Taken by Pirates

“Maggie, my feelings for you run deeper than the sea itself. I can’t imagine a single day without your smile. I can no longer live in a world where you don’t have my ring on your pretty finger.”

He slipped the ring onto my left hand. “This was my mother’s,” he practically whispered. “She would’ve adored you, Maggie.” Those dark eyes looked up at me carefully. “I love you so much, my darling girl. Will you be my wife?”

Blinking through a mist of tears, I tried to find my voice. “Yes,” I finally managed to choke.

“I don’t think everyone heard that,” he grinned. “But they’ll get the idea.” Standing, he swept me into his arms in a long, lusty kiss.

I felt like I was melting from the heat of his touch as he held me. “Levi!” I gasped. “What if someone’s watching?”

“They are,” he chuckled.

Spinning us toward the house, I gasped in shock as I saw a group of people coming through the garden toward us. Not only the rest of the crew and Clementine, but also several ladies that must have been her friends, and a pastor.

The crewmen were each carrying a few chairs that they arranged in the rose bush section of the garden.

Looking down, I realized I was already wearing an appropriate dress to be wed. And Willy had tricked me into making my own bouquet.

Levi looked at me very strangely as I began to laugh – deep belly laughter that I couldn’t control.

“Aye, she’s having a fit, to be sure, Captain,” Dwyer said, looking worried.

“I’m fine,” I managed to sputter. “Just…overwhelmed.”

The group gathered in a semi circle in the rose garden, as Levi and I faced the pastor. The tall, rather elegant gentleman in a black suit stepped forward to speak to me directly.

“Maggie Douglas, is it?”

“Yes, sir.”

“I just heard this is a bit of a surprise wedding. Is that all right with you?”

I grinned widely. “Everyone else doing the planning and the fussing? Yes. This is perfectly all right with me.”

Clementine stepped forward, tucking an extra rose behind my ear. “Levi sees how hard you work, and knew you’d hate being a bother. I figured if we put these boys to the task, everything could be done in a flash.”

Everyone was seated, as I looked around in complete astonishment. The crew was scrubbed up and smiling. The ladies I didn’t know already had tears in her eyes, and Clementine’s bottom lip was trembling as she pulled a kerchief from her sleeve.

The wedding itself was simple, and unbelievably sweet. There was a moment of laughter during our vows as Levi had to take the ring off my finger then put it back on. He leaned down to whisper in my ear, “That’s the last time your finger will ever be bare, my love.”

A shiver ran up my spine from his warm breath in my ear, but more than that, it was his tone.

This incredible man was claiming me. Completely. And tonight, I knew that he would be claiming me in every possible way as we shared a bed again.

~ Ch apter 28 ~ The Captain ~

* Alone, and Sweet Words *

Ever since I was sixteen years old, when my father passed, I had been the man of the house, caring for my mother for the next five years. When she too passed, I took care of winding up their affairs.

Then it was time to answer my calling, which had always been the sea. I set off as a deckhand on the first ship that would take me. Over the years I worked my way up, saving every penny safely in Clementine’s cellar.

My shipmates always thought I drank my money away, since I didn’t have any left over for gambling. Since they thought I was a drunk, they didn’t always notice how hard I worked, or pay attention to how I was always making connections with every Captain we passed by.

Being well liked among scoundrels had benefits. I was always told of the best jobs, the best ports, and the best opportunities. When old Captain Clancy decided to retire to his hometown and sell his ship, I was the first person he offered it to.

The day I purchased Midnight Treasure , I truly felt like a Captain. A king among men. Years of hard work had culminated in something that I considered a great success.

Everything changed as I looked into Maggie’s bright blue eyes as she said the words, “I do.” My chest puffed up with pride as my cheeks almost hurt from the width of my smile.