"I confess," Aaron said, dropping his arms from hugging his chest and shrugging his shoulders slightly as he regarded both women almost lazily, "I am not Jonathon Donald but the 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."
Brylee glanced over at the pirate they were referring to and raised a doubtful brow. Aaron looked at her blankly, and gave her a noncommittal shrug. He didn't care all that much about what Brylee thought about him, but he was interested in what Belle was saying. He hoped that maybe she would give away why she hated the good commodore, so his sharp ears listened for not only what she was saying, but how she was saying it.
"You now have the freedom to fall in love with your Prince Charming, whoever that may be, Brylee," Belle continued. While her voice was still low, it wasn't as biting as it once had been. If anything, Belle just wanted Brylee to see what she was capable of doing now.
"What are you not telling me, Belle?" Brylee asked, her voice soft, imploring, and maybe even slightly hopeful. "What do you know about Commodore Commack that you are not telling me?"
Belle felt her stomach clench together. Instead of answering, she glanced over the side of the ship and look over at the sea. After a moment, she looked back at her sister almost sadly, letting a sigh slip past her nose. "I need you to trust me on this, Brylee," she told her sister. With one last look, she turned and headed back into her room.
Brylee watched her walk away, a confused look etched onto her face.
"Don't worry about it, darling," Aaron told her, his eyes following Belle as well. "She has yet to actually tell me why she hates Commodore Commack as well. But one day, hopefully, it will come. Sooner or later."
23
Though both Aaron and Brylee had yet to garner some sort of answer from Belle concerning Commodore Commack, they decided to relent in their questioning, something Belle was silently grateful for. She was getting hungry by the time supper rolled around and decided to join the rest of the crew for food. At least she wasn't cooking; there was a reason she had never done such a thing at the Bloody Mistake. Norman knew where her talents lay, and it wasn't in the kitchen.
"I must say," Belle said after a few moments of sitting down in the dining hall of the ship on the crowded wooden bench, "I am quite surprised that you are actually joining us for supper, Brylee."
The corner of Aaron's lips twitched up as he glanced over at Brylee from where he was sitting at the head of the table. He had yet to actually get served food. Apparently, his role as captain dictated that he wait until each member of his crew had been served before receiving a plate for himself. The man wanted to make sure his loyal crew was fed before he was.
Brylee glanced up at her sister from across the table through her dark eyelashes and gave Belle a sneer. "I asked Captain Donovan if I could take my supper in our room, but he refused for some reason," she said, shooting an icy glare in the pirate's direction before playing with the food on her plate, as though she was unsure if it was even edible.
"We all eat together," Aaron explained shortly before the cook, Slimey, finally placed a tray of food in front of the man. Aaron grinned, reveling in the delicious scent coming from the food before grabbing his fork and digging in.
Brylee raised a brow, seemingly surprised that Aaron actually used utensils and wasn't as boorish when it came to eating as she had originally thought. When she looked at Belle, she found that her sister was actually enjoying the food, before glancing down at her own food. Even beside her, Rick was eating from his plate, though he seemed to be a tad bit messier than Aaron was. Well, here goes nothing, as they say. Brylee had prepared herself so greatly that the food would not be to her liking that when she placed the bite into her mouth, she couldn't necessarily taste it. It took another bite before she realized that what she was served was much better than it looked, and her lips curved up in a slight smile. She didn't realize until right then just how hungry she was.
It was silent for the next fifteen to twenty minutes as people ate and drank. Soon, however, a low murmur began to fill in the quiet as the crew began to socialize. Belle watched the people surrounding her, and she found that she enjoyed their company. Her time spent on this ship wasn't long, per se, but she was slowly starting to get to know everybody, and from what she saw, they seemed to like her in return.
"So," Brylee said, setting down her fork so it clattered against her plate and narrowing her eyes in Aaron's direction, "I have been meaning to ask, because I am quite curious to know. Why would anyone in their right mind choose to become a pirate? I cannot, for the life of me, find a reasonable explanation for the lifestyle."
Belle shot her sister a look at the rudeness of the question, but Brylee paid her no mind. She cast a quick glance over at the pirate addressed, and found that he was looking at Brylee rather studiously, as though he was trying to word what he wanted to say as perfectly as he could.
"Because it is freest life I have ever known," he finally said, looking at Brylee with those dark eyes of his. He paused for a moment, studying Brylee, and finding that she still didn't seem to comprehend, or more bluntly, didn't care. "It's something that you cannot possibly understand, Brylee, because even though you believe yourself to be free, in reality, you are not." He glanced over at Belle and found her to be watching him intently, giving Aaron an idea of sorts. "Take your sister here," he continued, gesturing at Belle with his hand as he regarded Brylee once again. "Would you like to know how we became acquainted with each other? She was working at one of the scrags I frequent whenever I am in Tortuga as bar wench –"
"Barmaid," Belle corrected automatically before realizing what she had said. When she felt Aaron's amused eyes on her once again, she felt her cheeks glow pink and immediately looked away, her eyes focusing on the surface of the table.
"Barmaid," Aaron agreed, nodding a couple of times as his smile deepened, seeing her blush on those high cheekbones of hers. "Of course. Did you know that she associated with pirates, drunkards, whores, thieves, and the like while working there? She nearly go
t killed once because she has a mouth that knows exactly what it is to upset someone the most."
"Exactly my point," Brylee said, but this time, her blue eyes were cast upon Belle rather than Aaron. "Why would you want to be associated with people like that? You nearly died, Belle! I wish that could surprise me, but after hearing of where you have been these past eight years, it truly does not."
"Brylee, I am surprised at you," Belle said, her tone taking on one that resembled scolding. "You should know better than to judge someone without knowing them. You have no idea who I affiliate with, only the types of people that society labels them as. Out of everybody I know, I would expect you to at least be curious as to who they are. They took me in after I ran away; they did not need any sort of explanation. They gave me a job, and I made friends. I have never had more fun than being associated with them."
Brylee’s blue eyes went wide, and her mouth dropped so it hung open in a very unladylike fashion. At the moment, however, she didn't seem to care. All she seemed to be interested in was what Belle had just told her, trying to wrap her mind around such a concept.
"I'm sorry," Brylee murmured, blinking a couple of times before focusing her gaze back on Belle. "Did you just say that you actually enjoy socializing with these people?" She threw her arm out, gesturing at the half of the crew that was still there. "These pirates?" She stood up, shaking her head. "I cannot, in my mind, fathom what you are saying, Belle. I simply cannot, and I highly doubt that you can either." With that, she headed out the door and to her room.
Belle didn't think she had ever been more embarrassed in her entire existence. She looked at Aaron, expecting him to be upset, angry, or at the very least, flustered, but he had an enigmatic expression on his chiseled face, still staring at the place where Brylee had vacated.
"I am sorry," she told the pirate captain in a soft voice, chancing a quick look up at him. "I did not think…"
"It is all right," Aaron told her, reassuring her as best as he possibly could. "I have come in contact with women like her before. What she needs to understand is the world is not black and white. Those who proclaim they are good in the eyes of society may not be as pure as they seem, while those that are deemed criminals may not be as heartless as people assume them to be."
"I know that," Belle said, as a couple more members of the crew disappeared out the door, leaving Belle and Aaron alone.
"I know you do," the pirate captain murmured and gave her a smile that somehow caused her heart to stop for a portion of time without doing her any damage.
"May I ask you a question?" Belle asked after a moment, glancing down at her fingertips before finally looking Aaron in the eyes. Once she did, however, she realized that he had trapped her with his gaze. He said nothing in response to her question, but nodded his head to give her some sort of answer. "For someone who claims he is free, where do you plan to go?"
Aaron suddenly leaned forward, placing both palms of his hands on the surface of the table so his whole body was closer to Belle's. His hair fell into his face slightly, but that didn't prevent the shine coming from his smile to be tainted in any way. "Anywhere I want," he said in a voice just above a whisper. "Do you want to come along?"
24
It was the next day, and Belle had changed into the clothes she had become used to over the past seven years. Currently, she was wearing an off-white tunic and black pantaloons that, despite her petite form, fit her quite well. In fact, the articles of clothing themselves looked brand new, a fact that did not slip by Belle's perceptive gaze. For a moment, she wondered how Aaron did it. The man had immaculate taste, and cleanliness was incredibly important to him, which, in turn, made it important to his crew. The captain was more lenient if specks of dirt occupied clothing during a journey, but once they were about to enact a "mission" – as the crew dubbed it – clothes had to be washed, dried, and pressed. In fact, Steinbeck, an older member of the crew, took care of all of that; keeping clothes clean and presentable was his job, and he actually seemed to enjoy it.
"You look like a man," a tired voice murmured flatly from behind the young woman.
Belle refrained from rolling her green eyes before turning around while simultaneously tying her thick hair up with a piece of ribbon. "Yes, well," Belle began, "at least I am comfortable. You know that you will eventually have to wear clothes like these sooner or later, do you not?" She cocked her head slightly to the side for a moment, crossing her arms triumphantly over her chest.
"I will wear this dress until the material is torn from my body," Brylee said firmly, her blue eyes flashing dangerously as she regarded her sister. Brylee was sprawled out on the cot, currently lying flat on her stomach and looking at Belle over her pillow.
Instead of arguing, Belle tilted her head back and let out a contagious giggle. Brylee watched her sister for a moment, and though she tried to stop them, the corners of her lips curled up. It had been a long while since Brylee had seen her older sister laugh, and Belle always had such a laugh that one couldn't help but join in. Before she knew it, Brylee was laughing along with Belle, though she wasn't quite sure why she was laughing. Maybe it was the fact that even though she felt her life was falling apart – being stuck on a ship with wanted pirates – she had her sister back. And even though Brylee was an eligible woman due to her wealth and status, she knew she would choose Belle over everything she had known, even if it meant socializing with said pirates.
Of course, that didn't mean Brylee would befriend the brutes.
"As you say, then," Belle agreed, clearly amused by her sister's stubborn attitude. If anything, Belle was quite proud how firmly Brylee could stand her ground. She pushed off the edge of her own cot and made for the door. "I am going out on deck now. Would you like to come?"
"In a moment," Brylee told the older woman.
Belle nodded and slipped outside. She walked over to the side of the ship and watched the blue Caribbean water lap onto the ship, pushing the vessel in one way or another. Some of the waves actually caused spray to shoot up and decorate Belle's face with soft drips of water, which was quite refreshing, considering the sun was quite high in the sky.
"Hello, darling," a voice said from beside her. Belle didn't have to look up to know that it was Donovan; she knew that low voice too well already. "And how was your sleep with the princess?"
Belle tried to hide her amused grin at the nickname Aaron had given her younger sister, but failed miserably.
"Very well, thank you," Belle said with a smile, turning her gaze back to the water.
"I want you and your sister to learn how to use a blade," he told her, his studious dark eyes going over the young woman's sharp profile. "If you are to accompany us on our many adventures and such, I want you and your sister to be familiar with a blade. I want you to be able to take care of yourself."
"Well, despite what you may believe, I am already familiar with one," Belle told him.
"Oh?" he asked, his eyes sparkling as the left side of his lips curled up.
"Yes," she replied. "I learned as quickly as I could when I arrived on Tortuga. From Stephen, no less."
"Forgive me if I don't exactly trust Stephen with properly instructing you around a blade," Donovan murmured, obvious distaste for the man evident in his dry tone. "But I do trust you, so why don't you have a go with Rick while I watch you, hmm?"
Belle rolled her eyes, but agreed nonetheless. The pirate captain grinned and handed her his cutlass before disappearing to go fetch Rick. It was at that moment that Brylee decided to make her debut for the day, and she arched a brow when her blue eyes came in contact with her sister who was currently holding a sword.
"What are you doing, Belle?" Brylee asked, as she noticed Donovan and Rick make their way over from the corner of her eye. "What, exactly, is going on?"
Belle said nothing resembling an answer as her eyes flitted over to her sister. Instead, she smiled enigmatically, and said, "Why don't you watch this, sister? You just might learn something."<
br />
Brylee wasn't exactly sure what Belle meant until Donovan stood next to her and Rick began to clash his blade against Belle's. Brylee let out a squeak of surprise, covering her face with her hands, but oddly enough, she couldn't look away. In fact, as the moment elongated, Brylee – and Donovan as well – realized just how talented her sister was. Something inside of her realized that she, too, wished to be accomplished with a blade. However, she immediately dismissed the idea, and said, "How is a man supposed to defend you if you can do it yourself?"
"All right, enough," Donovan announced, momentarily satisfied. Belle flashed him a triumphant grin, and though he didn't exactly want to admit that she was right, smiled in return.
"Well," Belle said breathlessly after shaking hands with her opponent. "I believe you cannot depend on a man for everything, Prince Charming or not."
"Prince Charming?" Rick asked in disbelief, though he found the whole notion quite humorous to say the least. He turned his cool blue eyes on Belle’s younger sister, wiping his sweaty brow with the back of his hand. "Tell me, Brylee – I may call you Brylee, yes? – do you really believe in such a man?"
"Of course I believe in such a man," Brylee retorted, as though it was the most obvious answer in the entire world. She crossed her arms over her chest and cocked her head to the side as she thought about how to elaborate on the subject. "First of all, he has to be tall." Quickly, she shifted her eyes to look at Donovan for a moment. "But not overly so. And he has to have excellent bone structure, and his eyes – it doesn't exactly matter what color they are, but they have to tell a story. And he has to be fit and take care of himself quite well."
"Then why would you ever want to marry Commodore Commack?" Belle asked before she could stop herself.
To Pillage a Pirate Page 11