He wasn't ready.....
It's what he repeated in his mind the moment London's port grew closer.
He wasn't ready to dock his ship.
He wasn't ready to lower the anchor.
He wasn't ready to....let her leave the ship...
He knew it the moment he pried his fingers away from the railing that he gripped like death to a corpse and walked below deck to his cabin.
He partially prayed for mischief...her cunning wit to avoid leaving. Anything to prevent her walking on the docks...into a carriage..and taken away from him.
He wasn't ready....
Justins legs heavily carried him towards the cabin where he slowly entered and stopped. He could move no further. He exhaled the longest breath he has ever held in his life but it wasn't enough. He stood immobile to the image before him.
She was a simple apparition of an Angel come down from the heavens for him. He was sure of it.
He swallowed what he could the way the lump in his throat felt like a boulder. His gaze lowered the length of her with loving admiration. He slowly stepped closer as she stared off in the distance at herself in the looking glass.
He stood behind her and placed his hand on her shoulder.
"You look beautiful," he whispered.
Her gaze cleared. Their eyes met through the dusty mirror. They stared at one another for quite sometime until he spoke again.
"We....we've already docked," he whispered.
He could see the little light left in her gaze dimmed with sadness. He turned her around slowly to face him.
His eyes never left her face as he had stepped slightly closer to her. His heart thumped furiously in his chest as he slowly raised his palm to caress her cheek.
He suddenly felt at odds with himself in her presence. Her hair was left loose to hang in shiny ringlets down her back. Justin remembered what it felt like running his fingers through it when they made love.
She stood before him in a beautiful pale pink satin gown tightly corseted with a low, broad neckline and dropped shoulder. He absorbed her appearance through his soul. Her soft shoulders and the swell of her exquisite breasts above the gown was making his breathing difficult that suddenly the cravat he wore seemed too tight.
He never expected Bellamy to be so thorough in his findings of ladies' attire when he was sent into town for it. He couldn't have her stepping off the ship in meager rags but ...most definitely not in such a daring gown.
"I think Bellamy has outdone himself this evening," Justin's eyes caressed her and his deep voice warmed her down to her core.
Tempest drank in his soft words and leaned into his touch. Dimly her senses registered that this will be her last time in this cabin. Then her thoughts scattered as his thumb brushed away a single tear that slid down her cheek.
He tilted her chin up, he pulled her closer until she surrendered to his tight embrace. She could not believe that she was actually leaving the Floating Vengeance, it had been her home for the past eight weeks.
The slight knock on the door and Quinn's voice brought her out of her reverie. They pulled away slightly as he announced that her hired carriage awaits her on the docks.
They faced one another in silence as the time had finally come for them to part ways.
Slowly he reached up and held her chin. "I will write to you as soon as I reach Surry," he promised.
YOU ARE READING
Tempest's Embrace
Historical Fiction"Free me and I will save you," he promised. ~*~*~*~*~ A Pirate in peril... Pirate Justin O'Shea is finally captured by his enemy, he had no choice but to sit and wait for his men to come to his aid. But, when his captor decides to bring aboard cap...
