Never Surrender (Uncharted Secrets, Book 4): Endless Horizon Pirate Stories

by Cristi Taijeron

  Wrapping his big arm around my shoulder, Cardozo pulled me close and kissed my forehead. “But now you know the truth, my lily, and most importantly, you know your father is alive and looking for you, as well.”

  “I suppose that makes it a bit better.” I snuggled against his chest, soothed by the rhythm of his heartbeat.

  In her broken English, Yobani asked, “You two love?”

  “No.” I stepped out of his embrace.

  She said some things to him in Spanish. He reached out and tickled my shoulder as he translated, “She says we can have her room while we visit.”

  I swatted him off. “Tell her she doesn’t have to do that.”

  Grabbing my cheeks, he pulled me against him and imparted a sultry whisper in my ear,“You told me I could do whatever I wanted with my saucy lips once we came ashore, and I’d rather do so in here than out there with the snakes and sloths and possums.”

  All too tempted by the offer, I agreed. “Tell her I say thank you, and let her know we will not be here for long.”

  Chapter 14

  White Lily

  Though I am horribly saddened by my terrible timing, there is nothing I can do about my family affairs until we reach Port Royal. So, I’ve taken Miguel’s advice and have been enjoying the last few days among our new friends. Everyone in the village is friendly and each night has been a good time. The villagers created a new tent where they arranged the fanciful furniture we traded to make the place look like a nobleman’s parlor. There, we’ve been feasting on roasted boar and drinking rum out of Lord Vernon Wellington’s pretty little tea cups.

  Most of these people have either run away from slavery or fought off their oppressors, aiming to hold onto what little pride had not yet been stolen from them, and like the pirates—knowing the scarcity of such freedoms—they live each beautiful day like it will be their last. Considering my life’s recent turn of events, this is just the kind of holiday I need, and the nights alone with Miguel have been but a cherry atop the sweet treats I’ve been enjoying. In fact, as I sit here at the table in this little room we’ve been sharing, watching his chest rise and fall as he breathes, and eyeing the way his lips lay so neatly beneath his mustache, I am beginning to wonder what I am doing this far away from him.

  -The Portuguese Pirate’s White Lily-

  Awaking to the smell of my burning parchment, Miguel fanned his face. “What is that awful stench?”

  “It is the stench of burning secrets.” I giggled as I cleaned up my mess.

  Though I was not willing to share what I had written, I was happy to be able to express aloud that I was indeed writing things I did not want to share.

  With his big arm draped heavily over his handsome face, he chuckled, “You are a crafty little siren, Remington Rain.”

  He had been calling me by my true name when we were alone, and I liked it. Just as soon as I thought about telling him how much I adored the freedom of being able to be myself in his presence, there was a knock outside the hut.

  “I need to speak with you, Bentley. Alone.” Inazon’s booming voice wafted through the room.

  “I’ll be right there, sir.” I straightened my attire, kissed Miguel on his cheek, and headed out to greet the leader of the tribe.

  He graced me with his warm, friendly smile. “I have much to tell you before you leave tomorrow. Please, join me for a walk.”

  Enjoying Inazon’s company so far, I was more than happy to follow him to the garden—which I had not been shown yet. “This is my favorite part of our land,” Inazon said as he spread his arms wide about the blooming crops. “These plants bring life to our bodies and strength to our minds, and to walk among them always reminds me what it is to live.”

  Admiring a tall stock of corn, I said, “I never looked at a garden that way.”

  Inazon squinted at me like I was a fool. Considering the basic truth behind his statement, I suppose I was.

  After shaking his feather-adorned head with irritation, he said, “I bring you here because this was also your father’s favorite place. Day after day he would walk these fields, tilling dirt, pruning plants, and picking fruits. I have been among the fruits of the earth all my days, but he was one of the finest farmers I have ever come across. One of the better men I’ve known, as well. I could feel it in his being as he lay injured, and I was sure of it when he insisted on staying to repay the debt of the care he was offered. And that is why I allowed him to take my daughter’s hand.

  You see, Yobani was married once, but when she proved to be barren, her husband left her for another. At her young age, she was shoved aside; her only use among us became the chore of caring for the sick and injured. Ah, the girl with a bright and cheerful heart—who had once spent most of her days picking flowers in the sunlight—had become a sad and quiet soul.” He shook his head in sadness. “Then Manimal brought Mason to us. At first, he was nothing more to Yobani than another wound to tend, but as he came alive under her care, she also came alive in the love he showed her. Saying that you and your brother troubled him enough, he was more than pleased to share his company with a woman who could not produce, and over the years their love blossomed like the flowers she was once again picking to put in her hair.”

  Annoyed to be hearing more of this stupid love story that kept my father from coming after me, I forced a polite smile as he went on. “The love he showed her shines bright in her heart, even now that he is gone, and that is why I cannot tell her the truth.”

  “The truth?” I inhaled a dreadful breath of steamy jungle air. “What is the truth?”

  “I tell you this because I believe you deserve to know, and I trust that you will not tell Yobani.” He glared at me like he would eat me alive if I broke his trust.

  Not giving much of a shit about Yobani, anyhow, it was easy to agree to keep quiet.

  Inazon let out a long breath. “As you know, Mason left to find you and your brother. Manimal, who had also longed to return to the sea, joined him, along with a few others. Well, on their way back to the shore, they were caught by the Spanish. Manimal was arrested for his previous crimes and the others were considered guilty by association.also captured. Only one man made it back to tell me of their fates.”

  “No.” My world began to spin around me. This was so much worse than bad timing. This was a nightmare. “What do you think the Spanish did with them?”

  “Slaves, prisoners, death even...who knows? But whatever happened to them, it is out of our hands.”

  “How can you say that? You say Mason revived your daughter. Can’t we make an attempt to rescue him? My men and I will help.”

  “I have thought of it many times, but as you know, my people have escaped and evaded such punishments thus far, and we have been able to maintain our peaceful plot of land by holding fast to our ground. It is well understood among us that anyone who leaves, leaves at their own risk.”

  As much as I hated his words, I understood his reasoning. In this dreadful world, we were all on our own, and now knowing my father—the one light that had been guiding me through this terrible tunnel of darkness—had been taken by the chain clamping, back whipping, blood spilling Spanish, left me feeling lost and alone on a dark and turbulent sea.

  Uninterested in celebrating our last night in the village, I went off to my little hut right after dinner. I just wanted to be alone. Alone, I packed my case of belongings. Alone, I drank a bottle of rum as I tried to think of the best new course of action. I could always go back to Lisbon and resume my work at the brothel house I owned; it was the one stable thing I had. But imagining the long, strenuous sail across the Atlantic, I decided against it. Port Royal was closer and it was where I had always wanted to go. Rather than looking at this as a dead end, I would view it as a detour, and regain my stride on my original course.

  Hearing footsteps approaching, I grabbed my dagger, but was relieved to see Cardozo open the sheet over the door. “You look upset,” he said as he plopped down beside me on the bed.

>   “I am not bubbling with joy, that’s for sure.” While poking at the chair Mason had made with the quill he used to write in that soul-haunting journal, I relayed the shitten news that Inazon shared with me.

  Miguel listened closely and asked many questions. When I finally finished, he pulled me alongside him and kissed my cheek. “What will you do now, meu bem?”

  I let him know what I had planned, finishing with the new idea of relaying this information to Sterling. “Considering the condition Manimal found Mason in, I can only assume Sterling has no idea what’s become of our father. As close as they were, he should probably know.”

  “Perhaps you will see him in Port Royal, and perhaps he can teach me a thing or two about the seas. I hear he is one hell of a navigator.” He smiled in a way that warmed my sad and lonely heart.

  “Thank you for being such a good friend, Miguel.” I cuddled against his chest. “You are the best one I have right now. Come to think of it, you are probably the best friend I’ve ever had.”

  “I reckon I might have to say the same about you. Now, just rest, meu bem. You will need a good night’s sleep before we get back to sea tomorrow afternoon.”

  Lying close to his beating heart, I feel asleep in his arms.

  Unsure of how long I had been out, I awoke to the feel of Miguel’s warm, hard hand rubbing my back beneath my shirt. Kissing on my neck, he breathed softly in my ear. “Wake up, my precious lily. I wish to inhale your feminine fragrance one last time before we sail away.”

  Wanting nothing more than to lose my woes in the tangled vines of his wanton passion, I rolled over and pulled him on top of me. Kissing him deeply, I tugged his shirt out of his breeches and pulled it over his head. Piece by piece he undressed me, and once we were both as bare as the moon that was beaming in the window, he moved inside me. After the terrible day I’d had, it was painful at first, but I held him close as he loosened my tension with every slow and rhythmical thrust of his hips. The warmth of his skin instantly consoled my sadness. The power of his touch quickly healed my pain. He melted me into the sheets with every beautiful word he spoke, and my heart, that had only recently been a dark and dreadful place, suddenly became a source of light and magic.

  Moonlight reflected in his light brown eyes as he stared deep into mine, making the world outside of our gaze fall away. The molten desire of our unspoken emotion fused us together, and as he kissed me, and licked me, and touched me all over, I became the lovely lily he saw me as. Beneath him there was no disguise to uphold. With my legs wrapped around his back, pulling him closer to my body and closer to my heart, there were no secrets to shield. Here, in his arms, I was a woman with nothing to hide.

  Biting my lip and caressing my tongue with his, he moved my hips up and down against him with his big, hard hands. The ecstasy became too much to bear. Drifting into a euphoric state of being—a place where my mind soared—a strange new thought made way in the clouds. At that moment, with his hand wrapped tight in my hair and his body pressed hard against mine, I realized…I was not alone. All this time I had been looking to fill a void, but here in his arms, there wasn’t a barren space to be filled. With him, I felt complete. Whole. The greatest prize is one hard to find, and it was my own wall of defense that had kept this precious secret out of my line of sight.

  Touching his face and gazing into his eyes, I thought of how dangerous these waters I was treading were, but there was no more denying that Miguel Cardozo was more than just my friend. Considering all the other risks I’d taken with my life, I decided to finally take one with my heart. Pulling his face closer to mine, I softly whispered the words I thought I would never say to anyone, “I…I love you, Miguel. I love you.”

  Diving out of my gaze, he squeezed me tight and breathed heavily on my neck. “Oh, my lily. I, well…” Breathing deeply as he finished, he was unable to complete his stuttered sentence, but as I lay there beneath him, still full with his love, I waited for him to respond. Nervously, he twirled a lock of my hair around his finger as he lay dead limp on top of me. His body grew tense as his breathing slowed. Mine tensed, as well. My breath heightened with my heartbeat. My head began to spin. What did I just say? Why did I say it? Did he feel the same? He couldn’t. No. He would have said it by now if he did.

  Pushing him off of me, I jumped out of bed and put my breeches on. He flopped flat on his face when I rose and had not moved or said a word since.

  While strapping my breasts down with the flattening band, I grumbled, “Forget I said it.”

  Finally sitting up, he reached for his breeches, and while putting them on he said, “Listen, Lily…”

  “Don’t call me that.” I tugged on the laces of my waistcoat, chest heaving painfully beneath it.

  He reached for his shirt. “It’s not that I don’t feel for you. I do, I truly do. If only things were different…”

  “How? What the hell kind of circumstances would suit your fancy, Miguel Cardozo? Perhaps a prettier girl who wore dresses?” I snipped as I tugged my stockings on, nearly falling over as I did so.

  “No, my darling, you are as pretty as can be, but I, well…I am in love with Lena and she is carrying my child. I plan to marry her when I return, and with the wealth I’ve acquired from this run, I hope to buy a home and raise a family with her.”

  The words struck me like a knife to the heart. Weakly, I fell to my knees. My world—that I thought could not wobble any further off its pitiful axis—spun so quickly my stomach began to churn. He hadn’t come on this journey to help me, but to earn the money needed to care for Lena. The pretty little whore who would give him his first child. Hunching over from the pain, I threw up all over the dirt floor. Once I was done heaving up the itty bitty pieces of my stupid shattered heart, I narrowed my eyes at him. “I hate you.”

  He laughed. “You just told me you love me. You can’t hate me right after.”

  “Yes I can, and I do. I hate you for using me to fill your petty pleasures, when all the while you’ve had a slut waiting as your bride-to-be.”

  “Don’t call her that, Remington. I have loved her for many years now and she will soon be my wife.”

  “If you love her so much, then why are you out here in the jungle fucking me?”

  His face contorted in confusion. After shaking his head quickly, he asserted, “You do not understand the things she and I have been through.”

  “You are nothing if not right about that! And honestly, I don’t care to know shit about either of you, because she is a stupid slut and I hate her as much as I hate you!” I tried to run away from him but he grabbed my arm.

  “Listen, I had no idea you felt this way. I thought you just wanted sex. You are so strong and confident; I never would have expected you to fall in love with me.”

  “I shouldn’t have!” I finally got my damned shoes on and began gathering my weapons. “I should have known better than to fall for a pirate like you. But I thought you were different.” Like a stupid little girl I started to cry. “I thought there was more to you, but I was wrong—painfully and embarrassingly wrong!”

  “There is more to me, there is,” his voice trembled, his eyes looked watery, “and that is why I must return to the child I have created with the woman I love. I am sorry I didn’t tell you. I didn’t think it mattered, but I am so sorry.”

  Right then it hit me. Just like Midnight had said, If you sleep with a man you are not married to, you are nothing more than his whore. Once again, she was right. Letting out a pathetic laugh, I shook my head. “Lena is not the whore. I am.”

  “No, Remington. That is not at all how I see you.” He reached for me.

  I slapped his hand away. “You don’t get to call me that! I only let you call me by my name because I thought you wanted to know me, but I’m nobody and no one knows me. And I don’t need your shit arse apology, either. This is my fault for thinking I could trust you.” Not wanting to look at his handsome face ever, ever again, I stormed towards the door.

  He block
ed the exit. “You cannot run off in this jungle.”

  “What would it matter to you if I did?” I tried to shove past him. “You have much more important things than lowly ol’ me to worry about.”

  He shoved me against the stone wall. “Stop it. You are my friend and I care about you.”

  “Do you fuck all your friends, Cardozo? Do you romance them all in different languages? Do you gaze into their eyes and call them stupid little names that will make them hate beautiful flowers for the rest of their lives after you rip their hearts out? Is that how you treat all of your friends?” I wailed like a woman gone mad, not thinking twice about the disguise I’d worked so hard to uphold.

  “No. I just…I never wanted to hurt you, meu bem.”

  “Stop calling me nice names! I am nothing but a mean, nasty little girl who kills and steals and fucks old men like you!” Busting out of his grip, I punched him across the jaw. As his head whipped back from the blow, I grabbed his boots—hoping he wouldn’t chase me without them—and bolted out the door.

  Running into the dark forest as fast as I could, I dropped one boot after the other hoping he’d never find them. Dipping into the shadows and swerving between trees—alive with the haunting sounds of wild animals stirring about—I heard Cardozo calling me. “Bentley! Rory! Remington Rain!” That only made me run faster. Dreading his presence more than the snakes and the boars and whatever the hell other creatures lurked in these dreadful woods, I did all I could to lose him while still keeping true to the course. I wanted to be on my ship. It was the closest thing I had to a home. How pitiful was that?