My dearest Melinda~

You mustn't worry. Our Captain Gregory has assured us that my imprisonment won't last long. It is merely to keep up appearances. They cannot let a pirate just go free, after all. And he personally assured me that he would speak to our ruler about pardoning me. After all, I did not mean to commit those crimes against the crown. I was merely trying to stay afloat.

I trust him, Melinda. With my life. And it is my life that I am placing in his hands.

I hope that you are well, my darling. I write this from a very small cell and the only thing that gets me through is imagining you and Elizabeth. She was already starting to run when I last saw you two.

I hope that Katie and Ned are helpful as you start to look for a house to live in. The house we always wanted—deep in the country, surrounded by nothing but trees and well mannered rabbits. We'll have that garden, we'll have horses, we'll be able to love and be loved to our content.

Speaking of love...Melinda...my love.

I dream of that night we spent together. I dream of the flush on your cheeks, and how soft your buttocks were. I dream of your breasts, warm and quivering beneath my hands. I dream of the wet heat of your center, and I feel you come undone beneath my fingers.

Melinda. I dream of you, and I want to bury myself deep inside you. My body aches for you. My length itches to feel your warmth. And I can't stop myself from taking my body to that sweet place that only you have taken it for these past years. I think of you every moment while I do. I think of the look on your face, I think of the hot breath that touches my ear, the quick gasps. I think of how you pant and moan as I pound into you. I think of the bounce of your ass and how you feel on top of me. I think of the lips I cannot kiss right now, but will kiss again. How soft those lips are. How red. How good they feel when they envelop my erection and kiss my cock, when you take it deep into your mouth. I think of parting your legs, Melinda. Of finding the patch of hair there, and how good it feels between my fingers.

I think of kissing down your legs, and how soft they are. I think of the sounds you try not to make as I make love to you, how you try to not wake Elizabeth or our crew, and how you shake as I touch you. How you tremble until at last you come undone.

Melinda. I think of you.

I think of kissing your neck, and tangling my hands in that hair of yours. Those thick curls. I think of holding you so close we can barely tell where you end and where I begin. And I think of the product of our love.

I think of Elizabeth Faith. Our very own child. I think of how beautiful you looked when pregnant, I think of how hard the birth was, and how scared I was.

I think of how brave you were, how you pulled through, even with the bleeding, and the next morning you just wanted to hold your child. I think of how, just months later, you faced off against our foe Captain Payne again, sword in hand this time. I remember you protecting your child, Melinda, while I lay on the deck once again too injured to move.

I remember those long nights you spent nursing me, in addition to feeding our child. I remember how tireless you were, how you refused to let anyone else work harder than you in making sure that I was well. How Andrea scolded you and tried to make you rest, but you didn't.

Not until I was well again.

My love. Melinda. I will think of you every moment that I am inside this cell. I will think of our baby Elizabeth, and I will dream of the day that I am with you two again. I can't wait until you get my letter. I can't wait until I receive the letter you must write me in reply.

Yes, my darling, must. I need to hear from you. I need your words. I need to know from you that you are well.

The guard stands outside my door, coughing. I must blow out my candle and go to bed.

I love you, Melinda. This will go in the morn's post.

All my love, James