by Lora Thomas
“If you think for one minute, that your apparent sour disposition and intimidating looks are going to dissuade me from—” Before she could finish her sentence, she found herself being pulled into Max’s arms. Her outburst was interrupted as his mouth came down on hers.
Max didn’t know what possessed him to kiss her, but he couldn’t resist. The softness of her lips was unyielding at first, but as he pulled her closer to him, he could feel her resistance ease as she began kissing him back. As the kiss intensified, he felt her arms encircle his neck. His tongue darted out and willed her lips to open to him. He held her tighter as his passion grew. Never in all his years had he ever had a kiss affect him like this one did. He could feel himself becoming aroused. A slight moan came from Kristina and the kiss became more passionate.
“Kris do you—,” Samuel started to say as he barged into the galley. His interruption caused a growl to come from Max.
“What do you want, boy?” Max snapped as he quickly let go of Kristina.
Samuel just stood in the doorway wide-eyed and slack-jawed, unable to move, unable to speak, with fear in his eyes. He could tell from the tone in Max’s voice that he was annoyed at being interrupted.
“I’m glad you are here, Samuel,” Kristina replied as she darted to a safe distance away from Max, behind the butcher’s block table. She turned to face him and held onto the large wooden table for stability, her knees weak from the kiss. Never in all her days had she been kissed like that. Sure, she had a few stolen kisses from some of the younger fishermen who frequently came to the small fishing village, but none of those compared to this. Max’s kisses were commanding, letting you know that he was in control. They created a strange sensation deep within her, a fluttering sensation within her belly that traveled down to her loins. Her lips were still tingling from the magnitude of the kiss. As she licked her lips, she could still taste him. She took several deep breaths to regain her composure. “Come here, Samuel,” she said, much to the boy’s relief.
Samuel darted past Max, happy to join Kristina. She was his salvation from Max’s fury.
Max was still reeling from the effect that Kristina had on his composure. He stormed out of the galley and went straight to his quarters. When he entered, he walked to the chest of drawers and pulled out a bottle of rum. Placing the bottle to his lips, he took several long drinks in an attempt to regain his composure. He sat down in the only chair, slouched, and closed his eyes, willing his body to come under control.
In the galley, Kristina was having her own battle. She handed Samuel the rest of the potatoes to peel as she began chopping carrots. She kept reliving the wonderful kiss over and over in her mind. As she thought about it, a dreamy expression crossed her face. He kissed her. She could feel the hardness of his body pressed against her and knew—from the conversations she’d had with the prostitutes in the past—that he wanted her. Her plan was coming into play. He would be her husband.
But as she thought about the day’s events, she began to get angry. The more she thought about what Jules had told her and the kiss, the angrier she became. Did he only kiss her because he could not have a dalliance with Jules? Was she just a warm body to fill the void of his unreachable lover? With each thought the knife she was holding would whack louder and louder against the wooden table.
“Are you okay, Kris?” Samuel asked nervously, watching his new friend brutally attack the carrots.
“Hmm? What? Oh. Sorry. I’m fine. It’s just been a trying day,” she said as a deep sigh came from her chest.
“Would you like a bath?” Samuel quietly asked.
“Really? A bath would be lovely.”
“You can use the capt’n—”
“No,” Kristina interrupted. “I cannot use his tub. I’ll just keep sponging off in my quarters. But thank you for the offer.”
Samuel gave a small nod and kept peeling the potatoes for the night’s meal. He was still uneasy. He did not like the fact that he caught Max and Kristina kissing. Knowing the quartermaster, he knew the future outcome. Kristina would end up in Max’s bed and that thought upset him. He had begun to think of Kristina as a motherly figure and Max was not the type of man anyone would want his mother with. He was intimidating, controlling and dangerous. Granted, Samuel knew Max would never strike a woman, but he would not make right by them either. Samuel had lost count of the number of times he had heard Max say the only thing a woman was good for is a tumble in bed and nothing more. As Samuel watched his new friend, he worried for her. Worried she would become just another notch in Max’s belt and nothing more.
Once the evening meal was prepared, served, and the pots cleaned, both Kristina and Samuel were drenched in sweat and thoroughly exhausted. It was unusually hot in the galley today. And just when Kristina thought her day was finished, Max stuck his head through the door to inform them that the captain wanted a bath. A disgruntled moan came from Kristina. Why did the captain have to be so fastidious? He was worse than any woman Kristina had ever met. He bathed more than a cat! The fire had been allowed to extinguish itself out in the large stove, but it was still hot. So Samuel and she placed several large pots on top to warm.
“I can finish these up, Kris. You go on to bed,” Samuel told her.
“Are you sure? I really don’t mind helping,” she said, even though she was hoping he insisted she didn’t.
“I’m sure,” he said, much to Kristina’s relief.
Kristina made her way to Max’s quarters. She was still in shock that he agreed to let her stay in his room. He did graciously allow her to sleep with his pistol to ease her concerns about him attacking her. She was still perplexed as to whose idea it was—Max’s or the captain’s. Cautiously making her way through the corridor, she approached Max’s door. She was so tired that it felt like her feet were anchored to the floor. Each step took every ounce of energy she possessed. Once at the door, she hurriedly slipped inside hoping no one noticed her. She closed the door and turned to find Max standing at the dresser.
He was looking at his reflection in the mirror. His face was covered in the white lather of shaving cream. His shirt was tossed onto the chair beside him. She watched as his muscles rippled across his back with each move. She could see the edging of a tattoo encircling his right bicep. Her gaze turned back to his broad, firm, tanned back. She noticed several scars scatter across it from his numerous battles—some large and some small. She swallowed nervously as that funny feeling crept back inside her. When her eyes made their way back up to his reflection, she noticed his arrogant expression.
“Like what you see?”
“I’ve seen better,” she lied in an attempt to wipe the arrogant smile from his face. Her response only managed to get a small chuckle from him. “I’ll step outside until you’re finished.”
“There is no need to do that,” he said. “One of the crew would likely see you standing there. They might find it suspicious, you lingering outside my door, instead of in your quarters.” The crew had been told the cook was bunking in one of the storage rooms.
She gave him a hard look. “Well, at least you’re shaving those awful whiskers off. Your half attempt at kissing me nearly ripped my face off with those atrocious things.”
“I’ve never had complaints before.”
She gave a very unladylike snort to his reply and walked to the bed. He finished shaving and wiped the reminder of the shaving cream from his face with a small towel. He turned to address her. She was sitting on the bed, staring at the wall, refusing to look his direction.
“Something wrong, Kris?” he asked as he sensed her fury.
“No,” she snapped. He simply shook his head at her reply. He would never understand the female mind. His thoughts were interrupted with a sudden, “Yes!” Her eyes locked onto his. “How dare you take me to that ship with that woman?! I know we hardly know each other, but still. She was the most vile, most rude, most disturbed person I—”
“Hold it right there, Missy. Jules might be all sorts o
f things, but vile is not one of them.”
“I figured you might think so,” she replied with disdain. She continued her rant, switching to Spanish. “If you think for one moment—”
“Shut up! If you are going to insult me, please do so in English. In case you’ve forgotten I do not speak Spanish!” he reminded her as his words got louder.
She glared at him and did the unthinkable, at least in Max’s mind, as her tongue exited her mouth. “Did you just stick your tongue out at me?”
She gave him a tight-lipped smile, but said nothing. A dark scowl crossed his face. It was a look that would cause most people to cower in fear, but Kristina was not most people.
“If you think for one minute that—” Her tongue lashing was interrupted as she let out a loud, bloodcurdling scream.
“What the hell was that all—” Before Max could finish his sentence, he watched in astonishment as she leapt across the room and began climbing him like a cat climbing a tree.
She kept clawing and climbing until she reached his shoulders, all the while screaming, “Kill it! Kill it! Kill it!” Max could not see what she wanted murdered. By the time she had finished scaling him, her legs were wrapped around his head and her hands were covering his eyes. He peeled her fingers from his face.
“What the hell is wrong with you, woman?” he asked.
“Kill it!” she screeched again, as she attempted to keep hold of her perch. Max peeled her hand from his eyes again and noticed the cause of her distress. In the corner of his quarters was a mouse.
He took a slow frustrated breath. “You mean to tell me, that all this drama, you climbing up me like a tree, removing the flesh from my back with your claws, and digging my eyes out was all for a mouse?”
She said nothing, just held fast to her perch. Max could feel her shaking. This woman, who faced him without fear, was now sitting on him trembling with fear over a small rodent. He heard her give a frightened moan before clutching his head tighter with her trembling hands.
“Kill it!” she screamed again as the mouse attempted to make its way to the door.
“Woman, would you be quiet? You’re going to wake the entire ship with your caterwauling. I’m amazed my door hasn’t been knocked down as we speak.”
Her grip tightened even more as the mouse moved closer to Max’s foot. He gave a quick stomp and the mouse scurried out under the door. “The evil sea monster is gone now,” he said dryly, irritation apparent in his voice.
“Are you sure?” she squeaked in a voice trembling with fear.
“Yes. Now kindly get off me.” He felt her grip loosen and she slowly began to ease down. As she lowered her body down, a disgusted expression crossed Max’s face. “Woman, you stink.”
“Really? Why I had no idea I smelled bad,” she said, the sarcasm dripping from each word. “I’ve just been slaving in a hot kitchen for the past five days with nothing to clean off with but a pitcher of water and a small cloth. I thought that would make me smell like a bed of roses.”
Before Max could reply, he heard footsteps running down the hall. He peered out his door hoping no one had heard her screams. It was just Samuel coming from the galley with two buckets of water. “What’s the hurry, boy?”
“I thought I heard screaming,”
“Our little chef met a new friend is all,” Max replied. At Samuel’s confused expression, Max elaborated with, “A mouse.”
Samuel nodded. “I better get these to the capt’n’s quarters,” he said, lifting up the pails of water.
Max nodded at his reply. The side of his mouth curled up subtly. He stood at the door listening for Samuel’s returning footsteps. Kristina had jumped to the bed the second her feet touched the ground. She was on all fours peering over the edge of the bed. Max shook his head as he watched her crawl from one side of the bed to the other. She kept looking around the room making sure there were no other intruders. She had his cutlass in her hands. She would tap the floor beside the bed before leaping backward as if expecting a kraken to reach out from under the bed and grab her with its long tentacles. When Max heard Samuel return to the galley, he grabbed Kristina’s hands and pulled her from the bed.
“Get your hands off me!” she demanded, dropping the sword and pulling back.
He said nothing as he dragged her from the room to Alex’s quarters. He opened the door without knocking and yanked her over to the large copper tub. “You need a bath. So there’s a bath. Now take one,” he ordered.
“I will do no such thing!”
Alex was at the table and watched the scene before him as though this was an everyday occurrence. He casually laid down the papers he was holding, took a deep breath and said, “Am I interrupting something? You know I would hate to bother you two in your discussion. After all, it would be rude of me to disturb you in my quarters! How dare me barge in on the two of you without asking first.” The sarcasm and irritation oozed with each word.
Max and Kristina just kept up with their own argument, unaware Alex had said anything to them.
“You take your clothes off and get into that tub before I take them off and bathe you myself!” Max ordered as he pointed to the tub.
“You wouldn’t?!” Kristina exclaimed with mortification.
“Try me.”
She gritted her teeth as her eyes narrowed. “You despicable man! I thought the sisters were bad. That was until those pirates took me. That was until that little bald man bought me. He made the other two look good. Now you make all of them look like saints! That was until I met Jules,” she was talking so fast Max had a hard time understanding her. She kept jumping from one subject to another. Max just stood there confused. During her rambling all he managed to gather was that she had escaped, from whom or where he wasn’t sure. She ended with, “And then I spied you at that horrid tavern, after that woman propositioned me thinking I was a man, and I thought you would help me. But I should have known you wouldn’t after you disappeared with that woman upstairs. And here I thought you looked like marriageable material but—”
“Marriage!” both Max and Alex said in unison.
Kristina just looked at them with a “Yes” look. “Please leave so I can take my bath now,” she replied as she looked at both of them like they had interrupted her in her own room.
Alex’s mouth dropped open and he shook his head. Max stared at her in bewilderment. Never in all his life had he met a woman like this. Max turned to look at his friend.
“Don’t look at me,” Alex replied. “These are my quarters. You two interrupted me and then you gave her my bath.”
Kristina just stood by the tub waiting for them to leave. She began tapping her foot in an impatient manner. “Well?” she asked, not intimated by either man.
“Come on,” Max snapped as he looked at Alex.
“These are my quarters!”
“Yes. And unless you want James to cook for you again, I suggest you leave,” Kristina replied smugly. The look both men gave her let her know she had won. She watched with satisfaction as both men left.
Chapter Ten
The next few days flew by for Kristina. Occasionally at night she would dream about her mother, and during the day she and Samuel stayed quite busy in the galley. During their time together they had become fast friends. He told her about his mother who was a prostitute in Port Royal. Her name was Maggie and she was fancied by the captain. He told her about the love his mother had for him, and she could see the pain and hatred in his eyes as he spoke of her murder. She wanted nothing more than to wrap this boy in her arms and give him a hug, but she could tell he had too much pride to allow her to do so. To help ease his mind she told him about her life at the mission and how she came to be where she was.
“You were on The Revenge?’ Samuel questioned with surprise.
“Yes. It was horrible, I don’t mind telling you.”
“The capt’n won’t be happy to hear that. He has it out for Hawkins.”
“Why is that?” Kristina inquired.<
br />
“From the way I hear it, he nearly killed the capt’n.”
“Really?” Kris questioned doubtfully. “I can’t picture that sniveling little man—”
“It’s true! He’s got the scars to prove it,” Samuel interjected. “The Abyss had just been attacked by the navy. She was crippled and on her way to port when they attacked. The capt’n was helpin’ take care of the injured and didn’t know that The Revenge was approachin’. When they boarded, the capt’n took point to protect the injured crew. Hawkins’s crew surrounded him. The capt’n was busy fightin’ ‘em when one threw a lantern at him. The fuel went into his eyes and that’s when that coward Hawkins jumped out from his hidin’ spot and attacked the capt’n. He came at him from his blind side and took a shot at him. The bullet tore through his side. The capt’n nearly bled to death.”
“That wouldn’t surprise me. He’s an evil little man. He murdered the sisters at the mission as well as small children. His cowardice against them proves he wouldn’t fight fair against a worthy adversary. But I have a question?”
“What’s that?”
“Is the captain blind? On that one side?” she asked, her voice filled with concern.
“Naw,” Samuel answered shaking his head. “Smitty rinsed his eyes out with sea water. “
“Were you here then? When the attack happened?”
“No, that was several years ago. But the capt’n still has it out for him.”
“So who told you about the battle?”
“Smitty. He knows all.” Samuel swallowed nervously and looked at Kristina. “He even knows about you.”
“Well, of course he does. I am the new cook. I spoke to him in the corridor a few days ago, but it was dark so I think my secret is safe.”
“No, that’s not what I meant. He knows about you.”
“Oh!” Kristina exclaimed, as her eyes grew wide. “What do we do?”
