by Selena Kitt
"Yeah." Whiplash followed the jump in conversation. "My hands are a bit stiff. Feet are okay. I'm glad to have the gag out, that was rough."
Cardinal took a hundred details of status from the short update. Running would be fine but Whiplash's hands didn't have any dexterity from the zip-tie cuffs. She probably wouldn't be able to fire a gun. Hand-to-hand grappling might work, though. Cardinal wondered if they were binding her wrists in front at night. That had done wonders for Cardinal's circulation. She didn't ask. If the other men didn't know of her additional freedom, she wasn't going to mistakenly enlighten them.
"I'm good, too. Tired of chicken, though." Good, better than Whip's 'OK.' No other comments meant no immediate concerns. She was in generally better shape than Whip. Getting fed regularly.
Whiplash smiled a bit. Message received.
When Natalie pulled Cardinal up by the shoulder, she went without a fuss.
Chapter 11
Lunch at the table. Chicken and veggies. At least Cardinal wasn't going to come down with a bought of scurvy. She shoveled the food automatically. Trying to linger over the peas. She didn't want to rush back into the berth. Besides, there was some restlessness to Natalie that Cardinal would bet money lead straight back to their kiss. She tried not to snort into her water. She was betting more than money, wasn't she?
Natalie sat with her hands folded on the pistol. But her fingers rolled against the tabletop. "Why did you decide to come look for me?"
"We found your bottle message," Cardinal maintained. It made for a good story, right? Rescue the princess from the evils of her past life. Except Natalie didn't seem to know if she was in a bad situation or not. Sometimes Cardinal saw passionate hate, but it was rare. Far more often was a frightening dose of ennui.
Natalie pressed, "From years ago. There was no guarantee you would find me."
Cardinal smiled. "Zodiac hardly works on guarantees. And you underestimate Whip's ability to find an adventure when she goes looking." And Cardinal never thought she'd thank god for that. Without Whip's insistence, Cardinal wouldn't have even that small leverage of knowing Natalie's history.
"Is she enjoying this adventure?" Natalie seemed genuinely curious. As if being a hostage automatically meant their lives were done. Was that how fourteen-year-old Natalie felt when Alexander first told her she wouldn't be going home?
Cardinal tried to lighten the idea a bit. "She will when it's over. She'll embellish the story until it's almost unbelievable."
"What happens then?" Natalie's fingers laced with each other and Cardinal got the distinct impression that she'd never had this kind of conversation before. Other people's futures weren't a topic she was familiar with.
"Then she finds another adventure." Cardinal sipped at her orange juice, less interested in it than Natalie's furrowing brow at the moment.
"What will you do when the adventure is over, follow her?"
"I'm not overly fond of kidnappings so I think I'll avoid the Mediterranean work for a while. But Whip and I are partners, so we'll go together. Maybe Zodiac needs us in French Polynesia."
"But you'll continue?" Natalie leaned forward, as if it were a significant point for her. As if she didn't understand the drive of continued work in the future despite the setback of the present, like her entire life had come crashing to a halt when she had been brought aboard this boat.
Cardinal didn't know how to explain that the world was so much more than these curved walls. "Sure. There are bad people all over the world that need catching. That's our job. And I'd like to see French Polynesia. I hear the wildlife is excellent. I think I'd like to go scuba diving."
Natalie leaned back. Then forward again, voice a little more pressing. "But I have taken you from your assignment; I wasn't it, I know it. I sunk your boat, all your supplies—"
Cardinal laughed. "Whip and I can manage without a little toilet paper for a while. We're big girls. And Zodiac is well-funded. They'll give us a new boat and supplies." She leaned forward a little, "In fact, I bet our Aries has already requisitioned a new one for when we get back. I hope we get a newer model. That boat you sunk was nice, but it was getting up there in years."
"You'll have to start all over," Natalie insisted.
Cardinal leaned back with her juice and nodded. "That's not so bad. Leave some mistakes behind, take the lessons on to the next try. A fresh slate. She put some whimsy into her voice. "I bet French Polynesia has the best beaches."
Natalie shook her head, disbelieving. "You're so confident. What happens when Alexander wants to kill you because Zodiac won't pay?"
Cardinal tipped her orange juice toward Natalie. "You won't let him. You don't want anyone dead any more than I do. And besides, help us and you could have that blank slate, too."
"I'm helping you now?" Natalie laughed. "What would I do then?"
"Anything you wanted. Be a dancer. Sing music. Plant a flower garden." Cardinal saw the laughter suddenly die in Natalie's eyes. "What do you want to do?" She saw a flash of intensity. Desire? No. She was projecting her own feelings onto the situation. That wouldn't do at all. She was dangling the carrot of a new life, a different life full of kindness and trust and love. A life she had no way to provide if Natalie couldn't see that she could have it if she wanted. If she didn't think she deserved it.
Cardinal scrambled to resurrect their light-hearted tone. "People start over all the time," she said with some dismissal, knowing the idea was too important for Natalie to miss it. "I have friends that have transferred from Cancer into Taurus or Pisces. There's a whole new branch of training to learn, but anyone can do it if they want."
"Ok, sure." Natalie stood from the table, her expression shuttered all over again.
Cardinal pressed her lips together. Natalie could tell she was selling something and it was better to drop it than screw everything up. She stood and turned to let Natalie cuff her hands, praying some of her words made it through.
Natalie marched her to the berth. Cardinal leaned back against the door and closed her eyes, hands in fists. There was nothing so easy to betray as love.
Chapter 12
Cardinal ate her chicken and vegetables with less enthusiasm knowing she'd have the same for tomorrow's meals. She scratched periodically. The salt was getting to her skin after three days without a shower. Sores would break out eventually. She didn't want it to get to that point. The head was a shower, too. She'd seen the hardware on the wall and hair products secured with a bungee cord on a shelf over the sink. And if her nose was any good, no one had used it in a while. Pirate culture apparently didn't lend itself to a daily bath.
She asked to shower.
Natalie wasn't pleased with the idea of leaving her alone in the head unsupervised but now that Cardinal had the thought of a shower in her head, she wasn't going to let it go. "You can stay in the room, you already watch me pee every day." Natalie watched from the doorway because the idea of more than one body in the head at a time was laughable. Cards was willing to make it work, though. And if peeling away some outer layers also exposed some inner ones, Cardinal would take advantage. It was harder to stay emotionally distant when everyone was naked in the shower, right? "Please, I need to get clean."
Natalie frowned. "You're staying cuffed."
Cuffed? Was that the only leverage Natalie thought she could enforce? Was she that clueless to the way Cardinal's pulse fluttered every time Natalie changed the zip tie? "Anything you want."
Remaining tied created more problems for Natalie than it solved. Cardinal was released long enough to strip, but as she stepped into the head with her hands bound behind her, she looked over her shoulder. "Can you turn it on?"
Natalie scowled at her, then the shower hardware, and scoffed. She was too stubborn to back out of insisting Cardinal stay tied, though. She tucked the pistol on a shelf and yanked her shirt overhead. She dropped her pants. Cardinal watched her breasts bounce and stopped breathing.
When she looked up, Natalie reacted to something in C
ardinal's stare. Her lips pressed together but her eyes warmed, then slid down Cardinal's body. Cardinal went from desperate for a shower to being hyper-aware of her own nudity. Natalie didn't move for a long time.
Life on a pirate boat had kept Natalie fit. Her legs were long, her breasts were full against her chest, and she was trimmed. Cardinal's breath stuttered. She shouldn't have stared but Natalie was unselfconscious as she stepped into Cardinal's space and slid the head door closed with a scrape. Cardinal found her confidence was quite attractive. She didn't move, afraid of scaring Natalie off and equally conflicted with the firm sense she was taking terrible advantage.
The shower was too small for two people but when Natalie cranked the faucet, the water was hot and awesome. Cardinal groaned heavily, plunging her head into the stream. "Ohhh, thank you. This is so overdue."
She couldn't turn, not with the way they were cramped against each other, but she couldn't do much without her hands anyway.
Without prompting, Natalie reached across the shower for the shampoo, sliding breasts and hips across and behind Cardinal. The water felt good, but the skin contact zinged through her body in altogether better ways. Cardinal tipped her head back and Natalie worked her fingers into Cardinal's short hair. Cardinal was distracted by the isolated patch of heat where Natalie's breast pressed against her shoulder blade. She resisted the urge to lean back and bring them further into contact.
Cardinal closed her eyes against the surging tide of desire inside her but that just made every touch a trail of fire. She snapped her eyes back open and breathed heavily through her nose.
Natalie slid conditioner through her hair.
Cardinal squinted. She needed to remember her priorities. Number one: get control of the boat. Number two: contact Aries for extraction. Get control. Get out.
Natalie was the weakest link and the only one Cardinal had direct access to. She had to get the woman on her side. The only way she knew how was to twist her terrible kidnapping and assault. Where she'd only ever known horror, show her kindness. Where she'd seen pain, show her love.
Body wash. Natalie's hands soaped Cardinal's back and arms. She let out a small breath and her hands slowed. Cardinal flexed and Natalie's fingers traced each mound of hard-earned muscle. Cardinal squeezed her eyes tight. She couldn't afford to fall for her own game. She couldn't actually believe in loving Natalie or it would all fall apart.
Natalie brushed her hands up over Cardinal's collarbones. Her breath fogged over Cardinal's shoulder.
Cardinal leaned back into Natalie's embrace and knew the face of evil—it was staring back at her in the polished metal mirror on the wall. She turned her eyes away and they fell on Natalie's hands diving down over hips and thigh, back up over belly and ...
Cardinal opened her clenched hands against Natalie's right thigh; it trembled under her fingertips. She turned just enough to see Natalie's wide flower-colored eyes. Cardinal whispered, "Please, touch me ..." Their lips were too close. Cardinal was struck by the memory of their kiss, a kind of twist in her gut that demanded more.
Natalie didn't move, just held her hands against Cardinal's warm abs. Every breath pressed her breasts against Cardinal's back.
With her fingers, Cardinal followed the line of Natalie's hip, down between her legs, just touching, just brushing the barest hint of her fingers across skin. Natalie made a soft, pained and needy sound. Cardinal pet two fingers into her folds and brushed up so gently through that heat of her core. She bit her lip to keep herself from saying something to ruin this. Cardinal pressed her fingers back down, tracing the row of Natalie's folds. And back up. Cardinal found her clit with the pad of a finger and circled it.
Natalie shook. Then her hands moved up, filled with Cardinal's breasts. She kneaded across the full flesh and stroked each nipple. Whatever had happened on this boat before, Natalie knew how to worship a pair of breasts. Cardinal arched into her hands, arousal striking her in a crashing wave. Natalie rolled Cardinal's nipples between fingers, unhesitating in her grip
"Yes," Cardinal sighed. She slid her feet wider even though the head didn't allow much space. She stroked between Natalie's thighs, up around her clitoris and down across every ridge. Her wrists crammed together didn't make this easy. She circled Natalie's clit until its small hood retreated and she could drag her fingertips across the bud directly. Natalie shuddered against her. Cardinal's sex ached but Natalie stayed high on her breasts, teasing her nipples until Cardinal's breath heaved. Cardinal begged her softly. She slid her fingers inside Natalie, two knuckles deep—hot and slick with nothing that had to do with soap.
Natalie fetched her hips onto Cardinal's fingers, abandoning her breasts to hold on tight around her chest. "Oh ...!" she said, surprised.
Cardinal twisted her wrists. She pressed one thumb up against Natalie's clitoris and thrust her two fingers in as deeply as she could. The angle was awkward and her wrists chafed under the zip-tie. But occasionally Natalie let out a small, honest sound of unexpected pleasure and Cardinal was fiercely proud that she could be the one to provide the woman's first good sexual experience. If nothing else, Natalie would know this.
It was a thin veneer over the truth of Cardinal's inevitable betrayal.
Natalie's strong rhythm fell apart and she gasped in Cardinal's ear, swallowing sounds. Her body shuddered as she came, sex sliding against Cardinal's fingers. It wasn't enough. Cardinal was going to fall apart.
She turned in Natalie's arms to slide their skin together and kiss her properly. Natalie grabbed her ass and held her close, panting for air and drowning under Cardinal's lips and tongue. Cardinal burned. Her bound hands were infuriating. She wanted Natalie's hands to move, her fingers inside, her mouth on more delicate folds. Natalie stood against the wall, hands tight on Cardinal's ass, and did nothing more. They kissed, and kissed hard, but Natalie's hands didn't stray. Cardinal didn't push it.
It wasn't enough, but eventually the chaotic need subsided. Cardinal rested her head against Natalie's shoulder and the woman washed them both down.
They didn't speak when Natalie dried them off, or while the cuffs came back around front after dressing. By the time Natalie led her back to the berth by a hand on her shoulder, the high color in their cheeks had fallen away. And like the color, Cardinal felt the closeness between them falling between the silence. Cardinal wished she knew what to say to keep it from disappearing altogether.
Cardinal lay back on the bed. Natalie climbed up and traced the wildflower on her side for several minutes. But she turned to face Cardinal just as she fell asleep, curled close and warm. Cardinal smiled a little. Maybe all was not lost.
Chapter 13
Their final day on the water, Cardinal ate her chicken breakfast without trying to engage Natalie in conversation. So far, the woman hadn't treated her any differently. No sly looks, no touches. Cardinal didn't want to think about it too hard, but everything in her being wanted to walk off this boat with Natalie in hand and never look back. Natalie was making it very hard to believe it was possible.
She gave herself a mental shake. Whiplash. She was Cardinal's first priority—had to be or they wouldn't get out of this alive. They had no way of knowing if Cleo knew what had happened to them or where they were. The boat was miles away. They hadn't checked in for days. He was looking, but the ocean was big—how could he possibly find one little pirate boat?
And then Cardinal looked up and saw Natalie nursing a bottle of water, and she didn't give a single damn about Cleo or Whiplash: all that mattered was getting this woman out of this life and showing her something new. Something gentle. Anything at all. Cardinal wanted to be the one that brought Natalie out of hiding and into the sunlight where she could bloom.
Betray her partner for a pirate or betray a pirate for her partner. It was supposed to be an obvious decision. Catch the bad guys. Steal their toys. Get away. Natalie stood. Cardinal finished her juice and did the same. She was only an inch, maybe two, taller than Natalie. She traced one thumb li
ghtly over Natalie's cheek and the woman looked up—bright sunflower eyes. Lips that begged for kisses.
Natalie took Cardinal's hands gently and turned her around to tie them. Cardinal closed her eyes. Why did the pirate have to be worth saving?
Up on deck, the sun was already too hot to be comfortable. Cardinal saw Whiplash's cheeks were red from sun and windburn. There was still no sign of land. Natalie sat her down beside Whip. They bumped shoulders. Despite her exposure, Whiplash's eyes were bright with adventure. Cardinal smiled back and managed in Polish, "Land tomorrow." She would have asked if Whip was ready but it was a redundant question. The woman could hardly contain herself.
Whiplash scowled a bit. "The captain hates me. He will try to kill us."
