It was only a matter of days before a storm was brewing again. Julianne could feel it. Maybe she was getting her sea legs or maybe she was just learning to pay more attention to the skies. She wasn't sure. She just knew that something was coming and she hoped they would make it through before the worst came.
She wandered aimlessly around the ship, watching the seamen scurry around like rats, preparing the ship for the unsavory weather. She worried that she should do more to assist them, so she went to the kitchen and helped Buck prepare meals for the day. She wasn't very strong, but she could cut and boil and serve, so that's what she did.
When Wade came to find her, she and Buck were almost completely done cooking.
"I need to speak with you," he told her. She laid down her knife and followed him to his cabin. Wade closed the door, then walked up to her. She didn't move as he gripped her face with both hands and kissed her. She was used to his kissing by now: used to it and loved it. Although they had been sleeping together for weeks, every kiss still made her melt beneath his mouth.
Every touch made her shiver with excitement.
But before she could get too excited, Wade stopped and pulled away. He took her hand and led her to the bed so she could sit. Julianne did, and Wade sat beside her. She leaned her head on his shoulder and he wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight.
She wasn't sure what he was going to say, but she wasn't scared.
Wade always looked after her.
It was strange, when Julianne thought about it, how comfortable she really was with Wade. She had adapted quite easily to living with him in his room, fucking him and kissing him, talking with him into the late hours of the night. She had gotten used to being around him, to having him.
She looked forward to him.
She craved him.
"We're only a few days from the Isle of Changers," Wade said. His voice was solemn. He sounded worried. Julianne closed her eyes, focusing on his words, trying to stay calm.
Wade sounded afraid.
"It'll be okay," Julianne told him. She wasn't sure if it was the truth or not.
"Listen," Wade hesitated. "There's a risk, Julianne. If you want to stay behind, we can stop at Ell. We can stop and leave you there until our return."
Julianne cocked an eyebrow.
Was he serious?
"You want me to stay behind while you go search for treasure?" She asked him.
Wade nodded.
"Are you out of your mind?" She asked, standing up. Julianne frowned and put her hands on her hips. Wade thought he was going to leave her behind? For her own safety? "I don't want to be left behind."
"I know," Wade nodded. He still looked tense. "I know you don't, but things are a lot more dangerous than you understand."
"It's not that bad," Julianne waved him off, pacing. "There are plenty of dangerous things in the world, Docherty. Plenty."
"Not like this."
"Oh, poppycock."
Now it was Wade's turn to raise an eyebrow.
“Poppycock?”
She just glared at him.
**
"Julianne," he stood and went to her. Julianne turned toward him and Wade kissed her before she could open her mouth to keep complaining. He didn't stop until he knew she would be out of breath and that he could speak first, but by the time he stopped kissing her, his cock was hard and ready. Every bit of him ached to fuck her. Every bit of him ached to taste her. "Come here," he murmured, and kissed her some more.
Wade didn't stop kissing Julianne until he had fucked her hard and long bent over his desk. He fucked her until she came, then he came, then he made her come one more time.
She collapsed on the bed, half-dressed and spent, and he went to her once more.
"Julianne," he began again. This time she listened.
"I need you to be safe. I'm worried, love." He stroked her cheek tenderly, reminding her that he really did care about her safety and well being. He really did care about what happened to her.
Was there ever any doubt in her mind that he cared for her? He should ask her, but he wasn’t the type for romance. He was a pirate: not a lover. He could bed women with the rest of them, but his heart had died years ago.
Madeleine had been his joy, his love. He had promised to love her ‘til the end of his days, and he meant to keep that promise. Until recently, he’d known that loving Madeleine meant he’d never love anyone else. His heart had felt so full with her. They’d grown up together, they’d fallen in love together, they’d had children together.
They’d loved one another so deeply that he had never felt the need to find anyone else to love him.
Until now.
Now, Julianne filled his thoughts. His days were spent thinking more of her than the sea, more of her than his long-lost love, and that was a strange feeling for a pirate.
The thought of losing Julianne was one Wade didn’t want to entertain. He couldn’t bear the thought of anything happening to her, of her becoming trapped or lost or stuck somewhere. He didn’t know what he would do if she succumbed to the Isle of Changers.
He didn’t know that she’d be safer in Eli.
Eli wasn’t known for entertaining characters with good reputations.
Eli wasn’t a place for honorable men.
But the Isle of Changers could take her from him forever.
“If you come, you have to stay in the cabin,” he said. “I’ll tie you to the bed if I have to. I mean that. You cannot be on deck when we pass the island. It’s just not safe.”
**
She shook her head.
"I've survived worse. Besides, I'm not scared of ghosts."
She would follow Wade to the ends of the earth.
And then she would follow him some more.
Julianne wasn't scared of the stories, of the threats surrounding the Isle of Changers. She wasn't scared of ghosts or ghouls. She wasn't scared of things that might be lurking in the shadows or hiding.
She wasn't scared because she had Wade.
She wasn't scared because he was there.
She wasn't scared because her pirate would do anything for her.
Her pirate was the bravest man she'd ever known.
Hers.