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Buttons was screaming.
It wasn’t a normal scream by any stretch.
Plus, he was naked.
“Avast, the moon be bloody this evenin’!” he shouted from the helm.
The Revenge gave a sickening lurch.
“It be evil, this crimson moon glow!”
“Calm down, man!” Ed shouted. “You’re freaking everyone out!”
“Let go of the tiller, Mr. Buttons!” the Swede pleaded.
“It’s the end o’ the whole da’ world, Cap’n!” Buttons shouted, before starting to scream again.
“He’s shitting his pants,” Jim observed.
“He’s not wearing any pants,” Lucius hissed.
“Urgh,” said Roach.
“It’s actually quite unnerving,” Oluwande said. “I get why Buttons is upset.”
“I think it’s beautiful,” breathed Stede.
Along the horizon was the moon, full and heavy against the stars, and the color of rust. It did not so much glow as burn in the sky.
The whole crew was gathered on the main deck, save for Ed in the rigging above the bow and Buttons crying naked at the aft. At least he’d let go of the wheel; Oluwande and Fang dropped anchor.
The rest of the crew was less affected than Buttons by the sight of the moon, but they murmured in concerned whispers to each other. The eclipse had crept slowly upon them while they ate dinner in the galley below. Everyone had rushed aloft when they heard Buttons screaming.
“It’s just a lunar eclipse,” Ed called down to them.
“It’s a bad omen,” said Frenchie in a shivery voice. With that he left the deck.
“Agreed. Slán,” said Wee John, moving to follow.
“Where are you going, man?” Stede demanded, aghast. “This is a phenomenal celestial event!”
“Are we going to die?” asked Ivan. “Or are we already dead?”
“On the day I was born—” the Swede began.
“It makes me itchy,” said Jim.
“I really don’t want to die tonight, babe,” said Black Pete to Lucius.
“What if it’s just a little death?” Lucius purred.
“Guys, you’re not going to die!” Stede yelled, glaring at Lucius, but it was no use.
Roach and Fang retrieved Buttons, wrapping him in a tarpaulin before dragging him below.
“We’ll find him some laudanum,” said Roach. “Let the poor bastard sleep through this.”
“Can I have laudanum, too?” begged the Swede.
The crew remaining on deck all followed, muttering about jaguars eating the moon, the death of kings, and human sacrifice.
Stede made a face. “Yuck.”
At last it was just Izzy, Stede, and Ed left in the dim copper light—almost the color of a bruise. The ocean was calm that night, and no birds called. Stede took a deep breath, smiling up at the incredible sight before them. Izzy looked between the blood red moon and Stede for a long, awkward moment.
“You know, the first recorded lunar eclipse was in China,” Stede began.
“Fuck this,” Izzy interrupted, banging his cane on the ground. He stomped over to the deck door. The door made a resounding thud as it slammed behind him.
“Rude,” sniffed Stede.
Ed chuckled from somewhere above him. Stede looked up at the man he now called his—his boyfriend, his partner, his co-captain, his lover. There wasn’t one word that quite captured the feelings Edward Teach provoked in Stede Bonnet.
In deference to the humid day, Ed had eschewed his typical leathers for dark linen breeches, wool socks, and a pale shirt. His long hair was loose and his new beard cropped close to his jaw. His eyes crinkled as he smiled down at Stede.
He looked like the man who kissed Stede on a beach long ago.
He looked like a dream made real.
Stede’s heart fluttered in his chest.
Ed climbed down. He walked along the balustrade then made a clean drop to the deck with the help of the rigging. He approached Stede, his gait relaxed and fluid like a feline slinking through the night.
“Superstitious, the lot of them!” Stede scoffed. He felt a blush creeping across his face so he turned away to look out at the water. The waves rippled gently below. “Well, not Lucius, of course. Oluwande surprises me, to be honest.”
“Superstitious or not, they all just skived off their duties.”
“Oh. Bugger.”
Ed came up behind Stede and put his arms around him. Ed buried his face in Stede’s neck, his salt-and-pepper beard tickling the bare skin. There was a small sliver of pearly white on the bottom curve of the moon, rapidly succumbing to the efflorescence spreading across its face. Stede sighed.
“It is quite something, isn’t it?”
“Quite something,” Ed murmured softly.
“I suppose the eclipse will stop in an hour or so. We have the ship to ourselves!”
“Yeah. Just us.” Ed’s breath was hot in his ear when he spoke, his hands wandering down to Stede’s hips. “Do you want to do something weird?”
“With you? About ninety percent of the time.”
Ed laughed, dragging Stede against his chest. “I want to fuck out here. Right now.”
The breath left Stede's lungs in a rush. Ed rocked his hips forward, and there was no mistaking the hot length of his half-hard prick against the small of Stede’s back. Stede bit back a moan.
“Are you serious? Outside?”
Ed took his hand and pulled him up the steps to the prow. He was already tugging Stede’s shirt from his belt as he shoved him against the foremast. His mouth was hot on Stede’s. Stede opened for him with a low whine in his throat. He scrambled for Ed’s belt, unbuckling it as their tongues slid together.
If he could kiss Ed for the rest of his life, he would.
The simple press of Ed’s warm lips to his sent sparks shooting from his scalp to the very tip of his spine.
Every time.
Stede could feel his cock hardening in his small clothes, straining against the fabric of his breeches.
There was an urgency in the air. Stede didn’t fight it. Ed yanked their shirts off. Stede drew Ed close to suck behind his ear, just the way Ed liked it. It was a secret spot behind the cloud of hair and his beard, a patch of sensitive skin that only Stede got to touch. Ed whimpered.
“I need you to fuck me, Stede. Please.”
They ended up across the foredeck, kissing and sucking on every bit of exposed skin. Their trousers puddled at their feet, smalls and stockings following close behind. Shoes were toed off, belts clattered to the deck.
Stede had always been a private man, but with Ed he felt more free, more accepting of his own body. It didn’t matter that they were on the deck of the Revenge, naked for all the world to see—because the only thing that mattered to Stede in this moment was Ed. If he had to choose one thing, it would be this man, no matter the pain they had gone through and because of the embers he set alight within Stede.
When his heavy, sensitive prick slid against Ed’s, he wanted to meld his entire body to the man. He thought Ed might just let him. Instead he pushed Ed against the balustrade. Ed’s arms went around his waist as Stede kissed his jaw.
“There’s oil—in my bag, on the belt,” Ed panted.
Stede reluctantly extracted himself from Ed. He went searching for the pile of their clothes discarded in the dark, then rummaged around for the vial. It took a few minutes, his erection abating somewhat without Ed’s proximity.
When he looked up, Ed had propped his left leg on a bucket and was bent forward, exposing himself. He looked over his shoulder at Stede with a heated expression, his black-and-grey hair and a network of tattoos tumbling down his back.
Stede felt the blood rushing in his ears like the roar of the ocean in a storm. Ed rested his head on the carved wood in front of him as Stede came forward. Ed let out a long, shaky breath when Stede settled his hand above the slight swell of his arse.
“Hey.”
“Hello.”
“All right?”
“Yes.”
Stede kneeled behind Ed, in awe of the raw beauty being offered to him. He put down the vial of oil; it rolled gently away into the pile of discarded clothes.
He stroked Ed’s long brown legs, hands curling possessively around his ankles and moving up until his fingers were splayed through the soft hair on his thighs. Ed was trembling when Stede pressed his thumbs into Ed's buttocks, spreading him further open.
“Stede.”
“Are you sure about this?”
“Yes, I’m abso-fucking sure. I’m friggin’ Blackbeard, man. Fucking in the light of a blood moon? Do you know what that will do to my reputation? Ah—!”
Stede gave a long, firm lick to Ed’s hole. He could barely see anything, but he didn't need to as he pressed his tongue into Ed. He alternated his movements with wet laps of his tongue, circling around the muscle until it relaxed. He had only done this twice, in the privacy of their quarters, but it didn’t matter. Stede let the gentle rocking of the ship calm his heart.
His mouth was covered with saliva and sweat, and still he pushed deeper, seeking. Ed was a mess above him, pleading, whimpering desperate things, filthy promises and adulations. Stede spread the man’s legs apart further, feeling his left leg shaking as he did.
Ed smelled earthy, salty—and his arousal was more than evident as Stede reached up to touch him. The man above him keened at the dual sensation of tongue in his arse and hand around his cock. Stede gave Ed's cock a firm upstroke, punctuating the motion with stabs of his tongue.
Certain Ed was distracted by the hand on him, Stede slid a finger past the pliant muscle between his legs, licking carefully to ease its way. Ed let out a string of curses that would make even the most debauched pirate blush. Stede’s own prick twitched against his leg.
“I need you,” said Ed suddenly, batting Stede away.
He turned, wobbling only slightly. He crouched down to retrieve the abandoned vial of oil. Then he advanced on Stede, forcing him backwards toward the mast. His pupils were blown wide. He kissed Stede fiercely, hands scrabbling in his hair for purchase as he forced his tongue inside Stede's mouth.
“I need you now. Come on.”
There was a bedroll lashed to a bannister overlooking the main deck. Stede fell to his knees to untie it, doing his best to lay it out as Ed crowded him from behind. Ed slipped wicked, oil-slicked fingers between his arse, brushing his balls and pressing against the puckered hole. He plucked at Stede’s nipples, bit and sucked at his shoulders as Stede smoothed out the bedroll.
“I thought you wanted me to—”
“If I knew how to keep my hands off you, I would. Or maybe not, I dunno.”
“Ed—”
Ed pushed him down onto the bedroll, flipping Stede onto his back. The hand slicked with oil wrapped around Stede, coating his cock. Before Stede could say anything, do anything, Ed was arranging himself over Stede.
“Edward, your knee—”
“Just shut up, Stede.”
Ed leant forward to kiss him, just as he let his hips sink down. Stede had the presence of mind to hold the base of his cock steady as Ed’s tight warmth engulfed him. They groaned together as Ed seated himself fully on Stede’s lap.
Ed cursed, propped up by one palm flat against Stede’s chest. Stede brought his hands up to stroke his flank, the long contours of his back. They could still barely see each other, but Ed’s eyes glittered like stars above him.
“You’re mine,” Ed growled.
“I’m yours,” Stede whispered.
Ed sat up a little and rolled his hips. The action made Stede gasp. Ed gave a satisfied grunt, then lifted up and slammed back down. Stede’s mind went blank for several glorious seconds, his back arching.
The low rumble of laughter from Ed brought him back to reality.
Stede flattened his feet on the wooden deck. He let Ed control the pace in deference to his knee. But he put his hands on Ed’s thighs, squeezing, stroking. Ed’s cock was parallel to his stomach, stiff and weeping. It bobbed with every thrust of their bodies, dragging pre-come through the soft black hair of his belly. Stede chased after the fluid with his fingers, palm brushing the head of Ed’s cock.
Ed faltered in his movements.
They looked at each other for a while. The scarlet moon hung in the sky over Ed’s shoulder. Stede felt warm all over, his muscles tight with desire and his love-drunk brain foggy. Ed’s fingers slipped into his, nestled against his scarred abdomen. Stede rocked his hips up slowly, thrusting into Ed with gentle, methodical strokes that made them both breathless.
It was too much, and not nearly enough.
“Up, up you go.”
Stede got Ed off him, gingerly, then struggled onto his knees. His joints cracked, because he was not a young man, but he didn’t care.
Ed insisted on kissing him. Stede didn’t begrudge him that, because kissing Ed was never wrong. It was always good.
They were kneeling in front of each other in the dark, warmth radiating off their bodies. Stede brushed long tresses of hair away from Ed’s shoulder to mouth warm brown skin. Ed’s fingers found his nipples again, pulling at them until Stede whimpered then trailing down his front to cup his balls. The feeling alone nearly made Stede come.
“Are you going to take what’s yours, Bonnet?” Ed asked, smirking against his lips.
Fuck.
Stede shoved Ed off him, manhandling him into position on the bedroll. Ed laid his head on his forearms, knees drawn wide under him so his arse was in the air. Stede ran a hand down his leg, then a finger down the length of his cock. He tugged gently on the thatch of dark public hair, earning himself a pleased moan. Then he shifted closer. He dragged his cock along the length of Ed’s arse, nudging the spongy head against the most intimate part of a person before pulling away.
Ed swore. “You’re such a dick.”
“Sometimes," Stede agreed, angling his cock.
“Yes,” Ed hissed as Stede pushed into him, hard.
When Stede was sheathed to the hilt, he couldn’t help run his fingernails down Ed’s tattoos. He let them press against the old ink. The man sucked in a breath at the sensation, his body twisting into the light scrape of pain.
“So beautiful,” Stede said.
Then he began to move in earnest.
Even in the dim light, Stede could see the contrast of their skin color, his pale thighs thrusting forward to meet Ed’s lovely, warm, brown skin. He chased the motion that wrenched a quavering, shaky groan from Ed, hitting the bundle of nerves over and over until Ed’s mouth hung open but no words escaped.
You’re everything to me, Stede thought, though he wondered if he’d spoken aloud when Ed made a pained sound right after.
Stede bent forward to press his chest to Ed’s back. His thrusts were shallower now, but the pleasure coiling at the base of his spine was threatening to spike. It coursed through his veins like wildfire.
“Touch yourself,” he commanded, quietly.
Ed obeyed, his hand flying over his cock. He moaned when Stede's hand wrapped around his, and together they took Ed apart. Stede made sharp, random thrusts with his hips, relishing the way Ed seemed to lose the air in his lungs and his muscles spasmed around Stede's cock.
“You’re almost there, love,” Stede murmured. “Don’t you feel it? Don’t hold back. Let go. For me. For me.”
Ed gave a sobbing cry as come coated their fingers and the bedroll in great, hot spurts. Stede released his cock, grabbed Ed around the middle, and pistoned his hips just the way Ed liked it.
Long, hard, unebbing thrusts until it was too much.
And then a bit more.
Stede’s release hit him like an explosion. He was sure he’d left bruises on Ed’s hipbones. He was shivering when he pulled himself out of Ed. He slid two fingers through the mess between their bodies and then curled them inside Ed, the slick heat enveloping them like it was welcoming him home.
Ed mewled.
They collapsed beside each other, sweaty shoulders and thighs pressed close. Above them the canvas sails fluttered in the sea breeze.
A long, comfortable silence stretched between them.
“Best outdoor sex ever,” breathed Ed. He punched the air with a fist. “I love lunar eclipses.”
Stede laughed, and rolled onto his side to kiss him.
Eventually they pulled their clothes back on and cleaned themselves up. The air wasn’t quite so cool that it was strictly necessary, but Stede didn’t fancy the crew catching him nude on the forecastle. He left his shoes next to Ed’s boots.
Ed kicked the soiled bedroll out of the way while Stede hung one of the canvas hammocks from the rigging. It took a fair bit of maneuvering and negotiation, but after a few minutes they had settled next to each other, Ed’s arm around Stede. Stede held Ed’s hand. His body felt loose but grounded, at peace in a way a younger version of himself would never have believed possible.
Stede looked up at the sky. The stars were brighter with the moon so dark, the swirl of constellations and galaxies fathomless above them. But he had to admit to himself, finally, that the peculiar color of the moon was disarming. He was glad the eclipse would soon wane, even if it had led to Ed and him making love under the starlight.
“What if Frenchie’s right?” Stede whispered. He rolled his shoulder as he yawned. “What if it is a bad omen?”
“It’s just the moon passing through the earth’s shadow,” Ed murmured. He trailed callused fingers along Stede’s palm, slowly, gently. “It happens every few years. No need to be scared, love.”
“I’m not scared. Not when I’m with you.”
Ed’s arm around him tightened. Stede set his head on the man’s chest.
“Shouldn’t we be on watch?” Stede wondered.
“Nah,” said Ed. “We’re at anchor and any raider out there is shitting his smalls because of the eclipse. We’re fine.”
The blood red color slowly morphed to orange, to dusky yellow, then to dark grey, and pearly white again. The craters returned in sharp relief on the moon’s face.
Stede fell asleep to Ed stroking his hair.
“Oh, thank the gods, it stopped!” rang out Lucius’s snarky voice, startling Ed and Stede awake.
The young scribe stood over them. It was nearly dawn. They could hear members of the crew emerging from below to start their duties. Lucius leered down at them, cuddled close in the hammock.
“Don’t you two look sweet?”
“Go away, man,” Ed groused.
“Good morning, Lucius,” said Stede, stretching and nearly punching Ed in the nose.
Lucius smirked, then his eyes drifted across the deck behind them.
“What the fuck did you do to my bedroll?” he screeched.
“Oh, dear,” said Stede.
Ed laughed.