Page 6 of A Countess Captured for the Captain
“The mistress of the captain, well, she shall make a fine prize for us, too,” Strap said, leering at Samantha, who pushed him away.
“Enough, Strap. What is your name? And why do I find you hiding on board my ship?” Nox asked.
Samantha pursed her lips, unsure of how much to tell him. He did not seem angry with her, more bemused, as though he could only admire a woman who had been so courageous as to stow away aboard a pirate ship.
“My name is Samantha… Ferguson,” she said, using Catherine’s surname, for she knew that if it was discovered she was the Duke of Hampton’s daughter then she would certainly be used for ransom.
Nox looked at her, pondering her for a moment, as a smile spread across his face.
“Well, what a find, and they hid you here? Thinking you would be safe from us pirates, did they?” he asked, as Strap laughed.
“And am I?” she asked, summoning her womanly charms, and fixing him with a searching gaze.
There was something odd about him, as though he did not entirely fit the mold of a pirate. He seemed more like a gentleman than a swashbuckling outlaw, and she recalled his words of mercy to the captain of the merchant ship and his crew.
“Many are afraid of me,” he replied, still looking her up and down with a smile.
“I suppose you will tell me you have overrun many ships, that you are the scourge of these seas, and that I have been lucky not to feel your wrath already,” she said, deciding to play to his vanity.
Nox laughed, shaking his head, and holding out his hand to her.
“Let her go, Strap, I will see to her in my cabin,” he said, and Strap smiled a broad and gaping smile.
“You have your way with her, Nox. It is a long time since we have put into port. The worker deserves his wages,” Strap said, and Nox smiled.
Samantha backed away, but Nox only shook his head, taking her by the hand and leading her up a flight of steps toward the cabins. The rest of the crew were below deck, and the ship was anchored off some rocks below a small island, the sun sitting like a half ball of flame on the horizon, sinking slowly into the ocean.
“Come along, let me get a good look at you,” Nox said, ushering her inside.
Samantha was shaking with fear, convinced that any moment he would seek to take advantage of her, or throw her from the side of the ship. Tears welled up in her eyes, and she struggled in his arms, but to no avail, for he was strong and held her in an iron grip.
The cabin was small, but comfortably furnished. Lamps burned at the windows, and large table at the center was covered in maps and charts. A bed was built into an alcove in the wall, and along the other wall three large chests sat, each locked with a gold chain. The remnants of a meal lay on one edge of the table, and Nox took out two glasses, pouring what looked like wine into one and handing it to Samantha.
“Sit there,” he said, pushing her down into a chair by the window.
“If I am to be your prisoner, then I would prefer to be locked up. I am not afraid of you,” she said, though she felt terribly afraid, but Nox only laughed.
“If you were a man, and I had found you there, do you know what I would have done?” he asked, slumping down into a chair by the window, as Samantha stood meekly with the glass in hand, still not trusting him.
“Killed me?” she asked, and he nodded.
“One way or the other. I do not take kindly to stowaways, Miss Ferguson,” he said, and Samantha looked at him defiantly.
“I am not a stowaway on board this ship, for if you had not attacked an innocent cargo then I would not be here. I am part of the theft you have gained, and I owe you no further explanations,” she said, folding her arms and turning away from him.
She eyed the food on the table hungrily, though did not want to give him the satisfaction of showing her desire. Samantha was a plucky woman, but this was almost too much, and it was all she could do to stop herself from screaming. But with nowhere to run, she felt helpless and entirely at his mercy.
“You speak the truth, but that does not change the question of what I am to do with you. If you were a man, then it would be infinitely easier,” he said, reaching behind him and taking up a bottle of brown liquid – rum she presumed – which he poured into his own glass, raising it in a toast.
“Then I would already be dead. Kill me,” she replied, and he laughed.
“I am not in the habit of killing people, not when they interest me, and you have certainly aroused my interests,” he said, a searching smile spreading across his face.
Chapter Four
To say that Nox was surprised to find Samantha in the crate would be no exaggeration, but the sight of this pretty young woman, standing meekly before him, was a panacea to months of companionship with rough-and-ready seafarers. Strap had been right to speak of Nox’s discomfort about life on board ship, as little as he knew of anything else, and this unexpected meeting had roused in him desires which he usually kept suppressed. The stowaway fascinated him, though he was certain she was lying as to who she really was.
“Tell me who you are?” he said, as they sat opposite one another by the window.
