Page 81 of Storm over the Caribbean (Storm and Silence Saga #8)

“Because, before, we were just wandering aimlessly through the forest. Just wandering through an unfamiliar forest looking for animals is a fool’s errand.

But this…” Pushing a branch aside, I pointed to the bait in my trap: a familiar pond, now nearly devoid of fishes, but still filled to the brim with fresh water. “This is far more efficient.”

She opened her mouth—probably to argue the point, if I knew her as well as I thought I did—then closed it again when some medium-sized animal of an unfamiliar breed stepped out of the underbrush and approached the pond.

“You see?” Lowering my voice till it was no more than a whisper, I pointed ahead. “All living things need to drink. A simple and efficient plan.”

Which I had come up with after she had told me how she had followed her new pet dog to this watering hole. Not that I was going to tell her that.

She might have said something in response to my words, but I didn’t listen. Instead, I stiffened as I heard more footfalls approaching.

“What is it?” whispered my wife, who seemed to have noticed something.

“Shh!” I raised a finger to my lips. “Quiet!”

For a moment, she looked confused. Only then did she notice the two other animals of the same unfamiliar species that had followed their young companion into the clearing.

Fortunately, they, too, did not seem to be too large or equipped with sharp teeth and tusks, or else this would be far too dangerous an enterprise.

Slowly and silently, I raised the wooden spear I had crafted myself. My full focus was on the prey ahead—until I noticed the strange look on my wife’s face.

“Mrs Ambrose?”

“Yes, Mr Ambrose, Sir?”

“What are you grinning for?”

“Nothing, Sir. Nothing at all.”

Then why is your gaze wandering between my spear up here and my spear down there?

I didn’t say those words out loud, however. Instead, I decided to wait till we were alone in the cave tonight. For now, I silenced my wife with a meaningful look and tightened the grip on my spear.

Then…

I struck!

“Squeaaaaah!”

Blood spurted. Startled animals scattered everywhere—except for one, that is. My prey, struck by the spear, collapsed to the ground. Yes! Now we only needed to get out of here before any predators were attracted by the scent of blood, and we were out of dange—

That was when I heard the whistling of a spear cutting through the air from behind me.

Thwack!

Slowly, very slowly, I turned around, only to come face-to-face with my wife, who no longer held a spear of her own and was hiding her hand behind her back, doing her best to look innocent. Her best wasn’t nearly good enough.

“Mrs Ambrose?”

“Um…yes?”

I glanced down at her spear, which had nailed my coat tails to a nearby bush. Then I raised my eyes again and met my wife’s gaze.

“You will never accompany me to hunt again.”

“Why?” Were her lips twitching? Yes, her lips were definitely twitching. “My spear hit! You could even argue I caught the bigger prey.”

That little…!

“You could.” With a single move, I yanked out the spear and looked over towards our prospective dinner, bleeding out on the ground. “Yet somehow, I still believe my results are superior.”

“You’re biassed.”

“Hardly.” Pointing down at the spot where she had nearly skewered me, I fixed her with my patented employer stare. “Unless you plan on eating me this evening?”

“Nah.” Smiling sweetly, she shook her head. “I was thinking of the other way around, actually, Dicky Darling.”

It took a moment or two for her words to sink in. Did she…did she really just…?

Yes. Yes, she absolutely did.

Heat rose inside me, and not the kind of heat that was ever-present here in the tropics.

No, that hardly bothered me. This was different.

This was desire. This was fire. Burning me up from the inside and slowly melting the icy barrier around my heart that only one person had ever been able to breach. The woman right in front of me.

Almost instinctively, I took a step towards her and—

No! Control yourself! You must leave before any dangerous predators arrive!

Taking a deep breath, I forced the raging flame within me to calm.

“Mrs Ambrose?”

“Yes?”

“Silence!”

“Yes, Mr Ambrose, Sir! Right away, Mr Ambrose, Sir!”

“And…”

“Yes, Sir?”

“When we return home to London, I will give you my tailcoat for some needlework.”

The horrified expression on her face was most gratifying. Having suffered under her “cooking” for several days, I was very much looking forward to my revenge. What a pity that, on an uninhabited island, I had no shirts to iron or dishes to wash.

It was only by the time I had already returned to the cave, skinned the prey and drained it of blood that I remembered I could have left all of that to my wife.

Was…was I… becoming a househusband?

No! No, no, absolutely not!

Right?

Of course you aren’t. After all, this is a cave, not a house.

That was not the kind of argument I found particularly reassuring. Silencing that voice whispering in my mind that sounded suspiciously like my wife, I returned to the work of preparing dinner. Hm…what could I use for seasoning around here?

***

Days on the island passed by in such a manner.

No, not just with me cooking!

I also took care of the hunting, water-fetching, keeping the cave clean…

Why am I doing all this again?

“Say…” With a smile that seared a path straight to my soul, Lillian sidled up to me and trailed a single finger down my chest that was clearly visible through my half-open shirt, over my bare, heated skin.

“You wouldn’t have any objections to my taking this shirt off, would you?

I’ve heard that, in tropical climates, it’s unhealthy to wear too much clothing. ”

Ah, right. That’s why.

Inside of me, fire raged through my veins. Yet, on the outside, I remained perfectly cold and composed. My eyes narrowed ever so slightly. “From whom, pray, did you hear that?”

“From myself. Talking with myself can be most informative.”

I felt my little finger twitch. “Why, Mrs Ambrose, am I not surprised?”

“Because you know me well?” She suggested with a big smile that didn’t even contain a hint of shame. Her fingers tickled my chest casually, and she leaned forward till our faces were almost touching. “Now…what about taking that shirt off?”

I felt my spine stiffen. My very British, non-exhibitionist spine. “Mrs Ambrose! We are out in the open! In plain view!”

“Ah, yes.” As she leaned forward, her smile morphed into a foxy grin. A grin formed with lips that were moving closer and closer, until they nearly touched mine. “But that’s the amazing thing about being stranded on an uninhabited island. No one can see you.”

That is not the point!

“Mrs Ambrose…Lillian…”

“Shh.” The touch of her single finger on my lips felt like a brand. The best torture a man could ever hope to experience. Slowly, she began to close the distance and—

Booooom!

—jerked back at the sudden sound.

Whoever had fired that cannon would die screaming.

Wait just a minute! Cannon?!

My head whipped around, eyes sweeping the jungle in the distance, searching for any sign of gunsmoke. There were none. Slowly turning back, I fixed my gaze on my wife.

“Mrs Ambrose?”

“Yes, Mr Ambrose, Sir?”

“Am I having a relapse into auditory hallucinations from the poison?”

“No.” Straightening, she headed for the cave entrance, a deep frown on her face. “No, you most definitely are not.”

“I thought as much.” With two long strides, I was beside her. My gaze swept the jungle below once more, but once again, there was no sign of a cannon. No sound either, until…

Booom!

My head whipped around. This time, I spotted the smoke almost immediately, rising from far beyond the jungle. From where the coast would be. Instinctively, my arm rose to point.

“Over there!”

“Holy…” I saw her eyes widen at the side of the smoke. “Do you think it could be Karim trying to get our attention?”

In contrast to hers, my eyes narrowed ever so slightly.

“I don’t know. But if it is, I will have a thing or two to say to him about the current market price of gunpowder.

” Without wasting another second, I strode off and headed up a nearby stony path, towards the cliff high above. “Let’s get a closer look, shall we?”

Behind me, I heard my wife panting as she tried to make her way up the steep incline in her current voluminous state. Not that I slowed down because of this. Right now, there were more important things to take care of. If the ship was Karim’s, it would be fine. But if it wasn’t…

I froze.

I froze at the sight far in the distance. From the top of the cliff where I now stood, the ship, tiny as it seemed to be, was clearly visible. As was the flag the ship was flying.

“A ship?” Lillian appeared beside me, her voice filled with excitement. For just a moment, I decided to let her have it. It wouldn’t last long, anyway. “A ship! Yay!”

“Mrs Ambrose? Look closer.”

“What do you mean? It’s definitely a ship! Karim is coming! Karim is comi—”

“Look. Closer.”

She opened her mouth to retort—but at the look I sent her decided against it, and instead focused her gaze on the distant vessel.

Suddenly, her eyes widened.

Ah, she saw the flag, didn’t she?

The black flag, which didn’t at all resemble the British one.

I saw her throat move as she swallowed. “That…isn’t Karim.”

“Indeed.”

“Um…do you know any country with black flags?”

“Several. But none like this, Mrs Ambrose.”

None with a skull and crossbones.

Icy cold spreading throughout my veins, I stared off at the distant ship full of pirates. But where other men might have felt fear, in me, the cold was nothing but cool, calm determination. Those men… I knew their kind. I knew what they did. And I would die before I let them touch. My. Wife.

***

…THE MIDDLE…