The Pirate's Daughter

by Marie Hall

  Behind him he heard the men rushing to collect everything and load the boats. He even heard Mr. Quiggly give the command to tie the raft and bring it back. He started edging back towards the boats himself, never taking his eyes from her.

  “Don’t do it Mia,” he warned again. He saw her point down. “Aye, get down here now.” She pointed again and stomped her foot. He dropped his eyes for a second. “I saw it, now get down here.” If she meant the words, he only guessed but his answer was enough to make her step back from the ledge. He stepped back too, to keep her in view. And as the water washed up over his boots he saw her turn and face the ocean. “No Mia. No, don’t,” he stopped speaking, stopped breathing and felt his heart freeze as Mia leaned forward and raced not to the end of the shelf, but right off it. She hung in the air for only seconds, like a kite. Her body parallel with the water as she dropped closer to the darkness below. At the last possible moment, she brought her arms forward and angled into the water. Going in like a harpoon she was swallowed completely before Devin’s mind registered she actually did it. She jumped.

  “To the boats, to the boats,” someone yelled. “Captain, come on.” Someone pulled on his arm, causing him to trip backwards as he couldn’t take his eyes from the place Mia disappeared. “Row men, row.”

  “Where?” Devin heard someone ask, it was a good question. She hadn’t surfaced. Devin landed on the seat hard as the wave pushed them back towards shore.

  “Row.”

  “Ahoy.” Devin swung around at the cry from the ship. Men were gathered at the rail pointing out beyond the bow. “Ahoy.” The call went out again and Devin scanned the waters closer to where the ship was anchored. Sure enough Mia’s sleek strokes were carrying her right towards the ship.

  “Damn if she won’t beat us back onboard,” Quiggly grumbled.

  “Damn if I don’t beat the pirate from her this time,” Devin said and swallowed down the bile that threatened to rise up and out. Rage warred with relief as the boats came alongside. Devin left the ordering of the stowing and such to his quartermaster as he climbed to the deck.

  Mia was completely surrounded and Devin could hear Mr. Hong’s scolding before he set foot on planks. But as soon as it was known he was on board the crowd parted. For a heartbeat Devin considered carrying her back to their quarters. Seeing her standing there wrapped in a sheet trying to dry off, his knees almost buckled from relief. But then he looked at her face and her expression was nothing less than a challenge as she faced him. Right then it became a matter of who exactly was captain on this ship. And he’d be damned before he gave up command so easily.

  Glancing left he spied a length of rope. Snatching it up he headed straight for her. Every man stepped back in fear. Mia held her ground. She held his glare and didn’t flinch when he grabbed her wrist and tied the rope around it. She didn’t fight as he then tied both her wrists together.

  “I’ll have no more mutiny from you, Mrs. Winthrop,” Devin snarled at her. “Not today, not ever.” He turned her and shoved her towards the mast. “Fetch me the cat,” he ordered and heard the collective gasp from the crew. He ignored it and taking Mia’s arms lifted her until she was caught over the spike. She chose then to try and fight. But she was only able to flop like a fish as she hung from the hook. “The cat, now,” Devin ordered wondering why it wasn’t already in his hand. He stripped off his coat while he waited, then worked up his sleeves. He pulled his cravat loose and unfastened the button at his throat, never taking his eyes off his wife as she hung there unable to escape. “Where is the whip?” Devin yelled and looked around for who might be bringing it.

  “Captain,” Mr. Coventon stepped up between he and Mia. He lowered his head and spoke quietly. “You can’t take the cat to her. You’ll have a mutiny on your hands, in fact.”

  “And do what? Let her off without consequence, Lieutenant?”

  “No, sir, but what will be learned under the lash? You’ll not only make the crew turn but she’ll turn. You’ll have a wife who hates you forever more. And I should think you’ll hate the man you are as well.”

  “What then would you suggest? This was no less than mutiny. I leave off and tell all here they can disregard my commands when they wish. They can cause delays and change course during our mission. I won’t have it.” Devin worked now to bring the rage under control. And in successfully doing so, he knew Coventon was correct. He couldn’t whip Mia. The very act could kill her and if she didn’t die she’d hate him. And he’d hate himself. Looking past his officer he saw Mia trying to squirm her way off the spike.

  “Perhaps she need only kiss the captain’s daughter,” Coventon said and held out a well-worn razor strop to him. “Worked wonders on me in my rebel years.” Devin reached for it and as soon and it was in his hands Coventon spun around and called out. “Roll out the cannon.” Several of the crew scurried to do as ordered. This punishment they’d accept. And so could Devin, who watched as Mia was lifted down and carried over to the six-pound cannon being lashed to the deck so it wouldn’t roll. The men tying it down finished as Mia was dropped face down over the barrel. It took two men to get a rope around her kicking feet but in mere minutes she was secured in place. The whistle calling the crew to order sounded and every man snapped to.

  “Eyes outward,” Mr. Coventon called out and every man spun to look out towards the sea. “Mr. Asher, the count.”

  “Aye, sir,” the man said and took a position at the end of the barrel facing in but not looking at Mia as she lay struggling to get free.

  Devin pulled the strop through his palm and stepped up to his wife. “This will be your last act of piracy while I live Mia, because after this there is only the cat and I’ll die before I take that to you.” He stepped back then reached forward to lift the tails of the shirt she wore. It was all she wore. His shirt. Little thief took his shirt when she left the ship. Well she’d not take anything from the ship without his say after this. He stepped back again and raised the length of leather high before bringing it down with force enough to lift him on his toes. Mia’s screams began and never ended. Through it all Devin fought back his own tears. Damn. If he’d lost her to her stubborn madness, what life might he claim then?

  Chapter 21

  Mia knew when she’d spotted the ship her brief moment of freedom was over. She knew too it would be her last chance to taste risk on her lips. She’d made the decision to go off the cliffs last second. They were higher than she commonly jumped from but it was all the same in the end. The swim back to the ship didn’t soften any of the resentment for being forced back where she didn’t fit in. And what now could she possibly find to do? Devin wasn’t going to let her build another raft to make a second escape. She rather expected he’d lock her in the brig and not let her out until she rotted.

  What she didn’t know though was how it would feel to see him step on deck after three days of not seeing him. She didn’t expect the rush of heat, and the desire to walk into his arms. And she didn’t know what to do when his dangerous glare settled on her and she believed him lost to her for all she’d done. So she did what she knew to do. She faced off against him. If he was an enemy, then she’d stand against him as she did any other enemy.

  Then she heard him call for a cat-o-nine and for the first time began to fear her husband as a man, as a captain. As a captain of a naval ship. A ship where it was common enough place to whip a sailor to death, and for crimes far less than she’d committed. She’d frozen in place until she found herself hanging from a spike while he prepared to land those wicked lengths of knotted rope against her back. She struggled to get down and prayed for her papa to sail up and save her. Her only comfort as she watched Devin and Jonah speak was knowing when word did get back to her papa, Devin too would lose his skin.

  Then she was being lifted down and tied face down over a deck gun. She couldn’t make much of the activity around her and only paused in her futile struggles to note all the crew was now lined up around the deck facing the waters and Devin
had stepped up close. So close she could smell his warm, spicy scent. And that was enough to heat her body. His words though chilled.

  “This will be your last act of piracy while I live Mia, because after this there is only the cat and I’ll die before I take that to you.”

  Would he? Would he die? Couldn’t he hate her enough to let her go? She didn’t get a chance to contemplate it. He pushed the shirt out of the way, stepped back and brought the strap down on her.

  Fiery pain seared through her and the scream came out with all the air in her lungs. It pulsed through and made her stomach roll. Before she could take a breath, she heard Mr. Asher call out “one” and a second stroke cut down with the same intensity as the first. Mia flailed but the bonds held, Mr. Asher called out “two” and the strap landed again. “Three.” She was lost to the pain. Each stroke landed in a fresh spot and by the count of ten her ass felt lined with red welts from hip to thigh. But even after the call of ten, another stroke landed and given the startled sound in Mr. Asher’s voice as he called out “eleven” he too was frightened that Devin was never going to stop. Devin continued on, recovering the entire surface a second time so Mia’s only recognizable sensation was a burning, pulling pain in her flanks. “Twenty-one, Captain?” Mr. Asher’s voice drifted in then out as this time the leather fell lower, on the skin at the very top of her thighs. It cut down and Mia felt the welt swell and pull. “Twenty-two?” Another, then another, each one a little lower but staying high on the back of her thighs. “Captain? Thirty? Captain?” Mr. Asher called even as another stroke cut down this time over the roundest part of her ass. A place well visited by the strap already. “Hold.” Mia heard someone yell out. Something hit the deck out of sight at the same time the strap hit again. She’d nothing left at all. She couldn’t rise to scream when Mr. Asher called out “thirty-six”. And when she heard him give the count “thirty-nine” Mia couldn’t say where the last three struck. She gave in, opening her mouth to beg Neptune to end her. Instead, she was freed from her bonds and slipping down to the deck. Devin was right there before she hit, lifting her against him and moving quickly some place not there.

  “We’ll not ever do this again. Mia. Not ever,” he said as he rolled her towards him. “You won’t act the pirate above board again,” he said and Mia felt him begin to rock side to side with the pitch of the ship. “I’d rather die than need to tend to you in this manner again. Don’t try and end me so soon.” Mia felt his face press into her neck then felt the hot splash that rolled along until it vanished.

  She tried once to suck in enough air to speak but her attempt ended with her nearly choking. That she gave him no answer to the accord he’d just handed her didn’t seem to matter. Devin shifted her a bit more, tightened his grip and continued rocking with her. He held on to her like she was the only thing keeping him afloat. And for every bit of the throbbing pain coursing through her now, it was with him she found comfort.

  As bad as she’d behaved, as mutinous as she’d been, he clung to her. It could be he had no place to go that he could leave her behind. But it didn’t matter then. Every angry welt on her skin told of how wrong he thought her to be, but now his every touch was gentle. Some powerful destructive storm passed through their lives, but they’d weathered it. No damage done couldn’t be repaired, if they were both willing. When Mia reached up and slid an arm around his neck and felt him pull her closer to his own body, she knew he was willing.

  “We have a right heading now, Mia mine. Full sails again soon,” he said and nuzzled her cheek. “Good weather, calm waters.”

  “Aye, Captain. Aye,” she said then closed her eyes and breathed in his scent.

  Chapter 22

  “Come here, Mia,” Devin called, taking a seat on the bench.

  “Devin, please,” Mia whined from the door she was trying to exit. “Please, I don’t need it. Please?” He crooked a finger at her, watched her weigh her options, then with a sigh shuffle towards him. “It stings Devin, please don’t.” He pointed to the floor and waited until Mia placed herself in the spot he wanted. “We’re going to be late to supper,” she said as a final attempt to sway him.

  “Only if you don’t cooperate,” he said with a chuckle, twisting open the container the surgeon gave him yesterday afternoon. “And now suddenly you want to hurry to supper? But thirty minutes ago it was taking an hour to pick a dress.” He heard her huff. “Foot, please, Mrs. Winthrop,” he said and dipped his fingers into the cream.

  “Don’t get it on the lace, Captain,” Mia told him as she placed her foot on the bench and hiked her skirts.

  “Then hold the lace higher,” he said and waited to see how much leg she’d show him. It turned out not much as she only worked the dress up mid-calf. She’d been extraordinarily shy with him since the strapping two days ago. Or at least starting from the time she’d woken up after.

  She’d cried herself to sleep in his arms once he’d carried her off the deck. But she’d clung to him until she slept deep enough her body relaxed. If she hated him for his harshness, it wasn’t showing yet. What she’d hated was having the doctor come in and examine all the damage done.

  She’d stood well enough while he looked her over for signs her jump into the waters caused injury, even managed a sneer in Devin’s direction when he proclaimed her fit from that. And she gave a good sulk when the man proclaimed the scrapes and burns from the rough rope tied at her wrists and ankles were carelessly caused by Devin’s lack of judgment. Seems Krebs thought anyone at the moment was clear headed enough to fetch up finer silk cravats to tie Mia over the cannon. It wasn’t until he’d told her to turn and raise her skirts that Mia turned pirate again.

  “I was told you gave her a biblical forty,” Krebs said as he pushed his spectacles up his nose. Devin nodded and felt a heat rise in his face when Mia turned to look at him, her mouth agape. “Well it never killed no one, but turn around and let me see.”

  “What?” she shrieked, backing away until she bumped in to Devin standing behind her. “No. Go away.”

  “Mrs. Winthrop,” the doctor said frowning. “There’s hardly a need for a fuss. You simply need to turn around and lift your robe so I can examine you. It won’t take but a moment.”

  “It won’t take a moment because I’m not letting you. I’m well enough. I’ve been up and able to move.”

  “Stiffly,” Devin cut in, not sure why she was so appalled by the request. She turned to glare at him. “You don’t yet bend or sit,” he added for good measure, regretting it when her expression turned sad.

  “I took a meal.”

  “Which you barely ate,” Devin reminded her and what she did eat he’d threatened and begged to get her to.

  “Please Mrs. Winthrop, I’ve other patients to see.” Again he pushed his glasses up his nose. “You caused a lot of wreckage when you jumped ship. Mr. Cruise’s head needed stitches and Mr. Potter’s arm is badly sprained.”

  “How is that my doing?” Mia snapped, shifting so she could look from one man to the other.

  “Doctor, please,” Devin cut in. He didn’t want Mia scolded more. Mr. Hong had already been in, and by the time he was chased out, Mia was in tears. The two men being hurt when they fainted was not directly her fault. “Mia, let him look. You are quite welted.”

  “Then perhaps you shouldn’t have been so cruel,” she yelled, tears again filling her eyes.

  “Cruel?” the doctor cried out. “The captain’s restraint was remarkable given your actions. Well enough were you mine you’d be missing skin. Jumping ship in the middle of the sea? Do you know what could have happened?” The man reached out, took Mia’s shoulder and spun her around. The action caused her to trip forward into Devin’s hold which he tightened as soon as she tried to pull away. “Causing the ship to change course,” the man went on as he took hold of the robe’s skirt and yanked it high. He gathered it tight at the small of Mia’s back, then leaned over to look at her ass as she wailed into Devin’s chest. “You frightened every so
ul on board. Now hold still,” he ordered when Mia tried to shift away, then stomped her feet.

  Devin listened to the man grunt and hm, and Mia weep, sniff and gasp when the doctor’s fingers happened to brush a particularly painful spot. He could only hug her closer and whisper reassurances through the process.

  “Broke some skin here, too,” Krebs said, releasing the material in his fist and standing. “I’ll fetch you a cream. Apply it a few times a day and you’ll heal up in no time. And best you don’t hide in here. You need sun and air.” The doctor reached for his small case and headed out the door, leaving Mia weeping against Devin.

  “Mia? Come, was it so awful?” Devin asked as he bent, lifted her and carried her to the bed. Sitting down he was careful to settle her between his splayed thighs. She nodded and wiped her face on his shirt. “Why?”

  “I don’t want men to look at me.”

  “Mia, he’s a doctor.”

  “I don’t want him to look at me,” she repeated with more force.

  “Sometimes it is necessary to be seen by a doctor.” She shook her head no and put her arms around his neck. “Why?” Devin asked, careful where he placed his arms and hands as he tried to hold her more securely.

  “I don’t want anyone to see what you did to me.”

  “Ah, Mia. I think everyone in the world has seen a spanked ass before.” Though he’d done more than a fair job on hers. She was welted and bruised and as the doctor said, she’d been cut. Nothing serious. He’d only put any force behind the first eight or ten but the strapping covered the full surface of her stern at least three times and the leather had stiff edges. Still it wasn’t something she’d not recover from in a few days, as she was already proving with this rebellion.

  “No, not that,” she sobbed. “I don’t want them to see how you ruined me.”

  “Ruined you,” Devin shouted and shifted so she was forced back in his arms. “How did I ruin you? Mia you’re not ruined.”