Captive Mistress Read online

  Free at last! She felt jubilant. Greedily she gulped at the cool, refreshing air which rushed in. Gradually she relaxed as her pain subsided to a bearable level. It was some time before she mustered the strength to rise. The experience proved far more painful than she anticipated. Her cramped muscles protested and nearly refused to cooperate.

  Adding to her misery, the great heavy overcoat scraped unmercifully against the bleeding sores on her back. It was all she could do to raise herself to sit on the crate which had held her prisoner for so long. Tears spilled down her smudged face as she prayed for the strength to go on.

  At length the pain subsided somewhat and she gingerly swung her legs to the ground. A muffled cry escaped her lips as her shaky legs buckled beneath her weight, toppling her to the hard floor. She gritted her teeth, pulled herself up and tried again. Though still unsteady, her legs held her up and she forced herself to walk. Gradually the feeling returned to her stiffened limbs.

  Now that she was at last free from the crate, a thousand questions raced through her mind as she stumbled about the dark, cluttered room. How was she to get out of the hold without anyone seeing her? She had to leave before the ship sailed. She noted the word “Charleston” printed in bold letters on many of the crates. Was that the ship’s destination? Regardless, she must disembark immediately lest she find herself sailing for this place called Charleston with an unsympathetic crew. Though the prospects of returning to the London harbor without a penny to her name were disheartening, the idea of being thrust into a strange new world across the sea was even more disquieting. But how could she steal away without being detected?

  Further deliberation ceased. With no warning whatsoever, the hatchway burst open, flooding the hold with brilliant light. She sucked in her breath, temporarily blinded. Heart aflutter, she stumbled back, crouching quickly behind a crate. Hardly daring to breathe, she listened closely to the gruff, faceless voices.

  “Everything bloody well better go smoothly from here on out, Henderson. Thanks to you and those bumbling fools you hired on, we’ve had nothing but trouble since we started loading.”

  “Hey, Nath. It ain’t my fault things went poorly. I got the best men I could find on such short notice. I know they’re nothing but scum, but you leave them to me. I’ll whip them into shape, or kill ‘em trying,” responded the ” second man.

  She winced at his fierce words. He’d be no man to fool with. The second man again spoke, this time from all too near her hiding place.

  “For everyone’s sake, especially yours, you’d damn well better. Just look at the way this stuff was loaded. This crate of linens is smashed beyond repair. I warn you, if the captain sees this, he’ll spare no mercy. He’s in foul humor since we got such a late start. He’ll have us all thrown to the sharks. Call down a few of your men, Henderson, and get this mess cleaned up before the captain swabs the deck with our carcasses. I’ll wait here. I want to make certain the job gets done right It’s my hide too,” added a third man.

  Heavy footsteps pounded up the stairs. The remaining two men shuffled slowly about the room, poking, prodding and cursing until her ears stung from their profanity.

  She shifted her weight slightly and chewed nervously on her lip. Should she throw herself at the mercy of these two men, explain what had happened, and enlist their aid in helping her reach shore? Surely they would be sympathetic to her plight. But even to her, such blatant optimism seemed doomed to failure. Why should they risk their captain’s ire to help a total stranger? No doubt they would enjoy handing her over to him.

  She shuddered at the very thought. Their brief yet all too vivid description of the fierce, vengeful man who commanded the ship made her realize he was definitely no one she wanted to run up against. If he had no mercy for his own crew, surely he would spare none on a’ stranger. But then how could she possibly get away? Even if she somehow managed to create a diversion and slip past these men, there were sure to be many others on deck. Would her masculine disguise allow her enough anonymity to safely ease her way off the ship and back onto shore? She was plagued by burning indecision. A sense of impending doom crashed down upon her taunt nerves. She began to shiver despite the fever which raged in her tortured body.

  One of the men coughed. His foot slammed against the crate where she hid.

  “Goddamn …” he cursed, rubbing his bruised shin gingerly. “Bring that lamp over so I can see what’s piled up in this corner without killing myself,” he ordered.

  She clutched her throat. The lamp! Oh, no! Her heart pounded so wildly she felt it would burst from her chest. Reckless with fear, she jumped from behind the crate and dove toward the stairs.

  “Hey! Who’s that there?” yelled the man in wildeyed surprise as she whipped by him. “Stop, now!”

  She paid no heed to his command but stumbled blindly toward the stairs. She reached the hatchway in seconds and lunged up the steps two at a time. All life centered on , the focal point of light at the head of the stairs. The air ‘ burned in her lungs. Almost there! Another three steps!

  Suddenly the light disappeared from the doorway. , Three grim faces stared blankly at her. Helpless, confused, she plunged headlong into them. “Move away! M Move away!” she choked.

  “What the hell…” blared the recipient of her swinging arm.

  Suddenly a rough hand gripped the back of her coat and yanked her downward. Her feet left the stairs and she was swung around so sharply, she went colliding into a stack of crates and sprawled across the floor. Blinding pain seared her back, consuming her in agony. Someone . was firing questions at her. Her head whirled. Her eyes would not focus. Someone shook her roughly.

  “Answer me, kid! Who are you? What the hell are you doing down here? I never saw you before. Did the captain hire you on? Why are you lurking about? How did you get here?” His endless stream of questions exploded at her.

  What plausible answer could she give these men? She felt suffocated under their intense scrutiny.

  “You’d better answer, boy, or I’ll whip the answers out of you,” threatened another.

  The girl cringed in horror at his threat. The lash was a fate worse than death. She tried to speak, but her voice croaked raspily. She moistened her dry, parched lips and ‘ tried again.

  “I … I …” she trailed off, easing herself to a sitting position.

  The man’s eyes turned into tiny slits. “Damnit, boy. ‘ Find your tongue or I’ll rip it out of your head!”

  “No! No! Please wait,” she tried again. Fear glistened in her eyes.

  “Goddamn!” interrupted the fiercest looking of the group. “The kid’s a bloody stowaway. It’s written all over him,” he growled and shook his fist menacingly at her.

  “Is that true, boy?” cried her original interrogator.

  “Let me explain,” she began. Gradually she eased herself up, leaning against the crates for support. Her knees shook violently, but she had to stand. She would not let them see how petrified she was. She would let no one call her a coward.

  The men surrounding her grew perceptibly more hostile. “Toss the bloody bastard overboard!” suggested one.

  “Yeah. Feed him to the sharks,” sneered another.

  “That’s too good for him. Hog tie him to the masthead and see how long he lasts!”

  “Shut up, all of you,” ordered her interrogator. “Henderson, go get the captain. He’ll be wanting to know we got uninvited company. And he sure as hell won’t be none too happy.”

  She watched in fear as one man begrudgingly disengaged himself from the group and hurried up the stairs. The others turned their gaze back to their hostage.

  “I think you’ll wish we’d thrown you overboard, boy. I’d say it a far more humane punishment than unleashing the captain on you. He’s just liable to tear you limb from limb. He’s that despicable when he gets riled. It should be real interestin’ to see what he does.”

  The grim faces of the other men supported his thinking.

  “Please, le
t me go. It’s an accident I’m here. I never planned it. I’m not a stowaway. Please, just let me go ashore. I promise I won’t bother you again. You needn’t tell your captain. This is all a terrible mistake. Let me go and there will be no harm done. Please!”

  The men looked at her in open astonishment.

  Suddenly their faces softed and they burst out in mocking laughter. “That’s a good one, kid,” the leader of the group sneered. “Set you ashore, aye? Well, boy, what would you have us doturn around the ship and head back just to let you off?”

  “Head for shore …?” she began in confusion. “I don’t understand.”

  “Yup. Been gone from the London harbor for nigh on three hours now, laddie. You must have fallen asleep,” he guffawed. “Did you have a nice nap?”

  Her hand flew to her throat. She felt close to choking. “No! No. It can’t be!” she cried and shrank back against the crate. Gone from shore for three hours? Oh God.

  “Did you think we would sit in the harbor until you were finished with your little nap?” he repeated wickedly.

  She savagely fought back the tears that welled up in ‘ her eyes. She was trappedwithout hope! The room grew deathly quiet. The men watched and waited in anticipation for the imminent confrontation.

  “What the hell do you mean, you found some kid hiding in the hold? How the hell did he get there?” thundered an angry voice from above, shattering the stillness like glass. “Who would have the supreme audacity and stupidity to stow away on my ship?”

  Without waiting for a response, the owner of the voice pounded heavily down the shaking stairway. The raging bull bore down upon the girl. In three long strides he swept across the floor. Men bolted out of his path lest they be trampled beneath him.

  He halted not three feet from her, his long legs, spread wide in a commanding stance. Immense hands with the power of three men were locked gravely in his belt. His looming shadow dwarfed her and blocked out the light from the hatchway. “What the hell are you doing on my ship?” His booming voice shook the hold. “Who are you? Answer me, boy.” His hands gripped his belt even tighter. He was livid with rage.

  She winced from the ferocity of his words. She could feel those hands squeezing around her neck. Unconsciously she pressed even closer to the crates, willing herself to disappear from his angry brown eyes. He expected an answer, but how could she evoke words from a throat that was parched and dry from fear?

  “I’m not a stowaway, sir … Captain. It was an accident. I… I was hiding from someone … on shore. , I hid in a crate. I must have fallen asleep when it was loaded. I had no idea the ship had set sail. It was an accident, Captain. I’m not a stowaway. I don’t want to be here. It is all a dreadful mistake.”

  Suddenly the wrath of Slate seemed immensely preferable to being trapped aboard this ship with its beastly captain and crew. She shuddered involuntarily. The movement was not missed by his calculating eyes.

  “I quite agree. You have made a grave mistake one I can promise you will deeply regret.” His tone held the challenge of an executioner. Her already pale face drained of all color. “No doubt you expect me to believe this story. Tell me, just who was this dastardly fiend?” he stormed.

  “No, let me guess and spare you the opportunity of lying to me,” he interrupted as she opened her mouth to speak. “Your disheveled appearance clearly proves you were running away from a life of work and poverty to find exciting adventure and riches on the high seas. Admit it, boy. That’s why you stole aboard, isn’t it?” he goaded.

  “No, Captain. No …”

  He silenced her with his piercing eyes. “Your earnest denials ring false with me. You incite my wrath and insult me with your brazen lies. I can see with my own eyes that you are a stowaway a bloody, stealthy runaway.”

  “Captain, you don’t understand. You’ve made a mistake. Let me explain,” she tried once again.

  “Damnit! How dare you stand there shivering and pitiful and tell me that I have made a mistake. It is you who made the blunder, my boy! No one comes aboard my ship without my permission. No one! I cannot tolerate it. You must be punishedand severely.” He bestowed on her an expression of such loathing that she feared he would kill her that instant with his bare hands alone.

  She shrank even farther back into the shadows. It was useless to defend herself against this fearsome monster. He would hear no reason but his own.

  Her silence and unequivocal terror encouraged him all the more. He eyed her dispassionately. “Do you still claim it a mistake you are here?”

  His sudden change in strategy took her by surprise. She could only nod her head.

  “Well then, boy, I’ve reconsidered. I will play the simpleton and take your word on that.” He watched her countenance ease somewhat. Then he landed the blow.

  “Take heed. There will be no mistake about the way you return to London. You will be sent back to shore the same way you camein a crate. You will probably return in a day or two, unless of course, the sharks reach you first. Most likely even they will leave you be. There’s frightfully little of you. You would provide a sorry meal for them.” His eyes openly mocked her. “You do swim, don’t you, boy?” he sneered. “Just in case you should, manage to get out of the crate?”

  “Please, sir, I implore you to reconsider. Do not do this terrible deed. Let me work for you. I’m willing to do more than my share. Give me a chance to prove myself. I may not look strong, but I am, and I will work hard for you. Please, don’t throw me overboard.” Tears glistened on her pale cheeks, but the sight evoked no pity in him.

  “I do not want you aboard my ship. It is as simple as that, my boy. You came here at your own risk. You must now pay the consequences. And as for work, you look as if you can hardly stand much less mop a floor or hoist a sail. You would be totally useless to me in fact, a complete nuisance. I want you off my ship. That is my final word.”

  She blinked back tears and stared helplessly, trying to reduce this monster to human form. Not much more than thirty years old, he had a dark, roguishly handsome face of sharp features. Wisps of thick dark hair escaped from the tiny band which unsuccessfully tried to hold it bound. His mouth was set in a hard, unyielding line. His dark brown eyes were cold, demanding, and devoid of compassion. Despite his young age and striking good looks, she saw no mercy reflected in his deep brown eyesonly anger.

  His question cut into her reverie like a knife. “What is your name, boy?”

  “I’m not a boy,” she cried out in hot retort. ,

  “Pray, then, just what are you?” came his mocking reply. “Do you elevate yourself to the status of a man? Why, there’s narry a whisker in sight.” His hand brushed her face roughly. “‘Tis smooth as a whore’s bottom,” he said.

  She jerked away, appalled by his touch as much as by his words. She’d been a fool to speak hastily, without thinking. So far her disguise combined with the darkness of the hold, had fooled them as to her gender. Did she dare tell him the truth? The decision weighed heavily on her mind. She furtively cast a glance at the faces around her. They reflected the same hard, mean, brutal character of their captain. These men would use her they would lustfully take their pleasure and then cast her aside as worthless chattel. That would be a fate worse than death.

  She glanced again at the man before her. The firm set of his jaw and the cold, vindictive glint in his eyes decided the matter. “My name is Patterson, Captain.”

  “Well, Mr. Patterson,” he said with stilted formality. “On our return to London your family will be notified that they have one less mouth to feed.”

  “You needn’t trouble yourself, sir. I have no family,” she replied bitterly.

  “I see. Well that only reaffirms my conclusion about your guilt. You can fully expect to pay for your foolhardy actions. I have no pity on liars, stowaways, or orphans,” he said dispassionately. “Nath, empty one of those crates and make room for our departing guest.”

  Without a word the man moved across the room. Obviously disgrun
tled, he began spewing cloth and linen from the crate onto the floor. , An unbearable pressure descended on the girl’s chest as she helplessly watched him. She shot her attention to . the captain. His eyes were cold as stone and his intentions were deadly serious.

  Fight! Fight for your life, her mind ordered, but no words would come. Her mind whirled in a sea of blank, unconnected thoughts.

  The captain shifted his weight. Her eyes caught the light from above. If she could just get past him, if only for a moment … it was worth a try. The box was nearly empty. Did she dare? Yes!

  “Don’t try it, boy. You’d never make it.”

  All hope was instantly shattered. She began to tremble. Tears trickled slowly down her cheeks. The face of her executioner grew even darker.

  “The crate is empty, Captain,” said Nath. The words were her death sentence.

  “Good. Put him in.” His stony countenance never changed.

  Two of the men approached her in silence. She saw them coming, but her eyes looked past them to the man solidly blocking the exit. Emerald orbs silently pleaded with him for mercy. He chose to ignore her. Rough arms ! seized her. Her feet dangled as they easily lifted her between them, carrying her toward the box.

  “No! Wait! Please, Captain. Is there nothing I can say that will change your mind? Let me explain. Give me a chance!”

  The men halted abruptly at her outburst. Her heartrending cries were terribly convincing. They waited for the captain to respond.

  “My boy, I am a busy man. Nothing you could possibly say would change my mind. Now get him into the box, ‘ Nath. I have many things to do,” he ordered casually, as if discarding an old boot.

  Gripped by an overpowering rebellion at his injustice, she wrestled free of their grasp. Lightning quick she raced for the stairway. The captain was quicker. His massive bulk thwarted her escape.

  She spun about, running blindly, irrationally about ‘, the cluttered hold. Savage, sneering faces flanked her every turn. She ducked and dodged hands thrust out to seize her. Terror swept her on. They closed in. There was nowhere to run. She was trapped!