by Eliza Knight
“Uh-uh, princess,” he mocked.
Though she hated to head-butt anyone for the headache it always gave her, that was her next move. Alesia was fairly certain at this point she wasn’t going to be walking away with the silver, which meant she could at least walk away with her life—and figure out another way to escape the wharf.
Before she had the chance to make good on her decision to crack her head against his, she found herself flattened to the wood-planked floor, and his massive body on top of hers. Every hard plane pressed to the soft curves of her own. She sucked in a ragged breath, prepared to shout at him to leave off, but she found her throat too tight to speak.
“I’d have expected more from Santiago’s daughter, wee sprite.” His finger trailed over her cheek and along her jawline.
Alesia bared her teeth, trying to wriggle free but only managing to feel his body pressed harder to hers. “And I would have expected more from a pirate Captain.”
“Touché.” His grin was inviting. Unnerving. Disarming.
“Get off me,” she growled, trying to keep her mind in the right place—the angry place. That was survival. To succumb to his disarmament was to lose.
His gaze shifted to her lips. “Not without a kiss.”
Alesia snorted and shoved at his unmoving shoulders. “I’d not kiss ye if ye were the last man on earth.”
“What if I were the second to last?” he teased.
She let out an exasperated groan. “Not then, either, ye ogre.”
He clucked his tongue. “Shame.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because, lass, if sparring with ye is this fun, kissing would be even better.”
She was momentarily stunned speechless by his words, but the laughter in his eyes spread to his lips and he started to chuckle.
“Oh, get off me, ye whoreson.”
“Promise not to bite me when I do?”
“Ye’ll have to pay me.”
“We’ll see.” He climbed off her and backed toward the door.
Alesia glowered as she leapt to her feet, prepared if he should attack again.
“Calm down, kitten. I’m not going to flatten ye. Or try to kiss ye.”
Kitten. Well, she liked that better than wee sprite. Alesia dusted at her wet breeches, noting that the front of his black shirt was darkened from her wet clothes. From his distance and stance, she was certain he didn’t plan on tackling her again. And with that realization, something foreign snaked through her. What was this feeling? Disappointment?
Absurd. How could she be disappointed? She didn’t want him on top of her again. Or did she?
She wasn’t certain. But she knew she had no interest in exploring it. Alesia didn’t get close to people. When she did, they either died or cheated her. The only one she could count on was herself.
“Hope ye’re prepared to meet your da. He’s a real arsehole.” And with that, Captain Thor stormed from the cabin.
Chapter Four
Standing at the helm, Thor counted to six before the wee hellion emerged from his quarters and marched toward him across the massive deck of The Sea Devil.
Behind her, the docks had come to life with merchants, dockworkers, scum and all other beings that walked the slimy wharf. The people went about their day, completely unaware of the delight Thor was having in one of their own. And he wasn’t the only one. ’Twould appear most of the crew was quite taken by the sight of her as well. They’d stopped their duties to stare slack jawed as she marched toward him.
He crossed his arms over his chest and eyed her. Saucy wench, and utterly irresistible. Aye, his ballocks had smarted, and the wee smack of her knuckles to his face had stung a bit, even still, he was mesmerized by her. He’d never met a lass like her. Hands on her hips, she marched toward him as his mother had done when he was a lad, ready to scold him. He wanted to doubt she was who she claimed, but she had the look of Santiago, however much more beautiful.
“I must say, I’m disappointed, ye wee sprite,” he said, trying for seriousness but certain his tone gave away his mirth. “I had thought it would only take ye three seconds to emerge, not six.”
Alesia jabbed her finger toward him, prepared to say something quite unladylike, he was certain. But she must have thought better of it, because she clamped her mouth shut. She crossed her arms over her pert breasts, mirroring his stance, and then turned in a slow, barefooted circle to take in the ship and the crew as they worked the sails and prepared to debark. Her head fell back as she looked up at the masts, the loose sails, and the phony flag. Two ravens perched high on his crow’s nest, squawking, and he thanked his lucky stars it wasn’t three—a bad omen and a sign of death.
When she turned back to him, for a split second he saw the fear in her eyes before it was replaced with that over-the-top bravado she’d exhibited in his chamber. Och, he cursed under his breath. Why did he have to find her so mesmerizing when he ought to despise her, or better yet, feel indifference given what his plans were.
“Where are we going?” she asked softly.
Thor studied the wee firebrand. There was so much more to her than met the eye, and he found himself alarmingly intrigued. How was it possible his enemy had sired anything Thor took an interest in? When he’d thought Santiago’s bastard was a male, he’d planned to toss the bugger in the jail cell of the hold below deck and be done with him until they found his miserable father. But when Alesia presented herself, his mind took a different turn altogether.
A woman. An enticing one at that. Even beneath the layer of a year’s worth of dirt caked to her skin, he could tell she was bonny.
She was also a woman who’d had a rough go of it. A small part of his heart pricked with guilt. His code, the code of the brethren, was to care for the weak, and while she might theoretically fall into that category, Thor would bet the ballocks she’d tried to crush that the lass would be highly insulted to know he considered her anything other than a force to be reckoned with.
She didn’t seem to want to be saved. At least that was what he was going to tell himself, because right now, an idea had begun to percolate in his mind, taking root as he watched her breasts rise and fall with each breath. They weren’t large breasts, nor were they particularly small. Not his ordinary desire of plush, bouncing pillows that spilled all over him, hers would fit perfectly in his palms. His blood stirred as he watched and recalled how they’d felt pressed to his chest when he’d grabbed hold of her in his cabin. Soft, pert, with hardened nipples that had defied the bluster of her attitude.
“Get your mind out of the slop pot, sailor,” she murmured.
Thor didn’t bother jerking his gaze away from her breasts. He raised them slowly. “I’m no sailor, lass. I’m the captain of this ship, and ye’d do best to remember it.”
She raised a challenging brow. “Best, would I?”
Och, she was trying his patience. He couldn’t remember the last person who’d been able to get under his skin so well.
“Aye,” he drawled. “Else ye’ll end up in the bowels of this ship, locked behind bars with a bucket to piss in and a crust of bread to gnaw on, if ye’re lucky.”
She tossed her wild dark curls over her shoulder and gave him a smile filled with mockery. “Do ye treat all your prisoners to such pleasantries?”
Thor grunted and was rewarded with a roll of her fiery green eyes.
“Ye think I’d be scared of that?” Her arms fell to her sides, her shoulders sagging slightly. “I’ve been living on the streets of Edinburgh since I was a bairn, pirate. I’ve seen and been through worse.”
It was on the tip of his tongue to ask just what that meant, but he held back, knowing that, one, she wouldn’t answer and, two, he shouldn’t care. Stick to the plan, he told himself. With the amount of gold doubloons Santiago was likely harboring in exchange for the lass, he could very soon find the Devils of the Deep a great treasure.
“So?” she urged.
“So what?”
“If your ship�
��s dungeon is not my fate, what is it?”
Hell and damnation. He’d lost his train of thought again. “Ye’ll see.” Thor wasn’t stupid. He wasn’t going to tell her his plan until they were well out to sea and there was no way for her to escape. They may have only just gotten acquainted, but he was fairly certain she wasn’t going to like his new plan. She might even prefer the dungeons. That only made his idea more of a challenge.
Another roll of her eyes. A huff of her breath. Breasts rising and falling. Och, but his mind wasn’t going anywhere near a slop pot. Far from it. What he was thinking of was only pleasure.
“If ye keep doing that, ye might fall flat on your arse,” he warned, but he didn’t add, with me on top of ye.
“Doing what?” she snapped.
“Rolling those big green eyes.”
“Green?” Her eyes widened, allowing the sun to shine brighter on them, giving off the effect of sparkling emeralds.
Thor gritted his teeth. Why did he have to think of her eyes in such poetic terms? They were eyes. Things to see with. “Aye,” he grumbled moodily. “Havena ye ever seen your reflection?”
Alesia frowned, and for a split second, she gave off the impression of hugging herself tighter. “Not in anything other than murky water. I thought my eyes were quite brown.”
“Nay. Green, lass.” That small spark of pity that had lodged itself in his gut presented itself once more.
“Huh.” She bit her lower lip, looking toward her toes. “I suppose I should be embarrassed,” she said quietly.
“Why? I wouldna be.”
“Ye wouldna?” She peeked up at him, and it was plain to see she sought reassurance, so out of character from the lass he knew her to be.
“Nay.” His voice had softened. They all had their vulnerabilities, and he wasn’t going to judge her for the ones she harbored. Clearly, her appearance was one of them.
“Cap’n.” Edgard, his first mate, bowed. “Message has been delivered.”
“Thank ye, Edgard. Alert the crew ’tis time to push away.” Soon Santiago would know that Thor had his offspring, and a meeting place would be established.
“Aye, Cap’n.”
Thor kept his gaze on Alesia. Dark tendrils of hair fell wildly around her slim shoulders, covered only by a worn shirt. Her jawline was sharp, neck long, torso thin. It was obvious she’d missed more than a few meals, but despite that, she was still stronger than most females. Where their bodies might be soft, hers had been hardened, but she was soft in all the right places. Perhaps when she’d honed her skills at fighting, she’d gained the muscle he didn’t normally feel upon a lass.
A slow grin covered his face.
“What are ye smiling at?” she asked.
He hadn’t realized she’d turned to look at him over her shoulder as he’d perused the length of her. “Just thinking that it might be fun to have the men place wagers.”
“On?” A skeptical gaze raked over him.
“Your fists.”
An unladylike grunt escaped her. “I hope ye’d be placing wagers on me winning. I’ve not seen one of your men I canna beat.”
Thor laughed loud enough that half the crew jerked their gazes toward him. He wasn’t one for laughing. Rarely joked. But something about this lass had him thinking and reacting in ways he wouldn’t normally. Quickly, he silenced himself.
“The swabs may look weak, lass, but trust me, the life of a sailor, and especially a pirate, is a hard one.”
She sauntered back toward him, her bare toes so tiny beside his boots. “More so than the life of a wharf rat?”
“Ye will see.”
“I suppose I will.” She ran a finger over the helm, and he found himself utterly silent, because if anyone else, besides Edgard, dared to touch his captain’s wheel, he’d hold a dagger to their throat. “How long until we meet Sant—my father?” A frown made her full lips thin and turn down.
“Ye dinna have to call him your father if ye dinna want.”
“But isna that why I’m here?” She pushed her wild hair away from her face as the wind continued to whip it back against her cheeks.
“Simply because the man got a woman with child doesna make him a father, only a sire.” He didn’t know if she’d pick up on his insinuation that Santiago was an arse or not, but she nodded all the same.
“I should hate him.” She pursed her lips, gave a dainty shrug of her shoulders, then moved to touch the rigging, and appeared to be working out the knots in her mind.
“For leaving your mother in a precarious way?”
Green eyes flicked toward him, all seriousness and calm. “For giving me life.”
“Och,” Thor scoffed. “The man didna give ye life. Only your mother and yourself can lay claim to that.”
“He was a necessary part.”
“A meal without meat is still a meal.”
“Are ye calling Santiago a piece of meat?” A giggle escaped her, and for that brief moment, he glimpsed a spark of joy in her.
Thor grinned. “Maybe.”
A smile spread on her lips, which gave him pause. Despite the grit that seemed to have found a permanent place on her skin, she was quite striking. It made what he was going to do more palatable, but at the same time, it made him think he should despise himself.
Thor shook off his misgivings. This was Santiago Fernandez’s daughter. The spawn of his mortal enemy. The path to his revenge had seemed like a ray of hope yesterday, and now it was assured.
But it wouldn’t be the dungeon for his prisoner. Nay, Thor was going to do what he did best—besides pirating. He was going to seduce her. Ruin her. And he was going to enjoy every damn minute of it, no matter how many times she tried to whack him in the ballocks. There was a fire and passion within her that he intended to wrestle out.
Rape wasn’t his style—he’d never forced a woman. By the time he was done, she would be begging for him. And then, when they arrived at the designated meeting spot for him to present Santiago with what his seed had grown, he’d let the man know every single act of debauchery in great detail. Best of all, he might even plant a bastard of his own. Then, he would sink his blade into Santiago’s heart with the knowledge that he’d taken everything for himself.
Before Thor could begin his wooing, however, the lass was in thorough need of a dunking. Thor wasn’t a picky man, but he did draw the line at filthy. Without warning, he lifted her into the air and tossed her over his shoulder.
“What are ye doing?” she ground out among pummels to his back.
“Ye need a bath.”
“Put me down!”
The men on the ship grinned as they hoisted the sails and the rowers below propelled the galley through the water and away from the port.
Thor couldn’t help but grin to himself. She fought against him, kicking and shouting out obscenities that he bet half his men hadn’t heard before. Hell, there were a couple he was unfamiliar with.
“’Haps I ought to wash out that charming mouth of yours, too.”
“Ye’ll do no such thing,” she shouted, punching him hard in the middle of his back.
Rather than wince, shout, or toss her into the ocean, Thor smacked her bottom hard, gritting his teeth against the way her rounded rump bounced back against his hand. Heaven help him, but she was more than he could have hoped for in a bed partner, let alone one he intended to thoroughly ravage in every way.
Blood and bones, this was going to be good. Thor marched toward his quarters, hollering for a tub and hot water, and grinning all the more as she shouted for the men not to dare bring the items. Who the hell did she think she was? It was both funny and irritating. Of course, his men did not listen to her in the slightest.
Inside his cabin, he held her over his shoulder, taking her abuse until the tub, hot water, lye soap and rags were produced, then he tossed her into the tub, fully clothed.
Alesia sputtered, wiping the water from her face and glowering up at him. When she started to scramble from the tub, he
tsked at her.
“Dinna even think about it. Ye smell worse than the lowliest swabs on the ship. More so than the rowers below deck.”
“So what? The better to repel the likes of ye.” Och, but she was beautiful even when she snarled.
Thor chuckled. “Och, a little smell never repelled me from a bonny lass, especially since it isna permanent.” He tossed her the lye soap and a rag. “Start scrubbing, or I will.”
Alesia set her mouth in a grim line and glowered at him. She also did not lift the soap and rag. Didn’t move an inch. So, she wanted to challenge him, aye? Didn’t think he’d go through with his threats. Well, if she thought he wouldn’t, she was only fooling herself.
Thor marched toward her, standing over the tub and staring down into her wet face, streaked with rivulets of water that revealed creamy skin beneath the grime. But even those few moments of waiting didn’t produce results. With a subtle shake of his head, he rolled up his sleeves and snatched the soap and rag from the water.
“Ye’re a stubborn sprite,” he growled as he rubbed the soap onto the rag.
“Remove your clothes,” he ordered, staring at the far wall.
“Nay.”
His gaze snapped back to her. “Lass, I think ye know by now I’m not one to trifle with. Remove them, or I’ll do it for ye.”
“Why will ye not just leave me alone?” Tears gathered in her eyes, causing him to take a step back.
“I gave ye the chance to wash yourself. I’ll give ye another.” His tone had gone softer, kinder. He didn’t want her to cry. Hell, how was he going to go through with his plan? When he least expected it, the vulnerable side of her reached out and bit him.
“Fine.” She swiped angrily at her tears. “Turn your back.”
Slowly, he shook his head. “I’ll do no such thing, lass, else ye scrabble out and attempt to bludgeon me again.”
“Avert your eyes,” she ground out. “’Tis indecent.”
Thor braced his hands on either side of the tub and stared into her eyes, daring her to argue with him again. “I dinna take orders from ye. This is my ship, and ye’ll do what I bloody well tell ye.” So much for a gentler touch. She had the ability to bring out a range of feelings he was not wholly familiar with.