ya think you running off to, Angel? I saw you. I want you. I’ll take you.” He tightened his right arm around her, and using the other, fisted her hair, forcing her to look into his golden eyes. They were the lightest brown she ever saw, like the sunset over the open sea. “You like what you see, Miss?” he asked, in a deep, intimidating voice.
As shocking as it was, she did. His shirt lay open baring his chest. She didn’t know if it lacked ties, or if he chose to wear it that way. He had a small patch of dark hair just above the waist of his trousers. Improper or not, she didn’t avert her gaze. She wondered if it continued lower.
He tossed her over his shoulder and sauntered off away from the beach, toting her like a sack of wheat. Each step he took jarred her into his hard body.
Realizing she regained the ability to speak, she twisted and flailed. “Put me down! Put me down now!”
He squeezed her tighter, until she stopped yelling. “I don’t think that will happen. I told you I’m taking you.”
“Taking me where? You can’t just take someone.” Could he? She had a suspicion he may be one of the pirates she heard stories about and read in the papers. They did take what they wanted. “May I please put my clothing back on? Is Finn dead?”
Slowing inside a patch of thick-leaved vines, he whistled and a horse trotted up. Turning her, he lifted her up on the horse. She never rode without a saddle before. He jumped up behind her giving the horse a quick kick. It bolted off, and fear overcame her. Not just fear of falling to her death, but fear of what he intended to do with her. He jerked her back against his solid chest, holding her there with his left arm. Her fear of falling lessened, but others increased.
“Where are we going? My father is at the harbor,” she said.
Loud, monstrous laughter exploded from him. “One more reason to stay clear of there then.”
They rode fast, far from where she started. “Are you going to hurt me?” Tilting her head, she looked up at his face, but it revealed nothing. He stared ahead.
Following his eyes, he slowed the horse at some dunes. A massive ship sat anchored in the cove. Rowboats littered the beach. Men bustled about, loading items sitting on the beach to the boats, yelling at each other. He dismounted, dragging her with him. Directing the horse to the far left, a man, who looked local, roped it with the others he held.
“Aye, Spoon brought us quite a treasure,” one of the dirty men hollered.
Many of the men ceased their activity, looking her way. Crossing her arms across her chest, she attempted to maintain some shred of modesty. They leered at her. She felt naked.
“This treasure isn’t for you stinkin’ scoundrels,” her wild man stated. Pointing to the nearest boat, he commanded, “Get in.”
Looking from the small vessel to the huge one out on the water, she panicked. Did he intend to take her there? Was he kidnapping her? Would she ever see her father again? Taking off in the direction they came, her neck snapped from the force of her hair being yanked from behind. Landing flat on her back in the sand, it took several seconds until she grasped that someone still held her hair. Her scalp ached.
Struggling to focus after the release of her tresses, she looked up the large body into the face of her captor. “Which part are you not understanding, Angel? I took you. You’re mine. Get in the boat.” The seriousness and anger reflected in his face halted any retort she considered giving. Sand hit her in the face as he walked away.
Rolling over, she pushed herself to her knees. She felt dizzy, pausing in that position. Only when she heard lewd comments from nearby men did her lack of attire, and the position she held, register in her aching, scrambled mind. Her shift caught under her knees, pulled below her breasts, leaving both of them swaying and on full display. Her dismay hadn’t taken complete hold of her senses before two rough hands gripped under her arms. Slammed chest to chest with the wild one, she gazed into his mesmerizing eyes.
The narrowing of his eyelids, and the forming of a crease outside of each one, expressed his enjoyment of the situation well before she heard his boisterous laughter. “Maybe you, Li’l Angel, appreciate the attention of a bunch of drunken mates, but not while you’re mine.” Stomping to the boat, he dropped her inside. “Be aware of the state of your undress from here on.”
“I requested you allow me to retrieve my dress… before you rode off with me,” she countered.
Pinching her chin with his fingers, he captured and held her gaze. “You are not to disrespect me in front of the crew.” He spoke quietly, for her ears only. “I’m not opposed to baring that creamy white ass for all to see. Pinkening it up would be highly satisfying.”
Twisting free of his calloused, rough hold, she slid to the other side of the vessel. Stretching towards her, he gripped her arm, dragging her back to where he stood. “You don’t listen very well.” Hauling her to the side, he pushed her down, her stomach against it. Reaching down her legs, he yanked up her thin garment, baring her naked flesh for any to view. Appalled by his action, she tried to break free from him, bucking and twisting, but he pinned her head downwards with his man paw on the back of her neck.
The first crack of his palm against her bottom produced a howl from her that she didn’t recognize as her own. Additional smacks rained down upon her poor backside. She shrieked, but he didn’t relent. Only when he tugged her hair, directing her back on the bench did she realize it ended. Her vision blurred from tears, and she winced with each attempt she made to find a comfortable sitting position. Howls of laughter sounded in every direction. She had never been so humiliated.
“Let’s go,” he shouted. Men gathered at each boat, pushing them into the surf. Once cleared of the breakers, the wild one hoisted himself on the bench beside her. She watched as they left her only possible chance of escape, rowing closer and closer to the immense ship ahead.
Chants in song, lewd in nature, carried over the water from the neighboring vessels. The men maneuvering her boat remained silent. Sneaking a peek at her captor, she understood. He fixated ahead to their destination, his jaw firm, his posture threatening. It looked to her if any soul committed an act or sound not to his liking, it would be their last.
Crude climbing ropes hung over the side of the ship. The men making it there first vaulted from their boats onto these. They swung, kicked and fought with each other. In jest, she surmised, as they laughed and taunted each other. She toyed with the idea he didn’t have any plan to take her aboard. She wore no shoes, and in her current state of undress, she couldn’t climb.
Rowing beside the ship, he jerked her to her feet. Eyeing up the height, she stepped back, on top of his foot and into him. It looked so high from the water. It terrified her that he may expect her to climb the rudimentary contraption.
Shoving her forward, she fell to her knees, and he roared, “Go. It’s time we sail.”
She twisted her head wanting to admit her hesitancy to attempt such an endeavor, but his scowl frightened her more. Getting to her feet, she stepped to the side reaching for the rope. The little boat rocked away from her target, she missed the rope, falling into the sea.
Yanked up and out of the water, she came face to face with him. He dangled her in front of him like a doll. His warm breath hissed in her face. “You’re wasting time.” Slinging her on his back, he took hold of the rope, ascending the pair up the ship. “You may wish to hold tight if you don’t want to find yourself back in the sea.”
