Destiny's Pirate

Chapter 1
Okay...So it wasn't the most "thought-out" plan that I've ever come up with, Destiny thought with a sigh. Well, it was a sort of sigh, the best one she could make through the gag wrapped over her mouth!
When she'd received the travel brochure in the mail, it had sounded like a great adventure. "Pirate Cruises Unlimited!" The company's name had sparked her interest right away. The company boasted that it would be like traveling back in time. Costumes would be provided, shows would be performed, reenactments...that word made Destiny roll her eyes as she thought of it. That's what she was experiencing right now...a reenactment. But being tied to a pole and gagged in the middle of the Atlantic ocean was not her idea of fun. And considering the pirates were all Fabio look-alikes and were dancing around and singing YO-HO, YO-HO, it was not the most authentic either!
Finally after what seemed like an eternity...one of the "pirates" came and untied her hands and mouth. She was rubbing her aching wrist, when she noticed that he hadn't moved away.
He waved the bright colored scarves that had bound her earlier, in her face and leered in an awful accent, "Join me in my cabin and I'll show you what a pirate would do with a lovely captive like yourself!"
Destiny rolled her eyes and avoided his hand reaching for her arm, "And who are you suppose to be? Edward Teach?" she asked referring to the infamous pirate, Blackbeard.
"Who?" he asked, confused.
"Never mind," she said with disgust as she pushed past him.
Destiny went to the railing and leaned over, letting the ocean breeze drift over her face. She smiled as she looked down at the ice-blue costume she wore. The only redeeming part of the whole trip was that she got to wear the dresses of the eighteenth century. There was something so feminine about wearing all the lace underthings, covered by a silk dress with a wide skirt and daringly low neckline.
What must it have been like, she thought, to really be living back in the eighteenth century, being at the mercy of a ship full of pirates. A shudder ran through her. It must have been terrifying!
Suddenly without warning, a loud crack split through the air and a fierce wind picked up, nearly blowing Destiny down. Everyone on the ship was yelling and running to their cabins. Debris flew through the air. Destiny wrapped her arms around the railing, trying to inch her way towards the covered part of the deck.
But, it seemed as though, something was pulling at her. Something more than the wind. An unknown force seemed to pull her towards the water. She couldn't resist it. Part of her didn't want to. Her arms let go of the railing, and she went hurdling over it. She fell but not into the water. It was like a bottomless tunnel, and she seemed to be falling in slow motion. The motion and the wind pulled at her eyelids and though she tried to resist, she fell into a deep sleep...
***
It was Jinx that found her. There he was, mopping the deck after that freak storm that had just hit, whistling a bawdy melody that he'd heard in a barroom once, when he spotted her.
His whistling drifted to a sour note and his mop clanged to the floor. "Cap'n! Cap'n come quick!" he yelled, not taking his eyes from the frilly heap on the deck of the ship.
Captain Spenser Kennington quickly secured the tattered sail and hastened to his first mate. Whenever he heard that worried tone in Jinx's voice, he didn't question it. He ran to see what was the matter. It usually meant trouble!
But as he came around the sail, he saw Jinx near the ship's bow staring down at something on the floor. There were no threatening ships on the horizon, no more storms brewing without notice...nothing...but a strange bundle on the deck.
"Jinx what is.."
Jinx made a shushing sound and pointed the blue heap.
Spence watched as the blue silk shifted around and slowly pushed back to reveal a head covered with wavy, blonde hair. A dainty hand came around and pushed the hair back. Spence blinked, trying to make sure he wasn't seeing things. The blue heap was a woman. A very beautiful woman.
Destiny's head was spinning when she came to. Pushing back her hair, she glanced around her, noticing the ships deck. She must have gotten knocked out during the storm. She could have sworn she fell over, but it must have just been a dream. Her gaze lifted a little more and she saw two pairs of black boots. She groaned and pushed herself up to her knees. She wasn't in the mood to deal with the "pirates!" But as her eyes kept traveling upward, she noticed that the costume was different. Where were the bright colors? These guys were wearing brown pants and white shirts. The shirt on the tall one was of a more full cut than the other, but they both seemed a little dirty and more than a little worn in places.
Shaking her head, to try to clear the dizziness, she complained, "Well, are you guys going to stand there, or are you going to help me up!"
"Holy Mother, it's a bloomin' mermaid!" Jinx proclaimed backing up a few steps.
Spencer stood gazing at the lovely creature, and wondered how she ended up on his ship. Did the storm bring her in? How? But as he reached down and took her arms, he couldn't help but feel like she was here for him. It was almost a feeling of...destiny.
"Not a mermaid jinx. See she's standing on two legs," he told Jinx. Then said to her, "Tis, alright, my lady, I will help you to your feet."
Destiny clear blue eyes flew to the pirates face. THAT was no fake accent and she was sure she'd never seen this particular man before. Lord, he was gorgeous. Not the G.Q. guys kind of cute, but rugged, manly, handsome! Her gaze went from him to his friend, then to rest of the ship.
This was not the cruise ship. This ship wasn't like anything she'd ever seen outside of history books.
She looked back at the man who still held her arms and couldn't get over the fact that he looked so much like Mel Gibson only with longer, curlier hair. "Umm..Who are you?"
He smiled, released her arms and executed a smart bow. "Captain Spencer Kennington, at your service, my lady. And you are?"
"Destiny," she answered.. "Okay," she whispered uncertainly, her eyes still skimming her surroundings. "And where am I?"
"In the Atlantic ocean, sailing due east from the colonies."
Colonies??!! Destiny searched Spencer's eyes and saw that whatever he was telling her, he believed he was telling her the truth. He was either mad or a very good actor.
"And what year is this?"she tried on more time.
"Why, 'tis 1769, my lady," he answered, looking a little worried at the pale look on her face.
She shook her head. "No, it's not...it's 1997."
A gentle look came over Spensers features and he said softly. "No, my lady, 'tis not. It's the fourth day of the month of August in year of our Lord, 1769."
She put a hand to her face and swayed. Spencer quickly scooped her up and held her to his chest. She looked up at him and smiled, thinly. "Jules Vern must have been on to something, after all." she told him, then promptly...fainted.

Chapter 2
Spencer and Jinx stared down at the woman now lying on Spencer's bed in his cabin. She was a strange one, Spencer thought, that was for sure. Where had she come from and how in the world did she get on his ship? What was all that nonsense about it being the year nineteen and ninety-seven, that she was going on about? These were questions that he nor Jinx could answer. Glancing over at Jinx, he could see that his first mate wasn't sure he wanted to know those answers!
"Uh...Cap'n...Maybe we jus' need to toss her back where she came from," Jinx stammered nervously. In his fumbling hands was his cap that was surely twisted and mangled beyond repair.
Spencer bit his cheek to keep from smiling. "Ah, Jinx, your worrying for naught. Surely you wouldn't see this helpless lady drowned would you? She's harmless."
"Tis bad luck to have a female on a ship. And a female that's appeared out of a storm on a man's ship is surely bringing a curse with 'er!"
This time Spencer did smile. "But how could something so lovely bring about a curse, Jinx," he said softly as he bent down and lifted a golden curl that lay on her cheek.
"Bloomin' fishtails! Yer smitten with 'er!" he railed while pointed his finger at Spencer. "Maybe she's already put a curse on ye! Don't blame me when we're layin' on the bottom of the ocean, then. I'll have no part of this!" With that he left the cabin and Spencer alone with the sleeping woman.
Spencer shook his head as the door of the cabin closed sharply and after a hesitation, perched himself on the edge of the bed. Silently he studied the girl. He now noticed things about her that he'd overlooked before. For one thing she was wearing rouge on her cheeks and kohl about her eyes. Her lips were also tinted with a shiny pink color. The women of the colonies that he was acquainted with, wore no make-up, unless they were prostitutes. And although powdering the face and hair and wearing some rouge were the rage in England, it wasn't applied like this woman wore it.
Then there was her dress. Although it was very pretty, it was not quite the style worn by either English, or colonial women. And wear did she get such fine stitchery done? The seams were perfect, as was the lace.
The woman was shrouded with mystery. One that he very much wanted to unravel...in more ways than one.
Destiny's head was spinning like an amusement park ride, when she finally came to. The first thing she focused on when she finally managed to open her lids was that gorgeous man with the weird clothes. Everything came flooding back to her, the storm, the strange boat, the odd little man called Jinx, and this man...the year...seventeen sixty seven!!
With a lurch she sat up and scooted away from the man. "Oh my God!"she screeched with horror.
The man frowned in confusion and tried to reach out to comfort her.
"Don't touch me!"she cried as she leaned away from him. Quickly she scanned the room until she saw the doorway. Like a flash, she was out of the bed and headed towards the door.
But Spencer was faster. He grabbed her arm and held on, despite the fact that she was pulling with all her might to break free. "Hold still, my lady. I won't hurt you," he coaxed, while trying to dodge the blows she was raining on him with her free hand.
"I've been kidnapped," she cried while landing a few good hits, "by a bunch of deranged criminals," she nearly got him between the eyes, "who don't know what year it is!" she finished, with one half-hearted blow to the shoulder. She'd exhausted herself.
Spencer held on to her while eyeing her warily. She was tired, but the lady's eyes were still full of fire. This wasn't a happy woman.
Spencer tried again. "This is getting us no where. Could we, perhaps, sit down and discuss this like rational adults?"
Destiny wasn't feeling very rational at the moment but knew the hysterics were getting her nowhere. She must remain calm. She had to get a hold of her situation so that she could figure out a way of getting out of it!
She lifted her chin in the air. "Alright."
Spencer smothered a grin as he lead her to the small table that he used as a desk. He could practically see her brain working. She was definitely smart. The combination of beauty and brains made him want her even more. But he was a patient man. And when he finally had her in his bed, that fire in her eyes would be burning there for another reason. Him.
Destiny sat in the wooden chair that he'd pulled out for her and wondered at his gentle manners. In fact, everything about the man caused her to wonder. He'd changed closed and was no longer dressed shabbily as he had been before. Although, the shirt he wore was something similar to the one he'd worn before, it was newer and cleaner and a black silk vest with shiny gold buttons was worn over it. On his legs were black pantaloons with equally black boots that reached his knees.
He looked like he'd just stepped out of the musical "Pirates of Penzance."
And suddenly his neatness made her realize how she must look. Her dress was crumpled and her make-up, she knew, must be smeared and worn off in places. Her teeth yearned for a tooth brush and her hair needed about three washings to get the smell of the sea out of it.
But what made her even more aggravated was that she was so concerned about her appearance in the first place!
"Now," he began, "We know one thing about you. And that is the fact that you suddenly appeared on this ship right after the storm that passed over suddenly just hours ago. What we don't know, and maybe you can help me understand, is how you got here."
Destiny narrowed her mascara smeared eyes. "Probably about the time that you kidnapped me and put me on this ship!" she charged, although she wasn't so convinced that that was what happened.
The handsome man just looked at her and raise his right eyebrow in a superior way. "My lady, we will get more accomplished if you will please put away your ridiculous accusations and just try to answer my question."
Suddenly Destiny felt the weariness of all that had happened to her weigh down on her shoulders. Sighing she leaned back in her chair and smoothed her matted hair back away from her face. "Alright, alright." she groaned then sat back up again. "Let's see...It was after I'd been untied and ungagged by that stupid pirate wannabe..." she let her sentence drift as she paused to try to remember. She looked up at the captains face and saw his look of total incomprehension. Maybe the guy didn't have a clue about any of this after all.
She began again. "I was on a Pirate Adventure Cruise. You know...where they dress up pirates and reenact how it used to be...you're not getting this are you."
Spencer wasn't "getting" this at all! It wasn't only what she was saying, it was how she was stating it. Her speech was the strangest he'd ever heard. Pirate cruise? What in Heaven's name was that?
"Uh...no. I'm afraid I'm not. Are you saying that you were abducted by pirates?" he asked carefully.
Destiny rolled her eyes. "No, for pete's sakes! There are no pirates anymore! You really do get into this eighteenth century historical thing don't you!"
Spenser raise an eyebrow at the "pirate" statement, and he wasn't even going to ask who "Pete" was. "So how did you end up on my ship?"
Destiny's brow wrinkled. "I don't know. This really big storm came up all the sudden, and the next thing I knew, I was sailing over the rail. The weird thing about all this, though, is that I never felt myself hit the water. It was like I was floating, then I passed out and woke up here!"
Spencer nodded. "We experienced the same storm. It went away just as suddenly as it appeared." Spencer motioned towards her. "Jinx found you on deck, as soon as the winds died down."
There was suddenly a knock at the door and it flew open as soon as Spencer called out in answer. It was Jinks. "Cap'n! It's here! Starboard to the east. Just like you knew it would be." His face was beaming.
Spencer jumped up. The look on his face reminded Destiny of a kid in a candy store who'd just been told to have at it. "Stay her, my lady. And keep the door lock." he said over his shoulder as he bounded out of the cabin.
Destiny blinked a couple of times, trying to comprehend what just went on here. What was here? What had they been waiting for? This was getting stranger by the minute. She felt a little like Alice in Wonderland.
One thing was for certain. She wasn't going to sit around in this musty old cabin when something exciting was obviously happening on deck!
With little trouble, she found her way topside. But what she saw, wasn't exactly what she'd been expecting.
Men were running around gathering weapons and charging up their cannons. All were looking towards one direction. She moved onto the deck all the way so that she could see what they were seeing.
It was a ship. And they were headed right toward it.
Destiny spotted the captain standing in the middle of it all shouting out orders. Without a thought she ran to him and grabbed his arm. "What is going on?"
He barely threw her a glance. "I told you to stay in the cabin." He shouted more orders, dismissing her presence.
She tugged at his arm, harder. "Are we being attacked?"
He ignored her. "Jinks! Take her down to the cabin!"
Jinks came right away and started pulling her back down away from the deck. "Jinks, please tell me what's going on? Are we being attacked?" She was starting to panic.
Jinks saw the opportunity to really rile the woman and he wasn't about to pass it up. "We are attacking them, miss. That ship has a load of gold aboard and we mean to have it."
Destiny gasp and took one last look at the ship they were approaching. It was much closer now, and very much like the one she was on. It too was an eighteenth century ship. Something was not right. And what was staring to make sense to her, could not even be!
She'd gone back in time.
"Jinks," she tried one more time, as they neared the cabin. "Are you telling me...that is...Are you guys...pirates?"
Jinks stopped at the cabin door and turned to her with a somewhat nasty grin. "The Cap'n prefers the name "privateers", but I just call us what the rest of the world calls us. Pirates!"
Destiny, slightly dazed, let herself be led into the cabin and stood there while Jinks bolted the door shut.
Pirates.
It was just too ironic. She plopped down on the floor where she'd stood and...begin to laugh.

Chapter 3

Written by: Kim Comeaux
The battle that raged was not a long one. No one was suppose to know that there was gold aboard that ship, so they'd not thought it likely that they'd be attacked. They were not even flying there true colors. Spanish colors.
But Spencer knew.
Not only was he a privateer, he was also a second son to the Duke of Ballington. And although he was considered the "black sheep" of the Kennington family, he hadn't severed all his ties to English society. He'd grown up running wild with the village children, despite his fathers objections, and never cared a fig about how he was to conduct himself, or how he was to dress. That attitude had carried him into adulthood, and at twenty, because of a fiery argument with his father, after he'd embarrassed the family by bringing one of the parlor maids to the family's annual spring ball, he'd set out on the first ship that would hire him. He'd never been back.
The ship that he'd hired on to had been a pirate ship. Of course, Captain LeMark refused to think of himself in those terms, called himself a gentleman raider. He raided more ships than Spencer could remember, but he never killed anyone unless it was in self-defense and he never, ever took women captive.
He retired, and allowed Spencer to buy his ship. Spencer had taken over where LeMark had left off.
It had always been a thrill. A drink to quench a never ending thirst for adventure.
Lately he was realizing his own mortality, though. He'd come close to being captured by the Spanish government only a fortnight ago. And although he'd shunned his family for twelve years now, he would not like to bring shame to them if ever the world found out who "Captain Spence" really was.
His family. The incomparable Kennington's of Ballington. He was headed there now. One of his fathers messengers had managed to find him when they'd been docked just outside of Boston.
A family crisis has arisen, the note said. He was being ordered home.
That could only mean one thing. Something must be wrong with his eldest brother.
"So!" a female voice stated haughtily from behind him, breaking him out of his contemplation. "You're a pirate. A real pirate with real cannons and real weapons that attacks poor, helpless, people on the ocean. You're probably pals with Blackbeard!"
Spencer turned and raised an eyebrow, his face amused. "I beg your pardon, lady, but I don't think that I could manage that, seeing that the man died before I was born."
"Oh...well...I was never very good at historical dates, anyway," she said with a sigh. She stared out absently to the ocean for a moment. Carefully she asked, "What do you plan to...uh...do with me? You're not going to ravish me or make me walk the plank or anything like that are you?"
Spencer laughed. "Where do you get such wonderful outrageous ideas? Walk the plank? I think not, since we do not have one. But ravish? Not that has possibilities!"
Destiny stared at him hard. "You're teasing me," she concluded with relief.
"I'm teasing."
"Well," she noted warily, "you don't fit the role of any pirate I've ever heard of."
"The kind like Blackbeard, I suppose, you mean."
She shrugged. "Anyway, now that I know that your not going to ravish me, etc...What are you going to do with me?"

Spencer contemplated Destiny's wary expression, as she joined him, at a safe distance, leaning on the ships rail. That was a good question. What was he to do with her? If he brought her home with him to Ballington, his father would throw a fit.
Although Destiny did not appear to be a peasant by any means, she was not gentry either. Her accent was American, although spoken more strangely than he'd ever heard. She seemed outspoken and headstrong. Not at all like the women of the ton.
And what could he tell his father? He found her on his ship so he had to keep her? He would suspect right away that he was bringing his mistress into the household. Not that Spencer didn't like the idea of this women being his mistress, but he had a feeling that she wouldn't like the term applied to her.
An idea occurred to him. "Destiny, after I embark in England, I will send you back to the Colonies. I'll have Jinx escort you safely to your family."
Thinking this would make her happy, he was surprised to see her look up at him and shake her head, sadly. "You just don't get it, Spencer. I'm not just lost from my country. I'm lost from my time."
Spencer opened his mouth to question her strange words but she interrupted.
"I fell through some sort of time portal, Spencer. I am from the future. I am from the year 1997!"
Spencer face immediately filled with pity. "Good God! My dear, I don't believe that you are well, after all. Perhaps you hit your head. Why don't you lie down..."
"I'm not crazy, and I will not lie down!" She looked away from him and took a calming breath. "Remember when I first came to and I asked you what year it was? I said the year was 1997 and you said it was 1769."
Spencer nodded his head.
"Okay. Now, I'd just come to, and was disoriented. Why would I say the year was 1997, if I didn't know, at one time, I'd lived in 1997. If I was someone from this time, wouldn't I have thought it a date in the 1700's? Why would I say the twentieth century? I would have no reason to be thinking of it!"
Spencer rubbed his forehead, trying to get understand what she was saying. "I suppose you have a point. It's just that it is an impossible point."
"If I were in your shoes, I would think so, too." She looked back out to the water, enjoying the breeze as it blew across her face. "But it's the truth, Captain. And I'm not crazy. I fell through some sort of time tunnel, probably caused by the freak storm."
It had been a strange storm, at that. One minute it showed up, the next minute it was gone.
Only it left behind something. Destiny. His Destiny, as he was already coming to think about her.
He turned to face her, leaning on one elbow. "Well, my lady, if that is true, I would think that your options are limited. I don't see how we could conjure up another storm and send you back from whence you came."
She looked up into twinkling eyes and she knew that he was teasing her. But what he said had some truth to it. "I may never go home, will I, Captain? Oh my God, I had not even thought about that." She looked down and tried to blink back the tears that had suddenly sprung into her eyes.
On instinct, Spencer put his arms about her and drew her into his embrace. He smoothed his hand down her silky tresses. "There, there, my dear. Please do not worry yourself with this. We may yet find a way to get you back home."
But Destiny felt hopeless. She had very little family, her parents had both passed away when she was still in her teens. But she did have friends that she would miss. She couldn't believe that she was thrown into a place in time where they would have no modern conveniences. Where doctors still probably bled their patients and getting the flu could kill you. How was she to survive? Where was she to go?
Spencer answered the last question for her.
"You'll come home with me, of course."
Destiny pushed back out of his embrace, wiping her eyes, looking at him with a wary expression. "Where is home? Don't pirates live on Caribbean Islands or something?"
Spencer laughed. "I suppose some do," he said, still grinning. "But home for me is England. Ballington, to be exact. But there is something that I will have to ask of you before we get there."
Fully composed now, Destiny carefully answered, "If I can."
Spencer smiled again at the meddle in this lady. No one was going to take advantage of her, if she could help it! "No one knows where I've been or what I've been doing for the last twelve years. I'm known as Captain Spence out here on the sea. When in truth I'm Spencer Kennington, second son to the Duke of Ballington."
"Your father is a duke?" she asked skeptically. "Is he a poor duke?"
"No," Spencer replied, surprised. "Why would you ask that?"
"Well, if you are from a wealthy family, Captain, I don't understand what you are doing here on the sea, robbing and plundering poor helpless ships! What's the matter, did your father disinherit you?"
"No, he didn't. I left because I felt I didn't belong there."
"But...."
He interrupted her,"I will tell you about it sometime. Just not now." He sighed. "I suppose there is no help for it. I'll have to bring you with me."
Destiny didn't like how he said that! "Look, pal, don't do me any favors, alright? I'll be just fine on my own. Just drop me off at the nearest hotel and I'll figure out something!"
"Hmmm...I see. And you have money to get a room, have you?"
Destiny groaned inwardly, but maintained her resolve. "I'll get a job." Yeah, right! she thought.
"As what? Have you ever had a job before?" he asked with much skepticism.
She smiled smugly. "I am an accountant. I was the top of my class at Florida State and I've been working for a very prestigious account firm for five years!"
Spencer didn't say a word. His undignified snort said it all.
Destiny rolled her eyes. "Oh, that's right. I forgot that your living in the dark ages where woman are little more than wives or whores. Where I'm from, women are treated equally!"
Spencer raised an eyebrow. "Really madam. Your speech is unbecoming as well as outrageous! I happen to have a great respect for women. I just don't think that most women would have the mind to work figures as you claim."
"Oh, what's the use!" Destiny threw up her hands and deliberately turned away from him. Maybe if she thought it hard enough, she'd wake up from this nightmare and he'd be gone!
"No..no, my mind is made up. You will come home with me. I just have to think up a reason why your with me. As it is, no matter what I tell my father, he's going to believe that you and I...well....that your my..." Spencer drifted off uncomfortably. It'd been a long time since he'd been in the company of a lady and he had to remind himself of his speech.
"Your mistress, you're trying to say?" Destiny supplied dryly. "Honestly, Captain, did you think I'd have "the vapors" if you said the word?" she said using her hands to make quotation makes in the air. "Women in this period had no backbone."
He eyed her with renewed interest. "And women of your world do?"
"Yes, we certainly do. At least most of us do!"
"What else do women of your world do that differs from mine? Do you marry?"
"Yes, but many women chose not to, or if they do, they have careers, also."
"It sounds like your men have no backbones! I would not allow my wife to work! It would be a disgrace!"
Destiny threw him a sour look. "And look whose talking. A pirate!"
"Well, my dear, I may be a pirate now, but I have a feeling that in a few weeks, I'll be a pirate no more." Spence said with a touch of sadness.
The teasing laughter had gone from his face. Destiny wondered at his sudden changing mood. "And...why is that?"
"I've been called home. Once I get there, I have a feeling that I'll not be able to leave. At least, not sail my ship, any longer."
Destiny waited, not knowing what to say.
Spence had been holding his fears inside and had not told even Jinx. But if Destiny was going to travel home with him, she would know anyway. He decided to tell her.
"The only reason my father would summons me home would be because my brother is dying, or he is already dead. I have failed to mention, I believe that my father is the Duke of Ballington," he said finally.
Destiny looked down at her hands, thinking carefully. "You only have one older brother?" she asked.
"Yes."
"Then...that would make you..."
"Yes," he said looking at her for a moment, then bringing his gaze back out to sea. "That would make me a duke. The Duke of Ballington."

Chapter 4

Life on a pirate ship was no picnic, as Destiny was soon to find out in the days that followed. The food left something to be desired, for one thing. Destiny got to the point where she just didn't ask what exactly she was being served. After the "eel" episode, she pretended that everything she ate was chicken!
Then there was having to "use the bathroom" in a ceramic pot. It gave her shudders to even think about how embarrasing that was!
And when she'd asked for the nearest shower, she been given a blank stare. Upon explaining, she was shown a bowl and a pitcher of water. "Fresh water is to precious to waste on baths" she was told.
But none of that compaired to the crazy, unwanted feelings that the captain stirred within her. They were together much to often, and she had to sleep on an extra bunk in his cabin. They would play cards in the evening and during those quite times, he would tell her about his life and about his time.
He never made advances, and continued to be a perfect gentleman....
It was driving her nuts!
She wished sometimes he would just grab her and kiss her and put her out of her misery! She told herself that anything of that nature could lead to things that she was not ready for, but it did no good. She wanted to be in his arms. She wanted him to tell her he was beginning to fall in love with her...
Just like she was falling in love with him.
Lord! How could something like this happen? It was bad enough that she was out of her time zone, so to speak! Her future was unclear, and she had no idea if she wouldn't just wake up one day and be back in the twentieth century.
None of that mattered. All she could think about was Spencer. Spencer smiling. Spencer concentrating at the helm. Spencer barking out orders. Spencer standing by the rail as the wind whipped through his long black hair.
Spencer, Spencer, Spencer. Morning, noon, and night.
Jeez, she was pathetic!
The object of her thoughts materialized behind her. She was mortified to find herself blushing, as if the wretched man could read her thoughts!
"Look, just over the horizon. See the dark strip rising just over the water?" he asked as he placed one hand on her shoulder and pointed with the other.
She nodded, not able to speak quickly with him standing so close and taking her breath away.
"That, my lady, is London." He said this with so much dread that Destiny turned her face to look at him.
"I wish that there was a way to make this easier on you," she told him, unaware that her love for him was shining in her eyes and worried expression. But Spencer saw it, and his dread grew.
He managed a smile and squeezed her shoulders. "You make it easier by just being here, Destiny."
He knew that he'd lied to her. Her being with him, every moment of everyday was a sweet torment. On one hand he reveled in her company. Basking in the warmth of her smile or the sound of her laughter. But these feelings that she stirred within him, could never be voiced and could never be acknowledged. He was probably heir to the dukedom. Dukes had responsibilities. Dukes had to marry well and produce little blue blooded heirs. Dukes did not publically dally with commoners no matter how beautiful or enchanting they were.
Especially beautiful commoners that did belong to this century.
No. No one must find out. No one could ever suspect, especially Destiny...that he had fallen in love with her.
********
London was not how she'd pictured it. Some how she thought it would be something out of a play she'd seen once depicting the Dicken's tale, "The Christmas Carol". Something cozy with clean cobblestone streets, cute little English people herding sheep or something and and grand castle, or two set off in the distance.
Instead it was smelly, dirty, and the waterfront was filled with criminal looking men that looked worse than anything she'd ever seen on America's Most Wanted! She watched as a dirty little boy tried to pick someones pocket, then get knocked on his rear when he was found out.
It was a place that Destiny was certain that she didn't want to spend alot of time in!
Captain Spencer threw a large seaman's cape over her shoulders and guided her off the ship. "Stay close by me and for God's sake keep your head down. The less attention we draw our way, the better," he said quietly.
"Not a problem," she answered him with a shudder.
Without much trouble, Spencer managed to obtain a carriage and soon they were on their way to Ballington.
As they were leaving the city, Destiny couldn't get over the fact that she was seeing history the way it was two hundred years ago. She felt like she should get a pen and paper and take notes or something so that she could write a book about it when she got back...
Got back.... If she got back...
"Dear girl, you just went from a look that held pure awe and fascination to a frown of despair! I don't quite understand how you swing so swiftly from one mood to the next," Spencer contemplated from his side of the carriage. "Whatever has you upset, now?"
Destiny sighed. "Homesickness, I guess. Though, to see history pass before your eyes is quite unbelieveable. I was thinking of the book I could write about the real 19th century England. I could make millions!"
The Captain laughed. "A woman writing a book? Why, my dear, you would be laughed out of town for even suggesting such a thing!"
"Oh, Pul-ease!" she scoffed, rolling her eyes. "I'll have you know that women in my century frequently make the best seller's list, beating out many men for that honor!" She shifted in her seat, trying to get comfortable. "Really Captain. This male-chauvanistic thing you've got going is really getting on my nerves!"
Spencer raised an eyebrow. "And your atrocious vocabulary is beginning to wear on mine! It's appalling how the English ************************************************************ **** has deteriorated in just two hundred years!" It was a on-going argument between them, though it still seemed to ruffle Destiny's feathers every time.
"I'm not English. I'm..."
"Have I told you how lovely you are when you get angry," he mused, interrupting her retort. He watched as more color bled into her soft cheeks. "Which is why I bring you to that state often!"
Destiny frowned and turned away to look out the window once more. She hoped that he wouldn't see how his words affected her. "What else can I expect from a pirate!"
"True, but you must forget that about myself, as soon as we enter Ballington. You mustn't even call me Captain."
"What should I call you? Spencer?"
He winced. He wanted to tell her to call him anything her heart desired, but he knew that wasn't possible. "You must address me as 'my lord.' Tis what is proper."
"Proper, shmoper! I feel like I've fallen into a Barbara Cartland novel!" she complained. But Spencer only smiled absently, his mind else where.
They rode in silence for several miles. Again, Destiny shifted around in her seat, trying to find a space on the seat that was more padded. The road was primitive and bumpy and it would have been horrible driving over it in a car, much less a souped-up buggy! As she wiggled around her knee hit Spencer's knee and once again, as always, she felt a jolt of eletricity, run up her leg.
Spencer felt it too, because the eyes that met hers were burning with undisquised heat and..hunger. She usually backed down and away from him when he looked at her this way, scared of her own feelings that churned within her. But this time she didn't.
Maybe it was because she was homesick and lonely, maybe because they were alone in the close quarters of the carriage, or maybe she realized that she was denying the one thing that she craved the most.
His touch.
Spence,never taking his eyes from hers, picked up her hand and drew her to him. She let him place her beside him, there sides completely touching. The heat radiating between them, though their garments. Gently, he cradled her face in his hands.
"Destiny." He spoke her name in a whisper, but it was laced with yearning so deep it made her want to weep.
"Yes," was all she said, and was all the words he needed.
There lips met. Softly at first, then again with passion. It took no effort to coax her lips apart and for him to delve into the sweet recesses of her month, tongues mating in a ritual older than time.
His hands left her face and smoothed down her throat past her shoulders and around her back drawing her even closer to him. He was effected and shaken by this one kiss, more than he'd ever been in his whole life.
"Oh, Spence," she cried, when his lips left her mouth and found the soft skin at her neck. "Who are you to make me feel this way? Why did it have to be you?"
Spence looked up and into her eyes. Softly he kissed the lids and then laid a feathery kiss on her nose. "What, sweetness? What do I make you feel?" he breathed as he devoured her lips once again.
Her hand touched the side of his face and she pulled her lips from his. Destiny looked up into Spencers eyes and knew that what she was feeling for this man, could never happen with any other man. "Love. I lo.."
"NO!" he grounded out harshly and set her away from him. Swiftly he sat himself across from her and covered his face with his hands.
Stunned, Destiny could do no more than stare at him. He dropped his hand but didn't look up at her. Instead he stared out the ************************************************************ **** His features were masked, and hard.
"You do not love me, Destiny. You cannot!" he told her wearily, as if the world rested on his shoulders.
"But...Spencer.." she cried.
"We shall speak of this no more! What happened should not have happened!"
Destiny blinked back tears at his cold tone. If hearts could actually break, hers would be shattered in a million pieces.