Killian had not been pleased when one of the bags of newly purchased flour tore open while being loaded onto the Jolly and a gust of wind carried it everywhere in a billowing white cloud all over the deck that powdered both Mr. Smee right in the face and himself in the back of the head, his dark hair taking on a grey cast while he swore and raked his fingers through the strands in a vain attempt to shake the flour out.
“Bloody hell!”
Emma noticed the rest of the crew all trying their best to smother their mirth, muffling laughter in their sleeves and ducking their heads while their captain glared and ordered for the deck to be swabbed clean, muttering that he’d take the cost of the flour out of the merchant’s hide.
“The sea is a harsh mistress, Captain. She’s aged you before your time.”
Doyle’s proclamation was uttered with grave solemnity that made Killian’s lips twitch while Smee let out a loud guffaw that quickly turned into a wracking cough. Emma pulled a handkerchief and handed it to him without breaking stride while Doyle pounded him on the back, setting her parasol back on her shoulder to look up at her pirate lover in his new, silver-flecked glory.
His smile went suddenly tremulous, uncertain, while she perused him and the crew all fell silent behind her, even Smee stopped his rather violent hacking for a moment. She brushed a smudge of flour off his waistcoat and rested her hand on his chest.
“Had some of the handsome knocked out of me, I’m afraid.”
“That’s not possible.”
In truth, the grey hair lent him a rather distinguished air that did not detract from his good looks in the slightest, and there was a flutter in her belly and a blush on her cheeks that only deepened at the thought of his head against her breast and that mouth trailing along her skin when they were alone.
(and later that night the water that was heated for the captain to wash his hair cooled unused in the bath while he did just that, head dipping between her thighs and soft hair slipping through Emma’s fingers in a swirl of inky black and silvery white)
It All Starts With a Dance 