Chapter 26
With every step back to the ship, and despite Nate’s hovering presence, Devlin railed at her. “You deceitful little baggage! All the while you were berating me for my nefarious trade, you were deliberately concealing the fact that you are not so far removed from such dealings yourself. Why, I’ll wager your father’s business was built, at least in part, with funds from your grandfather’s coffers!”
“ ’Tis not exactly the sort of thing one shouts from the rooftops,” Eden declared in her own defense. “Nor does it make me a brigand by association or relation, so do not try to tar me with the same brush. From what little I remember of him, I adored my grandfather, and from the things she has told me of him, my mother loved him as well. That does not mean we approve of his methods, or that we follow in his shadow, imitating them.”
“Blood is said to be thicker than water, my sweet. And the apple does not often fall far from the tree.”
“My, you are simply running over with proverbs this morn, all nicely suited to your purposes, of course.”
“What I am is angry, Eden. Both you and your mother conspired to pull the wool over my eyes.”
“We did not lie to you, Devlin.”
“Nay, you merely neglected to tell the whole truth of the matter.”
“What difference could it possibly make, whether my ancestors be pirates or preachers? Would it make me any more or less than I am? The only thing my grandfather’s life has done is to teach me some very important lessons that I might not make the same mistakes he and my grandmother did.”
“Such as?” Devlin prompted.
“He taught me the price one pays for greed. While my grandfather was about his pirating, my grandmother nearly worried herself into an early grave. He, too, almost met an untimely end, more times than any of us can count. He came very close to being hung for his crimes, only a corrupt official and a hefty bribe saving his neck, even as the gallows’ rope was being fitted around it. Fortunately, he decided not to tempt fate further after that harrowing experience. However, ’twas too late to save my grandmother. Her poor heart gave out soon after.
“So you see, Devlin, I have learned how devastating this lawless life can be to all concerned. It robbed Grandmother of her youth and her health, Grandfather of his beloved wife, and Mother and me of their loving presence. I scarcely got to know either of them, except through the stories my mother related to me, that their memory should live on.”
This explained much to Devlin, now that he considered it. Why Eden had been so worried about him, why she’d done everything in her power to convince him to cease pirating—even to the point of sacrificing her virtue and offering herself as his mistress. All to the cause of saving him from the same grief Black Jack Blake had met.
Only partially mollified, Devlin turned a scowl on his quartermaster. “Did you know of all this, Nate?”
“Aye,” his friend admitted readily. “Janie told me when I asked for her hand. O’ course, she swore me to silence, and I thought if she wanted ye to know, she’d tell ye herself. Or leave it to Eden.”
“See there, Eden? Your mother told Nate. You might have been just as honest with me.”
“There is a difference, Devlin. Mother and Nate are to be married.”
“So should we,” he answered gruffly.
Eden stopped and stared at him. “I beg your pardon?”
“You heard me well enough. I think we should marry.”
“Why?”
“Why not?” he countered. “Damnation, woman! If I’m good enough to be your lover, then I’m good enough to be your husband.”
Nate bit back a chuckle. “Ye two certainly are a pair! Usually, ’tis the woman wailing such nonsense, and here Devlin is, miffed to his ears, his male pride takin’ a whipping, while Eden drags her heels in a grand show o’ reluctance.”
“You’re only suggesting such folly because you know I’ll refuse,” Eden stated obstinately. “Should I agree, you’d most likely run for your life.”
“Agree then, and find out if you’re right,” Devlin challenged.
She was tempted. Ever so tempted. But her better sense won out. “I still say the primary reason you want me is that I’m the only female available to you in your lamentable state. What if I should consent? Suppose we married, and in a few months you regained your body? What would you do then, Devlin? Regret your choice? Sail off one day and never return? Bemoan your hasty action and take solace in the arms of other women? When I wed, I want a faithful husband, one who loves and desires only me, always and forever.”
His eyes were as soft as black velvet, his voice gruff with emotion as he bared his soul to her. “I do, Eden. I fear I’m well and truly beguiled by you. Never has any woman touched my heart as you have done. I want no other for wife—or lover. I never shall. Laughing, loving, or spitting mad, you are the most bewitching wench I’ve ever known, and my world would be empty without you to brighten it for me.”
Eden gazed up at him, tears swimming in her eyes. “Oh, Devlin! You cannot know how long I’ve yearned to hear those words from your lips. But there are so many problems in our path. Though my heart tells me yes, my head warns against it.”
“Listen to your heart, my darling,” he implored her. “Together we can face the difficulties and overcome them.”
Eden still wasn’t sure. “How would we manage it?” she asked hesitantly. Glancing about at the throng of pirates crowding the streets, she added, “I doubt there’s a minister to be found within leagues, or any duly sworn captain, for that matter.”
“There is Rogers,” Devlin reminded her. “Not only is he a legitimate captain, but governor as well. He has the authority.”
“Aye, but he’s so busy with the pardons. Would he have the time, or even be inclined toward the idea?”
“I’ve no doubt he’d find it vastly amusing,” Devlin assured her. “The man has a twisted sense of humor. Believe me, he’ll make the time, if only to have a part in seeing me relinquish my freedom.”
“I always thought, if I were to be wed, that ’twould be in church, with my mother and my friends to share my joy,” Eden said wistfully.
Then she looked up into Devlin’s face and saw the hope and adoration shining there, the promise in his eyes. On a sigh, she shoved her regrets aside, and her worries with it. Devlin was right. They were meant for each other, and there wasn’t anything they couldn’t brave together. Somehow, some way, they would endure, and with enough faith and prayer, perhaps someday Devlin would regain his visibility. But to wait until then to marry him could cost her the one true love of her life.
“I yield, most gladly,” she told him softly, her heart overflowing.
No sooner were the words free of her lips than Devlin grabbed her into his arms and whirled her around until both were dizzy with delight. Nate went into a jig, cheering with glee. All about them people stopped to stare. When at last Devlin set Eden on her feet again, it was only to grab her hand and rush off with her to gain another appointment with Rogers before his bride-to-be could revive all her previous objections.
Rogers’s wide grin threatened to split his face. “I vow, Kane, you and your lady are providing me with more entertainment than I’d hoped to find on this assignment. I get to lend a hand in ushering you not only into a lawful life, but also into holy wedlock.”
“When you are finished crowing and patting yourself on the back, mayhap we could get on with it,” Devlin suggested impatiently.
Rogers gave a final chuckle and began shifting through the papers on his desk. Finally he found the book he sought. “Ah, here ’tis,” he said, turning to a marked page. Glancing up, he told them, “You must forgive me, but yours is the first marriage ceremony I have had the privilege to perform under my new title as governor, and I would hate to omit anything important through my lack of practice. After all, we do want it completely correct and legal.”
“What of the banns?” Eden asked, frowning as she suddenly recalled that point.
“Fortunately, not only do I have the power to marry the two of you, I have also been granted the right to waive the banns, should I see fit,” Rogers stated importantly.
He turned to his clerk, who was standing nearby. “Do we have all the proper papers and witnesses?”
The man nodded.
“Well then, let us begin. Miss Winters, Devlin, please stand before me and join hands.”
Although he had to read the ritual verbatim, Rogers’s resonant voice added just the right touch of solemn dignity and sincerity. As she listened to the words that would bind her to Devlin for a lifetime, and recited her vows, Eden’s last-minute nervousness deserted her. There was a sense of rightness, of completion, about pledging herself to the handsome man at her side, as if two halves of a whole were finally being united.
Her gaze met Devlin’s, searching for any doubts she might find lingering there—and found only love and adoration lighting his warm dark eyes. That, and a twinkling of amusement as she promised to honor and obey him, for richer or poorer, for better or worse.
Aside from his brief touch of humor, Devlin was as proud as he’d ever been as he took this wondrous woman for his wife. Indeed, for all the rush, she looked particularly beautiful this day. Her hair was a tumble of curls, artfully arranged in a shining cascade of fire-kissed waves and topped with a coronet of delicate blossoms. In her slender hands she carried the bouquet he’d given her just this morn, a glorious array of vivid tropical flowers he’d picked for her himself. But the glow on her face outshone the brilliant petals, bespeaking her happiness more eloquently than any words she might offer. She was a vision, the embodiment of all his hopes and dreams. .
At the end of the rite, Devlin accepted a plain gold band from Nate and slipped it upon Eden’s finger. It had the look of having been worn, the feel of having been prized by another woman before her. Even as she was wondering where he had gotten it, he said earnestly, “Jane entrusted this to Nate, with the wish ’twould soon be put to its proper use, almost as if she knew what was to come. Thus, ’tis with the very ring which your father bestowed upon your mother’s hand, that I now wed my own lovely bride.”
Tears welled in Eden’s eyes as she accepted this shining symbol of her mother’s blessing and Devlin’s pledge. “I shall cherish it dearly, but not half as much your love, which I shall treasure endlessly and with all my heart.”
After such a hurry-up, few-frills wedding, Eden was delightfully surprised when Devlin arranged for a short honeymoon. Prior to meeting Devlin, if Eden had been asked where she dreamed of going on her wedding trip, she might have said England, or Rome, or even Boston, simply for a change of scene from Charles Town. Never had she expected to spend her first night as a married woman in a tropical paradise, with an entire island all to herself and her new husband.
Almost before the ink was dry on their marriage document, Devlin whisked Eden back to the Mirage. With a minimal crew to man the ship, Devlin directed them through a maze of islands. By mid-afternoon, the newlywed couple had been willingly marooned on a tiny, remote isle.
“Return for us in three days, and not a minute sooner,” Devlin instructed Nate, as he handed Eden and their supplies into the jolly boat. “Unless the entire world is at peril, do not dare to show your face until then, old friend.”
At her first step upon the beach, Eden was enchanted. “Devlin, look!” she exclaimed in awe. “The sand! ’Tis pink!” Quickly, as if to explain this strange phenomenon, she glanced about, sure that the sun must be about to set and was painting the beach with its rosy hue. The sun, however, was still riding high in the sky, blazing its white heat earthward. “How can this be?” Devlin laughed. “I ordered it so,” he teased her. “Just for you.”
For an instant, before she caught the twinkle in his eyes, she nearly believed him. Which made him laugh all the more. “Actually, duchess, while ’tis not a common occurrence, neither is it truly rare. I believe ’tis a result of the waves hitting the reefs and shore in a specific manner, differently from the way it does in other places. When it does so, it first deposits numerous shells, and then proceeds to crush them into sand; but under these special conditions, with these particular types of shells, the result is colored sand.”
His explanation made sense, at least as much of it as she understood, but she was almost sorry she’d asked. No matter how it had happened, the effect was spectacular. As was the tiny isle itself. Palm trees swayed gently in the breeze. Flowers blossomed in profusion. Gaily colored birds dotted the trees, lending their voices to the soft, salty air.
“ ’Tis paradise,” she breathed, twirling slowly around, trying to take in everything at once, letting the essence of the place surround and swamp her senses. “A marvelous, hidden haven.”
Sweeping her into his arms, Devlin grinned down into her rapt face. “A veritable Garden of Eden,” he agreed with droll humor. He wagged his brows at her in his best imitation of a villain about to pounce upon a sweet young innocent. “The perfect place in which to sin, don’t you think?”
She giggled joyously. “Silly man. We’re married. If ’twas sinning you wanted, you should not have wed me, but kept me as your mistress.”
He shook his head, serious now. “Nay, Eden, my love. Though you may have been a delightful mistress, ’tis not the role for you. You were made to be a wife—my wife.”
“I’m glad, Devlin.” She sighed. “Ever so glad.”
“So am I.” Then his previous mischievous mood returned. “However, marriage does not preclude sinning. Does the church not list lust as a sin? And greed? And gluttony? Madam Kane, before our time here is o’er, I intend to satisfy my immense hunger for you, to avail myself of your charms until I am too weak to stand, and to ravish you as no man ever has before or ever shall after. And you, my sweet, wanton bride, are going to love every moment of it. This I swear to you.”
In the hours that followed, he made good his promise. He made love to her in ways Eden had never imagined possible. When they both lay limp, weary, and replete, they slept entwined in one another’s arms.
Several hours later, Eden roused to find the sun low on the horizon, setting over the sea in a blaze of color. “Come,” Devlin told her, pulling her onto wobbly legs. “While you have been napping, I have been seeing to our housing.”
Eden gave him a look which clearly said he’d had too much sun atop his golden head. “What housing?” she asked, looking about the beach with a confused frown. “I see naught but trees and bushes and sand. Did you build a cottage of sand somewhere?”
“Nay, wench. If you will but follow me, I shall show you a much better cottage than one built of sand. ’Twill make a castle dim in comparison.”
He led her away from the beach, forging a trail through the brush. At length, they came upon a little glade in the midst of which lay a tiny pond of fresh water. On the far side of the clearing, a pile of earth and rocks had formed a small grotto, and it was there that Devlin had set up their supplies and started a fire. Several rugs and pillows cushioned the dirt floor of the minuscule cave. Into the cracks of the stony walls he had wedged hooks, and from these hooks now hung a single hammock.
This last, Eden eyed askance. “Devlin, there is but one hammock,” she said, wondering if he was already tiring of her now that his lust had been blunted.
“Aye.” He nodded. “Why would we have need of two when we’ll be using only the one?”
Eden caught at the word “we,” her pulse racing away with itself. Still, she could not believe the two of them could sleep in that contraption, large as it was, without one of them tumbling out of it. “Devlin, ’tis not possible for both of us to sleep there, is it?”
He sent her a rakish wink. “’Tis possible to do much more than sleep in it, Eden. After we’ve eaten, ’twill be my pleasure to enlighten you.”
Despite all they had shared mere hours before, Eden still felt her cheeks heat up at the look he gave her, the devilish glow in those black eyes which locked her gaze to his. Release came only when her stomach gave a loud growl, startling them both.
“Come, wench, feed me,” he ordered playfully, leading her toward the fire and their small cache of foodstuffs. “Let us see if my new wife knows her way about the kitchen.”
“Kitchen?” Eden chortled. “For a caveman and his woman, mayhap.”
He waved a hand about them. “Behold, madam. Your cave. Your fire. Your hungry mate.”
They dined on fish Devlin had purchased fresh from the market just prior to sailing, and on rice Eden found among their stores. They quenched their thirst on coconut milk. Then Devlin poured a dram of rum into the half shells, and they savored the liquor-flavored meat of the fruit one heady bite at a time.
Between sips and sweet kisses, Devlin admitted he had not chosen this island by chance. He and his crew had been here before. “Which is how I knew ’twas not inhabited, and of the existence of this hidden glade, and the supply of fresh water. Without it, this paradise would be little more than a pile of sand. Certainly no place to be stranded, even with a beautiful lady for company.”
His fingers brushed her cheek and clung to her skin—not through any lingering effort on his behalf, but because they were sticky with rum and coconut. He stared in amusement. “Wife, we are in sad need of washing, lest we find ourselves permanently stuck to one another.” He rose, helping her up after him. “Come, milady. Your private bath awaits.”
He pulled her toward the pond, its calm surface illuminated by the flickering flames of their fire and the full moon now rising overhead. Stars winked in the velvet-black sky. Even in darkness, the night was beautiful, ripe with the intoxicating perfume of tropical flowers.
While Devlin divested himself of his breeches, the only clothing he’d seen fit to don since their lovemaking on the beach, Eden hesitated. She eyed the pool with trepidation. When Devlin turned to find her still wearing her dress over her otherwise nude body, he held out a hand to her. “What is wrong, love? Having trouble with your hooks? I’ll be more than willing to help you with them.”
She stood staring at the pond, as if she expected a monster to arise from its depths. “Devlin, what sort of creatures lurk in there?” she asked in a small voice. “It could be most unwise to disturb them.”
“There are but a few harmless fish, Eden. Nothing dreadful, I assure you. This pool is fed by a spring and does not connect with the sea.”
“Surely there are snakes and such,” she persisted. “Snakes in paradise?” he scoffed. “Not possible.” “There was a snake even in Eden.”
“Nay. That was Satan in disguise. The only devil here is the one before you, and you have him well tamed.”
She grinned. “Do I? I think not. I rather hope not, for I find him extraordinarily appealing when he’s being wicked.”
“Then wicked I shall remain, simply to please you. Come now, Eden. Shed the dress and I’ll teach you how to play mermaid and sea dragon.” His lascivious look was exaggerated in the extreme.
Though she laughed, she shook her head. “You forget, Devlin. I cannot swim.”
“Is that your worry? Fair maiden, I would never allow you to drown. Moreover, the pool is very shallow, little more than waist-deep.”
Further assurances were necessary, as Devlin eased the dress from her and urged her gently into the water with him. Her trembling fingers gripped his like tentacles, her eyes huge with uncertainty, her teeth clamped over her lower lip as she inched cautiously into the water. Only her trust in him kept her moving, until both of them stood in the center of the pond, the water lapping just beneath Eden’s breasts.
Once she realized that her feet were planted firmly on the sandy bottom, and the water nowhere near covered her head, Eden’s tension began to ease. The water was soothing, the temperature sun-warmed to nearly that of a tepid bath. With Devlin’s arms still securely about her, she relaxed into him, her bare flesh sliding sinuously against his.
She released a pent-up sigh. “This feels heavenly. Just don’t let loose of me.”
“Never,” he promised, his breath tickling her ear. If anything, his hold tightened, only to loosen slightly as he began to stroke her silken curves, his touch smooth and sensual as he bathed her breasts and belly with warm, wet hands. In the cool night air, her dampened nipples dimpled instantly, calling up an echoing response deep within her belly. His hands wandered lower, beneath the dark surface of the pool, gliding over her hips and buttocks, slipping between her thighs to a place even warmer and wetter than the water surrounding them. Eden moaned, and tried to turn more fully into his arms.
“Not yet,” he murmured. “We’ve all the time in the world. Enjoy the feel of the water caressing your body. Flow with it. Become one with it.”
Eden would rather have become one with Devlin at that juncture, for his hands were performing marvelous magic upon her slick skin. Stroking. Arousing. In counterpoint to the soothing lap of the water. His sharp white teeth nipped playfully along her flesh, creating gooseflesh in their wake. His lips praised her with a thousand kisses. Slowly, surely, he built her passions to the very edge of desire as she quivered in his embrace.
Just as her emotions threatened to boil over, he lifted her, wound her silken legs about his waist, and swiftly impaled her on his swollen staff. Rapture burst upon them, within them, like a white-hot comet streaking through their trembling souls to meld them evermore.
Eden lay limp in his arms, her legs now dangling in the water, her eyelids drooping with slaked passion. To save her life, she could not call up an ounce of energy.
Or so she thought.
Just then, something brushed against her calf. Her eyes popped wide. “Devlin?” she whispered anxiously. “Did you just graze your leg against mine?” She hadn’t thought he’d budged.
“Sweetling, I’m much too sated to move a muscle at this moment”
Again, something swept swiftly past her ankle. With a shriek of alarm that brought several birds flying from their roosts, Eden clamped her arms about Devlin’s neck, dug her toes into his thighs, and began climbing up his long, wet frame. Before Devlin knew what hit him, his wife had scrambled up his chest and draped herself around his shoulders, her bare bottom poking skyward. Her fingers scraped his scalp, threatening to yank him bald, and her arms were wound about his face. She was shaking violently and whimpering like a child.”
“It touched me! It tried to bite me!”
“It was probably no more than a tiny fish, which you most likely frightened into an early death with your screaming,” he told her calmly, trying to pry her arms from his eyes and nose. “Climb down from there.”
“No! It will eat me! Get me out of here!”
“I would if I could see where I was stepping,” he said with a long-suffering sigh. As one of her clawing fingers poked into his eye, he yowled. “Ouch! Damn, woman! Don’t blind me altogether!”
He lurched toward the shore and somehow managed to reach it without tumbling both of them beneath the water. Once there, he had to peel Eden from her perch atop his shoulders. Gently, he cradled her in his arms, torn between laughter, pity, and annoyance as he carried her toward the grotto. “In the morning, when you can see for yourself how small and innocent those fish are, you’re going to feel like a silly twit.”
In an effort to calm her, Devlin snuggled the two of them into the molding confines of the hammock. There, he held her and crooned to her in the gently swinging bed. By the time he’d deftly demonstrated that coupling could be achieved while swaddled in its net folds—and with exceptional results and remarkable maneuverability—Eden had long since forgotten her fright.