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They weren’t looking at him.
Edward knew it was fucking stupid, alright? He knew. He didn’t need anyone telling him that feeling weird over Stede and Izzy finally getting along was a fucking pathetic move.
Didn’t he want this?
Wasn’t he the one who pushed for this to happen?
Shouldn’t he be ecstatic that his newest fuckery worked like a charm?
Izzy laughed.
It was a raspy thing, genuine, like sipping on bourbon on a summer night on deck - Edward let it wash over him, closed his eyes to savor the sound. It was so rare.
“You have a wonderful laugh.” Stede sounded breathless.
Edward’s eyes snapped open.
Stede was flushed, clutching his glass of brandy in his fist so tight the glass was in danger of shattering, eyes intent on observing every minute detail of Izzy’s face.
Edward knew what it felt like to be on the receiving end of that attention. He knew the power of it, the way it made you want to bend over backwards to keep it, to earn it - the tops of Izzy’s ears were red, his hair was free from his usual pomade after this bath and the wet strands of it fell over his face.
They were both fucking dangerous.
Edward swallowed hard.
They weren’t looking at him.
“You don’t have to sweeten me up, Bonnet, I said I’d do it, didn’t I?” Izzy crooned and Edward felt his voice deep in the marrow of him, a part of him as natural as a limb, as an eye.
“I’m not. I just, you are very intimidating, did you know that?” Stede murmured, uncharacteristically nervous over Izzy.
Stede always got nervous when it mattered.
Edward’s mouth soured.
“Intimidating?” Izzy asked, surprised, and Stede nodded.
“Did I ever tell you how we met, Edward?”
Hearing his name in Stede’s voice was a slap to the face, Edward returned to his body with a flinch, humming in response - a poor one, Edward couldn’t even muster a proper word to show he was paying attention.
Stede still wasn’t looking at him, but Izzy - fuck, Iz was.
His eyes were half-lidded and dark, a knowing glint to them, and Edward could fall to pieces at having that attention on him, that want solely focused on his existence.
“I thought he was it the moment I saw him.” Stede murmured, as if hesitant to break the charged silence between them.
“He was what?” Edward asked, he had to know, but he also couldn’t look away from Izzy, from the sheer attention that gaze commanded of him.
Izzy, commanding something of Edward, fucking hell, he could’ve died happy right there.
“A proper pirate. Like the ones from the books.” Stede answered and Izzy laughed again.
Edward’s eyes fluttered.
“What does that even mean?” He asked, amused by Stede’s words, looking away from Edward to meet Stede’s knowing gaze.
“You were everything I wanted to be. Everything I thought I wanted to be.” Stede sounded breathless again and Edward was going to die.
He was going to fucking die if they kept this up.
“Everything you wanted to be, or to have?” Izzy raised an eyebrow.
Stede shrugged one shouldered and took a sip from his brandy.
“Edward?”
He hummed again, couldn’t bother to form words, not as his hands twitched to rip them both away from each other.
Stede’s hand was casually set on Izzy’s calf, where his legs lay across his lap, and Edward’s eyes zeroed in on that point of contact, on how Stede’s fingers twitched sometimes, tightened, and now were massaging the muscle there.
Izzy grunted as he did it - Edward knew that sound.
“Fuck, Bonnet.”
Edward swallowed back bile.
Shit.
Yeah.
Not good.
But also, yeah, really fucking good.
It was everything.
“Edward, you don’t look like you’re having fun.” Stede pointed out, always too smart for his own fucking good.
And once Izzy knew something wasn’t right, it became impossible to hide it, not with Izzy’s eyes on him again.
“Edward?” Izzy asked, the rest of the question silent but perfectly understandable.
“Nothing. I need to - I need to get over this shit.” Edward muttered, rubbing at his eyes hard, too hard.
“Hey, hey, no. You’ll fucking hurt yourself.” Izzy said gently, and when Edward opened his eyes again, he was on his feet and on his way to the bed, where Edward sat, cocooned naked inside his fuchsia banyan.
Edward shook his head.
Izzy stopped at once.
Fucking perfect.
“Fucking perfect, Iz.” He had to voice it, had to watch the way it left Izzy undone, the way his eyes fluttered closed and his hands closed into fists by his sides. “Go back.”
“Edward, you’re clearly not enjoying yourself.” Stede was concerned already.
Edward had fucked up already.
Dickfuck, fucking useless, piece of shit-
“Edward?”
Izzy waited for a word, the word, their word, but Edward stubbornly refused.
“Go back. I’ll be fine. I need you to do this. I need to see.”
“Edward…” Stede sounded so unsure - that was not how Edward wanted tonight to go.
Iz, though, always did know him too well.
“Bonnet, it’s alright.”
Stede frowned. “Israel-“
“He hasn’t said the word. You know how this goes, you were the one who came up with the fucking rules, right?” Izzy raised an eyebrow.
Edward could kiss him.
Stede nodded hesitantly, but once his eyes fell on Izzy a part of him was lost to that commanding quality of his gaze.
Izzy liked to say he was a weapon - Edward knew better. When he wasn’t losing his shit over incompetent idiots or losing Edward to someone else, Izzy was the true brains of their operation, the one with the steel in his spine and the will to make whatever they wanted to happen, happen. Their crew at The Queen Anne respected him, they just feared Edward, that’s why they made a good team - together, they made a competent leader. Apart, they just tended to fall to pieces.
“Edward has never liked to share me.” Izzy murmured conversationally, walking towards Stede as he untucked the black shirt from his trousers.
Stede swallowed hard, so hard it was audible in the quiet cabin - and yeah, Edward could relate.
The black shirt was one of Ed’s, it was far too large on Izzy’s smaller frame, and there was something fragile to that, to how Izzy swam inside this shirt that was Edward’s - minemineminemine.
“I don’t think he has the same issue with you. He has never had to share you, has he?” Izzy continued, unlacing his leather trousers and rougly yanking them down his own legs.
The forceful motions should somehow look awkward, maybe even funny, but here were perfunctory, to the point, strong, and in no time Izzy was clad in only that shirt, so large on him the hem brushed against the tops of his thighs.
“No. No, he has not.” Stede answered, setting the brandy aside without taking his eyes from Izzy.
Izzy tilted his head to the side, observing the other man, a smile on his lips. “I guess he’s having issues with it now.”
Stede frowned. “We’re not objects.”
Izzy shook his head. “No. But we’re his.”
Edward whimpered, hiding his face behind his hands, could not bear to look now, to see the disappointment on Stede’s face, to see the gloating on Izzy’s.
Fuck.
Stede sighed. “Israel-“
Edward had to look, just a peek.
“It’s alright. Don’t you like being his?” Izzy teased and Stede’s hands trembled as he moved them back and forth on his thighs, stopping to grip at his knees tight.
“Israel, that’s not fair.” He whispered, pained, and Izzy grinned, all teeth.
“Don’t you like that we’re yours too?” Izzy asked and Stede’s inhale was a sharp hiss between his teeth, as if he’d been burnt, as if he were hurting.
Edward whimpered again, moved as if to get up, but Izzy’s head turned his way in a moment, eyes issuing a silent warning, and Edward obeyed, felt himself twitch against the silk, no doubt leaking already all over the smooth fabric.
“Edward, what’s the issue here? Me being touched or Stede?” Izzy asked and Edward didn’t even know how to start answering that question - his First Mate wasn’t even looking his way.
“Both?”
“The truth, Boss.” Izzy said with a pointed look.
“You- You are mine.” Was the only thing Edward could say.
“We are. So is it really sharing, Edward, if we’re both yours?”
Fucking hell.
Fucking hell, Edward is going to die, he’s going to fucking lose it.
“Israel, please, let me touch you.” Stede begged again and Izzy’s eyes didn’t leave Edward’s for one moment, one long moment, where Edward was sure the man had some sort of fuckery going on because those eyes seemed to connected to Edward’s fucking skin, made him feel like he was too hot and his heart was going to give out.
What a way to go, Edward thought, hands gripping the silk tight to keep from taking himself in hand.
“You´re a fucking Captain, Bonnet, act like it. If you want to touch me, touch.” Izzy said, walking over to Stede, and Edward bit the inside of cheek as Izzy, in one graceful movement, straddled Stede’s lap and settled into it. Stede made a soft sound, his hands grasping his waist over the black shirt.
“That seems horribly impolite, assuming like that.”
Izzy bit his lower lip to keep from laughing.
“Touch me, you twat. If I don’t like what you’re doing, I’ll let you know with that ridiculous fucking word of yours, understand?”
Stede nodded feverishly.
Edward didn’t know what he did to get so fucking lucky, he didn’t know what sort of God he had to thank for all of this, for both of them, but he’d do it, he’d spent a lifetime kneeling at whatever altar, at whatever temple, at the feet of whatever deity, to be able to keep this, them, forever, always.
Edward couldn’t see what they were doing completely, but he didn’t need to. They were kissing, hard, Izzy almost furious, and while Stede touched Izzy’s thighs almost reverently, Izzy was unlacing his trousers as if they had personally offended him.
He broke the kiss to look towards Edward, Stede looking up dazed, unsure of why they stopped kissing, until Izzy barked,
“Edward, get us some oil.”
No please.
No ‘Captain’.
Fuck, Edward was going to come untouched like he was seventeen again.
He scrambled up to his feet, rushing to the desk, opening the drawer with shaking hands - Stede keened, and his gaze snapped back to them again.
Izzy’s hand was moving between them - a familiar rhythm, a twist to his wrist on the upstroke, and fuck, fuckfuckfuck.
“Edward?” Izzy called, looking over his shoulder, one eyebrow raised. “Today, darling.”
Edward stumbled over his own feet at the pet name, the flask of oil clutched on his hand, and fell to his knees beside them, on the carpeted floor in front of the couch they were tangled in.
He gave Izzy the flask, swallowing hard, trying to get some moisture to his dry throat. Izzy nodded, a silent thank you, and uncapped it with his teeth, spitting the cork onto the floor. He spread some of the oil, the rest of it, onto his hand and took Stede in hand again in a slow downstroke - the grip was tight, and Stede bucked into it, moaning so loud Edward could feel it reverberate in his fucking teeth.
“Edward, can he come inside me?” Izzy asked, an amused look in his eye, already breathless.
Edward didn’t stop to think.
“No. He doesn’t get to be inside you at all.”
Stede moaned again, forlorn this time, and Izzy chuckled.
“Alright. I can work with that.” Izzy murmured, leaning down to kiss and bite at Stede’s neck. “Come on, Bonnet, we can still put on a show.”
Stede nodded - but at this point, Edward was sure he would have said yes to anything Izzy said.
Izzy did something with his hand - Edward couldn’t take a good look -, but then they were both moaning, Izzy reaching over to silence himself by plunging his tongue into Stede’s mouth, both of them whimpering as their tongues tangled together, Izzy’s hand moving steady and unrelenting.
Fuck.
Wait.
“You’re pulling both of you off at once, aren’t you?” Edward breathed out, incredulous and throbbing and leaking onto the carpet.
Izzy didn’t give him an answer.
Edward’s sure he didn’t even listen to his question in the first place.
Stede grabbed Izzy’s face, fingers gripping into the back of his neck and head, but splayed so his thumbs cupped his cheeks, keeping Izzy still as they kissed, as Stede moaned once more, loud and high pitched.
They came within moments of each other, Stede twitching first, a full body lurch, and Izzy grunting deep, his groan more of a growl. Edward looked down between them, at Izzy’s hand wrapped around both of them - he couldn’t make a full fist around them both, they were too thick, and now Izzy’s hand was covered in come, his thighs too, and Edward’s mouth watered - like some sort of fucking deviant.
Fucking hell.
Their kisses turned sweet.
Edward couldn’t stand it.
He grabbed Izzy below the armpits and ripped him from Stede’s arms, Izzy laughing despite himself, and dragged him to the floor with him. He was still laughing when Edward spread his legs and took his softening cock into his mouth - then the laughter turned into a drawn-out moan, his hands reaching down to grab at Edward’s hair, not pulling, just resting there.
“Ed- Edward, don’t. It- fuck, it hurts.”
Edward ignored him.
They have a word.
They have a word.
“Israel, do you want to use your word?”
There was no hesitation.
“No. No! Fuck!” Israel cried out, back arching off the floor as Edward suckled at him, making sure to get all of their come there, before moving to lick at the seed on his thighs and stomach, pulling the shirt up to Izzy’s chest and out of his way.
Stede laid down next to Izzy on the floor, reaching over to pull him into a slow messy kiss, and Edward needed, needed them to touch him, to touch each other, to let him come. Fuck, anything.
“Do you want to come, Edward?” Izzy asked and at Edward’s mindless nod, he inserted one of his legs between Edward’s. “Come here.”
He clambered to obey, straddling Izzy’s thigh, and Izzy and Stede both touched him at once. He wasn’t ready.
Izzy ran his fingers across his scalp, and Stede placed a sure hand on his lower back, urging him to start moving.
So he did. He rocked his hips back and forth across Izzy’s leg, his cock trapped between his own stomach, a layer of silk, and the meat of Izzy’s thigh - it was perfect, so fucking perfect.
“Come on, Ed.” Stede murmured right against his ear. “Let us see you, lovely.”
Edward came with a roar, his blood pounding against his ears, Izzy’s soft laughter low and sweet as molasses, and Stede pressing quick kisses to his cheek and forehead.
Fuck.
Jesus fucking Christ.
“Are you alive?” Izzy teased, pulling Edward’s hair back from his face. Edward nodded, letting his weight fall completely onto him. “Is the tantrum over then?”
If Edward had any bones left, he would have tensed, but as it was, he just nodded, rubbing his cheek on the soft linen of Izzy’s shirt, Stede running his fingers through Edward’s curls, untangling the knots slowly as to not hurt him.
It didn’t matter.
Edward murmured, “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be, dear heart. I do believe Israel and I are not opposed to playing by your rules every so often, but if we are going to be together in this relationship, you are going to have to allow us to have our own intimacy, Edward, one where you will not dictate rules and terms.” Stede had the uncanny ability of sounding both stern and gentle, it was a marvel really.
Edward nodded again.
“Also, let me get the fuck up.” Izzy grumbled. “I’m in my fifties, if I fall asleep on the floor, I’m not going to be able to walk tomorrow.”
Edward pretended he didn’t hear him.
“Edward, I’m serious.”
“He’ll get up eventually.” Stede murmured.
Edward heard the sound of mouths pressing together, a soft little sound from Izzy, and Stede said, “Let’s just lay here for a moment.”
Yeah.
He liked the sound of that.