A Fish Tale

Chapter 20

by

Oasis Herself

He'd been dreaming, that much he knew, though he couldn't remember any of the particulars.

He stretched and ran his hand down his body to palm himself. His pouch was swollen and when he arched into his hand a tiny trickle of moisture escaped and slid in a ticklish path along his hip.

He wanted Jack... badly.

At least the storm is over, he thought, glancing up at the ceiling of the cave. Bright sunlight streamed through the cracks and his best guess made it to be mid-afternoon.

His thoughts turned to the early morning hours and the lost schooner. What a waste of life that had been, he thought sadly, and to so callously discard women and children.

He rolled over onto Jack's side of the ledge to bury his face in the damp moss and breathe in the comforting scent of his mate.

Death was by no means a stranger to him, of course. Christ, he had spent his life living by the sword. He had more than a passing knowledge of watching the light fade from the eyes of brothers in arms, as well as the eyes of enemies—and those, often by his own hand.

But there was something about that woman... her calm acceptance and the aura of peace she exuded in her final moments.

It occurred to him then that he hadn't been a man to her, but rather a creature from myth and legend. He wondered if she had thought him some otherworld creature, there to usher her into the next world.

He rather liked the thought of that, and hoped it was so.

At least the men who had orchestrated such a crime had gotten theirs. Jack had seen to that with his own peculiar form of justice.

He reassigned it all finally to the corner of his mind where such things resided, and turned his thoughts now to a more immediate concern.

He needed Jack... needed to sink into the welcoming heat, and lose himself in the safe, comforting familiarity of his mate.

James lifted his head from the moss. Where the hell was Jack anyway?

He rolled from the ledge then and headed for the rocks.

is body, however, was apparently able to sort it out far sooner. His dorsal fin stiffened almost instantly and fanned high over his back and a red hot rage flooded through him. When his mind finally caught up, he realized he was seeing his mate—his mate—in the arms of a merman he didn't recognize.

The merman was behind Jack—his Jack—and had his arms snugged tightly around Jack's waist. Jack was wriggling in his grasp and trying to squirm away, but he was laughing and clearly in no distress.

James's body thrummed with an urgent desire to fly through the water and tear that creature's hands from his mate, but some still rational part of his mind was busily pointing out that Jack didn't seem to be objecting to the other merman's touch.

He caught a quick flash of silver from the corner of his eye and turning towards it, saw that it was only Dree.

Dree darted over to Jack and the merman, and tugged at the strange merman's tail. He released Jack and turned in the water to arrow off after Dree. Jack was right behind both of them and in hot pursuit.

When Jack caught up, he tugged in turn at the new merman's tail and then the chase was on again for Jack.

James watched only long enough to see the other merman catch up to Jack and try to secure his hold on Jack's dorsal fin with his teeth. And then he was moving fast through the water and after them

He yanked Jack roughly away from the other two and slapped this new merman—this new threat—hard with his tail. With grim satisfaction, James watched him spin off through the water and then darted along behind, still dragging Jack by the wrist.

James's mind was screaming at him that it was only play... that Jack and Dree and this unknown one were only engaged in some form of play, but it wasn't enough to stem the fury that engulfed him.

When the merman finally managed to right himself in the water, James was there beside him, and slapped him again. The blow sent the merman straight down and crashing against the sea bed

Jack was tugging at him, trying to pull him away, and then Dree was on his other side and pulling at his other hand.

James shook off Dree's hand and dragged Jack to the surface. "What the bloody hell do you think you're doing?" he demanded, furiously.

"Christ, James, don't ya see who it is? It's only Timothy. Timothy, mate, from me crew!"

The import of that didn't seem to penetrate the fog of his fury. He leaned closer and hissed, "I don't care if it's God. How dare you let him put his hands on you!"

"James, luv... it was nothin'." Jack reached up to stroke James's cheek in an obvious effort to placate him, but James slapped it away.

"It didn't look like it was nothing," he snapped.

James heard a timid voice then, stammering out his name, and he whirled in the water to confront the speaker.

Dree and the other merman had surfaced a short distance away. He was watching James cautiously as Dree whispered urgently into his ear.

Now James recognized him, and realized it was one of Jack's crew. He wasn't entirely clear on how Timothy had come to be here, or in this guise, but the only thing that really mattered to James at the moment was that Timothy would not be touching his mate again.

"T'was no harm meant, Commodore," Timothy said softly, "I swear't."

James glanced back to Jack and narrowed his eyes. "Stay here," he hissed.

He turned from Jack and glided towards Timothy, his dorsal fin still high and cutting through the water. When he was nearly nose to nose with Timothy he drew his lips back into an arrogant sneer and a low growl rumbled through his gills.

Timothy visibly trembled.

James held his gaze for a moment longer and when he finally spoke, his voice was ice cold and deadly calm. "If you ever touch my mate again... I'll gut you like a fish."

Timothy squeezed his eyes tightly closed. "Never. I swear't," he whispered.

James turned in the water then and darted back to Jack, and took him firmly by the wrist. "Come with me."

"Now hold on there, James."

"I said come with me!"

Jack tipped his head back and narrowed his eyes, giving every indication of becoming very stubborn.

James glared fiercely at him, the challenge in his eyes clear and daring Jack to defy him.

Jack squirmed under the intensity of James's gaze, and finally he dropped his eyes and murmured a soft, "Aye."

When they reached the cave, James pushed Jack towards the ledge before him then climbed up behind.

Jack scooted immediately to the far corner and curled his tail around himself. He held up a conciliatory hand. "Now James, in hindsight I can well imagine how that musta looked to you... but I swear to you, James... I swear there was nothing to it."

James pushed Jack flat against the ledge and dropped his head to hover over Jack's stomach. He breathed deeply and could smell the other merman on Jack—on his mate—and that scent only fueled his fury. He shook with it.

He felt Jack's finger creep into his hair and pet him softly. "It was a lark, James... just a game."

James pressed his forehead hard against Jack's stomach and squeezed his eyes tightly closed. Christ, he hated being so out of control, and damn it all to bloody hell but wasn't it always—always—only and ever Jack Sparrow who could be counted on to shatter that control. He took great gasping breaths, struggling to gain some composure, before crawling up Jack's body to look down into his face.

"You let him touch you," James accused.

"Aye... an' he touched Dree too, but ya didn't see Aroo out there, did ya?"

"Perhaps Aroo should have been."

"Ya didn't see Aroo out there because he knows, James. He knows that Dree is his. Like you know... like you should know that I'm yours."

James searched Jack's face for only an instant before he was whispering an urgent, "Mine," and claiming Jack's mouth in a savage kiss.

He pulled back finally, panting harshly, and pushed Jack's hand down to press against his own pouch. "Touch me," he demanded.

Jack nodded, wide eyed, and slid his hand into James's pouch to fondle him gently.

James's prick leapt at his touch.

As soon as he was fully hard, James pulled Jack's hand from his pouch, and without ceremony, flipped Jack hard enough to knock the breath from him.

James was on him immediately and pressing his cock into the crease of his arse.

"And when the enchantment ends and you're back on your ship with him," James hissed into Jack's ear, "what then? With fond memories between you of having been mermen, will you break your word to me?"

"Never," Jack grunted, beneath him, "I swore it to you, didn't I?

James pressed hard against the entrance to Jack's body, focused only on reclaiming his mate and wiping the stench of the other merman from him.

Jack went very still beneath him. "S'all right, James," he said finally, and James could hear the careful caution in his voice. "I'm all right, luv, just... just help me catch up with ya."

James worked his hand down between the ledge and Jack's body and slid it deeply into Jack's pouch. It took longer than it might have normally, and James cursed himself silently for that, but finally Jack's cock was firming in his hand and he could feel the tight ring of muscle to Jack's body relax and open to him.

Jack squirmed and then pushed himself against James's far too anxious prick, inviting him in.

James tried to move slowly... tried take Jack carefully and lovingly... until the image of Timothy trying to hold Jack's fin in his teeth forced its way jarringly into his mind. James thrust so hard and fast and deep then, that Jack's mating cry broke on a sharp, startled gasp.

James had a quick rush of guilt for it, but the clutching tight heat of Jack's body quickly robbed him of any remorse and replaced it instead with a burning need to re-assert his possession.

He sank his teeth savagely into Jack's dorsal fin and shook him. He heard Jack's voice, whisper softly, "Christ, James, I love you, mate... you gotta know I love you."

James rolled them up onto their sides, curled his tail tightly around Jack and slid them into the water.

Jack cried out then in horror, "No." He grasped at the ledge, trying to cling to it. "Ya can't mean to take us into the cove, James, they'll see."

James couldn't deny that a part of him very much wanted to make a mad flying mating run through the cove. But a part of his mind recoiled at the thought of anyone seeing Jack when he was sweet and pliant in his arms and desperate for his touch.

Except that Jack wasn't.

And that realization hit him like a thunderbolt. Jack wasn't sweet and pliant in his arms. He was accommodating James's rage.

James's leaned his forehead against the back of Jack's head and felt the rest of his anger ebb into the waters around them.

Finally he nuzzled into the soft skin behind Jack's gills. "Do you think I could flaunt you like some doxy, Jack?"

" 'm not too sure, right now," Jack admitted. His voice was slurring and his hold on the ledge was weakening.

James slid an arm beside Jack's on the ledge. "Can you help me hold us here?" he asked softly

"Aye."

James slid his hand down Jack's body and took hold of his cock again, but now his touch was gentled.

Jack let his head drop back against James's shoulder with a soft moan. "Don't be mad anymore, luv."

James angled his head down to kiss Jack and poured himself into it, coaxing and teasing with tongue and lips.

When he broke the kiss Jack sighed against his mouth, "There's my James... my James is back."

"I love you."

Jack rolled his head lazily on James's shoulder and looked up at him with the barest hint of a smirk. "Aye... and don't I know that now."

Apparently, Jack was back as well.

James only arched a brow at him and began rocking their tails back and forth in the water beneath the ledge.

Jack's eyes fluttered shut with a soft moan.

James slid his mouth down to worry at the leading edge of Jack's dorsal fin and he increased the arc of their tails through the water. He heard Jack hiss through his gills, and tightened his grip on Jack's cock as he pulled their tails away from the ledge. He arched them high over his back until the flukes of his tail damn near brushed against his own dorsal fin.

He was so deeply embedded in Jack that he could feel the hard press of his cock against that tight bundle of nerves that was deep inside each of them. He tightened his hold on Jack's tail and tugged hard.

Jack shuddered against him and cried out, "That's good... Oh Christ, James, that's real good."

James let their tails drop back down into the water and then swung them up again in another long swooping arc. The motion squeezed Jack tightly around the knot in James's cock. He cried out and bit hard into Jack's dorsal fin as he dropped their tails back down to the water.

Jack tugged feebly at his tail. "Again," he demanded urgently, "More, James... don't stop what yer doin'."

James swung their tails up again and tugged hard... and then again, and again.

Jack was urging him on, gasping out breathless cries of "More... harder... harder."

There was no finesse to it now... only his tail clinging to Jack's, and lashing wildly in the water in a desperate consuming drive to take them both to completion.

And finally, finally, James felt strong muscles tighten and begin to spasm around his cock.

James teetered for a breathtaking moment, poised at that precipice, until at last... at last, he heard Jack's cry and felt him spilling into his hand. James shuddered hard himself then and fell headlong into the sweet oblivion of spending into Jack Sparrow's body.

Jack almost always woke slowly and by degrees that could be read in his face. A twitching nose, the fluttering quirk of an eyebrow, the pursing of lips, and then a soft sigh and a prodigious stretch.

He finally opened his eyes and looked up at James with a smile.

James smiled back and leaned down to kiss him gently. "Are you all right?"

"Aye. Hungry though."

"Let me rest here for a minute... or five, and then I'll get you fed."

"Aye," he curled closer and then looked up at James, his expression oddly serious. "We're all right now, aren't we, luv? You and me?"

James nodded, slowly. "Yes, of course. I... I daresay I may have overreacted somewhat."

Jack snorted and shot him an incredulous look. "Somewhat?"

"Well, I hardly think you're in a position to judge."

"Well, no," Jack allowed grudgingly. "'Course, I never saw fit to beat the tar outa Cruu either." He quirked a knowing eyebrow at James. "Not that I didn't want to, y'understand."

"Yes, I suppose you must have." James leaned back against the ledge and closed his eyes with a sigh. "I overreacted quite a bit, didn't I?"

He felt Jack leaning over him, and opening his eyes, looked up to find Jack grinning down at him. "Dare I ask what it is that you find so amusing in this?"

Jack's grin only got broader. "It just appears the scale is suddenly on the other fin, so to speak, innit?"

James was quiet for a long moment and then frowned and looked away. "So it would seem," he murmured, sullenly.

It was when he felt Jack settle back down beside him again that the curiosity of it all occurred to him. He shifted up to see Jack better and asked, "How is it that Timothy is even here?"

Jack shrugged as if it were of no great concern. "Guess I was dyin', James. Dree says it had to 'ave been death's blood I was spillin' into the water when Timothy joined you." He paused for a moment before continuing thoughtfully. "I didn't know Timothy was even in the water that day, till he showed up here in the cove."

James reached over to stroke Jack's cheek, loath to even think of it, but asking anyway, "Do you even remember that day?"

"No. No, luv, actually I don't remember any of it."

"I imagine he'll have to return to the waters off the Floridas to break the enchantment."

"Now that's the interesting bit of it, James," Jack said excitedly. "He's no desire to end the enchantment. He wants to stay."

James was mulling that piece of news over in his mind when Jack's stomach grumbled loudly. James stretched and sat up. "I suppose I'd better feed you."

"Think I'll go with ya," Jack said casually.

Too casually.

James looked at him sharply as he sat up and arched a brow. "Your desire to come with me can only suggest mischief, Jack. What are you up to?"

Jack fluttered his fingers against his chest and feigned a look of innocence.

James glanced towards the entrance of their cave and narrowed his eyes before looking back to Jack. "If you're harboring even the thought of trying to incite my jealousy, Jack..."

Jack cocked his head to the side and asked, "You mean somethin' along the order a' how you tried to lure me off a ledge?"

"Jack."

"Wouldn't dream of it, luv."

James flashed Timothy a warning look, but the truth of it was that now he felt somewhat embarrassed by his earlier behavior. There was certainly no way of denying what he and Jack were to each other after that little display.

He nodded greeting to Dree and Aroo and settled himself onto the rocks.

He was somewhat surprised and more than a little suspicious when Jack curled tightly around him and buried his nose in James's neck.

James tipped his head back to look down into Jack's face. "Are you all right?" he asked, softly.

"Aye."

He looked up at Timothy, who quickly averted his eyes, and then back down at Jack. "Are you sure?"

"I'm irrefutably... categorically... and ind... ind..." He frowned and tapped a finger against his chin in concentration.

"Indubitably?" James offered helpfully.

"No, no."

"Indisputably?"

"No, not that one either."

James thought for a moment and then sighed in exasperation. "Does it even matter, Jack?"

Jack looked up at him. "Not really," he grinned before swooping up and taking James's mouth in a sweet, lingering kiss.

Jack pulled away slowly and resettled his face against James's neck. "I'm fine, mate."

James felt himself flush and glanced quickly towards Timothy who was watching them in wide-eyed, open-mouthed fascination.

"Sparrow!" James hissed down at him.

He felt Jack snicker against his neck and then whisper into his ear. "Timothy's stayin' luv, remember? And if he's fortunate enough to find as fine a mate as mine—doubtful—I reckon he'll be enjoyin' it all near as much as I've been."

James was mollified somewhat. "I suppose it will hardly matter then what he knows or doesn't know."

"Exactly."

James was about to go for food for them both when he was taken by his own sudden bit of mischief.

He twisted on the rocks and leaned over Jack. "Since it apparently doesn't matter what he knows or doesn't know, than I would be remiss in not taking this opportunity," he pressed Jack flat against the rocks and covered him with his own body, "to... irrefutably and categorically demonstrate that you are, indeed, my mate."

He kissed Jack long and hard then, and ran a caressing hand as far as he could reach along the length of Jack's tail. When he finally raised his head, he smirked down at Jack and added, "Thereby avoiding any possibility of inciting future misunderstandings."

Jack studied him thoughtfully for several long seconds before announcing sternly "You know, you've become quite shameless, Commodore Norrington, quite shameless."

"Indeed."

The corners of Jack's mouth quirked. "I should like to take full credit for that."

His gaze wandered to the rocks at the mouth of the cove and his thoughts turned then to the schooner. He sighed softly to himself and suffered a sharp guilty pang. So many perished this morning, and here he was trying to work out how best to get Jack to indulge his fancy. He sighed again.

"Stop it."

James glanced down at Jack. "Stop what?"

"Frettin' 'bout that damn schooner, James."

"What makes you so sure that's what I'm thinking about?"

"Ya denyin' it?"

"Well, no. Not exactly."

"Then stop it. Ya did what ya could and now ya have to let it go, mate."

Jack was leaning comfortably against James and contemplating his own stomach. "Besides, I just noticed somethin' interesting, luv."

"Hmm?"

"We have no belly buttons."

"Lower, Jack."

"Eh?"

"Look lower... it's just inside your pouch."

Jack curled up and peered into his pouch. "I can't find it James," he said after a moment. "Show me."

James sighed and sat up. "It's right..." James slipped his hand into Jack's pouch and Jack pushed up against him, His cock firmed almost instantly at the touch of James's hand and then he moaned softly.

James arched a brow and looked from Jack's pouch to his now smirking face.

"You already knew, didn't you?"

"Aye."