Norrington's Darling

Wedding Night

POV: Zuri Norrington

There was an uninhabited island not far from Malta. Just a short, peaceful sail from Malta to the island brought what we'd been waiting for—just James and me.

At first, it had looked like we might not get the opportunity to leave until Elizabeth realized the time and shooed us out of our own wedding party. As we'd left and James readied the skiff with Theodore's help, Elizabeth and Anamaria both crowded in and said, "Go enjoy your wedding night. But don't forget to tell us how good he is." Elizabeth had winked at that and my only response had been a dark blush and a slap on the arm.

There was a little cabin not far from the sea—Jack and I had once used it as a safe spot to hide out when we didn't want to endanger our friends in Malta. Last time we'd been there, it had been well-furnished and stocked with supplies. Fleming had promised that they had restocked what they could in preparation for tonight.

Thinking about what was soon to come...my stomach gave a little leap of nervousness. Though excited, I couldn't help but be a bit terrified.

I helped James pull the skiff onto the sand. I was pleased that, despite having only just been married, our dynamic remained basically the same. James slung his arm around my shoulders as we walked to the cabin.

"So this was the hiding place you and Jack used all the time?"

"More or less," I agreed, nodding. "Sometimes we didn't, if we thought it would be too easy to find us here or if we didn't have enough time to get here. We found it when we were kids after we'd run from our father's crew."

"Will it be...hard for you? To stay here, I mean. Considering that Jack's..."

Slowly, I shook my head. "No. I think he'd be glad we chose a place so linked to piracy, actually," I admitted, "though he'd probably tease us relentlessly about what'll go on while we're here, so best not to tell him when he's back."

James grimaced. "Yes, I suppose you're right. We'll keep this to ourselves."

I pushed the door open with a heavy shove. I stepped inside, hoisting up my skirts, only to find the place spotless. It had been swept, dusted, and cleaned beyond anything Jack or I had ever done to this place. I found myself starting to grin. I turned to James, only to find him looking at me with a goofy grin on his face.

"You're glowing," he told me when I cocked my eyebrows quizzically. "You're doing that happy glow again."

"I...glow?"

James nodded, sweeping me into his arms. He twirled me about in the air, leaving me breathless and giggling. I wrapped my arms around him, snuggling into his warmth.

"C'mon, there's a place Jack and I used to like to watch the sunset from," I said, glancing out the still-open door. "We might have time to catch it!" I dragged him outside, pulling him to a clearing where a fallen tree made a perfect bench—it also helped that Jack and I had once been bored enough to carve a section of the tree into a perfect bench for us to sit at.

James and I sat, arranging ourselves so my legs would rest on his. He held me by my waist as we watched the sun sink below the horizon, casting a warm glow across us and setting the gold of his uniform glittering.

We walked back in the dim dark, keeping hold of each other so that we would not fall. The cabin, when we returned to it, was warmer than the chilled air outside. We shut what few windows remained open and snuggled together for some time on top of the covers of our bed.

Consummating our marriage hung above our heads. But there was a peacefulness between us that I did not want to interrupt.

The chance arrived when James left for a moment to relieve himself. When he returned, I lay above the covers, my wedding dress draped across the chair in the antechamber before the bedroom. James noticed this first, pausing to stare at it, before he joined me. It took but a few moments for the specially embroidered admiral's uniform for our wedding fell to the floor in a pile and, at last, his weight was atop me.