Seizing Rain (Seas of Seduction Book 1)

by A. E. Murphy

  Nobody speaks about why they have such a huge gathering before a storm but I figure it out anyway. It’s a send-off for if we sink which terrifies me but also makes me want to join in. If I’m to drown tomorrow or perish somehow, I want to do it knowing I lived my last day a happy captive.

  The thought makes me giggle which pulls Geoffrey from his conversation with Larry and Smeg.

  Yep. Smeg.

  “What are you laughing at?”

  I shake my glass of blackcurrant gin with tonic water at him. “I’m just feeling a little buzzed.”

  “Well then, drink the rest and let’s dance.”

  “Oh no… I…” I stop my protest when I can’t think of a suitable excuse. With a healthy-sized gulp, I drain my glass, slam it down and announce, “Fuck it. Let’s dance.”

  We move into the small crowd of people dancing and I pay no mind to them as Geoffrey offers me his hand. I take it, laughing as a guy playing an invisible air guitar bows low and offers us his dancing space.

  Geoffrey who spins me around the area with ease is surprisingly skilled at dancing. We twist and turn under the dim lighting to “Do you think I’m Sexy” by Rod Stewart. It’s not a song I’d have thought to have found on a pirate ship but they seem to have a wide variety of sounds, all from way before my time though.

  I laugh, throwing my head back and swaying my hips with my arms around his neck. It’s surprisingly fun, until hands grip my hips from behind and I feel somebody thrust at me in a way that’s completely sexual and definitely inappropriate.

  “Roger,” Geoffrey warns, reaching for me.

  “Relax,” Roger drunkenly yanks me into his body and smiles down at me in a way that shows me all of his teeth, or lack thereof.

  “Let go of me,” I insist as he continues to grind against me.

  “Oh come on, no hard feelings eh?” he whispers in my ear. “We’re just having fun.”

  “I’m not.”

  I’m released when Larry steps forward and almost vomit when Roger grips my cheeks with his fingers and readies to kiss me. The men behind him laugh when I put my hand over his face and push.

  Is he such a psychopath that he doesn’t fear anybody or anything? Does he really think I’ll kiss him?

  “The captain is coming,” Larry says, his tone one of warning. “You know the rules.”

  Roger sighs and threads his fingers behind his neck but there’s an arrogance to his demeanour that worries me. Will he get away with this?

  I look over the crowd of people and find the captain’s prior seat empty as the crowd parts like the sea for Moses. I could really do with a Moses right now. He’d get me home.

  “That’s alright, we’ve got something to say to our dear captain, haven’t we, boys?” Roger explains loudly and Blue-Eyes comes to stand by his side in a show of support. His small gang of idiots gather but it’s Captain who I’m watching. He looks furious as his gaze lands on Roger.

  From left to right I assess the men and their level of danger. So does Geoffrey who pulls me behind him as the captain stops in the centre of the crowd and assesses the man challenging him.

  “You broke my rule,” Captain declares. “Why?”

  “She was all over me,” Roger lies and Blue-Eyes agrees as the others snigger. “I won’t say I didn’t enjoy it.”

  “You’re a lying scumbag,” I snarl at him but he smacks his lips at me in response.

  Captain cuts me a look and so does Geoffrey, forcing me to seal my lips shut.

  “Your word against mine, sweetheart.”

  “And mine,” Geoffrey speaks, taking my side.

  “Mine too,” Blue-Eyes also speaks, not taking my side. “Not Roger’s fault you can’t keep your woman in check, Captain.”

  Roger grins triumphantly. “Maybe she’s bored of your cock already?”

  “You know how this is going to end, Roger,” Captain snarls. “You’re crossing a line and testing my patience.”

  “I’m not scared of you, Captain. A fucking pleb who’s younger than me thinking he can order me around and keep all the pussy to himself. She’s the only fresh piece on this fucking ship.” He sneers at me and gropes his dick over his trousers. “And our cocks are aching like you wouldn’t believe.”

  “She’s off-limits.”

  “She’s a prisoner, she isn’t one of us.”

  Captain’s hand balls into a fist by his side. “So, you want pussy? That’s what this is about?”

  Is he? Would he hand me over to save argument?

  “It’s been weeks since we touched land for long enough to get our dicks wet and I ain’t fucking no boy.”

  Captain nods slowly as though taking in everything he’s saying. It’s incredible the kind of dominance and authority he exudes. He was born for a role like this, perhaps bred for it and raised to do it. It’s sexy in a way I do not want to admit and so damn alluring. I could watch him for hours taking control of his ship and his men, demanding their respect with just a look.

  “Okay, sure… sure. I feel your pain. I get it. We’re all in the same boat, no pun intended.” That elicits a quiet rumble of laughter from the crowd. “But guess what, you and pretty boy are the only fucktards complaining. I get it, it’s rough…” He looks at his men who nod their agreement. “Deal with it. Pump your tiny little sticks until all of that feeling leaves your brain so you can do some work. I let you on this fucking ship to join my crew and if you even think about breaking another rule, no matter how small, you can find some mermaid pussy at the bottom of the fucking ocean.”

  Roger’s face falls flat and he looks around for help. “It’s not fair you keeping her all to yourself.”

  “I don’t give a shit what’s fair. She’s mine and you already broke the fucking rule of touching her.”

  I want to cheer him on until Clunk steps forward with a small axe just big enough for his hand and passes it to Captain.

  “Oh my God,” I whisper, stepping back and bumping into Larry. “I… he…?”

  Larry shushes me with a finger to his lips, his eyes alight with excitement at what’s to come.

  “You wouldn’t,” Roger blanches, no longer looking confident as two of the men he thought to be on his side grab him and hold his arm out. Blue-Eyes steps back too, looking panicked and ready to run. “I’ve served you for years without issue.”

  “And that’s why I was lenient the first time,” Captain tells him as he fights against their hold.

  “Oh my God,” I breathe, already fighting the urge to gag.

  I can’t watch. I can’t stay.

  “This is our way. This is my way!” the captain bellows, raising the axe and looking around.

  “AYE, AYE, CAPTAIN!” the crowd roars, thickening as other people gather to see what’s going on.

  I turn and push through the crowd, running as fast as I can, trying to block out the sound of a slicing thud and Roger’s scream. He cries out into the night and continues crying until I can no longer hear him.

  My feet carry me, desperate for escape from this feeling gnawing in my gut. I run so fast in the darkness I don’t see the woman on the ground before a burly-looking guy, giving him head. I trip over her ankle and fall onto my hands and knees.

  Bugger.

  “Hey,” she whines, a string of saliva glinting in the moonlight, creating a translucent bridge between his cock and her lower lip. “Oh, it’s you.” Wiping her mouth on her hand, she stands. “The other girl on board, the captain’s favourite.”

  “Millie, you’re not allowed to talk to her,” the man whispers as he tucks himself into his trousers.

  “Yeah, yeah, not my fault she fell over me,” Millie replies, glaring at me now. “Not like I sought her out, is it?”

  “I should go.” I point in any direction with my thumb.

  “There’s nothing that way but ocean. Only doors are back the way you came,” she replies, scratching the shaved side of her blonde hair.

  “Oh.” That means I have to pass them again. This
night just gets better and better. “Thanks.”

  “No problem.” She goes back onto her knees and I shuffle past them. “Don’t tell the captain you saw me here.” Her voice follows me around the bend. “I’m not allowed in these parts.”

  I don’t reply, I just run again, straight back to the captain’s quarters.

  My trembling body races into the bathroom and my hands grip the edge of the basin. I look at myself in the mirror and frown.

  Frown because of the confusion I feel.

  Even though the thought of what Captain did has made me nauseous, I also felt it justified. I wanted it to happen, I wanted him to be punished. It feels good knowing he has been.

  I’ve become a monster.

  This place is changing me, it’s warping everything I’ve fought against for years. It’s drawing out the darker parts of me that constantly battle for power.

  I can’t let it, no matter how badly I want to. I’ll lose Niall, I’ll lose my mum, I’ll lose everything.

  I sink into my corner again but I know he’ll move me and I don’t protest for a second when he does.

  Captain got maybe three hours of sleep before his alarm went off and the boat started to sway with choppy waters. I remained sleeping, tangled in his sheets, knowing that the lines I’ve crossed are too many and the steps I’ve taken too wide.

  I try to tell myself I’m doing what I must to survive and I know, in some way, that’s true. But is it the whole truth?

  He sighs as he wakes and clicks off his alarm, kisses my stomach and then lifts. I immediately miss his heat and the way he holds me and uses me for his pillow. I’ve never been one to fidget, never needed to turn much in my sleep which works in his favour and mine because it means I don’t have to move him.

  It’s wrong that I find comfort in the arms of my kidnapper but who can blame me? He makes me feel safe.

  I’m going to need years of psychotherapy to get over all of this.

  When I wake fully, I shower, careful not to fall as the boat rocks on choppy waters.

  Looking out of the window as I dry proves to be terrifying. The sky is so dark it’s near black and it’s almost noon so that can’t be right. It’s eerie and daunting. The waves are choppy, hitting the side of the ship which makes haunting, groaning noises that I do not appreciate at all.

  I dress in Captain’s clothes again, unwilling to put mine back on after wearing them once. I’ve never been good at sitting in my own filth for longer than I absolutely have to.

  Wearing his too big socks, my sneakers, his shorts and top, I head up to the bridge using the stairway inside so I don’t have to get wet in the rain.

  I shove open the heavy door and press my back to the wall to avoid a young lad who is running past with an arm full of files.

  “Sorry, miss,” he calls over his shoulder.

  I assess the level of distress as the men rally around, locking things down, pulling out life jackets, giving orders to others.

  Captain is sitting in his usual seat, a cigar between his teeth though it is unlit. He looks so cool, in the sense that were this an image, everybody would want to be him or know him.

  Clunk holds out his hand when I try to cut through to speak to him. It stops me and I gaze up at him curiously and with a healthy dose of hatred in my eyes. This is the man who ripped me from my life and no amount of self-defence classes are ever going to make me like him.

  “He’s in the zone,” he tells me with surprising softness. “It’s best not to bother him.”

  “Oh.” I blink and then nod because I don’t want to mess with his pre-sea-war mojo. If that’s a thing. “Of course.”

  “Come here, Rain,” Captain calls and Clunk raises a surprised brow.

  “I don’t want to bother—”

  His arm shoots out, his eyes still on the hull of the ship and the steadily worsening seas.

  I approach him, slipping my hand into his. When I’m beside him with the arm of the chair separating us, he turns and nuzzles my stomach before pulling me onto his lap, making me squeal. My legs hook over the arm of the seat and my rear lands directly over his groin.

  “It’s going to hit soon,” he holds me loosely, one hand draped over my legs, the other tickling my hip.

  “Are you worried?”

  Smiling softly, he shakes his head. “I’m not worried. I can navigate us through this.”

  “Then why do you look so tense?”

  He pushes my hair out of my face and tilts his head back. “Because it’s going to be rough.”

  I run my fingertip along his scar. Why am I touching him so freely? my conscience is screaming at me.

  “How did you get this?”

  Taking my hand, he kisses my palm and pushes his hips up into my rear.

  Just like that my good mood is gone. I’m about to pull free when his playful smile vanishes and he quickly replies, “It was a punishment.”

  “For what?”

  “For being the captain’s favourite.”

  That’s awful. “One of the crew?”

  “No, a captain of another ship.”

  This is insane. Do they have battles on the water like in the movies? How many pirate ships are there?

  “How old were you?”

  His fingers drag up my thigh, dipping under the fabric of the baggy shorts at my knee. My core squeezes with arousing tingles. “Fourteen.”

  “What a monster, you were just a kid.”

  “It is what it is.” His fingers get higher and for a moment I consider letting him touch me but I can’t. I have a life to get back to. If I start permitting him touches beyond what has transpired already… I’ll be lost to the sea forever.

  As if sensing my internal battle, he tilts his head back just a fraction and searches my face. “Kiss me, Rain.”

  My chest flutters with need despite all he has done, not just to me but also last night. Do I want this? Do I want him?

  No. What am I thinking? I’m just scared and lonely and I’m clinging to somebody who doesn’t deserve me because he’s the only one to show me any genuine kindness outside of Geoffrey. Still… I don’t want to touch him, or kiss him.

  But I do. I want to kiss him so bad. I want him to make me his entire world with just one kiss. I want to be all he thinks about for just a few moments. “I…”

  “Captain!” Clunk barks. “Waterspout, two miles east.”

  Captain’s lips thin to a white line. “Get her to my room. Suit everyone up. It’s going to be a long night if that thing hits.”

  I stand immediately, feeling cold and needy. “Be careful, Captain.”

  “Worried?”

  I shake my head again, smiling at him in a way I hope reassures him, and follow Clunk out of the bridge. A siren sounds on the ship and everybody starts to run around. I watch them bolt things down and carry things under deck for safety.

  I get jostled and bumped as everybody serves their purpose, but Clunk holds my arm, guiding me behind him as the siren blares overhead.

  “Stay in your room,” he advises, following me in and rummaging through a couple of overhead cupboards. He drops a bunch of life jackets on the table and points to the feet of the chairs. “Go around and make sure everything is locked down. This beast is gonna rock a lot. You don’t want anything flying around that could hurt you.”

  “Oh…”

  He leaves and I do as I’m told, hooking the chair legs to the pegs in the floor, moving all loose objects from every surface. I hang up clothes and clean the bathroom too while I’m at it and then when I hear the sound of thunder a few hours later, I remember the life jacket and race for it. There are four on the table, I take one and read the instructions, hooking it over my head and clipping it into place.

  It tells me to not inflate until I’m in the water and out of a confined space. I remember watching a documentary on that once, when a plane went down in the ocean, people panicked and pulled their cords inside. It trapped them in the sinking plane.

  Thank he
avens I love documentaries.

  I just wish I’d spent more time learning how to swim.

  It didn’t seem important growing up because we never went anywhere that required swimming.

  The ship rocks so suddenly I fall sideways into the drawers. I hesitantly move to the window when it rights itself and watch as a near-black sky casts angry shadows onto rolling waves. The water looks pitch black. I’m high up enough to hopefully not have to worry. For now, anyway.

  I wish I wasn’t alone. I wish I’d asked for Geoffrey or demanded to stay with the captain.

  I grip the edges of the rubbery-smelling, suede-soft life jacket and stare at the waves that only seem to grow, sending sprays of water well into the air.

  The boat turns, I feel and see it change its course and I wonder what on earth we could be doing in this weather. It feels like a lifetime before the point must be facing the waves and I wonder if this is so we don’t capsize. Then I notice the twister, tornado, whatever it is. It looks so close, pulling water up towards the clouds in a powerful, menacing twist.

  Why oh why did I have to be held here instead of in maybe a shopping mall, or a stadium… or anything that can withstand storms?

  I climb onto the bed and wrap the blanket around me for comfort. Perhaps I can sleep through it.

  The hour is late and the storm only sounds more and more violent. There’s no sleeping through this, who am I kidding?

  The boat tips again, to the right, leaning so far that I almost roll out of bed.

  I scream and hold onto the railings which I was cuffed to only days ago while the captain buried his face…

  Let’s not think about that right now.

  The wind howls louder, the waters rage harder and night falls. There’s nothing worse than a dark ocean.

  Nothing.

  When midnight passes and sleep still evades me, I consider going back to the bridge. I’m worried. The ship is making noises that I’ve never heard before. I can hear yelling over the sound of it all, carrying through the pipes. This is truly terrifying.

  Though the rocking from side to side isn’t as bad as it was an hour ago, the rain is still coming down like a waterfall as opposed to a shower.