Part IV
The man quickly took in the scene before him, of the one young woman aiming a gun at him, at the other woman carefully cradling an obviously hurt man, and shook his head. Wherever David and Isabelle went, trouble was sure to follow. He wondered if that was not what made them so compatible in the first place.
Katie quickly set down the gun. "Mauriri!" she exclaimed, her breath leaving her in a rush of relief. She jumped up and hugged him, then hissed as her back reminded her in no uncertain terms that it wasn't ready for hugs yet. She had been so afraid that it was one of the pirates, so afraid that she would have to shoot someone. She tugged Mauriri down with her as she sat, and then cocked her head to one side to regard him.
"Not that I'm not thrilled to see you, Mauriri, but what the hell are you doing here?" She glanced back briefly at Isabelle, noting the look of relief that she was sure her own face mirrored.
Mauriri smiled. "When you told me where you were going yesterday, I had a bad feeling about it. After I arrived home, the feeling was still there. I couldn't ignore it, so I set off after you three. I borrowed one of the smaller ships. I saw the Rattler, but no sign of you, so I came on land and tried to pick up your trail. What happened to you?" His question addressed all of them, but Isabelle couldn't help but notice that his eyes strayed towards David as he spoke. She hoped that it meant a beginning in their reconciliation; she would have had to be blind not to see how much David missed Mauriri, both as a sailing partner and as a friend.
"We did find the pirates," Katie replied. "We came on them just as they ambushed one of my ships. It was my own cousin behind the attacks. His people, they…they killed my crew." Her jaw was clenched, and now Mauriri understood the hollowness in her eyes. "We were trying to get away, and they shot at us. I was hit, but it's very minor. David was hurt worse." Her eyes strayed over to Isabelle, who was still holding David tightly.
Mauriri got up and crouched next to Isabelle. "Were you hurt at all?" he asked. She shook her head. "What about David?" He could see that something bad had happened; David didn't usually spend time unconscious. Isabelle pulled the blanket away, showing Mauriri the bandaged shoulder. He gently checked the bandage. "Well, it looks like the bleeding's stopped. That was good work, Isabelle." She smiled briefly at his praise.
Katie joined them, but she still held the gun. At Mauriri's raised eyebrows, she said, "I'm not about to let them finish what they started." She then explained to him everything that had happened, from finding out about Jenny to waiting out the storm, finally ending with taking care of David, managing to keep her voice steady even as she told him about the men being shot. He nodded. So now they knew for certain about Jenny. That was good. Her actions were hanging over them already; knowing she was really dead lifted some of the tension.
"Mauriri," Isabelle said, "what do you think we should do? We certainly can't stay here for much longer, and I don't know how wise it is to move David yet. Besides, if we did try to move him, we wouldn't be moving very fast."
"I know, Isabelle. I have an idea. We can move you and David a little deeper into the jungle, and I can take Katie with me back to the ship. I have Jack and Tah-mey waiting; they can even up the odds when we come back for you." At Katie's protest, he turned to her. "Katie, it'll be easier to hide two people than three. And Isabelle is used to treating David." He ignored Isabelle as she rolled her eyes, and he continued. "I also thought to bring one of Morlais' men with me. You're a witness; you can identify these men, and it was your ship. He needs to take your statement. You can tell him while we get the weapons and get ready, and then you can come back," he conceded, seeing that if he tried to keep her from coming back to David, she'd come anyway. He gripped her shoulder and looked into her eyes. "Besides, David would kill me if something happened to you." He waited until she reluctantly nodded, then got up.
Carefully, with Isabelle helping him and Katie keeping watch, Mauriri pulled David into the jungle. He waited until Isabelle was sitting again, and rested David against her, tucking the blanket around them as Katie had done earlier. He handed her the pistol Katie had been holding, and Isabelle placed it within arm's reach.
He emerged, making sure that he erased as much evidence of the three as he could. With one last glance back, he set off with Katie in tow. As they rushed off into the jungle, he silently prayed that they would get to help and back in time. Seeing David like that made him realize that he didn't want to lose his friend. As angry as David had made him, as betrayed as he had felt about his actions, he saw that he wasn't ready to have him out of his life. David had taken a bullet trying to help his friend today; it was that same loyalty, only distorted by Jenny's manipulations, that had caused him to put his faith in her. Mauriri wondered, for the first time, if he'd been in David's position and had been trying to see the best in the woman he loved, if he wouldn't have gone nearly as far as David had. He was determined that those pirates wouldn't keep him from finding out if he and David could salvage their friendship. He missed David, and missed the open sea he had sailed aboard the Rattler, more than he had realized. He took Katie's hand to help her as he increased his pace.
The only sounds they heard were the harsh rasps of their breathing. Finally Mauriri broke through the jungle and headed up the beach towards a small knot of men. They looked up in surprise at the figures rushing towards them, and both Katie and Mauriri had to lean over, hands on knees, to catch their breath when they reached the men. When Mauriri's breathing had returned to normal, he straightened.
"Katie, this is Tah-mey, he helps crew the Rattler occasionally, and this is Cannibal Jack. Where's Morlais' man?" he asked Jack. The sailor, deadly sober, pointed the man a little way up the beach. Mauriri hurried off after him. Katie was left staring at the two men in front of her. She regarded Jack curiously.
"Interesting nickname," she said. "Be sure to tell me about it later. I think David mentioned you once; well, past is past, I say. Katie Leighton, pleased to meet you. If Mauriri trusted you enough to have you here, that's good for me." She stuck out her hand. Jack, bemused, took it.
"Jack McGonnigal, at your service. Where are David and Isabelle? Mauriri said they were with you."
Katie's eyes were worried. "David was hurt. Isabelle's with him. We did find those pirates who were raiding my ships." She gave a bitter little laugh. "It seems you can't even trust family these days." She left Jack to puzzle out her remark and ran over to meet Mauriri. She immediately began talking to the soldier with him, while Mauriri left to explain the situation tersely to the others. They got their weapons ready to go very quickly. Katie joined them after a few minutes, her face set and determined. She had managed to relieve the soldier of one of his pistols. She nodded briefly to Mauriri, and the small group set off back to David and Isabelle.
Please, dear God, please don't let anything happen to David, or Isabelle, Katie silently pleaded. Her heart was pounding frantically, but she grimly kept pace with the men. Barnes was going to pay for what he had done, and if he tried to hurt her friends even more, then heaven help him, because there would be nothing on earth that Katie would let get in her way. The four of them plunged into the darkened jungle, leaving Morlais' man nervously waiting by the longboat.
* * * * * * *
As soon as Mauriri and Katie had disappeared from view, Isabelle turned her head to scan the jungle around them. She heard nothing but the sounds of the creatures moving around, and the rustling of the leaves as the wind stirred them. They should have plenty of warning if the pirates approached them. She was brought back abruptly when she heard David groan.
"Isabelle?" she heard him call. She turned her head, her features lighting up at the fact that David was looking back at her, albeit a little fuzzily. She cupped his cheek in one hand.
"David, thank God, I was so worried about you! How are you feeling?" The relief in her voice was evident to David, and he couldn't miss the suspicious brightness in her eyes. Isabelle, shedding tears over him? Would wonders never cease! Yet he felt a flush of warmth at her concern.
"Like I've been shot," he groused, moving his shoulder experimentally. Damn, that hurt! He heard Isabelle's brief throb of laughter, before she laid a gentle hand on his arm to still his movements. "I'm all right, Isabelle."
"Maybe now, David, but you were in shock. You lost blood, you passed out. You scared me," she whispered, her voice dropping as emotion thickened the sound. David looked at her in astonishment, and reached out with his good arm to gently cup her chin and raise her eyes to meet his own. Hazel green met silvery green, and David waited until he saw some of the fear leave Isabelle's eyes. He smiled at her, and she was able to give him a tremulous smile back.
"Thank you for taking care of me," he said huskily. He took her hand in his and squeezed softly, and she returned the squeeze with one of her own.
"You're entirely welcome, David. I'm just glad that Katie was able to help out with that. You're not exactly a lightweight, you know." He threw her a look at the gently teasing words, and then looked around him with a sharper gaze.
"Speaking of," he said, focusing back on Isabelle, "where is Katie, by the way? Still keeping watch?"
Isabelle hesitated briefly, just long enough to worry David. "She's not here, David." Holding up a hand to stop his outburst, she continued. "She went to get help, with Mauriri."
David's jaw dropped. "Mauriri? He's here? How-when did-why-he's here?"
Isabelle couldn't help the tiny grin that quirked her lips at David's tone. So shocked, and yet, underneath it, that tiny thread of hope. She knew that Mauriri's appearance would make David wonder if the tall Polynesian was ready to try to mend their friendship. From what she had seen of Mauriri's own reaction, she was reasonably sure that the ice between the two had finally broken.
"Mauriri said that he'd had a bad feeling after talking to Katie about where we were going. Yes, she talked to him," Isabelle said, as David raised his eyebrows. "It seems that our Miss Leighton is quite willing to share her opinions with whomever she wants. At any rate, Mauriri sailed out here with Tah-mey and Jack, as well as one of Morlais' men. He tracked us here, and since it is easier to hide two people than one, and Katie did need to talk to Morlais' man, he took her with him to get reinforcements. She'll be perfectly fine, David. Now, let me look at your shoulder."
She carefully bent to her task, leaving David to mull over her words. So, Mauriri had come after them! David couldn't help the warm rush of feelings at the thought that his best friend still cared. He knew that Mauriri wouldn't have risked sailing out with an impending storm if he still regarded David as nothing worth saving. Perhaps when Mo got back, they could try to talk, at least a little. He hissed as Isabelle pressed gently on the wound.
"I'm sorry, David, I didn't mean to hurt you," she said, her eyes full of contrition. "I just needed to make sure that the bleeding had stopped." She swiftly finished re-wrapping David's shoulder. This time a wide strip from the bottom of her shirt had been sacrificed to make the bandage. "Now don't try and move it too much, and it'll be fine."
She gently pulled David against her again, and he rested his head against her shoulder and closed his eyes. He wanted to stay awake, but he knew that he still needed to rest. Besides, he trusted Isabelle to keep a lookout. He laughed silently to himself. When he first met Isabelle, he never imagined that one day he would be saying that about her.
When he opened his eyes again, the sun had set and he was surrounded by darkness. He was warm, and his cheek was resting against Isabelle's thick curls.
"You smell good," he whispered sleepily, turning his head to press it further into Isabelle's soft hair. He didn't register his words until a few moments later, as Isabelle stiffened slightly.
"Honestly, David, I look a fright, and I know I smell like sweat and the jungle. Teasing is not necessary," she said, a forced laugh not enough to hide the hurt in her words. Waking up more fully, David sat up and turned his head to look at her. The moonlight brought out the delicate planes of her face, and made her large eyes luminous. She gazed back at him, and he tried to figure out the expression on her face. It was guarded, wary, but he immediately saw the hurt there. He had no idea his words meant that much to her.
"I wasn't teasing," he said softly. He reached out and gently rubbed a curl between his fingers. "You always smell like lavender and jasmine. I like it." He dropped her hair and saw that her wide eyes were fixed on him.
"I-it's a wash," she stammered, her heart suddenly thumping at his intense gaze. "Clare got some for me once."
David said nothing, just watched her, and she felt a blush rising to cover her cheeks. However, she couldn't look away from him, and they stared at each other until the call of a bird made them jump. Isabelle gulped and took a deep breath, aware that David was doing the same. He then cocked his head slightly and said, "Isabelle, do you remember, back on the Rattler, you said storms did bad things? Would you tell me what you meant? It'll pass the time."
She looked at him and bit her lip. That memory…it still made her shudder. She had never told anyone, not even William. David's encouraging expression decided her. She took another deep breath and began.
"I was quite small at the time, because my parents were still alive and William was still home. We were living near the coast then, and one night there was a terrible storm. My mother knew how inquisitive I was, so she absolutely forbade me from even going out the door to watch the storm. But I so wanted to see it, so around 2 in the morning I went outside.
"I remember very clearly the way the wind screamed around the rocks near the beach, and how stinging the rain was against my skin as I crept out of the house. The sky was so black and stormy, with no moonlight at all. At first the wildness delighted me, then it began to frighten me a little. Even so, I ventured out a little further. That's when I saw him. A man was lying on the beach, nearly at the slope dividing beach from grass. God, David, he was a mess. He was soaked, bruised, and battered, and even the rain wasn't enough to wash off all the blood on his face. His eyes, David, his eyes were the worst. They were wide-open and staring, the rain filling them. It felt like he was staring straight at me."
Her eyes were very far away, and her hands were clasped so tightly together that her knuckles stood out sharply against her skin. David watched the play of emotions on her face, careful not to touch her and disturb her reverie. He could see that she really did need to tell him all of this.
"I think I screamed then, a little pitiful sound against the wind, and stumbled back towards the house. I could see his eyes, like they were following me, and they seemed almost accusatory, as though I should have done something. When I reached the house, I sat for a long time huddled against the wall, not caring about the wind or rain, just sitting and shaking. After a time I was able to go back inside and get back to my room and dry off. I learned later that men from a ship had been trying to get back to shore, and the storm caught their boat and dashed it against the rocks. This man had managed to crawl up to the beach only to die there."
David took her hand then. It was icy cold, and he engulfed it in his large one, trying to warm it up. She still didn't look at him, but he could feel the shudders. He continued rubbing her hand as she spoke.
"I know, rationally, that there was nothing that I could have done, David. He was dead before I saw him. And I also know that part of the guilt is that I disobeyed my parents. But still, David, sometimes at night I can still see those eyes staring at me, especially during a storm. Sometimes I think maybe that's the way I'll end up too, that a storm will come and get me-"
Her voice had been rising, the distressed look even more present, so David reached out and grabbed her shoulders, ignoring the twinge from his own, and lightly shook her.
"Isabelle! Listen to me! You're safe right now, and you had nothing to do with that man's death. And I promise you; you will never be hurt by a storm. I won't let anything happen to you, I promise! Isabelle, do you understand me?" He stared at her, willing her to believe him, and her wide frightened eyes gazed back at him until she shuddered and curled against him, her shoulders shaking. He held her, his hands rubbing her back and making soothing noises. He sat that way until her shudders tapered off. He drew her back and looked into her lovely face.
Though she had been shaking, David could see no tear tracks on her cheeks. He smoothed back her tumbled hair and then cupped her face in his hands.
"No tears, Isabelle?"
She shook her head with a tremulous smile. "I never cry, remember, David?"
He leaned over and whispered in her ear, "It's not shameful to cry sometimes, Isabelle. It just means you're human." He sat up and looked at her. His eyes locked on hers, and something stirred in his heart. Still holding her face in his hands, he touched his forehead to hers, his mouth scant inches from hers. "And I like that you're human," he murmured.
Isabelle could barely breath. The tale was one of her worst memories, and David had just listened, exactly what she had needed. He had comforted her, and she was grateful. Now, however, feeling the heat off his body and his breath stirring the air next to her skin, she was feeling something other than grateful. She had wanted him so long, had loved him so very long…
She made a low noise in her throat, almost unaware. With that, David closed the distance between them and covered her lips with his own.
His touch was tentative, at first, until Isabelle's fingers delved into his hair; then he deepened the kiss. Her lips were so soft and yielding, the skin under his palms smooth as silk. The heady scent of her hair surrounded him, and when she opened her mouth to his questing tongue, David growled in the back of his throat and began to kiss her more hungrily than before.
Isabelle was in a heaven and hell of her own making. On the one hand, her arms wrapped around David's neck, her body pressed to him, she was lost in the sensations he was bringing to her. She could feel his soft lips as they moved over hers, taste the rich dark flavor that was David, shudder at the heat from his hands as one moved to her back and one threaded itself into her long hair. On the other hand, there was a voice at the back of her mind telling her that it wasn't real, that they were in a very unusual situation and that since they were now truly friends, she didn't want to do something they might regret in the morning. She needed him too much to risk losing him this way.
Still, it was several moments before she could bring herself to pull away from him. Finally, when the need for oxygen was burning at her brain, she drew away and sat staring at David. They sat in silence for several minutes, breathing harshly as they struggled to get needed air. David thought that she had never looked more beautiful, her face flushed and her hair tangled from his fingers. And she had never looked more desirable, even that morning when she had been lying naked next to him. He marveled very briefly in the abrupt shift in his feelings toward her since then.
He was quickly brought out of his musings as Isabelle got up and started to pace in tight circles in front of him. He could see that she was disturbed, and he frowned slightly. Apparently, the kiss had not been as pleasant for her as it was for him. He watched her gather her thoughts together before she paused in front of him and spoke.
"David, what just happened…it was…well, I understand that we were both emotional right then, and you just wanted to make me feel better. I know that it didn't mean that much to you, and I am grateful that you were here to listen to me, but I don't want you to think I want anything from you because we kissed-"
She was quickly silenced as David grabbed her hand with his good arm and pulled her down next to him again. As she tried to keep speaking, David laid his hand over her mouth.
"Isabelle, please, shut that pretty mouth of yours and listen to me!"
She was startled enough to close her mouth, and sat mutely, looking askance at him. He drew in a deep breath.
"Isabelle, I didn't kiss you because we were emotional-OK, not just because. And not to make you feel better, and it didn't mean so little to me. I kissed you because I wanted to. And it was damned good." He saw her flush at his words, but pressed on. "I kissed you because I care, Isabelle. I care about you. Don't you know that by now?" He cupped her chin and made her look at him.
Isabelle could hardly believe her ears, but David's tone was so sincere, as was the look in his eyes. She gazed at him for several long moments before slowly, shyly, nodding. David cared! Her heart was beating wildly.
David turned slightly and gripped her shoulders. "How about you, Isabelle? Did you kiss me just because we were emotional? Did it mean so little to you?" His eyes were fierce as they searched hers.
She opened her mouth to speak, and the rustling of the bushes gave them only scant warning before a sneering voice floated down.
"Well, if this isn't a touching scene. The only thing to make it better would be to add a certain sweet young heiress. Pray tell, where would my darling cousin be?"
Isabelle and David looked over, eyes widening in horror, at the long barrel of the gun that was pointed at them, then up to the snarling face of Mitchell Barnes.