“Join us lass, meet the rest of the crew.”
I notice another twenty or so pirates; sitting or standing around the huge table. Three are females, the rest all males. I take note of the females; the first has glasses and long black hair. She seems to be in her late thirties, maybe early forties. She has a kind face and smiles warmly at me. The girl sitting beside her, is younger, maybe twenty five or so. She is pretty; with blonde hair, grey eyes and pale skin. The third is a rather large, orange haired, sharp looking girl.
“Crew, this is Jade. The princess next door,” Jax announces loudly. “Jade, this is my crew.”
“Nice to meet you all.”
“I’m Sam,” Smiles the blonde haired girl, “We have heard a lot about you.”
“All good, I hope.” I laugh.
“Of course, you are popular around here.”
“I’m glad.”
“I am Margy,” Says the older woman. “Nice to meet a real life princess.”
“I am glad it makes someone happy.”
She laughs. “You can always sneak over here, anytime you like.”
“Thanks.”
“That’s Gazelle, she has her nose out of joint because Jax has his eyes elsewhere.” She says, laughing at Gazelle who grumbles under her breath.
“Ohhh…she is one of your women,” I grin, turning to Jax. “Bad taste pirate.”
He chuckles. “I take what I can get out at sea.”
“And on land?”
He grasps my hair. “I only take the prettiest.”
“I suppose I fit then?”
“You more than fit.”
I blush and look away.
“So, what’s on the agenda tonight boys?” I ask.
“Drinking lovely.” Rusty answers.
Jack stands and walks over to me. He smiles, but I can see something else behind his glance.
“Do you mind if we have a word?”
“Um, sure.”
“She’s mine Jacky boy, hands off.” Jax says, his tone is playful, his eyes are not.
“No problems Cap.”
I follow Jack outside, and he turns as soon as the door closes. “I have been meaning to ask you, I did not know how but, you felt what I felt yesterday?”
I look away. “I’m not sure what you are talking about.”
“I felt it, and I know you did too.”
I sigh. No point in lying. “I felt it.”
“Then you know…I have gifts.”
I glance up. “You do?”
“A few yeah, nothing special but you also have them?”
“One.”
He raises an eyebrow and indicates that I keep going.
“I am a healer.”
“I thought as much. So are you a taking healer or a personal healer?”
“I’m not sure I follow.”
“Do you take it on yourself from others or do you just heal yourself?”
“Both.”
“Both?” He gasps.
“Yes, I can take on others hurts and I can heal them from myself. Of course, it is a lot slower than I imagine you are thinking. A broken bone takes around four hours to heal, the worse the injury the longer it takes.”
“Incredible.”
“So, I am going to ask what you already know is coming. How am I like this?”
He looks away quickly. “I don’t know.”
“Are you lying Jack?”
“No, I honestly do not know.”
I nod. “Please keep this to yourself, I am not exactly in a good position for people to find out.”
“Of course.”
“It’s nice to know I am not alone.”
He smiles and strokes my cheek. “It is.”
I blush and turn to walk back inside. Jack follows. The crew are still playing, but Jax is not in the room any longer.
“Where’s Jax?” I ask Rusty.
“Out back love.”
I walk through the bar and into the apartment. Jax is in the lounge room changing, and when my eyes set on him, I gasp. He has no shirt on and has only just pulled up his jeans, oh my, what an amazing body. He is sculpted, smooth and has tattoos across his chest and down his left arm. His chest is solid and tight. His stomach rippled and taut. I blush.
“Like what you see, darlin?”
“Err, I…sorry, I did not mean to barge in.”
He walks over, shirtless.
“Will you put a shirt on?” I whisper. God, if I get any redder I will combust.
“Can’t handle it?”
“No.”
He laughs grasping my hands and laying them on his chest; I whimper and shake my head. His skin is warm and firm beneath my palms.
“Stop it!”
I remove my hands and turn my eyes to the floor. Do not look, count it away; one, two, three…
“Look at me.”
He grasps my chin, raising my eyes to his. He leans down and presses a soft kiss to my lips.
“Touch me.” He demands, taking my hands and putting them back on his chest.
I cannot help my hands; they move on their own. Up and down his chest, over his arms, down his back to his backside. Oh god. I pull back, but he is too quick. He grasps me and lifts me onto his hips, he walks forward until we fall onto the couch. His body lands over mine, he does not break the searing kiss. I feel panic rise inside me, as his hands trail up under my shirt and over my bra. My nipples hardened at his touch, and I moan. Too fast, this is too fast. I could not just do this, not here, not like this. I push his hand out and break the kiss.
“Please, not now.”
He growls but moves his body from mine, pulling me up with him.
“I can go slow princess, but I can’t wait forever.”
“I just need more time. I am not saying no.”
He kisses me once more, then stands and pulls on his shirt. “I gotta work.”
Great, he is mad. I straighten my hair and walk back out to the pub behind him; a few customers are in now and the music is ramping up. I sit at the bar and watch Jax work; he is quick, smooth and charming. I watch as he smiles at the girls and laughs with the men. He has a certain feel about him; it makes women fall at his feet and men envy him.
I watch as a very attractive blonde walks in, then saunters over to the bar. She leans onto it, exposing lush breasts and grips Jax’s shirt. I blink as he takes her face in his hands, and slants his mouth over hers. She slides over the bar and wraps her legs around his waist. It comes like a blow to the face; he is not going to wait for me to take my time. I feel heat blaze in my cheeks as I stand and walk over, grasping the girl and yanking her back.
“Get.” I hiss.
She glares at me. “Back off, bitch.”
“Or what?”
She punches me, hard. I fall back into the bar, but come bouncing back quickly enough to slam her into the nearby wall. She falls hard, and I hear her wrist snap with a loud crack. Her screams fill the air and she stands, sobbing.
“I
will sue you for this Jax Watt
s. This is assault. I am a hairdresser; my hands are my life.”
“Calm down, you punched her first.”
“You’re going down. You better have a lot of money pirate.”
I look at Jax’s face and see he is worried and angry. He glares at me with pure rage. This is my fault, and I have to fix it. I step forward and grasp the girl’s wrist, taking her snap into my own. I clench my jaw as I feel the searing pain glide up my arm as my own wrist breaks, and hers heals. I cannot let on what I am doing, so I pull her close as though I am talking with her. Nobody knows any better. Her eyes widen as her wrist heals.
“You say one more word and I will sort you out. I just fixed your wrist, but you say nothing, to no one. I am high up; I can take you down quicker than you can take him down. I am the princess. I can have you locked away quicker than you can say fake titties. Now get out, shut your mouth and do not come back.”
I let her go, and she falls against the wall.
“It’s just a bruise, she was just leaving.” I say, calmly.
“Sorry Jax. It is just a bruise; I will be fine.” She smiles weakly, before leaving the pub.
I turn and walk the other way, panting and sweating as my wrist sears, shooting pain up my arm. I slowly make my way into the back apartment and fall into the lounge room. Jax comes rushing in behind me, followed by Rusty and Jack.
“Why the fuck did you do that?”
I swallow, clenching my wrist.
“Something’s wrong,” Rusty says, taking my arm and spinning me towards him. “Why are you holding your hand, did you break a finger hitting her?”
Jack clicks then and he curses, grasping me and glancing down at my protruding bone.
“Jade!”
“How in the fuck did you break your arm?” Jax yells. “The other girl broke her arm, but you didn’t, I was watching. What the hell is going on?”
“Jade is special.”
“You don’t fucking say, how did she break her wrist?”
“Jack, no.” I beg.
“We have to tell him, he will find out…”
I swallow. “I am a healer.”
“What?”
“She is a healer. She can take others injuries or sicknesses and heal them. Then, her body will heal her. That break will be gone in a few hours.” Jack explains.
“Bullshit.”
“Look at her wrist Cap, you saw for yourself what happened out there.”
Jax stares at me. “Is this true?”
I nod.
“How?”
“I don’t know. I have always had it.” I moan.
“Enough now, she is hurting. Get some ice Rusty.” Jack demands, sitting me down.
I scream as my bone begins realigning itself.
“What is happening?” Jax says, his eyes darting from Jack to me, and then back again.
“She is healing.”
Rusty comes back with an ice pack; it helps. I know in a few hours; it would be no more than a sore hand. Jax sits beside me, wiping some hair from my face.
“Why did you do that?”
Rusty and Jack take the hint and leave the room.
“You said you didn’t want to wait,” I hiss in pain. “You were going to fuck her, because you didn’t want to wait for me.”
“I said I have other women, you know that.”
“I know.”
“Lay down, we will talk later.”
I do lie down; my mind is too foggy to think. I do not want to think. I manage to drift into a restless nap, and I can hear the music from the bar die down. I hear voices later in the night, only bits and pieces. I think it is Jax and Rusty, talking about me. Saying that I could stay, my parents were not home. Then, I feel a blanket trail over me and I fall into deeper warmth.
I wake sometime during the early hours of the morning; the night sky is still pitch black out. I feel a hand trail over my face in a gentle caress. I open my eyes; only a small lamp is on, shining just enough light for me to see it is Jax.
“Hey,” I croak. “Is something wrong?”
“You fought for me.”
I move, so my elbow props my head up. “I am sorry about that Jax. I never meant to cause a problem.”
“No girl ever fought for me like that.”
“It’s called the green eyed monster pirate; surely you have seen it before?”
“Nah, the girls around here know their place and don’t fight for my attentions. My wife…well she loved herself more.”
“No one ever fought for you?”
“Nope.”
“Well, I am flattered that I got to be the first.”
“Why did you do it?”
“I know it was stupid. I just could not get my head around the fact that because I was not ready, you would just go and take another.”
“I have other girls, you know that. I also told you to be careful not to fall for me.”
“It’s not about falling for you Jax; it is about wanting something you can’t have.”
“That’s where you are wrong. You can have me, if you want me baby girl.”
His voice is soft and luring. I shiver and pull the blanket up higher. “I know that now. I just do not know…if I can share. So maybe it’s better if I don’t.”
“Right now, I have no interest in looking elsewhere. I am quite content with you.”
This surprises me. “You are? Then why were you kissing that girl?”
“I kiss girls Jade; I like the feeling, and it is just my way of telling them I think they are beautiful. I had no intentions of taking her to bed.”
“You thought she was beautiful?”
“It’s a statement.” He smiles.
He touches my cheek, then brings my face closer to his and kisses me very softly.
“You are so confusing, you know that?” I whine.
“I know.”
“It’s hard for me to accept all this after a few days. I feel like I am crazy, being so involved with somebody I hardly know. You could be a serial killer, and I would be jumping right in…”
He laughs. “I am not a serial killer darlin.”
“Well I certainly hope not, because I would fight you. I wouldn’t be one of those lay down and accept my death types of girls.”