Miss Minerva's Pirate Mishap

by Maggie Dallen

  “You came,” he whispered harshly into her hair.

  “You stayed.” A sob escaped from she knew not where. She’d never been happier in her life, so there was no reason to be crying. And yet she could not stop it.

  He set her down and wiped away a tear. “Tell me you are not here to say goodbye.”

  She shook her head quickly. “I will go.” She tripped over her own words. “I want to go with you.”

  “Oh, thank heavens.” He groaned as he pulled her close again, this time trailing kisses over her tear-stained cheeks before claiming her lips in a crushing kiss.

  She kissed him back with everything she had, the wild rush of emotions too much for words. Only touch would do. Only this kiss.

  When he lifted his head once more, his gaze met hers and held. “Are you sure, my love? Are you certain you could leave your family behind?”

  She nodded. “I am ready. They are ready.” She shook her head, at a loss to explain all that had passed. “I would wish to visit—”

  “Of course,” he said quickly. “At every opportunity.”

  “And I’d like some say in where we go next—”

  “Did I not tell you the world was yours for the taking?” He grinned down at her; the sheer joy she saw in his eyes was nearly her undoing. To see her own crazy, unexplainable, furious joy echoed back to her felt as though some final piece had fallen into place—a puzzle piece she hadn’t known was missing until she found it. Together, she and Marcus fit into a larger whole, leaving her feeling more optimistic and excited for the unknown of the future than she could ever have imagined.

  “Do you think they will all be safe?” she asked, for that was the one thought troubling her. “My sisters, I mean.”

  “I am sure of it,” Marcus said. “Caleb will be staying behind a while as he heals, and he’ll keep an eye on things. And now that Roger is gone, the thieves behind this smuggling will surely be chased off.”

  She arched a brow. “And you will just...let it go? The investigation?”

  He winced. “I’ll admit, it does not sit well with me to leave it unresolved, but as Caleb pointed out to me earlier, I could spend the rest of my life chasing leads, seeking justice.” He shook his head. “But there is a time and a place for everything. And for me, my place is with you.”

  She wrapped her arms around his neck with a contented sigh. “I like the sound of that.”

  He leaned down until his nose grazed hers, their breath mingling and a heady joy making her dizzy. “And home will be wherever you decide.” He laid a gentle kiss on her lips. “Just so long as we are together.”

  She smiled against his lips, her head spinning with this new freedom and all the adventures that were at her fingertips. She tilted her head to the side. “You do not wish to leave all adventures behind, do you?”

  “With you?” He laughed. “Certainly not. I cannot wait to watch you embrace this new life. But, as I see it, my new journey is just about to begin, and it would be my honor and my pleasure to watch you take your place in this world.” He held her tight. “In our world.”

  “Our world,” she repeated, loving the way it felt on her lips. She grinned up at him, the ocean waves beckoning, the sea air whipping around her as if in celebration, and the sand beneath her feet telling her that this was real. So perfect it might have been a dream...but real, nonetheless.

  “Well, love?” Marcus said as he tightened his hold as if he might never let go. “Where to first?”

  A laugh she hardly recognized bubbled up from a place inside she’d never explored. Where to? It was entirely up to her. Her laughter turned to an impish grin. “I’m not sure where we shall go next, but for tonight...” She leaned back and tugged on his hand. “You have one more mission left in Billingham.”

  His eyes danced with laughter as he wrapped one arm around her and led her back to the cliffside trail. “Ah, I suppose that for once I must ask permission before I take what is mine.”

  She laughed. “You are incorrigible.”

  “And you love me,” he shot back.

  “Very true.”

  He stopped short. “Is it?”

  A smile still tugged at her lips and that urge to laugh was still there, but her amusement faded to an overwhelming tenderness at the look of hope in his eyes. She turned to face him. “I know it is crazy but...yes, Marcus. I love you.”

  He pulled her into his embrace and kissed her until she was breathless. “And I love you, Minerva. I love you with all my heart and soul.” He reached up to cup her cheek. “In you, I have finally found my home.”

  Her eyes brimmed with tears as she returned his smile.

  He pulled back slightly and reached for her hand. “There is something else I must ask before I deal with your father’s inquisition.”

  Her lips parted but before a question could form, he had dropped down onto one knee, his hands holding hers. “My darling, Minerva...will you marry me?”

  She dropped onto her knees before him. Her partner. Her mate.

  Her love.

  “Yes, Marcus.” She kissed him as if to seal the vow right then and there. “That will be our first grand adventure.”

  Chapter 16

  Marcus didn’t dare exhale fully until he was out of the house where his Min stood waiting.

  “Well?” she asked, her hands clasped before her as she moved toward him, her sister Sally trailing behind. Her sisters had taken turns this past week acting as chaperones for the newly courting couple, and Sally flashed him a smile and a wave before going her own way.

  Her sisters made remarkably bad chaperones, and for that, he adored them.

  Minerva was in his arms and only then did he let out the sigh of relief. “He gave his approval.”

  He felt her smile against his cheek, and all was right in the world. Tightening his grip around her waist, he tugged her closer still as she laced her hands behind his neck. “Oh, Marcus, I knew he would.”

  He leaned back. “You knew it, did you?”

  She laughed. “Well, I’d hoped. Father might be a bit...difficult, at times, but all he’s ever wanted was our happiness.”

  His heart swelled at that. Even after a week of interrogations poorly disguised as conversations over dinner or in her father’s study, he agreed with her. Her father was protective, of that there was no doubt. But after the escapade in the cave, the captain seemed to have realized that no amount of holding his daughters close could keep them safe. That not even hiding these beautiful, spirited young ladies up on a hilltop and behind the walls of an old fort could guarantee that they were never hurt.

  While Marcus had eventually been deemed worthy—or, if not worthy, at least acceptable of his daughter’s hand—Minerva and her father had been having the sort of conversations that she’d needed to come to grips with who she was...and who she was not. Her mother.

  She’d told him the family secret about her mother’s disappearance days ago, and now it was his turn. He leaned down until his forehead pressed against hers. “Are you still certain you wish to run off with me? Now, when you and your father are closer than ever and your sisters—”

  “First of all, I shall hardly be running off with you if you are my husband,” she teased, her eyes glinting with laughter and happiness that so perfectly mirrored his own. “And my sisters will be fine. They will be better than fine. Father is coming to understand that they are no longer little children, and while I shall miss them all dearly, I know that they do not need me any longer.”

  He kissed her forehead, wishing the gentle touch would be enough to wash away every bittersweet sadness, but he knew from experience that leaving home was never an easy endeavor. Even if one was setting off on an adventure of a lifetime with the love of one’s life.

  “Tell me, Min,” he said, wrapping an arm about her waist and leading her to the cliffside where they’d made a habit of strolling every day. “Have you given any thought to our next destination?”

  She nodded. “I like your ide
a of sailing to America next. Finding a place to call home along the eastern coast.”

  He squeezed her tight. “I think I have just the spot for us.”

  The bay he had in mind was perfect, really. A place where they could build a home, start a family, and perhaps create a new business in the shipping industry.

  Even better, he’d heard that there was a movement underway there, a network of people helping runaway slaves escape to the north. He could help with that. He and Minerva. After all, he was ready to find his home, but his Minerva would be restless without some sort of brave new adventure on the horizon. He smiled down at this woman who seemed to have been tailor made for him. To fit into his life and into his heart.

  She sighed, her head coming to rest against his heart. There, too, she fit so perfectly. “So I shall be Mrs. Haversaw then.”

  He winced. He loved the delight in her voice, but the name did not quite sit right. “Min, there’s something I should tell you about my name.

  “That it is not your real name?” She tilted her head back, and her dark eyes glinted with mischief.

  “Precisely.”

  She stopped and turned to face him. “What is your real name, then?”

  He scratched at the back of his neck. It was time to tell her all. It could not be put off any longer. “Er, you see...”

  She sank to the ground and patted the grass beside her. The sea spread before them, open and welcoming. Her expression, too, was open. “Come. Tell me your secrets.” She smiled sweetly. “And I shall tell you mine.”

  He laughed as he sat beside her. “Very well. Once upon a time there was a young lord—”

  “A lord?” Her eyes were wide with surprise.

  He arched his brows. “Are you going to continue to interrupt with every new reveal? I can tell you now, this story will take a century to complete if you do.”

  She laughed and made a show of pressing her lips together, waving a hand for him to continue. He turned to face the sea as he told her about a miserable childhood, and a brother who was neglected as the second son. He told her about the shipping operation that his father owned and how he’d allowed his restless eldest son—his rightful heir—to learn about the trade by going off to sea.

  He gave her the short version of his time abroad, glossing over the worst of the brutality he’d witnessed, about the change it wrought in him, and how he’d realized that he’d wanted a different life than the privileged one he’d been raised to inherit. He’d wanted to seek justice with his own two hands.

  “And so you left,” she said, her voice little more than a breath on the breeze.

  He nodded.

  “And you...” She blinked a few times and then gave her head a little shake. “You were meant to be an earl.”

  He winced. “Are you sorely disappointed that I gave it up?”

  She burst out in a loud laugh as she leaned into him, her shoulders shaking. “Disappointed? I would never have even met you if you were an earl.” She pulled back to meet his gaze. “And you would not be the man I fell in love with if you had lived any other life.”

  He let out another sigh of relief he hadn’t realized he’d been holding in.

  She shook her head. “I just cannot believe that the daughter of a woman who was believed to be lost at sea is now marrying a man who chose the same fate.”

  He eyed her closely, watching to see if there was pain behind those words that he wasn’t hearing. She’d told him about her mother’s choice to leave them after she’d had another tearful talk with her father on the matter.

  There was still more to the story, more that her father hadn’t told her. Of that, she seemed certain. But at least he was finally talking about their mother after nearly a decade of silence on the topic, and that openness seemed to have lifted a weight that had been hanging over the household, Minerva especially.

  Today, at least, she seemed to be at peace about her mother. Or at least, as at peace as she could be with questions still unanswered.

  “Perhaps it is fate that brought us together. Me to you when you were ready to spread your wings and take flight, and you to me when I was searching for my home,” he said.

  She grinned and leaned up to kiss his cheek. “It must be fate.” When she sank back down beside him, she brought her knees up to hug them as he held her tighter to block out the ocean’s breeze.

  “Will Sally tell your father if I kiss you now?” he asked.

  He was teasing, and she knew it. None of her sisters cared in the slightest if he was an improper suitor. They were all so happy to see her in love, they’d each informed him, that they couldn’t even be too angry that he was stealing her away.

  Hattie had informed him that he was the most dashing hero she could imagine for her eldest sister, a point he’d taken great pleasure in pointing out to his sweet Minerva whenever he had the chance.

  Minerva shook her head, already tilting her head back for his kiss. When he pressed his lips to hers, it was everything he wanted, and not nearly enough. “I cannot wait until you are my wife. In my arms, and on my ship.”

  She pulled back with a sigh. “I am ready, too, love. One day soon as I shall be Mrs.—”

  “Not Mrs. Haversaw,” he interrupted.

  Her lips hitched to the side. “What shall I call myself then?”

  He pulled her close. “Other than my wife, my lady love, my fated mate until the end of time, my—”

  “Yes,” she interrupted with a laugh. “What is my name to be if not Haversaw?”

  He leaned back and met her gaze. “You decide.”

  She blinked. “Pardon?”

  He shrugged. “I cannot very well take up my real name again, not without causing quite a bit of trouble. So you decide. What name would you like to take when we start our new lives together?”

  She pursed her lips and looked out to the sea. “I should like to take a piece of home with me when we leave.” She cast him a sidelong look. “And yet I want a new name to mark a new life.”

  He arched his brows in question.

  “Billingham,” she said with a decisive nod.

  “The name of this town?”

  She nodded again with an impish grin. “I will take my home with me as we start a new life.”

  He tipped his head back with a loud laugh that had her laughing as well. They’d been doing a lot of that lately, and if he had his way, he’d be making her smile and laugh until the day he died. This woman deserved every happiness, and he meant to give it to her. That, and the world.

  “I cannot wait until Abigail returns from Caleb’s place so I might tell her that I am soon to be Mrs. Billingham.” She grinned up at him. “She will have such a laugh.”

  “She is at Caleb’s? Again?” He couldn’t quite hide his amusement at his friend’s expense. Something told him that change of heart Marcus had warned him of would occur sooner rather than later.

  “Mmm.” Minerva shifted so she was resting against him. “It seems Abigail convinced your friend that he ought to learn how to read. She is teaching him.”

  He blinked down at her, temporarily stunned. “To...read?”

  She nodded. “And of course, Abigail is eager for any excuse to repay him for his help with Roger.”

  “Of course.” He could definitely not hide his laughter now.

  Minerva’s brows drew together in question. “What is so funny?”

  “Nothing, it is just—” He cut himself off with a shake of his head. “Never mind.”

  She opened her mouth to say something but they both turned back to look at the house when Hattie’s voice called out from the doorway. But it was Sally she was shouting for.

  Sally stopped what she’d been doing—picking medicinal herbs, it looked like, from a garden nearby. “A what?” she shouted back.

  “An earl!” Hattie’s eyes were wide with excitement, and he and Minerva shared a look of bemusement.

  “What earl? Are they talking about you?” she asked.

  He sho
ok his head. “I do not think so.”

  Hattie planted her hands on her hips, clearly annoyed that Sally was not sprinting into action. “You have a visitor,” she shouted. “The Earl of Elwood is here to see you.”

  Sally frowned in confusion, heading back inside as Hattie came outside to take over as chaperone, already slipping a book out of her apron pocket as she walked toward a bench beside the garden.

  Truly, Marcus could not ask for worse chaperones. What a lucky man he was.

  Minerva’s eyes were wide with surprise as she turned to him. “Another earl is here?” She started to laugh. “Two earls in our home in one day? This is too much.”

  He grinned. “Ah, but I was only meant to be an earl. Alistair has that honor now.”

  Minerva shook her head. “Oh, no. I do not believe you were ever truly meant to be an earl.” She leaned in close. “You were meant to be a pirate. My pirate.”

  “And you, my love...” He closed the gap between them to steal another kiss. “You were meant for me.”

  Epilogue

  Minerva stared down at the contents of the chest as if staring might make it disappear.

  Marcus’s arms wrapped around her waist as he joined her at their new bayside dock. “Have you decided what you wish to do with your...” He nodded toward the chest. “Your mother’s present?”

  She winced. This ‘present’ had come as a surprise to them both. They hadn’t discovered the chest full of gold and treasures in the hull of Marcus’s ship until they’d been halfway across the Atlantic, far too late to turn around.

  And even if they had, she would have been gone by then.

  That had likely been her mother’s plan. Not that her note gave much away. Just a handful of sentences after nearly ten years of silence.

  * * *

  Minerva, dearest, I hope you and your sisters know that you are always in my heart. Please don’t hate me too much. Everything I’ve done, I’ve done for you girls. I trust you’ll know what to do with this, and how best to get it to your sisters. You’ve never failed to make me proud as a sister and as a woman. Love you all more than you will ever know. Your Mother.