The Pirate's Stowaway

Chapter 40

They stayed in each other's arms all night, only moving when they had to. The closeness and the rocking of the ship made it easy for their dreaming to be peaceful.

Donovan was the first to wake up and when he did he looked down at the beautiful woman in his arms and thought about everything that had happened within the last twenty four hours. Even though she had lied about where she had come from, he had still fallen in love with who she was.

There was no better woman and he knew there would never be another for him.

He looked around his quarters and noticed the little beams shining in the small window and knew that it was still early outside. He wouldn't wake her up just yet, he would just enjoy this time with her.

He didn't know how long he laid there and every now and then his mind would drift off and his thoughts too, they stopped when Emma started to stir.

She stretched, her body feeling like it was a spring that had been stretched to its limit. The past couple days had been an emotional and physical roller coaster. It had become her favorite ride. She could feel Donovan behind her and as much as wanted nothing more than to stay there in bed with him, she knew that she was wasting the day away and that she had things to prepare.

Mostly, it was the meat they brought back from the boar, it would be ruined if not eaten that day.

Not a second after her feet hit her floor, Donovan turned her gently, his hand on the side of her face and gave her a kiss that she felt through her body, down to her curled toes. She chose a simple dress to wear for the day. It has extra fabric around her breasts so she didn't need a bra, only undies and a pair of simple flats. Her hair was tied back in a crazy bun on top of her head, but she knew the sea would be as humid as it always was.

She couldn't take any chances, she had work to do.

Behind her she heard Donovan moving, getting dressed. She kindly waited for him to finish before she unlocked and opened the door. His crew was probably used to seeing him, but she wanted to give him the privacy anyway.

The air was crisp and had a nice flow to it and she closed her eyes to let the ocean's smells wash around her.
Usually she would wait for Donovan before she came out, but after the island she felt all of that shift, they felt like family now and based on the 'good mornings' she received she figured they felt the same way about her.

Even Cristoff stepped over to her side by the railing to talk to her.

"Morning beautiful." He told her and inclined his head toward her. She smiled and also told him good morning.

"Would you mind making a table from a plank of wood and a couple of the barrels? I would like to make lunch out of what we got from the island, that way nothing spoils."

"I would love to Emma." He replied and walked over to a couple of other crew mates, talking to them and pointing.

She turns her head, smiles at Donovan quickly and moves to the stairs to walk down the steps to the lower level and start on getting some of the supplies, moving them to the top deck.

There were bananas, mangoes and even some oranges to go along with the meat they had left over from the boar. It would be a lovely lunch and she was looking forward to it. She felt like she was on autopilot going up and down the stairs. It probably took an hour or so to get everything ready and once it was, she felt so proud of herself.

No one had any seats to sit in so they stood around the makeshift table and dove in, using crudely made wooden plates to eat off of and little wooden cups to drink their rum or water out of.

"Before everyone completely loses their manners," Donovan started, "let's all thank miss Emma for putting all of this together on this beautiful day."

"Emma!" Their voices rang out together and they held their cups high in her direction. She raised hers in response and took a drink of her water, loving the way it felt when the cool liquid slid down her throat.

She loved feeling like she finally had a family that accepted her for what and who she was. She didn't have to be perfectly primped or keep her tongue in line, right now she was super tanned and her hair was in terrible disarray.

She felt beautiful.

It was nice to just live and that was all she planned on doing.

As the day went on it got hotter and hotter and by mid-day she was melting and switched from her day dress to a dress that could probably be counted as an undergarment. Most of the men were shirtless though. Among those men Donovan was included and she watched him walk over to her.

They were sitting on the main top deck, next to the wheel with their legs dangling over the edge. They watched everyone just walk around and do their own thing, each of the crew focused on their own little job. The only person she didn't see though was Edward and immediately icy dread ran through her.

"Don, have you seen Edward today?" Emma asked him and when he told her no she immediately jumped up and began to fast walk towards the ladder to go down a level where the crew slept.

She knew that Edward could get around on his own, but with the excitement of the day her mind hadn't drifted to him and she felt a sense of quilt for that.

Her hands moved the hammocks quickly out of her way and made her way to Edward, who she could see now, lying in the corner on a cot.

When she knelt down next to him, at first her brains couldn't process what it was seeing, but it took shape.
His skin was pale and clammy to the touch and she moved his pant leg back to reveal the cut and it caused her to suck her breath in between her teeth. There were purple veins snaking out from the wound and she could tell he had a fever.

"Emm." She heard and she looked up to see him looking at her with a small, shaky smile on his face.

She couldn't handle this on her own, she needed help, she needed Donovan.

As quickly as her feet could take her she ran back to the ladder and when she reached the top she looked right at him.

No words were needed as he moved to join her.