Thanks for the reviews you all! They are much appreciated!
Algrene- Thanks for the criticism. When I started this I thought I might not be getting a few of the facts right, but I wasn't sure. I'll remember to write sailor from now on, but about the other stuff I'm not sure how to correct it. I'm not very familiar with the Navy. Lol.
Chapter Three
James looked out over the bow of the boat and saw Port Royal getting bigger and bigger as the Seaspray got closer. He sighed. It had taken them four days to get here, and he had to admit they may have been the best four days of his life. Except when he was seeing to his tasks, Isobel hardly left his side. Now, she was down in the cabin that she slept in freshening up so that she would not look dreadful when they docked. At least that was what she said. He did not think she could ever look dreadful. Over the past four days, they had become very close. At times, Isobel seemed to want to withdraw. It seemed like she was trying to hide something from him, but at the same time wished she did not have to go on hiding it. He wished he had some clue as to what it was.
"You're quite besotted with her, aren't you?" Jonathan came to stand beside him, "It's pretty obvious you know, but fortunately for you I think she might be taken with you."
"I think," James said as he gave him a level look, "That you need to get a hobby."
Jonathan laughed. "I'm just stating what I see. You're a lucky man. She's beautiful."
James nodded a little sadly. "She is, but you're wrong. She doesn't feel anything for me but friendship." He sighed. "No matter what I wish."
Jonathan clapped a hand on his shoulder. "That's how you see it, mate. I'm a little more perceptive than you." He stopped talking and looked back over his shoulder. A wide grin spread across his face. "Ah, here's the lady now." He stepped away from James and bowed to Isobel as she approached them. "Good afternoon, Isobel," he said in his most charming tones, "I trust you are excited about arriving at Port Royal."
She smiled back at him. "Yes, quite. Thank you for inquiring." Then she turned her attention to James. With a wink Jonathan walked away. "Are you not even going to speak to me, James Norrington?" she said as she placed her hands on her hips and grinned at him.
He smiled back at her. "Of course I am," he said taking her hand and pulling her to stand beside him, "Good afternoon, Isobel." She smiled and her bright green eyes twinkled with happiness. To his surprise- and great pleasure- she did not let go of his hand. She wiggled in closer to him and rested her head on his chest. He wondered how he managed to breathe.
"What's Port Royal like?" she asked suddenly looking up at him.
He cleared his throat. "It's like any other city, I guess," he said, "I really don't have much to compare it to. I really haven't been to that many places."
She nodded and laid her head back on his chest. They just stood there like that for a while. James heard a sniff and looked down. Isobel clung to his shirt with one hand, and with the other she was wiping tears off her cheeks.
He tipped her chin up so he could look at her eyes. She squeezed them shut and tried to turn her face away. He kept a gentle, but firm hold on her chin keeping her face tipped up to his. "Hey, what's wrong?" he asked feeling confused and concerned. Only moments ago, she had been fine. What could be the matter now?
She blinked back more tears that were welling up in her eyes. She shook her head. "It is nothing." Her voice was barely above a whisper. "I'm just emotional that's all, but I'm fine now. Please let me go." She looked up into his eyes expectantly, but he kept her face in his hand. "Please?"
"I would," he said as he brushed away a stray tear that was rolling down her cheek, "But I don't believe you. Something else is wrong. Tell me."
Anger flashed across her eyes momentarily, but it disappeared as soon as it had come. She looked down and spoke softly, "It won't be long before I have to leave Port Royal, either back to Ireland or… somewhere else." She paused to draw a shuddering breath. "And I won't… I won't…" She cut off not able to finish her words.
He finished them for her. "I won't ever see you again," he said sadly looking toward the even closer Port Royal. She nodded slowly and buried her face back into his chest. He looked down at her glossy red ringlets as she cried into his shirt. He knew he had to let her know exactly how he felt.
He entwined his fingers in her hair and gently tilted her head back. Her startled eyes were wide. She started to speak, but he cut off her words with his lips. For an instant, she hammered her small fists on his chest and made sounds of frantic protest, but then she wrapped her arms around his neck and was not protesting at all. Her lips parted for his tongue easily, and she sighed against his mouth. Surprisingly to him, her tongue was tentative against his. For some reason, he had thought that she would have had more experience with men, but even though her kiss had his head swimming he knew it was not the kiss of an experienced woman. That made him like it even more. All too soon, he had to break the kiss so they both could catch their breath. To his delight, Isobel did not push away from him like he had expected her to. She leaned against him panting for breath, one hand still wrapped around his neck, the other rested on his heaving chest. After a few moments, she pushed back just enough to look up at him. "I wish you had not done that," she said breathlessly.
He drew his brows together in confusion. "You didn't seem to mind when I was doing it." He raised a questioning eyebrow.
Nails dug into the back of his neck almost painfully. Isobel gave him a dangerous look. "Please don't be sarcastic with me. Not now." Her voice sounded hurt.
He nodded. "Of course. I'm sorry. Please tell me."
She sighed. "I was going to say that you just made things much more complicated." She turned around and leaned against the railing. He suddenly felt cold. In minutes they would dock.
He came up close behind her and put one of his hands on the small of her back. "What's complicated about it?" he asked. "Isobel, I love-"
She whirled around and silenced him with a hand on his lips. "Please don't," she half moaned in a pleading tone, "Please don't say that." He still couldn't understand.
"Why can't I say it?" he demanded a little more harshly than he had intended, but he went on. "And even if you don't want me to say it that does not change how I feel. You are the one who's complicating things."
The look of hurt in her eyes made him wish that he could take those last words back. He did not want to hurt her. He just wanted to be with her. Her lips trembled and tears began to well up in her eyes again. "You don't know me," she said softly, "If you only knew… then you might understand why this could never be."
Her words cut at him like a knife. "What is there to know?" he asked just as softly. When she didn't answer he put both of his arms around her and pulled her closer. "It doesn't matter," he murmured against her hair, "I already know all I need to know. Nothing else matters. Nothing."
She lifted her head to say something, but before she could get a word out someone shouted orders. "All hands on deck. Prepare to dock." Reluctantly, James released Isobel and began to walk away, but before he was gone he turned back to her.
"Don't leave," he said with just a hint of pleading in his voice. He was half afraid that she would disappear before he had the chance to talk to her more. "Stay until I'm finished with my work, and then we'll talk. Please? Promise me."
She hesitated a moment and then nodded. "I will wait," she said, "But, James, what I said was true." He just looked at her and then turned to go work.
Isobel sat on a crate while she waited for James to finish his work on the boat. It shouldn't be long now. She didn't know if she should be happy or upset about that. Occasionally, she had to wipe a tear from her face, and a few passers-by stole glances at her out of the corners of their eyes. She didn't care. The only thing on her mind was James. He would hate her if he knew that she was a pirate. The British Navy was infamous among pirates for their hangings. They were certainly not known for their tolerance. The British Navy hated pirates. James was in the Navy. She was a pirate. It would never work.
But she felt so right in his arms. The way he kissed her made her feel so alive. She had never felt like this before. Her emotions were so torn. On one hand she wanted to disappear, to run away from him forever. On the other hand she just wanted him to wrap her up in his arms and kiss her until he could not kiss her anymore. But she knew that neither of the options would work. Both of them would end with broken hearts. Part of her wished that they had just let her die that day.
"I am finished." The voice of the very man she had been thinking of brought her to attention. She jerked her head up to look at him. His white shirt clung to him with sweat making his muscles stand out nicely. She stood and smoothed her clothes and hair. "Come on," he said, his voice betraying no emotion at all, "I will show you to a nice inn for you to stay at."
She nodded and began to follow him, sometimes having to trot to keep up with his fast pace. Finally she couldn't take it any longer. "Would you slow down!" she demanded irritably grabbing his arm, "I can barely keep you in sight much less keep up with you." His eyes looked at her darkly from beneath knitted eyebrows. His pace slowed, but not by much.
Finally they reached an inn. He told her that it was nice, not the kind of tavern full of drunks and gamblers and that it would be a comfortable place for her to stay. After paying the innkeeper instead of having someone show her to her room and leaving, he asked her if she wanted a drink and showed her to a table. For a moment they sat there looking at each other, her nervously sipping her wine, he staring at her over his mug of ale. Finally he broke the silence, "Do you feel nothing for me?"
She blinked in surprise at the question. "Of course…of course I feel something for you," she replied after a moment, "But like I said that is not the point. We both no what we feel for each other by now."
"That is all I needed to know," he replied looking into her eyes, "Nothing else matters."
She threw her head down on the table in exasperation. "Why do you keep saying that?" she moaned. After a moment she lifted up her head. James had his face resting in his hands. He didn't look up at her.
"I know," he said finally in a hoarse voice, "I know you are hiding something from me. Smith isn't an Irish name, Isobel."
Isobel winced. She had known that she had made a mistake about her last name, but she hadn't been thinking straight. "I can't tell you, James," she whispered. She knew she was about to start crying again. Why did the bloody man have to make her do that so much? She used to never cry. "If I told you," now she was crying and her voice was a whimper, "You would hate me. I couldn't bare that."
His head jerked up so fast that she gasped. She thought his eyes might be a little watery. I might have just been her imagination. He grasped her hands firmly. "I could never hate you," he whispered a passionately as she cried, "Don't ever say that. Nothing could make me hate you. Nothing you ever do could ever make me hate you."
She looked up into his eyes. She wanted to believe him. Oh, she wanted to believe him so badly, but a little voice in her mind told her that she couldn't. "But you don't know," she protested, "You can't know what you're saying. You-"
She cut off when he shook his head and brought her hands to his lips. "I know exactly what I'm saying, Isobel," he murmured as he kissed her fingertips, "You're not a bad person- I refuse to believe that- no matter what you've done. So what can it matter. You can stay here in Port Royal with me. We can be married soon. I don't have much, but we will live comfortably. I'll make sure that you're happy."
She began crying anew. Why did he have to make things harder on her? "I'm sure that you would," she cried, "I wish I could do that. Being with you would make me happier than I have been in a long while, maybe ever, but I can't. I have something I have to take care of."
The look of hurt in his eyes was almost more than she could bear. He looked away for a moment before looking back at her. Now, his eyes looked determined. "I will go with you, help you," he said, "Then will you marry me?"
Isobel shook her head. "No," she replied softly, "I mean, I would marry you, but no, you can't help me. It's impossible."
"Why is that impossible?"
"Oh, James," she groaned, "Why must you make this so hard? You have obligations with the navy. They wouldn't let you leave to help me."
James looked down, obviously unable to think of a good answer. Finally he said, "Just tell me. What do you have to do?"
"I can't," she began, but he cut her off angrily.
"You owe me that, Isobel," he grated through bared teeth, "I deserve some answers. You owe me answers."
She nodded. He was right; she did owe it to him. Even if it might cost her, her life in the end. Well, after she told him this, if her neck didn't end up in the hangman's noose, she would not have to turn down another marriage proposal from James. He would probably refuse to speak to her then. "Alright," she said, "Walk me to my room. It's too crowded down here."
They stood and began walking side by side up to where she would sleep for the night. James reached her door first. He leaned up against it with his arms crossed. "So?"
She took a deep breath. "Don't interrupt me while I'm telling you this," she said firmly, "Say whatever you want when I'm done, but not until then." He nodded and she continued. "When you found me, I was not just a poor helpless woman. The pirates targeted my ship because of some trouble I have caused them in the past." His eyes widened when she the words 'my ship' and he opened his mouth to say something, but at a look from her he closed it again. "When you asked me what I was doing out there, I was not on my way to Port Royal, I was looking for someone. Up until I was 13 years old, I lived with an aunt in Dublin, never knowing who my father was- my mother died during my birth, and after the doctors had taken care of me, he left me with my mother's sister and disappeared- but on my thirteenth birthday, he came back for me. My father's name was Patrick Bryant. Probably more none to you by Captain Bryant. One of the best pirates at sea. My real last name is Bryant. I lied for fear that you would make the connection. I have been a pirate since that day." He was shaking his head now, not looking at her, but she went on anyway. "About a year ago another pirate you have probably heard of, Captain Blackeye, attacked our ship to get to a large treasure my father had found. He had left me in Tortuga then, but one day a man from our crew came to me and told me the news. Everyone was dead. Blackeye had the treasure. Since then I have mad it my duty to hunt down Blackeye and avenge my father." She looked down. "If tomorrow morning I find a band of naval officers banging on my door with a warrant for my arrest, I won't be very angry with you. It is your duty." She looked up at him expectantly, but he had his back to her, facing the wall.
"My duty," he breathed finally, "I don't know what my duty is." His voice sounded disbelieving. "Why do you have to be a pirate?"
He still hadn't looked at her. She wrapped her arms around herself suddenly feeling cold. "I wish I wasn't," she replied sadly, "Not now. But I have to kill Blackeye or die trying. Do you see why we can never be, even if you do keep my secret?"
His hand formed a fist above where he was resting his head. He squeezed it so tight his knuckles went white. Finally his body relaxed and slowly, he turned back to her. "How can you leave if you don't have ship?" he asked quietly
She hesitated before answering. "I had planned to steal one and then gather a crew in Tortuga." She winced, waiting for him to call for some guards right then, but his reply surprised her probably more than anything she had heard in her life.
"I am going with you," he said firmly, "Don't try to tell me no. I am going. Don't try to leave without me. Just stay here for a few days and I will figure out how I can help you. Trust me." She gaped at him.
"But-!" she began, but he cut in.
"I said not to try to tell me no." He grabbed her shoulders and pulled her against him. He brought his lips down on hers before she could say anything. She clung to his chest until he broke the kiss and walked away without a word.