“Really? Can I do it again?”“Yeah, definitely, hey, I get to ask you now.”“Right, sorry. Tell you what, you can ask two….truth.”“Did...you masturbate in the shower?”I turned beet-red and looked out the window. I figured he had to have heard me, I just didn’t want to believe it. “Yes,” I finally answered. He nodded knowingly.“Truth or dare,” he asked.“Dare,” I answered, wanting to avoid another question like that.“Take off your shirt.”“What?!” I asked thinking I heard wrong.“I dare you to. ’ On a cloud, she rose up, and floated. The room faded to black, but arms cradled her, held her safe. She dissolved into the inviting warmth, felt the bed give beneath her. Her mind hovered near unconsciousness, and gave up control. She let herself linger on the edge. A hand stroked her hair. Lips kissed her forehead. ‘I’ll take care of you.’ Never had a man been so comforting and sympathetic. No one ever really cared. If only she could believe in something. Just this once, she’d let herself. “He’s the nicest man I’ve ever met,” Irene answered.Stephen and Magus looked at each other. Finally, Magus asked, “What are we? Chopped liver?”“You are two of the most egotistical, self-centered, loud, obnoxious, infuriating, and strange men that I’ve ever met,” Irene said pleasantly.“You left out nice,” Stephen said raising his right hand with the forefinger extended to make a point.Magus leaned over to Stephen and, in a stage whisper, said, “She sugar coated it. Wait until you hear what she. Not that knowing the crew's makeup beforehand would have changed anything; he would have signed on even if the crew were comprised entirely of cabin boy's, for no other reason than Jack Scarlet had asked. What he had told Captain O' Daire was as true as the North Star, if Jack Scarlet ask him to sail with him to hell, he would board without question.Six years past Portuguese slave traders had kidnapped him from the African coast and shipped him to Europe. He was purchased by a Dutch trading.