Page 47 of Pirate's Intent
“That don’t surprise me in the least.” Though the men were in the other room, Abigail glanced inside before her eyes slid back to Hannah, and she lowered her voice. “He’d never tell ye, or anyone, if he had his way, but the Cap’n is a good man. He takes care of us, ye see.”
“Takes care of you?”
“Aye.” She nodded. “He provided this building, and every wench here is under his protection. Whenever he’s about, he leaves coin and makes sure the girls are seen to.” She grabbed her crotch. “Cared for and cleaned if ye take my meaning. Gives ‘em extra loot too when they need it.”
She got the gist. He got them medical attention, such as it was.
“That does not surprise me,” Hannah murmured. She cocked her head. “So he does not take a percentage of what you ladies make?”
“Ladies?Now that’s a bit much.” Abigail snorted. “But nay, he gives it not takes it.” She considered Hannah. “But I imagine in a way not necessarily related to him pleasuring ye, that ye know all about that.”
She did indeed, and it was not just in him teaching her to defend herself, but in the way he helped her navigate the darkness inside her. The strange longings that plagued her. He gave her an outlet. A means to feel somewhat normal.
By the time she made it inside, the enemy pirate was gone, and Luke’s expression unreadable.
“’Tis time for us to set sail, love.” If she were not mistaken, emotion flickered in his eyes when he looked at Abigail. “Ye’ll be alright then? Ye remember what I told ye?”
“Aye, Cap’n.” She sauntered over eyeing him up and down as if she intended to kiss him but instead embraced him, squeezed his backside and whispered in his ear before speaking aloud. “Travel well, Cap’n. May yer winds be fair, and yer mainmast stay stiff.”
Where she would have normally rebuffed such a comment as inappropriate considering current company, Hannah instead chuckled and muttered, “Is it ever any other way?”
Abigail cocked a brow at her and grinned. “Aye, Cap’n, she’s a right pirate she is!”
“Ye mean a right prisoner,” Luke growled and stalked Hannah’s way. “Because she will not slip my grasp so easily.”
The next thing she knew, she was over his shoulder again, and they were on their way.
ChapterEight
––––––––
LUKE KNEW THE MOMENThe saw a knife at Hannah’s throat, things were never going to be the same. Then, when in his fury and fear over nearly losing her, he kissed her, he knew he would never let her go.
She belonged to him.Withhim.
Something she would damned well understand before he was finished with her.
While he could have let her walk, she was not to be trusted. More than that, he needed her in his arms. Or over his shoulder. Either way, he would hold her until he had her locked down with no chance of escape.
He refused to feel such stark fear again.
To lose control like that.
“What did you learn from that pirate?” she asked as he tromped along “Is my sister all right? And why were you expecting that attack? I had not been under the impression you were.” Then she evidently gave it some thought and came to an accurate conclusion. “You always meant to lure those remaining, didn't you? To keep things on your territory, done your way. An ambush, so to speak.”
She quieted a moment before rattling on having quite the conversation with herself. “You could have just told me that. It would have made good sense. Perhaps I would not have felt the need to steal the brooch, to begin with.” She gave that more thought. “Actually, I would have, regardless, and you likely knew that. So sparing me the details is neither here nor there.”
Eventually, realizing she would get no answers from him, she quieted.
Until that is, he tossed her on his bed in his ship’s cabin, and she caught sight of his various contraptions.
“Surely, you do not mean to,” she sputtered, fighting him a little when he yanked one arm up. Made not to overly chafe, he tied her wrist to a slender, expensive rope attached to a ring. Then he straddled her to keep her legs from wreaking havoc on his groin, grabbed her other wrist before she slapped him, and tied that off too.
While he could leave her like this, he didn’t trust his little tease not to find a way to break free from the impossible. So he grabbed a flailing foot and tied it to a rope attached to a ring at the bottom corner of his bed.
Her eyes rounded wider still. “Oh, bloody hell, no, you will not!”
“Bloody hell, I will,” he muttered, snagging her free foot before she landed a good kick. He swiftly tied it off to the opposite corner. She still had room to flail about but not for long.
