AllFreeNovel
Share Us
And with that, the captain jumped from the ledge, taking me with him.
*****
SEVEN DAYS
I woke up to the smell of cinnamon and cheap alcohol.
My eyes fluttered open, my heartbeat pounding in my head as I looked up to a wooden ceiling. With a stiff neck, I turned to look around the room, which was not lavish or expensive by any means. There was a desk covered in maps and navigation equipment, a few large chairs, and a couple barrels of what I assumed to be liquor based on the smell of the room. The only elegance in the room was the thick red tapestries hanging from the ceiling like upside-down rainbows, and the wild fruits in wicker baskets.
As my eyes followed around the room, they came back to the bed, where a man was sitting and watching me sleep.
Captain Adrian.
I screamed and shoved a foot out, kicking him clear off the bed.
He hit the floor with a grunt and a few swear words, coming back to his feet and towering over me.
“Is this how you greet a man in the morning?” he asked, wincing. “You kick like one of the horses of the apocalypse.”
“Where am I?” I commanded. “Why did you bring me here? How long were you watching me with that disturbing look on your face?”
He chuckled, coming forward and leaning over the bed, straightening the stray curls of my hair with a long finger.
“Is it the first time a man has watched you sleep?” he asked. “You must be thrilled at the good fortune of never being approached by a pirate before.”
I slapped his hand away. “No! Yes. Wait—”
He chuckled and licked his bottom lip, stepping away from the bed. I sat up and turned to jump off the bed and run, but my head spun with so much vertigo that I could only return back to the bed, palms in the bedsheets to hold myself steady.
“It seems you can’t take heights well,” Adrian said, pouring an odd light-brown drink into a glass. “You passed out the moment we jumped from your balcony.”
He came back over to the bed, sitting down next to me. His thigh grazed against mine. I pulled back, sitting further down the bed.
“Don’t worry, darling,” he said, taking a sip of the drink. “I want something from you, but it ain’t your body. I don’t find you that attractive, to be honest.”
“You’re no morning sunrise either,” I snapped back. “If you’re wanting ransom—”
“Money would be preferable, but your father has none. Isn’t that right?”
I didn’t answer. How did he know that?
He took another gulp from the glass, then offered it to me. I looked at it in disgust. First he says I’m unattractive—even with how obviously well-dressed I was—and then he wants to hand me his dirty glass?
“Drink,” he said, nudging the glass at me. “It ain’t poisoned, and you’re probably dehydrated.”
I caught the smell of it and nearly gagged. “What is that?”
“Water.”
“The hell it is.”
He chuckled. “It’s water with rum and lime. The rum purifies the water, and the lime wards off disease. Unless you want to drink sea water and give yourself scurvy, I suggest you drink it.”
My tongue suddenly felt like sandpaper, and I hesitated before taking the glass. Under his eyes, I eventually took a sip, the flavor overwhelmingly bitter, sour, and unpleasant.
“Drink faster than that, darling,” he said. “I’m not your handmaid.”
I downed the glass, hoping the alcohol would settle my nerves. When I finished, he took the glass and leaned forwardto get my attention. I stared back into his sharp, deep eyes, the brown in them swirling in mischief.
