Take Me Forever (8 page)

“Here are a few dresses that
should fit Lady Corbin,” the seamstress said as she showed Cain some of the
ready-made dresses she had in stock.
 
“Of
course I need her to come in for precise measurements to get the fit right, but
these will suffice for now.”

“I’ll take these now and she can
come in to have them fitted properly along with a wedding gown.
 
How long will it take you to make a wedding
dress?”
 
Cain inquired.

“I thought you were already
married,” the seamstress questioned.

“We are, but since she has
amnesia I thought it might help her to remember if we got married again,” Cain
lied.

“That’s a splendid idea.
 
Send her tomorrow.
 
I shall begin right away and can have it done
in no time at all,” the seamstress told Cain as she handed him his packages and
waved good-bye.

Next, Cain stopped at the
shoemaker and purchased some suitable sandals for walking on the island and
told the shoemaker that Mercy would stop by tomorrow for new shoes.
 
Cain hurried home hoping to be there before
Mercy finished her bath.
 
He went into
the bathing room and saw that she was still soaking in the large white
porcelain tub.
 
Her hair was wet and her
body was glistening with beads of water.
 
He felt the muscle between his legs throb as he gazed at her beauty.

Mercy sensed his presence and
turned around to see him.
 
He smiled and
she could see the lust in his eyes.
 
She
quickly climbed out of the tub and wrapped a towel around her.
 

“I brought you some clothes.
 
I hope you like what I picked out,” Cain said
as he left the packages beside the door and went to the kitchen before he
couldn’t control himself.

Mercy opened the packages and
found several lovely dresses.
 
The first
one she picked up was green velvet with ruffles on the ends.
 
It fit off the shoulders and exposed her cleavage.
 
She thought it was too elegant to wear around
the house.
 
The next one she picked up
was a blue flower print dress that was a simple sundress.

As she picked up the third and
final dress, she decided it would be the one she would wear.
 
It was white with blue bows and lace
edges.
 
It fit her like it was made
especially for her.
 
The blue lace
neckline made her ice-blue eyes shine.
 
Once she was dressed, she combed her hair and tied it up with some
ribbon that Elese had left for her.

Lastly, she slipped on the
sandals and went off in search of Cain.
 
She found him in the dining room.
 
Elese was arranging some of the roses from the garden on the table for a
centerpiece.
 
Cain was sitting at the
head of the table with his back to her.
 
She cleared her throat as she approached him.

“Absolutely breathtaking,” Cain
said as he turned his head to see her basking beauty.

Her face blushed from his
compliment.
 
He laughed at her coy
behavior as he pulled out a chair for her.
 
He could not take his eyes off of her as Elese began serving the meal.
 
They dined silently over shrimp, baked fish,
island grown vegetables, and Elese’s special homemade bread.
 
When they finished eating, Cain told her that
he had arranged for her to go to the shoemaker and dressmaker shops.
 

“I can’t have my wife running
around in rags.
 
Pick out anything you
like.
 
The seamstress needs your
measurements for your wedding gown that she said she would start on right
away.”

“That was so thoughtful of you to
find me some clothes since my trunk was lost at sea.
 
I don’t know what I would do without you.”

“Would you like to go for a
stroll, My Love?”
 
Cain asked as he
offered Mercy his arm.

Accepting his invitation, Mercy
took his arm and they walked out to the botanical gardens in front of the
house. “All of the flowers are so beautiful,” Mercy said as she stopped to smell
the sweet scent of a budding yellow rose.

“My mother had beautiful flower
gardens when I was a small boy.
 
She took
pride in her garden.
 
I used to spend
hours playing in her garden while she tended to them.”

“What happened to her?”

“About fifteen years ago my
father, my mother, and I were out on a board that was attacked by pirates.
 
They took the ship and killed all of the men
they found onboard.
 
My mother protected
me by pushing me overboard and told me to swim away since we were not very far
from land.
 
When I reached shore and
found help it was too late.
 
The woman
had been raped and beaten to death.”

“That’s awful.
 
How did you end up in the same line of work
as the ones who killed your parents?”

“I never got over their
deaths.
 
I let all of my emotions build
up inside me, and I became violent.
 
One
day I woke up and found myself destined to avenge their deaths.
 
I took a few seamen and set out in search of
the pirates who killed them,” Cain said in a low voice.

“What happened then?”
 
Mercy asked as they sat down on a bridge and
watched the water flowing freely beneath them.

“Then, I searched for
months.
 
My men were hungry and many of
them were sick.
 
We began raiding small
fishing boats for food and water.
 
Before
we knew it, we were robbing others ships for gold and silver.
 
I guess the greed took us over.
 
When we found the pirate ship that had killed
my parents, we viciously killed all of them except the captain.
 
He got away before we realized it.”

“That must have been devastating
for you,” Mercy said as she squeezed his hand.

“I vowed from that day forward I
would find him and kill him with my own hands.
 
I have never seen him again and I have been searching for years.
 
Over time, I acquired wealth beyond my
imagination.
 
I could see no reason to
give up my life as a profitable pirate and I will not stop until I get my
revenge.”

“That is a remarkable story.
 
I don’t think you’re a terrible person at
all.
 
In fact, I think you’re the man I
have been dreaming about,” Mercy stated as she kissed him on the cheek and
stroked his hair with her hand.
 
“I would
want revenge too if I were you.”

“Enough talk about me.
 
How about we get married right here on this
bridge?”

“Perfect,” Mercy whispered.

“I’ll arrange everything tomorrow
after I see to some business while you get yourself a new wardrobe.
 
It’s getting late, we should go home,” Cain
said as he let her back to the house.

Cain walked her to his bedroom
and stopped in the doorway.
 
“Until we
are wedded again, I will not take ask you to perform your wifely duties in the
bedroom as tempting as that may be.
 
I
bid you adieu for tonight My Love.
 
May I
be in your dreams as I know you will be in mine,” he whispered as he left Mercy
alone in the bedroom and went off to find slumber in one of the guest bedrooms.

Mercy was quite stunned at how a
pirate could act like such a gentleman.
 
No wonder she had agreed to marry him.
 
He was very charming.
 
She crawled
into the large bed and drifted off to a peaceful sleep.

Early the next morning, Mercy
awoke to the smell of Elese’s cooking.
 
She hurriedly got dressed and went to find the source of that wonderful
smell.
 
She sat at the table and waited
for Cain to join her.
 
Elese noticed that
she was waiting and told her Cain had left earlier to take care of some business.

“Cain told me to apologize for
his absence but it could not be avoided.
 
He told me to take you into the village for some shopping.
 
If you don’t mind me saying so, you must be somebody
special to make Cain settle down,” Elese told her as she sat down at the table
beside her.

“I think he’s pretty special,
especially after telling me about how he chose to live as a pirate.
 
Tell me, how did you meet him?”
 
Mercy asked.

“Well, about ten years ago I was
aboard a ship sailing from Baffin Island when he raided the ship I was on.
 
I was frightened by him.
 
His crew took all of the supplies and they
found me cowering behind some cargo.
 
They took me to Cain and his eyes met mine.
 
He froze for a moment in time.
 
It seemed like he had seen a ghost or I reminded
him of someone.”
 

“His mother,” Mercy interrupted.

“Yes.
 
He never attempted to harm me in any
way.
 
He asked me where I was going, and
when I told him that I had lost everything and getting a fresh start in life he
offered me a position here.
 
I owe Cain
my life.
 
If he hadn’t came along there
is no telling what I would be doing to survive.
 
He has been so good to me.”

After Mercy finished her
breakfast, the two women walked to the village.
 
They chatted the entire way and Mercy learned more about her
pirate.
 
Elese told her that he had
enough money stashed away, that he could stop his raiding and life the rest of
his life without wanting for anything.
 
He wouldn’t rest though until he found the man responsible for killing
his parents.

“Enough talk about pirates, tell
me something about you.
 
Is there
anything you remember from your childhood, your parents, anything at all before
you met Cain?”

“I wish I could tell you
something.
 
Cain says I must have amnesia
after I hit my head during the storm.
 
I
couldn’t remember my name or who anybody was when I came to.
 
Cain told me everything he knew about me but
I still cannot remember anything on my own.”

“That’s amazing.
 
I sure hope you get your memory back soon,”
Elese stated.

“The only thing I can remember is
the dream I was telling you about.
 
Cain
is always in it.
 
I hope that when we do
get married again, it will trigger something in my mind.”

“I hope so Mercy,” Elese said as
they entered the store and greeted the seamstress.

Mercy tried on the dress that the
seamstress had started on last night since Cain was in such a rush to have a
wedding gown made.
 
She had stayed up to
the wee hours of the morning making it.
 
She only had to make a few alterations to make it fit Mercy
perfectly.
 
The gown was beautiful.
 
It was simple yet elegant.
 
It had a plunging neckline and straight
lines.
 
It came just below Mercy’s knees
and was ivory satin.
 
Mercy knew Cain
would be pleased when he saw her in it.
 

Mercy gave her final instructions
to the seamstress and she and Elese headed to the shoemaker for shoes.
 
Mercy picked out several shoes that she liked
and luckily the store had plenty in her size.
 
She was exhausted from a morning full of shopping so she and Elese
headed home with many bags.

“Oh Cain, the wedding dress is so
beautiful.
 
I can’t wait for you to see
it,” Mercy exclaimed excitedly when she saw Cain.

“I’m more interested in what will
be in it,” he teased.

“When can we have the
wedding?”
 
Mercy inquired.

“As soon as your dress is ready
and you are ready, My Love.”

“The dress will be ready tomorrow
afternoon and I am more than ready to start our lives together.”

“Great, then how about the day
after tomorrow?
 
I will have everything
arranged.
 
Oh, and I advise you to get
plenty of rest because you won’t be getting any rest on our wedding night,”
Cain said as he walked her to the bedroom and kissed her gently on the lips.

Two more days
, he thought.
 
Two more days and she would legally be his no matter what.
 
There would be nothing she could do about it
once they were legally wed and the marriage consummated.
 
She would hate him forever if she ever
learned the truth and he hoped it would never come to that but he would deal
with it if it ever did.

Two mornings later, Mercy awoke and could not believe it was
her wedding day.
 
In just a few more
hours, she was getting married to the only man she knew and trusted
completely.
 
There was nothing more in
her life that she had rather do.
 
Even
regaining her memory was no longer important because it was who she was going
to become that mattered now.