"They’re always gone when you’re here," the young woman whispered. Morgan sat down in the closest chair and pulled Allison into her lap.

"I caught one of them, Allison, and threatened him with his life. They won’t bother you again." Morgan gazed down into the liquid green eyes and finished the thought silently. They won’t bother you again if I have to take you away from here. Allison sighed softly and laid her head down on her chest, wrapping her arms around Morgan’s waist.

"The whittler threatened to cut me open," Allison whispered, her voice quivering. Morgan reached behind her and slid the knife out of her belt and held it up where the young woman could see it. Allison’s eyes widened and looked up at her.

"He can’t do that without his knife, dear one, and it’s tasted his blood. I don’t think he’ll want to feel it again." The endearment slipped out before Morgan could catch it and she tried to ignore it, but saw a thought flicker across Allison’s face as she heard it. The young woman curled up closer to her and sighed, the corner of her lips twitching as her fingers idly traced the slope of her collarbone. Morgan closed her eyes and leaned her head against Allison’s as she felt her last wall of defense crumble under the gentle caress, a small tear falling down her cheek. Oh this is going to hurt. Morgan dropped the knife to the floor next to the chair and slid her arm back around the woman in her arms, letting her fingers drift in soothing motions on the outside of Allison’s hip.

Allison sighed softly and shifted inside the circle of Morgan’s arms, wishing she knew what the older woman was thinking. The silence surrounding them was heavy with things unsaid and Allison didn’t know if she had the courage to speak any of them. Her heart had jumped as she heard the endearment leave Morgan’s lips, but she knew that Morgan regretted saying it. Should I move away from her? God, I don’t want to. I want to stay here, in her arms, where she makes me feel safe and secure. But what if this isn’t what she wants…what if she just wants to keep me safe so she can hand me over to Daddy and get her money. Allison flinched away from the thought and peeked up at Morgan’s face. The Captain had leaned her head back against the chair and was staring up at the ceiling, the muscles in her jaw flexing. A streak ran from the corner of her eye down her cheek and Allison reached up and gently wiped the tear off of Morgan’s jaw, drawing a pair of haunted eyes to hers. She reached up and rested her hand lightly against the other woman’s cheek, brushing her thumb along her cheekbone in a soft caress. Morgan’s eyes fluttered and she sighed softly and shook her head. Allison cocked her head at her in question and Morgan tucked Allison’s head back against her shoulder. The redhead frowned, started to speak and stopped as Morgan started talking, her voice low and husky, speaking as if in a trance.

"That ship belonged to my father. There doesn’t seem to be a time in my memory that he wasn’t involved in it, from the time he first started investing, then finally buying out the other owners, taking it out on it’s first voyage, losing his life because of it. He was a great man, a wonderful father, and he worshipped my mother. That ship was the only thing that kept him alive after she died…I don’t think I alone would have been enough. He lived for her, and her for him…I grew up with this image that all couples were blissfully happy. She died not long after giving birth to their second child…a little boy. He was stillborn. My father lost his chance at a son and he couldn’t handle it. After that he poured himself into the ship…working day and night to get the funds together to buy it. He was like a man possessed, and he didn’t relent until it was his. Then he was himself again, proudly showing mother and me everything there was to see. It was strained though….mother was still so sick from giving birth…she never recovered. She died not long after my seventeenth birthday. After that we both got involved in the ship…him to forget, and me to be near him. He was the only family that I had left. Finally he decided to take over as captain, and I went with him. He couldn’t make me marry and stay…wouldn’t. We were all that was left. We had a wonderful time." Morgan laughed softly to herself. "No one who knows me now would have recognized me then. There I was, in my dresses with my hair in curls every day, teaching Jacob how to dance as my father sang. God I miss him." Morgan sighed softly, then her voice grew even more distant.

"We were returning from these very islands when they attacked us. If we hadn’t been loaded we could have outrun them, but the holds were so full we couldn’t. They boarded us and killed so many. They tied my father and me to the main mast and left us there, listening to the screams as they killed anyone who resisted. We looked at each other for the longest time, saying nothing. What was there to say? I can still remember the first time I saw the captain. He was huge, taller than Jacob, and filthy. He had hair as black as pitch and a scraggly beard, and just looking at him made my skin crawl. He mistook me for my father’s wife and we let him think that…it would have been worse if he had thought I was a virgin. They whipped him, over and over, and then me, until he told them where the gold he was carrying back to America was hidden. I don’t know how they knew we had it, but they did. As soon as he told them they killed him, right there in front of me. I thought I was next, but I wasn’t so lucky."

Allison felt a shudder travel through the body wrapped around hers and started running her fingers through the silky hairs at the base of Morgan’s neck.

"He kept me as a slave for four long, torturous months. I was rarely allowed to leave his room, and if I was then he never let me out of sight. He….he….I…was his toy. He finally grew bored with me and that was when I avenged my father. He left me alone one night in the cabin and unchained. I broke a wine bottle over his head when he walked in the door. Then I killed him. Jacob and some of my father’s crew were still serving the ship, and with their help I took it back. She was in poor shape, and we were in even sorrier condition. It took us a full week to travel a distance that should have taken a mere two or three days. I met George after we limped into the harbor. He helped me find someone to do the repairs she needed, and introduced me to someone who was interested in investing in a ship." Morgan finally glanced down at Allison, a wry smile twisting her lips.

"That was when I first met Carolyn and her husband." Allison sat up and propped her elbow on the back of the chair and watched a myriad of expressions dance across Morgan’s face as she continued.

"James offered to front me the money to hire a crew and supply the ship for my first voyage as a privateer, the agreement being that I would pay him back when I returned and give him fifty percent of my profit." Morgan stared off into the distance for a long moment.