XX.
Meg froze, her palm resting on Billy's cheek. He had stilled, his unfocused eyes sharpening upon hearing the familiar voice. Wincing, he turned his head to the side.
"Captain," he rasped.
Flint gave him a brief nod, his gaze watchful. "Billy."
"This is a personal conversation. I"m sure you understand." While the boatswain's words were ostensibly polite, his voice had a dangerous edge to it.
The Captain sat down on a large boulder, and regarded Billy narrowly. "It appears as though you have been ill-treated since we last met, so your mind may not be entirely clear. I must inform you that any account of the events since your disappearance received from Miss Davies is unlikely to be accurate. I have good reason to believe that she may be playing both sides."
The outrage Meg felt at this statement outweighed the fear that had spread through her body the moment she had turned to see Flint's intense blue eyes boring into her. "I beg your pardon?"
The corner of his mouth quirked up for an instant before his face slid back into the same cold, calculating expression that she had seen him assume the night she had been in his cabin.
"First you leave our ship, saying you want to protect Billy from himself-to ensure his safety, no matter what the cost. Then you come to this island on the arm of a charismatic, powerful man who has sworn to exterminate piracy from New Providence Island. Now, you sit at the side of my boatswain once again, declaring the tenderest of feelings for him. What do you intend to do next? Lead us into a trap that will be sprung by Nelson and the men he is meeting with?"
Meg met his eyes, her voice trembling."You, of all people, have no right to speak to me that way."
"Quite right." Vane stepped out of the shadows, Jack and Anne close behind him. He surveyed the group, his hand casually resting on the hilt of his sword. "This may be a joint undertaking, but this woman is under my protection."
Jack circled around to Meg, then knelt down next to her. "Miss Davies, if you would please come with me? I believe Mr. Bones would benefit from the medical supplies, however rudimentary, that are reputed to be stored a short distance down the tunnel."
Billy caught his eye, and Meg could not help but think that Jack showed remarkable poise when confronted with a most intimidating look.
The shorter man tugged on his calico neckerchief, addressing Billy with a pleasant smile , "Not to worry. I promise on my honor that she shall return safe and sound in just a few short minutes."
"I'll be fine," Meg said softly, giving Billy's hand a gentle squeeze. As she and Jack disappeared around the corner, Flint glanced at Vane, his jaw tensing.
"Well, since you seem to think you have the upper hand, I hope you and your crew have done a proper job of scouting out the military presence. We must be prepared for every eventuality."
Vane smirked. "Oh, we've have had plenty of time to get acquainted. Depending on the route you took to access the cave, you may have seen a few bodies along the way."
The captain raised an eyebrow. "I assume you were discreet."
Vane shrugged. "More or less. But at this point, it doesn't really matter. By now, Miss Davies' absence has surely been noted."
"She wasn't part of the plan," growled Flint.
"No, but she is now...and we'll adapt accordingly….as I see fit, of course." Vane hooked his thumbs into his belt, his mouth set in a stubborn scowl.
Billy's hands curled into fists. "'She' is not a pawn on a chessboard! You both talk as if she is just a piece of bait that you can't wait to deploy."
Flint met his gaze steadily. "Billy, I don't think you realize…"
"You don't think I realize what?" Billy glared back at him, the candlelight illuminating his sunburned face."That civilization is coming? That the Crown considers us subhuman, and means to hang us all before they are done? Believe me, that message came through loud and clear during the three days I was tortured on the beach. So don't fucking patronize me by telling me I don't know. And don't think you can use Meg like a tool in one of your fucking games. It will not happen. Not as long as I draw breath."
An hour later, Meg had cleansed and bandaged Billy's wrists and ankles as best as she could. They were finally alone, the other pirates having gone to scout out best route of escape. Billy's eye was still swollen, but the frequent application of a cold cloth to the area had resulted in some noticeable improvement.
"It's looking better," she murmured, giving him a reassuring smile.
"Right," he said flatly. "I think you'd give me a wide berth if you saw me on the street looking like this."
"Or perhaps I might see past it...and into the soul of a man who is kind and loyal."
He gave a bitter laugh. "Kind and loyal...I doubt that's how the citizens of England view the pirates of Nassau."
"Billy, you-"
He cut her off. "Meg, I kill people. Not on a daily basis, but frequently enough. I have no doubt that many of the men I have killed went straight to hell. But others-it was likely just a matter of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. So I'm afraid your starry-eyed notion of me is woefully inaccurate."
"Starry-eyed?" Meg sat back on her heels.. "So you think I'm some sort of naive schoolgirl?"
"I think you are choosing to ignore the parts of my life that don't fit into your romantic narrative."
She stared at him, her eyes narrowing. "And I think you are choosing to amplify the parts of your life that are less than savoury because you are afraid."
"Afraid?" he scoffed. "Of what?"
"Intimacy." The moment the word was out of her mouth, she blushed deeply, and stammered, "I mean…"
He gazed at her, the corner of his mouth curling up in a smirk. "Go on. I'm enjoying the idea of you explaining how much I fear intimacy...because we both know how reluctant I was have you touch me in any sort of an arousing-"
"That is not what I am referring to, and you know it!" she burst out. "You want to know what you are afraid of? Well, I'll tell you. You are uncomfortable with the idea of letting someone close to the part of you that remembers what it was like to sit down to Sunday roast dinner with your family on a snowy winter's day."
He swallowed, the light in his eyes dulling. She ignored a pang of guilt, and pressed on.
"Because someone who remembers that also recalls the smell of the honeysuckle that your grandfather planted in the little garden on the east side of the church...the sound of you laughing as you sat on the floor, your little cousins climbing all over you...the taste of the mincemeat pie your mother always had waiting for you on a cold, wet day-"
"Enough."
The one word echoed in the silence of the cave. He turned away from her to stare at the mossy wall. Water dripped from an unseen source, the slow, steady rhythm punctuating the quiet.
But the memories were bubbling to the surface now, and even if she had wanted to, she could not have stopped, "I remember coming across you in our garden the day after your seventeenth birthday." A fond smile played on her lips. "All I saw at first were those impossibly long legs stretched out on a shady patch of grass, eyes closed against the bright summer sun. You had a pounding headache, and I sang to you-"
"I said enough."
A lump formed in Meg's throat. "No," she said, her voice thick with emotion. "You will listen to me until I have had my say, Billy Manderley. I sat next to you that Saturday in July, and you looked so miserable that I wanted desperately to do something to help...just like you do now. So I sang to you, because I didn't dare touch you like this…"
Meg slid her slim fingers to his forehead. His sunburned skin heated her touch within seconds. As she began to gently massage his temples, her sweet voice rose in song-
You must make me a fine Holland shirt,
Blow, blow, blow, ye winds, blow,
And not have in it a stitch of needlework,
Blow, ye winds that arise-
Eyes blazing, he snapped his head around to face her. "Meg, can't you get it through your head? I'm not going home! Not now, not ever. Do you honestly think I could look anyone in Kensington in the eye-let alone my parents-having done the things that I've done?"
"So it's like that, is it?" She snatched the cloth off his eye, and felt her face flush with anger. "You're going to lie there and wallow in self-pity? You're just going to accept the label that society has placed on you? Accept that "civilized" men have the right to judge you because through no fault of your own, you had to make certain choices in order to survive?"
Billy seized her arm, his hand easily encircling her elbow.
"Why can't you just leave well enough alone, and stop making me your personal redemption project?" he snapped. "Look, you made your choice when you left the Walrus. The note you left me made it abundantly clear that-how did you put it?-nothing good could come from us seeing each other again. Why did you even come to me on the beach, anyway? A guilty conscience? Or did Nelson-"
"Did he what?" Meg's voice rose, and despite her best efforts, she could feel her emotions spiraling out of control.
Billy's face became unreadable. "Did he cast you aside?"
Meg's fingers closed around the wet cloth, squeezing it in order to distract herself from the tears that pricked at the back of her eyes. "Is that what you think? That I discarded you when I thought Tobias was a better fit for my "romantic narrative" as you call it? And that now I've come crawling back to you because I have no other option?"
Her throat tightened, and she whispered,"Billy, when I saw you lying on that beach, I thought my heart would break." A tear escaped her eye, slowly trailing its way down her cheek. A part of Meg's brain told her to keep her distance from Billy, but when he drew her to his chest, she could not help herself.
"I didn't want to leave you...I didn't…." she sobbed. "But he told me I had no choice."
Billy's arms tightened around her. "Who?"
"No one," she said hastily, wiping her tears from her eyes.
He cupped her face in his hands, the cloth bandages around his wrists lightly grazing her skin. His kiss, gentle and undemanding, made her forget everything in a matter of seconds. Knowing all that he had endured, the tenderness he showed her in that moment made her want to weep once again.
When he finally drew away, he kissed her forehead, then murmured, "Only the truth from now on, sweetheart-even if you think you're protecting me from Flint. I can handle him."
She nodded, still somewhat breathless. "But I didn't say it was Flint."
His mouth skimmed across her cheek, settling on the sensitive spot just behind her left ear. "No, you didn't," he said, his breath warming her skin. "But you just promised me the truth."
"I'm afraid," she whispered. "For myself...and for you."
He took her face in his hands once again. "I have to know."
"It was him."
Billy swore under his breath, his eyes searching hers. "How could I have doubted you?" he murmured. "I'm sorry, Meg."
"We both spoke thoughtlessly. I should have never said what I did. Please forgive me."
"Well, if you insist upon some sort of penance, I'll accept another kiss."
Meg ran her fingers lightly over the stubble on his cheek. "If there is no other way to regain your favor, I suppose I must."
He grinned. "Actually, I do have several more creative tasks in mind. However, given our rustic accommodations-and my recent hospitality session at the hands of the English Navy-this will have to do for now." This time, his mouth claimed hers in an instant. The slow sweetness of his earlier kiss was replaced by a heated passion that made her nearly dizzy with desire. Her hands roved over his broad back, revelling in the feel of the hard muscle under her fingers.
The shot came without warning, and was followed by another almost immediately. Then the single candle went out, and they were plunged into darkness.
Another somewhat cruel cliffhanger...but more to come soon! A special thanks to the faithful demonsdown for her lovely reviews, and to ItY'girl for your kind comments.