Page 8 of A Countess Captured for the Captain
“And you will find me a dangerous man if I am crossed,” he said, their eyes meeting, like hunter and prey waiting for the other to make a false move.
“If only you knew,” she said, and he made a grab for her as she pushed him away.
But Nox had misjudged, and as he leaped right, Samantha moved left, pushing a chair over in his path, and scrambling across the table toward the door. But as she wrenched it open – though where she intended to go was a mystery – Strap appeared, catching her in his arms and lifting her up. She was struggling, kicking out, but to no avail. He brought her back inside, throwing her down upon the bed as Nox laughed.
“The sport is excellent, today, Strap,” he said, glancing at Samantha, who now seemed subdued.
“What will you tell the men?” he asked, and Nox looked at Samantha questioningly
“Well, it rather depends upon Samantha. I can tell them she is a common harlot, ready for the sport, or she can tell me the truth about herself. It is rather up to her,” he replied, as Samantha folded her arms, turning her head away angrily and scowling.
Chapter Five
Samantha knew she was beaten. There was nowhere to run, and nowhere to hide. Her only hope would be to leap overboard and take her chances in the sea, and that was no hope at all, for surely, she would be drowned if she even attempted such a futile move.
Now, she looked warily at Nox, who grinned at her, as though the entire thing was a simple joke to him. She was trying her best to dislike him, though there was something about him she found endearing. She gave him a disdainful look, knowing that her best chance now was to speak the truth.
“Would you believe me if I told you?” she asked, and Nox shrugged his shoulders.
“I am sure I could be persuaded,” he replied, and she took a deep breath.
“I was a stowaway on board the merchant’s ship, but not entirely unfamiliar to it,” she began.
“So, you were the lover of one of those we put off on the island today?” Strap asked, but Samantha shook her head.
“No, my father owns the ship, and many others, too,” she said, and now she explained how she found herself in the crate, and of the adventures she had experienced since leaving London involuntarily all those weeks before. As her explanation ended, Nox drew a deep breath, glancing at Strap, who stared at her wide eyed.
“The daughter of the Duke of Hampton? Why, Randolf Crawford is one of the richest men in London, not to mention one of the most odious,” Strap said, shaking his head.
“And you are a fine one to speak of odious men,” Samantha said, for she had taken an immediate dislike to Strap, who seemed to fit most every tale she had heard of pirates and their kind.
Strap made no reply, helping himself to a glass of rum, and settling back on the bench which ran below the cabin windows. Nox shook his head, laughing to himself, as though he could not quite believe his luck.
“Not a common harlot then,” he exclaimed, and Samantha glared at him.
“Far from it. And might I ask what this new knowledge will mean for me? I presume I am still to be your prisoner here,” she said, and Nox appeared to ponder for a moment.
“By its very definition, a ship is a prison, or rather, to leave it would mean certain death if one was foolish enough to swim in waters such as these. So yes, you are my prisoner, but I will not treat you badly, we have had our little bit of fun,” he said, cutting himself a piece of meat from a half-eaten chicken carcass on the table which he proceeded to tears strips off with his teeth.
“My father will pay handsomely for my return. The news of the sinking ship will soon reach him, and my disappearance will already be the talk of the ton. I could be… an asset to you,” she said, once again changing her tone.
There was no point in struggling against her current situation. Nox was right, she was a prisoner on boardThe Rosa Mystica,whether or not she liked it. But she could choose how she would be treated, either as Nox’s veritable prisoner or as something more appealing.
He smiled at her, running his finger down the line of the scar on his cheek, and she wondered how it was he had come by it. She imagined some brave sword fight, swashbuckling with the enemy, caught on the cheek, just as he brought his sword to bear upon his opponent.
“Then that is what he shall do,” Nox declared, clapping his hands together.
“You are taking a risk, Nox,” Strap exclaimed, but Nox shook his head.
“A simple exchange, we shall sail for London and I shall deliver the cargo personally to the Duke. He will pay his price for her, and you shall see that we are in profit, Strap. Are you not tired of endlessly sailing these seas, do you not wonder what lies beyond? To go to London, to see the port, to see the women,” he said, winking at his old shipmate, who shook his head.
“The men will not like it, Nox,” he muttered.
“But do you not realize how precious this cargo is? Why, the daughter of a Duke is surely worth a pretty penny. Greater than half-a-dozen galleons of sugar or doubloons. They will be richly rewarded. Now, give the order, Strap, make it so,” he said, clapping his hands together, and Strap glanced angrily at Samantha, before grudgingly leaving the cabin.
“Do you mean it? Will you really take me back to London?” she asked, still uncertain of his motives.
He seemed to change his mind in a moment, driven like a ship in a storm, tossed this way and that. Now, he rose to his feet, crossing to where she sat on the bed in the alcove, gazing down at her and smiling.
