Terran Times 18 - Emerald Envisage (29 page)

The woman reached out her arm.

Duncan was astonished to see, instead of normal fingers on this strange female, they were stubby and…webbed.
Webbed?

She pointed and said, her voice sounding like velvet, “Those creatures are Ovid’s children. They belong to the sea.”

Duncan regained his composure, instinctively grabbed the stone and flung it to his chest as a mother protects her baby from harm’s way. “No! You can’t have it! It’s mine!”

The woman responded calmly, “I am Lana. She took off her cap and seconds later, her green hair, along with her webbed fingers dissipated and she was now…human.

Duncan murmured, “Who are…
what
are—”

Once again, the mysterious woman interrupted, “Those creatures are Ovid’s children. They belong to the sea. If you let me return the stone to the ocean, I will do anything you ask. This red cap renders me powerless. I will love you, marry you and do whatever it takes to return those children to the deep.”

Forgetting the metamorphosis that transpired before him, not to mention who or how the lass came on board in the first place, wicked thoughts raced through his mind.
Did she say,
she’d do anything I ask? Good enough for me.
“Well then, my little lassie,” Duncan suggested with a mischievous laugh, patting the side of his mattress at the same time, “why don’t you come over and lie next to me and we’ll talk about it?

“I must have your word, Captain McBeal, that you I promise, I will let you return that stone to the ocean.”

“Oh yes. I promise I will give you back your stone.”
Yeah, right. I’ll have me a piece of this lass first and then
she
will be the one tossed in the ocean while I make my fortune with this rock.

Lana walked to the side of the bed and Duncan scooted over to make room. He had his share of women throughout his tenure as a raider of ships. Normally, his crew would abduct the women from a vessel, have their way with them and then sell them for slavery to other countries.
I wonder what price this woman would bring on the slave market.

Lana, once lying down next to Duncan, immediately turned toward him and started kissing him passionately, driving her tongue into his mouth.

Startled by her aggressiveness, Duncan quickly succumbed to the sexual assault. His cock grew immediately hard and he automatically started unbuttoning his pants with one hand while massaging Lana’s breast with the other. When he successfully withdrew his cock, he turned Lana over onto her back and climbed on top of her.

If Lana had any second thoughts, she didn’t show it except to say softly, “Please, Duncan. Just promise me you will give me your word.”

He nodded numbly as if in a trance. Her sapphire eyes, porcelain skin and jet-black hair put him into an almost hypnotic state. “You are truly one of the most beautiful women I have ever come across in my travels, Lana.”

For the third time, Lana made her plea. “Duncan,
please
promise me you I promise, I will return it to the ocean.

“Yes. I promise, I will return it to the ocean.” This time he meant it. Uncertain if it was her constant pleading, her beauty, her sapphire eyes or he really believed Lana was a mermaid and those creatures in the stone were her babies or at least her kindred spirits, it was as if he had no choice but to give in to her pleas.

 
Lana kissed Duncan and spread her legs up and around him in order to receive him. As he entered her, she arched her hips to engulf his cock completely.

For the next few minutes, the lovers were embroiled in an embrace so tightly as if they were one. At last, they released their tight hold and Duncan drove his groin as if his cock were an engine’s piston. Lana raised her hips off the bed and this told Duncan she was reaching her climax. They held each other in a death grip as they reached a shattering orgasm, Duncan releasing his seed inside her.

 
After they caught their breath, Duncan stared at Lana’s penetrating eyes and once again went into a stupor.
My God. She is magnificent. I have never felt like this before.

Lana broke Duncan’s spell by stating, “If you give me that emerald, I will be your wife. I will love you and bear your children.

For the first time in his life, Duncan McBeal felt something he thought he could never feel.

Love.

Caring.

Guilt.

 
His head filled with conflict.
If I give in to Lana’s request, I will lose a king’s ransom, but gain a wife—who will bear me children. What is it that I desire more?

He made a decision. He kissed Lana passionately and then declared softly, “I will
not
…”

The mermaid gave a frown of disappointment, her expression announcing her fear of the worst.

“…keep the rock. It is yours.”

“Oh, Duncan, thank you.” She gave him a tight hug and whispered in his ear, “Thank you. I will be your wife if you will love me as I will love you.”

When they broke the hug, Lana moved to kiss him.

 
He pushed her away slightly.

 
“Duncan what’s wrong.”

“I can’t marry you, Lana.”

Again, the mermaid wore a mask of disappointment.

“Those creatures, those mermaids in that rock…they are your kindred spirits. I…understand now.” He paused, his heart breaking for the first time in his life. “You must…join them.”

Lana’s mouth drew open in a gape. “No, you have honored my request. I must now stay and live with you and among
your
kindred spirits.”

Duncan shook his head decisively. “No, my darling Lana.”
My God, I have never called anyone endearing names. After all, I am a pirate. What is going on with me?
“You belong with them. I cannot, will not deprive you of your family.”

He rose from the bed and retrieved the red-feathered cap Lana placed on the chest of drawers. Holding the cap in one hand, he reached out his other hand to her and she hesitantly took it. He gently pulled her toward him. When she was standing next to him, Duncan placed the hat on her head and then turned toward his side of the bed where the emerald sat on the nightstand. He picked it up, held it and peered at it ardently. He then sauntered over to where Lana still stood.

He was about to hand it to her, but what he saw made him almost drop the stone for the second time that day. Instead of the raven-haired beauty he just made love to, a woman with green glittery hair, green-tinted skin and lips stood before him. Staring at her, he really did understand now.
She really is…
a mermaid
. “I want you to have this, Lana, and then you must return to the ocean where you belong.”

She shook her head. “I must keep my promise, Duncan. Please don’t make me break it.”

“No, I relinquish you of your promise. I won’t hear another word of it. The fact you would give up your ocean life to be with me tells me you are truly a devoted creature…caring more for your children then yourself. I cannot ask you to do this…to be my…wife.” They stared at each other for a moment and Duncan could have sworn he saw a teardrop rolling down her cheek.

“You’re a good man, Duncan McBeal. Despite what you do…that is a pirate…I knew there was a sense of righteousness in your soul.”

He shook his head. “No. I have been a bad person. Robbing, stealing and pillaging ships. It is because of you I will be changing my ways, Lana. I promise.”

The mermaid took the rock from Duncan, held it with one hand and wrapped her arm around his neck, kissing him fervently. “I will never forget you, Duncan McBeal.” She then held the rock just as Duncan had minutes earlier, at eye level. “Hello, my little children. It is time to take you home.” She turned and walked out of the room, holding the rock tightly to her breast as if nursing a baby.

Duncan stood there in a daze.
Just what in the hell happened here? Am I dreaming just as Liam said when the same woman appeared to him.
He looked down and saw to his astonishment that the floor was…wet.
Funny she wasn’t wet when we were making love.
The transformation of her body from mermaid to woman and back again was beyond his comprehension.

Duncan suddenly heard a loud splash outside his room. He ran to the door and stormed to where he heard the splatter of the water. It was night and most of his crew had gone to bed. He couldn’t see the ocean below him, but luckily there was a lantern hanging on a pole. Grabbing it and flinging it over the deck, holding it tightly so it wouldn’t slip out of his hand, he waited for any sign The ocean was calm below him except for the water lapping against the hull of the ship.
Nothing.
Nothing but the deep green sea. After a few minutes, he was about to turn away when he saw a green shimmering glow on the surface of the water. Instinctively, for no reason, he called out, “Lana?”

“Yes, I’m here, Duncan. Thank you for releasing my children.”

Duncan peered down even more closely, his upper body leaning over the deck. He noticed sparkling green glitter swimming around Lana like little minnows.

“Goodbye, Duncan. I will never forget you.” Lana then dipped her head into the water and, seconds later, a huge green fin followed her. The little green creatures also disappeared as if following Lana into the deep waters.

Seeing the green fin confirmed the unthinkable…

The day after he lost Lana to the ocean, Captain Duncan McBeal addressed his crew of The Blarney. “Mates, it is time I leave you. My pirating days are over.”

Duncan’s first mate, Michael spoke first. “But Sir, there are many ships that we could overtake in these ports.”

“Yes, that is true. However, think about it. Right now, we have enough gold and silver to take care of ourselves for a life time…probably two lifetimes.”

The crew of the Blarney was looking at each other.

Duncan continued, “Look, mates. I just want everyone to walk away from here. Go enjoy the fruits of your labor.”

Another crewmember yelled out, “Yeah, what are you going to do, Cap’n? Get married and have children?”
     

Hearing those words struck Duncan with full force because that is what Lana wanted him to do with her…
to marry and have children.
“Yes, perhaps I will. I’ll get a real job, get married and have children.”

The rest of the crew started laughing uproariously.

Duncan knew what they were laughing about because he always swore he would never settle down and marry, much less have children. He had his share of women all over the world. Most of the damsels were willing participants, finding sleeping with Duncan McBeal, the pirate, as exotic. Others, he had to force himself on them. Thinking about it now, for those women, he felt a twinge of remorse.
Children?
He probably sired dozens upon dozens throughout Europe and Asia.

Six months later.

Duncan McBeal still thought about Lana. During that time, he kept the promise he made to himself and the mermaid—giving up the life of a pirate. He started his own business as a merchant sailor, selling the items he confiscated in his days as a buccaneer.

During his travels as a merchant, he often passed the waters where he first met Lana. Unfortunately, except to take glances over the deck, he never had time to stay in that area. He would always hope to get a glimpse of her, perhaps swimming with the dolphins that frequented this area. To his disappointment, it never happened and so resigned himself to never seeing his beloved ever again. He reasoned, w
hy should she make an appearance? She got her emerald stone that included her baby mermaids. She was happy.

There was only one problem.
He
wasn’t happy. The only consolation he had was reliving the half hour when he made passionate love to her and it was that occasion that had been haunting him ever since.

On one particular Sunday, right after dusk, he embarked on his own ship—not the Blarney Stone, for he gave that ship to his crew—and sailed to the area where he found Lana the mermaid. Ever since she left him to go back to the ocean, she had been haunting his very soul.
Why, oh why did I let you go?
He still remembered the oath she gave to him that she would love and marry him if Duncan would return the stone to the sea.

On this particular evening, he decided to make one last attempt. He remembered when he met Lana, it was this part of the day.
Maybe that is when mermaids rise to the surface.

Duncan moored his ship, dropped anchor and then placed his chair on the deck, propped his feet on a stool and waited. He waited a long time. Dusk had turned into night. He murmured, “Come on, Lana. Please let me see your beautiful face just one time. That is all I ask.” McBeal had never felt so alone. During his pirate days with his crew was when he was at his happiest. His crew was his family. Now he felt nothing but solitude and despair.

“Lana, where are you my love,” he muttered. Duncan closed his eyes tightly as if to cajole her into emerging from the ocean. Suddenly, he heard a voice.

“Hello, Duncan.”

He swore he heard her soft voice behind him. He was afraid to move or even breathe. Seconds later, he heard his name again, only this time in front of him.