“I know, I’m sorry,” she whispered.
“You are, I can tell,” he said getting to his feet. “And you’ll not be aching to climb the masts anytime soon, but we still have the matter of your ignoring a direct order from your captain.” She saw him pick something up, pull his little utility knife from his belt and carefully peal a strip away. The sharp scent hit her hard.
“Ginger?” What could he need that for?
“Yes, it’s a nice way to start lessons on not telling people to fuck off,” he said continuing to peel the skin and shape the root.
“Fuck off?” she’d not heard that before, though her time onboard certainly expanded her vocabulary. Not always in ways that pleased Mason, though he remarked on it rarely.
“A fuck…” he began as he set the knife aside and again moved to stand behind her. “What we do…”
“Fornicate?” Nox supplied, showing her understanding of the act.
He actually chuckled and she felt some tension slip, if he could laugh what was to come couldn’t be too bad. “Yes, fornication is all about physical pleasure. Fucking… fucking is sometimes pleasurable, briefly, but in the end it’s usually not something you want. It lacks real satisfaction. You telling me ‘no’ gave you satisfaction didn’t it?” Not letting her answer, knowing what she’d say. “But now, you rather regret it, and you’ll regret it more before I’m done… fucking you.”
She hissed when his palm flattened on her ass cheek and gasped when she felt him pull it way from the other. Though he sometimes brushed that place with his fingers or thumbs while he held her and pounded into her, he’d never simply exposed it as he was now. “Captain?”
“First this, then we’ll see,” he said and spit right on her asshole.
The first touch of the ginger root against that hole caused panic to rise, and while she could wiggle side to side she couldn’t escape as he increased the pressure and the root pressed into her. “Captain,” she screeched as he never let up and with a slight pop something was going in a place she never considered was for such a thing. The shame of it washed over her and with a sob she turned her face down against the table as she felt him slide and twist it about inside her ass the way he slide and moved his cock inside her pussy. But as seconds ticked by it was no longer that it was in her ass which caused distress. No. For some unknown reason a burn, in no way pleasant, started to grow. It grew to the point it almost exceeded the one smoldering on her flanks. And worse as the burn grew she felt her pussy clutching and relaxing, moisture building.
The contradicting sensations too much, she cried out. “Mason.” Only to have his hand slap down on her ass, reminding her, this was punishment. “Captain, God, Captain, please. Please. Stop. Stop, get it out, stop please,” she pleaded and whined. “Please I don’t like fucks.”
“Are you sure?” His voice rolled over her as his fingers found her sex. “I might call you out as a liar,” he said as he drew his fingers through her ever slickening folds. “Yes indeed I think you’re not being honest with me.”
“No, captain. No please it burns. I swear. I’ll never tell you ‘no’ again. I won’t. Take it out.” Her desperation grew the more the inside of her ass burned and her sex heated. His fingers diving deep inside pushed her nearly to the end. This was so wrong, it was not normal. She couldn’t be at once writhing with discomfort of this sort and yet ready to plunge off the cliff into the abyss of pleasure.
“No more ‘no’ from you?”
“None, please.”
“Perhaps I’ll still hear a sweet ‘no’ when I asked if you’ve had enough of that rapture you find, but I think I’ll finish this now.”
She gasped when she felt it was his cock now sliding back and forth between her folds. “Please,” she whispered, knowing she sounded like a harlot and not caring one bit at all if it achieved for her what she wanted, needed so much at the moment.
“So quick to acquiesce,” he said slowing pulling the ginger out and tossing it to the table. “So quick and you don’t even know what you ask for.”
She felt him step back, felt both hands flatten on her seat and pull it open. “Captain?” The head of his cock nudged that new opening.
“Mason,” he corrected, signaling this was perhaps still a lesson but not a punishment.
“What are you doing?” She knew what he was doing, but…
“I’m going to fuck your ass, Nox. Fuck it so you like it. So you beg for it again like you beg for everything else I do to you. Fuck it so you know who you belong to, who you’ll always obey. Tell me to do it Nox. Speak the words.”
Like she didn’t own her own lips and tongue the words came out with breathless anticipation. “Fuck my ass, Mason.”
The pressure built and the stretch was almost unbearable as she felt the large, bulbous head pushing in. She cried out and clutched the edge of the table. “Breath deep,” Mason urged, never letting up. “Push back, on me.” His instruction was always patient and encouraging. And given he’d never instructed her to anything overtly painful she complied and with an almost complaisant manner her ass surrendered to him and he slid in.
“Ah, god Nox, you’re so perfect,” he said as he continued to push forward. Not stopping until his groin was flush on her ass. “So damn, fucking perfect.”
The compliment seemed odd given what he told her he was doing, but having not taken his full length inside before she’d felt a bit of a rush knowing she could doing this. That rush sent a flash of heat right to her very core. So as he began his undulations she throbbed in time with him. But it wasn’t quite enough to lift her to that place. But Mason knew her well enough, knew when she needed something else to get her there. His weight pressed her into the hardwood but his fingers found her and went to work.
The push and pull, the heat and occasional bite of pain, Mason’s dedication to the task at hand, to seeing her pleased with his efforts, everything he’d said about the harshest punishment yet, why it was given, what he expected her to understand. She couldn’t be safer with anyone in the world than she was with him. And it was that which drove her past all safe boundaries, past the place where she could feel the earth under her feet, past where anything could be judged wrong or right, normal. It drove her to simply let go and trust that when she fell, he’d be there to catch her, to lift her up and set her falling again.
Her release felt like it’d split her in two it was so powerful. The sound of her screams echoing in her ears slowly drowned out by the sound of her heart pounding. Thinking she’d not feel again something so deep and hard she was shocked when yet another wave with the same force struck her. This time the feeling of Mason’s release happening inside her for the first time caused it and as the scream faded away a second time the sound of their mingling pants and gasps and the feel of his full weight holding her securely was a balm to her long time battered heart. She was safe with Mason. She’d always be safe with him.
But then she wouldn’t always be with him and the reality of that made itself known unexpectedly soon.
Chapter 12
Mason drew in a deep breath, willed his limbs to stop shaking and pushed up off of Nox who seemed to not be able to take a deep breath herself with him lying on her. Stretching to the side he lifted the key, leaned over her and unlocked the irons at her wrists. The look on her face when she’d seen them told him that alone was enough to ensure she never mutiny again.
He heard her sigh as the cuffs fell away, and squatted down to release her ankles. The position put her red and bruised ass right in his face. And thought it was unfortunate, that, he was sure, would be enough to ensure she never took such risks with her safety again.
She’d done so a few times already, and he’d corrected her, but this time. When he saw her slow near the top. Saw the way she struggled to get her feet and hands in place. He’d felt sick. Even knowing men were already making their way to intercept her and bring her down he could hardly watch. Every breath was one more he waited to see her fall.
&
nbsp; He took out his initial anger towards her recklessness with the strap. Wanting to be in control for what he’d do when he was handed the board and ginger he’d requested as soon as she’d started the climb up the rigging. None of this, not the paddling or the fucking was done with anything but concern he might not ever make her understand that on a ship discipline was key to survival. And survival was first priority.
He was sure he proved that with the paddle. That living was worth it, was a beautiful, pleasurable thing, even with pain and hardship, he drove that home with his cock. Though it’d not been his intent until he saw the way her sex swelled and dripped as soon as the ginger started to work. Again her response to the things he did to her amazed. Nox was a perfect woman. Sensual, kind, giving, smart, curious, brave, and so much more he could name. In the short time she’d been on board what he’d discovered about her made him want to know more. He couldn’t go the length of a day without reaching for her, without speaking with her. It could be the newness of it, the fact she was within reach of his arms every day. A woman on board was new to him. But for the few, usually single days he’d be in any port, having those needs met was a fast and careless quest. With Nox, he could take his time. He could experiment with things to meet their needs. A woman onboard, despite the warnings from old, was a boon. Even if she did distract a bit, she’d become an asset in her own.
A moan and a hiss, brought Mason back to the situation. Nox was pushing herself off the table. Standing he pulled her back, turned her to face him, then lifted her and plopped her down, hard, on the table. She cried out and tears welled, but her little pouting lips begged for his kiss. Not being man enough to resist he leaned in, saw her eyes flutter closed, and kissed her softly before gathering her against him. She rested her head on his shoulder and wrapped her arms around his back.
“No more risky nonsense from you,” he chided as he stroked her back.
“Aye-aye,” she breathed, making him smile at her use of one of the less vulgar bits of vernacular she’d picked up so far.
“I should hate to find I was again to lenient with you,” he said gripping her knee when she raised her leg and rubbed it against his thigh. “That last bit…”
“I’ll not let it take anything from the lesson, Mason. I knew before Jones and the others got me down it was a mistake.” Again she rubbed her leg up and down his. “I’ve no desire at all to challenge you that way again, though I was so glad you were doing this for my benefit.”
He pulled back and looked at her. Face soft and flushed. Eyes closed. Mouth a little pouty. “What makes you think I made any of this about you?” Her eyes popped open and she pulled back herself.
“You kept your boots on,” she said giving him a puzzled look before following his eyes when he looked down.
He laughed so hard he almost tipped over but seeing as he needed to pull his britches up anyway. He placed a kiss on her knee before straightening and righting his clothes. “Yes I did,” he said still chuckling. Damn but she could turn his mood faster than a whirlpool turned a ship. “Come.” He stepped and placed an arm under her knees and one around her back. Lifting he carried to the bed. “I think it won’t hurt you to take a rest. You can come on deck again later if you want.” He waited until she’d rolled to her belly, then tugged up the covers, hiding those dark marks he’d given her.
“Will I have to scrub the deck?” she pouted. She’d really come to hate that chore, which was why she was given it every time she failed some lesson, either explicit or implicit.
“I’ll think about it,” he said not making a promise as it was his first mate Anders who made those determinations.
She huffed but lying down grumbled out, “Aye, Captain.”
“Aye,” he repeated and watched as she drifted to sleep before heading back on deck.
He was met first by a number of scowls and nasty looks. The crew having become a bit protective of Nox. He paid them no mind as he climbed back to the helm and took the wheel from Anders.
“Our destination is on the horizon,” Anders said handing Mason the glass.
Lifting it he looked out over the water at the large cluster of rocks looming. Behind them a small island, well supplied but unpopulated as many were in the Caribbean. He scanned a bit east. “No sign of the Darkness?” He’d planned all along to beat the ship here. The agreement between he and that captain held so far, but he was dealing with pirates, and knew better than to let down his guard.
“No sign of her,” Anders confirmed. “And with the report we got at last port, unless she’d steady winds and perfect tides, she couldn’t have beaten us.”
“Very good, but we’ll take a turn all the way around before we drop anchor.” His ship carried nothing but the money he’d hand off in trade for the goods the other ship carried. Goods stole from John Company.
Mason and his crew had been buying the cargo pirated from the Honorable East Indies Trading Company for nearly ten years. The damn company had a complete monopoly on the whole of East Asia. Their power, influence and numbers made them nearly their own nation, and they fiercely protected all the product coming out of those oriental ports of call.
The tight restriction on the goods made it rather profitable to buy from pirates that stole them and then sell them to the shops and people in the ports around Martinique, Saint Thomas Cartagena, and anywhere else the spices and silks were highly prized. No one at the ports asked questions about where he got the cargo, and no one reported his actives because there was profit in it for them as well.
He’d learned early the power was all his. Both to take the cargo from the pirates at his desired price and to sell it to who he liked, again at his desired price. If he planned it all right, in only a few more years he could buy a second ship and start engaging in more honest trade. And with the gossip carried on the winds about John company being reined it by the British Empire he could perhaps being his own trade with the prized East Asian region. After that he could settle down. A steady income and the ability to hire others to do the sailing, left him a lot of options.
“What about your girl?” Anders asked.
“Nox is fine,” he said shaking his head at how she was referred to as his girl.
“I’m sure, unless you come topside blood splatter we’ve no reason to think she didn’t survive whatever you gave her,” Anders said raising a brow at him. “I meant what are you going to tell her about what we are doing, what she is likely to see?”
“I’m not planning on telling her anything, other than I am meeting with another captain,” Mason said already having worked a plan to make sure Nox’s hands stay clean. “And she’ll not see anything. I’m going to send her inland to fill the baskets. She can stay busy collecting more mangos to eat.”
Anders lifted his brow again and considered the plan. “That could work very nicely.”
“So glad you approve,” Mason grumbled, but smiled when the other man laughed.
It took two days to circle the island and then take up position in the channel between the rocks jutting up from the sea floor. It was another two days before anyone sighted the ship heading their way. Mason and the crew spent some time teaching Nox to swim better as she wasn’t good at it, and she wasn’t inclined to learn, especially in the ocean where she was certain sharks lurked in abundance.
But the protests she gave when she’d be dropped overboard hardly came close to the one she gave when the dinghy was lowered and she was told to get in. The accusation he planned to strand her hurt and they’d not parted on good terms. But he saw her rowed ashore with all the baskets he could find onboard, saw her throw her tantrum when she was left standing in the sand, but after a few minutes she picked up the baskets and headed into the vegetation. He then turned his attention to the approaching ship. If all went well the transfer of cargo would be done before noon and the Darkness could sail off to pirate some other ship.
Chapter 13
Nox paused in hacking away at the thin stems holding the cluster of mang
os to the branch she was sitting on. The tiny knife she’d been give was almost useless, if she did come out this grove and find herself stranded she’d not have much to use to survive.
Whatever it was Mason and the crew were going to do they didn’t want her to be a part of it, again raising her suspicions Mason was indeed a pirate. And maybe if he’d have just been honest with her as to why he wanted her away from the ship for the day she’d not now be wondering if he’d lied to her about anything else this last three month. With a sigh, she tossed the fruit to the ground and giving this tree one last look climbed down.
“Well, well.”
Nox spun around at the sound of a strange male voice. Sitting across from her, eating the fruit she’d collected, sat a man she’d never seen before and given the looks of him, she didn’t want to be seeing now.
“Aren’t you just the juiciest piece of fruit to ever fall out a tree?”
Turning around Nox spied the second man and like the first she knew by his looks he wasn’t the kind of man she could count on to be in anyway honorable. Through the canopy of tree branches she could only guess at the time of day. Mason said she should fill the baskets and then he’d come on shore to help her carry them back to the ship. But that could be any time or if she really wanted to stop trusting him, never.
“Now how did a lovely dove like you get to be stranded here on this little island?” The first man asked taking one bite of the mango he held before tossing it away and taking another from the basket, only to do the same.
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