"Are you ready for our game of chess, Allison?" Morgan asked, quirking an eyebrow at the slightly flushed redhead. She received a nod in answer and motioned for the younger woman to help. After clearing the table Morgan retrieved her chess set and board from her trunk and returned to the table. Frowning for a moment she handed the board and pieces to Allison and pulled the table over in front of the window. Glancing briefly out at her ship she nodded to herself, then turned and retrieved a second wingback chair from the opposite corner of the room. As she set it down Allison took the other seat and set the board in the middle and carefully unrolled the chess pieces. Morgan carried their wineglasses over from where she'd set them on the mantel and refilled them, laughing softly as Allison gleefully accepted hers.

"Becoming fond of wine, Miss Allison?" Morgan teased as she started setting up her pieces. Allison flashed a grin across the table as she took a sip.

"Why yes, Captain, I do believe I am. It certainly hasn't affected my chess game, either," Morgan toasted Allison's taunt and set her glass back down before reaching out to move her first piece.

"I was just trying to be gentle with you," Morgan said as she placed her first pawn. Allison shot a confident look at her and made her move, laughing softly under her breath.

"Is that your strategy, Captain? I hadn't noticed," Allison said, her eyes bright, an almost sensual smile curving her lips. Morgan swallowed hard and tried to calm her heartbeat that willingly responded to the woman across the table, suddenly realizing that without Carolyn there for her relief the next couple of weeks were going to become a test of her endurance and self-control.

They settled into a now familiar pattern of gentle teasing tinted with flirtation, Morgan thoroughly enjoying the company of the young woman across the table. Allison had grown more and more confident since the first night she had spent in her company, now teasing Morgan without hesitation and the looks she would flash across the table sometimes tinted with more than just platonic feelings. As the evening wore down Morgan realized that she was going to lose the game if she didn't start to concentrate on it, then gave up as the distraction sitting across the table shifted position in her chair and sent Morgan's thoughts far away from chess. The younger woman was wearing another of Morgan's shirts and hadn't bothered to lace up the neck, the redhead apparently completely comfortable despite the amount of skin left exposed. She pulled her knee up and propped her heel on the edge of the chair, unconsciously mimicking Morgan's posture. The shirt slid up Allison's thigh and Morgan's peripheral vision was filled with enticing bare curves.

"Morgan?" Morgan looked across the board to find Allison looking at her expectantly. Feeling her cheeks flush a little she quickly turned her eyes to the chessboard and reached to move a piece. Allison cleared her throat softly and Morgan cocked an eyebrow at her. Allison laughed softly, a sexy smile on her face as she gently teased her. "Morgan, it's checkmate." The captain's eyes darted to the board and she sat in stunned amazement for a moment before leaning back, shaking her head.

"Well, I'll be. It is, isn't it." Morgan raked her hair back with her fingers and shot a sheepish look at the smiling woman across the table. "I guess I wasn't much of a conquest tonight, was I, Miss Allison?" The redhead smiled knowingly at Morgan.

"No, Captain, I'd have to say that you were an easy target this evening." Morgan chuckled and tucked the last of her pieces into its pocket and reached to take the last of Allison's pieces. The young woman set two of them in her palm, sending shivers of sensation quivering through Morgan as Allison dragged her fingers across her skin. Morgan swallowed hard and determinedly turned her eyes to the chess pieces, fumbling a bit as she tucked them away. She watched Allison get up and move across the room to her trunk, her eyes unable to keep from tracing the curves of the redhead's legs as the young woman pulled a brush out and started running it through her hair. Morgan collected the chess set and returned it to her trunk, looking desperately away from the enticing view on the other side of the room. She slipped out of her clothes and into her sleeping shirt, yawning as the wine started to make her feel sleepy.

Morgan turned down the lamps hanging on the wall and banked the coals in the fire before walking over to the window and gazing down on her ship. The docks below were deserted and the streets relatively quiet, most of the patrons of the bars and pubs having left to seek their beds long ago. Morgan had been pleased to find a half a dozen of her men approach her for permission to make the ship their quarters until she went into dry dock, the news of the attack having made it to them the night before. Morgan had happily given permission, having known the men almost as long as she had known Jacob, and trusting them implicitly. Her first mate had convinced her not to stay aboard, reassuring her that he and the volunteers would keep the ship safe during the night, better that she keep Allison safe up here in the room. Morgan sighed and leaned her head against the side of the window. I don't know whether to hope she gets into dry dock soon or to hope against it at this point. I still haven't been able to figure out what Carolyn would gain from sinking my ship...she had to have known that I would find out...especially using those two. They might as well have been wearing signs saying who hired them. So what is she trying to do.....

Morgan jumped as Allison slid her arm around her waist and tucked her body against hers, looking down at the docks. The captain gazed down at the redhead leaning against her and ran her fingers lightly through the long auburn hair. Allison looked up at her, an odd expression on her face and Morgan quirked a small grin at her.

"Ready for some sleep?" she asked, carefully slipping out of the all too enjoyable embrace. She heard Allison sigh softly as she moved away then nodded, turning down the lamp on the table and following Morgan to the bed. The captain pulled the covers back and let Allison climb in, shoving down the little tingle of sensation that started in her stomach as Allison's shirt slipped up over her hips before she slid under the covers. Morgan turned her eyes away from the expressive green eyes speaking volumes and slid herself under the covers. She turned on her side and faced away from the redhead, her body strung taut with tension she had no way of relieving. She heard Allison sigh softly behind her, then the young woman moved closer to her, fitting her body along her back. Morgan stiffened a little and opened her mouth to ask Allison to move away, then closed it when she felt a shudder shake the body behind her.

"Allison, what's wrong?" She felt Allison shake her head against her shoulder and carefully eased over onto her back. Morgan clenched her jaw against her body's reaction as Allison moved closer, draping herself across her torso and tucking her head against her chest. Morgan frowned and rubbed her fingers along the small of the younger woman's back. "Allison?" Morgan said softly. The head on her shoulder shook and Allison clung tighter to her.

"I can't explain, Morgan," came the soft reply, Allison's voice sounding very strangled. Morgan gave in to her impulses and pulled the younger woman tighter against her. She stared up at the moonlit ceiling, frowning in the dark as the tension in Allison's body slowly ebbed and the young woman slipped into sleep. Morgan sighed softly and tried to relax, urging her body to ignore the delicious contact of Allison's skin against hers. Her thoughts whirled around for a long time, keeping her awake long into the night, the moon sinking beneath the horizon before sleep finally closed her eyes and turned her thoughts into tantalizing dreams filled with haunting green eyes.

Jacob sat on the deck of the ship watching the flow of people along the dock. He'd been up since very early that morning and had already sent the men who had stayed on board off to find some breakfast, instructing one of them to bring him back something to eat. He leaned his head back against the railing behind him, his eyes drawn to the middle window of the inn across from him, wondering how Morgan had faired the evening before. He had noticed that the lamps had stayed lit until well into the evening, the two women staying in the room sitting in front of the window for most of it. A figure stood at the window briefly then moved away, and Jacob looked down at his hands, turning the letter he had received just moments before over and over. He was reluctant to turn the letter over to Morgan, knowing that she had been enjoying the company of her captive, and knowing that the letter would make the fact that Allison would leave all too real. He sighed and pushed himself to his feet as he saw Morgan walking across the street, moving to meet her at the head of the gangplank.