Sirius spent the rest of the day trying to think of a solution but no matter how hard he tried his thoughts kept drifting back to Amanda.
He’d watched her climb up that rigging with deft skill and little thought for her own safety. They way she’d moved had been smooth and consistent without a hint of hesitation. She hadn’t needed to climb up there or to help but she had. She was quick on her feet too. When she hadn’t been able to reach Brian she’d swiftly come up with another solution. She was agile, adaptable, just the right amount of curvy, tough as nails but also soft exactly when and where she needed to be. Her hair was wild and bright like a firestorm and her eyes like sweet hazelnuts or the warm soil of the earth. She was going to doom them all.
Sirius caught himself thinking that if they went down because of her, at least he’d go down a happy man. Shiv was right. He’d thrown the paddles into the ocean and cut the sails free. But no matter how hard he tried he just couldn't stop thinking of her. He couldn’t get his mind to focus on anything else. He even misjudged a couple of the waves, probably knocking a few people off their feet in the process.
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He watched as Amanda drank only a little of the whiskey that evening but not so much that he refused her entry into his cabin. Her attempt at self-control just added to the things Sirius admired about her. Despite her faults she kept trying to be better. He’d watched as she struggled to resist the temptation of just one more glass. But with a decidedly sexy but subconscious bite of her lip and a brief glance at Sirius she had covered her cup and turned down their offers.
They’d gotten half way back to Sirius’ cabin when, on impulse, he picked her up and carried her the rest of the way.
He lay her gently on his bed. When she pushed herself up on her elbows to kiss him, he ducked out of the way and kissed her belly with a playful grin instead.
She laughed.
He loved that laugh.
Then he kissed his way down her belly. He felt her shiver as he parted her legs.
“Cold?” he asked.
She smiled. “No.”
As his tongue flickered he watched her belly quiver and he felt her grow warm and wet. Her head tilted back, her eyelashes fluttered. He stayed where he was until he felt her back arch and eventually collapse back down with a gasp and a sigh.
As he crawled up and propped himself up on one elbow next to her she turned to him with a smile and slyly asked the same question he’d asked her the first time they’d made love, “Do you want the bottom or the top?”
With a smile of his own, Sirius repeated her answer. “I don’t care.” And he pulled her on top.
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Amanda awoke a few hours later to harder than normal rocking of the boat. The smooth rollercoaster had turned into more of a seesaw. She could hear the whack whack whack of the ocean and the whispers of the wind that sounded now more like screams.
Beside her, Sirius was murmuring in his sleep again. Thinking he might be having another nightmare and worried about the storm herself she shook him awake.
“Sirius?”
“Hmm?” he stirred.
“Are we safe?”
“Huh?”
“The sea.”
He pulled himself up and she watched as awareness flooded his face. He gave her a reassuring smile as he reached for her. “Yeah, it’s fine.” He tugged her into a cuddle and pulled her down into the warmth of the bed.
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“The sounds?”
“It’s just the wind.” He stroked her hair.
She shivered and he pulled her closer. “It’s okay. Trust me. This is nothing. The ship has seen far far worse.”
Between his calming tone and the strength of his arms she finally found some comfort and she manged to drift off to sleep again.
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But through the night the sea got worse and worse. With a creak and a groan and an almighty sudden crash the boat tilted on her side and threw them all from their beds not long after what should have been sunrise.
“Ow!” Amanda remarked as she looked to Sirius for comfort again and the boat seemed to right itself or at least resume a slightly less violet rocking, although she found it now extremely difficult to stand amid shifting furniture.
In silence he tugged her to her feet and pulled her back toward the safety of the soft bed.
"It's fine. Nothing to worry about," Sirius told her again. But his tone was different this time. He was a bad liar.
“Stay here,” he told her as amidst the rocking of the boat he threw on his clothes and black coat. “I’m just going to check on something.” And then he left her all alone.
The boat lurched suddenly again and Amanda decided that she’d much rather be up where she could see what was happening than waiting down here.
She threw on warmer clothing and ran out into the hallway to find it crowded with men rushing about left and right. She crashed into the wall as the boat tilted once more, always in the same direction.
She knew where Sirius would be and she headed towards the bridge. As she passed more crew in the hallway she tried to ask them if they knew what was going on. But none had an answer. Only one thing she could gather from them that was certain, this was not a normal storm.
“We hit something!” one man yelled.
“The net’s caught on something!” cried another.
Amanda wasn’t sure if they had even let out the nets or not but they must have for him to think they were caught. There seemed to be a lot of confusion though.
Suddenly the boat tilted sideways again and Amanda went flying into the side wall and then found she could not return to the floor. The entire ship appeared to be permanently tilted. She could still feel the slap of the waves as they hit.
She wondered at the state of all the animals. Pegasi had good balance and she doubted Ghost would lose his feet, but still it must have been terrifying. As for all the other animals though she imagined them being thrown about the room. She hoped whatever was keeping the arasnids in check held solid. Briefly she was torn. Should she continue her move toward the deck to see what was going on or retreat into the bowls of the ship to try and help the animals?
The better move she decided depended on what was going on. Was the ship sinking? If it was then releasing them may at least give them some chance? But what chance was there in an ocean like that? And if they weren’t sinking then all releasing them would do is cause more chaos. And what could she really do to help them other than trying to calm them. She needed more information so she made for the deck.
She was forced to crawl along the wall, past men going both ways. Even the ones coming from the deck didn’t know what was going on. Some looked injured with blood on their faces and arms. She came across Mathias not far from the deck door. He was unconscious.
She felt for a pulse and was relieved when she found one. He was lying in a puddle of water that was occasionally refilling from new seawater washing in under the door to the deck. She tried to drag him that way to get him out and into the wheelhouse but he was too heavy for her to budge so she left him where he lay and continued on her way right into the middle of the storm.
The door to the wheelhouse was flung wide open. Inside she could see Griff gripping onto the wheel hard, trying to steer them away from the direction of the starboard lean. Waves of water were continually assaulting the ship from the port side and threatening to tip her further onto her side and into the dark ocean.
She could see Sirius and Shiv and a few other men out on the deck gripping tightly to ropes or solid beams. Up in the rigging she could just make out Crawly steadily climbing higher, obviously trying to get a look at whatever it was that had them caught.
A sudden wave of water crashed across the deck concealing everyone from view and leaving Amanda scrambling for purchase least she be washed from the ship completely.
For a moment she wasn’t sure if she was still on board or not. All around her was just water. She had no idea which way was up and which way was down. Then she felt something tugging her from behind and a moment later the water was gone again, washed off the other side of the deck and into a swirling black void.
She glanced back and found Neko.
“Get back inside,” he called.
She shook her head at him. She was determined to find out what was going on and help if she could.
“What do you see?” she heard Shiv yell up to Crawly.
Crawly was pointing and shouting something back but whatever his words were got lost in the wind. Amanda couldn’t make out a word. Evidently neither could the others for a moment later Sirius shouted back.
“What?”
Crawly yelled back louder this time. “An eye. There’s a giant eye in the water.”