Chapter 1:

The sun flooded into the room. Gray Hawk blinked sleepily at the warm rays. He felt a soft body nestling against him. He raised his head cautiously and saw brown curls next to him. As his sleepy eyes told him she was clearly female. He felt her warm and calm breath on his chest. Relaxed, he leaned back on the pillows. The sun rose slowly and the spirits of the beautiful being gradually returned. He heard a soft and satisfied sigh. She stretched and wrapped her arms around him. Two dark eyes now looked up at him, still a little sleepy.
"Did you sleep well?" playfully he ran his fingers through her hair.
"Hm."
She kissed his chest and snuggled up against him again.
Slowly it dawned on Gray. Yesterday he probably not only had a bottle of rum with his buddies, and there were also a few very nice women in the dark.He could figure out the rest. Gradually his head became felt in excruciating pain.
Now he remembered the name of the beauty: Caitlin, the sister of his best friend Blake. He would kill him if he found out! Despite being best friends, Blake didn't want Caitlin to mess with a womanizer like Gray.
He pushed her arms a little roughly away from him and stood up.
"Hey!" Came the protest from Caitlin. He ignored the comment and gathered his things. Half dressed, he turned to Caitlin, who was lolling seductively in bed.
"Come back here.", She smiled at him, and pointed to the free space at her side.
"I can't stay longer," he grinned, embarrassed, "If Blake sees that, I'll be a dead man."
"He won't find out anything from me, so come back!", She got up, wrapped a bed sheet around her and walked up to him. Her hair shone in the sun and there was a silky sheen on her soft skin.Gray put his arms around her waist and kissed her deeply. When their lips parted, he gazed lovingly into her eyes. He stroked her cheek and pulled out of the embrace.
He quickly put on his shirt and boots, packed the rest of his things, disappeared without another word, and left a cursing Caitlin behind.
At the door of the inn, Gray took a deep breath and headed for the beach. He had to clear his head and think. As with any pirate, the Caribbean sea had a calming and attractive effect on him. His way led him through the wicked and winding streets of Port Royals. As he strolled through the shabby streets and passed some shabby shops, he saw his sister Jean from afar. Her short, night-black hair, which was so similar to his, would be recognized anywhere. She was standing a bit away from the crowd and obviously seemed to be flirting with a pirate.Like Blake, he had a strong protective instinct towards his little sister.
He quickly made his way through the crowd and quickly stood in front of his sister.
"What are you doing here?" He burst out. Angrily, he grabbed her upper arm and dragged her behind him, away from the puzzled-looking sailor.
"Let go of me!", Jean snapped at him angrily, "Take your fingers away!"
Desperately she tried to free herself from his grip. In vain, because against her brother, who was a good two heads taller and a lot stronger than she, she hardly had a chance. Followed by confused looks, he pulled her out of the crowd.
"What are you hanging around with such a rabble? You don't know what they do with young things like you!", He finally let go of her, and looked at her seriously.
"How do you want to know?", She replied snippily, "Oh, I forgot ... you belong to this rabble too!""Nice! Now I know what your opinion of me is! But don't come to me crying when they are done with you!" Her sea-blue eyes glared at him furiously.
Annoyed, he turned around and walked towards the beach, which he could already see through the alleys. For the second time that morning, he left a woman cursing.
At last.
The sea. Immediately he felt freer, and the passion to sail out rose again in him. Like his father. He took a deep breath and the old thirst for adventure flowed through him. Even when he was young, he was pretty well acquainted with the treacherous dangers of the sea. His father had often taken him on smaller forays, so he had learned a lot from the greatest pirate of his time.
But as much as he longed to go back to sea, he was stuck here in this cursed port. He couldn't leave his sister and mother alone, who had to rely on Grey's support after his father's death.In moments like these, he cursed having a family. Especially with such an unruly little sister that he should always have two eyes on. She was far more like him than he would have liked. Jean also had an inexhaustible thirst for freedom, and the fact that pirate blood ran through her veins could not be denied.
Still slightly grumpy about the female gender, he let himself fall into the lukewarm sand and closed his eyes.
The sound of the waves lulled him into sweet dreams again. When he woke up again, the sun was already low in the sky. He must have slept all day. Still a bit drowsy, he got up, patted the sand from his things and stretched himself with relish towards the setting sun. He made his way leisurely back into town, where he had an appointment with his drinking companions in the Golden Saber. As the sun set, Port Royal was slowly shrouded in night and only scant candlelight lit the streets.Last traders closed their shops, and more and more light-shy rabble roamed about. Gray reached the Golden Saber, where, as he clearly heard from outside, people were drinking unrestrainedly. He opened the massive wooden door and stepped into the overcrowded taproom, which was enveloped in a smoky light by a mighty chandelier. A wave of noise and the smell of alcohol hit him. Hazard yelled at him from one corner
"Gray! Here!"
He pushed his way past tables where people were drinking wildly, discussing and fumbling. Some of them were familiar faces, others he had never seen before. In one of the back booths he saw Blake, Shade, and Hazard waving him over. They seemed to have been here for a while, since they were on their table
found an opened bottle of rum. When he joined them, Shade closed a glass directly and filled it with a skillful movement of his hand. The brown rum shimmered amber in the light of the candle on her messed up table."Where have you been for so long?" Blake said reproachfully.
"I slept," Gray growled.
"Your days are getting more and more monotonous. It's time you came out again and felt the sea!", Hazard stated worriedly, and ran his fingers through his black afro.
"Yeah, yeah ..." it came back sullenly, and Gray tumbled down his rum.
"Come on, have another drink," Shade encouraged him. With his blonde hair and blue eyes, he was probably the most striking of them. The rest of them, with their dark hair and brown eyes, were more like a typical pirate.
Gradually the bottle emptied visibly, and the serenity rose to immense. Finally, a few well-formed appearances of the better sex joined them. The group got more fun with each glass, until Gray noticed Caitlin heading for their table.
"I'll get a new bottle of rum quickly.", Gray said hastily and got up just as quickly.He avoided her gaze and wanted to push past her quickly.
Gray didn't trust Caitlin that she really wouldn't say a word to her brother about their nocturnal encounter.
But his plan failed. Caitlin wrapped her left arm around his waist, preventing him from going any further.
"Well? Where are you in such a hurry?" She asked challengingly, and made ready to kiss him. He pushed her away indifferently and continued to work his way to the counter. He made his way back with a full bottle and was horrified to find that Caitlin had sat down at her table next to Shade.
With long strides he came back to the table, gave her a threatening look and pushed himself back onto the bench opposite the two of them. Somewhat morosely, he watched Shade's hand first around Caitlin's shoulder and the other resting on her thigh. As if that weren't enough, Caitlin shot him a triumphant look. He instantly drowned his displeasure in rum.Before Shade's nimble fingers explored any other parts of the body, Blake intervened, for which Gray was thoroughly grateful.
"Shade! Take your pens out of there!"
"What ?!" he replied with an innocent look.
"Don't come on the tour, buddy!" Blake hissed.
"It's okay ...", disappointed he let off Caitlin, and turned to the female creature on his left.
"Blake, if you don't mind, I would like to continue here now.", He continued mockingly.
"Caitlin, it would be better if you go now."
Blake also took great care of the well-being of his companion. Angry, Caitlin rolled her eyes and went provocatively to the next table, where she sat on the next best friend's lap. Gray looked after her morosely. This didn't seem to be his day.
Resolutely, he slammed his empty glass on the table, got up without another word, and left the pub. Puzzled looks followed him until the old wooden door slammed shut behind him.[...]To be continued !!!