Denny leaned back on his haunches, his own cock pointing up toward Merritt.
Merritt leaned down and touched the tip but it wasn’t enough. He lifted his foot and pushed Denny onto his back. Denny laughed, reaching up for him.
Voices invaded their passionate encounter but Merritt ignored them.
“Get on me,” Denny rasped, pulling Merritt toward him. He flipped Merritt around so that Merritt knelt over Denny’s face, his ass right above Denny’s mouth.
Denny grabbed Merritt’s hips and raised his head so that his tongue could reach Merritt’s hole. He licked and sucked with abandon, the sounds inflaming Merritt’s own needs. He lowered his head and sucked Denny’s cock. It leaked as Merritt drew it into his mouth, the juices salty and sweet. Denny let out a moan which Merritt echoed. Denny lifted Merritt just a little so that he could capture Merritt’s cock with lips and tongue.
The two men worked on each other, their sucking fast and dirty.
Merritt felt the wave of pleasure build inside him. He couldn’t have stopped sucking Denny if his life depended on it. They came together, crashing hard. Tears filled Merritt’s eyes as Denny wrapped his arms around him and came off his cock, whispering, “I’ll never let you go.”
* * * *
Denny choked on his emotions as he looked up at Fortunata. “How do you know where my sister is? Is she—?”
“You love her the way I love my brother. She’s in a very bad place but I have two trusted men watching over her. I can, and will, bring her back here.”
“Where is she? Please. I’ve been searching for her for so long.”
Fortunata studied him for a moment. “She’s in England.”
“England! How did she wind up there?”
“She never left. You were lied to. Now. If you’ll get to your feet, we’ll get started.”
Denny rose, not sure his legs would work. Polly was in England! No wonder he had been unable to track her in Australia.
All these years…
His list of enemies was growing.
“Don’t dwell on things,” Fortunata insisted as the twin seers produced a pair of leather boots and a sword and gun for him.
“These weapons are decoration only. They won’t work until you’re in open water,” Fortunata told him. “So don’t get any ideas about killing me or anybody else here and trying to escape.”
“I won’t,” he lied. The truth was, though he was plenty mad at her for giving him a great big bloody pair of wings, he was useless. He couldn’t even walk without wobbling. He lurched like a mad old drunk until one of the seers handed him a gold goblet.
Ah, nectar.
He drank it quickly, feeling much better. He shrugged, testing his wings. They only twinged a bit now. He and Fortunata left the cave by a hole the twin seers conjured in the wall. Denny would have been flabbergasted but he’d come to expect weirdness with this lot.
As he stepped outside, he breathed in the fresh air and felt even better. He turned his face up to the sun, feeling woozy. How long had he been in captivity? Days or weeks? He had no idea.
“Come on,” Fortunata said.
He walked beside her, surprised but pleased to see a lot of the locals waiting outside to join the small search party heading toward the port. He recognized many people from the courtroom. They waved, and he waved back to them.
At the docks, Ebba was waiting for him with a bowl of porridge. He slurped it up as he walked. She looked ecstatic and said, “I’ve got all my female parts now, thanks to this case. I’m a woman!”
“Congratulations,” he said.
“Court sessions have been suspended pending our return,” Ebba said, which probably explained why Denny was being treated as though he were some famous explorer and not a pirate. Women handed him puddings and cakes, winking at him.
“There’s more where that came from when you bring back our prince,” they said.
“Wait,” Denny said, handing the porridge bowl back to Ebba so he could hold onto his gifts. “Did you say pending our return?”
“Oh, yes. Barthelmass and I are coming with you. He’s your ship’s master.”
“Good. I trust him.”
She nodded. “We assembled your crew. They’re all good men.” She lowered her voice. “And none of them are under Fortunata’s sway.”
They boarded a sloop that had seen better days. Denny met his crew and was a little surprised that Fortunata was coming with him, but then, she was eager to see her brother and probably wasn’t willing to let Denny out of her sight.
“You forgot to acknowledge one of the crewmembers,” Ebba admonished him.
“I did?” He turned and saw a cat standing beside Fortunata, whose cheeks flamed.
“Theodore!” Denny dumped all the puddings and cakes onto the deck and picked up the cat. For once, Theodore didn’t resist being cuddled. He stuck his head under Denny’s chin and purred. “Where have you been?” Denny implored.
“I took him,” Fortunata said.
Denny wanted to make her walk the plank.
“Stop that.” She wagged a finger at him. “Don’t forget I can read your thoughts.”
“You stole my cat!”
“I thought he was a sorcerer’s cat, but he’s a bit of a buffoon.” She grinned. “Just like you.”
“But I love him. I was really upset when I found out he’d disappeared.”
“My brother loves him too. Theodore’s gone half mad without him. Don’t look at me like that. I didn’t put your cat in chains!”
Denny rolled his eyes and put the cat back down on the deck. Theodore sniffed at the puddings, which clearly contained no fish, and walked away in disgust. He found a patch of sun and flopped onto the deck, flexing his claws.
“Okay,” Denny said. “Let’s plot our travel.”
“Do you know where Rigby would take my brother?”
“I think so,” he said. He didn’t know why but from the moment she’d told him Rigby had abducted Merritt, the idea had come to him. Now, he was certain he was right.
“They’re in Cornwall,” he said. “I’m certain of it.”
Fortunata looked astonished. “Cornwall? Why would they go there?” She furrowed her brow. “Why would
anybody
go there?”
“It’s beautiful,” Denny responded.
“No it’s not.”
“Yes it is!”
“Whereabouts in Cornwall?”
Denny hesitated. “Penzance.”
“Oh my God. That place is horrible!”
“No. It is not.”
“Yes it is!” She jabbed a finger at him. “Do you know what
Penzance means?” Before he could respond she said, “It means wrecking. Charming, don’t you think?”
“I love it. And wrecking is what pirates do. There’s a lot of us who have bought homes there. One day they’ll write songs about us. You wait and see.”
“In your dreams.”
“Do you want me to find your brother or not?”
“Yes, I do. And if you keep arguing with me, there’s still time for me to condemn you to a lifetime of slavery.”
Denny said nothing. He turned to Barthelmass, his new first mate. “I need maps of the North Atlantic sea ports for the United Kingdom. Please bring me anything you can find.” Denny stared out at the ocean.
“Why do you think Rigby is in Penzance?” Fortunata asked as they waited. Her tone had turned gentle, so he responded in kind.
“A few of us bought houses there.” Denny couldn’t help the bitterness creeping into his tone. “Rigby and I were friends then. Our ship’s doctor, Fellows, also bought a place there. I realize now that even he conspired against me.” He stopped speaking, brooding over his circumstances.
“Try flying around,” Fortunata said.
“Excuse me?”
“Try flying. You can’t get far but it will make you feel better.”
Ebba appeared and nodded at him in an encouraging way.
“But I don’t know how.”
“Flap your wings and imagine flying upward,” Fortunata said.
Denny hesitated. “Is this a trick?”
“Boy, you don’t think much of me, do you?”
Now he was afraid. She was really angry and he imagined her smiting him with her invisible brand of mean magic. “I don’t think much of most people,” he responded. “I can’t help it. I’m a buffoon.”
She laughed, and so did Ebba. Fortunata snapped her fingers and another woman hurried up the ladder from below deck. She was young and blonde and reminded Denny of his sister with her hesitant air and the nervous way she stood on the deck with them. She would have been attractive were it not for the huge warts all over her face. There were so many, some of the warts had their own warts growing from them.
“Is this your handiwork?” Denny asked Fortunata.
Fortunata looked at him. “What? The wings?”
“No. Those hideous warts.”
“She was born with those,” Fortunata muttered under her breath.
Ooops.
“This is Anisse.” Fortunata rose again as she gestured to the blonde, whose cheeks had turned bright pink. “She’s my lady-in-waiting. I gave her wings when she sewed the hem of my skirt too short.”
“Sorry, m’lady.” Anisse’s cheeks turned so red Denny wondered why they hadn’t caught fire.
Denny felt really bad now and hadn’t recovered from his gaffe about the warts. He made some throwaway comment about, “Wings are wonderful, and yours are so pretty, Anisse.”
“Try yours out, Denny,” Fortunata said. “You can only go a few hundred feet in the air, but you’ll see it’s a gift that well serves you when we’re out on the water.”
If you say so
. He looked up at the sky.
How am I supposed to fly?
Every time he tried to imagine it he wanted to laugh. He’d managed it a little in the prison cell, rising off his feet a few inches, but out here, it was hopeless.
“Anisse is going to help you. That’s why I sent for her.” Fortunata gestured to her lady-in-waiting. “Go on. Help the pirate fairy.”
Denny couldn’t help feeling that she was enjoying his ineptitude, and was about to say something when Anisse grabbed his hand.
“Fly with me, Denny!” she trilled and dragged him up into the air.
He’d always been afraid of heights. Come to think of it, he was afraid of water too and couldn’t swim. Not that he’d ever let on to his crew. His mouth fell open in a long and silent scream but suddenly his wings were beating and his heart stopped trying to smash its way out of his chest, and he was flying!
“Oh!” He looked down, surprised at how serene and fragrant it was up here. He’d never smelled clouds before, or seen such dazzling colors beneath his feet.
I should have been born a bird.
“Keep flapping your wings,” Anisse instructed. “Think of it as treading waters, except you’re doing it in the air.
”
He did as she’d suggested and it worked. His body felt weightless and filled with joy. He turned somersaults, making himself laugh. Anisse gripped his hand as he twirled upside down and around and around, but she did not move with him.
“Such a show-off,” she shouted, but she didn’t look angry. She flew with him up to the crow’s nest, the upper part of the ship’s main mast.
He and his crew often took turns sitting in the nest, but he frequently appointed others due to extreme fear. That didn’t seem to be an issue now and he fell in love with the ability to fly up here like this on the spot. He knew he’d be coming up here often to get away from Fortunata, then realized she could probably fly, too. The sudden memory of her as a wizened old witch came to mind and he banished the thought. It was too beautiful a day to think such creepy things.
“So,” Anisse said, as they perched in the crow’s nest, which was the bottom portion of an old barrel. “Tell me quickly. Did she really give me warts?”
Denny looked at her, taken aback. “You mean you weren’t born with those?”
Anisse’s eyes glistened with tears. “Of course not. She lied. She always lies.”
“And you didn’t know you had warts?”
“She hasn’t let me look in a mirror for three years. When I touch my face, I feel nothing.” She gazed at him, her expression anxious. “Are they really bad?”
“Dreadful.”
“Yours aren’t exactly becoming either,” she said with a sniff.
Denny gaped. “I have warts?” He reached up to feel them.
“Don’t touch. She can’t hear us up here. You’ve only got three, but they do attract attention.”
“That conniving—”
Anisse put a hand on his arm. “She does it to everyone who’s hexed and under an obligation to her.”
“And you had no clue about your warts?” a dumbfounded Denny asked.
“No. And nobody else mentioned it. You’re the first. The warts pile on after several days. She removes them when you complete a required task.”
Denny looked at her. “And what’s your required task?”
“I’m the go-between with her and the man she loves.”
“Who is the man she loves?”
“Fellows. Your ship’s doctor.”
“Fellows? And she calls
me
a buffoon.”