Wild Fire (Book II)

Sea Of Thieves

     It had been a long ride before Clayton had finally reached the old plantation hideout that brimmed with a sea of O'driscolls lying about its flanks. They were like a moat of humans and tents. Rough men buzzing about coughing and laughing and drinking waiting for their next orders from their king within.

     Colm O'driscoll stood on his upstairs balcony, a burning smoke hanging from the old outlaw's mouth as he smiled down at Claytons approaching horse. "Ahhh. So, you have our little cage bird eh Clayton?" Clayton gave a onetime nod, pulling Emma closer to him like a prized pelt he wasn't ready to get rid of. Colm straightened from where he was leaning on his elbows atop the banister. "You may keep her with you. Dutch has already sent word where to meet him and we will leave in a few days to gather my girl. He thinks he's won. What a pleasant surprise it will be when his hopes of killing me crumble and his only bargaining chip walks right into my arms." An evil smile curled at the man's lips as scratched his chin with the nail of his thumb in thoughtful victory.

     He had begun to turn away, instructing Clayton to keep the little girl in his room from the others, when he turned back gripping the railing with whitening knuckles. A darkness crept over the old man's face as he spoke. "Do not touch her Clay. Not any of ya. She is no good to us raped half dead, do you hear me boy?" Clayton felt himself bristling at the command, but he nodded again without a word and watched as the man fell back into step, leaving him there to stare up after him.

     With one powerful arm he tossed the girl over his shoulder and slid from the saddle hitching the horse just outside. As he walked in, men oo'd and ahh'd at her, a string of filth filling the air like a silk ribbon following behind him as he wandered to his bedroom. Once inside he laid the girl on his bed and looked down at her trying to decide if he should keep her tied or not. And then she stirred. Her head swaying from side to side and her eyes squinching together as if grabbing for the energy to open them again.

     He sat in a nearby chair sinking into the plush green cushion of it that matched the paisley printed wallpaper that covered the otherwise white trimmed room. Calm fingers lit the fat cigar he pulled from his pocket, and he lifted his right foot to rest up on his knee just watching and waiting for the girl to open her eyes.

     She was beautiful to watch. Her frayed blond curls spilling over onto the dress, still ripped from his handling at the saloon. When a strangled moan escaped her bowed pink mouth, he felt that familiar stir below again and unconsciously shifted in the soft chair.

     She blinked, her eyes opening slowly taking in the strange surroundings. At first Clayton said nothing as she looked around the room. Watching as she took in the dotted furniture, the nightstands, the large dresser with its articulatory carved wide white round mirror and the iron framed bed she lay upon. Until she finally turned her head and noticed him there.

     The intake of breath that escaped her from the fear was delicious against his ears. He kept his eyes on her as she struggled against the ropes and inched sideways trying to distance herself from his looming presence. It made the outlaw smile. "Welcome back Miss Wild." He said in a low drawl and crushed his cigar out under his boot. He reveled in the wide blue eyes and the sheer look of terror that painted her fairy like features.

     Her voice seemed to fail her, leaving her silent as he stood and stalked slowly to the bed to sit on its edge beside her. "So good of you to join us lil' doll." The pet name rolled off his tongue. He could tell she despised it.

     With one finger he reached out trailing the back side of the digit long and slow down the length of her jaw. She flinched away from him. The milky swell of her breasts rising and falling at his touch in a quick pant. "Where am I? What are you going to do with me?" The urge to cry trembled on her full bottom lip. He took the pretty pout under his thumb and rubbed his finger against it with a snicker. Again, she pulled away from him.

     "In a few days we will make the trade. Until then you will rest here with me. This big soft bed all to ourselves. How's that sound?" He observed again as the fear darkened the blues of her eyes and it forced a grin to tug at his lips. "Oh, don't worry, I've been ordered not to fuck you Miss Wild. But touching you? Well, Colm never said a word about that."

     He took her chin under his thumb looking over where he had squeezed her neck into submission. Only a few little purple fingerprints walked there so no real damage was done. "Please let me go. I promise I won't tell no one what you've done. What you're doing. Please mister, you don't have to do this." Her voice was like velvet in the air. It made the urge to take her that much more incredible.

     Instead, he leaned down and kissed the exposed skin at her bosom. Long lazy kisses outlining just above the special places still hid by the fractured fabric. "Now, I can't do that Miss. But I can make your stay more pleasurable if you'll allow me to cherish you in that way." The girl's mouth thinned to a sharp line. She wanted to say something, but he could tell she held back, afraid of what he might do. So, he stood, glancing once out the window at the setting sun and decided he would lay beside her. At least for a while.

     He removed his shirt and hat but kept the jeans on. Too much skin against her and he would surely lose any sense of control he had remaining. "Please?..." She tried again as he slid down beside her pulling her flush against him and propping himself on an elbow to look down in her sky splintered eyes. "Shhh hush now darlin. You sleep. Don't you fight me now. All the please's in the world aren't gonna save you from my arms tonight." He encircled her, drawing her close and tucking her head under his chin. He held her pressed against him, the heat of his erection pushing into the small of her back enough to close her questioning lips.

     Emma shut her eyes letting the escaping tears cascade onto her shoulder. She prayed silently that the man holding her would do only that. She knew that eventually she would have to sleep but the soft fur of his beard nuzzled against her neck made sleep seem impossible. Before long sleep would take her anyway from pure exhaustion. She could only hope that having her against him would be enough to keep him at bay. So hesitantly, she tried to rest, afraid to ask him anything else, and prayed the night would be peaceful. Her mind all the while on Lilah and home, and how in the hell she was going to get herself out of this.