Chapter 2

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I gulped when his eyes didn't leave mine. Instead he held onto  the smouldering gaze where one of his eyebrow raised a little bit higher than the other.

Out at sea.

"No..." I placed a hand on my mouth to stop me from sobbing. How could I of all people be stuck in a situation like this? This was insane! Madness even! To believe Charlie was a suitable man who would be a responsible husband. To believe he would take care of me, to hold me and to be there for me in the roughest moments of my life. And to him? I was nothing more than a piece of trash blowing in the wind on the grimy streets of London.

I needed a way out. Maybe I could escape! Maybe I could climb out that circular window behind me and leap out into the sea without anyone noticing. The frown on my face deepened when I realized I couldn't swim.

"Please..." I was begging now, throwing away all my pride and dignity out the window along with my freedom. "I beg of you. You have to see how this is insanity in itself! You can't hold a woman captive against her will! It isn't right." I breathed heavily, my chest rising and falling rapidly. My vision grew blurry as more tears brimmed my eyes and my body shook uncontrollably, standing there in front of my unforgiving host. "Let me go and I shall give you back the sum of money he owes you. I'll tell my mother and father. They'll- they'll have whatever Charlie owes you by sundown. I promise."

"My sweet, sweet, sweet, angel." He walked towards and tilted my chin up with one of his long delicate fingers. "I've explored all options before I agreed to such a naive man like Charlie. He's a poor excuse for man if you ask me and God only knows why you would ever agree to marry a man like him." His words relaxed, playful even. "He told me about your history before he, if I can add, easily agreed to putting you up for the payment that he owes me. I know that you come from a wealthy background and are closely related to a few duchesses and dukes littered all throughout...London." I had noticed he pronounced the name of my city with ruefulness in his voice and a flash of pain had crossed his eyes when it finally came out of his mouth. "But the sum is simply out of your...finance." He took time to choose the word to use and smiled smugly when he saw my face fall.

I shook my head, backed away from his grasp and pushed his arms away from me, fearing that I might begin to blubber again right in front of him. "Tell me and I shall know." I said scornfully. My jaw locked and patience wearing thin, I looked up at him with a new found disgust for his perfect blue eyes and his handsomely sculpted face.

"300." He replied simply.

"300 what?" I twisted the bag of clothes nervously in my hands as I awaited for him to continue.

"300 thousand pounds." His hand ran across his jawline, brow furrowed when I nearly fell down onto the floor.

"300 thousand?" I repeated, my voice as soft as a baby's whisper. "300?" Now, I was laughing bitterly like a woman who had grown insane from losing everything. A woman that was me. "How the bloody hell does someone rake in so much debt? How bloody awful was he at gambling?"

Thomas didn't answer, instead he closed the distance between us again. His arms went out to reach for me in hopes of holding me but I stepped back causing his lips to press together in a thin line.

"No." I stretched my arms out in front of me, preventing him from stepping any closer. "I need space." With him always being so close to me and wanting to caress me in his arms like that, I'll never be able to muster enough anger inside my weak body for him. I needed space to think. To breathe. To understand why I felt this strange attraction to him even if he was the one stripping me away from my ordered life.

"I understand." Thomas said grimly. "Please do get some rest as we have a long way to go before we reach land."

And with that, he turned around and closed the door behind him, leaving me to stand alone in the room I would be staying in for the long years ahead. I crawled under the surprisingly soft linen sheets on the bed and balled myself up, waiting for sleep to come.

I must have fell asleep sometime after crying my eyes out. My eyes felt raw and puffy underneath my icy cold fingertips. It was dark in the room. The oil in the lamps must have run out by the same time sleep overtook my body. I sighed loudly as I felt the ship ride along the waves. At times, a  crash of water would slap itself against the side causing the ship to bounce and sway violently.   I shivered when I heard the door to my bedroom open. A creak on the floorboard told me I wasn't alone. Peeping out from the corner of the sheet, I held my breath as I caught the familiar strong lithe body standing on the opposite side of the bed.

"What are you doing?" I asked, surprising him with my voice. 

"I'm going to bed." Thomas yawned, stretching his arms above his head before he drew the sheets back and slipped into the bed that absorbed all my body warmth. 

"Don't you have a room for yourself?" I asked quickly. My heart was beating rapidly against my chest when one of his long legs brushed against mine. Blood coursing at top speed through my veins, I scooted further away from him, scared of what to come next. 

"This is my room." He replied, not caring of what I felt. "And it's your room too. So, it's our room if you really want to define it. " 

"Oh no..." I drew the sheets away from his body close to mine. "You can go sleep somewhere else." I tried to keep my grip on it but his strength outmatched mine. In one swift tug, the sheet was back on him and his arm was around my waist, pulling me against his chest.

"Woman, you speak too much for my liking." He whispered into my ear, sending shivers running along my spine and a steady buzz of electricity dancing on my skin. "This is my ship. This is my room. You are mine." Thomas declared into my ear. "You shall stay in bed with me for the time you are here. Unless, you would much rather prefer my men outside these safe doors. You've already met two of them.  I do know more of my men that are quite lonely in the night and would cut an arm off for a woman like you to relieve such feeling. They would thank the lord himself for me being so kind and thank you for being so generous."

I shuddered at the thought of me being outside with those men. Thomas was already ruthless enough with his tantalizing touches and if he said his men were worse, I believed him. My body betraying me, I found myself relaxing against his warmth and how he felt lying next to me in bed. In my short years of life, I had never ever been this...intimate with a man before. It was always viewed as improper and something that should be saved for marriage. Marriage. I thought bitterly as I scolded myself for the millionth time tonight. How could I be such an idiot for not seeing through Charlie's lies and trickery? What on Earth did I even see in this man?

Thomas's thumb rubbing circles on my belly broke my train of thought. I closed my eyes, biting back the moan before it escaped my lips. His touch was light as a feather but something from the way his hand was protectively placed on my belly told me it was more territorial rather than for comfort.

"Well..." He drew in a labored breath and blew hot air against my neck. I could smell his pungent spicy scent of him and feel every rigid line of muscle along his chest to his abdomen. There wasn't a single inch of extra fat  on him.

"Well what?" I snapped, my voice cracking at the last minute. He chuckled softly against my ear and sighed impatiently.

"Well, is it decided that you shall be spending your time in this bed...with me?" Thomas pressed his lips to my neck eliciting the moan welled inside my chest to escape through my lips.

"I will not be bullied into sleeping with a man." I replied hotly.

"You won't be bullied." Thomas replied slyly and equally as quick.

"You are not a gentleman in the slightest." I tried to offend him but came up short. I was never the one to insult.

"Never said I was, did I?" He smirked. "But for now as much as I would love to taste every inch of your soft silken skin, you need rest and I do too. It's been a long day for both of us."

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