Seize the Booty! (Erotica Arcanus) Read Online Free PDF Page A

pushed off of him in disgust. The illusion was shattered and now he was sickened by the deed as soon as it ended. He could not bear to look at Jerome's garish masquerade a moment longer.
    "That was amazing," Jerome panted as he lie flat. "Of course, I feel like someone shoved a bleedin' harpoon up me bum, but still. Worth every second."
    Captain Morris scowled as he crossed the cabin to uncork the nearest bottle of liquor and said, "Get out."
    Jerome scurried around the cabin floor for his things, keeping low to the ground as he pulled on his clothing to keep out of the captain's line of sight. He tossed the dress and wig into a trunk behind the privacy-screen and left without speaking.
    It was a shipman's agreement between them, Morris thought. A thing that took place and was never spoken of or acknowledged in public.
    Meanwhile that bastard Calico Jack has a woman like Anne Bonny at sea with him. A woman who can use a sword as well as she can suck a cock and tie a knot. Untie a knot as well of a particular sort, Morris imagined. Why in the hell should he have a hot-blooded female at his disposal and I be left with nothing better than Jerome? Am I not the superior captain?
    He turned and faced himself in the mirror. Years of sun and sea had left his skin the texture of worn leather with creases around his eyes like the feet of a bird. His scraggly chin-hair accentuated the pointed thrust of his chin. "If you are the superior captain, why do you not take what is yours?" he whispered to himself.
    Morris grabbed his hat and drew his hand down the spine of the eagle's feather sticking from its brim, smoothing it out and making it straight. He donned his red jacket and emerged from his quarters to walk to the edge of the captain's perch and look down upon his crew.
    They were working hard and talking amongst themselves, but all of them fell silent as Morris thrust his hands in the air and shouted, "Avast, lads, for I have an announcement to make!" He reached into his pocket for the scroll and unrolled it, showing them the wanted poster of Calico Jack. They all groaned in contempt. "Now, everyone knows we be only the second-best crew on the sea, and that I be only the second-best captain. That is beyond dispute," Morris said.
    The men looking back at him cocked their heads in confusion. A few of them muttered small disagreements with the captain's words, but none raised their voices.
    "It's true," Morris said. "I know it, for it is written on this very scroll, proof for all the world to see. Our cut-throat ways and skill at piracy are now famous for being second-rate they say!"
    "If anybody dares say such a thing I'll gut 'em in front of their own grandmothers !" one of the crewmen shouted back.
    "Would you now?" Morris said. "So you mean to tell me you aren't satisfied with second place?"
    The entire crew called out, " Hell no!"
    He leaned forward against the rail, "Do you mean to tell me this crew of dog-faced, sea-water -drinkin' men of steel and fire are made of sterner stuff than that fancy-boy poof and his crew of women?"
    "Aye, captain!" they shouted back.
    Morris grinned slyly at them, "Aye, perhaps ye are. What say you then that we set an intercept course for the Ace of Spades , an' settle the matter once and for all?" The men fired back a roar of approval and Captain Barto Morris turned to take up the Maidenhead's wheel to steer it toward destiny.

Chapter 4. Sea Transitions
     
    The next morning I opened my eyes to a booming clap of thunder. The ship was rocking back and forth violently and I realized everyone else was already above deck, working whilst I slept like some freeloading scallywag.
    I leapt up from my bunk and flew up the stairs, nearly running directly into the first mate as I exited onto the main deck. "Where the hell've you been?" Fat Matt snarled, lifting his hand to shield his face from the pelting rain and wind.
    "No one woke me, sir!" I shouted.
    "You didn't notice getting thrashed by the storm, you