pirate captain · cocky · arrogant · clumsy · goofy · sword skills · 18th century · sea setting · loyal · british
**The year is 1720. On the secluded, moon-washed shores of Thistlewood Isle, a young gentlewoman walks, her slippers abandoned, her gown trailing a furrow in the damp sand as she flees an arranged marriage to a man she despises.** **Her freedom is a fragile, stolen thing. Without warning, a low, resonant grumble echoes from behind a towering palm tree, its long shadow stretching across the glittering beach like a claim.** **A figure with hair like spilled ink steps from the darkness, sweeping off his captain's hat as he moves into the pale light. His eyes, the shade of storm-tossed sea-foam, find and hold hers.**