dazing in the dark

JACK

"I do, as it happens," Jack mumbles in return, smiling against her lips and not bothering to try and catch himself as they reach his bunk, letting gravity take over to plunge them into the sheets. "She's a redhead an' she can be a real firecracker at times." Most difficult wood he's ever handled, truth be told, and there isn't a shipwright alive who'd be able to smooth her out.

He sinks against her as the pillows and mattress take them, meeting every greedy flick off her tongue with the weight of his body and the fire of his touch, though he keeps the real stuff locked away beneath his magic. One hand slips up and beneath her lower back to arch her fully into the press of his body and the growing tightness in his pants, the other bracing over her head.

Barely feeling it as the ship lists but knowing it has happened nevertheless, Jack scoffs and finally breaks the kiss to drag his lips down the hollow of her throat. "You're gonna knock someone overboard one of these days," he warns, descending further to skim his teeth against the lace of her bralette. "At least make it someone we don't like."

no more than I was or than I want to be
when you fall on me like night, I wanna kill the lights

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

her fight and fury's fiery, oh but she loves like sleep to the freezing

As they fall weightlessly for a breath into the bed, The Ark grins ferally against Jack’s lips, the sound of her purr caught warm between them. "It’s a good thing you know what you’re doing, then."

She arches into him beneath the sure press of his hand, goosebumps shivering across her skin even as heat starts to unfurl low in her belly, spreading outward until her limbs feel loose and charged beneath him. One hand remains tangled in his hair, holding him close, while the other travels across his shoulders, fingers curling there with greedy insistence.

Her head tips back when his mouth leaves hers, offering up the line of her throat as he traces lower. A distracted laugh slips from her, breathier than she intends it to be. "Rough seas make for good sailors," she murmurs, blue eyes darkening as she arches further into the scrape of his teeth against the black lace. "And if they can’t handle it, they don’t deserve to be aboard."

sweet and right and merciful, all but washed in the tide of her breathing

Code 100% taken from the queeeeeeen herself, Sky <3

JACK

"You can say that again," Jack purrs, teeth catching on the lace over one of her nipples, his magic following the heat that starts to burn through her and fanning it with every opportunity. He only forces himself to sit back enough to pull his shirt over his head, regarding the splay of her body like it's something sacred and unholy all at the same time. "I love it when you speak nautical," he teases, a crooked smile on his face as he leans in to steal her lips again.

This time the kiss is accompanied with the swift and unapologetic tearing of lace; there will be other bralettes and they will be just as easy to rip as this one, and in the meantime Jack's patience is starting to wear thin. "Warm enough yet?" he wants to know. Before she can answer, though, Jack is already moving to blanket her with his body, encouraging her legs to hook around his waist.

no more than I was or than I want to be
when you fall on me like night, I wanna kill the lights

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

her fight and fury's fiery, oh but she loves like sleep to the freezing

The scrape of Jack’s teeth sends a familiar spark racing through her, bright and immediate, not unlike the way his lightning magic looks when it sparks through the sky. The Ark exhales sharply, the sound breaking only because she needs the next breath too quickly, and when he peels himself back to drag his shirt free, she watches him with an expression that is somehow both coquettish and predatory, all blue-eyed invitation edged in teeth.

The torn lace draws taut against her skin before giving way, and the impatience in him only feeds the heat gathering low and fierce within her. It moves through her in molten currents, loosening the lingering traces of Deepfrost still clinging to her body and leaving her restless beneath his weight. When his mouth finds hers again, she meets him greedily, tasting smoke and liquor and the warmth of him between every stolen breath.

"Funny you should ask," she murmurs against his lips, as her long legs curl around his hips, drawing him closer and keeping him there, anchoring herself against the hard press of him through his clothes as though she has no intention of allowing even the smallest tide to pull him away. Her fingers twist in his hair, demanding rather than pleading, while her gaze catches his again. "But I think I'd be much warmer with my clothes off."

sweet and right and merciful, all but washed in the tide of her breathing

Code 100% taken from the queeeeeeen herself, Sky <3

JACK

"Mm, you should tell that to the rest of you," Jack mumbles, grinning a kiss against the side of her neck that ends in a soft hitch of breath as her legs tighten around his waist, forcing friction between their bodies that needs absolutely no further encouragement. He could drown in the dark, fiery water of her mind when it's like this, all barely caged desire and crackling arousal, and gods if it weren't for the way he knows better, Jack might have resorted to simply smouldering away the layers that remain between them.

As it is, though, he tears himself back from her enough to reach for her leather pants, fully intending to peel them off with or without her assistance. "Be a love and throw my shirt somewhere too?" he purrs, raising an eyebrow at the unbuttoned fabric still clinging to her generous curves. The wasted remains of the bralette can stay until it's lost entirely in what comes next, but everything else must go.

no more than I was or than I want to be
when you fall on me like night, I wanna kill the lights

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

her fight and fury's fiery, oh but she loves like sleep to the freezing

As he leans back and his hands lower to the leather at her hips, her legs remain unhelpfully hooked around his waist for the moment, holding him close as though she hasn’t the slightest intention of making anything easy for him. The Ark uses the firm line of his body as a fulcrum instead, arching herself from the bed just enough to shimmy free of his shirt with a slow, coquettish roll of her shoulders, before letting it fall carelessly somewhere beyond the edge of the bunk.

What remains of the black bralette lies across her like a torn sail, ragged lace dark against the pale expanse of her skin, and the sight of it draws something openly pleased through the deep water of her thoughts. Only then does she loosen her hips by a fraction, the lessening of that contact travelling through her like an unhappy ripple over otherwise heated water.  One hand reaches for him as his hands work at the leather, palm flattening warm against the centre of his chest before her fingers begin to trace downward. She follows the dark curve of the serpent ink where it winds along his ribs, lingering over the familiar line with the same attention to detail she might have used to follow a coastline. Beneath her touch, saltwater begins to gather—first a sheen, then small warm beads slipping from her palm to his skin—as though the sea inside her has pressed too close to the surface to be held back properly for much longer.

sweet and right and merciful, all but washed in the tide of her breathing

Code 100% taken from the queeeeeeen herself, Sky <3

JACK

Hissing in a breath as the arch of her hips sends a crackle of both arousal and discomfort (and somehow both is better) shooting through him, Jack narrows his eyes down at her, though his expression remains darkly impressed. His equal on every level, and one that's unexpected but very much looked for, it's only once The Ark graciously allows him to start peeling away leather that the Captain gives himself a moment to recover. It's a moment steeped in distraction and the dance of a saltwater touch against his skin, such that when Jack is finally able to toss her pants aside he only barely has the patience to unfasten his own.

"You," he rumbles, "are a menace." No part of him sounds like this is a bad thing, granted, the Captain shoving down his pants enough to free his aching cock from where it has been trapped against the firm roll of her hips. All but falling back atop her, Jack kisses her like she's the first breath of air after minutes underwater, hitching her closer and teasing himself against her without fully eradicating the distance between them.

no more than I was or than I want to be
when you fall on me like night, I wanna kill the lights

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

her fight and fury's fiery, oh but she loves like sleep to the freezing

Poised beneath him like deep water waiting beneath a cliff’s edge, The Ark watches the movements of Jack’s hands with a predator’s rapt attention, blue eyes following the last impatient work of freeing himself from what remains of his clothes. "Only as much as you are," she murmurs, devilish satisfaction curling through the words as she opens herself to him again, arms and legs spread in an invitation that feels less like surrender than the sea rising to meet a diver foolish enough to believe he is in control of the descent.

She rises into his kiss at once, her body answering his with a hungry arch that erases the last careful distance between them. One hand tangles at the back of his neck, fingers winding into his hair, while the other glides down the length of his back, warm saltwater still pearling from her palm and slipping between them in bright, fevered traces. Her mouth devours his as greedily as he takes it, every breath shared and stolen in turn until the heat between them has made the cold of Deepfrost feel like something invented by another life.

She allows the teasing only until it becomes too much, tension pulling through her in opposing currents until it finally gives. Her leg curls back around his hips, drawing him fully into her with an urgency that steals the breath from her lungs, and she inhales sharply against his lips as a shaky surge of pleasure tears through her, leaving her fingers clutching at his lower back against both the tide and undertow of arousal now coursing through her.

sweet and right and merciful, all but washed in the tide of her breathing

Code 100% taken from the queeeeeeen herself, Sky <3

JACK

Jack doesn't get a chance to respond outright, not with his lips claiming The Ark's with a mix of passion and possession, but the implication is there. Touche. And if they are both as much of a menace as they claim the other to be, Torchline - and anywhere else in Caido they might go - had better be ready to weather one helluva storm. Tonight, though, in that endless, too-long night where they currently reside, the maelstrom is still somewhat contained.

He falls into her touch like a man eager to drown at sea, her hands drawing lines of fire against his skin, her mind opening like something hungry and endless and begging to be roused to life. Jack obliges the moment The Ark rolls her hips against him and eradicates the distance between them, his breath stuttering in his chest as her pleasure ricochets back through his magic and redoubles his own.

Shifting up the bed enough to anchor her hips against his own, with his next thrust Jack wastes no time in hitching her legs up and over his shoulders, fully intent on warming her up and then some.

no more than I was or than I want to be
when you fall on me like night, I wanna kill the lights

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

her fight and fury's fiery, oh but she loves like sleep to the freezing

A breathless sound spills from The Ark as Jack’s rhythm finds its purpose, sharp enough to catch in her throat before she can turn it into anything smoother. She reaches back to brace one palm against the headboard, arm set firm so the motion stays held between their bodies rather than travelling through the bed and out into the rest of her. There are limits to what she’ll let the ship betray, even now, though her mind has already opened wide beneath his magic: an endless, dark sea for him to captain, roused into glittering unrest wherever he touches it.

When he shifts her higher and draws her legs over his shoulders, her head falls back into the pillow, lashes fluttering as the new angle takes the last easy evasions from her. There is little she can do from there but feel him, take the warmth he has promised and the ruthless attention of it, and the helplessness is not a thing that diminishes her. It leaves her satisfied and wild with restlessness at once, like a ship held fast at anchor while every sail aches to be loosed. Her free hand finds his shoulder, fingers closing hard over the muscle beneath the black-and-white spray of flowers inked there. Saltwater beads beneath her touch, gathering along the tattoo in warm, shining drops as though the ocean in her has finally pressed through whatever thin boundary has kept it contained. Her grip tightens, her lips parting around a low, demanding purr of "more."

Outside on the darkened deck, her maroon sails stir again despite the stillness beyond the hull, a faint restless flutter as if they, too, are waiting to be filled.

sweet and right and merciful, all but washed in the tide of her breathing

Code 100% taken from the queeeeeeen herself, Sky <3

JACK

Jack is moving to obey before the breathless purr ever leaves her lips, though he relishes the sound of her voice nonetheless. His hips find a deep and punishing rhythm against her that will have her needing to brace harder against the headboard to keep the chaos at bay, though he has no doubt (and knows for a fact, until her thoughts swamp his magic entirely) that the more observant of the crew have already noticed the stirring of The Ark's sails.

Spreading his knees further, one warm and calloused hand finds its way beneath her, encouraging the arch of her lower back, while the other ghosts along the outside of her thigh. "More still?" he echoes, voice rough with pleasure and half muffled as his head turns to press a kiss to the inside of her knee. The feel of her is maddening enough even without the irresistible riptide of her thoughts. She might flood the cabin in the time it takes him to notice as much, and even then he'll happily drown until they both get what they want out of it.

no more than I was or than I want to be
when you fall on me like night, I wanna kill the lights

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

her fight and fury's fiery, oh but she loves like sleep to the freezing

Perhaps to the surprise of anyone on the outside looking in, The Ark doesn’t answer the Captain's invitation with another demand. Her head shakes slowly against the pillow, blue eyes dark and hazed as they find his, because ravenous isn’t the same as foolish and she’s learned too well what happens when a captain throws more wind into sails already straining at their seams. There’s a point where speed becomes ruin, where a ship stops cutting through the water and begins to fight it, and she knows they’ve reached that edge together.

Her palm presses harder into the headboard, arm taut with the effort of keeping the motion contained between them, while her back rises beneath the warmth of his hand in one long, controlled line. The other hand grips at his shoulder, fingertips catching against the flowers inked there before slipping, unsteady now, up to cup his cheek instead. Saltwater gathers beneath her touch, warm and bright along his skin, the ocean in her beginning to breach its banks in earnest.

It starts low and deep, not as a single sharp thing but as a change in the pressure of her whole being, the sort that comes before a storm finally tears itself open. She feels it building beneath every breath, immense and inexorable, a dark current gathering force where no hand can reach to turn it aside. Her breathing goes ragged; her mouth parts around sounds she can’t quite contain, wine-dark lips trembling as she pulls nhim closer, as though she might drag him beneath the surface with her before the wave breaks.

And then it does. Pleasure takes her completely, sweeping through her with the violence and splendour of a maelstrom, until for one suspended moment she seems less like a woman beneath him than something vast and water-born, all flesh made briefly weightless beneath the force of it. Her eyes flash open, tempest-blue and piercing, and Jack’s name leaves her lips like a song torn loose from the deepest part of her. Saltwater slicks her fingers as they clutch at him, not asking him to save her from the flood but pulling him down into it, determined that if she is going to drown in the heat of him, she’ll take her captain with her.

sweet and right and merciful, all but washed in the tide of her breathing

Code 100% taken from the queeeeeeen herself, Sky <3

JACK

Jack feels the crest of her pleasure like an undertow yanking him below the surface, and though he's able to sense it - to sense her - coming from the balls of his feet all the way to his fingertips, when that wave does break it still takes most of his sense along with it. He plunges willingly into the depths of her undoing, her fingers clasping his jaw and with salt on his tongue and the whole of the Arclight in her eyes. The sound of their breath is more like the roar of the tide coming in, the perfect bow of her body stretched taut and unyielding beneath his hands.

If asked, he'd be at pains to say where The Ark ends and he begins for a few seconds, the whipcrack of his own climax like an afterthought punctuated only by the crash of his mouth against hers. And while ice is usually the predominant element to accompany the loss of the Captain's control, tonight it's air charged with static and a gale that tears around the cabin, humidity and pressure colliding to create a localised tempest between them.

He catches himself on one arm braced above her, bicep trembling with the effort not to buckle onto her completely, chest heaving and the world little more than a vague and unimportant thing that belongs outside the perimeters of his attention.

no more than I was or than I want to be
when you fall on me like night, I wanna kill the lights

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

her fight and fury's fiery, oh but she loves like sleep to the freezing

The smell of ozone thickens in the cabin, braided with salt and the sudden, close humidity of the storm Jack has made of them, and something deeper in The Ark gives way beneath it. He hasn’t merely ridden out the monsoon of her pleasure; he has become part of it, caught in the same wild weather and made inseparable from its pull. For so long he has been more than just capable hands at her stern and bow, more than the captain who set her course or held her steady through difficult water. He has known and forged all the impossible pieces of her, and in this, as they sink together into the wreckage of heat and breath and static, there is nothing about them that feels like two bodies reaching for a common end. It is tide and vessel, storm and helm, the whole of them folded briefly into one another until there is no clean place to draw a line.

The sea of her thoughts remains turbulent beneath him, waves still breaking in the wake of what has passed, though the darkest clouds begin to thin at their edges and let something warmer through. Her hand leaves the headboard at last to curl around his shoulders, holding him there with a gentleness that bears no resemblance to surrender, while beads of saltwater gather at her fingertips and trail softly down the channel of his spine. Her breath continues in laboured pulls beneath him, chest rising against the lingering pressure of his body, and when her eyes find his again, there is still heat in them, still hunger, but something softer has settled underneath it too, as she pulls him the rest of the way down.

sweet and right and merciful, all but washed in the tide of her breathing

Code 100% taken from the queeeeeeen herself, Sky <3