What had that been?
Electricity?
Probably.
Crazed worry brought her finally up to her feet. What if he had been hurt? Angeline’s body suddenly jumped into overdrive. She needed to check on him.
Almost stumbling over her own feet, she reached out for the door knob, frantically trying it. It wouldn’t budge. Angie didn’t think twice about hitting the thin door with her flat hand numerous times. She didn’t worry about the fact that she was a prisoner herself, and that she was at the greasy pseudo-Greek god’s mercy. A man who obviously gave in to his impulses without batting an eye.
“Let me out!” Angie demanded, but her voice was failing her.
What should have been a bellowing yell was a low and pathetic croak. Instinctively, Angie brought her hand to her throat but didn’t dare to speak again. What had happened to her?
However, her manic hammering had been heard. Heavy steps were approaching the door separating her – the only woman on this yacht – from a solely male crew.
Angie’s heart missed a beat with panic. She quickly retreated backward, only to be stopped from the low pallet she had been resting on.
The door was unlocked and thrown open. Filling out the entire space of where the door had been, Bear – or rather Roger – was looming like an executioner.
“What is it?” He was now the one demanding an explanation for her actions.
Angeline opened her mouth, just to close it again.
How silly she must have looked, opening and then closing her mouth like a fish out of water. And, how weak she must appear to this bear of a man.
He didn’t say anything to her, Roger, the second in command. But he wasn’t quite the talkative guy. It was quite ironic that her silence left him speechless, too. Especially, since she didn’t answer his barked question.
“What? Is? It?” He repeated himself, still noisily, and even more annoyed.
“I…” Angie struggled for words – her mind still jumbled with images and emotions but no sensible or clear thought. “How is he?”
“Who?” His retort was instant, yet Angie wasn’t sure if he had reviewed her question before answering so quickly.
“He,” Angie emphasized, hoping the man in front of her realized what they were talking about.
Roger didn’t move an inch or react. Angie couldn’t see his expression either as his face was hidden in the man’s own shadow. Bright light relentlessly invaded the room from behind him, just as an icy silence spread between Angie and her captor.
“Maelstrom,” she added.
“What?” Roger’s question sounded just like the expression Angie made herself.
“What?” she repeated, even more confused.
More than just a heartbeat passed by while they stared at each other. Maybe Roger needed to process what had just happened or he simply didn’t. Angie, in fact, had no idea how that word had sneaked out of her mouth or had come into her mind.
“Get up and come here,” he gestured towards her, and Angeline didn’t dare to disobey.
Angie didn’t want to think of the punishment she would receive if she even hesitated now. Still clinging to the uncomfortable blanket, Angeline did her best to wrap it around her body so she wouldn’t stumble over her own feet like she almost did before.
When she reached Roger, he grabbed her by one shoulder and hustled her onward past the other bunks and through the kitchen. The light hurt Angie’s eyes even before she stepped outside and onto the deck. Now, she had to let go of the blanket with one hand to shield her eyes from the bright sun. It almost didn’t help. She felt blinded and even dizzy.
Another push from behind made Angie stumble onward, and she instantly knew where Roger wanted her to go; to the tank.
Was his boss waiting there for them?
But then she remembered it had been her who had brought back the attention to her.
“Is that his name?” Roger asked her, suddenly.
In confusion, Angeline attempted to turn to him. Instead, she fell over her feet, which got jumbled with the blanket covering her body. Angie’s common sense chose for her. It was dropping the blanket or falling to the floor, making a fool of herself.
Angie chose the latter.
Her bottom colliding with the floor was painful. But it gave her time to think about Roger’s question. Also, her captors believing she was a clumsy idiot had to have its perks when she got the chance to free the merman and escape, herself.
“What?” She asked again, trying to cement herself in the role of the dumb, naïve blonde.
“Maelstrom,” Roger explained, trying to hide his annoyance, but his slumping shoulders told otherwise. “Is that his name? You said it earlier.”
“I don’t know,” Angie chose to answer honestly, not wanting to vex the bear-like man any further. “I guess it just came out of nowhere.”
“Out of nowhere,” Roger repeated her words, coming off as the idiot now, but the man’s words didn’t fit his expression.
“What do you mean by that?” The shark-like guy now stepped next to Roger, giving his best effort to not stare at Angie, but she could see his eyes jumping back and forth.
Angeline knew she was covered well enough to not cause any forbidden thoughts in a normal person. But if these men had spent weeks, if not months, without any women in their sight she could have worn nun’s clothing and they would still drool over her.
Angie was too busy to evade the man’s glare; she missed Roger stepping past her until he created a loud noise with his fist hammering against the tank’s glass. He had to know Maelstrom was watching them closely already and he could also see them through the murky water.
How did she know this was his name?
“Get up,” Roger ordered her, but didn’t wait for her to obey; instead, he gestured towards Shark-face. “Get her up.”
Angeline struggled against the blanket to get up onto her feet before the guy would touch her, but she failed. Somehow, she felt as if she needed to throw up the moment that man grabbed her by her upper arm and pulled on it. The odor emanating from him was almost pestilent, and now Angie was forced to meet the guy’s slavering stare.
“Get the stun rod, Hank,” Roger broke the spell that had been cast on Shark-face, and he instantly let go of her to fulfill his task.
But there was no rest for Angie’s upper arms. As soon as Hank released her, ‘Bear’ grabbed her other arm and made her almost crash against the tank again.
Yet again, Angeline found herself barely clothed and in front of the huge glass water tank, being held there by Roger the Bear’s iron fisted grasp. And, she was deeply annoyed by this fact. Angie had become an activist so she could actively change things. It had made her feel powerful, strong and determined. Now, she was this perfect cliché she had tried to run away from; a pretty, stupid, and helpless girl being at the mercy of criminal men, tossing her around like a ragdoll.
This time, Angeline was trembling because she was furious. Her hands were clenched into fists, as she clung to the blanket. It had been her own naivety and inexperience which had brought her into this hopeless situation. And never had a creature needed her help as much as Maelstrom did.
“Get here,” Roger barked at the tank, hitting it with his flat hand. “I know you can understand us, and you can talk to us.”
The merman didn’t obey and show himself. Even though everyone knew he was there. Probably didn’t need to because he was able to see them through that water. Him having such great eyesight did make sense to Angeline. Just as he would be able to talk to all of them. If he was able to talk then it would be only under water. It had to be something like how whales or dolphins or even sharks communicated.
Looking at the men around her Angeline doubted they would believe her if she tried to explain. It was hard for her not to, but it probably was for the best. She would simply make them believe the opposite, and that Roger’s assumption was right in the first place.
Just a second later, Ange
line regretted her decision, as Roger yanked at her body once more, maneuvering her in front of him, so she would face the cloudy sea water. Even worse, he placed his large paw of a hand over her nose and mouth.
Angie quickly inhaled, before she couldn’t breathe anymore. What was it with these men trying to drown or choke her to death?
“So, here’s the deal,” bear-like Roger continued to threaten the male siren when Hank returned with the item that probably had knocked her out the last time she was in the tank. “You cooperate, or she dies.”
Angeline tried to shake her head, but Roger held her too tight. He most certainly believed she was attempting to free herself from this grasp. This time, however, Angie did have enough air in her lungs to continue this for a while. In order to do so, she would save her breath and not try to talk.
Apart from making sounds of negation, maybe at least Roger was smart enough to realize she wasn’t fighting him since she held her body completely still.
Suddenly, two large, slender hands were slammed against the tank’s glass walls from the inside, with Maelstrom’s face soon following. He looked angry, mostly because he was baring his teeth again.
Was he able to understand Roger despite the glass and water?
Angie had a hard time believing that. Or maybe it was because she was slowly starting to need fresh air in her lungs.
Seeing the merman again had a strange effect on her. All the things she had forgotten through being tossed around once more now came back to her with a vengeance. She could try and blame it on the lack of oxygen, but she knew better.
Angeline’s skin started tingling. She could feel her own blood rushing through her body. A strange thirst took hold of her. She yearned for another taste of his lips. His lips, the very creature in front of her who appeared to be so dangerous and lethal. Still, Angie needed to return to his cold embrace. She even forgot she needed to breathe or wanted to tell those men how wrong they were.
It was the buzzing blast of the stun rod being used that made her snap out of it. Angie jumped and tried to hold her breath. And now, she had no oxygen left in her system. Panic took hold of her, and now she really began to struggle against Roger’s hold on her.
Maelstrom slapped his right hand against the glass once more. The noise resonated through the walls of the tank.
“I think he’d talk if he could,” Hank was the smart one now, holding the run rod as if it was a rifle.
Roger let go of Angie, who then dropped to her knees and started to inhale desperately. She didn’t want to glare at the man with the shark-like appearance, but Angeline couldn’t help it. Hank was the one who had electrocuted the water, while she had been in it and she could imagine he had done this quite a few times to Maelstrom.
Shark-face needed to go.
“He talked to her,” Roger deduced.
These men were geniuses.
“But how?” This man didn’t just look like a bear wearing a man suit, he definitely had the brains of a bear, too.
Angeline figured the only thing she needed to do was to find Roger’s honey and the tables could be turned. Maybe she would have a chance to turn all of them against each other. Matter of fact, she hadn’t seen the greasy guy who was their boss for a while now. Maybe he had left. Maybe, she was the smartest one on the yacht now. As she moved her glance from Hank to the tank in front of her, her eyes instantly locked with Maelstroms.
Angeline felt as if Hank had used his stun rod on her, but the pain was missing. It was the opposite. He was inside her system now. Whatever it was. Probably some kind of drug administered through his saliva.
How long would it last? Angie wondered, and caught herself wishing it would not lose its potency.
She had never felt anything like this before, and for the first time, she could understand how drug addicts felt. Angeline knew she would do anything to get back into that tank and kiss him again.
“It is his touch,” she heard herself and the shock and sense of betrayal was the strongest sensation coursing through her blood now.
“What did you say?” Roger inquired and Angie did her best to muster all her composure to not roll her eyes right now.
“It’s the only thing that makes sense,” she tried to explain. “We can’t hear the sounds of creatures of the ocean apart from what whales or dolphins sing to us. But how do sharks talk to each other?” Angeline now looked straight at Roger. “And then, he’s inside that tank, surrounded by water and then glass. There is no way that any sound waves can reach us, on the other side surrounded by air. It’s just simple physics.”
“So, he’s an empath?” The second in command and currently in charge asked, almost sounding smart.
“Could be,” Angie shrugged.
“He did tell you his name through touch?” Roger continued to interrogate her.
“I think so,” Angeline did her best not to shrug this time.
“You think so?” Mr. Bear seemed to doubt her words.
“Well, I almost drowned,” Angie couldn’t stop herself from being sarcastic. “It’s kinda hard to think straight when you’ve almost died.”
She expected Roger to slap her, or Hank to give her a little nudge with the switched-on stun rod, but nothing like that happened. Apart from Roger taking her chin into his iron grip again, giving her a warning by glaring at her.
It dawned on Angeline that Roger was protecting her after all, and now he was threatening to revoke his protection is she didn’t cut the crap and start being cooperative and helpful.
“I think he will talk to me,” she spoke lowly now. “If I get back in the tank and if he touches me.”
5 – Devil’s Advocate
Angie was back locked away in Roger’s bunk before she realized what was happening. Mostly, because she was too busy making sure to not trip over the blanket shielding her body from the men’s greedy glances.
Still, she wished she could have stayed on deck so she could listen to what they were deliberating on. It already had been a surprise to Angie that Roger had brought her back without harming her any further. Maybe that man wasn’t bad after all and he just followed his boss’s instructions. Who knew what consequences were looming over his head if he failed to accomplish whatever that greasy wannabe god expected of him?
For the first time since Angeline had been caught, she was able to think clearly about the sea creature these men had caught. What were they planning to do with him? Simply sell him off to the highest bidder? Was it even that simple?
If they just wanted to sell him, why put so much effort in trying to communicate with him?
Did they hope to find out if there were any others?
Didn’t they already know where they were? Or did they find him by chance? Did they even find them?
Angeline let out a long sigh. It was easier to think and wonder about the male siren than about her own situation. Or about the fact of how she could know his name without remembering it being told to her. Yes, she had given an explanation to Roger, but if she was honest, Angie had never heard of any species that could communicate through touch. She had come up with that on the spot, and partially it did make sense to her. Hopefully, should Roger and his men decide to give her a chance, she could find out her theory was true. And, through this, she would make herself more valuable to these men, maybe too valuable than to make her their sex slave.
Angie looked around in the small chamber she currently was confined to and decided to help herself and find some clothes to wear. Maybe this bear-like man had at least something she could wear that would give her a decent appearance. Angeline was sure that they had gotten rid of her bikini as they had torn it to rags. Otherwise, it would have been returned to her, wouldn’t it?
Usually, Angie would have had a guilty conscience rummaging around in other people’s stuff, but now she didn’t hesitate.
Instead, she opened all the closets to give herself a clear picture of Roger’s belongings.
It was the last one she opened which gave
her a view Angeline hadn’t expected. It was the colors and the fabric of the items inside. Also, it was the self that was the most difficult one to reach, the one Angie almost missed, since it was the compartment beneath the bedside lamp. Lingerie. And expensive ones, too. It had been folded neatly and appeared to be washed. As she hesitantly nosed it, it smelled nice. Black, red and white lace. From the looks of it, it had been worn, as it looked a little stretched and used.
Did Roger have a lady somewhere? Or did he like to wear women’s lingerie in his spare time?
Angeline didn’t know how to feel imagining this bear of a man wearing lingerie like that. Especially, since she knew how sexy and self-confident, she felt, wearing them herself. Angie wasn’t sure if she should simply put them back or pick a pair and put them on. The cups were big enough for her, and it would be so much more comfortable wearing a bra again. Once more she searched the compartment, hoping to find some normal panties that didn’t scream ‘sexy bitch’ from afar but there was no chance. Eventually, she picked the white ones since they would hopefully not show beneath one of Roger’s large t-shirts.
After another silent debate with herself, Angie put on the lingerie, praying it would fit her halfway, using the inner hooks for the bra. It did fit perfectly.
No way Roger was the one wearing them. If anyone on that yacht would fit into these, it was… Hank.
Angie shook her head vehemently. No way. This was someone else’s fantasy; she really didn’t want to reveal per accident. Maybe Roger did have a girlfriend somewhere and had purchased them for her. But why then wash them? Why hid them in a spot someone else would reach accidentally?
Maybe she should ask Hank for a pair of pants and a t-shirt instead.
This was the moment the door was tossed open while Angeline’s back faced it. She froze right away expecting to be yelled at. Instead, the door was swung shut, and Roger bellowed at her, “Where did you find these? What the hell are you doing? Take them off!”
Angeline turned towards him slowly. She already expected the expression she met when she saw the man’s stare. In what felt like an eternity, Angie quickly deliberated what to say or do next.
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