The Stolen Heart (34 page)

 

 

She stroked his cheek tenderly. “There’s nothing to forgive. Or if
there is, then I need to ask it of you, after I threw you overboard
like that.”

 

 

“I know you were only trying to save my life.”

 

 

She nodded. “They would have killed you for sure. As for having you,
Jared, well, just try to stop me.”

 

 

He kissed her warmly, and they eagerly made their way back to the
whaleboat. There everyone shook hands with him all around.

 

 

They cast off and rowed back to the
Trident
, Jared taking
an oar as well, to return that much faster. Then he was back up on
deck, looking around as though he could scarcely believe his eyes.

 

 

But it was truly all in one piece. In fact, it was better than
before, now that he had two beautiful new masts.

 

 

Perkins shook the Captain’s hand and said, “Welcome back, sir.”

 

 

“All is well?”

 

 

“It is now.”

 

 

“And you two, you haven’t ended up fighting like cats and dogs?”

 

 

He blushed. “Not at all. She saved the ship, saved us all.”

 

 

“Then you know?”

 

 

Almira nodded. “He knows. Just about everyone guessed in the end."

 

 

"Aye, otherwise we'd need our eyes checked," George said with a
cheeky grin.

 

 

“She’s a fine woman, sir, very intelligent, resourceful, and brave.
We never would have come through it without her foresight. I hope
congratulations are in order.”

 

 

“They are indeed.”

 

 

Al said nothing, but stared at the wooden deck in embarrassment.

 

 

He saw her confused look, and lifted her chin to meet his ardent
gaze. “I was about to tell you how much love and adore you when you
threw me overboard, wench. But we’ll settle everything once we’re
alone.”

 

 

Perkins grinned and winked.

 

 

Jared had imagined many homecomings, but never one as sweet as this.
He had been haunted with all sorts of visions of the deck awash with
blood and Al and the crew murdered, their throats slit. To have
everything restored to him in one piece, and in fact even better
than before, was more than he could fathom.

 

 

“Welcome back, Captain,” everyone greeted him, with pats on the back
and hearty handshakes.

 

 

“I’m delighted to be back, men. Thank you all for helping to save
the ship. We’re going to set course back to Callao just to make sure
all is well there.

 

 

Once we fully re-fit and re-provision, we can decide where we want
to go next. If you say home, I will understand. Or we can beat
around the offshore grounds here, or head on to New Zealand, and
finish filling our hold.”

 

 

“Hip hip hurray!”

 

 

He inspected the ship from stem to stern just to satisfy himself
that all was well. Then he took Almira's hand and headed to the
galley.

 

 

He asked Cook to bring some hot water for his tub, and then led
Almira down to the cabin by the hand. Once there, he gave her a
torrid kiss, before he broke off with a shaky laugh.

 

 

“I’m sorry, love. I’m pretty filthy. Just wait a little while until
I get cleaned up. While I do that, I want you to tell me everything
that happened from the time you left me here. And I do mean
everything
!”

 

 

"“I don’t mind the dirt, believe me. I’m just so glad you're safe
and well, darling. Besides, I’ve seen you looking worse after trying
out oil.

 

 

""One thing is for sure, though, I'm never going to take the sight
of your handsome face for granted again. Or your other fascinating
attributes,” she added, with an appreciative grin as he stood under
the cold shower and began to scrub all over.

 

 

Cook tapped on the door with two buckets of hot water, put them
inside the portal and then retreated as quietly as he had come.

 

 

Almira locked the door, and picked up one bucket.

 

 

She waited until he had finished his preliminary scrub, then bent to
plug up the drain. He stepped out while she poured the first bucket
into the tub, keeping his hand on the rope of the sluice so that the
tub was soon half-filled. He tested it with his hand, and she
brought over the second bucket and added a bit more hot.

 

 

“Perfect, my love, like you.” He eased into the tub and heaved a
huge sigh of contentment. Once he was settled, he said, “All right,
tell me everything.”

 

 

So as he soaked, she told him how they had eventually managed to
outwit the pirates and get back not only their own ship, but to
commandeer the pirate vessel, and secure the
Dolphin
as well
from the authorities in Callao. She also told him the good news
about the treasure, and that it was being left up to him as senior
captain to decide on the disposition of it.

 

 

When Almira had finished her narrative, he sighed got out of the
tub, dried off, and held her close.

 

 

“I owe you all so much. But especially you. You kept the crew
together and alive despite everything. Look at your scars.” He
kissed her hands and her arm and shoulder.

 

 

“It is nothing. I would have done anything to save you, my love.”

 

 

“Love. It’s such a little word, and yet the whole time I was sitting
in that hut, the only thing I could think of was what a fool I had
been for not telling you how I really felt. I was rewarded with the
miracle of love, yet I nearly dropped you off at the next convenient
port, or let you go home on the
Peru
. I was so blind. And
terrified. I lost control every time you were near. It made me
panic. I also was afraid of getting you with child, I have to
admit.”

 

 

“That was noble of you, but-”

 

 

He shook his head. “Not noble, selfish. I wasn’t sure I was ready
for the responsibility of a wife and family. Then I realized I
couldn’t want anything else in my life more. You complete me, Almira
Hussey. You're truly my better half, and I don’t want to live
another day without you."

 

 

"Oh, Jared," she said tearfully, throwing her arms around his neck.

 

 

He stroked her back soothingly. "I'm not saying it will be easy. You
ought to know that, after all you’ve been through. But I promise
I’ll try to make you happy every day for the rest of your life if
you will consent to be my wife.”

 

 

“I will, Jared. I love you,” she said, holding him even closer.

 

 

“Then we will live each day as it comes, with courage and
determination, side by side. And I will never,
ever
,
consider leaving you behind.”

 

 

“You’d better not," she said with a bold glint in her eye. "I would
follow you to the ends of the earth, as you know.”

 

 

He placed her hand on his throbbing manhood. “For the moment, you
can take me wherever you like.”

 

 

“Heaven and back,” she whispered, getting fully into the bed now and
holding out one hand for him to join her.

 

 

“Always there. So long as you are with me all the way.”

 

 

“Always. I’ve never known such joy.”

 

 

She laid on her back in the bed, reclining on the pillows like an
odalisque, her breasts ripe and jutting invitingly, her abdomen
rounded, her skin aglow with longing. Jared had never seen her
looking so sensual.

 

 

“Don't by shy, darling. I really am fine. Come here, and touch me
anywhere you like.”

 

 

He didn’t need a second invitation. He stroked up her leg to her
breast, and began to suckle their soft fullness, while his hand slid
into her soft enveloping warmth.

 

 

“My, you certainly missed me.”

 

 

“You certainly seem to have missed me, Jared,” she purred as she
stroked and squeezed.

 

 

She teased the pulsing head gently, and moved her hand lower,
positioning him between her spread legs, stroking his most delicate
flesh below his erection until he surged into her with a hoarse cry,
their mutual release crashing through them in a rushing tide of raw
sensuality.

 

 

After several hours of enraptured reacquainting, he raised himself
on one elbow and placed his other hand on her abdomen.

 

 

“If anything, this is all even more wonderful than I remembered. But
I think there’s something different, something you need to tell me.”

 

 

She met his gaze without flinching, and nodded. “Yes. You’ve
guessed, I think. How did you know?”

 

 

“Because I couldn’t think of anything else that would make you more
beautiful than you already were.”

 

 

He kissed her and cradled her against him tenderly. “I love you so
much, I feel as though my heart is going to explode in my chest.”

 

 

“I feel the same, my darling. And once we find my father, our
happiness will be complete.”

 

 

He stroked her hair. “Dearest, I know what the pirates said, what
logs tell you, but anything could have happened to him once they
were taken. For one thing, there are islands dotted all over the
place. There are so many to search. The Pacific is enormous.

 

 

"And even if he made it to one, a big if since they cast the whole
crew adrift in only a couple of boats, he would have to try to make
sure it could support him and the crewmen who remained with him.
Otherwise, well, they would have all had to endure a slow, agonizing
death, or worse,” he added with a shiver, thinking of the tales of
murder and cannibalism he had heard ever since he had been at sea.

 

 

She shook her head. “I would know if he were dead, just like I would
have known if anything had happened to you while we were separated,”
she insisted.

 

 

“Or he could have been picked up by another ship he might have
managed to signal, or-”

 

 

“Are you saying that you don’t want to look for him?” she asked
coldly.

 

 

“Not exactly.”

 

 

She pulled away from him with evident anger such as he had never
seen before. He caught her arm before she flung herself out of the
bed.

 

 

“Almira, listen to me. I wouldn’t hurt you for the world. I didn’t
say I didn’t want to help you find him. You would never have got on
board this ship all those months ago if that had been true. I told
you I would help you find Jed, and find him we shall, one way or the
other.

 

 

“What I am saying is that I don’t think we should take the
Trident
with us. Everyone has been through a lot, and I would just as soon
get her safely into port and re-fit her, to get her back home. I
know we talked about getting to New Zealand, but now that I know
there is more cargo in port for us to get back safely, I think we
should go. We can get a crew and use the pirate brig to look for
him. It will be faster and more manoueverable, and it draws less. It
can get in places the
Trident
could
never really
reach safely.”

 

 

She sighed, and curled up into his arms again. “All right, Jared. If
you think that’s best. You’re the Captain, after all.”

 

 

“I do think it's the right way to go about it. We need food and
other stores, and I’m sure everyone is exhausted. You look so thin,
love.”

 

 

“Just from worry.”

 

 

“We’ll find him, I give you my word. But we need to be prepared for
a long search, and for the fact the he might already be back with
your sisters at home.”

 

 

“I hope so,” she said fervently. “But can you just humor me?”

 

 

“What do you mean?”

 

 

“We’re out here anyway. Can we just swing past the islands nearest
where he was set out in the whaleboat, and see if we can find
anyone?”

 

 

“Oh, Al-”

 

 

“Please? Just do it to humor a pregnant lady?”

 

 

He sighed. “You know I can deny you nothing.”

 

 

She kissed him hard. “Nothing?” Her hand moved lower, making her
second most earnest desire known.

 

 

“Especially not that, for I would only be denying myself if I did.”

 

 

She grinned. “In that case, why don’t you have a quick rinse in the
tub, and then we can see just how much I can pamper you.”

 

 

He stood up and did as she requested.

 

 

He returned to the bed a few minutes later, and she straddled him
and began to kiss down the thin trail of hair which dipped below his
waist and led to the object of her most ardent yearnings.

 

 

“Our favorite word, pampering,” he sighed, stroking her silky curls.
“It’s wonderful to be home.”

 

 

“Wonderful,” she agreed when her mouth was no longer full.

 

 

She slid down his hard length until she could go no further, and
began to move her hips and caress his thighs.

 

 

“There are no words to describe that,” he gasped.

 

 

“So use your mouth for something else.”

 

 

“Gladly.”

 

 

He kissed her hard, and swiveled his hips as he pushed down on her
back. They melted into one, and at last collapsed into each other’s
arms.