Chapter 185: Three’s Company, Captain’s Misery*

Anne’s looked Milagros over from boots to crown and back again, slowly, as if she had become the ship’s captain and wanted to check if the new hand was worth their wages.

"Well."

Anne snuggled into James. "Let’s see if there’s anythin’ under all that scowlin’, or if you’re just gonna stand there watchin’ like a pervert."

Milagros kept her arms folded tight across her chest.

"I don’t need permission to be here, least of all yours, guapa. I came on my own two feet."

Anne’s grin stayed exactly where it was. "Never said you did. I only want to know if there’s anythin’ behind that bratty mouth once the clothes come off, or if talk’s the only thing holdin’ you together."

Then Anne turned her attention back to James and put the matter aside without care.

Her lips found his throat in gentle nibbling, brushing slowly along his skin before stopping into the soft place beneath his ear while one hand spread possessively across his chest, her fingers wide enough to feel his heart beating beneath her palm.

She lingered there, warm against him, her body pressed close enough that James could feel the full weight of her breasts against his chest whenever she breathed.

James’s breath caught hard enough for Milagros to hear it clear across the cabin.

"That’s how it’s done properly."

Anne spoke against his skin without taking her mouth properly away from him, her eyes still cutting sideways toward Milagros.

"Try keepin’ up, if you fancy it."

Milagros held back for exactly as long as her pride permitted, which was not long enough to be useful.

"I’m not takin’ lessons from you."

She walked through the cabin, her boots striking quick against the boards, and reached James in a flurry of passion and impatience.

Anne had taken her time. Milagros plainly saw no reason to waste hers.

Her teeth found James’s shoulder and bit hard, while her nails raked down his chest, leaving a bright line behind them. She crowded into him without apology, her smaller body fitting close against his, the loose cloth of her bodice pressing her pert breasts against him as she claimed her share of his attention.

James gave a short, delighted laugh through the sting. "Christ, lass. Two entirely different schools of thought in this cabin, and I’m the poor bastard expected to teach both at once."

"Not bad." There was genuine approval in Anne’s voice, somehow.

She turned fully toward Milagros, her eyes dropping without shame to the young woman’s chest before her hands followed, cupping both her petite breasts through the loose cloth of her bodice and giving them an unhurried inspection.

The fabric yielded beneath her palms, revealing the soft fullness beneath it, and Anne gave each a slow, appraising squeeze as though deciding whether Milagros’s defiance matched what she’d been hiding under all that cloth.

"Small, but a nice handful all the same. I’ve had worse in me own two hands."

"Get off me."

Milagros’s protest came out thin and flustered, though she made no serious attempt to get away. The flush had climbed high into her cheeks.

"Puta descarada, who said you could touch me like some mare at market?"

"Ah, ah, you’re welcome to leave if you want."

Anne refused to even slow down. Her hands remained where they were, warm and shameless, thumbs brushing over the cloth as Milagros’s chest rose and fell beneath them.

She purred low and provocatively. "But you’re just standin’ there lettin’ me, instead of puttin’ a knife through my ribs like you’d threaten anybody else who tried it."

Milagros found her teeth again, lifting her chin despite the heat still burning in her face. "Maybe I’m saving the knife for the day you finally say something clever enough to earn it. So far all I’ve heard is a woman needs another girl in the room just to keep her own man interested."

That one struck home.

Anne’s grin only sharpened, and James caught the flicker of the fierce temper behind her eyes before she answered.

"Easy now sweetheart."

Anne’s hand slipped lower and brushed over Milagros’s rear, her palm sinking into the generous curve of it through the fabric. She gave it a slow, challenging squeeze, drawing Milagros a fraction closer as though she meant to compare their chests.

"Keep talkin’ that sharp and I might decide I like you."

She glanced past Milagros’s shoulder at James, one eyebrow rising.

"Tell me you’ve had the sense to notice it, or I’ll think less of you than I already do."

"Aye, I’ve noticed."

James’s voice had gone rougher than he’d intended.

"Spent a fair bit of time noticin’, if you want the sincere account."

"Course you have."

Anne popped her tongue seductively. "The Mighty James Calloway only got one weakness worth mentionin’, and rum’s never been it."

Milagros put in, still flushed and still making no effort to escape either woman’s hands. "Two weaknesses, I’ve heard him boast about the ship plenty."

"Oi, now you’re both against me."

James spread his hands and grinned wide enough to show he was enjoying himself despite the accusation.

"Hardly seems fair, the pair of you gangin’ up on one poor captain in his own cabin."

Anne let out a snort. "This poor captain of yours is about to get more attention than he’s had in a month, and he’s standin’ there complainin’ about the prize in his hands."

"I’m makin’ an observation, is all."

At last, James had enough.

He brought one hand to Anne’s loosened laces and pulled them the rest of the way open, while the other gripped around Milagros’s waist and drew her closer against him. His fingers spread across her warm side, feeling the smoldering curve beneath his palm as he pulled her until there was hardly any room left between them.

"Talk less."

Milagros’s breath caught as his grip tightened.

"Touch more."

James had heard enough tease for the day. Whatever patience he’d brought into the cabin had now been spent.

"Right then."

He caught both women at once, one hand closing firmly over Milagros’s rear while the other went around Anne’s waist and pulled her snug against his side. Anne came willingly against him, her loosened clothing brushing his skin, while Milagros remained close on his other side, caught between them with both women’s warmth surrounding him.

The smile on his lips was unmistakable. "A captain’s got every right to inspect his own crew, and I mean to inspect to both of you at once, thoroughly."

Anne was laughing already.

"Big talk for a man who still hasn’t got either of us to the bed."

Milagros added, though she was pulling herself against him harder than her words had any business admitting. "Givin’ orders now, are we?"

James walked them backward toward the bunk, one hand occupied on either side, while both women laughed, cursed, and tugged at whatever remained of his clothes. Anne’s body bumped against his with each backward step, while Milagros clung close, their loosened clothes shifting with every hurried movement.

They reached the mattress in a confusion of limbs and loosened cloth, and all three went down together, Milagros’s breathless Spanish curse breaking off halfway through beneath Anne’s laughter.

James decided he’d earned this fair and square, and gave the rest of the evening his full attention.