Page 33 of The Pirate's Daughter

“Well sir, if I may. It may not be a wrong heading, but it’sherheading. And if you’re going to remain captain it must beyourheading. A ship can only have onecaptain.”

“Indeed, Mr. Asher. Indeed.” And with that Devin turned and headed to his quarters. The ship could only have one captain and it wasn’t going to be a piratecaptain.

He stepped into the cabin he shared with Mia and her welcoming smile hit him broadside. Damn him, she smiled like that every night they made ready for bed. And most nights it led to a very satisfying bout of bed sport. Tonight though, that wouldn’t be thecase.

He fixed his features into a stern grim countenance and waited for Mia to take note. As soon as she did, he stepped forward, closed the door behind him, and began removing his jacket. He made each move sharply and saw Mia grow wary almost instantly. He set his coat over the back of the chair then began rolling up the sleeves of his shirt. He rolled them back past his elbows like a man ready to undertake a hard task. And that was what hewas.

“Captain?” Mia squeaked and eyed him as he moved to the wall and rifled through several lengths of leather that hung on a peg. He selected one then turned and stepped over to the built-in bench along the starboardwall.

“Come here, Mia,” he said, taking a seat and holding out his hand toher.

“No,” was her automatic answer, and he didn’t count it as resistance or defiance given the fear in her tone. “No.Why?”

“Come here, Mrs. Winthrop. We’ve things todiscuss.”

“Discuss? Is that all?” She took one step, thenstopped.

“No. You’ll also receive a spanking.” He said the words and watched Mia’s reaction to them. Complete surprise seemed most pronounced. Then fear and following thatanger.

“No, I don’t want a spanking. You can’t spank me. Why would you wantto?”

“I don’t want to, but want or not I will and you’ll take it. Now come here, that we might discuss it first. Else I can come get you, soundly spank you, and simply tell you the facts and not discuss them with you.” Again he held out his hand to her. She took a step forward, then a half step back and finally one more forward and put her fingers in his grasp. He pulled her around to his right side and pulled her down to thebench.

“Devin,I…”

Gritting his teeth against the sound of fear in her voice, Devin took a deep breath and blew it out. “You had no business acting behind my backMia.”

“Something had to bedone.”

“Agreed, but not what you did, and not the way you did it. I’ll not have acts of piracy committed from myship.”

“It was hardlypiracy.”

“A ship was blown out of the water. You had a crew commandeer a ship, a ship you didn’t own or have rights to. You had the rightful crew stranded,nearlykilled, and you displaced the cargo. That is the very definition of piracy. I’ll not have it on myship.”

“Something had to be done and everyone lived and you evengot—”

“Nothing I deserved,Mia.”

“Well if you think you married someone who’ll stand by and allow evil to happen, you’d do well to think more on it. I won’t. That vile man needed to be dealt with. You didn’t or couldn’t, so I did. Because I can.” Her boldness was coming back and it was reinforcing Devin’s will to set herdown.

“You can’t. And you won’t because you’re the wife of a navy captain on a Royal Navy vessel and as such you’ll obey the laws of the sea as well as the laws of the nations which control the seas. And when youdon’t—”

“Your laws are impotent,” she snapped and made tostand.

“And when you don’t,” Devin continued on, pulling her back down, “you’ll be punished.” He watched now as tears welled in her eyes. She couldn’t even take a scolding without crying. How she was going to get through the spanking heplanned?

“What I did was just, moral. That you’d think to hurt me for it? Perhaps I should reconsider the kind of man youare.”

“Mia,” Devin started then stopped and reached for her chin when she looked away. He turned her towards him and shifted so he also sat more intimately with her. “Mia, what you did was moral, but it was against thelaws.”

“Well the laws are stupid,” shepouted.

“No, laws are fair, just,” he said and held up a finger to hold her from speaking. “Laws trail morality, society. Social morals need to float out a bit, test the waters before laws can go out. Morals lead, laws trail in their wake. We follow laws because they’re already tested for soundness. We follow the laws and when we don’t we are punished. I promise you a pirate hangs no matter crime, age, or sex. You won’t act the pirate again on this ship, Mia. I’m going to see tothat.”

“My way is faster,” she said with a pleadinglook.

“Faster and I’ll admit more satisfying, but that doesn’t make them or you right. If you don’t stand on the laws, you don’t have the high ground. You broke the laws the same as Gillmore’s bunch did.” She recoiled at that. “You punished them. I’ll punishyou.”

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