DOGS. Legacy Saga II

53

Marina tried not to be rough when she stepped away from Robin, but she needed an extra moment to get rid of his hands and lips. He didn't hide his confusion.

"I... I'm sorry," she muttered. "Sleep here if you want. I must go back to deck."

She spun around and walked out of the cabin.

From the bow, Morris saw her nearly stumble on deck and hurry to the mainmast rigging. There she shook off her sandals, climbed to the gunwale and hurried up the ratlines to the top.

The lookout climbed down a moment later and Morris swallowed a sigh. Still wondering whether to follow her, he finished his conversation with the carpenter about the repairs to be finished the next morning on the bowsprit and the keel. He decided to give the girl a while on her own and went below deck to check on the wounded and grab a bite.

Marina sat face to the west, hating the lump up her throat and the tears in her eyes. Soon she brought her knees up, to hide her face as she tried in vain not to cry.

She'd thought Robin would help her turn her back to what had transpired that day. That his kiss would cloud the chill of meeting again those blue eyes like the sea, which now she realized had remained so vivid in her memory. Those eyes that had sparkled when they'd seen her, surprised but also happy to recognize her. Those sparks like a smile that once had meant the world to her.

But Robin's clumsy ways had only worked to remind her those other lips that had never kissed her in a rush, in the exact way to make her shiver each and every time. And those strong arms that used to hold her. And those confident hands that respected her limits and, at the same time, promised a world of pleasure the day she allowed them to go further.

She suffocated an angry groan. She would've given anything to get rid of the Jamaicans and their damned pataches, turn around and set course on the New Lion's wake. She knew she could catch up before sunrise. And she would see him again. And she wouldn't need to say a word. She would only need to throw her arms around his neck and seek his lips out, sticking to his chest as she'd done in those summer nights in Campeche.

The chest where the ring Maxó had given her hung, which had ended up in Alma's hands when Segovia had arrested them. For some reason he had it now, even so long after they'd parted. A year later, he still kept a pearl by his heart.

She'd been tempted to yank it off when she'd spotted it, but the situation was too pressing to waste time on that.

She sensed the weight coming up the rigging. There came her friend, to comfort her and maybe also save her from making a huge mistake. Morris didn't show up right away. Marina heard him stop right below the top and looked down at the hole in the platform, expecting to see him. Instead, she saw his hand leaving an apple by her legs to disappear again.

She let out a shaky giggle. "Come up already," she grunted.

Morris climbed up to sit across the hole, his feet still on the rigging.

"Should we drop the Jamaicans and turn around?" he asked softly.

She shook her head, biting the apple. "They'd sink before dawn."

"Oh, I thought you weren't their 'bloody mother'."

Marina chuckled again and saw him take something from his pocket to give it to her.

"Castillano had that," she said, spotting the chain with the ring.

"And Maxó wasn't exactly pleased to see it. Take it, at least until you can give it back to him. In the end, it's yours to do whatever you want."

Marina didn't take it. Morris grabbed her hand, put the ring in her palm and closed her fingers on it.

They sat together at the other side of the top. She rested against his side like she used to. He circled her shoulders with his arm like he used to. They spent a long while silent, just looking ahead. Until Marina opened her hand and glanced down, guessing the shape of the ring in the starlight.

"Why would he wear a pearl like this, as if it were a token of affection?" Morris asked, truly curious.

They'd never talked about Castillano since they'd left him in Santiago. But he'd never come to Tortuga with Alonso and Alma, who visited every three or four months, he hadn't even sent a note, he'd never tried to meet with Marina in any way. All of that had led Morris to think that Castillano's feelings for his friend had been rather shallow. Or that losing it all for her had soured them.

Marina shrugged under Morris' arm. "I don't know. But somehow it doesn't quite surprise me."

"It doesn't?"

She shook her head again, flashing a sad smile. "The night before arriving in Santiago, we had... some words. I remember he told me he'd never have of me more than what I felt like giving him. Or maybe I got it wrong. I was furious, I would've strangled him with my own hands, and I only wanted to put an end to the conversation and get rid of him for good."

Morris frowned, and took a moment to speak. "If you got it right, maybe that's why he never sought you out," he said. "Can it be that he'd been waiting for you to make the first move to see him again? I don't know, inviting him over, or sending him a message with Alma or Alonso. Doesn't sound like him at all, but who knows. When we were coming to Campeche to get you, Alonso told me he had no idea what Castillano would do, because it was the first time he ever felt something for a woman."

"Alonso told me that our complete ignorance about love —mine and Castillano's— was one of the things that made us a perfect match."

"Because you're both such morons!"

Morris chuckled, and she could only chuckle too.

"I think Alonso meant that neither of us had yet realized we were in love."

"Among other things." Morris sighed. "And what will you do, my pearl? Plain to see he's not forgotten you. The poor moron couldn't take his eyes off of you."

Marina cuddled in Morris' embrace. An embrace that only tried to make her feel better, that offered warmth and comfort without expecting anything in return. Such an unconditional love she would never find anywhere else, not even in her mother. Because it wasn't born from the bond of blood. It was willingly offered. Every day.

"Let's take this bunch of fools back to Jamaica, and then we'll see."

"That gives you only one day to make up your mind."

She closed her fist on the ring and nodded. "I know. Is there room in your corner for another hammock?"

"Don't you have the best cabin of the Caribbean to sleep?"

"Robin is there." Marina noticed Morris' questioning look. "I let him kiss him after curing his wound. And I'm afraid he misunderstood me when I offered him to sleep in my cabin."

Morris lowered his head, shaking it, and chuckled once more. "You really are an ignorant moron, pearl. You kissed a man and then invited him to sleep? And you're afraid he misunderstood you? I never thought we've come to this, but as soon as we're sailing alone again, you and I are having an educational chat. So you can help such misunderstandings." He saw her look down and touched her cheek, finding it hot. "He didn't get you wrong! You actually intended to spend the night with him!"

"No! I..." Marina snorted, embarrassed and annoyed at herself. "Not exactly. I thought about it, yes. It was stupid, I know. But I thought... For a moment I thought that maybe if I did..."

"You'd be taking Castillano's entitlement away. And you would stop thinking about him. But it didn't work, and it only made you think of him even more."

"I hate you. How can you know all that?"

"Because I don't belong in your select elite of morons. When you love, you love, my pearl. And nobody else's lips can change it. The other way around. Why do you think I dared to ask Dolores to marry me? Over the weeks you two were in Campeche, I spent every night at Cayona's brothels. I didn't left one unvisited. And it only made me think of her more and more, and wish every woman I spent the night with were her. So I had no choice but risking a slap and her eternal scorn. But I had to try at least."

Maria rested her face on his chest. "You're so much brave than I'll ever be," she muttered.

Morris ran his fingers through the raven locks. "No, because you won't be rejected. Risking a yes for an answer requires more guts that risking a no."