Chapter 27

They spent part of the next day, and the two that followed, exploring the tiny, sun-kissed island. They strolled the beach, collecting shells and scampering about in the surf. They lunched on bananas and coconuts. They reveled in the beauty surrounding them, treasuring this precious time alone, and each other.

Upon returning to their secluded glade that first morning, they found a flock of flamingos feeding in the pond. Still determined to catch one, no longer intimidated by the pool’s depth or its finned inhabitants, Eden crept slowly into the water. When she turned back to locate Devlin, she found him lounging on the bank, a blade of grass stuck between his teeth, watching her in amusement.

“Come help me,” she hissed, gesturing at him to join her.

He shook his head in mute refusal and waved her on, a wide grin splitting his face.

Muttering silently to herself about lazy husbands, Eden inched along, trying not to disturb the water with her furtive movements. All in all, she did better than Devlin expected, coming to within a body’s length of the skittish birds before they became alarmed and took flight. Eden sprang after the nearest one. Her fingers grazed its bright plumage, plucking a single bright feather from its wing before the flamingo made good its escape.

Eden’s leap landed her off-balance. Suddenly her feet slipped out from beneath her, and she fell with an awkward plop. Her posterior smacked the sandy bottom of the pond, bouncing her sideways. Thrashing about, she came up on her hands and knees, her head still under water. She opened her eyes, frantic to find the surface—and came face-to-face with Devlin.

In that instant, with his cheeks puffed with air, his hair floating about his head in a golden nimbus, and the added distortion of the water making his eyes seem to bulge, he looked like some strange sea bass. Eden burst out laughing. Devlin did likewise. They rose from the water in a foam of bubbles, both of them sputtering and cackling and clinging to one another.

When they’d at last gained some control again, Eden waved the dripping feather before Devlin’s nose. “See?” she exclaimed triumphantly. “I almost caught him.”

“That you did,” he agreed on a chuckle, giving her a great hug. “Too bad you didn’t have some salt to sprinkle upon his tail.”

She smiled. “There is always tomorrow to try again. If not, I still have my feather as a memento.”

The flamingos did not return the following day. Eden and Devlin had the pool to themselves. Between sensual bouts of passion, he taught her to float on her back, and even to take a few strokes. It was a start at least, and if they hadn’t kept reverting to more amorous pursuits, she might have learned more. Eden was well satisfied with what she did learn, however—particularly those lessons conducted in Devlin’s arms, with his body locked to hers and ecstasy a few short moments away.

On their final morning, they awoke to bright sunlight and a peculiar sense that they were no longer alone on the island. It was more an odd intuition than anything truly tangible, at least at the start. Then, above the slight rustling of palm leaves, they heard voices, carried to them on the ocean breeze. Another fact immediately came clear. All the chattering birds were now silent, further announcing invasion of their remote domain.

Eden turned wide eyes toward Devlin. “Nate?” she whispered doubtfully.

“I don’t know, but I don’t think so.” Devlin slid from the hammock, lifting her free of it after him. “Get dressed. Quickly,” he murmured into her ear. “And be very quiet about it.”

“What about you?” she asked softly. For this short, private trip Devlin had not brought his invisible clothing along. At this moment, it was freshly laundered and hanging on a drying line in his cabin aboard the Mirage. The only undetectable items he’d kept with him were his sword and longknife.

“I’m at a better advantage as I am,” he replied, glancing down at his nude body. “’Tis you they’ll see, if they spot either of us. I think it wiser if you hide with our goods while I go investigate.”

Hurriedly, he helped her gather their meager furnishings and their sacks of supplies and stash them in the bushes. He stationed her behind a big palm tree several paces from the path. “Don’t make a sound, no matter what you hear or see. Stay out of sight and wait for me.” He planted a swift kiss on her soft, trembling mouth, and hastened away as silently as the specter he half-seemed to be.

The voices were coming from the beach, near the spot where Devlin had pulled the longboat ashore and concealed it beneath a stand of palms. As he drew closer, he was relieved to note that his and Eden’s footprints from the previous days’ excursions had been wiped clean by the wind and tide. He hoped their unexpected intruders would never realize the island was already occupied.

Just beyond the edge of the trees, where the beach began, Devlin spied two men. No ordinary men these, but pirates. And not just any cutthroats. To his astonishment, there stood none other than Blackbeard himself, and one of his crew. At their feet was a huge sea chest, the weight of it making a sizable indentation in the sand.

So, Devlin thought to himself with a grin. The sly fox is about to bury some of his famed treasure, right here before my very eyes! What a stroke of fortune!

That thought was still forming in his mind when Blackbeard and his mate hefted the chest between them and lugged it to the base of a large palm tree. While Blackbeard and Devlin watched, the other fellow began to dig. A short time later, Blackbeard deemed the hole deep enough, and together they lifted the chest into it.

The second man then proceeded to shovel the sand back into place. He was bent forward to the task when Blackbeard raised his sword and speared him through the back. Without a sound, the crewman fell into the hole which was to become his grave as well as the hiding spot for Blackbeard’s treasure.

Devlin winced. It went against his principles to kill a man when his back was turned. Even the worst scoundrel deserved a fighting chance to defend himself. Of course, not all pirates adhered to that rule. A dead man told no tales.

Blackbeard was known for jealously guarding his secret caches of stolen wealth. It was said not even his wife knew their whereabouts. That being so, Devlin could not understand why the crewman had foolishly accompanied Blackbeard to this island. Surely he’d suspected something of this sort would happen. The only answer was that greed had blinded the poor looby, hastening his own demise.

Blackbeard had now finished smoothing the shovel over the sand to remove any evidence that it had been disturbed. Within the hour, the sea breeze would complete the job. This spot on the beach would soon look no different from any other.

With his hands on his hips, Blackbeard threw back his head and let loose a chilling roar of laughter. “Rest in peace, Stimmons,” he said, snickering nastily. “Guard my prize well, you stupid sea dog.”

With a final glance around to be certain there was no one lurking about, Blackbeard strode back to the waiting dinghy and rowed off. It was Devlin’s guess that the brigand had ventured at least three islands away from the area in which his ship lay anchored. In this maze of isles and cays, even the crewmen awaiting him there would never be able to guess where their murderous captain had stashed his treasure.

Only Blackbeard knew for certain. And Devlin.

A chuckle rose in Devlin’s throat as he imagined Blackbeard’s surprise when next he came to this island to retrieve his pilfered booty—and found only Stimmons’s bleached bones. And perhaps a note of thanks from his relentless ghost-devil.

Devlin was very secretive when he returned to inform Eden that the men they’d heard talking had gone, and that it was safe for her to come out of hiding now. From the gleam in his eye, she knew he was excited about whatever he’d seen or heard, but as much as she wheedled, she could not get him to tell her about it. “Wait and see,” he said.

Though their unexpected visitors were no longer a threat, Devlin thought it wise to remain in their bower until the Mirage returned for them, lest they chance upon more unwanted intruders. He admonished her to stay behind when he gathered their belongings and took them to the longboat.

Reluctant to leave their tropical hideaway now that their time here was nearly over, Eden willingly complied, spending the last few hours of her honeymoon savoring this special place which would linger in her mind and heart forever. When at last Devlin rowed them out to the ship, tears shimmered in her eyes as she bade a final farewell to their island paradise. She hardly noticed that their longboat seemed more encumbered than it had been on their arrival, their rugs and bags heaped high in the center of the small craft. Nor did it strike her odd when Devlin unloaded most of their cargo himself, carrying it straight to their cabin.

A short while later, he led her into their quarters and locked the door behind them. With a sweep of his hand, he gestured toward a large chest which stood in the center of the room, taking up a good deal of the floor space. “Prepare yourself, sweetling,” he warned her cheerfully. “You are about to receive a wedding gift a queen would envy.”

The lock had already been broken, and Devlin quickly flipped the lid open, watching Eden with gleeful expectation. She gazed in dumbfounded astonishment, her eyes huge and her jaw slack. She could not believe her eyes. Surely, at any moment she would awaken to find this was all a glorious dream. It couldn’t be truly happening. This chest overflowing with gleaming coins and jewels simply could not be real!

“Oh, my!” she exclaimed breathlessly, her hands clasped to her chest “Devlin, I’ve never seen such a sight in my life! Are those actual gems? Is all that gold and silver genuine?”

“Aye. Eden, my love, you are looking at a good portion of Blackbeard's secret cache. ’Twas he who came to the island this morn to bury it. And now ’tis yours.”

Eden sank to her knees before the open coffer. “I can’t believe it,” she murmured, thrusting her hands into the tangle of treasure. When she raised her cupped palms, they were dripping with strands of pearls, loose jewels, rings, and coins. Every gem she’d ever heard of, and some she did not recognize, sparkled and winked back at her in a dazzling display.

For the first time, she could understand what made men risk their lives in pursuit of such fabulous treasure. How good, decent men could be lured into becoming highwaymen and pirates. Why men would scale mountains, trek through steaming jungles, and burrow far beneath the earth’s surface for such wealth.

It wasn’t merely the adventure, or the challenge, or the danger. It was this—the dream of someday holding this much wealth in the palm of one’s hands. Of jewel-imbedded chalices, of piles of gold, of priceless gems the size of hen’s eggs. The search for elusive grandeur, evolving from simple greed into something much stronger—more of a quest, a relentless fever, that only a prize of this magnitude could hope to cure.

“Devlin, is this really ours?” she asked softly, shock still strong upon her. “God’s teeth! There must be more wealth here than in all of England.”

“I doubt that, though it is impressive, isn’t it? I’d love to be there when Teach discovers it’s missing. He’ll be fit to be tied.”

“What shall we do with it all?” she said wonderingly.

“Whatever we please, my sweet We could build a grand house anywhere you want—or two or three if you desire. We could start a business of our own, perhaps in shipping. That would please Rogers no end, I imagine. You and I could travel wherever we wish, and you could see the world as you’ve always longed to do. The possibilities are limitless.”

“Oh, Devlin! That would be wonderful! But we must keep some back and invest it for the future. And I do hope you won’t mind sharing a bit of it with those of your crew who applied for amnesty, for they will need some means of beginning anew, now that they’ll no longer be pirating for a livelihood.”

He nodded. “I intend to see that they have a decent start on their new lives, whether they choose to remain in my employ or not. We’ve been through many a good and bad time together, and I would not see them turned out with naught in their pockets.”

Digging into the mound of treasure, Devlin extracted a diamond tiara, which he promptly placed upon Eden’s head. “I’ve called you duchess, and now you truly look like one,” he proclaimed. His admiring smile turned teasing as he held out his hand to assist her from her knees into his arms. “You know, I’ve always wondered what it would be like to make love with a royal wench.” “My blood is not blue,’ she reminded him, shivering delightedly as his fingers deftly released the fastenings along the back of her dress.

“For that I am profoundly grateful,” he assured her, his lips nibbling along the curve of her slender neck. “Methinks I would much rather bed my own hot-blooded pretender than a real duchess anyway. But do indulge my secret fantasy a bit, won’t you, sweetling?” She played her part to perfection. She remained perfectly still as he bound her nude body to the bed with cool ropes of silver and bejeweled chains of gold. “Am I to be your prisoner, as well as your imagined duchess?” she asked, breathlessly excited by this new game.

He cocked a taunting brow at her. “Why not? I was yours, and turnabout is fair play. Now you shall see what torment you put me through, for I intend to apply the same measures to you.”

He proceeded to drench her flushed skin with necklaces and bracelets of glittering gems—sapphires, emeralds, rubies, and diamonds. Eden gave a small shriek as he plopped one dazzling topaz, not yet mounted in a proper setting, into her navel.

He stood back to admire his work, nodding his approval as he divested himself of his own clothes. “You look like a sultan’s favorite dancing girl,” he told her, his voice rough with desire. “A pasha’s love slave.” 

“Nay,” she denied, her eyes outshining the jewels. “Not a pasha’s, but a pirate’s.”

His smile was particularly wicked as he reached once more into the treasure chest and pulled forth a long strand of pearls. “’Tis said that pearls acquire an added sheen when warmed by a woman’s flesh. Shall we test that theory now, my sweet?”

With tantalizing slowness, he drew the smooth gems over her lips, her throat, then wove them around her aching breasts and across her crested nipples. She sucked in a sharp breath as he trailed them lightly over her quivering stomach, snaked a path down her trembling thighs, and slowly up again. His long fingers caught the beads into a shorter length, holding them taut on their string as he delved between the hot folds of feminine flesh so sweetly bared by her outspread legs. The pearls, now so silken and round and warm, stroked her intimately. One following the other, adroitly applied by Devlin’s hand, they kneaded smoothly, repeatedly, at that tiny, throbbing nubbin of desire, until Eden was arching helplessly beneath their sensual caress.

“Please,” she begged, her voice quaking on the brink of splendor. “Devlin, please!”

With a low laugh that rang with pure male satisfaction, he brought her to her peak. While she was yet in the throes of ecstasy he came swiftly over her, fusing his body to hers, thrusting her immediately into another wondrous spasm. Her moist depths sucked hungrily at him, like a pulsating satin glove; squeezing, pulling, greedily milking his seed from him as he blissfully accompanied her on a mad journey to rapture’s realms.

“What a passionate princess you are, my love,” he avowed softly, his damp brow resting in the delicate curve of her shoulder. His lips kissed her there, tasting the dew of her spent ardor.

She answered with a low laugh. “First a duchess, now a princess. Honestly, Devlin, you do exaggerate so extravagantly. What shall I be next—a queen mayhap?” 

“Aye.” He sighed contentedly. “Forever my sassy duchess and the queen of my heart.”

They were on their way home with pardons in hand, sailing swiftly toward Charles Town and all that was so achingly familiar to her. Yet, in a strange way, Eden’s life in the Carolina colony now seemed but a distant dream, something that had happened a century ago that had to do with someone else entirely. So much had occurred since they’d left, and she had changed so dramatically in so short a time. If not for her mother, Eden wasn’t at all sure she would want to return to that sedate, restrictive life.

To her surprise, she found herself suddenly sympathetic to Devlin’s way of thinking. Here, on the sea, with the breeze tugging at her hair, the sun and spindrift softly kissing her flesh, Eden experienced a sense of freedom she’d never known. As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but rolling, sparkling waves. At night the stars appeared close enough to touch, the moon majestic and mysterious. Each morning the sunrise was glorious to behold, and each sunset seemed more magnificent than the last, as if the sky were being painted with promise by God’s own hand.

“I wish we could stay here, in the middle of the ocean,” she told Devlin one evening, as they watched the moon rise in a cloudless indigo sky. “Sailing endlessly.” Cradled before him, his arms bound securely about her waist, she turned her face up to his with a winsome look. “Could we do that, do you suppose? Just the two of us?” 

“Wishful dreaming, my pet,” he answered with a regretful crook of his lips. “How would we live?”

“We have the treasure. Surely that is enough to see us through several lifetimes, without the need to pirate and bring Rogers down upon our necks.”

“Aye,” he agreed. “But a frigate of this size requires a crew, so we would not be entirely alone. Also, we would still need to put ashore for supplies, and for the men to indulge their baser needs.”

Eden rolled her eyes. “How delicately phrased,” she teased.

He ignored her and continued with his list of reasons why her wish could not come true. “No doubt, soon you would miss your mother, and drive me to distraction with your whining.”

“I do not whine,” she countered with a haughty sniff. He chuckled. “I fear you could learn to do so with astounding ease, especially if you should find yourself with child and want Jane at hand.”

Eden sighed, acknowledging the wisdom of his words. “I suppose a ship would not be the most suitable place to raise a child,” she conceded. “And I do want to bear your children.” She frowned, a disturbing thought having just occurred to her. “You do want children, don’t you, Devlin?”

He hugged her close, his lips grazing her upturned cheek. “Aye, Eden, I do. I want a long, lanky red-haired daughter with sea-sparkled eyes, an abundance of freckles, and a sassy mouth—-the spit and image of her mother.” 

Eden’s elbow connected sharply with his ribs. “Want what you will, but I intend to have a strapping son with sun-blond locks and midnight eyes, and the supreme arrogance of his father.”

“Do you now?” he purred into her ear, his black eyes dancing. “Well then, Madam Kane, we’d best see what we can do to speed things along.” He swept her into his arms, and his long strides carried them swiftly toward their cabin. “Let it never be said that I did not do my utmost to fulfill your dearest desires.”