His Pirate Wife

by Marie Hall

“No, you can go,” Devin again spoke without so much as a look in her direction. Mia didn’t miss the sigh she gave as she dipped into a curtsy and left the room. Devin took a step forward then leaning over the tub bent and placed a soft kiss on Mia’s lips. “Jealousy doesn’t become you pirate.”

  “Arr,” Mia growled and cupping water in her hands splashed her face. “She wouldn’t stop staring at your ass. It wasn’t jealousy,” she added and watched his brow go up. “It wasn’t. I was only worried she was going to give in and take a bite of you.”

  Devin chuckled, “And what might you have done if she had? There are no shoals in these waters to leave her on.” The fingers that tested the temperature of her water swirled lazily in it. Each little circle edged closer to her breasts as they floated. Mia felt the pull as her nipples tightened.

  “I might have pulled out her teeth,” she hissed then moaned when Devin’s fingers found one nipple and pinched it hard.

  “Well you need not worry. The only one I want biting me is you.” His fingers trailed up the side of her tit, across her collarbone, and up her neck to her jaw. As soon as they came in reach, Mia closed her teeth over his fingertips, holding them there while her tongue swirled around them. “Aye, pirate, only you.” He was leaning in for another kiss when the door burst open and Hong came in complaining about how Mia left so many dresses unpacked on the ship and how even now her trunks were delayed at the docks.

  “Mr. Hong,” Devin shouted, unaware of what the man was clamoring about. “Mr. Hong.” The man was still going on. Telling Mia that she left her basket right on the dock where anyone might have taken it. “Mr. Hong,” Devin shouted this time with some heat in his tone. The man stopped. Looking over her shoulder at him, Mia saw his surprised expression.

  “Why captain here, why not go looking?” Mr. Hong asked.

  “Looking for what?” Devin asked moving towards the door, hooking Hong by the arm as he went.

  “Looking wife number two. You need look wife number two,” Hong told him. “You get next wife now, Mia be good to wife two. Wife two no not watch Mia when jump in harbor.”

  Devin had come to a complete stop at Hong’s words. He stood several long seconds with his mouth hanging open before turning back to Mia to ask, “Is he suggesting I marry a second woman?”

  Mia felt her lips twitch up at how horrified he sounded. She directed her words to Hong. “How many wives should he have Hong Chin?”

  “At least four, he has money, and isn’t too young.” Hong answered thoughtfully.

  “Not one other Devin,” Mia said translating. She waited for Devin to look relieved before adding, “Three others. He thinks you should have at least four wives.”

  “Four?” Devin cried, making Mia giggle. “What would I do with four?” he asked looking between them. It took a minute for Devin to regain some composure but then he again started dragging Mr. Hong out the door. “I don’t want or need more wives, Mr. Hong. I’m barely surviving the one I currently have.” He shoved Hong out then slammed the door. “Four wives. Who has four wives?”

  Mia sank a little lower in the water. “Mr. Hong. Although he did give back wife number two, so maybe now he only has three. But I think he still has to count her.”

  “Mia?” Again, he sounded so horrified. “Who does that?”

  “Lots of men,” she said dipping her head back to rinse the last of the salt water from her scalp only to feel a moment of panic when the water washed over her face. She sat up abruptly and drew in a deep breath. “Many in my crews have a wife in several ports and other women who wait in the ports where no wife does,” she said to keep Devin from asking again if she was all right.

  “Well you’re more than enough for me,” he said, his eyes passing over her rather critically, before his expression softened and with a wicked smile he said, “Perhaps though I should get you a few more husbands. That way I might get some rest.”

  “Oh? Do I wear you out, Captain?” Mia asked then rubbed at her chest where it started to tighten. Did she wear him out or did he only wish to have someone to pass her off to?

  “You haven’t so far, but many more grand mornings like this and you may,” Devin said, as he crossed over to the chair where the thick sheet was spread out to warm.

  He’d said it so easily, so lightly, but this morning was an utter disaster. She’d wanted nothing more than to make his homecoming an honorable, memorable event for him. To make sure they all knew he’d wed a lady not a pirate or a whore or anything else she’d been to him while aboard the ship. All she’d managed to do was cause a scene.

  All anyone saw was a half-drowned rat being pulled from the drink. She couldn’t even think how anyone would ever find her respectable now. And it all happened in front of so many important people. God help her, a royal was on those docks.

  “Mia?” Devin called.

  Maybe he’d do better to go find wife number two. He could give Mia back and wife two could make him proud.

  “Mia, are you crying?” Devin asked standing directly over her. “Mia why are you crying?”

  “I ruined it for you. All those people. It was supposed to be your moment and I ruined it.” She put her face in her hands then again felt a panic rise up when the light was blotted out.

  She heard him sigh and step away. The next instant she was grabbed by the arm. “Out with you,” he snapped, pulling her dripping from the tub. The sheet wrapped around her and then his arms followed. She was squeezed so hard against him her breathing was constricted. “You ruined nothing. Do I need to paddle you properly to make you understand that?”

  “I wanted everyone to see that you married a lady and all they saw was a wet rat,” Mia mumbled against his chest as her hands worked their way out of the sheet so she could hold on to him.

  “All they saw, Mia, was a brave and daring woman, a hero who rescued a child at great peril to herself.”

  “He was there on the dock and the next he was in the water, sinking to the bottom. I didn’t know what else to do. I didn’t know the pilings would be blocked. He couldn’t hold his breath or I’d have gone under. I didn’t…”

  All her life Mia never shied from taking risks. And even when they’d not ended like she’d planned she’d never been left feeling so frightened by them. And she’d certainly been responsible for the lives of other people. Entire crews could depend on her. But that one child, he’d been so scared and she truly started to believe she was lying to him about getting out. Long before Devin responded to her, she wondered if it would be less cruel to hold the child under, drown him quickly, rather than keeping him choking and terrified until they both succumbed to the tide.

  And she knew, as wrong as it was, she’d had a moment when she considered letting the child go that she might swim down under the ship and have a chance to make it out and back to Devin.

  “What happened, Mia? Did you think about saving yourself during it all?” Devin asked, pulling her closer. She nodded, not able to speak with the lump in her throat. “Anyone would have. I think everyone has a moment when they must choose to save what they can. Save the ship or save the sailor. But you got through that moment Mia. You got through it and you saved that child. And knowing now how it turned out I would not fault you doing it again. No one saw a drowned rat, my love, they saw a hero. They saw what all of us on the ship saw several times over. I’m so proud of you.”

  “Aye, Captain,” she sobbed and tried to cling more tightly to him. How she’d have missed feeling this if she’d died under the docks. It couldn’t be safer in God’s own arms. He anchored her even in the roughest seas. “Devin, please.” She needed something. Something more to prove she didn’t really die and this wasn’t just how heaven looked. “Please.”

  “What do you need, Mia?” he asked, looking down on her. She set her hand on the side of his face and drew him down as she reached for the kiss.

  It started chaste enough, but once she felt his warmth it touched off an inferno within her. Her fingers tangled in his
hair, pulling him down so she could taste everything. She made sure every time they broke the kiss to breathe, she inhaled his scent. The pounding she felt might have been her heart or his. And the strength of his hands on her, even through the sheet, bordered on pain. But it was the pain that made her know she wasn’t dead. It was the pain she needed more of. “Please Devin, please. I need to feel it. Make me feel it.”

  She didn’t need to explain, not to Devin. He knew her. Knew her needs and wants. Gave them without judgment. He lifted her from the floor and crossed the room to the large bed where he set her down and stripped the sheet from her before spinning her away and pushing her face down over the feather mattress. Even before she’d settled, his hand smacked down hard.

  “That Mia? Is that want you need?” She answered by lifting her ass higher. He landed a second smack even as he took a seat on the bed to her left. “Yes, a good spanking for a naughty heroine. Spread your legs, Mia. Spread them wide.” She did, trying to open her legs and get more situated on the bed. He didn’t give her the chance. His hand struck again, this time directly on the swelling lips between her thighs. The pain rolled over her, pushing a moan from her lips.

  “Aye, Captain. Please,” she said, when it seemed too much time passed between the last time his hand fell and now.

  “Say my name, Mia,” Devin said, giving her right ass cheek a solid blow. “Say it,” he commanded, followed by the same action administered to her left.

  “Devin.” She might love saying his name as much as he loved hearing it. “Devin, please. Don’t stop.” He complied delivering three sharp hits, all to her sex which dripped as her need for more continued to build.

  “This isn’t enough for you is it, little pirate?” he asked. Mia heard the soft clink of his belt buckle. “Maybe this?” A second later the bite of leather on her inner thigh caused her to cry out. She jerked away but was quick to arch back as the second stroke fell. This one clipped the outer edge of her sex and sent a burning pleasure tearing through her. “Aye. I see what you need now,” Devin said then began raining quick, smart blows down all over her ass and thighs. Several hit her sex and each time she was pushed a little closer, but she still couldn’t find it. “Maybe this will help.” She heard him say, but not sure if he spoke to her or to himself. Then his hand was working under her, wiggling past her mons and forcing the lips to part until the bud was exposed. He set his fingers on her and ground into her hard just as the belt landed again across the span of one thigh. It was the next spank that sent her over. She pushed down onto his fingers to keep the wave from breaking too soon. When it did, it left Mia seeing stars behind her closed lids. “Like that, Mia mine, just like that.”

  Mia gulped in air and forced her hands to relax in the bedclothes she clutched. Yes, just like that. “More Devin. Please more.”

  He chuckled. “Greedy wench,” he said before moving to stand behind her. The rustle of clothing was followed by his hands on her hips lifting so her knees were on the bed. He stepped forward and entered her with one hard thrust.

  Mia cried out as he pulled back and thrust forward hard a second time. One more exactly as the last two and Mia was spinning off the cliff again. Devin’s strokes settled into purposeful, long, strong movements and Mia easily matched them. He threw her in the wake of passion one more time before what he was doing wasn’t enough. If she was truly alive she wanted to know it with every part of her body. “Devin, please. Please.”

  “Mia?” he asked even as he withdrew and pushed her hips down to the right position. “This Mia? This is what you need?”

  “Aye, please,” Mia begged, and the very act made her shiver with pleasure. She felt him align his cock with her asshole and push in. The pain from the unprepared entry eased almost too soon. But when he let his weight push him in as deep as he could reach, Mia had to bury her face in the bedding to muffle the scream.

  She felt his fingers dig in as he gripped her hips and pulled her back then pushed her forward. She tried once to aid him, but the excruciating pleasure sapped her body of all its strength. She rather thought she’d turned into a jellyfish for how limp she felt. When she came she’d barely enough left to hold for Devin to finish. He fell on top of her as small ripples continued to course through her.

  “Did you get what you needed, my love?” Devin asked, slipping to her side, and brushing the hair from her face.

  “Aye.” She’d needed to know she was alive and if finding out was going to be the end of her, it was the best way to die.

  He chuckled, reached to kiss her then dragged the covers around her. “Let me see about some food, then maybe we can have another go.” He kissed her again before rolling to his back and sitting up. “Will you be all right here alone until I come back?”

  She closed her eyes and nodded. Thinking how it might be next time, after some food and maybe a nap. She snuggled in as the covers were adjusted around her, the bitter cold of the English port forgotten now with her flesh so heated. And the fears fading, too. She’d survived and Devin was with her. What else mattered? Nothing at all that she could see on the horizon.

  Chapter 4

  Devin looked back one more time before closing the door. Mia was bundled in the thick bedding, snoring softly. He’d expected that break to come a little sooner, but Mia did things in her own time, her own way.

  Not that he at all was dissatisfied with how she did them. Damn him, though, if he hadn’t had a moment to think maybe she’d need more than one of his soft discipline episodes to let go of that frightened look that was on her face from the moment he opened the dock to pull her out of the water. In their time together, Devin learned Mia wasn’t one to care for the feeling of guilt. And the moment she may have considered abandoning the boy caused guilt.

  He did wonder if this was the first time she’d been threatened with death. As a ship captain there was always danger to be had, but it always seemed manageable, usually right up until all was lost. Still she’d not shown any caution in her other dangerous activities like jumping ship at sea or jumping from that cliff into the sea. Not until she was about to be held to account did she even flinch and even then he was the only one who saw her do so.

  He rather admired her for it, too. Her ability to face off and stand to a challenge was impressive. And while he’d almost fainted when she went off that cliff, he didn’t want to see her become timid. Cowardice, he knew, would make her more vulnerable and give him more to worry on. His wife, after all, might be a risk taker, but she wasn’t stupid in any manner. Her going in after the child, while not well thought out, was instinct for her, same as when she’d dropped nets for the crew to climb out of the water. She acted first, the best she could, then thought about it. It wasn’t how he did things, but he knew Mia and he were as opposite as east and west. But without each other the day couldn’t be complete.

  Crossing the private sitting room, he noticed that both his and Mia’s trunks from their quarters arrived, but little else. They’d each at least have something to dress in, though his plans at the moment were to do little else than lie in bed with her for the next week. He set his hand on the door handle then his other on the frame and leaning over he drew in a deep breath. Damn he’d almost lost her. Maybe a little more caution on her part wouldn’t hurt either of them.

  Devin made his way to the main floor of the Dolphin Inn. The pub was crowded but not overly noisy. He’d request someone fetch up something that could be brought to their room. Pulling his watch from his pocket he was disappointed to see it was barely ten o’clock.

  “Captain.” Devin spun at the call. “Captain,” Mr. Brinks called again with a smile as he approached. “Mrs. Winthrop?”

  “A bit swamped but still afloat,” Devin said and smiled at the man’s show of relief. “It will take more than a rising tide to sink her.”

  “Sure is that, Captain,” Mr. Brinks said. “We have a table.” They both looked around and Mr. Brinks amended, “Several tables actually.”

  “I shouldn’
t leave Mia alone too long,” Devin said even as he followed the man through the crowd. “Is everyone from the ship here?” he asked as he was greeted by several crew who stopped long enough in eating to say something.

  “Watch is still on board, but anyone who could ran when Mr. Hong started yelling about the mess left in your quarters, then about how long it was taking to get Mrs. Winthrop’s things out of the hold. Some haven’t seen the purser for their pay.”

  “That wily little man was in my room not twenty minutes ago,” Devin said wondering at how he was getting around town so quickly. Of course, the Dolphin was hardly a stone’s throw from the docks, but with three ships in port he imagined the streets to be quite crowded. Then again it was only ten in the morning.

  “Yes, he took what was ready. Sit here, sir,” Brinks said, pulling another chair close to the table as Devin waved the others sitting around to remain seated. “He took what was ready then came back to yell at us for not having everything else off loaded.”

  “Talking about Hong now,” Mr. Quiggly said, pushing a tankard toward Devin. “How’s the missus, Captain?”

  “Dried out and warmed up, asleep when I left the room,” Devin said and looked in the cup. By the dark color and rich smell, it seemed to be port. “I was thinking it was too early to drink. I don’t want to garner a drunkard’s reputation if I’m to stay here.” He lifted the cup, put it to his lips, pulled it back to think better about it then tipped it back and swallowed down about half.

  “As soon as everyone meets your wife, sir, they’ll understand,” Mr. Wilshire said, waving until he caught the attention of one of the bar maids. A chuckle was heard around, not just at his table but at a few close enough to have heard the remark. Devin raised his brow but tipped the cup and finished it off.

  “I’m going to be the only man just twenty and three with a head of grey hair,” Mr. Asher complained with a nervous laugh. “That boy was taken to a physician. Should one be sent for Mia?”