"That was... amazing," Marianna whispered with contentment as she laid secure beside Sandokan on his captain's cot, cuddled in his big and strong arms.
"I know," he grinned while looking up at the ceiling. "I was here too, remember?"
Marianna chuckled. "Feeling accomplished, do You?"
"Very much," Sandokan chuckled.
"Figures," Marianna grinned and cuddled up even closer. "I never met a bashful pirate."
"And how many have You met to have come up with such a conclusion?" Sandokan narrowed his eyebrows at the ceiling.
"A good share of them. I grew up at sea, as You may recall," Marianna ran her hand gently up and down Sandokan's bare chest.
"Have You really spent a lot of time at sea? I thought You may have overestimated the timeframe in Your stories?" He asked.
"Just like You overestimated Your 'rough' touch?" Marianna smiled mischievously as she rose on her elbow and turned to look at him. "Big bad pirates are not that bad, so it would seem."
"Take that back," Sandokan laughed and pulled at her hair with the hand he had wrapped around her back.
"Why would I?" She laughed as well.
"I have a reputation to live up to," Sandokan replied in a cool voice but could not stop himself from laughing again.
"So You say, but my firsthand account would need to be accurate if anyone ever asks," she blew him an innocent kiss.
"Wicked woman. A pirate's wife has to protect her husband's reputation," Sandokan pulled at her hair again. "Not dampen it."
"Then I suggest You try to live up to it," Marianna flashed her pearly whites.
"Oh, wicked woman, is what You are!" Sandokan ran his hand down Marianna's back, under the crisp white shirt she still wore. They laughed together. He swooped her up and turned them around so that she laid under him now. "You really did take my breath away."
"I know," she smiled with so much love in his eyes that he barely picked up the hint of witty sarcasm in her response.
"You do?" He caressed the hair away from her face.
"Yes," she replied. "I was here too, remember?"
"Wicked. Deliciously wicked," he smiled and lowered his gaze to her lips. "I love You, my dear Marianna."
"I would wish upon a thousand falling stars that I could hear those words leave Your lips every day of my life," Marianna sighed as she smiled up at him. She reached for his cheek, and placed her hand right by his scar. "I would wish upon a thousand falling stars that I could feel Your hand in mine and hear Your heartbeat alongside mine, my dearest Sandokan."
"When You speak this way, it makes my mind spin words into verses I never knew I was capable of," Sandokan whispered and kissed her forehead, ever so gently.
"It does?" Marianna ran her fingers through his hair. Sandokan sighed heavily, and turned them back around so that Marianna ended up laying beside him again.
"I am afraid so," he grinned at her. "Care to hear it?"
"Of course," she kissed him and laid her head on his chest, listening to the steady drum of his heart.
"If You asked me to spell out My love for You,
I would spell it
With Your name
With Your voice
With Your breath.
If You asked me to use one letter of the alphabet
To describe what Your love means to me
My alphabet would consist of
Infinite letters, all created especially for You.
YOU ARE READING
THE SAILS OF THE HIGH SEAS
RomanceCan a pirate ever fall for a British nobleman's daughter? Can she ever find enough courage in her heart to fall for him? They were meant to be sworn enemies. They were meant to never cross paths in their lives. They were never meant to fall in love...
