“Then we’d better sail faster.” I stare back at him.
“We will.” His tongue darts out and wets his bottom lip. “When I’m done.”
I tense, my entire body going rigid as he leers at me. I don’t have to ask what he means, not when he reaches for his belt. “No!” I scream and dart along the wall.
He closes the distance between us, and I try to jerk to the right and avoid his grasp. I don’t. His fingers grip my night dress, and he yanks me to him.
“Let go!” I slap at him, but he shoves me back against the wall.
The back of my head explodes with pain, and I see stars for a moment. Then he’s on me, grabbing my arm and dragging me toward his bed.
“Stop!” I fight, yanking against him and trying to free myself. But he’s bigger and stronger, and I don’t stand a chance against him.
He throws me onto the bed. “The bossy twat didn’t say what shape I had to deliver you in, girl. Keep fighting me, and you’ll be a lot worse for wear.”
I kick at him, still fighting as he slaps a hand on my chest and holds me down.
“Quit moving. It’ll be over soon. Just take it and stop your whining.”
“Get off!” I scratch his face, my soul turning into a caged animal.
He roars and rears back, backhanding me across the cheek so hard it makes my ears ring.
I gasp, pain radiating through me as my mind swims.
“Better.” He grunts and knees my legs apart. “Hook already had it. Now I want my turn. You’remyspoils now.”
Chapter
Seven
Ifight. I have to. Even though Jack hits me again, his hand open and stinging against my cheek. I won’t give in.
“Bitch!” He bares his teeth and wraps one palm around my throat. “Stop squirming!”
“Fuck you!” I claw at his hand, my fingernails scraping deeply as I try to free myself. Then I make a fist, my thumb locked against the outside of my fingers, and swing as hard as I can. I catch him in the face, and my hand explodes with pain as he yowls and grabs his bloody nose.
A whistle sounds outside, the noise high and sharp.
The pirate stills and turns his head to bark, “Fucking hell, what is it?”
“The Jolly Roger,” a pirate calls through the door. “Bearing down on us fast, Captain Jack.”
I hear the tremble in the pirate’s voice.
“That goddamn bastard is trying to take my spoils.” The pirate captain releases me and hurries to the door, opens it, dashes out, and slams it behind him.
I sit up and scramble out of the bed. My heart is thundering against my ribs, and hot tears overflow down my cheeks. My lip is busted, but that small burst of pain is nothing compared to the terror that threatens to engulf me. That was close. Too close.
I rush to the window. There’s a latch in the middle. I flip it with shaking fingers, then swing the window open. A narrow wooden ledge lines the back of the ship, perhaps just big enough for someone to stand on if they could maintain a hold on the railing that’s just below the window sash. But below the ledge is nothing but black water, the depths inscrutable and covered with swirling mist. If I fall, I won’t survive. I know that as surely as I know that if I stay here and Calico Jack returns, something bad is going to happen to me in this room. Something I won’t recover from.
I lean out the window, but something in the darkness behind the ship catches my eye. It’s a light. No, several lights—lanterns floating high in the fog and approaching quickly.
“Hoist the mainsail!” Captain Jack yells. “Now! Now!”
Scampering footsteps are everywhere as men yell, something whines and hisses, the ship jerking to attention, and then it shoots forward.
I hold onto the windowsill lest I topple overboard. We’re moving fast, the sea behind the ship becoming topped with white as we begin creating a wake. But the lanterns are still floating in the dark, coming closer even though the Ranger is moving at a decent clip.
