Steaming Desire - Melissa Young

Chapter fifteen - Hunter

Kiara's body froze when she noticed him, only a second before I did. The same man as before, his triangular hat giving his demeanor a horrifying attitude. I swallowed down a yelp, we are screwed.

   "Kiara." The low sigh promised an end to this. Everything was over, our secret stood exposed and now Kiara would have to pay the price.

   "Yes, Captain." I turned my head toward her, but didn’t find her in the place I assumed. She stood by the cell door with her hands firmly placed on her hips. I had to give it to her, she had balls to stand up to a man like him. I chewed on the inside of my cheek, what now? Focusing on her captain, his eyes narrowed and stared her down.

   "Bring the useless ones and come to deck, think you can manage that?" Despite the bitterness in his tone, I had a feeling something much, much worse was coming our way. 

The sun stung my eyes when I stepped out the door. My skin became warmer by the second. 

   Kiara dragged me and Blake across the deck toward the middle. The Captain stood in front of the helm, his arms folded over his chest. My hands were tied behind my back, another order from the asshole. I forced my eyes to dart around the deck to find any clues of what was about to happen, despite the feeling of Kiara on my skin that kept stealing my attention. 

   Kiara gasped behind me, a choked sound that had every muscle in my body tensing, and then I saw it, a long, thin plank attached to the deck by nails. lt hung halfway over the sea, a sea that seemed hungry by the way it slapped against the hull. I swallowed, this was the end for us.

   Men of different ages gathered around the piece of wood, all of which I recognized from meal-time. My mouth dried up when I thought about how Kiara would be punished for the way she acted in our cell. Anybody could tell that it was not an antagonistic encounter, even if they wouldn’t be able to tell at what level our friendship had grown to become. 

   A sneaking feeling of protection rested in the pit of my stomach. I was getting fond of the pretty, red haired woman, and I didn’t even mind it. I was tired of one-night stands, ready for the real deal. It was the feeling of being out of control that bothered me. I couldn’t do anything to stay close to her, despite how much my heart tugged toward her.

   Kiara rubbed soft circles with her thumb over my palm with the hand that held my restraint, but her calm movements were all of a sudden replaced by rough hands that shoved me forward along with Blake. He groaned when he landed on his forehead, not anticipating the fall. I folded my legs under me in time to sit down on my knees, the impact causing pain to beam up my thighs. I bit my tongue and threw a glance at the man beside me.

   "At your knees for The Captain," a deep voice called from behind us and shoved a hand in Blake’s back. He panted before he regained his breath and sat up. I threw a concerned glance his way and he answered with a quick nod. Lifting my head to the man above us. 

   He stood with his hands far from his body, spread out over the railing. His back, straight and the pointed chin high. The man’s head was not the slightest bit tipped forward, the only thing that told me that he had acknowledged our presence remained his eyes. Deep blue and staring us down, a powerful authority in his demeanor that I didn’t like.

   Not saying anything, just stared at us for a long time. The wind tugged at my hair and uncurled the thick locks on my head. My upper lip twitched when I looked at him, I didn’t know why, but a burning hatred started in the pit of my stomach.

   "I am sure that you know why you are here," his authoritative voice sounded forced. When we didn’t answer, he arched one eyebrow and tipped his head toward us, at last showing that he saw us. I swallowed down all the words I wanted to shout in his face.