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“What on earth is wrong with you?’ I yelled as he dragged me back to his room. “What’s the problem with me spending time with Henrik?”
He pulled me forward to face him. “The problem, Princess Blood, is that you’re a hostage. You’re not a guest. You don’t teach a hostage how to fight back. You teach a hostage to submit.”
As he said the word, he shut the door and shoved me against it, leaning his face close to mine. I tried to break free, but he only pushed me up against the door harder.
“Listen to me,” he said in a low growl. “You are not one of my men. I’m not here to protect you, care for you, or do any form of worship. I just need you to bleed out for me, and if you can’t remember that, I might take more blood than necessary just so you don’t forget my authority here.”
“What authority?” I threw back. “I’ve never once seen you act as captain. All you do is play pirate captain like a child. There’s not an ounce of maturity in you that could sustain the responsibilities of being a captain! Henrik is more of a captain than you’ll ever be.”
His grip tightened. I winced. All the other times Adrian had gripped me like this, it had been playful. Henrik’s name, however, seemed to have hit a piece of his spirit that was off-limits.
“It doesn’t matter who you think is more qualified,” he growled in my face. “I own this ship. I own this crew. I own the moon, the stars, and the sea—and now, I own you.”
His head dipped down further toward mine, his nose grazing my cheek. I turned my head away, my heart pounding in my throat.
“Don’t you dare,” I breathed out.
For a breath, he was still in my space, hesitating, his breath close to my neck. He then suddenly released me, stepping back to look me in the eyes.
“You’ve made a mistake in comparing me to him, princess,” Adrian said, licking his bottom lip. “Now I’ll show you just what kind of pirate captain I canreallybe.”
ONE DAY
CHAPTER 10—STORIES
“Think of it as your belated birthday party.”
Adrian smirked as he motioned to all the men sitting around the tables, already getting into a heavy amount of drinking for the evening.
I frowned. “A party? For me? You said I wasn’t a guest on this ship.”
“You’re not. Which is why you won’t be celebrating with us. You’ll be getting more alcohol for my crew.”
He kicked me in the rear with his hard boot. I grunted, turning and kicking him in the hip in return. My kick wasn’t nearly as strong as his, but I wasn’t going to show that I knew that. By his smirk, I could tell that he already knew how weak I was in comparison.
For now.
I wished I was spending time with Henrik that evening, just to learn how to stab Adrian, if necessary.
“I think you’re too comfortable with me,” Adrian said, chuckling, motioning to where I had just kicked him. “Should I show you your place—”
“Oh, enough! I’ll get your stupid alcohol. Just stop bragging about your position.”
His tongue grazed the bottom of his lip as he popped his eyebrow. “Is there another position you’d like me to talk about?”
I threw my hands up in disgust and turned my back on him. I could hear him laughing as I left to go to the kitchen.
“His royal captain demands more alcohol,” I told Luc.
“It sounds like a party!” Luc said with some enthusiasm. “It must be because of the ceremony tomorrow.”
I shuddered. “You all say it so casually. As if cutting me open means nothing to any of you. I expected you to care a little bit, Luc.”
He chuckled, holding up my arm. He slid a fingernail down the vein that started at the wrist and went to my elbow.
“It’s a harmless cut,” he said gently.
“That’s a foolish combination of words.”
