"Are you going to miss it?" Brylee asked Belle once the large doors were shut promptly behind them. "Returning so suddenly, and leaving just as soon?"
Belle glanced out at the sinking sun, causing the sky to burst with pastel-like colors. "I do not think so," she answered honestly. "I am quite content with my current life and it gives me great pleasure to know that I am still welcomed home."
"Excuse me," a crisp voice interrupted. The three turned their heads in the direction of said voice and found Dustin Commack standing there with a rather impatient look on his face, as though he had been waiting for their presence for quite some time. "If you do not mind, I wish to speak to Miss Belle before you leave. I realize you are about to set sail, but I promise I will be quick."
"Actually," Aaron said, his eyes betraying his distaste for the man in front of him as he tightened his grip on Belle's arm. "We really should get going."
Belle, then, did something quite surprising. She turned and stood on her toes in order to whisper something to Aaron. "I will be alright," she promised him before slipping her arm out of the pirate's grasp, and turning to face Dustin, before nodding cryptically. "I shall not be long."
Dustin nodded and he led the Belle away from her husband and her sister in order to speak more privately.
"I must commend you on your choice of a husband, Miss Rochester," Dustin said with biting dryness, and though he smiled, no humor showed in his golden eyes.
"It's actually Mrs. Donald," Belle corrected, trying to keep her temper. Out of all the people she knew, it was Dustin Commack who could make her lose her patience within a blink of an eye.
"Right, right," Dustin said in a voice that sounded as though he was playing along. "As I was saying, however, I must commend you on your choice of a husband. His face is quite familiar. Would you like to know why?" The question was most likely rhetorical because he did not wait for Belle to answer it. "Your husband looks remarkably like Captain Aaron Donovan, the notorious pirate wanted on numerous counts for stealing, murdering, and the like."
"I actually did not notice that," Belle said, placing her hand over her chest. "Actually, what I was looking for when it came to physical appearance in a husband was a man who looked nothing like you. And my Jonathon pulls that off so flawlessly. He looks handsome, fit, alluring – not like you whatsoever."
Dustin clenched his hands into fists as his side as he grinded his jaw together in a last-ditch effort to maintain his temper. Nothing really got to him, but Belle had such a way with words that it was hard not to be affected with what she was saying. However, he managed to force his lips into a snake-like smile, and regarded Belle with his now-bronzed eyes.
"I would also like to commend you on finding a husband despite the fact that you had no virtue to offer him," he said in a cold voice. Now amusement lit his facial features, clearly happy at his choice of words.
Belle felt her green eyes narrow in Dustin's direction. "Yes, well, it is a good thing I am taking Brylee away from you, isn't it?" she asked him. "You will not get anything from her. You will not even see her again!"
A loud thwack echoed in Belle's ears and a searing pain erupted into her left cheek. Belle let a cry of pain slip past her lips due to the hard smack Dustin had just given her. He never could control his temper around her.
"Listen and listen well," Dustin told her slowly, leaning forward so he was centimeters from her face. "I have this feeling that you and your husband are more than what you presented tonight at supper. If I find out that the man you are with is indeed Aaron Donovan, I will see to it personally that you, in turn, become wanted by mere affiliation with him."
Belle gripped her cheek, glaring at him, but refrained from saying anything. Without another word, she turned and headed down towards the waiting carriage. When she saw that Aaron had been watching the two, his brown eyes hard yet filled with concern, she immediately dropped her hand from her cheek.
"Is everything all right?" he asked her gently as she came closer into view.
It didn't appear as though he had seen Dustin slap her, though he had to have known something was amiss. The man was very intuitive.
"Yes," Belle said, though her voice was a tad bit sharper than she would have originally liked it to be. "Yes, I am fine. I just would really like to leave now. Please."
---
Aaron nodded his head a couple of times, and then offered his hand to help her in the carriage. His studious eyes sought out her face, hoping for something to reveal what had happened since he could tell she wasn't really all right. It was then that he noticed her left cheek housed red splotches before Belle quickly disappeared inside the carriage. For whatever reason, Aaron felt his blood rage at the thought of Dustin so easily slapping her across the face. However, he couldn't help a dark smile from touching his lips.
She must have said something really offensive to get such a reaction from the man.
With that, he climbed into the carriage and took a seat next to Belle. Soon, they would be back on the ship, back on the sea, and for a portion of time, safe.
Chapter XXI
Aaron couldn't help but stare at Belle from the corner of his chocolate brown eyes as the three rode in the carriage to the docks in silence. She wasn't telling him something, something important. He wasn't sure how he knew this; his acquaintance with Belle had only been for four or five days, but even though she was quite skillful at keeping her emotions hidden beneath the surface, he felt as though he could read her facial inflections, her subtle gestures, but more so than everything else, he could read her eyes as though they were pages in a book.
When they arrived at the docks, Aaron, Belle, and Brylee departed just as easily as the married couple had arrived. The dock master gave them no trouble, and even wished them a safe journey, wherever that may be. Aaron rowed the women to their waiting ship before helping them climb the rope ladder and swing themselves over the side of the ship.
"Is this really necessary?" Brylee asked, furrowing her brow as she struggled to hold herself up. "You're a merchant, yes? Why is your ship a good way from the docks and not docked there?"
Belle refrained from smiling in amusement as she easily swung her leg over the banister and looked down at her sister. Maybe it was because she had experienced this sort of torture (by herself, no less!), that it didn't bother her as much the second time around.
"Jonathon can be very eccentric," Belle said, her tone coy as she waited for her sister to make her way up the ladder. Aaron walked over to Belle and leaned his forearm on the surface of the banister, an amused smile touching his features as he watched the young Rochester try to climb the rope ladder.
"I figure," Aaron murmured, "that I am a man and I can do things myself. Why must I hire help when I can do things by myself?"
"And I happened to agree with his outlook on life," Belle said, before reaching down and offering Brylee her hand.
"Well," Brylee said, taking Belle's hand and grunting as her sister helped her up. "You always were an eccentric, weren't you? Two eccentrics go well together, do they not?"
Before Belle could answer, Rick made his way across the deck, tilting his head slightly to the side when his blue eyes caught sight of Brylee. Belle watched him with amusement as he carefully took her sister in, outlining her body with his eyes, staring transfixed with how she brushed her hands off and then wiped them down on her dress, as though wrinkles were consuming the fabric when there weren't any. This was what love at first sight must look like, she gathered.
---
"Ah," Aaron said, noticing his best friend and first mate. "There he is." Though he said this under his breath, Belle heard him and removed her eyes from Rick to look at her sister.
Rick waved almost awkwardly, suddenly uncomfortable with three sets of eyes looking at him (especially those calculating blue ones), and thought for a moment if he should busy himself with some menial task instead of deal with their stares. However, Aaron made Rick's mind up for the man by beckoning him
over with a curt nod. Rick had no choice but to introduce himself and hope he didn't sound like a fool.
"Ehm, hello," Rick said, unable to look Brylee in the eyes after he made his way over to the three.
"Now he's all shy, hmm?" Aaron asked with a teasing grin on his face, nudging Belle as though the two shared some secret the other two couldn't comprehend. Belle, too, was smiling, but her smile was much more enigmatic than Aaron's. "Brylee, this is my first mate, Rick Fraser. Rick, this is Belle's younger sister, Brylee. She will be joining us on some of our… adventures, I guess you would call them."
"Brylee?" Rick said, feeling the way her name touched his lips. He decided that he liked it; he liked saying her name. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Uh, yes," Brylee said, taking in the sight of the new face. She gave him her hand, and Rick took it, furrowing his brow for a moment before he shook it quite dramatically. He wasn't sure what else to do. When he released her, Brylee forced a smile before shooting her sister an odd look. "The pleasure is all mine," she promised in a soft voice before slipping her hand out of his.
"Rick," Aaron said, turning to his first mate. "Since Brylee will be staying with us, I think it would do her good to get familiar with the layout of our merchant ship, don't you think?" He didn't wait for Rick to respond. "It would be of great service to me, and I'm sure to Brylee as well if you could show her around our proud vessel while I have a private word with my wife."
"Right, right," Rick said though he was unsure just what Aaron was insinuating. He knew his captain and Belle were pretending to be married, that Aaron was supposed to be a merchant, but if he was still speaking such nonsense then that meant... Oh. So this Brylee didn't know what they really did. "Of course." He looked over at Brylee and found her staring oddly at him, as though she was trying to figure him out. "May I show you around, miss?" he asked as politely as he could.
"Of course," Brylee said. She threw one last look over her shoulder at her sister, confusion at the oddity of this man she had just met, before allowing Rick to lead her around.
---
"You wished to speak to me?" Belle asked her, arching her right brow up. Aaron subconsciously frowned at that gesture; he was certain he would always have some sort of annoyance when it came to that particular look. "Whatever about?"
"Are you all right?' he asked her in a low voice, his sharp eyes studying her, trying to gauge her reactions like he had been so apt to do in the recent past.
"Yes," Belle said after a moment, and then she pressed both brows together, as though she was confused in some way. "Why? Do I not look allright?"
"Did anyone ever tell you just how frustrating one of your looks can be?" Aaron asked in a dry tone, giving her a look.
"You're very droll, you know," Belle quipped, rolling her eyes.
"Droll I may be," Aaron agreed, "but I know that something happened between you and Commack during your discussion. It would please me immensely to know what transpired between the two of you."
"Well," the young woman muttered, "if it pleases you…"
Aaron gave her another look. "Actually it would," he told her, "and I am serious. This may baffle you, but I do worry about you, you know. Though we haven't known each other for a long time, I find that…" He let his voice trail off. "Well, I find that I can't get rid of you. And yet, I find that I do not want to, at least not yet."
"We talked about you actually," Belle replied in a soft murmur. She tried to ignore the effect his words currently had on her, and instead, focused on the words coming out of her mouth. "He mentioned how you resembled Aaron Donovan, the pirate, and commended me on my marriage." She made sure to leave out what he had said about her virtue. "I told him that I was taking Brylee away from him, and that hopefully, he would never marry her."
"Was that when he slapped you?" Aaron asked in a rough whisper, clearly displeased at the thought that that man would lay a hand on her. His question clearly surprised Belle by the soft ‘o’ her perfectly shaped mouth formed. "And do not lie to me," he told her quickly. "I see your cheek. I saw how red it was while we were still on Port Royal. It does not take a mathematician to put two and two together."
"Commodore Commack and I…" Belle tried to explain, pushing her brows together once again as she regarded the wooden floor beneath her. "We have never gotten along. Maybe I should have watched my tongue, but he is the type of person that brings out the worst in me." She paused for a moment before looking at Aaron in the eyes. "Running away was the best thing I ever chose to do."
"It would seem so," Aaron agreed quietly. He still hadn't found out why Belle had chosen to run away, but if Commack could so easily slap her, he was sure the reason was valid and justified.
Chapter XXII
"Belle!" a sharp voice called from across the ship as soon as the vessel started to move away from the docks of Port Royal.
Belle and Aaron stopped their discussion to glance at each other. The young woman had a light blush across her face as she turned and watched as her sister approached her with her jaw set and a determined glint in her crystal blue eyes. Aaron raised his brow in curiosity as his lips curled up in amusement, and he crossed his arms over his chest. Belle watched Aaron’s eyes as they locked onto Rick following Brylee with a worried look etched out onto Rick's chiseled face as he regarded the young, perturbed woman in front of him warily. Aaron cocked his head to the side as his grin deepened.
"Uh, yes?" Belle asked, noticing Rick as well. However, she was not as intent to see how this particular scene would unfold as Aaron was. In fact, if he could give a description to her face, it was almost wary. Whenever Brylee was shrill, it was just cause for the recipients to prepare themselves with such an emotion. She glanced over at the tall pirate next to her and all but scowled as she took in his eager reaction. Of course he would look so excited; he was not yet on the receiving in of one of Brylee's lectures.
"Are you aware of what is really happening on this particular ship, hmm?" Brylee asked, raising her brow. Her voice was not as shrill as Belle had originally expected, but the volume in it was slightly increased for the close proximity between the two women.
"I'm not exactly sure what you are implying, sister," Belle said, completely unaware what may have happened. However, when she saw the look on Rick's face as he stood behind Brylee, Belle had a slight suspicion that whatever the reason Brylee was upset was probably due to something Rick did or said.
"So you are not aware," Brylee said, shifting her weight as she narrowed her eyes at her older sister, "that we are currently on a pirate ship?" She spat the word with distasteful evidence. Her head snapped in Aaron's direction, and she thrust an accusing finger at the man. "You!" she exclaimed, before turning towards Belle once more again. "Are you aware that your husband is not Jonathon Donald, wealthy merchant, as he would have you believe? In fact, he is Aaron Donovan, which is probably why Commodore Commack deemed his face recognizable. Are you aware of this, Belle?"
"I am not married to a pirate, Brylee," Belle murmured.
"Yes you are!" Brylee exclaimed and then turned her fiery gaze on Aaron. Though Brylee seemed to believe he really was the notorious outlaw, she did not seem to be afraid of him and what he would do to her now that she had called him out on who he really was. "Admit it, sir, that you are a fraud. You ensnared my sister into matrimony without revealing who you really are! She probably was blinded by your good looks and breeding prospects and couldn't see you for what you really are! A no-good, lousy, dirty, stealing, murderous pirate."
Belle snapped her head in Aaron's direction, trying to read his face well enough to gauge his reaction at Brylee's impassioned speech, but much to Belle's surprise, he was smiling. As though this whole thing was funny to him. Completely amused on her behalf, smiling as though he didn't have one care in the entire world. Not worried in the slightest that somehow, Rick gave them away and they were still in distance to Port Royal if Brylee wanted to be returned.
"I digress," Aaron said, drop
ping his arms from hugging his chest and shrugging his shoulders slightly as he regarded both women almost lazily, "I am not Jonathon Donald but this notorious pirate captain Aaron Donovan."
"See?" Brylee said, and Belle was sure that if Brylee wasn't restraining herself, she would be jumping up and down. Her face was turning red, however, and her blue eyes were crystallizing. "See what I told you? There's still time, Belle! He could release us right now, or if he won't we could… we could… We could jump overboard and swim back to shore. I know how to swim you know." She glared at Aaron once again. "And don't think we won't!"
"To be honest, I would be quite amused if you did," Aaron told her, a teasing glint in his dark eyes.
"Listen Brylee," Belle said, grabbing her sister's attention once again. "It is imperative that you listen to what I have to say, and you listen well. When I told you I was not married to a pirate, it was a true statement because I am, in fact, not married to this man. I know who he really is."
"Then how could you allow him into our home?" Brylee asked, trying to read her sister's murky green eyes. She was clearly appalled at such a notion. "Who knows what he and his pirates did – no doubt accumulate as much wealth as he could. How could you do this to your family? How could you affiliate yourself with him? I always knew your affection for the man when you were younger, but I never thought you would sink so low as to befriend the man.
"What, exactly, have you been doing with him, Belle?" she continued, completely oblivious to the pursed frown her sister was giving her. "No doubt he's made you give him something of value to join his crew of miscreants. Have you – Have you been intimate with the man Belle? Are you his –"
"If you utter the word I know is at the tip of your tongue, I will slap you," Belle warned her sister, her voice dangerously low. Her eyes hardened as she regarded her sister, telling the younger woman to heed her warning because her threat would ring true if Brylee did not. "Now I am not sure you are aware of this, but I just saved you from a deplorable marriage." Belle's voice might have been low, but it was sharp and cutting. "Aaron may be a pirate, but he just gave you what little freedom you did have back, and then some."
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