***
“Jonathan?” I called out.
My voice echoed throughout the marble foyer. It was oddly silent. Usually, a few butlers were bustling about, but today I could find no sign of life anywhere in the house. I slowly began making my way throughout the bottom floor, stopping in every room I supposed Jonathan would be in. After failing to find him downstairs, I began to make my way upstairs. My footsteps echoed off of the marble stairs with each step I took. Once I made my way to the top platform, I stopped and listened. I thought I could hear something toward the back of the hallway where Jonathan’s room was. I smiled, thinking about seeing my loves face, and made my way toward his chamber. As I grew closer, I could hear the sound of light moaning. This was strange to me. I thought somebody might be in trouble, so I quickened my pace. I opened the door and stood in the doorway, shocked at what my eyes were seeing. Johnathan, the love of my life and my future husband, was having sex with another woman! Not just another woman, but my best friend, Connie. Her moans of pleasure stopped as her eyes fell upon me and widened in horror.
“I thought I told all of you to leave!” Johnathan said as he noticed Connie’s eyes fall upon someone at the door.
He must have thought I was one of his servants or something. His eyes also widened in horror as he turned his head and spotted me. He immediately jumped out of bed, his penis still erect. I couldn’t do anything but stare at the both of them. I was in shock. This wasn’t supposed to be happening. This day had been going so well. I was so happy. I was getting married. I was going to be Mrs. Escrow!
“Helena,” Jonathan said as he made his way toward me.
“Don’t!” I said, tears beginning to fill my eyes. I looked at him and Connie both. “How could you?!” I tried to be strong, but my emotions got the best of me.
I broke down and began to uncontrollably cry. I ran from the house. I thought I heard Jonathan calling to me as I fled, but I was so distraught and broken that I couldn’t pay attention to anything. I’m sure people watched me as I passed, crying and sobbing, makeup running down my face. I believe my mother and father were in the dining area when they heard me run inside, slam the door and bawl my way upstairs to my room. I slammed my door shut and locked it. My parents banged on it a few times, and I believe my mother even tried to comfort me through the wooden door, but I don’t remember much of what she said. I didn’t know this was possible… to have your entire world ruined by the opening of one door. I was a fool! I should have never trusted Johnathan. How many women had he slept with on his voyages? How many times had him and my “best friend” slept with each other? How long was this going on? Was it my fault because I wanted to wait until marriage? So many thoughts were running through my head, and none of them made sense. I was lost and broken. I stayed hidden away in my room for three days straight, crying whenever tears would come to my eyes. I contemplated running away, I really wanted to. I needed to go somewhere I could start over. No one would ever take me on one of their ships without my father’s permission. The kidnapping of the governor’s daughter was punishable by death. Nobody would risk that! I prayed in hopes that an answer would arrive or that something would happen to make this all go away. Just when I thought I was getting better, Johnathan knocked on my door, and I heard his voice. That night I cried myself to sleep harder than any time before. It was really over, and deep down, I knew I would never feel the same way about relationships ever again. Then, one night, I awoke to the sounds of cannon fire in the distance. I heard voices shouting and footsteps pounding the pavement outside. I thought I was dreaming, but when I walked to the window, I saw a foreign ship, flying a pirate’s flag. It had sailed into the harbor. I knew my prayers had been answered.
Chapter Two
I snuck out and began making my way toward the harbor. All the guards had left their posts to fight the force that was invading Sunhaven. I almost ran into my parents, who were watching the attack from the front porch of our mansion. They had banged on my door and demanded that I open it earlier in the night, but I refused and told them to leave me be. My mother pleaded with me, but I told her I was safe inside my room and to leave me alone. She eventually left me alone, reluctantly. Lucky for me, the house was extremely large, and I made my way out through the back. The back gate was locked, so I climbed over it. My dress had gotten snagged, and I had to tear it, leaving a strand of it flapping in the light summer night breeze.
As I grew closer to the docks, I could see that the streets were flushed with chaos. Buildings were on fire, smoke was billowing into the sky, cannon fire was exploding all around like fireworks in the silent night sky. Everyone was running away from the pandemonium while I was running toward it. I had yet to see any combat up close, but once I drew within a block of the harbor, I watched as pirate and soldier struggled alike. Sunhaven’s cannons were firing back in response to the one lonely ship in the bay. How the ship was still standing, I don’t know, but I had always heard of pirates and how crafty and deadly they were. I had heard stories of pirate ships with steel hulls; maybe this was one such ship. As I drew near to the docks, I was caught off guard by a crew of soldiers trying to stop the pirate's raid. I watched as the pirates massacred the soldiers, some of the pirates dying in the process. The blood was splattered everywhere. I tried to take my eyes off of the carnage, but I couldn’t. I had never seen anyone die in such a gruesome way before. I was standing in an alleyway, watching the blood run from the dead bodies when I heard one of the pirates.
“Aye! Look what we’ve got here!” He said.
My attention was immediately drawn in the direction of the voice, but it was too late for me to run. They had surrounded me.
“Oi! She is a pretty one, isn’t she?!” One of them said, jabbing at my dress with his sword.
“I’d like to see what is underneath that fancy dress!” Another growled. “Is it as fancy as the dress itself?!” The rest of the gang laughed.
One of the pirates moved in to grab me, but I swatted him away.
“Ooh! Looks like the pussy cat's got claws!”
I could tell this man was the leader of the small gang of pirates. He was missing an eye and was wearing a bandana around it to cover the wound. His teeth were yellow; the ones that remained anyway. He leaned into me, and I could smell the stench of booze and body odor. I backed away from him but bumped immediately into another of his gang members. I hadn’t noticed the man standing behind me, which is shocking considering he was a giant. I almost squealed I was so frightened. He grabbed me by the shoulders and held me tightly. I tried to struggle, but his grip was too strong. I thrashed and began to scream and before I knew it the smelly pirate with the missing teeth and eyeball was pointing a sword at my throat. I immediately stopped, feeling my anxiety rise. He looked into my eyes with his one eye, examining me closely.
“Now it’d be a shame if I had to cut your tongue out of your pretty little mouth before we got to see what you can do with it. Wouldn’t it?”
I remained silent. He looked at me one more time and then grinned maniacally.
“Take her to the boat with the rest of them!” He yelled. “Captain Fox will be pleased with this one.”
I began to get tugged away. I tried to fight it, but the giant man overpowered me. There was no use, I was now a prisoner. This isn’t exactly what I wanted when I prayed for an escape.
By the time we reached the pirate ship, I knew there was no point in struggling any longer. My captor had a solid grip on me. The whole time back to the ship, the man remained quiet. I found this odd. While all of the other pirates yelled and cheered in joy over the sound of cannon fire, this man remained absolutely quiet. I glanced up at him one time, and he glanced down at me. I could tell that there was sympathy in his eyes. Whether it was imagined or not, I found a sense of comfort in this. As we neared the ship, the moonlight allowed me to see how monstrous it really was. I watched as cannon balls splintered wood, hearing the crack as it blew open the sides of the ships; yet somehow, the
ship remained afloat. The sails reached into the sky, the black sails disappearing into the dark night. This ship was four times as large as any Sunhaven owned and twice as large as any man-o-war I had ever seen sail into Sunhaven Harbor. The pirates could tell I was looking at it in awe and the one with the missing eye spoke.
“Impressive ain’t she?!”
I remained silent, not knowing what to say.
“Don’t worry!” The eyeless man spoke. “I know for a fact that Captain Fox will take care of you.”
The rest of the pirates laughed. I sensed when he meant take care of, he didn’t mean in a soft loving kind of way.
“Get her on board! It’s time to go, gentlemen!”
Before I knew what was happening, I was being led onto the deck and having my hands tied behind me. Afterward, I was gagged with an old rag that tasted like salt and booze.
“Hey, boys! I think this one likes that!” The eyeless man spoke again.
The rest of the crew erupted in laughter. I looked around the deck and noticed how many pirates this ship really contained. I couldn’t believe the size of the ship and its crew. It was almost like they had their own city. I felt the ship rock below me as more cannonballs smashed into the side. I lost my footing and collapsed to my knees. One of the pirates, an older man with greasy hair and a nasty scar on his face grabbed my hair and forced me to look at him. The scowl on his face was a mean one, and his eyes held evil and disdain like I had never seen before. He scared me, and I knew he could see it in my eyes.
“Better get used to being on your knees, girly! You’re a pretty one… the pretty ones always get the most action from the rest of the crew. It’s been awhile… hasn’t it boys?!”
Only a few of them sniggered this time. Before I knew what was happening the man was undoing his buttons on his pants. My eyes widened! What was happening?! I began to squirm and tried to scream through my gag, but nothing mattered. I was helpless. My eyeballs were frantically moving back and forth, looking for help, but the dirty pirate had a firm grasp on my hair. Just as he finished undoing his pants the large man from earlier who had escorted me to the ship appeared behind him. He towered over the other man by a good two feet. The man stood where he was for a second, feeling a presence behind him, and then slowly turned to face the giant.
“What’re ya lookin’ at, big boy?!” The pirate said to the giant. “You got a problem with what I’m about to do?! Take it up with the Captain!”
As he said this, he spat into the large man’s face and turned around, removing his penis the rest of the way from his trousers. I began to scream through my gag again and collapsed back onto my butt, trying to push myself away with my feet. The dirty pirate advanced on me, playing with himself as he bared down. I truly thought it was going to happen… this is how I was going to lose my virginity. I stopped and closed my eyes, praying once again to be saved. I waited to feel the man grab me and flip me over. I waited to feel him penetrate me and the pain that followed, but that didn’t happen. Instead, I heard a scream. I opened my eyes. The giant man who had escorted me onto the ship now had the dirty pirate’s genitals in his hand. The man screamed louder as the giant pirate squeezed harder. In one swift motion, the giant man ripped the dirty pirate’s organs from his body, testicles and all. The dirty pirate immediately passed out from the pain while the rest of the crew stood around in horror. The giant man held his wounded comrade's member high in the air for everyone to see and spoke for the first time. His voice was deep and booming.
“Nobody touches the captain’s property before the captain!”
He walked to the edge of the boat and tossed the genitalia into the sea. He walked over to me next and picked me up and put me on my feet without any effort. He removed my gag but left my hands tied, and turned to walk away.
“Thank you.” I choked out, trying to hide the tears that had fallen down my face.
The man stopped for a moment and then walked back to me.
“I didn’t do it for you.” He growled. “Take her below!”
He shouted this as he walked off to somewhere else on the ship. Before I knew what was happening, I was being swept beneath deck into a damp, musty cell with the other women captors of the village. I looked around and noticed Connie cowering in the corner of the cell. We made eye contact, but I quickly looked away. Even if these men were pirates, I would consider them more of a friend to me than her. I found an open space and slumped down, leaning my head back against the bars. I knew I had gotten what I wanted, but I hadn’t imagined what I wanted would ever be like this. I closed my eyes and drifted off as the ship rocked me to sleep… the sounds of cannon fire in the distance.
Chapter Three
I awoke to the jingling of keys and the sound of rusty hinges as the cell door screeched open. My eyes fluttered open. I could feel the salt on my skin and the crust in my eyes. A couple crew members marched into the cell and started forcefully standing us on our feet. I got up willingly, as to avoid any further contact with these men. We filed out onto the deck from underneath the ship. The sun was bright and hotter than I had ever remembered feeling it. I looked around but could see nothing but ocean in all directions. A slight smile crossed my face. I loved being on the sea. It brought back memories of times on my father’s vessel.
“On your knees!” Someone shouted.
Memories over. How could I have been so stupid? Why did I let myself get into this situation? I shouldn’t have run. I should have stayed in Sunhaven. Tears began to form in my eyes, but I fought them with all of my might. I wasn’t going to cry over Johnathan any longer. It was his fault I was here in the first place. I was so lost in thought, I jumped when the entire crew yelled.
“Captain!”
It was a chorus of echoes across the open sea. I noticed that all of the crew members were standing at attention along the sides of the ship. This was the first time I had seen them so still and heard them so quiet. I heard the footsteps as the Captain began walking. He was blocked by the main mast at first, but as he came into view, I couldn’t help thinking how handsome he was. He was without a shirt, and his muscles glistened in the sunlight. He was fit and tan, and his hair was long and black. He had a goatee that was tied into a long braid and his eyes… they were a beautiful green. How could I tell? He stopped in front of me. As soon as I made eye contact, I looked down at the floor. After a few moments, he continued walking down the line. I watched him out of the corner of my eye. Why had I looked away? I wasn’t afraid of him. My heart was beating quickly now? Was this really happening to me? Why was I so nervous? I mean, it is quite normal to get nervous in front of a handsome man. Once the Captain reached the end of the line, he turned on his heels and leaned in toward one of his crew. He whispered something in his ear and quickly left the deck. He looked at me with a kind smile on his face and a spark in his eye as he walked by. This time I didn’t look away. After a moment of silence, the crew broke formation and began speaking.
“On your feet!” I heard a voice say. Quick, light and friendly.
This was the first voice I had heard that sounded pleasant on the ship. I looked around to see who it was and noticed a man coming down the stairs from the wheel platform.
“Take over.” He said to the giant man I had met the night before.
This man was dressed in a long, red overcoat. He had a hat that shaded his face and shoulder length dirty blonde hair. His goatee and mustache were trimmed nicely. I watched him for a moment before realizing he was walking directly at me. He was taller than me by two feet. He stopped directly in front of me and grinned with no teeth. He raised his left eyebrow, looked me up and down and then tilted his head slightly to the right.
“Captain Fox would like to see you in his quarters tonight around sunset.”
He looked at a crew member behind me and quickly jabbed his head in my direction, signaling it was time to release me from my bonds. It felt nice to have my hands untied. I shook out the tension in my wrists and stretched my shoulders.
“Until then you are free to roam the ship. Do what you want to do. You know, the normal.”
I could tell he was slightly intoxicated.
“Am I free to leave the ship?”
The man looked at me a moment, looked out at the horizon around us and then smiled at me. He had a silver tooth where his right bicuspid was, and another gold one near his front left molar.
“You’re a funny one.”
With that, he turned and began walking back toward the helm. I immediately caught up with him. I decided I was going to stay with this guy. He seemed friendly enough, and he was the only one who hadn’t made me feel uncomfortable.
“What is going to happen to the other women?” I said, glancing at them as I walked.
“Ah, don’t worry about them. They will be released once we get to Tortuga.”
“Tortuga?”
“Pirate City.” He said, looking at me like I was crazy.
“I’ve never heard of such a place.”
“Well, yes… I suppose that a lady such as yourself never would have.”
We had walked up the stairs and were now at the helm. The giant man from the night before stepped aside and made his way back down onto the deck of the ship. He didn’t take notice to the fact that I was there.
“Were you hoping he would be your friend?” The pirate steering the ship asked.
He must have noticed I was looking at the giant man in a sad sort of way.
“I saw what he did last night. He is just very loyal to the captain. Doesn’t like when people disrespect Fox. He’s an amazing brute, but very slow.” The pirate said, swaying toward me and pointing to his head. “I don’t even think he understands the concept of friendship. I on the other hand do. Benjamin Grey, my lady.”
The Campus Jock: A College Bad Boy Romance Page 109