gently around the back of his neck. His grip was firm, so Ga?l could not pull away.

"What do you want?" Fox asked softly.

"I already…"

"No. What do you want? Right now at this moment."

Ga?l looked almost afraid. As if telling the truth would break this moment's spell. He gulped, trying to work up the courage to answer. Finally he looked Fox in the eye.

"You."

"And what will you do if you have me?"

"I won't run away again. I won't let fear cost me more years with you."

Fox pulled him forward so their lips met again, more insistent this time. Ga?l hesitated for the briefest moment before his eyes slid closed and his lips parted for Fox's tongue. Fox moaned, letting his hand slide down the back of Ga?l's neck and under the collar of his shirt. He was already turned on, his skin hot and the front of his pants tight. Ga?l leaned further into the kiss, his hand running up Fox's thigh. He was growing bolder, finally accepting that Fox wanted him. His fingers brushed Fox's cock through his pants, and Fox gasped. Then Fox was on his back on the bunk, Ga?l's hard body pressed against him. Ga?l's lips left a trail of fire down his neck and over the swallow tattoo on his collarbone. Ga?l's fingers slid beneath the hem of Fox's shirt and over his burning skin. He pulled Fox's shirt off, then his own. And continued kissing a trail down Fox's chest and stomach.

His palm rubbed over Fox's cock again. Fox moaned quietly. Now he knew why he had never been able to forget Ga?l's touch. The shivers of his body remembered. It was like nothing else he'd ever experienced. Whether it was rough or tender, it was somehow right, full of some quality Fox could never fully understand. He arched his back as Ga?l unbuttoned his pants. Then Ga?l paused, looking up at him questioningly. Waiting for permission to continue. Fox took this opportunity to turn the tables; instead, he flipped Ga?l onto his back.

He gazed at Ga?l for a moment, taking in his sculpted body, muscles mounded beneath honey-brown skin like desert dunes. He ran his tongue up the center crease of Ga?l's abs while slipping Ga?l's pants down over his muscled thighs. Then he licked up the underside of Ga?l's cock. Ga?l cupped his chin between thumb and forefinger, tugging his face up so their eyes met.

"You don't have to…"

Fox batted his hand away playfully and swirled his tongue around the tip of Ga?l's cock while still making eye contact. Ga?l's hand dropped back to the bed, and he groaned, letting Fox continue doing whatever he wanted. Fox vowed silently to himself to drive Ga?l insane. He was eager to show Ga?l just how much he'd changed too.

He teased him with his tongue until Ga?l's hips began to wiggle in impatience. He paused, lips poised on the tip of Ga?l's cock for just a moment.

"Please," Ga?l gasped. Fox bobbed his head down, flicking his tongue over the tender underside of his cock and sliding down until he couldn't go any further. Ga?l moaned, and Fox bobbed his head a few more times before Ga?l lifted his head.

"Fox, let me…" He drew Fox up to kiss him. He began to remove Fox's pants. Fox pulled away momentarily.

"Do you want to stop?" Ga?l asked.

Fox shook his head. Last time they'd been together, Fox had been on the receiving end. And since then he'd been with all types of people in all types of situations. He was perfectly capable of giving as good as he got. But his feelings were still a little raw, and he couldn't quite bring himself to be that vulnerable with Ga?l just yet. He needed to maintain a little control, or he would unravel back into those distrusting feelings.

"Ga?l…" He didn't quite know how to broach the subject. "I need…I need to be the one in control this time."

A brief flash of guilt crossed Ga?l's face. And Fox was afraid he would pull away completely and call the whole thing off. Then Ga?l seemed to compose himself and bumped his forehead gently against Fox's.

"Of course."

Fox caressed his cheek and kissed him tenderly, wriggling the rest of the way out of his pants. Ga?l rolled his hips forward gently, the friction of their cocks rubbing together causing both of them to moan. Fox ran his fingers down Ga?l's broad back to cup the curve of his ass, simultaneously pulling a vial of clear liquid from beneath his pillow. Ga?l's muscles tensed.

"Relax," Fox murmured, his tongue brushing over Ga?l's lips.

"Sorry"—Ga?l chuckled—"it's just that I've never done this before. "

Fox smirked. "Don't worry. I know what I'm doing." He went to kiss Ga?l again but Ga?l pulled back slightly, eyebrows knit together with a slight frown. Was he hurt that Fox had slept with others in the almost seven years they'd been apart? Had Ga?l not slept with others?

"Ga?l…" Fox tried to broach the subject gently. "Have you slept with anyone else since me?"

Ga?l's frown deepened. "Have you?" he countered.

"A lot," Fox confessed with a bashful smile.

Ga?l bit his lip. "Then I guess I'm in good hands."

"You're not going to answer?"

Ga?l looked away and then back again, fiddling with the frayed edge of the pillow. "I tried once, but I felt too guilty."

A pang of unexpected jealousy and pity touched Fox's heart. Ga?l looked at him nervously, and Fox smiled.

"You don't have to feel that way anymore."

Ga?l's frown smoothed a bit, and he reached out to run his thumb over Fox's bottom lip.

"I'm jealous, but I can't blame any of them. You're everything anyone could want."

Fox blushed, pleased at the sweet words and lack of judgment. A small, affectionate smile spread across Ga?l's lips as well, revealing his dimples.

Oh, those dimples. They'd been Fox's downfall all those years ago.

Fox kissed him again.

"We don't have to," he whispered. But Ga?l pulled him closer still, grinding their hips together and deepening the kiss. After a while Fox let his hand wander down to part Ga?l's thighs.

"Ready?"

Ga?l nodded, and Fox slathered his fingers in lube. He hooked one leg over Ga?l's to keep them spread and nibbled his ear.

Ga?l hissed as Fox's finger entered him. Fox moved a little, gentle but firm. He stroked Ga?l's insides, letting him get used to the feeling.

When he added the second finger, Ga?l turned his face away and bit his knuckle.

"Are you okay?"

"Keep going," Ga?l murmured around his knuckle .

"Tell me if you want to stop."

Ga?l nodded.

Fox continued working; methodically loosening Ga?l and searching for the spots he knew would make Ga?l feel good. Finally he found what he was looking for.

"Ah…" Ga?l's hole tightened, his body tensing like a drawn bowstring. Fox massaged the same spot again, eliciting a deep moan from the other man. Fox smiled, watching Ga?l's lips part as another moan escaped. He was almost ready.

Fox planted a lingering kiss on Ga?l's mouth and worked his way down his body until his lips found Ga?l's quivering cock. He licked up its length and then bobbed his head down to take as much of it into his mouth as he could. Ga?l groaned, his fingers tugging on Fox's hair.

Fox continued to loosen him as his mouth slid over Ga?l's cock, veins bulging against his lips.

"Ah…Fox…"

Fox released him, sliding his fingers out as well. He leaned over Ga?l's quivering body to capture his lips again. Ga?l already looked half delirious, but his dark gray eyes found Fox's. His strong hand slid over Fox's cock, guiding him to his entrance.

"I want you," he breathed.

Kissing him again, Fox repositioned himself between Ga?l's thick, muscled thighs. He spread more of the lube over his cock, then slowly entered Ga?l, sliding his lubed hand up over Ga?l's cock at the same time. Ga?l gasped, clutching Fox's arms. Fox kept going until his cock hit the spot he was looking for.

Ga?l's hands tightened around Fox's biceps. Fox pulled back, then rolled his hips forward again, harder this time.

"Ah…" Ga?l shuddered beneath him. It was a sort of exquisite torture seeing him like this. Vulnerable and quivering. Fox wanted to wreck him, take his revenge one thrust at a time. Still he held back, trying not to cause any pain. But his own need was building as he moved, and it was getting more and more difficult. Ga?l's gaze suddenly sharpened on him.

"J-just fuck me…" he gasped as Fox's hips rolled forward again. "Fuck me harder, please…"

The self-restraint he'd been holding onto frayed. There was no time to be tender now; he felt his cock grow a bit harder, and he pulled out until just the tip remained inside.

"Look at me."

Ga?l did.

Fox bucked his hips forward, burying his cock as deep as it would go. Ga?l let out a feral growl that only served as encouragement. Ga?l braced his feet against the underside of the bunk above, giving Fox a deeper angle and more leverage. Fox pounded in again, his hand working over Ga?l's throbbing cock. He couldn't take his eyes off Ga?l's gorgeous face. Watching his expressions change with every thrust. Watching him come apart. Fox loved seeing the effects of his touch. The pleasure he caused. It was even better now that it was Ga?l under him and not some stranger he didn't care about.

Ga?l's eyes half closed, his lips parting to beg for more. Then his head tilted back against the mattress. Seeing that exquisitely muscled body laid out beneath him, sucking him in deeper and responding to his every touch was almost more than Fox could bear.

"Ga?l…" he gasped. Ga?l moaned wordlessly in response as another thrust hit his prostate. Fox's hand pumped Ga?l's cock faster. He wanted Ga?l to come first, but Ga?l's sounds of pleasure and the fucked-out expression on his face were driving Fox crazy.

"Yes…YES…" Ga?l's hips moved to take Fox in more, faster, deeper. The palms of his hands were braced against the wall above his head. "Fox…yes…" He threw his head back, mouth open, but no sound came out as his cum spilled through Fox's fingers onto his own stomach. His insides clenched deliciously around Fox's cock, and Fox's last thread of self-control snapped, sending him over the edge with no time to pull out. He could feel every beat of Ga?l's racing heart as his cock throbbed out his orgasm inside Ga?l.

Ga?l's legs dropped, wrapping around Fox's waist to keep him inside. He pulled Fox down into a needy kiss. When the kiss broke, Fox buried his face in the crook of Ga?l's neck, tasting the salty sweat on his skin.

"Fox." Ga?l's voice sounded deeper than before, a bit raspy. Fox turned his face to nuzzle Ga?l's neck more.

"Hm?"

"I love you."

Fox couldn't help the grin that spread across his face. He felt like laughing from the sheer joy of hearing those words again. He wiggled his hips playfully, causing Ga?l to moan and bite his lip.

But he couldn't say it back. Not yet.

He didn't know how to receive love. Ga?l was the only person in the world who'd ever cared about him that way. But he'd left, and that wound hadn't closed with time. The balm of Ga?l's touch had instead scrubbed it raw.

Ga?l planted his hands on either side of Fox's face, pushing him back a little to look at him fully.

"You don't have to say it back. It's enough for me that you're here," Ga?l whispered.

Fox had never really been romanced before. It had all been flings and one-night stands. So having sweet words said so sincerely was new to him. He didn't know what to do.

He pulled out gently, not missing the slight wince that Ga?l tried to hide. He tucked himself under Ga?l's arm, head on his firm chest, one leg thrown over Ga?l's hip. Ga?l's fingers traced a lazy path up the two knotted tattoo bands that ran diagonally around Fox's upper thigh, little waves and foxes frolicking through the intricate strands.

"You got tattoos," Ga?l observed.

"Mmm." Fox relished Ga?l's fingertips tracing over his skin. He readjusted his head on Ga?l's chest.

"Do they mean something?"

Fox looked up, letting his lips trace across the edge of Ga?l's jaw.

"That one is me," he said, indicating the intricate bands beneath Ga?l's fingertips, each detail representing an important event in his life. He wiggled around so Ga?l could see his chest.

"This one"—he traced the line of the soaring bird's wing across his collarbone—"is a swallow. It's for good luck." He looked up at Ga?l from beneath his lashes. "And it means I swallow."

Ga?l stared at him for a moment in bewilderment, then burst into disbelieving laughter, his beloved face transforming with joy.

"Never change, Fox." He kissed the tip of Fox's nose, and Fox settled his head back onto Ga?l's firm chest. The muscled mounds of his pecs still glistened slightly with sweat.

"You don't make a very good pillow," Fox grumbled jokingly.

Ga?l's lips pressed against his hair.

"Sorry." The word sounded sleepy. Fox wanted to ask what would happen next. Would Ga?l leave the Kraken's Fury for him? Would the Demon let him? Would Ga?l still be here the next time he added a knot to his tattoo?

But he shook those thoughts from his mind as Ga?l's thumb rubbed over his cheek. He didn't want to disturb the small pocket of peace they'd created. Sooner or later, someone would come looking for them.

Yet he found himself unable to rest or even close his eyes. His fingers fidgeted with the edge of the sheet. Listening to Ga?l's heartbeat.

"I'm right here," Ga?l murmured sleepily. "I'm not going anywhere."

Fox sighed and stopped his fidgeting. He was tired from the fighting, but he still couldn't relax. Ga?l's breathing grew slow and even, a small snore escaping every few minutes. Ga?l's childhood habit of hugging something while sleeping hadn't changed. Fox felt safe snuggled into the warm embrace, but that was a problem. His mind wouldn't let him fully forget that feeling of waking up to nothing but a cold, empty bed.

Maybe in time, if he spent enough mornings being crushed to death against Ga?l's hard chest, he would forget it had ever been any other way. So he closed his eyes and let himself enjoy the sensation of being wanted. But he did not fall asleep.