Take Me Forever (6 page)

“I hope you drown,” Mercy retorted as she opened the chest
and began doing as she was told.

“I don’t have time to argue with you.
 
I have to see to the rest of my ship before
the worst hits.”

As he walked out of the cabin Mercy yelled, “I hope your
precious ship can’t handle the storm and you die.”

He turned around and said in a scolding tone, “Now is not
the time to act childish.”

Mercy cringed at his words as she watched him slam the cabin
door.
 
She placed everything in the chest
before she realized the severity of the situation.
 
As the ship rocked and swayed back and forth,
she developed a severe case of motion sickness.
 
She heaved until she thought her insides would come out.
 
The storm calmed for a moment, and Mercy took
the opportunity to get some air.
 
She
opened the cabin door and headed to the deck.
 
The crew was too busy battling the sails and emptying buckets of water
flooding the ship to notice her.
 
Cain
was at the wheel maneuvering the ship into the waves to keep them from sinking
the
Devil’s Dilemma.

As Mercy hung her head over the side, she saw an enormous
wave heading straight for her.
 
She
panicked and turned to run.
 
She ran
straight into the mast and knocked herself out.
 
Cain caught a glimpse of her sinking to the deck as an enormous wave hit
the ship.

He made a leap for her, but it was too late.
 
The wave swept her overboard and turned the
ship on its side.
 
Once the wave passed,
Cain made his way to the mast by holding onto the fishing nets that were
secured to the hull.
 
He searched the
white caps for her but could not find her anywhere.

Suddenly, Cain caught a glimpse of her sinking into the
sea.
 
He jumped overboard and tried to
swim to her.
 
The waves kept sweeping him
back.
 
With every swift stroke, the more
determined he was to reach her.
 
At a
last frantic attempt to reach her, Cain dove under the water and pulled her to
the top.
 
He struggled back toward the
ship hauling a lifeless Mercy.

Cain yelled for help as his crew continuously threw ropes at
him until he could reach one.
 
Seconds
later, Cain and Mercy were pulled back to the ship.
 
He handed Mercy over to his crew and then
pulled himself up along the netting along the side of the ship.
 
Once safely aboard, Cain knelt beside
Mercy.
 
He thought she was dead as she
lay motionless before him.
 
Suddenly, she
turned her head and coughed up half of the sea.
 

Their eyes met as the rain started to pour from the sky
again.
 
He picked her up and carried her
back to the safety of his cabin.
 
He
didn’t know how badly she was hurt.
 
He stripped
off her wet, tattered dress and inspected her for injuries.
 
Her leg had blood gushing from a terrible
gash, and she had a knot already turning blue on her head.
 
Quickly, he found a rag, held it over the
gash, and pressed firmly to stop the bleeding.
 
Within minutes, the bleeding stopped.
 
She had lost quite a bit of blood and was drifting in and out of
consciousness.
 
He covered her with
blankets to warm her and then went to summon Luke to stitch up her leg.

“Do you think she will survive?”
 
Cain asked in desperation.

“I can’t say for sure.
 
She could be unconscious for days with that bump on her head.
 
She will need a damp cloth to ease the
swelling and this dressing on her leg will need to be changed often.”

“I’ll do whatever it takes.
 
She’s no good to us dead.”

For the remainder of the night, Cain stayed awake and kept
her head cool with a dampened cloth.
 
He
could see no improvement in her condition the following morning when Luke came
in to check on her.

“How is she, Captain?”

“No change.
 
How’s the
ship?
 
How much damage was done from the
storm?”
 
Cain asked.

“She’s broken up some, but we’ll have her mended in a few hours.
 
You look like hell.
 
Did you sleep any?”
 

“No,” Cain answered without taking his eyes off of Mercy.

“I’ll stay with the woman.
 
You need to rest,” Luke stated with the utmost concern for his captain.

“Notify me immediately if there is any change,” Cain said as
he reluctantly agreed to let Luke stay with Mercy.
 
He tried to sleep, but he tossed and turned
as he dreamt about the storm.
 
He saw
Mercy being swept into the sea over and over again.
 
Every time, she would be washed further and
further away from him.
 
As she went too
far away for him to grab, Cain awoke with a cold sweat.

Since he could not sleep, Cain told Luke he was going to
check on the condition of the ship.
 
His
crew had repaired what they could.
 
They
were lucky that they were on their way to his island.
 
They could make the rest of the repairs
there.
 
Cain was more concerned about
Mercy than he was about his ship.
 
All this concern over a woman!
 
What is wrong with me?

Cain went to his cabin and relieved Luke.
 
He took her hand and held it close to his
heart.
 
He couldn’t explain it, but he
knew she would pull through.
 
He realized
he had feelings for this woman.
 
He was
no longer concerned about getting a ransom for her, but he knew he was no good
for her.
 
She couldn’t stay with him.
 
She deserved someone who could give her a
legitimate life.
 
He still could not help
himself.
 
He wanted her.

While he was changing the bandage on her leg, Mercy came out
of her unconsciousness.
 
She looked
around the cabin and tried to move.
 
She
hurt all over.
 
“What happened?”
 
Mercy asked groggily.

“You’re awake.
 
I was
beginning to think you weren’t going t make it.
 
You took a nasty bump on your head during the storm and were thrown
overboard.”

“Who are you?
 
Where
am I?”
 
Mercy asked as she began to
panic.

“Don’t you remember?”
 
Cain asked intrigued by her memory loss.

“I don’t know.
 
I
can’t remember my name.
 
What happened to
me?”
 

“Calm down, Love.
 
Your name is Mercedes …Corbin.
 
You are my wife.
 
I call you Mercy
for short.
 
We were traveling back to my
island from France when we encountered a severe storm.
 
You got sea sick and came on deck for some
air when a wave swept you overboard causing you to hit your head and injure
your leg,” Cain rambled as he poured out his make believe tale.

“Your wife.
 
I can’t
remember,” Mercy said as she listened to every lie Cain was telling her as
truth.

“Shh.
 
Don’t
talk.
 
You need to rest.
 
We’ll be home soon,” Cain said as he grinned
to himself.

He decided he had filled her head with enough false
information for now.
 
He walked out of
the room and left her alone to process the information.
 
He just hoped that she really couldn’t
remember anything.
 
He shouldn’t have
lied to her, but he was a pirate after all.
 
Tall tales were a pirate’s specialty.
 

“How is she Captain?”
 
Luke asked as he saw Cain standing outside his door.

“She’s awake.
 
She has
amnesia though.
 
I told her she was my
wife when she couldn’t remember anything.”

“You did what?
 
Are
you mad?”

“I can’t send her back.
 
I want her.”
 
Cain admitted.

“What are you going to do when she remembers who she is?”

“I’ll deal with that when it happens.
 
Inform the crew and tell them they will face
my wrath if they spoil my plot” Cain stated as he headed for the ship’s wheel.

Hours later, Cain returned to his cabin to check on
Mercy.
 
When she heard him come into the
room, she opened her eyes.
 
He smiled at
her and sat on the bed beside her.

“What’s your name?”
 
Mercy asked.

“Cain.
 
I’m your
husband.
 
We were wed just before we left
France,” Cain answered as he kissed her gently on the lips.
 

“Cain, I’m sorry I don’t remember you.
 
Tell me more, and maybe I’ll remember.
 
Don’t leave anything out,” Mercy pleaded.

“Well…,” Cain said and he began thinking of a story to tell
her that would be believable.

“You are eighteen years old.
 
You lived in France in a house for orphaned girls because your parents
died when you were eight.
 
On your
eighteenth birthday, you were sent away from the orphanage and that’s when I
met you.
 
We were married the next day,”
Cain said as sweat formed on his brow.

“I am an orphan,” Mercy whispered as she tried to comprehend
the story.

“That’s right,” Cain stammered.

“I have no family.”

“None that you have told me about.
 
That is why I decided to make you my bride
since you had no place to go or no one to go to.”

“Have we consummated our marriage since we were just
wed?”
 
Mercy asked timidly.

“Not yet.
 
Since we
had just met, you thought it best to get to know me first.
 
I wasn’t going to force you until you were
ready.
 
We have been at sea for a couple
of weeks, and I decided to wait until we got home to approach you on the
subject again.
 
There is one more thing
you should know,” Cain said as he paced around the room spinning lie after lie.

 
“What is it?”

“You were nearly raped by one of my crew.
 
I should have known better than to leave you
alone.
 
I caught him before he could do
anything except tear your clothes.
 
That’s why you are wearing my shirt.
 
Unfortunately, during the storm your trunk got washed away at sea and
you have no other clothes.”
 
I’m starting to believe this myself
,
thought Cain
.

Mercy looked down and saw that she was wearing a man’s
shirt, her husband’s shirt.
 
Everything
was so hard for her to comprehend.
 
She
thought it all sounded like a bad dream, but Cain was her husband and he
wouldn’t lie to her.

“What happened to the man?”

“I killed him.
 
There
is nothing I wouldn’t do for you.
 
I am a
pirate.
 
I am the Captain.
 
I steal for a living.
 
That didn’t bother you before.
 
I hope it doesn’t bother you now.”

“Oh.
 
A pirate
huh?
 
I can’t believe I can’t remember
any of this.”

“Sleep my love.
 
I’ll
be here when you awake and we will talk more,” Cain told her as he watched her
drift off to sleep.

He made sure she was sleeping soundly before gathering up
the dress and other items he bought for her at the last port and threw them
overboard.
 
He couldn’t have anything
around her that might trigger her memory.
 
He had carried his tale too far now to turn back and tell her the truth.

That night, he slept restlessly.
 
He felt terrible for deceiving Mercy the way
he did.
 
During his life as a pirate, he
had killed, stole, and destroyed people without feeling any remorse.
 
Now, his conscious was bothering him.
 
What was it about her that was driving him
mad?

For the next couple of days, Mercy rested in bed and tried
to remember any insignificant detail about her life.
 
Cain stayed with her most of the time and
tried his best to convince her that she was his wife.
 
He made up lie after lie about her past.
 
He couldn’t explain why he told her what he
did.
 
He could have more easily held her
captive for the rest of her life.
 
This
way seemed more fun.

“Cain, how much longer until we reach your island?”

“We should arrive tomorrow afternoon.
 
There is one thing you should know for when
we arrive.
 
I didn’t plan on coming back
with a wife.
 
Everyone will react odd
about it at first.
 
I just want you to be
prepared.”