Take Me Forever (12 page)

That night, Cain took the key off of his neck and placed it
on hers.
 
He was giving her not only the
key to the room, but also the key to his heart.
 
With their arms and legs intertwined, the two lovers drifted off to a
peaceful sleep.

Mercy awoke during the night and watched her sleeping
husband.
 
He had trusted her and now she
must trust him.
 
She held the key in her
hand and looked at the door.
 
She smiled
at her sleeping husband.
 
She placed her
head on his rippled chest and went back to sleep.
 
Cain knew she was awake and waited to see if
she would stay or go.
 
He was relieved
when she curled up on him and went back to sleep.
 
She was his now forever.

The following morning, Cain watched and waited for Mercy to
open her eyes.
 
While he was waiting,
Elese knocked lightly on the door.

“Cain,” Elese whispered.

“What is it?”

“Luke is back and should be landing within the hour.”

“I’ll be right out,” Cain answered as Mercy awoke.

“What’s going on?”
 
She asked sleepily.

“Luke is back from his journey.
 
I must go meet him.
 
Get dressed and Elese will fix you something
to eat.
 
I will be back soon,” Cain said
as he left and informed the staff that Mercy was no longer contagious and no
longer quarantined.

Thirty minutes later, Cain was standing on the beach waiting
on Luke to join him.

“Captain,” Luke said as he joined him.

“Profitable trip I hope,” Cain stated.

“I have some bad news.
 
It seems that her family fell into despair after losing Mercy and her
father drank himself to death and her mother died of a broken heart.
 
There is no reward for her now.
 
I’m sorry Captain, we were too late.”

“That is tragic.
 
A
lot has happened while you were gone as well,” Cain said as he told his second
in command everything that had transpired.

“I’m glad to hear that everything worked out.
 
You were playing with fire and were lucky you
didn’t get burned,” Luke replied.

“You know I always get what I want when it comes to women
and riches,” Cain answered with his chest puffed out.

“Speaking of riches, I stumbled across something interesting
in a tavern on the way home,” Luke said.

“Well, what is it man?
 
Don’t keep me in suspense,” Cain said impatiently.

“A treasure hunt.”

“Treasure huh?”

“While I was in the tavern I overheard some of the locals
talking about the legend.
 
It seems there
is an island somewhere where there is so much treasure that it would take many
men just to haul it out of its hiding place.
 
The locals said there was a map but even still no one was able to find
it.”

“Did you see the map?”
 
Cain inquired.

“Not only did I see the map, but I have the map,” Luke said
as he pulled out the map a local had given him.

“What is that?”
 
Mercy
asked.

“Nothing,” Cain said as he rolled up the tattered map and
stuck it in his trousers.

“There you go keeping secrets again,” she sneered.

“If you must know, Luke brought back a treasure map.”

“How exciting!
 
When
do we leave?”

“We?
 
You aren’t
going.
 
This is too dangerous for a
woman,” Cain stated.

“Cain….,” Mercy whined.

“No.
 
My word is
final.”

“If you don’t let me go, I might run away,” she teased.

“I’ll just lock you up again before I leave,” Cain chided.

Mercy scowled at him and forgot all about finding out about
Luke’s real mission concerning the reward for her.
 
She scowled at Cain and walked back toward
the house.
 
Cain sent Luke home for a
brief rest and then began barking orders to crewman he saw and told them to
prepare the ship.
 
Afterward, he walked
home and tried to figure out how to tell Mercy about her parents.

During dinner, Cain told Mercy what Luke had found out about
her parents.
 
She was quiet for a moment
before starting to cry.
 
Cain went over
to her and put his arms around her while she sobbed and told her not to blame
herself.

“I will take care of you.
 
You are not alone,” Cain reassured.

After a while she asked, “Cain, would you have really sent
me back home if you had gotten the reward money?
 
I need to know the truth.”

“No.
 
I was going to
pretend to.
 
I was going to take your
father’s money and fake your death and keep you all to myself.
 
It was sheer luck when you got amnesia and
then I was hoping you would never remember who you really were.
 
Can you ever forgive me for that?”

“Depends.
 
Am I just
an obsession to you or do you really love me?”

“You belong to me.
 
I
treasure my possessions and you are not just an obsession.
 
I fell so deeply in love with you that I
cannot think when I am around you.”

“In that case, let me go on the treasure hunt with you.
 
I do not want to be alone.
 
Not now, not after everything we’ve been
through,” Mercy pleaded.

“I’m sorry.
 
It is out
of the question.
 
Pirating is a dangerous
business and even if it sounds like fun to you, it could be very
treacherous.
 
I don’t want to risk
anything happening to you,” Cain explained.

“What about you?”

“What about me?”
 
Cain
asked.

“Don’t you think I will be worried about something happening
to you?”

“I know you will, but you will be safe here.
 
This is something you will have to get used
to.”

“Fine,” Mercy answered in defeat.

As they retired to bed, Cain and Mercy made love.
 
He was leaving in the morning and he wasn’t
sure when he would return.
 
He wanted to
treasure every second with her.
 
He
finally drifted off to sleep with her in his arms.
 
Mercy cried silently.
 
She was afraid of being alone.
 
If something happened to him she didn’t know
what she would do.
 
He meant everything
to her.

Early the next morning, Mercy awoke before Cain.
 
She stared at her sleeping lover.
 
There had to be a way that she could convince
him to take her along.
 
Slowly, Mercy eased
underneath the covers.
 
She woke Cain by
licking his belly button.

“What are you doing?”
 
Cain sleepily asked.

She continued her descent down his body with her tongue
without answering him.

“Are you trying to show me what I will be missing while I am
gone?”
 
Cain asked as he crossed his arms
behind his head and enjoyed what she was doing to him.

“Is it working?”
 
Mercy asked after a couple of minutes.

“You know it is, but you still can’t go,” he answered and
pulled her up beside him and made love to her.

Afterward, Mercy watched as Cain dressed.
 
He kissed her and told her to stay in
bed.
 
He was leaving soon.
 
Once he left the bedroom, Mercy quickly
dressed in a pair of Cain’s trousers and one of his shirts.
 
She found a belt to secure the pants before slipping
into a pair of his boots.
 
She was
determined to be on the
Devil’s Dilemma
when it departed.

Once Cain left the house, Mercy followed.
 
Dawn was just approaching so she could follow
without being seen.
 
He went into the
village to make sure all supplies were at the dock being loaded on the
ship.
 
Once they reached the dock, Cain
began helping the crew.
 
Mercy knew this
was her chance to get onboard.
 
Looking
over her shoulder she grabbed a bag of potatoes and threw over her shoulder so
she could hide her face when she walked up the gangplank.

Once aboard she searched for a place to hide.
 
She knew that she couldn’t hide in his cabin
without being discovered before they set sail.
 
She searched the galley, the cargo hold, the crew quarters, and even the
brig.
 
With no luck finding a secret spot
that satisfied her, Mercy went back on deck.
 
She heard voices and knew she had to hide somewhere now.

Just as Cain boarded the ship, Mercy darted under a row boat.
 
She hoped that she could remain there until
the ship was far enough away from the island she would sneak into Cain’s
cabin.
 
If they were far enough away from
the island he wouldn’t turn back just to send home.

Patiently, Mercy waited while the crew began preparations to
set sail.
 
She held her breath as Luke
approached the row boat.
 
He secured the
lines around her before turning to other tasks.
 
Sighing with relief, Mercy held her position until time for her to make
her next move.

Hours later, Mercy peaked out from under her hiding
place.
 
She saw Cain at the wheel and
darkness was her cover.
 
She decided to
make her move to his cabin.
 
Quietly,
Mercy tiptoed into Cain’s cabin.
 
After he
was relieved at the wheel, Cain retired for the night.
 
It was dark inside his cabin when he entered
but he could feel the presence of someone in there with him.
 
He drew his sword silently and prepared for a
dual.
 

Sensing his apprehension, Mercy lit the lantern and revealed
herself.

“Mercy!
 
I almost ran
you in with my sword.
 
How did you get
here?
 
Are those my clothes you have
on?”
 
Cain demanded as he put away his
sword and waited for an answer.

“I followed you this morning.
 
I sneaked aboard and hid under the row boat
until dark.
 
I thought once you found me
in here…,” Mercy explained before Cain interrupted.

“You thought what?
 
I
wouldn’t turn this ship around and take you back home.
 
I have a good mind to spank you for defying
me,” Cain said harshly.

“Cain, please don’t be mad.
 
I just wanted to be with you and go on an adventure,” Mercy said as she
looked at him with a face that made his heart melt.

“I should be furious with you, but I’m not.
 
Haven’t you had enough of adventures since
we’ve met?”

“Very funny.
 
Seems
that danger excites me,” Mercy said as she brushed her body against his.

“Hmm.
 
If danger excites
you, then you will love this.”

He began unbuttoning his shirt she was wearing.
 
One hand caressed her breast while the other
undone the belt and trousers and let them slide to the floor.
 
He lifted her out of the boots and placed her
on the bed.
 
Next, he took the shirt and
used it as a tie and bound her arms over her head on the headboard.
 
Then, he spread her legs and tied each foot
to the corner posts of the bed using some old cloths we found on the table.
 

“What are you going to do now?”
 
Mercy asked with anticipation.

Without saying a word, Cain removed his boots and
sword.
 
He stood beside the bed in the
lantern light and slowly unbuttoned his white shirt revealing his muscular
chest and ripped abdomen.
 
He tossed his
shirt aside then undone his trousers.
 
He
let them slide to the floor and stepped out of them.
 
Standing completely naked before her, he ran
his hands through his shoulder length black hair.
 
He was a very sexy man and she was eager for
him to come closer.
 
His five o’clock
shadow was driving her crazy the way the lantern was lighting his face.

“Cain, take me now,” Mercy whispered with desire.

“Patience, My Love,” Cain teased as he retrieved a black
piece of cloth from a chest and used it to blindfold Mercy.

“Why?”
 
Mercy asked.

“If you cannot see what I am going to do, it will be that
much more pleasurable for you,” Cain whispered as he gave her a demanding kiss.

She could feel his breath near her skin as he started at her
ear and slowly worked all over her body giving fine kisses here and there.
 
Every time his lips touched her skin she
jerked with excitement.
 
She was going to
explode if he didn’t take her soon.
 
She
lay silently in anticipation as he rose from the bed.
 
He towered over the bed gazing at his captive
as he too was burning with desire.
 
He
reached into the ice chest and got a small piece of ice.
 
He rejoined her on the bed and kissed her.