Pirate's Ransom

Chapter 12

Darius looked down at the ball of woman hunkered down on the deck of his ship. She was so small in comparison to the rest of the ships occupants. Her clothing stuck to her body, clinging desperately to the curves he hadn’t noticed as intently as he was now. She wasn’t a child anymore. No. She was a strong-willed woman. One that drove him absolutely insane.

Whatever had possessed her to come to the deck during the storm was beyond him. Shit, if it hadn’t been his ship, and he’d been in her position, he would have stayed put...maybe. But no, she didn’t do anything she was told. He could have sworn that she did the exact opposite of what he told her to do just to spite him.

A grin spread across his face and he raked a hand through his hair. She was maddening and he was beginning to enjoy the frustration.

He watched as a shiver worked its way through her body. He really needed her to dry off before she got sick. Hell, maybe she was trying to kill herself. She’d already sat out on a scorching day and taken no fluids. A small twinge of guilt pricked at him when he’d seduced her and tied her hands to the pole. God damn though, she responded to his attentions. Had it been a fluke? Perhaps.

He remembered how their bodies had pressed tightly together and heat flooded his veins. Part of him wanted to toss her overboard just to get her out of his head, but Darius knew that wouldn’t be possible. She’d still be there in the forefront of his mind. Ever since he’d recognized her, she’d plagued his mind like some untreatable disease. Maybe he needed to get a bit more of her, enough to satisfy his urges toward her.

That had always worked in the past. He’d feel some stirring for a woman, and once he’d lain with her, he felt nothing anymore. Could he do that to her? No. No, he probably shouldn’t. It would ruin her reputation when she went home. He wanted her to be happy.

Darius clenched his teeth and ground them together. He wanted her to be happy with him he realized. How had his life changed so drastically? His parents died on the ocean, that’s how. A storm had overtaken the ship. He should have died, but instead he’d clung to a barrel with nothing more than a cylindrical box his mother had slung tightly to his body. When he was pitched into the sea he’d clung with every ounce of strength he had, searched every second for his parent’s bodies. What felt like a month passed, he knew he couldn’t have survived that long but the minutes had felt like hours. He’d blistered from the sun and fought the urge to drink the seawater. Hunger had gnawed at him until his own arm looked appetizing.

When a ship appeared in the distance he’d cried. It wasn’t from relief though, it was because he knew it was a hallucination. One of the many he’d seen. But no, that time it was real. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, it was a pirate ship. The pirate Death Bringer had taken him under his wing. Once the pirate had taken him home, but his uncle who’d taken over his home claimed not to know who he was. With no proof of Darius’s parentage he had nowhere to go. He’d stayed aboard the ship. And here he was. Still here. The Death Bringer, who’d fallen into the role of his father, had died, passing the title to a then twenty five summer man.  

Eventually he’d realized that he had to find the key for the box. His mother had told him about a key that was the only way of opening it. Time and time again he’d tried to break it open. He’d tried an ax, and even had a locksmith look at it. Nothing. Nothing could get it open and he was tired of living the pirate life. He needed something more than an existence spent on a ship, with a bunch of men. He wanted more. Isabella could have given that.

He stood, staring at her little body with his arms folded across his chest. “Get the lad out of the water!” He barked at a few of his men who began to hoist him up.

The moon was bright now, the wind had carried away the rest of the clouds and the stars were shining bright like beacons telling he and his crew where to go. He heard a thud as Charlie hit the deck behind him. He sputtered a bit and turned.

“You owe the lady your life, lad. If she hadn’t thrown that out for you, you’d be dead. Go down and get some rest.”

Charlie was in a waterlogged heap on the deck and lifted his head to look at Darius. His crystalline blue eyes flicked from him to Isabella.

“She okay, cap’n?” Worry etched his face.

Unbelievable. The boy had nearly died and he worried about the woman who was supposed to be their captain. She was stealing the hearts of his men.

“She’s fine. Get below. Now.” His mood was souring but he couldn’t tell why. He guessed it was because he wanted something and he couldn’t take…her. God, pirates were supposed to be able to take anything they wanted. He just couldn’t take her. She belonged with a handsome, dashing, pompous, idiotic lord. He cursed under his breath.

One of his men nudged him in the shoulder. “That lass there is different, ain’t she?”

Another did the same on the other side. “Ye know cap’n, we saw the steam comin’ off ye when ye tied ‘er up. She might make a fair pirate queen.”

His teeth ground together again. Fuck.

“Get back to cleaning up the deck!”

The men chuckled and then got back to work. He knelt down to her form on the deck and lifted her head to look at her. Dark black lashes laid across her cheeks in spikes. Her cheeks were a rose color and her hair was wild, plastered to her forehead and around her shoulders in long tendrils like she was a beautiful medusa. If she opened her eyes, would he turn to stone? He was fairly sure one part of him would.

“Isa.” He gave her a soft shake. “Isa. Come on.”

Her bright eyes opened, capturing the light of the moon and he nearly choked on his breath. They were red rimmed with exhaustion. Her lips parted in surprise and her gaze snapped up to meet his.

“Are you ready to go to the room and get dried off?”

She scrambled to her feet and yanked on her arms again to free them. Her face turned red, a deeper shade than her sunburn. “You son of a—“

“Watch your mouth. You don’t know my mother,” he snapped, cutting her off. She did…but if she knew that, she wouldn’t have nearly called her a bitch.

She surprised him when she growled at him in frustration, so loud the noise reverberated across the deck of the ship. “That wasn’t very lady like.” He said smiling, and reached around her to untie her hands. As soon as they were released she got in his face.

“Yeah? How’s this?”

Her arm swung and her open palm slammed into his cheek, rocking his head slightly to the side. He saw it coming at the last moment but didn’t grab her. He let her hit him, and it stung like a handful of bees but he straightened glaring at her.

The resounding “oooohhhs” and curses from his men all around the ship were loud enough that he tightened his fists.

He supposed he deserved that, after seducing her in front of his men, and then turning her down. Now the problem was making sure he kept the respect of his men after her little display.

“Are you done?” He snarled at her.

“Not even close. Why don’t you get a little closer to the edge of the ship.”

Her eyes glinted in the moonlight. She was furious.

“Now, now. I don’t think you want to be left alone to fend for yourself on ship full on men.”

“I’m getting tired of the threats.”

She jammed her finger into his chest. The crew began hooting and hollering. With a flick of his wrist he grabbed hers and pressed her against the mast. She sucked in a breath, surprised and he used the opportunity to capture her lips.

The heat between them was instant. Something was there, something that wasn’t going away. He knew that now. Against his chest he felt the hard peaks of her nipples and wanted so badly to taste them, to touch and caress them. He leaned into the kiss and slid his tongue against hers. A soft breathy moan escaped her when he shifted his hips forward, and his free hand slid down to her hip.

The crew grew louder, breaking the spell that had woven itself between them. She twisted away from him, her face red, and ran.

It took one hard look at his crew to get them to shut up and get back to work.

It was getting more difficult to contain his lust around her. He needed to get the key and get her home before it was too late.