Chapter 123 - Ocean And Pain

It was only a moment before Cora, Constance, and Mason caught sight of Vincent coming into the water. He kept his eyes down but Delaney anxiously watched their faces to judge their reactions.

Constance saw him first and sadness flashed across her face before she recovered and turned back to talking to Cora. Cora herself had looked at Vincent for only a moment, her eyes flashing across his scars before she too went back to her talk. Delaney realized Miles must have warned her about what his brother looked like.

Bernard only looked at Vincent for a moment with a slight frown as he studied the scars. It was Mason and Miles that Delaney was surprised by. Miles looked guilty and turned away from his brother. Mason just seemed uncomfortable and didn't look at him for long either.

She ignored them and pulled Vincent farther into the water with her. She saw his discomfort was causing his scars to grow darker. She pulled him out until they were chest deep and she wrapped her arms around his neck, resting her forehead against his as he continued to keep his head down.

"You see," she encouraged quietly, "Nothing bad has happened."

"Delaney..."

"No," she stopped him, "People have scars. Everyone does. You don't have to be embarrassed by them."

"They're hideous Delaney and they make people uncomfortable. I really think I should just let everyone have their fun without being made to feel nervous or disgusted and then having to concentrate on trying to hide that from me."

"My love they're not," she insisted, "I promise. They've seen the scars on your face so they knew what to expect."

He frowned and looked out towards the open ocean. Delaney kissed his scarred cheek, feeling the intense heat of their raised lines. She kissed farther up his jaw and then again closer to his ear. With the water to hide them, she wrapped her legs around him and pulled herself close. He felt so warm compared to the cool water.

She nipped lightly at his earlobe and a quiet groan escaped him.

"I'm definitely going to offend everyone if you keep this up," he spoke in a voice that was more of a growl as he took hold of her hips and pulled them against his own.

Delaney giggled and moved to kiss him. The waves gently rocked them as she kissed her husband deeply, tasting the salt on his lips from the ocean water. He groaned again and she knew she was winding him up. She felt her own breaths coming quicker.

"I want to take you away from here," he spoke in a gravelly voice, "Just the two of us. Right now."

"We can't," she laughed breathlessly, "We invited them all here to stay with us and it would be terribly rude. Plus they would absolutely know what we were up to."

He let out a sound of annoyance, "No more inviting people to stay. Ever."

Delaney grinned and kissed him lightly on the tip of his nose, "You'll change your mind."

"I doubt it," he frowned, making her laugh again at his pouting.

"Come on," she slipped down until her feet touched the sandy ocean floor again, "We've ignored our friends for long enough I think."

Vincent let her pull him over towards where the others were laughing and talking together. She saw the muscles in his jaw twitching with tension. Cora turned and smiled at them when she saw them coming.

"Oh, are you able to take a break from your kissing for a while?" Cora teased, "We were beginning to wonder if you remembered we were here."

Delaney rolled her eyes at her friend but a blush crept across her cheeks, "Once you're married Cora we will see how much time you spend kissing."

The group laughed and even Vincent smiled at that. Delaney stood in front of him and he wrapped his arms around her. She knew he was using her to block some of the views of his scars but didn't mind. At least he was starting to relax.

They spent the day talking and swimming and exploring. The servants brought a picnic lunch to the beach for them and they ate and dosed in the warm sun. Delaney made sure her friends stayed in the shade so they wouldn't burn and be miserable as she had been. They were still rosy later but it wasn't a burn.

Vincent eventually relaxed enough that Delaney left him on his own to talk to the men while she and her friends went to talk in the shallow water. The girls watched and cheered as the men swam, racing against one another. It came down to Miles or Mason being the winner and no one could agree on who it had been.

They built things in the sand and the girls collected shells. The men competed to see who could stay underwater the longest. It was a perfect day.

When the sun was starting its descent towards the ocean and their stomachs were growling for dinner, they dried off at last and the women put back on their robes. Delaney bit her lip when she saw her husband coming out of the water. His limp was bad and she knew he'd pushed his leg too hard.

She picked up his shirt and towel and carried them to him, leaning up to give him a quick kiss. He smiled warmly down at her but she could see he was already uncomfortable. She glanced towards their friends and tried to think quickly.

Vincent would be humiliated and hate it if they all walked back to the house together. He wouldn't be able to keep up with the others and the pain would be terrible. He would get angry.

Just then she noticed Miles walking down the beach on his own, going to pick up his shirt which had blown away during the day. She walked to him as quickly as she could without letting herself look to be rushing.

"Miles," she said when she'd gotten close enough, "I need you to do something for me please."

Her brother-in-law turned to look at her and frowned when he saw the worry on her face, "What is it?"

"Please take everyone back to the house without Vincent and I. I'm going to wait with him down on the beach until all of you are out of sight. Then we can walk up together and he won't be... he won't be embarrassed."

Miles glanced past her to where his brother was folding up his towel. "Alright," he nodded, "I don't think anyone would say anything except maybe Mace. I'll deal with him."

Delaney startled him by giving him a quick hug, "Thank you so much Miles."

He awkwardly hugged her back, "You don't need to thank me Delaney. Thank you for being good to my brother."

"Your brother is very good to me," she smiled.

-

When the others headed for the ocean house, Delaney took Vincent's hand and gently pulled him towards the rocks where they liked to sit. He walked along slowly, his jaw clenched. Delaney sat lightly down and he eased himself down beside her.

"What are we doing here?"

"I just wanted to wait a moment and walk up to the house just the two of us."

Vincent's expression made it clear he didn't believe her, "And that is the only reason?"

Delaney blushed and looked down at her lap. She couldn't lie to him and he knew that.

He sighed, "Thank you. I'm sorry you're stuck here waiting for me instead of on your way to the house with your friends."

"I'm not stuck anywhere," she corrected him, "I'm on a beautiful beach with my handsome husband. There's nowhere else I would rather be."

He smiled fondly at her, "There is nowhere else I would rather be either. I love you."

"I love you," she smiled back, "Come on. I'm sure they're almost to the top by now."

Together Delaney and Vincent made their way up the zigzagging staircase that had been cut into the cliff. They were slow and his breaths were coming sharp through clenched teeth. Sweat beaded on his brow and he closed his eyes.

Delaney hated seeing him in such pain but knew there was nothing she could do. It took some time but eventually, they made it back to the house.

Vincent insisted on going up to their bedroom to change so they did so. He lay on the bed while Ms. Bird helped Delaney into a gown for dinner before brushing and styling her hair. When she was finished, Ms. Bird left saying she would send Harris to them.

The man came shortly and helped Vincent change. A sound of pain escaped her husband when he changed into new breeches and Delaney had to turn towards the windows to hide the burning tears in her eyes. She hated it when he was hurt.

They made it back down to the dining room and ate with the others. Luckily, the time sitting eased off the pain enough that when they were ready to retire for the night, he could walk out with her without giving away just how much pain he was in.

Delaney changed for bed and sent Ms. Bird on her way. Once they were alone, Vincent peeled off his clothes and got into their bed. Delaney was about to get in with him when there was a light knock at their door.

"If that's Mason I will kill him," Vincent mumbled and Delaney giggled before hurrying to answer it.

A servant gave her something and said it had just been delivered for Lord Adair. She thanked the man and closed the door before returning to bed with her husband. He opened the note and read it before turning to smirk at Delaney.

"What is it?" she asked anxiously.

"We are all invited to the home of the pirate King tomorrow."