Shall we try that again? lol...

Chapter 9~

IPOV

As soon as he choked out my name, realization dawned on me. I had not just been attacked by some rogue pirate who had stumbled upon my bathing hole. No, I'd just botched my long awaited, long dreamed of reunion with my Edward, if I was correct about the man I'd all but accosted in his sleep.

I could hear him spluttering around in the water behind me and very slowly turned around, my face in a tight cringe.

The sight of him, bare chested and glistening as the water ran down his torso, gave me pause. Raking my eyes upward, I found him staring back at me, his pallor slightly green, but a smirk upon his face that was undeniably his. As were the jeweled emeralds set below his long lashes.

"Edward?"

"Aye, tis me, though most know me as Redbeard now," he answered softly, holding his position in the water. I supposed he didn't want to risk startling me again.

I let his words sink in, reconciling them with the ship they'd arrived in. Had he really turned into a pirate of lore? Could he be the evil tyrant that a pirate was supposed to be?

I refused to believe it. And he wasn't the only one that had changed.

"I see," I said quietly as I took a step forward, unashamed of my nakedness. "Well, tis only fair to tell you that I'm not Isabella." I was now ankle deep back in the water.

"No?" He shifted forward in the water.

I shook my head, coyly teasing my lip with my teeth. "No." I took another step.

"Then who might ye be?" He looked me up and down and slid forward. "Is thar another Isabella on this island? Perhaps you could point me in t' starboard direction t' find t' lass that I have spent t' last seven years sailin' t' seas t' find. T' very lass that bested me gypsy soul and conquered me heart when I was but a lad o' a man."

My body began tingling at his heartfelt confession and I inched closer to him, the water now up to my knees.

"Jak calls me Isa," I teased and his face contorted into a scowl. "He be your beau then, this Jack? Another passenger from t' ship that made it ashore with you. I be too late," he whispered the last as he retreated a step back into the water.

"No!" I admonished him as I rushed to close the distance between us. "No, Edward, I speak of Jake, my brother. It is a silly thing, but we changed our names..."

I was being lifted from the water as his strong arms wrapped around me and his lips found mine with no further hesitation. As our mouths shaped and melded against the other's, my world tilted on its axis.

I was no longer a castaway, wondering if I would ever escape my island prison. I was now an island princess, safe in the arms of her prince.

He pulled me flush to him and never had such pressure on my bosom felt so good. Instinctively, I wrapped my legs around his narrow waist, my heels digging into the backs of his thighs as his tongue poked at my mouth and I parted my lips.

I moaned at his taste, mango on the surface, but indescribably Edward underneath. So much stronger and richer than I remembered from our first kiss, so long ago.

His hands separated. One slid up into my hair to cradle the back of my head as the other seared along my skin, descending past my waist until he was cupping the curve of my rump tightly in his hand. His fingers digging into me firmly, but gently, only serving to further heighten the need I felt coursing through me.

I let one leg slide along his outer thigh and lower back into the water as he kept my other leg hitched over his hip. I spread open against him and he sighed heavily into my mouth when the crevice between my legs brushed over his groin.

I gasped and pulled back abruptly from the kiss, glancing down along the space I had just created between our torsos. I knew men and women were different, but I had no idea what a man's bits looked like. I'd not expected the thickness that I'd brushed against.

Seeing it now, a hunger arose in me with a sudden longing to pay homage to it, to Edward. I reached down bravely and took him in hand, so thick was he that I could not close my hand completely around him.

"Arrr, careful with that me beauty, ye did just whack me bollocks good with yer knee and yer flesh on mine is not helpin' matters much either," he said as he resumed kissing along my neck and jaw, taking light nips with his teeth.

"Perhaps I should kiss it better, then?" I offered, unsure where my boldness was coming from except that even after all this time apart, I just knew...knew there was nothing I had to hide from him or be ashamed to do with him.

With darkened eyes, he nodded once and licked his lips slowly. He lifted me quickly and suddenly, the water splashing around us as me moved us to the edge of the pool in a few strides and then out of it.

"As much as I'd like t' take you up on your offer, Isa," he stopped as if he were testing the name on his tongue, "I have waited seven years t' make me claim official. There be no man o' God on this island, which leaves me, a ship's captain, t' be t' only one qualified t' bless a union."

He set me down and stepped back, dropping to one knee, he took my hand in his. "I be but a poor man with nought but a heart o' gold where you be concerned. I cannot offer you riches and elegance, but I can offer you me undyin' devotion. Isa, will you accept me into your heart? Will you let me continue lovin' you with everythin' I am? Will you be mine?"

I'd had a few coconuts land on my head since arriving here, but I knew I had not suffered enough damage to hesitate answering him.

"Aye Cap'n Redbeard, that I will," I giggled as a breathtaking smile lit up his face and he pulled me down to him.