the hurricane I'll never outrun

Emilia ran a tongue along her lower lip, wishing instead her lips could be pressed against the pirate’s. Just Rowe’s presence was enough to cause goosebumps to form on her arms, her folds already slick from her excitement. Few people had the same control over her that the pirate captain did. “You love my shows. I put them on just for you.” she murmured, wanting to reach out to touch the other woman. “Don’t make promises you don’t intend to keep.” Mia replied, her gaze searching Rowe’s face. “You could tie me to your bed for days and nothing would make me happier. Use me as a toy, I’d beg all you want.” The woman gasped as Rowe palmed her breast, her nipple growing hard from the contact.

“I do not hate him because he gets to rule. Truly, I pity him for it. There are other matters at hand that go beyond my brother being the heir to the throne.” Like the fact that everyone knew Casimir was the least favorite, that he was constantly overlooked because he didn’t matter. The only time he ever had was when his brother had gone missing, and suddenly, his parents’ expectations were cast on him, and he only provided them with disappointment. “Sometimes it’s better when eyes are on every and anywhere but me.” He admitted, letting out a breath as he turned around and started to wade away from her. “Whatever you want yourself to believe is fine, Rowe.”

Rowe waited for him to elaborate on his brother, but he didn’t. She waited for him to elaborate on the spotlight, but he didn’t. And then she realized with a jolt that she had waited too long, stayed quiet past the point where she was supposed to. He was turning away and there was a split second where she still had time to reach out and stop him with a hand on his shoulder, but then that window slipped away too. The whole point was to cool off anyway, and she felt colder than ever. She slid through the water, slicing a path to the sand and her soaking wet clothes. “Apologies for maiming you,” she called over her shoulder, scooping to pick up her shoes.

“My eldest brother.” Cas answered, but that was it. He didn’t explain it any further, knowing that if Rowe was smart enough, she would figure it out. Especially if Rowe had looked into his family, and his past. She hadn’t exactly been discreet with the papers she had on him. “What? Does it surprise you that I don’t want attention?” His mouth tilted up a little, amused. He crossed his arms over his chest and stepped further into the water, so it covered her chest and up to his clavicle. He brought up water up, pouring it over his head, wetting his head. “Like I’ve said,” Cas kept his eyes closed for a long moment, before opening them and looking at her. “If you wanted to fuck me, all you’ve had to do was ask. I’ve told you before and I’m sure I’ll do it again, I think it would be beneficial for the both of us. Mainly because you’ll be too tired to want to get up at five in the morning to run.” 

“Crown prince, gotcha.” She couldn’t exactly go into a long speech about why wanting the throne was stupid. After all, she was a Captain. She had fought and worked for power and control, why was it any different if it was a throne. “You’d hate ruling. Too much headache for very little payoff,” she tried to joke, chewing the inside of her cheek. “Absolutely. You seem to drink up attention, negative or positive, as long as eyes are on you. Am I mistaken?” Rowe shook her head in amusement, always impressed by his refusal to give up. She just couldn’t see how it would benefit anyone, and he might lose all respect for her if she indulged. “You’ve made that very clear. You can find other people for that. Sleep with a few princesses, seduce a few pirates. Then come back to my villa and let me kick your ass and drink with you. We’ll both be happier for it.”

“I get along with my mother. My father and I have our moments, but it’s often that we do not see eye to eye.” That is, his father believed that he was incapable of being anything other than the obedient second son. There had been a point in his life where he would have done anything to make his father proud of him. Now, Casimir didn’‘t care. Watching her, Cas sighed through his nose as he looked away for a short moment. “Not particularly. I like attention, sure, but not the kind you’re insinuating.” When his brother had disappeared, it was suddenly Cas that all the paparazzi and tabloids could talk about. There had been no private moments for himself. He had hated it. “Because my being at my best doesn’t benefit you in any way.” 

“You skipped my first question,” Rowe was quick to point out. “Which of your siblings do you not get along with?” As an only child, sibling dynamics fascinated her, but she also wanted to know his limits and aggressively probing seemed as good a way as any. He had looked away in frustration and that was enough of a win for her, finally chipping away his smirk for a moment. “So you like praise, but also privacy. Attention on your terms.” Rowe gave a delicate snort, glancing him up and down once again. Of course, he had never lost tone, but taking aim at his vanity seemed like a surefire way to bruise his ego. Only Cas would be able to find the compliment even in that. “I was just caught in a freak storm with a bunch of five foot tall royalty that had no muscle mass to their name. You would have benefitted me. Plus early mornings mean you’re too tired to get into shit when other people are getting into shit.” That was one was a stretch - he’d find a way, no matter his sleep schedule.

“My siblings and I are rather close. At least, most of us.” He wasn’t going to tell her that there was tension between him and his eldest brother. He loved him, he did, but there was always going to be the fact that his brother was the crown prince and Cas was the runner up, there in case something happened to him. A back up. “I’d like to think my acting skills are quite good. You need them when your family is in the spot light often.” He said this teasingly, but there was some truth behind his confession. Casimir watched her carefully, cautious not to get too close. She was like a timid animal, scared away when people got too close to her. “Oh?” He asked, raising an eyebrow, amused. “If you think that, that means you must be watching me pretty often, to notice.”

Rowe dug into the new information hungrily, probing as much as she could to see when he’d shut down or snap. “Most of you?” She echoed, lifting an eyebrow. “Which ones aren’t you close to?” And then after a beat. “Are you close to your parents?” Rowe dipped down further into the water until it hit her chin, enjoying the feeling of being completely surrounded by what used to be ocean. But her relentless questioning didn’t ease up. “Do you like the attention of the spotlight?” Apparently she had effectively scared him because he stayed an arm’s reach away, no more teasing touches or shared air that she didn’t know what to do with. “I like winning. You belong to me for the foreseeable future. Why wouldn’t I want you at your best?”

He chuckled softly, nodding along with her desires. It was easy for him to picture it, what she wanted. It was exactly what he would have assumed her dreams would consist of. “Isn’t it funny,” Casimir paused briefly, looking down at the water surrounding his waist. “That we feel as though we owe the people that are supposed to be there for us no matter what? That family seems to be the most manipulative people around you?” He was speaking of his own experience, of his relationship with his parents. Sighing, Cas shrugged his shoulders yet again. “I used to run when I was younger, to relieve stress, to get out of my head. And then it just became second nature.” He hadn’t realized it, but he had been wading further into the pool, towards Rowe. “However, I don’t keep up with you on runs. I let you lead, because I happen to enjoy the view.” 

Rowe stared at him with searching eyes, more interested now that he had peeled back that smug facade for twelve seconds. She hadn’t admitted to anyone how badly she wanted to disobey the head Tulach and simply head for open waters, preferring to keep such treasonous thoughts to herself. “Don’t have a picture perfect family, then? Could have guessed as much. You seem to be enjoying the break. Or you’re a terrific actor.” Rowe was typically an open book. Acting or trying to hide her feelings just took up too much emotional energy that she could focus elsewhere. All of a sudden Cas was within arm’s reach, but the proximity wasn’t jarring like it usually was. He had been totally ignoring the cut on his face, but she was glad to see up close that it had stopped bleeding. It was shallow and clean, so it probably wouldn’t scar. She snorted at his reason for running with her so early, doubting that was enough motivation for anyone. “Whatever works. You were starting to lose tone.”

Although Emilia had spent the first week or so after the storm with Ramses, she did eventually find that she needed to get out a bit more. If she spent anymore time with the man, she’d be forced to admit that she enjoyed quietly reading with him. After a morning spent laying out on the beach, the woman made her way to the canteen in hopes of grabbing something cold to drink. Although her original plan had been to grab a drink and leave, her plans changed when she spotted Rowe. Going over to start a conversation would have been much too easy, while trying to get the pirate’s attention seemed like a more exciting idea. As the blonde could only see Rowe out of the corner of her eye, she couldn’t tell if she was being followed until she was actually pinned against the wall. When free to talk, a smirk played on her lips, her breathing heavy. “I was almost worried you wouldn’t follow.”

Casimir understood. He did, mainly because that was how he lived his life. He believed that every person he interacted was working some type of angle, and he was the one that would be the victim if he didn’t figure out what that was. It was the reason that Rowe and him worked, he believed. They lived in the same way. “Maybe I don’t want anything.” He shrugged, shaking his head a little. “Maybe I think that we’re going to be in this situation for a while, since I don’t see any pirate simply letting all the royalty on this island go. Maybe I don’t want to be miserable the entire time you’re forced to watch me.” Pausing, he sighed. “As for fucking you, it’s crossed my mind. You are an extremely beautiful woman, one that I would definitely love to have under me, and I have always been one for a challenge. But that doesn’t mean that what I want from you is purely sexual.” Pausing, he gestured to her. “What do you want, Rowe?”

Rowe narrowed her eyes at him when he said he might not want anything. Everyone wanted something, and if he didn’t want to answer he didn’t have to lie about it. She nodded solemnly at his words about the island and the conflict they found themselves in. They very well could have been her own. She rolled her eyes, not at the fact that he was admitting to thinking about sleeping with her, since that was perfectly natural and human. It was the positions that bothered her. “Like you’d be on top,” she scoffed. “That’s easy. I want to gather my crew and head for open waters on my ship. I think this standoff is messy and imperfect and won’t end well, and I think I’d rather be anywhere else. But the only reason I have a ship in the first place is because I have a drop of Tulach blood. So I owe them.” Rowe shrugged, meeting his eyes again. What they had was working, somehow. She didn’t mind having him around. Instead of telling him any of that, she decided on saying, “Thanks for putting up with my shit. How is it that you can keep up with me on runs, by the way? Were you training for a fencing competition or something?”

He chuckled under his breath as he watched her turn, wading out further into the pool and farther away from him. Removing his gym shorts, he kept his briefs on before he made his way into the pool, making sure to get her clothes to the shore before going deeper into the water. “You realize there is not many places you can run from me in here, right?” He asked, teasingly, his smile slightly wicked as he watched her with an amused glint in his eye. 

Rowe watched him get her clothes from where she had abandoned them, something warm blooming in her chest. It was the same thing that happened whenever she asked for something particularly annoying and he gave it to her anyway. He waded out to her and she just stared back, a little baffled. “What do you want from me?” Her voice was low and lost but entirely sincere. She couldn’t figure it out. “I already give you the longest leash possible. If you’re looking for a quick fuck, there are prettier people here who will give you fewer hoops to jump through. You don’t seem to have an endgame, at least not one that makes sense. So.” She shifted in the water, feet digging into the sand beneath her toes as she pushed a wet strand of hair out of her face. “What do you want?”

She wasn’t wrong. He was going to follow her despite her answer; for one, because she was the one that had made him get up so early in the morning, and for another, he needed to cool off as well. Not to mention this gave him a reason to see her close to nude, which wasn’t something that he was going to pass up. 

He followed her quickly, losing her just before the entrance to the cove. His smirk turned into a genuine smile when he heard her voice echo through the cove, his head tilted toward the sound. “Polo.” He teasingly replied, pushing through the trees that hid the passageway to where she was. He saw her socks and shoes before he found her, and he couldn’t help but wait until he was back in her sights before he calmly took off his shirt, then toed off his shoes and socks like she had. His gaze watched her as he stripped, hoping for some sort of reaction.

You are a Captain, Rowe told herself, a comforting inner monologue. You have an entire crew at your disposal, and once this shit show is over, you can anywhere in the world you’d like. And you can hang this prince’s skeleton from the crow’s nest on your ship. Cas came into view again, making entirely too much eye contact as he stripped. It was an amazing view, she couldn’t deny that. Rowe wasn’t shy about her body, especially since it took so much hard work to earn it. Her vindictiveness won out over practicality, and she didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of watching her strip. She waded out in her exercise clothes, diving cleanly beneath the surface. Only when she was up to her neck in water did she shimmy out of her clothing, tossing her pants and shirt back towards shore. They didn’t quite make it since they were so waterlogged already, but she didn’t mind.

Her admission surprised him, but he didn’t let it show. He knew that she would react badly if he did; living with her had forced him to understand her on a different level than he did with others, mainly due to the fact that he all but had to. “I have enough siblings to understand that there are certain things you don’t do to others while living in close quarters.” He explained, shrugging his shoulders as if it wasn’t a big deal.

It seemed like a long moment, the way that she held him in place, her fingers brushing along his jaw. His eyes flicked downward as he watched her hand fall, the whole moment suddenly broken, and he let himself breathe again. He shook himself out of his daze, quick enough that he was able to reach out and grab her hand, his smirk back on his face as he caught her from leaving. “Aren’t going to to invite me along?” He asked, though he knew the answer. That didn’t stop him from stepping toward her, toward the direction that she had been heading. 

“How many siblings?” She had a file on him somewhere, a weird mesh of internet research and official documents. But she had only gotten a few paragraphs in before she had closed it in frustration. It didn’t seem to have any of the information that actually meant you knew a person, and it all seemed rather useless if she needed something to use against him. His hand shot out to stop her and she shrank away from the touch, simply because she hadn’t been expecting it. It was only surprise touches and strangers that really brought her up short, and much to her dismay, she couldn’t call Cas a stranger anymore. “Aren’t you going to come whether I invite you or not?” Rowe shot back, just sort of assuming he would follow. And fuck, that stupid smirk was back in place and it made her want to shove his head into the dirt. She twisted out of his grip and ran the last hundred feet or so to the entrance of the nearest cove. The mouth of it was almost entirely hidden by trees but she slipped past the wide leaves, taking off her shoes and socks and setting them neatly a few feet from the water. “Marco,” she called over her shoulder, just in case he couldn’t find the entrance on his own and needed sound to help. She had to get her shit together. She was not going to a runner’s high and lack of sleep trick her into thinking she was suddenly attracted to her captive.

He hadn’t been surprised when he woke up to Rowe practically pulling him from his slumber, dragging out of the makeshift bed in her room and ordering him to get ready. It hadn’t taken him long, and he was used to the routine now, so he followed behind her, mainly because he liked the view he had. That was, he did, until there was a branch knocking him in the face, smacking him in the face. He stumbled back a little, his hand coming up to press against the shallow cut on this cheek, blood coming back on his fingers when he looked at them. 

He let out a low curse in Dutch, grimacing a little, but Rowe’s voice and movements catching his attention. He was too surprised to even make a comment, and the first sound he made was a hiss when she pressed the piece of fabric of her shirt on his cheek. “That fucking hurt,” He breathed out, wincing and meeting her gaze. He waited a beat. “I think this means that I’m growing on you,” Despite the fact his cheek was throbbing a little, he smirked, for her benefit more than his own. “You did that on purpose, I’m sure. Gives you an excuse to touch me.”

Rowe was still trying to catch her breath, coming down slowly from the endorphin high of running for too long. He made a pained sound as she pressed the fabric to his face, and she gripped his chin with her fingers to keep him still so she could apply enough pressure to get the bleeding to stop. Except that brought him even closer, close than she was used to. And he was staring at her. He always seemed to be looking whenever she turned to him. “You.....are growing on me,” she admitted with a puzzled frown, not having realized it until that moment. “You don’t touch my things. You haven’t pissed off any pirates that I know of. You haven’t burned anything down. You let me wake you up at 5am for runs, and you only sometimes drink all of my liquor. That’s all....nice,” she finished lamely. If she wasn’t already naturally dark and very tanned from all the extra sun she got, he would have been able to spot the blush that rose up unbidden. She wasn’t used to casually touching near strangers. But it was already happening and she hadn’t burst into flames, Her grip on his chin softened, fingers tracing the outline of his flawless jawline almost subconsciously. She snapped out of it quickly, both hands dropping away. “Keep pressure on that. I’m gonna go cool off in the coves,” she decided based on their proximity, happy for an excuse to turn on her heel and start running again.

Viktoryia, still dazed, had the common sense to shaker her head yes or no at the questions. “I’m ok.” she said before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath “-Im ok” she repeated again. “Im tired.” she said softly, and as if on cue she stifled a yawn. viktoryia rubbed the on coming sleep fro her eyes and sighed heavily. “Hi” she said, offering a halfhearted grin. “You know, i didnt think you would keep good on your promise.” The redhead grinned, “No take backs now.” she said, almost smugly. However, at the promise of a clean bed and a shower, Viktoryia could not say no. “That sounds good..” she admitted, with a sigh. “I want to help though…” she thought back to her keeper and squared her shoulders. “i’d like to help.”

The worry that someone had drugged the princess hadn’t gone down at all, but at least she was talking coherently and knew who Rowe was. Luckily she had been cleaning out the walkway that lead up to Villa East, so they were steps away from the safety of Rowe’s quarters and away from prying eyes. She led the way, looping her arm through Viktoryia’s so it would fell a little bit less like she was corralling a wandering sheep or luring an innocent girl back to her room to take advantage of her. “Which promise? To keep you alive? I’m not a monster.” She unlocked her door and stepped forward, making the fish that swam beneath the glass floor scatter. Cas was mercifully elsewhere. “Ever flown on a plane? Or been to an expensive therapist, they use the analogy too. You have to put your own oxygen mask on first before you can help anyone else with theirs. You’re useless for clean up right now.” Rowe reappeared around the corner with a fluffy white towel and placed it in her hands. “Go and shower. You’re not getting mud on my nice sheets.”

Delilah chuckled and looked away, knowing fully well her impulsiveness often got the best of her but completely against the idea of admitting it out loud. “A problem is something you can’t control, and I’m perfectly under control. So no, no impulse problem here.” At the mention of piracy Delilah raised an eyebrow, curious at the possibility of being one of the crooks. Growing up, Lila often daydreamed about leaving her life of royalty for one of adventure. A life where she had to fight in order to stay alive, and do things herself to stay afloat. Living with guards glued to her ass meant she never had the chance to do as she pleased without getting reprimanded. “Who knows, maybe I could’ve been the best thief out there.” Not only were her hands light but they were incredibly fast, a quality acquired over years of knitting her way out of her governess’s punishments. “But that would’ve meant stealing under the orders of someone else, and God knows I suck at following orders. Your loss.” While she spoke Delilah worked a loose nail in between her fingers down to the ropes around her wrists, slowly sawing the thick material with the rusted end of the metal. “I’m from Italy. You’ve probably seen one of my many siblings around the island talking about how awful the wine is and how you can improve the pasta sauce you use.”

“Yes, you seem in perfect control.” Sarcasm was a tool of the weak, but Rowe couldn’t help herself. She was scrappy, she had to give her that at least. In her travels it was easy to develop a radar for the people who would most easily be swayed to their side, and this girl was setting off every alarm bell she had for it. Rowe would have loved to take all of that scrappy energy and help her channel it into something useful. Instead she would be just another bratty royal on the island, a source of chaos that would be equal parts amusing and infuriating. “You should try it sometimes. Following orders, giving up control - it’s supposed to be very freeing. A break from the mental energies of having to think. A twitch of a muscle caught her eye, somewhere around the girls shoulder blade. Maybe the princess was adjusting so the rope didn’t chafe her, or maybe she had found a weak spot in the woven fibers. Rowe sighed softly, uncrossing her legs and planting both feet casually on the ground. She pushed her book a little further from the edge of the table so it wouldn’t fall if she suddenly had to get up and start running. Rowe was be very impressed if the girl got loose, but she wasn’t above chasing after her and tackling her to the ground if she had to. She wasn’t done with her yet. “Haven’t had the pleasure of meeting them, but I’ve heard both of those boys think with their dicks so they don’t interest me much.”