CHAPTER SIX
“I have had word,” Tina told her and tried to maintain a stiff upper lip. She told herself that she did not care, it was what they had been working towards.
Claire looked up from the pillow she was embroidering. They had found it somewhere in the ship’s stores and she was enjoying working with all the various colors and creating a mermaid on the ocean-colored background, but she knew she would not quite get the colors right as the beautiful ocean was constantly changing. “Word?” she asked, hesitantly, her eyebrows beetling together in concern because Tina seemed angry.
“Your father, he has agreed to our ransom demands,” she told her curtly. Glancing at Claire, she was in time to see the horrified look that crossed her otherwise beautiful face. She would not tell her that the negotiations had been lengthy and difficult because he had tried to cut the demand in half, cheapening his daughter’s value.
“When?” Claire asked, as the threads she was working with fell to her side on the settee in front of the window. The best light on the ship, out of the wind, was still from these immense windows that spanned the cabin.
“We are already on course for the agreed upon exchange. We will let you off at another neutral island so that he does not try to grab you without paying the ransom. We also have to make sure it is not a trap.” She looked out the windows at the ocean, trying to ascertain how she felt about this development. She had had other captives over the years and none had affected her so.
“So we have what? Weeks before...?” she began, but was interrupted.
Tina was shaking her head. “No, we will put you on the island tomorrow and meet with him later in the day. I have given the order and we are on the way. You should see him a day or two after that.” She looked stiff and uncompromising.
Claire had not expected this all to end so quickly and abruptly. She thought she had weeks, possibly months, for this adventure to continue. She glanced up at Tina with tears in her eyes, not understanding her attitude. It was at that moment she came to realize that not only had she admired this strong woman, but had fallen in love with her. If someone had told her when she left England that it was possible to love a woman as a man, she would have called them a liar. This feeling, this emotion, left her feeling very vulnerable, and she could see by Tina’s demeanor she was not going to be too accepting of anything she could or would say. She did not want to go back to her father or the fate that was in store for her. The thought of her fiancé, a man, any man touching her as Tina had, filled her with dread. She knew that if she told anyone this, her father for instance, they would accuse her of having unnatural desires or that she would change her mind once she was married. “So soon?” she asked weakly, realizing all the ramifications. She wanted to beg Tina not to make her go, but she knew she would sound like a child. She did not want Tina to think of her as a child. She loved this woman, and while Tina had not told her she loved her, she felt she did. This was something another woman would feel on instinct alone.
Tina nodded abruptly once and turned away. A lump was forming in her throat and she did not wish to speak any more. During the course of the day, she was difficult to get along with and many of the crew felt the lash of her tongue.
“She is on a tear for sure,” more than one commented out of her hearing.
Their supper was eaten in silence and then Tina pretended to read some maps she spread out on the table once it was cleared.
Claire was at loose ends. Normally affectionate after their meal when they had time alone away from the prying eyes of the crew, this cold Tina was not the woman she had come to know and love. She was abrupt, rude, and she did not know how to talk to her. She did not want it to end like this. She wanted to make love all night while they still had time together. She tried to walk up behind Tina and put her hand on the nape of her neck, knowing that Tina enjoyed her touch. Instead the redhead stiffened imperceptibly. Tension was in every bit of her body. Claire tried to start rubbing those tense muscles along the redhead’s shoulders, but Tina finally looked up with a blank look on her face.
“What do you want?” she asked, in a cold tone.
Claire was taken aback. She was not sure she had not done something wrong; her insecurities returned. Perhaps for Tina all this had been pretend and she did not love her after all. Perhaps it had all been part of collecting the ransom from her father, getting her to fall in love with her, make her more cooperative. She stiffened her spine and allowed her hand to drift back to Tina’s broad and muscular shoulder. “I want you,” she said softly, and for a moment she saw a softening in the hard, green eyes, before they returned to the stone they had become today.
Claire would never know how that simple phrase affected Tina. Tina wanted her too, but for her own sanity she had to push her away. Abruptly, she got up and began to roll up the maps that she had not really been able to see anyway. Jamming them into the cubby holes on the desk, she left the cabin, banging the door behind her as she left.
Claire was not sure what she had done to cause such visible anger, but she was crushed. She quickly got ready for bed and was about to climb into it when Tina returned. She looked angrier and the wind had obviously blown through her wild tresses. The red stood out in vivid disarray from her normal clubbed-back hair or plait. She shut and bolted the door behind her and strode angrily over to Claire to stand above her, intimidatingly.
“You want me?” she asked, with her chest heaving. At Claire’s timid nod, she pulled her to her and kissed her harshly. Not at all the loving and sensual woman that Claire had come to expect and admire. The kiss was the first of several angry kisses, each seeming to fuel Tina’s anger. With a ripping sound she pulled the shift from Claire’s body, exposing it to the elements.
Claire was horrified. Not since the attempted rapes had anyone treated her like this. Tina had always been a comfort, and this...this was not like her at all. She could not escape her though, as the redhead easily held her in her strong arms. Trying to escape seemed to inflame her and Tina began to shove her to the floor in front of her, forcing her to kneel before her.
She unbuttoned her pants one-handed and pulled them down. With her other hand on Claire’s head, she forced the blonde’s face to her pussy. Claire did not understand at first, but Tina began to grind it against her. Harder and harder she ground, causing Claire to have difficulty breathing through her nose before she opened her mouth. Tina did not give her a chance to even lick it and Claire struggled trying to push away the woman’s grinding hips, but Tina held her firmly. She quickly achieved her release and, panting wearily, she held Claire there a moment before taking a step back and pulling her pants back up and buttoning them.
Claire sat there, kneeling for a moment. She was humiliated. Her shift was torn from top to bottom and her naked body spilled out from it. She had never been treated like this before and especially not by Tina. She did not understand and was hurt. Her love turned to hate in that moment as she realized she was nothing but property, like the booty that the pirate claimed in her hold. She hated her at that moment, as she used the back of her hand to wipe the juices from her face and tried to stand up. Her legs gave way and she sat on the edge of the bed. “I hate you,” she spat when she was able to speak once again.
Tina nodded once and left the cabin; Claire did not see her again.
The next day they docked and Frank took her by rowboat to the island where a small house stood, occupied by servants who maintained it for an absentee owner. She looked for and did not see a sign of Tina. Frank confided that she had been working around the clock. He left her with a brotherly peck on the cheek, her packed trunk, and then he rowed back out to the waiting ship. It did not take long for them to get underway. Claire watched until they were a speck on the horizon as they sailed away. Tears streamed down her cheeks when she turned to follow the nice black couple who welcomed her to the house.
CHAPTER SEVEN
“Where is she?” Governor Von Hagen demanded of Captain Betty.
He actually had counted on that. “How do I know you’ll turn her over then, after you have your ransom?” he spat out.
Tina looked at the portly man. He really looked nothing like Claire except for the blonde hair. She must favor her mother. He was so full of himself and his self-importance, she felt the need to take him down a notch. By demanding that he come himself for the exchange of the ransom, she had humiliated him to do so ‘menial’ a task himself. His negotiating for almost half the initial ransom demand had proven how little he cared for his ‘beloved’ daughter. The addition of her disgusting fiancé on the ship that had come to deliver the ransom further added insult to injury in Tina’s mind. She found both of the men in Claire’s life to be less than satisfactory. “How do I know your ransom is the amount we agreed upon?” she countered.
Governor Von Hagen gasped like a fish out of water at the insult. He had thought nothing of casting doubt on Tina’s honor, but to have his own questioned was too much. He would have reached for a sword under normal circumstances, but he was on the pirate ship, unarmed, for this transaction.
Tina was amused. The man was easily upset. Most bullies were and she could spot a bully like this from afar. He was so sure of his importance in His Majesty’s capacity of governor that he forgot that there were other people with equally important positions. A pirate, a female pirate at that, was way beneath his notice.
As the ransom and the chest it was carried over in was brought to her ship, the sailors carrying it pretended to trip so it would spill out on the deck. The governor and his men had counted on this distraction with the pirates and were ready to try to overpower them. Tina’s crew were better disciplined than most sailors. While their eyes had been drawn to the precious gems and gold coins for a moment, their hands immediately raised their swords, as the sailors from the governor’s ship reached for their hidden knives.
“Drop them,” Tina called to the sailors. She did not want blood to be shed this day, but she would not object to a little blood from the man who had instigated it. Her own sword was quickly unsheathed and its tip raised to slice along the chin of the governor, causing a permanent scar that would remain with him the rest of his miserable life. “Tell your men to drop them or you die,” she said, in her most ominous voice. The sword wavered under his throat, the threat clear.
He believed her, her cold green eyes showing promises she did not have to verbalize. “Drop them,” he called to the sailors who had been promised the ransom if they overpowered the pirate queen and her crew. Not until she swung from a yardarm would they be paid, as he had contemplated her death. This turn of events had not been part of their plans. He had thought she and her pirate crew would fall for such an obvious ploy; he had grossly miscalculated.
Tina was ready for a double cross and had planned accordingly. Her crew would share in the ransom equally; after she had taken her part of the spoils, but that did not matter. They were loyal, whereas the sailors were not. “John,” she called her first mate, using an agreed upon false name so the governor could not find him if he ever wished to disappear. “Count it for me would you, since the governor has so kindly spread it out for us,” she ordered, sarcastically.
Tina watched as she held the governor at sword point as ‘John’ and a couple of the pirates quickly counted and returned the bounty back to its large chest. Once it had been confirmed that the entire amount was there-and Tina was genuinely surprised to find no sand in the mix-she ordered it taken below.
“Now, where is my daughter?” the governor asked, belligerently. He still believed he had the upper hand here somehow, despite the blood dripping down his chin onto his linen blouse and the sweat pouring off his bloated body.
Tina produced a rolled document from behind her back. Not wearing her scimitars today, she had more freedom of movement; her knife and sword were enough for this encounter. The man pompously reached for it, but she held it out of reach, and as he leaned forward, he pricked himself on her sword once again.
“This will be given to your captain and no one else,” she told the man to thwart him and irritate him some more. “Go back to your ship and have your captain come across,” she told him conversationally, and as he turned with a huff, she swatted him on his posterior. He turned at the indignity and several of the pirates laughed at her audacity, herself included. This further outraged him.
Tina did indeed turn over the small map to their captain, but only after unrolling it and making sure he was familiar with the landmark islands that would lead him to the one where Claire Von Hagen could be found. There were thousands of these islands in these waters and she wanted to be sure her end of the bargain was kept. He assured her he could find the island and they shook hands, captain to captain.
Tina watched as the ship carrying the governor and Claire’s fiancé sailed away from their own, and not until it was a good way away did she allow her men to relax their guard. She could tell some of them were disappointed that there had been little bloodshed and no fighting. Tina thought about Claire and how she would soon be with her father and the obnoxious and odorous fiancé. She was surprised he had managed to survive the ordeal of being put to sea all those months ago, but he obviously had and was no better for it. The thought that he would soon have the right to put his hands on Claire, sickened her. She gave the order to set sail for a port where she knew the jewels and coin could not only be put to good use by her rowdy and randy crew, but her own accounts could be credited and the monies forwarded for her use elsewhere. She did not need much on ship and certainly did not need the monies that she had garnered from this kidnapping and ransom. It left a bad taste in her mouth as she thought of it.
When they arrived at one of the larger islands, she had most of the goods in their hold transferred to a warehouse so that they could sell them all. The gold and jewels was equally divided between the men and she put her captain’s share on credit with a local banker who had ties in all the major capitals of the world. She knew the precious stones would be distributed and used as easily as the various gold coins, from several nations that had been in the chest. If any were traceable, they would soon disappear. Even the gold would eventually be melted down and stamped with a new government’s insignia. Each of the men were given leave in shifts, to spend their portion in any way they saw fit.
These ports were a great melting pot of people from every nation of the world. Almost any language could be heard on their streets. Most people spoke more than one so they could communicate with others. Sailors could be hired here, or as Tina found, let go. She lost two on this trip, but soon found six to replace those she had lost from taking their leave, death, and even the one she had whipped who had died. They understood working under a woman would be different, but she met each of them and vaguely knew one or two from having seen them around for years, and they signed on willingly. She did not believe in shanghaiing a crew.
Tina was restless though. Even her favorite taverns were of no use. The wenches in them that she favored, the ones who enjoyed loving another woman, were of no use to her. None of them appealed to her anymore.
“Why do you not admit it?” Frank finally worked up the nerve to ask her after she told one of the whores to leave her alone. She had been prickly for days and many had felt her temper.
“Admit what?” she asked, in a surly tone as she took a sip of the spirits she was imbibing, hoping to forget.
“That you love her?” he asked, knowing that he was taking his life in his hands. The captain was once again wearing not only the dangerous sword and knife at her waist, but the cross blades of the scimitars on her back.
Tina was ready to bite his head off and then something stayed her. Had she loved Claire? She knew she missed her and felt bad at the way she had left things, but love her? She could not remember loving another woman or man other than her grandfather. She liked s
ome of her crew members, she had enjoyed men and women over the years, but love? That was a strong emotion to admit to. She had to think about it, and she realized drinking to forget was not going to help her think. Ignoring Frank and his question, she got up abruptly and, throwing a coin on the table, she left the tavern.
On the way back to her ship, she was accosted by the unknowing. Some sailors, when drunk, would go for any woman, and they failed to notice how heavily armed this one was. All they saw was the red hair and that she was a woman; they assumed she was a whore and available. Their suggestions were met with sword point and Tina spared their lives for their ignorance. Instead of killing them, she left them with enough scars of the incident that they would swear she was a witch when they retold the tale and showed off where her blades had struck. After all, there had been two of them to her one!
CHAPTER EIGHT
Claire could not believe that Tina had left her like that on the little island with the house. She was sure the redhead would come back and rescue her, but she did not show up. Claire knew because she sat on the beach endlessly looking for the Black Betty, the ship and the captain she had come to love. She knew she loved the woman, but the freedom that the woman gave her on the ship, she loved equally as well. When her father’s ship came into sight a few days later she hoped it was a mistake. She was not sure at first it was her father’s ship, but when a boat was rowed ashore and her father, her fiancé, the captain, and a few of his men came ashore, she was resigned.
Her father, she had not seen in many years, and he did not look very well. He was portly and held himself arrogantly. He looked her up and down and stated, “You look like your mother,” but he did not make it sound like a compliment. He further went on to insult her as he asked her, “Are you all right?” At first she was struck by the similarity of that phrase, as she and Tina had used it on each other many times, but he continued with, “Are you a virgin?”
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