by Sophie Stern
Then he felt a soft grip on his leg, and he looked back. She was right next to him now.
“No,” she said again softly. “I don’t want you to pay me. You understand? I’m not working.”
He understood, and he waited no longer to kiss her. His mouth ravished hers in a passionate kiss, their tongues pushing and prodding at each other. The woman slid onto his lap and he wrapped his arms around her slender waist. She seemed shy at first, as if she were holding back, as if she were trying to convince herself that this was okay.
But then Wade grabbed her ass and whispered, “You’re fucking gorgeous, my love.”
The woman let out a moan and pushed forward so that she was balancing at the edge of his cock. As she looked into his eyes, she lowered herself completely onto him and squeezed him tightly, and Wade lost himself in the moment.
4
When Nelson suggested to Julianne that she come stay on The Dark Lovely with him, he didn’t know how long it would be for. In fact, neither one of them had much of a plan beyond vanishing her before the wedding. He couldn’t let his sister marry Vince. That much he knew. Nelson might not be a strong man, a wise man, or even a very brave man, but he loved Julianne very much and he would do anything to keep her safe.
Now that she had been hiding aboard the ship for weeks, though, he knew it was only a matter of time before someone discovered her.
While Wade Docherty maintained strict order on his ship, he always turned his head when they were in port. If someone wanted to bring a girl aboard or spend the day playing on the beach, he never said a word. If, however, someone were to keep a girl on board, Nelson had no doubt that Wade would see that particular crewmate hanged.
And while Nelson adored Julianne, he knew that he did not want to be hanged, not even for her.
All this was weighing heavily on his mind as he made his way into the nearest brothel. Nelson did not want to lose his sister, to abandon her in some random town, but he wasn’t sure how long he could keep hiding her. Vince was never coming after her. That much was certain. The bastard would never know what had happened to her. He would never find her.
But today, when the soft hands of a beautiful redhead touched Nelson’s chest, he knew he would soon be forgetting his worries, at least for a little while.
“You look like you could use some company, my dear,” the woman purred in his ear. She smelled good. Nelson knew that he did not. He had been on board a stinky, horrible ship for weeks. He smelled of sweat and man, but oh, did this woman smell heavenly.
“I would very much like to enjoy some of your company,” Nelson admitted. The woman smiled and took his hand, leading him out of the room. She continued to hold his hand as she guided him down a narrow hallway that had several doors in it. She walked to the last door and opened it. Nelson walked in.
The room was small, but cozy. There were no windows, so the room was lit by a small oil lamp in the corner. It rested on top of a small chest of drawers. The only other furniture in the room was a small bed.
“There’s just the small matter of payment,” the woman said softly as she traced her hands down Nelson’s body. He fetched a few coins from his pocket and handed them to her. She seemed satisfied and smiled as she placed them in her small purse. “Good,” she said. “Now we can enjoy ourselves, can’t we?”
The woman slowly stripped Nelson’s clothes off his body. He wasn’t sure what to do, exactly, so he was glad that she took control of the situation. Nelson had been yearning for a woman’s touch for a very long time and today, he was glad he got to enjoy it with her.
When Nelson was naked, the woman pushed him onto the bed.
“What do I call you?” He asked as she began taking off her own clothes.
“Sapphire,” she said.
“Sapphire,” he repeated. He thought about telling her his own name, but she didn’t seem to care. Instead, he leaned back and relaxed as she knelt over him and took his cock in her mouth. He was hard already, but she took nearly his entire length in her throat, greedily licking him. Nelson thought he might come before they even really got started, but Sapphire was experienced enough to know when to stop.
Just before Nelson orgasmed, she pulled away with a playful smile.
“Not just yet, honey,” she said. Now she climbed over him. Sapphire’s large breasts bounced as she slid onto his hard dick. He gripped her waist as she rode him, expertly twisting and turning at just the right moments. He wanted to touch her tits, to play with her nipples, to taste them, but he wasn’t sure if that was allowed.
He wasn’t sure if he had given her enough.
But after a moment, Sapphire started to feel really good, and she leaned her head back and closed her eyes. Her hand made its way to her clit, which she rubbed as she continued to ride him. He tried to hold his orgasm back as her body clenched his cock, squeezing him tightly as she rubbed her body.
Just as she was about to explode on top of him, she grabbed his hand and pulled it to her breast, letting him play with her soft nubs as she screamed her release. Nelson thought it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. His own orgasm followed quickly after and Sapphire smiled as she climbed off of him.
“Now that was some fun,” she said with a smile. The two of them dressed quickly and Sapphire led him back to the main room. He walked to the door and she kissed him goodbye.
“I hope to see you the next time you’re in town,” Sapphire said.
Nelson nodded, and then quietly left.
5
Julianne rode the pirate captain until they both climaxed, then they bathed one another in the water. When they were finished, he lifted her to the side of the pool. She wasn’t sure what he was doing until he pushed her knees apart and began to lick her quickly. She gripped his hair tightly with her hands and tried to keep her legs open. It was hard. She had never experienced these sensations before and her instinct was to squeeze her body tightly closed, but she didn’t. Wade held her firmly in place until she had climaxed and then he released her.
“That was bloody fantastic,” he said with a sly grin. Julianne just nodded. She knew she was smiling, too, but she wasn’t sure what to say. This was Nelson’s superior she had fucked. She recognized him from earlier. If he found out she was hiding on his ship, he’d have her and Nelson both hanged.
But knowing that Wade was the most dangerous and greatly feared pirate in all the land didn’t stop her from loving the way they had been together here in the silence of the bathhouse. It didn’t stop her from loving the way his cock felt thrusting up into her. It didn’t stop her from wishing there was a way that she could see him again, be with him again.
Most pirates didn’t let women on board too often. Some had wives who were occasionally, rarely, allowed to stay on the ship for awhile. They could only be there if they worked, of course, but a pirate ship that could function with a lady on board was not common. Even though Julianne was quite skilled in sewing, cooking, cleaning, and medical care, she didn’t think The Dark Lovely had room for a woman.
In fact, she knew it.
“I had fun, too,” she admitted shyly to Wade. The sex had been nothing like anything she’d ever experienced before. It had been passionate and wild. It had been freeing. Wade knew what he was doing and directed Julianne’s movements when she wasn’t sure what to do next. He had taken control of her when she needed it most and she loved it.
She loved the way that his hands expertly guided her body and the way that his tongue had taken her by surprise.
She loved everything about their time together and was sad when it was time to start dressing again.
“We’d better go,” Wade said, slipping out of the bathing pool and drying his body with a towel. “Else we’re going to get in trouble for being in here too long.”
Julianne nodded and followed suit, climbing out of the bath and drying her body with the provided towel. Though she noticed Wade looking at her, she didn’t feel ashamed or awkward with his gaze. She felt ador
ed, admired. She felt scandalous and excited. Her body had responded to him in an incredible way today. Part of her was frustrated that it was coming to an end.
Even if she decided to stay here and work at Port Darnial, Julianne wondered if her body would respond to other men the way it had responded to Wade. If she did become a whore, would sex always be so fantastic? Or would it eventually become routine and drab? Would she feel disgusted when she had to sleep with someone she didn’t like? Would she feel cheap when she fucked someone she couldn’t stand?
There were other options, she knew, than prostitution. She could work at a tailor’s shop or at a bakery. She could become someone’s wife. There were many things a talented young woman like Julianne could do, but at this moment, the only thing she wanted was to see more of Wade.
They walked to the door of the building and stood for a moment before saying their goodbyes. Wade’s hands found their way to Julianne’s face and he stared at her for just a moment before kissing her softly.
“Goodbye, my beautiful lady,” he whispered to her, and Julianne realized that he didn’t even know her name.
“Goodbye,” she said.
And then he was gone.
6
When Wade returned to his ship, he immediately went into his cabin and closed the door. He walked to his desk and poured a glass of whiskey. He downed it quickly and poured another. This one he sipped more slowly, taking his time to enjoy the aged liquor.
He slumped into his chair, feeling frustrated and annoyed. He had taken things too far with the woman today. Nelson’s girl. He shouldn’t have followed her or joined her in the bath house. It was strange. It was wrong. Nelson was a member of his crew and one of his most valued men. Though he knew the female was simply a tavern girl, he felt almost as if he had betrayed a friend by sleeping with her.
As a captain, he had to be in control at all times. Wade couldn’t afford to lose his cool or to forget his place. He couldn’t. If he let things slip from under his management, his men could die. He had an entire ship to look after. Wade couldn’t make mistakes.
But today, he had somehow lost his marbles. Somewhere between the palm tree and the bathhouse, Wade had decided that he wanted to fuck that beautiful woman and he wanted to do it right. When he saw her walking down the road after he met with the innkeeper, he had to follow her. It was an urge he couldn’t control. There was something so perfectly sweet about her. He couldn’t quite put his hands on it. He just needed to have her.
And he had.
When she had scooted closer to him in the water, he’d been able to see her perfect, full tits. Her soft pink nipples had quickly hardened beneath his gaze, begging him to bite and suck on them, which he had happily done.
Wade had fucked her until she cried out and he was sure they’d be politely asked to leave the bathhouse. He had loved every second of it.
He wasn’t sure what had been so fantastic except that she hadn’t seemed like a whore. Most of the girls he was with were firm and demanding. They had to be in order to succeed in their line of work. Not this girl, though. She had seemed sweet, almost shy. She had seemed naïve. When Wade pushed her knees apart to gain access to her pussy, she had been surprised.
She had been delighted.
And she had gushed with pleasure when he licked her right into an orgasm.
Now that was the type of girl Wade needed to find: someone sexy and sweet.
Unfortunately, pickings were slim when you spent your life on a ship and Wade didn’t exactly have time to make new friends. It didn’t matter, though. He had to stay focused on his hunt for the lost treasure. His first mate, Rupert Keel, was supposed to meet with a man in town today who supposedly had new information on where the treasure was. It was a legend by this point: a fabled myth.
Wade’s own interrogation of an innkeeper who had promised information had been incredibly dour: a complete waste of time. Though the innkeeper had sent word he had new information, the truth was he spouted off the same tale Wade had heard a hundred times before.
Hopefully, Rupert would have better information.
Wade was trying not to get his hopes up. Even for a seasoned pirate captain, it was hard sometimes. He was ready to be finished with his quest. For years, he had pursued treasure and gold and women. Where had that ever gotten him? He was on the losing side of thirty and he was tired. He was ready to find the treasure and retire: quietly, of course.
He was ready to be finished with his ship, much as it would pain him to give up a life of freedom. There had to be more. There must be.
Though Wade had spent his life on the high seas, he was ready to say goodbye to his crew and go live a good, long life alone on a beach by himself. Maybe he would find a beautiful woman to share his bounty with. Maybe he wouldn’t.
Either way, The Saucy Devil knew only one thing for certain: he was tired.
He couldn’t let himself, his reputation, or his men down by giving up now. He was closer than he’d ever been to The Cursed Hangman’s treasure. Rupert would have information. He had to have something new, something fresh, something that could point Wade in the right direction.
Things were tough now, but what kind of a captain would he be if he gave up every time things got hard? No, Wade couldn’t disappoint his men. He would see this through to the end even if it ended up killing him.
And he knew, as he finished his whiskey and closed his eyes, that it just might.
**
When Julianne was safely back in the storage room, she folded her blanket into a little makeshift bed and collapsed onto it. Somehow, after being wrapped in Wade’s tender arms, the floor felt so much harder. She tossed and turned and tried to relax, but it was a futile endeavor.
Part of her wondered if she was making the right choice coming back on the ship. It would be days or even weeks before The Dark Lovely made port again. By then Julianne would be even thinner from hunger.
Had she made the right decision?
Was she wasting her one shot at freedom by willingly rejoining her brother and his crew?
She could have simply disappeared into the crowds at Darnial. She could have vanished. She could have walked into any tavern and gotten an easy position as a saloon girl. Fresh meat always fared well, she knew. She could have been the woman of choice at any inn or brothel. Even if sex wasn’t what she wanted to do, Julianne could have begged some poor seamstress or tailor to take her on as an apprentice.
She could have done something.
Anything.
But when Wade had kissed her goodbye at the bathhouse, when he had turned and given her one last, longing look, she knew that she would never find someone like him in Darnial.
If love was what she wanted, if passion was what she chased, she would find it on the high seas and not in some sloppy port town full of diseased pirates and grubby sailors.
Finally giving up on the idea of sleeping, Julianne sat up and leaned against the side of the ship. Nelson had kept his promise and purchased some extra food while at Darnial. She would need to find an unlocked trunk to hide the food in so that the rats wouldn’t get to it. Maybe later. Now she was bored and anxious. She needed to relax. Her dagger lay nearby and she grabbed it, fingering the hilt. It was laden with sapphires: a gift from her brother.
Where had he gotten it?
She had never asked and he had never told. Nelson liked to think of himself as a good pirate, a decent pirate. Was there such a thing? Julianne was under no illusions that her twin was an innocent. She had never seen him kill a man or steal from someone, but that was the life of a pirate. Adventure had a cost.
On a whim, she carved a little picture into the wooden wall. She put it low, toward the base of the ship: a girl and a boat. She carved another picture then, slowly getting the hang of what she was doing. The third picture was even better and she stared at them in the flickering darkness. Her candle would burn out soon and then she would be cast into the blackness.
No one would notice the
pictures she had carved. No one would be on the floor down here unless they were hiding, like her.
And if they were hiding, they wouldn’t exactly be complaining about the décor.
When she was finished with her work, Julianne put out the candle and lay down once more. She tried to push thoughts of Wade from her mind. He had been kind and fantastic and she was sorry their afternoon together was over.
What would he do if he knew she was hiding on his ship?
Would he remember her?
Would he think twice before he slit her throat?
**
When Rupert returned to the ship, Wade was ready. They wouldn’t set sail until morning, but most of the crew would return before then. Wade had no patience for deserters or tardiness and would aptly punish anyone who wasn’t back before dawn. Most of his crew had learned to come back after their trysts, rather than spending the entire night on shore and trying to rush back to the ship in the early morning hours.
The crew had been accounted for tonight, save Rupert, when darkness fell upon the ship. Once his first mate was aboard, Wade was ready to talk about what Rupert had found. The two went downstairs to the storage room in the hold so they could speak privately. While Wade conducted most business directly in his cabin, anything dealing with Mad Drake's treasure was handled downstairs in his private storage room.
He wanted to ensure they were completely, utterly alone.
They walked inside, each carrying a lantern, and closed the door behind them. Wade locked the door and slipped the key into his pocket. Though he knew his men would respect his desire for privacy, he didn’t want anyone to accidentally walk in on them. There were only a few keys to this room and he doubted Nelson or the Cook would need to enter this late at night.
Tonight was too important to leave up to fate. Wade would take every precaution he could to hear exactly what Rupert found out on shore. Mostly, he hoped it was better than the information he himself had acquired, which amounted to nothing.