“But it did not,” she murmured, understanding that his anger came from caring about her. He had always cared. She wrapped her arms more firmly around his neck, content with him carrying her when she could walk just fine. “What you did with that brooch was very clever.” She eyed him curiously. “And quite premeditated, I’d say.”
“Luke and I tried to account for everything.” He plunked her down near a small pond surrounded by red cedar trees, goldenrod, cattails with flowering spikes as well as a variety of vine-covered bushes. “I wish to wash away the battle. If you want to bathe as well, I suggest you do so now. It may be your last opportunity for some time.” He pulled off his shirt. “The men are loading the ship with fresh supplies. It is best that we move along lest Big Devil change his mind.”
Heat flushed her skin at the sight of him. Lord, he had really filled out, his muscular frame impossible to look away from.
“You bathe on this side.” He gestured at the other side of the pond and pulled off his boots, his expression grim. “I will go there.”
Before she could respond, he turned away, pulled off his breeches, and strode into the water, his tone biting, “Now, Rose, if you mean to. We need to get off this island.”
He really was upset with her, wasn’t he?
Best that she do as he suggested because she really could use a bath.
Yet she found herself watching rather than doing as he strode in. Though she never got a glimpse of his front, she managed a good eyeful of his back. His long body was so much more than she imagined from the tight globes of his buttocks to all the muscles and battle wounds. Her cheeks flamed, and once again, an aching sort of pleasure blossomed between her thighs.
“Hurry, Rose,” he called out as if he knew she watched him rather than seeing to herself. “Before a pirate happens along.”
She rounded her eyes. Would one? It was a distinct possibility she supposed. So she quickly removed her kerchief, unbraided her hair, undressed, saw to herself the best she could, then redressed, glancing at him every so often. When she went to speak, he ordered her silent, saying it was best not to draw unnecessary attention. She had so many questions, though. Ones she was desperate to ask but bit her tongue.
If he peeked her way, she never saw it and discovered that disappointed her. A lot, actually. Was he not interested in seeing her nude? He had certainly seemed interested the first night on the ship.
“Where are we setting sail for now?” she asked when he pulled her after him toward his ship a short time later.
“I believe I said that was up to you,” he replied, glancing with discomfort at Big Devil’s ship.
“Yes, you said as much.” She was vastly relieved when no one on the enemy ship seemed to pay them any mind. “But you never elaborated. What does that mean precisely? Especially when it’s rather clear, I have nowhere to go.” She swallowed hard and accepted the cold hard truth. “I am homeless.”
He remained silent until he helped her down into his ship, pulled her close, and cupped her cheek, the look in his eyes suddenly tender. His earlier aggravation at last gone.
Instead, she saw hope.
“What do you want to happen next, Rose?” he said softly.
“I want answers.”
“And I will give them to you.” His eyes searched hers. “But what do you want beyond that? What do you want for your future?”
While she could say yet again she wanted answers, she realized he was getting at something more specific. Beyond the answers that would no doubt leave her standing right where she was. With him. Here and now.
Which was, to simplify it, exactly what she wanted in the future.
What she had, deep down, wanted since the moment Thomas saved her. Even, she was startled to realize, before she knew her uncle had died. Now that he was gone, it made things clearer still.
Or should she say freed her?
Now she could say what was in her heart and not worry about propriety. There was no line between sinner and saint. Not in this world. Not for a woman who had nothing left but who she chose to be and where she ended up.
So she played the role she had wanted to play years ago.
Since the very moment he asked her to marry him.
She stood on her tip-toes the best she could on the swaying ship and pulled his head down so she could murmur in his ear, “I want to return to your bed, Thomas.” She met his eyes. “I want to do what we should have done years ago.”
While she certainly intended to question him more about his exchange with Big Devil, right now, all that mattered was them. The life they had left behind and the life they could have ahead of them.
Would have ahead if she had her say.
Either way, she would not let him walk away again. Not without them finally having each other as they should have back then. Be damned scruples and what was proper. He had been going off to war. They should have snuck off and enjoyed one another while they still could. How often had she dreamt of such since? What it might have been like?
Rather than ask her if she were sure like he would have in their youth, the pirate he was now gave no quarter but scooped her up again, brought her into his cabin and slammed the door shut with his foot.
Instead of setting Rose down like the gentleman he once was, he tossed her on the bed and eyed her with a hunger that made everything inside her come alive. A need that made it impossible to breathe. He yanked off his shirt, tossed it aside, then came over her so swiftly it caught her off guard.
In the end, a bit of the old him came through after all.
“Though it is not in my nature to ask but take what is willingly given to me,” he said, his voice hoarse, strained, “I will for you, Rose.” He trailed his finger along her jaw, then down her neck. “Is this what you truly want? Here. Now. With me.”
Her body was alive, thrumming with anticipation. Needy in a way it had never been before. Desperate for how he could make her feel. While she could tell him she was still a virgin, she chose not to. She didn't want to speak of her marriage and the past, but be in the moment with Thomas. Think only of him and how he made her feel. She wasn't afraid but eager. Excited. Ready to embark on a sinful adventure.
She stared at him and tried to speak but could not. So she tried again and managed on a strangled groan, “Yes, now...please.”
That’s all he needed. He whipped her shirt, pants, and shoes off before she could utter another word. In fact, there was no time to even feel shy before he spread her legs, and his mouth was between her thighs.
Her pirate adventure became something else entirely when his tongue found her soft folds. He consumed her with a ravenous need that shot overwhelming pleasure through her. Exquisite sensations that forced her to feel everything...to completely lose herself.
She gripped the bedding, released strangled, foreign sounds, and arched. It was as if her body had a mind of its own, catapulting her forward without her say. She was at the mercy of pure sensation, lost in feelings she was completely unfamiliar with but wanted far more of.
When he groaned against her in bliss and suckled more hungrily as if she tasted delicious something unfurled inside her. Something dangerous and addictive. It built rapidly, consuming her before a blazing swell of sharp euphoria tore through her so strongly she cried out and pressed against him. She sobbed with pleasure, lost in the heavy throbs pulsing through her.
“Rose,” he murmured, kissing his way up her stomach. “Are you ready for me, darling?” He kissed and licked and blew against her sensitive flesh, only heightening everything she felt. He repeated what she had said. “Are you ready to do what we should have done long ago? Are you ready to—”
“Yes,” she cried, not herself but lost in how he made her feel. Desperate to reclaim the years they missed. All the love they let go. The love they gave up.
He never fully undressed but yanked at the top of his breeches, freed himself, and came between her thighs. The time for asking permission was done. The time for saying no w
as never truly part of this.
“Thomas,” she whispered, gazing into eyes she never thought she would see again, aware of nothing but him.
“Rose,” he whispered back. His gaze lingered on hers, and he cupped her cheek before pressing forward...before finally doing what she had long waited for him to do.
Though she felt a pinch of pain, followed by discomfort as he stretched and filled her, it fell away as swiftly as it came when his lips touched hers. When he took her somewhere only he could. His kisses were long and lingering, deeper by the moment before he shifted his hips and moved.
After that, she was taken on a journey so much more exciting than the pirate stories of her youth. So much deeper than the most heartfelt tale she had read. Nothing touched this. Nothing even came close when he thrust, and took her on a sensual adventure far beyond words.
In, out, over and over until the swelling sensation became so strong, she had no idea what to do but give in and let go. If she cried out, she never heard it. If she sobbed, she never felt the tears. All she knew was that somewhere in all the wonder, she learned what it truly meant to be a woman.
What it meant to give herself over to pleasure.
She was vaguely aware when Thomas pressed deep and released a strangled groan of pleasure upon release. Everything else was a blur of ecstasy as she went somewhere made of pleasure and perfection, and most certainly the love of her life.
Awash in an untouchable afterglow, she drifted off and didn't wake until morning light came through the window, and Charles pounded on the door.
“Cap’n.” Instead of saying his reliable, ‘trouble’s afoot,’ he said something almost more damning. “Ye’ll be wantin’ to surrender then?”
Chapter Eleven
HE STUMBLED FROM THE bed, yanked his clothes on, and went to open the door but stopped when Rose spoke. “What is it, Thomas?” She sat up in bed. “What is happening?”
She had never looked more beautiful than she did now with her hair tousled and her skin aglow from their lovemaking the night before. His gaze drifted to her beautiful, bared breasts. They were everything he had imagined. Everything about her was from start to finish...most especially finish.
He had never felt anything like her nor loved so fiercely.
“Thomas?” she persisted. “What is going on?”
He raked a hand through his hair and shook his head, unsure what to say. He was supposed to have already talked to her about this. Not been swayed by lust when he asked her what she saw for her future.
To let her know he’d already made a decision about his.
But then how could he have known she would be so bold? She had proven herself a feisty bit back on Ocracoke Island but still. Who would have thought she would ask him to bring her to bed like that? To finally utter the words he had been waiting so long to hear?
“Just stay here, Rose.” He tied his hair back and bounded up to the main deck. While he wanted to explain everything to her, he owed it to his men to lead them through this final leg.
To stand by their side as they entered a whole new world.
To lead them into something they had all agreed upon.
“There she is, Cap’n.” Charles pointed north. “She’s Royal Navy and bearin’ down.”
“Lower our flag slowly,” Thomas called out, trying to meet each man’s eye. To let them know he stood by each and every one of them. “And set aside your weapons, lads. All of them.”
Dress askew, Rose flew up the steps stopping short when she spied the ship heading their way. Her eyes rounded. She looked from the navy ship to him and shook her head, panicked. “What are you doing, Thomas?” She kept shaking her head. “You need to turn around and flee. Right now! If not, you will be...”
The terror in her eyes told him everything he needed to know. She truly would stand by him no matter what. But that was not why he had come all this way. That would not be her ultimate fate if he had anything to say about it.
She crossed her arms over her chest at the chill in the air and peered off their port side, still shaking her head in confusion. “This makes no sense.” Her gaze returned to him. “We should be traveling south. Back to—”
“This,” he said softly and took her hand. He gestured that his men raise the white flag.
Her eyes widened all the more, and she whispered, “You truly are surrendering.”
“Yes, I am surrendering one way of life,” he said, “for another.”
“I do not understand,” she whispered, tears welling in her eyes.
“You will soon, my love.” He kissed her forehead and told her to return to his cabin. “If you’ve a need to eavesdrop at the door, I will not fault you.”
“You know I will.” She cupped his cheek and kissed him, fear and worry in her eyes, along with new strength and resolve. “I will stand by you, Thomas...I am not going anywhere.”
“I know,” he murmured, glad to hear her say it. To see the truth of it in her eyes. To know that she would stand by him to the end. Even if that end were hanging from a noose.
What she did not know, likely because she had been caught in the maelstrom of preparing to travel, was that on five September seventeen, seventeen, King George I of Great Britain issued the “Proclamation for Suppressing of Pirates.” This granted full pardon of all crimes to pirates who surrendered themselves to any governor in the colonies within the next year.
He nodded to Phillip and Charles as the ship drew closer.
The Pardon would apply just as readily to a sea vessel, governor present or not. Just so long as they gave the Royal Navy something they wanted in return, he suspected. He eyed his ship, one he dearly loved and nodded at his crew in reassurance. This was the step forward they had chosen the moment they put this plan into motion.
He leapt onto the bridge and roared that they requested a Royal Pardon on behalf of King George I and prayed the chips fell where he hoped.
As it happened, his King and country came through in the end, and they did.
“You cannot be serious?” Rose said a short time later, peering out the window at the navy ship following them. “They simply forgave you for all your crimes? They gave you and your crew full clemency?”
“By King’s order,” he murmured, very much enjoying her dress minus its undergarments. More so, he liked her in his arms as he leaned against his desk. “That is no small thing.”
“No,” she agreed softly. Her eyes met his. “But it does sound like a tremendously risky thing.” She shook her head. “What will you do now? Your men?”
“Start a new life,” he said simply.
Yet she knew nothing was so simple and called him on it. More pointedly, she rolled back the clock and focused on all her questions from before. “Everything you did yesterday was in preparation for this, wasn't it?” She cocked her head in question. “You knew what you intended to do?”
“Yes,” he confirmed.
“But why?”
“Because it was for the best.” He caressed her soft thigh, eager to be inside her again. To hear her throaty groans and cries of pleasure. “Times are changing quickly, Rose. Surely you know that.” He shook his head. “The Royal Navy has been after pirates more and more, and my way of life is becoming harder by the day.” He shrugged. “So when the proclamation was announced, I took notice.”
“Clearly.” She referred to his comment about being exhausted in general. “Based on what you said in your holding, you did more than take notice though, didn't you? You have grown tired of this life.”
“I have.” He cupped her cheek. “When we learned about what was going to happen to you and your sister, we had to take action.” He paused and considered. “But it was more than that...before that.”
“What do you mean?”
“I have been ready to leave this life for some time,” he said. “All of us on this ship have. So when Luke and I told them and his crew what we intended, everyone agreed to be part of the fight to save you. Part of facing the inevitab
le...” He looked out the window. “A new life.”
“What does that mean?” she whispered. Her eyes drifted as his hands wandered over her shoulders and skimmed her small waist. “What does a new life mean for you, Thomas?”
“It means this.” He set the scroll the British captain had given him on the desk. “Freedom from...freedom.”
She eyed it for a moment then him, still mulling things over. “If you knew of our plight, why not attack our ship before it ever made it south?”
“Because you were already Blackbeard's,” he reminded. “Had we attacked your ship and fled north, you and your sister would never have been safe any more than the rest of us. Not with Blackbeard’s long reach. It was best to follow pirate code as much as we could.”
“So for the same reason you carried the imitation brooch,” she murmured. “Ensuring Big Devil would not follow either.”
“Yes.” He caressed her soft cheek. “Anything to ensure your safety.”
She considered that for a moment before she responded. “Something has been weighing on my mind...something I have to ask.”
When he looked at her in question, she continued. “Did you know of my situation in Yorktown after John died? That I stayed on with his family, rather than return to my uncle? It was unorthodox, but times were especially troubling at the plantation, and they were kind enough to let me stay. When Uncle fled, we had no choice but to go with him.”
“I knew,” he murmured. “Or I would have come sooner, Rose.”
“Would you have?” Cautious hope lit her eyes. “Truly?” She swallowed hard. “Or are you just saying that to soothe my heart? Because I know you misunderstood mine and John's marriage. That it hurt you.” Her voice grew emotional. “Truth told, I've a romantic side that likes to think you would have come for me. Yet a logical side that would have loathed it. Because it would have meant your certain death for piracy.”
He understood the dreamer in her but also understood how her uncle's cruelty in her youth shaped her. How the need to escape and be safe had become an inherent part of her nature. Not only that, but he had given ample thought to this and only ever came to one conclusion.
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