apart.
Justin decided that he would take Maribel to her relatives and then visit his father. If the situation were favourable, he would journey to court to plead for his freedom and forgiveness. He thought of the chest of Spanish silver in his cabin. Perhaps if he presented that to Elizabeth as a gift—pray God she was now Queen!—she would find it in her heart to forgive him.
Later that evening Maribel glanced at Justin as he stood on the bridge. He was at the wheel as the order to bring down the sails and anchor was given. They had chosen to anchor just off the white cliffs of Dover, the plan being to use the rowing boats to take her and Justin and some of the crew ashore the next morning. Most of the men had voted to stay on board, because they feared they might hang if they set foot in England. She knew that Justin had promised he would secure pardons for them all if he could.
‘I shall take you to your mother’s family, Maribel,’ he had told her the previous night when he came to her cabin. ‘Once I know you are safe with them I shall journey to my home and then, if Elizabeth is Queen, to London. I shall ask her to pardon us all for the mutiny.’
‘Will she grant you a pardon?’ Maribel’s eyes widened in fear. ‘Supposing she refuses?’
‘I shall hang and my men will sail away without me.’
‘What of me?’
‘You will be safe with your family.’
Maribel felt sick with fear. ‘Why must you risk your life after everything we have found together? Turn the ship about. Let us sail for Italy or France. I beg you not to do this, Justin.’
‘I have to do it.’ His mouth set into a hard line. ‘I have money with the goldsmiths and I must claim it if we are to live as a gentleman and his wife should. I owe it to my family to explain what happened when I disappeared—and I owe it to myself to at least try to clear my name, Maribel. Please try to understand how I feel.’
She looked into his eyes, then shook her head. ‘Our love is more important than all the rest. You have your ship. You could earn enough money for us to live on without this foolishness.’
Justin reached out, taking her chin in his hand, tipping it so that he forced her to look at him. ‘Will you scold me, lady? Have I found myself a nagging wife?’
Maribel shook her head. ‘You make fun of me! I do not find this amusing, sir. If they hang you it will break my heart. I shall have nothing to live for.’ Tears hung on her lashes and then slipped down her cheeks. ‘Please, I beg you, let us go now while we may.’
‘But I cannot claim you as my wife unless I have made some effort to throw off the shadow that hangs over me. I am a pirate, Maribel, and as such I am not worthy. I must see my family and receive my father’s blessing if he will give it—and hope for mercy from my Queen.’
Maribel was torn between anger and disappointment. How could he imagine that honour was more important than the way they felt about each other? She turned away from him, holding back the torrent of anger and despair that welled inside her. If he were willing to throw everything they had away on a whim, he could not feel as she did; he could not truly love her.
Never had she felt such unease. Her love for Pablo and the grief when he died were a pale shadow of her present emotions. She did not know how she would bear it if she lost Justin after what had happened between them. It had been hard enough when she had thought he did not love her; it would be unbearable after their lovemaking.
‘Do not be angry, my love,’ Justin put his arms about her, nestling his face into the softness of her hair and holding her back pressed against him. ‘I do this for you so that you can hold your head high and be proud of the man you call husband.’
She turned in his arms, looking up at him, intense passion in her face. ‘Swear to me that you will come for me? Swear that you will not just sail away and leave me with my family!’
‘You must know I would not?’ His fingers trailed her cheek and her throat. He bent his head to kiss the hollow at the base of her throat. ‘If I live, I shall come back to claim you—you have my word.’
Maribel had accepted his promise—what else could she do?
Yet as she watched the boats being lowered, nerves started to jangle. Until this moment she had not truly thought of what it would be like to meet her family—or of what she would tell them.
If she told the whole truth, they would condemn Justin as a pirate and forbid her to see him again. She must think of some way to explain how and why she had come to them on the ship of a man who was not related to her.
Her cheeks became hot as she thought about how it would seem to her mother’s family if they knew she had been a pirate’s willing captive. How could she explain that she had lived on his ship and in his house on the island? It was impossible!
She knew that she must speak to Justin, ask him what she ought to say before they arrived at her family’s home.
Maribel turned in Justin’s arms. Before they made love he had told her that they would be rowing for shore the next morning. The knowledge that they must part so soon had made her cling to him desperately, as his loving took her to new heights. She moaned with pleasure, enjoying the moment of surrender as she gave herself completely to him.
‘What shall I say to my uncle?’ she asked, her face pressed against his chest, tasting the salt of his sweat and inhaling his scent. ‘He will want to know how we met—and what my father had to say.’
‘You must leave this to me.’ Justin’s hand moved down the arch of her back, stroking the soft skin so that she moaned and pressed herself against him. ‘I have thought of how it should be handled a great deal and all I ask is that you follow my lead and agree with what I say.’
Maribel raised up to look down at him, her eyes on his face, trying to read his mind without success. He looked serious, but gave her no hint of what he intended. Instead, he reached up and drew her down to him, rolling her beneath him in the bed and kissing her with such passion that she forgot everything but the need to feel him inside her.
‘I shall take care of you,’ he promised huskily. ‘You belong to me now and nothing shall ever part us. I promise you that everything will be well, my love.’
‘Yes…’ She smiled up at him, her thighs parting as he moved between them, her hips arching to meet the thrust of his passion. ‘I love you. I shall always belong to you.’
They had been riding south along the coast road for some hours and with each mile they covered Maribel’s feeling of apprehension had grown.
‘What will you say to my aunt and uncle?’ she asked when they stopped to rest the horses. ‘I fear they will be angry if they know I was your captive.’ He had told her to trust him and she did, yet she could not help feeling nervous as the time to meet her family drew closer.
‘We shall rest at an inn I know of not far from here. One of my men will take a letter from me to your relatives, telling them that you are coming to visit them. They will be prepared for good news, Maribel—for you are visiting them with your betrothed husband: Justin Devere, son of Lady and Sir John Devere of Devereham House—and great-grandson of Lord Robert Melford, also grandson of the Earl of Rundle.’
‘Your name is Devere?’ Maribel’s eyes widened. ‘You are the grandson of an earl? Why
