Their Pirate Princess

A Journey Begins- Wren's POV

I turn to see who spoke, but find myself at a loss for words. Standing a little ways down the dock is a man who stands a couple inches taller than Luke. While he is still well built like Luke, he has more of a swimmer’s physique. His tan skin shows just how much time he spends in the sun. His dark brown hair has a slight curl to it and falls just above his eyes, which are the most beautiful blue, and coincidentally remind me of the ocean. And while the three of us may not be dressed for sailing, he definitely is. He wears an orange tight-fitting, hooded long-sleeve shirt. He has a pair of sunglasses folded and hanging from the front of it. His light gray pants seem to be the same material as my shorts, and he has on light gray water shoes to match. He has a backpack slung over one shoulder.

Jamie nudges my shoulder with hers, giving me a knowing smirk, and I realize I’ve been staring for a while. I clear my throat and step forward.

“Hi, I’m Wren. You must you Asher.” I reach out my hand , and he grabs it, encompassing it with his.

“You can call me Ash.” I swallow hard as he gives me the most panty-melting grin. My cheeks heat and I know he spotted them when his grin grows even wider. I hear a seagull cry overhead and remember where I am. I quickly let go of his hand and gesture towards Luke and Jamie.

“These are my friends, Luke and Jamie.”

Jamie steps forwards to greet him and shake his hand, followed by Luke.

After getting introductions out of the way, Ash gestures toward the boat. “Is this her?”

“Yeah that’s…. her.” It feels weird calling the boat a her, but Ash is the expert.

“She’s beautiful, and in great condition for her age.” Ash hops aboard the boat, making it look easy. Jamie, Luke and I exchange glances, none of us making a move towards the boat. We watch Ash explore the deck, checking the ropes and the railing type thing around the edge.

Since no one else seems to be moving, I decide it’s now or never. I head to the edge of the dock to step onto the boat. Ash must have noticed because he reaches out a hand to help me onto the boat. I’m not as smooth as Ash and a stumble a little, but I stay upright which I take as a win. Ash offers his hand to Jamie next, which she accepts. He does the same to Luke, but he ignores Ash’s extended hand and boards without help.

It takes me a minute to get used to the rocking, but once I do I get a good look around. It’s a good size boat, but will definitely be a little cramped with all four of us.

“Should we take a look down below?” Ash asks.

“Lead the way.” I tell him.

Once we head bellow Ash points out all the areas of the boat. The galley is the kitchen. It’s small, but has good storage, a sink and an oven. That leads into the saloon, which has seating that turns into a bed, a folding table, and more storage. He points out a cabin with a good size bed, and the bathroom which has a sink, toilet, and a standing shower. Overall it has a good amount of room. Once we set up the sleeping arraignment, we work on putting our stuff away while Ash gets better acquainted with the boat.

Once my stuff is put away, I head up top to the deck where I find Ash playing around with equipment in the cockpit.

He notices me watching him and points to the screen he just turned on. “This is the navigation system. It’s top of the line. Your grandfather must have put a lot in to this boat.”

“Apparently he spent a lot of time sailing in his younger days. I never even realized he sailed until I found out he left me this boat.”

“What’s her name?” Ash asks.

“What?”

“The boat. All boats have a name. They get registered under that name and it’s usually painted on the back.” He tells me.

“Oh, right. On the paperwork it says Stargazer.”

“Stargazer, that’s a good name.” He turns back to the navigation system, and types in something. “So, any idea where you want to go first?”

“Actually, yes. Well, kind of. You see my grandfather had hand drawn maps and a journal. He mentions this island a lot, and even drew it on his map. The thing is, it’s not on any actual maps. But he mentions it multiple times in his journal, and it doesn’t seem very far.”

Ash scrunches his dark eyebrows in thought and bites his lip, making him even sexier. “Can I see the maps and journal?”

“Yeah, let me grab them.” I head back below deck where Jamie is putting away the food we bought and Luke is lounging on one of the couches. I grab the journal and maps from my cabin and head back up.

I take a seat on one of the benches as Ash examines the papers. After a few minutes I put my feet up and relax back into the cushion. I’m lost in thought and jump when Ash starts talking.

“This is interesting.” He points to the map. “On his map, it shows this island is about 70 miles past Bermuda. Your grandfather even wrote the exact coordinates in his journal, and calls the island Mundele Isle. I’ve never even heard of that island, and it’s not showing up on any maps or google.”

I sit up, thinking over what he just said. “So, do you think it’s a real island?” I can’t imagine my grandfather would make up an island and write about it, but if it’s not on an actual map then I don’t know what to think.

“That’s hard to say.” Ash says, looking skeptical. “I can’t imagine there being an island that no one knows exist.”

I feel disappointment at his words. Although I know what he is saying is most likely true, part of me hoped that maybe this island was real, and something only my grandfather had discovered.

The disappointment must show on my face, because he reaches out and puts his hand on me knee. All thoughts leave me as I’m too busy focusing on his hand that’s touching me. He starts speaking and I force my eyes off his hand and back to his face.

“How about this?” He removes his hand and I’m once again disappointed, but for a completely new reason. “We have enough food and supplies, plus this boat is equipped with a water make. So I say we head towards these coordinates and see if something is there. If we don’t find anything we turn around and head back to Bermuda.”

“I think that sounds perfect.” I say, a smile lighting my face. He smiles back, and if I wasn’t already attracted to him (I was), him offering to find the island with me would do it.