My Once Handsome Husband

"Where are we going?" Vincent chuckled as Delaney pulled him forward.

"You're going to have to trust me, my Lord," she teased.

They stumbled their way to the stone stairs and Delaney looked back behind them, making sure no one was watching or following. Most of the servants had already gone to bed for the evening including Ian thankfully.

Vincent was limping from all the walking they had done that day so they moved slowly down the stairs to the beach. Wanting to distract him, Delaney stopped him every few steps to give him a passionate kiss.

Once they were firmly on the sand, she looked around, making sure they were alone.

"What are we doing down here vixen?" Vincent teased her, his eyes sparkling with reflected moonlight.

Delaney didn't answer, instead stepping to him and sliding her arms around his neck, pulling him down so she could give him a good, deep kiss. She twisted her fingers into his black locks and let her other hand drop to pull his shirt free of his breeches. Sliding her hand up along his muscled abdomen, she felt her heart leap in her chest.

Vincent put his arms around her, hands cupping her buttocks and pulling her in tight against him. She lightly bit at his lip and he groaned. The sound caused her already wound up body to wind even more. 

She gasped when he picked her up. She hooked a leg around his hip felt the heat of him against the bare skin of her thighs. Vincent dropped his hands under her skirt and held her in place against him. He moved from her mouth, kissing down her neck and to her shoulder. Delaney let her head fall back and a moan of pleasure slipped from her lips.

He reacted to the sound and moved suddenly, easing her down onto the blanket on the sand. She tugged at his shirt so he let her go in order to pull it over his head and drop it to the ground. He immediately went back to kissing her, holding himself up with one hand and undoing his breeches with the other.

Delaney blindly reached down and pulled off her undergarments, not wanting to break away from their passionate kissing long enough to do more. Once she was finished he pulled up her skirt and joined their bodies with an urgency the wine had influenced.

They made love on the beach under the stars and when they were finished they collapsed, their bodies tangled together. Vincent pulled Delaney in against his chest and she wrapped one leg around his waist, letting her skirt cover his hips. He kissed her slowly and softly now, whispering that he loved her. Soon their exhaustion, the lingering effects of the wine, and the comforting sound of the ocean beside them lulled them off to sleep.

-

Delaney came awake with a start sometime later. Her sudden movement startled Vincent so he came awake abruptly too.

"Wh-what is it?" he asked in confusion.

"I don't know," Delaney shook her head and working to calm her racing heart, "Something woke me up."

Vincent frowned and looked around the beach. He reached out for his breaches, shaking the sand from them before pulling them on. Looking up and down the beach and finding nothing, he stepped back a bit so he could look up at the stone stairs and the cliff above.

"I think... I think I heard something," Delaney explained as she pulled back on her discarded clothing after shaking out the sand.

"I don't see anything my love."

They both finished dressing and Delaney picked up the blanket from the sand. Everything was now damp from the ocean spray and the night air. Her hair was curling from it and she absently brushed it back from her face.

"I don't know," she said, feeling uneasy now as she looked up and down the beach.

The sound came again then, barely audible. It was the faintest sound of talking but it wasn't coming from the cliffs above. Delaney spun towards the ocean and stared hard out into the blackness. After a moment her eyes adjusted and she could make out a shape.

"Vincent," she hissed, her heart speeding up, "Look out there!"

Her husband turned and stared in the direction she was. In a moment he swore and she knew he was seeing what she was seeing.

There was an enormous dark ship anchored not far off the beach. The sails were so dark they could barely make them out in the night, meaning there was only one type of ship it could be.

"Pirates," she whispered urgently, "Vincent that's a pirate ship!"

"I know," he said tensely, "Delaney we need to get up to the house as fast as we can. It's not safe here."

"Yes," she nodded and moved towards the stairs, "Yes let's go!"

-

They rushed up the stairs as fast as they could manage but Vincent had already pushed his bad leg to its limits that day. He groaned as he tried to hurry but his leg gave out, causing him to fall forward. He swore and pushed himself up again, angry with his limitations. Delaney didn't know what to do. She put her arm around his waist, trying to support any of his weight she could manage.

They had made it about halfway up the stairs when he fell again, scraping his palm on the stone. He swore loudly now and sat back against the side, squeezing his eyes closed. His breaths came hissing between his teeth as he clenched his jaw against the pain.

Delaney bit her lip, her heart aching as she saw him in pain. She looked back towards the ship then and gasped.

"Vincent look!"

He struggled to his feet again, propping himself up against the stone. They looked out at the ocean and at the ship floating in the darkness like a cursed spirit haunting them. In the water around it now were four rowboats. They couldn't make out the number of people in each but they were rapidly rowing towards the shore.

"Delaney you have to go on," Vincent panted, "You have to go on and warn the guards."

"No I can't!" she cried, "Not without you."

"You have to," he urged, "My love pirates sometimes get desperate and come in the night like this and raid the manors along the shores. They must have seen our bonfire."

"Oh my god," Delaney whispered, her hands flying to cover her mouth, "Oh my god Vincent the bonfire was my idea! Oh my god, I brought them here! They're going to invade our home and it's all my fault!"

She gasped for air, suddenly horrified, as tears slipped from her eyes.

"No, no, no, Love it's not your fault," Vincent pulled her in tight against his chest, "It's not your fault I promise. But you have to go now alright? You have to run as fast as you can and warn the guards."

"But I can't leave you," she cried through her tears.

"You have to Delaney. You have to go now!" Vincent pushed her away towards the stairs, "You have to run now! Go!"

She looked back at him through her tears but knew he was right. She had to warn the others. They needed to know pirates were coming.

"I love you," she called back to him as her heart broke.

"I love you," he replied with a sad smile, "Go now. I'll be right behind you."

Delaney nodded and looked at him one last time before lifting her skirts and taking off running up the stairs.

-

With her heart pounding and lungs burning, Delaney, at last, reached the grass on the top of the cliff. She fell to her knees, panting, and looked out towards the boats again. They were almost to shore now. Looking back down the stairs she saw Vincent was still so far behind.

She choked back a sob and pushed herself up on shaking legs, stumbling forward a few steps before she managed to keep upright. She ran as fast as she could but her muscles weren't used to such stress and she kept falling forward onto the grass.

The bonfire was burning low now and she could see some people asleep on chairs or on blankets. She tried to cry out for help but her throat was raw from her panting and only a faint noise came out. She had to keep going. She had to find help and save Vincent. She loved him with her whole heart and this was all her fault.

Scrambling forward she, at last, made it to the table that still had a few cups with wine and water. She grabbed one and gulped it down, letting it soak her throat. Drinking too fast she choked and coughed but the noise roused a man sleeping on a blanket close by.

"Help!" she cried out now, her voice still scratchy and quiet but at least something, "Help! Pirates are invading the shores!"

The people around her reacted to that, struggling to their feet. As soon as they did Delaney's heart dropped. They were all drunk. They could barely stay upright.

"No," she whispered, "No! Where are the guards?"

A man got up from a chair and raised his hand, "I am a guard my Lady."

Delaney saw him weaving on his feet and her panic reached a new level.

"Run now and get the others," she ordered, "Lord Adair is on the stone steps from the beach and he needs help. Pirates are invading! You have to help him!"

"Y-Yes my Lady!"

Delaney's mind spun as she used the table for support to keep her upright. What was she going to do? They had all been drinking! A bunch of drunk guards couldn't fight a group of deadly pirates.

"My Lady you need to go inside and hide," a voice came from beside her, grabbing her arm and squeezing it, "You are the duchess. They will want to take you. You have to hide!"

Delaney turned to the voice and through her tears managed to make out a terrified but familiar face.

"P-Penelope," she whispered, "What are you..."

She trailed off as suddenly something else dawned on her. She didn't just need the guards. If they were all as drunk as the one she'd seen they would never be able to stop the invasion.

But the invaders were pirates.

"I have to go," she whispered to the maid and pushed herself away from the table, stumbling a bit as she began to run towards the house.

There was only one other person who might be able to save them all.