Enslaved By The Ocean (Criminals Of The Ocean #1)

by Jewel, Bella

  “Three years ago I was at a bar when we docked for a few nights. This girl came in. She was blond, blue-eyed, stunning. I kept an eye on her, I’m not even sure why, but she was getting around in this tiny dress and men were leering at her. She left at about midnight, and I noticed she walked out alone, very drunk. I followed her, just wanting to make sure she was safe. Anyway, this van pulled up beside her and before I knew what was happening, they were pulling her inside. I stood there and watched these men take her. Her face was all over the news for weeks, and after twelve months I saw that she had been found in a different country. Those men had sold her as a sex slave. I was sick at the thought that women were being targeted, so I got myself involved in the business. Most of the clients think I keep the women and sell them, but I send them home.”

  “Does Hendrix know this?” I rasp.

  “No, no one does. The people that run these kinds of businesses aren’t the kind of people you want to get on the wrong side of. They need to believe I am on their team, so to speak. Hendrix contacted me when he found you, and offered you as payment. I accepted, assuming if I didn’t take you, he’d sell you to someone else.”

  “Oh God,” I whisper, rubbing my arms furiously.

  “I might have done many things wrong in my time, Indigo, but I would never rape a woman, nor would I ever force her to be something she didn’t want to be.”

  “That girl on your ship…she’s…one of them, isn’t she?”

  “Yes, I picked her up three days ago from Mexico. I’m returning her home. She’s extremely damaged. She’s been without her family for three years.”

  Oh God, the poor thing. I couldn’t imagine how it would feel to be so alone, so scared, and mostly, so broken. I stare at the sand, trying to process everything. I honestly don’t know how I feel. My father, he’s all I have left, but he’s also the enemy. I can’t choose between the two, and I know a truce won’t ever happen. I have to pick one, and I already know which one that will be. I need that one the most, no matter how much letting the other go will kill me.

  “I love him, you know?” I say, lifting my head to meet his gaze.

  “Hendrix?”

  “Yes.”

  “He loves you too, I can see it.”

  “So you know…you know I choose him. I can’t have a relationship with both of you, you’re sworn enemies, and even if you can call a truce and leave each other alone, it’s never going to be something that I can easily hop between.”

  “I know,” he rasps. “I just…I just wanted to see you again, Indi. I wanted you to know that I love you, no matter what happened.”

  Tears slide down my cheeks, and I look away. “I love you too, Daddy. But I can’t be in your life.”

  He makes a pained sound, and reaches out, gripping my hand. I let him take it. My heart aches, because I know it’s a decision I had to make, yet it doesn’t make it any easier.

  “Maybe one day…this will all be over, and we can see each other again.”

  “I’d like that,” I rasp.

  “I love you, Indi. Promise me you’ll never forget that.”

  “I promise.”

  “Remember what I told you, always try to find the good in the bad, princess.”

  “I will,” I choke.

  “And…I hope one day you can forgive me.”

  He gets to his feet and leans down, gripping the sides of my face and pressing his lips to my head. I close my eyes, holding back my sobs. When he pulls away, his eyes are glassy with emotion. He lets his gaze search my face once more before he turns and walks away.

  When he’s a few meters down the beach, I yell out to him. He stops and turns. I can’t let him go without knowing no matter what, I forgive him. I get to my feet and I rush over, throwing my arms around him.

  He makes a strangled sound, and wraps his big arms around me, holding me close. We stand like that for a long time, just hanging onto this moment. I lift my head from his chest and I look up at him. “I forgive you, Daddy.”

  I know those words heal something inside of him.

  And surprisingly, they heal something inside of me, too. All these years, I have been searching for who I am. I’ve been thrown through homes, and been in relationships that were less than desirable, but I survived. I found someone who taught me something about myself, and somehow allowed me to put my heart back together. Not only that, but he allowed me to have this moment with my dad. They say everything happens for a reason, and I have finally realized that even though sometimes we don’t know what that reason is, there’s always one.

  Maybe this will turn out just fine after all.

  A pirate style happily ever after!

  “Baby,” Hendrix murmurs, running his fingers down the inside of my thigh. “Stop teasin’ me.”

  “I’m not teasing you, it’s right there for you, pirate,” I grin.

  “My point exactly, it’s a damn tease.”

  I laugh softly as he runs his hand up and cups my pussy, using his palm to rub against it. “So damned sweet here.”

  “Best you make good use of it then, before it’s not so sweet anymore.”

  “You’ll always be sweet.”

  “Does that mean there’s an always, pirate?” I murmur.

  “Oh, didn’t I tell you? You ain’t goin’ anywhere.”

  “I never planned to, not while you’re giving me this kind of service anyway.”

  He chuckles, and kisses a small path up my belly until he reaches my breasts. He slides his tongue out and makes little circles around my nipple. I whimper, and drop my head into the pillow. He moves up after gently caressing each breast, and finds my lips. He kisses me with need, sweeping his tongue into my mouth and stroking mine with it. His hands are all over me, touching, grasping, stroking. I writhe beneath him, lifting my legs and tucking them around his waist. He grinds his hips into mine using that gentle thrusting motion that has everything coming alive.

  We’re just about to strip down when we hear an ear-piercing scream.

  We both stop what we’re doing, and bolt upright. It sounds like Jess. We leap off the bed and straighten our clothes before rushing out the door. By the time we’re above deck, the screaming seems to have gotten further away.

  I see a ship as soon as we step out. It’s a newer ship, and it’s a little smaller than Hendrix’s, but it’s definitely a pirate ship. We both rush toward the side, not seeing anyone for a moment, and then a tall man in a dark hood steps out, and he’s holding Jess with a knife to her throat.

  My heart stops.

  How did he get her?

  Was she on the deck? Did he just leap over and grab her?

  “H…H…Hendrix,” she whimpers, her face pale.

  I clench my fists, feeling ill. Is he going to kill her? I can’t even see his face. He steps closer to the edge, and when Hendrix lifts his gun, he growls and yells, “I wouldn’t do that if I was you, pirate.”

  “Let her go,” Hendrix growls.

  “That’s not going to happen, not yet,” he rasps.

  “Who the fuck are you?”

  The man laughs. “Didn’t you hear there were new pirates on the block?”

  “These are my fuckin’ waters, now I ask again, who the fuck are you?”

  The man chuckles again. “Always thinking you own the world. Well, I’m here to show you that you don’t.”

  “Give her back to me, or I’ll blow your fucking brains out,” Hendrix growls.

  “Oh, her?” the man says, pressing the knife closer to Jess’s throat. “No, I think I will keep her a while.”

  “What do you fuckin’ want?” Hendrix barks, raising his gun.

  “You shoot me, she dies, I won’t hesitate.”

  “Don’t,” I whisper as Hendrix’s hands begin to tremble. “One wrong move and she dies. You can’t risk her Hendrix, please.”

  “If a fight is what you want, I’ll give it to you,” Hendrix hisses, lowering his gun.

  “Oh, I want a fight, don’t you worry a
bout that, but I want so much more first. I want you to suffer. I’m going to take this girl, and I’m going to make her suffer. Every moment she’s with me, you’re going to know it’s your fault. You’re going to drown inside, and you’re going to begin going mad. Then you’re going to come and find me, and when you do, I’ll be ready. She’s going to give me every bit of information you’ve ever given her, and I am going to make sure I destroy you in the worst, most painful way possible. See, if I just kill you now, I won’t be satisfied. You need to suffer first. I not only need to destroy you, but everything you are. I’ve been wanting this for so long you can’t even begin to imagine the kind of fucked up I am.”

  I watch with wide eyes as the man reaches up and grips his hood, lowering it. I gasp, one, because he’s much younger than I imagined, and two, he’s devastating. I’m not talking beauty, I’m talking pure, raw, masculinity that makes you want to drop on your knees and lick him from head to toe. He has dark hair that sits around his shoulders, and by the looks of it, it’s thick and silky. His eyes are light—from this distance I can’t tell just how light, but I can see they are. His body is tall, extremely powerful, and, from the glimpse of his shoulder peeking through the coat, ripped. He has that overly masculine square jaw, a straight nose and big, full lips. He’s absolutely mind-blowing to look at.

  I hear Hendrix gasp beside me, and I turn to see him locking eyes with the young man.

  “Did you really think I’d never come back for my revenge?” the young man rasps.

  “If you’re here for revenge, take it out on me, not her,” Hendrix hisses.

  “See, that’s where you’re not seeing the big picture.” He grins, pressing the knife closer. Jess cries out. “This is all for you.”

  “You’re wrong about everything,” Hendrix says, his voice becoming gentler. “If you’ll just…”

  “Shut the fuck up,” the young man roars. “Don’t fucking tell me your bullshit lies.”

  He takes a step back and lifts a hand, waving it. The ship begins to move.

  “Jess!” I cry. “Hendrix, you can’t let him take her.”

  Jess is still trembling. Her eyes are wide and frightened.

  “You want the girl back alive?” the young man bellows. “Then you fight for her.”

  The ship keeps moving back, and we both stand in shock. Hendrix turns suddenly, screaming out for his boys. Some are already on deck, guns raised, but at his call the rest appear.

  “Not wise,” the young man yells, and then whistles. A moment later at least forty pirates appear, all armed, all deadly.

  There’s no way Hendrix has the men, or the weapons to fight. They’re holding guns I’ve never seen in my life, and they look deadly.

  “Back away, or I slit her throat and then my men destroy you.”

  Hendrix waves a hand, and everyone lowers the weapons. He can say nothing, he just watches in shock. The young man laughs. “See you soon, Hendrix.”

  “Hendrix?” I whisper, gripping his arm, hearing my own voice tremble. “Who is that?”

  “That is Dimitri,” he rasps. “My stepson.”

  I grip his hand, and he trembles. “Is she going to be okay? Tell me for real, Hendrix.”

  He looks mortified. “I don’t know. I really don’t know.”

  As we watch the ship disappear into the distance I know we’re both praying that we can find a way to get Jess out of this.

  One thing we both know is we will fight to the end for her.

  I know, I know, I’ve left you with a little cliffhanger, but really, it’s just an entry into Jess and Dimitri’s story. Their book will be explosive, and dark, and amazing. You will see more of Hendrix and Indi in their story, so don’t panic! Much love, my sweets.

  Where Darkness Lies – Dimitri & Jess’ story will be released Feb 15th 2014.

  If you liked this story, please do me the biggest favor and leave me a review. It would mean the world to me.

  Until next time, my angels,

  There are a few people I want to thank for this book, but the one who deserves the most credit is Sali. Not only is she my reader, but she’s my friend and her help and brainstorming throughout writing this book really did make it possible for me. She had minutes to spare on more than one occasion when I needed her help, and she encouraged me even when I doubted myself. Her crazy excitement and ridiculous amounts of pirate jokes made writing this book a truly fun experience. So you know, Sali girl, this one is for you!

  To Love Between The Sheets for their absolutely AMAZING job at organizing cover reveals, blog tours and release day blitzes. You ladies are seriously mind-blowingly amazing, and you rock my socks every time. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

  To Ari, my awesome cover artist. You blew it out of the water with this one, you just nailed it. I love it and everything you do. You’re amazing, sweet and you are always there to help me when I need it. Thanks, lady.

  To Lauren, my little hypo editor. You know you’re awesome, girl! You’re quick, you’re amazing, you’re sweet, and your notes always make me laugh because I find myself actually doing what you write. You big bully! Thank you, honey, your support is amazing.

  To Frankie for this AMAZING formatting job. I love my little pirate font and my awesome logos! You’re amazing girl, even though I was a big pain in the ass at the beginning. The help you gave me is so much appreciated.

  And of course, to my fans, always my fans. I could write a thousand books, but if you lovely people didn’t read them, it wouldn’t matter. So thank you, each and every one of you. You’re amazing.

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