by Kari Miller
Picking her up to cradle her against him, he wrapped his arms securely around her.
As his arms brush against hers, she felt a tight knot in the pit of her stomach as a wave of desire spread from the touch.
“No! Don’t touch my skin!” She cried out in alarm as she tried to squirm out of his arms.
“It’s ok sweetheart, we won’t let anybody hurt you.” He responded reluctantly.
She spotted the shirt that she had fallen asleep in and pointed to it. He saw what she was pointing at and his grip loosened on her.
She took advantage of the moment and sprung out of his arms and found herself back in the corner he had found her.
She was gripping her towel close to her and trembling. Now she knew it was the drug that had somehow did this to her and she hated Captain Sebastian even more than she thought could be possible.
Peter lifted from the bed and slowly bent over to pick up the shirt.
As he held it out to her, she could see that she had hurt him.
“He drugged me, you can’t touch me Peter…please” she ended on a sob.
“Son of a bitch!” came an angry declaration from the doorway.
Her knees buckled and she crumpled to the floor in shame as she stared into the tortured eyes of her husband.
~
He could hear Charles curse from beside him but it sounded as though it came from a distance. Katherine turned her head towards them and their gazes locked.
She looked like a frightened animal backed into the corner, with one hand clenching a towel to her and the other hand held out to ward off Peter.
And then his heart sank as she crumpled to the floor in defeat.
He grabbed the shirt from Peter’s outstretched hand and sank down to the floor beside her.
She had a couple of visible bruises on her skin, arms and shoulders. He could tell that at one point she had been bound by the rope burns from the bruises on her wrists. Her lips were swollen and one of them had been bleeding. He was scared to touch her but knew that he had to get her off this ship.
“My Love, I’m going to help you put this shirt on, okay?” he tried to say in the most gentle voice he could muster up and even that didn’t hide the shakiness and tremors in his voice.
She nodded her head but didn’t look up at him.
Reluctantly letting go of the towel, she lifted her hands so he could slip the shirt on. Once that was done, he lifted her into his arms.
He cursed when she flinched at his touch.
He could not dwell on the fact that his wife had been given an aphrodisiac and was still suffering the effects. He could not dwell on what that meant, not now.
“If Salvador hadn’t slit Sebastian’s throat already, I would have taken the pleasure to do so now.” He heard Peter grumble from behind him.
Sebastian had been fighting Ed and was about to ram his sword through Ed’s heart before Salvador swiftly beheaded him with his own sword.
He had been running on pure adrenaline and he knew he was on the right track, but he still couldn’t figure out why he needed to be on this ship.
Now he knew.
Sebastian’s crew were littered around the ship, dead or injured or tied up and taken below deck. Captain Roberts had taken a nasty blow to his leg and was back on the Enchantress receiving medical attention. He had unfortunately lost a few of his own crew members who opted to board Sebastian’s ship with the brothers, even though they were nothing more than sea men.
Now his reason for living was tucked safely in his arms when he had only an instinct that her safety was compromised.
She was still trembling and he knew that the drug only played a small part in that.
He easily walked the plank to his ship, carried his beloved to his cabin and locked the door.
Salvador’s mind had never been in such turmoil as it was now. When he brought Kat back to his chamber, he had swaddled her in his arms and whispered words of endearment while she cried her heart out. She refused to say a word and eventually fell into an exhausted slumber.
He had left her to sleep on his cot and quietly slipped out of his room. The rage flowing through his veins was like none that he had ever known! He wanted to fight someone, anyone! He wanted to run his sword through everyman that crossed his path until the image of his broken wife subsided.
His brothers heard him leave his room and start to head for the upper decks. Ed stepped out of his room and hulled him inside. He raged and slammed his fist through the walls, he tore the bolted down cot from the floor and destroyed the room and still he could not calm the anger within him. They had shut him in their room to let him cool down – for safeties sake. Finally he fell to the floor, panting like a dog and wiped his hair out of his face with his bloodied hands. Charles slipped into the room and kicked the debris aside so he could sit next to him.
“There is nothing you could have done Salvador” he said quietly.
“She is my wife! I should have never left her!” he cried out as he covered his face with his hands.
His poor innocent wife! What the hell happened to her? How did she end up on Sebastian’s ship? Did he…
“Salvador stop!” He heard through his fresh bought of rage.
He realized that he had grabbed Charles by the throat and had him squirming on the floor beneath him. Simon was trying to pull him off and wasn’t succeeding until now.
“Sorry” Salvador mumbled demurely as he slumped onto the ground again.
“Bring him some whiskey.” Charles croaked out.
“Peter finished the bottle” Simon informed him.
“Find the Captain and find out where the rest of his stash is.” Charles repeated his order.
He left the room without another word.
“How is she holding up?” Charles asked.
“She hasn’t spoken to me. She cried herself to sleep and that’s how I left her.” He chocked out.
He felt the moisture on his cheeks and wasn’t sure what it represented. Was it tears? Blood? Did he really care?
“We’re running out of rooms.” Charles said flatly.
“We’ll put three to a room.”
“No good, Peter destroyed his room.”
That didn’t surprise him. Peter and Kat had developed a close bond since the day he carried her back from her meeting with that bitch. He never questioned their relationship again. Brotherly intent was all that it was for Peter and Kat relished in their relationship. He wasn’t sure why they took to each other like that, but he was no longer jealous and knew that Peter would fight to his dying breath for her.
Now all he wanted was to get Katherine back home and find out what the hell happened.
~
Katherine opened her eyes and felt empty inside. Everything came flooding back and all that stuck out was her body’s betrayal. She knew it was the drug that somehow warped her thinking, but she should have been stronger. Salvador really had turned her into a wanton and that stung. She remembered pleading for him to stop and when he had told her not to deny that she wanted him, he wasn’t so far off from the truth. She had to use all of her will power to keep from thrusting her hips forward to receive him into her - and he knew it.
At least her body wasn’t aroused anymore, she just felt empty and exhausted.
Turning onto her side, she rested her head on her arm and then froze.
It took her a moment to identify the lonely figure sitting on the floor across from her.
“Peter” she whispered out and then closed her eyes against him so he wouldn’t see the shame in her eyes.
The only light in the room was from the lanterns burning in the hallway through the open door and she was grateful that she was shadowed. She wanted to hide from all of them; she feared their judgment and rejection.
When he scuffled closer to her, she could smell the whiskey on him.
“We’re going to make this right Katherine” he whispered as he gently stroked her hair in a gesture of comfort.
&
nbsp; She opened her eyes to see him sitting on the floor next to the bed facing her. She didn’t see accusation in his eyes, only compassion. Surely he must know that something had happened, yet he wasn’t judging her.
“Talk to me Kat, tell me what happened.” He prompted her gently.
She trusted him. Peter was her safe haven, after Salvador of course.
She closed her eyes; it made it easier to speak when she didn’t have to stare in the face of her accuser.
“Sweetheart” he gently squeezed her hand as an offer of support, she took it.
“I was taken from my bed.” She began, remembering everything clearly. “I think it was a breeze that woke me up and by the time I realized I wasn’t alone in the room, it was too late. He gagged me and smothered my nose with a cloth. I must have blacked out then.”
“Who gagged you?”
“I don’t know - I didn’t see his face. The room was dark and there was a storm outside, I think. When I woke up, my head was pounding and my limbs felt heavy. I was lying on a cot in the room where you found me with my wrists bound behind my back. I was able to get up eventually and open my eyes without the room spinning. I felt nauseous. The door was locked and there was only a tiny port hole to tell me I was on a boat in the port.”
She remembered when Pennington came in. Her heart had sped up and the fear rose as he stared at her with his cold calculating eyes, then she remembered his lips on her breasts and the feel of his wet mouth.
“Go on Love” he prompted her gently.
“When he came into the room I knew it was no random kidnapping.”
“Captain Sebastian?”
“No, Lord Pennington.”
He made a hiss like sound and suddenly she found herself squeezing his hand to support him.
“But he wasn’t on the boat” He mused out loud in confusion.
“No, I suspect that he was in town trying to obtain an annulment for my marriage to Salvador while Captain…while I was escorted to one of his private islands.” She bit out.
“But why?”
“Pennington wanted to marry me when my Father was still alive. I was fourteen at the time and my Father said no. Pennington told me that after dinner that night they drew up a contract stating that I would go to Pennington when he died, but I ran away instead.”
“Good thing” he murmured. “So you knew Pennington?”
“Yes. I only saw him that one night, but I didn’t like the way he looked at me and I forgot about him the next day.” She confessed.
“Why didn’t you tell us when you saw him at the ball?”
“It appeared that he was willing to forget about our encounter and I had no idea about the arrangement that he made with my Father. I didn’t want to upset Salvador.”
“It’s ok” he said gently, brushing a tear off of her cheek that she wasn’t aware she had shed.
“I...that is...he didn’t know I was with child and I feared he would do something to me if he did know. He tried to...he...ripped my nightgown.” She managed to say on a shaky voice. Her eyes were still closed and she didn’t want to imagine how he was looking at her now.
“Did he…” he started to ask on an equally shaky voice, his hand trembling in hers.
“He tried to. I was already nauseous so I waited for him to...to...I threw up on him and he left.”
“Did he touch you?”
She couldn’t tell him how or say the word so she only nodded.
“It’s ok honey, it wasn’t your fault. Pennington is stronger and you couldn’t have fought him off. You did the next best thing and you were very brave.” He assured her.
“We left that evening and he never came back. The next morning when I woke, there was food and water on the table. My hands were still bound but I managed to drink. Eventually the captain showed himself to me.”
This is the part that she couldn’t give a blow by blow.
“Did he hurt you?”
“No. I thought I convinced him to...to leave me alone but I was wrong.”
“What happened Kat?”
“He said he wanted to take me from Pennington and keep me for his own. He started to... but then he changed his mind. Later I was brought a bath and more food and wine. He unbound my wrists and left me alone without…touching me…again.”
Peter’s body was trembling beneath her hand and she could hear his sharp intakes of breathes as she relayed her horror.
“I scrubbed him and Pennington off of me and when I finally felt clean; I ate the rest of the food and downed the wine. I was feeling tired and believed that he would leave me alone. I saw that he had brought me a shirt so I put it on because it wasn’t ripped like my nightgown and fell asleep on the cot.”
Now the tears streaming down her face. She was shaking just as much as Peter and she wished she could stop there.
“It’s ok Love” he tried to say in a comforting tone, but she could tell he was speaking through his teeth – just barely containing his anger.
“When I woke I felt…different. At first I thought I was dreaming but…it was a nightmare and I was awake!” She cried out.
“I begged him to stop Peter I really did! I never ever wanted him but something was wrong with me and my skin…oh God…I couldn’t stop it or him! I felt like two separate people. He said he drugged my wine when I asked him what was happening to me, but he spoke in French not knowing that I understood him. I don’t know what the drug was supposed to do but I…I pleaded for him to stop! To stop touching me! To not…”
She burst out into another round of tears, sobbing uncontrollably.
“He raped you Katherine” he said in a dead voice as he lowered his forehead to hers.
“He played with me for a while…mocking me. And when he was about to…he was poised to…the door opened and one of his men told him of a ship heading towards us. It was because of that that I was saved from his full intent. When he told me before he left that I belonged to him now, I knew I couldn’t live. I wanted to die rather than have him touch me again. I washed him off again but I couldn’t go near the cot. And then you found me.”
She refused to say more, she couldn’t. She cried into her pillow as Peter held her.
~
He heard it all and he felt sick to his stomach. Although Sebastian had never completed the act, he had a very good idea of what “played with me” meant. Her being on an aphrodisiac would have given him hours of fun. Most women would have begged for release as soon as the drug kicked in and it still would not have been enough. It was the perfect rape drug because their body would instinctively take over and there was nothing they could do about it, no matter how strong minded they were. He could only imagine the internal battle that she must have gone through to try and deny what her body so desperately needed. When she had confessed she thought it was a dream at first, he was immediately reminded of that filthy whore who had tried to trick him and now he understood that he was not in his right mind and when he was he ended it. He was no more at fault than she was. Charles had been beside him as Katherine relayed her nightmare and there were times he had to squeeze his shoulder to remind him to remain quiet and calm.
If Katherine was going to get through this, he needed to remain strong for her. Sure he was torn up inside and felt as though he had failed his wife when she most needed him. He would never show her that, she needed him to be her anchor and he would not let her feel as though she had any control over the situation and he most certainly would not let her feel sorry for herself. She was a survivor and she would survive this too. The question was would he?
He quietly stepped into the room and placed his hand on Peter’s shoulder.
Peter looked up and Salvador wasn’t surprised to see tears running down his cheeks.
Peter turned back to Katherine.
“Honey, none of this was your fault. There is absolutely nothing you could have done differently to change anything that happened. Sebastian is dead and he will never ever come back for you and soon
Pennington will be too. I vow it. You have a family now who will help you through this and soon this will all seem like a far off nightmare. Ok?”
Katherine still hadn’t opened her eyes but she nodded.
“Ok. Salvador is here and he’s going to take care of you now, I’ll check in on you later.”
Peter kissed her forehead and then her hand.
When he disentangled his hand from Katherine’s and stood on wobbly legs, they looked at each other with understanding in their eyes – Pennington had to die.
Salvador broke the eye contact and clapped Peter on the shoulder and then turned to his wife.
She looked like a broken doll and he wasn’t sure how he was going to put her back together. Leaning down, he lifted her up into his arms and then sat back down on the cot cradling her in his arms.
She tucked her face into his chest and her tears soaked through his shirt. He heard the click of the door closing and was grateful for the privacy.
“I had been going out of mind with worry for the past few days.” He spoke into her hair. “I knew something was wrong and I felt like a caged animal not being able to do anything about it. Everyone thought I had lost my mind when I ordered the ship to pick up speed, except for Charles who knows to never question my instincts. When I saw Sebastian’s ship, I knew without a doubt that that was where I needed to be.”
“I’m so sorry Salvador; I don’t know how they got to me.” She spoke into his chest.
“I never want to hear you apologize for something you had no control over, especially anything that happened over the last few days.”
She nodded meekly into his chest.
“Love, I told you I wouldn’t let you hide from me again and I meant it. Look at me Sweetheart.”
She hugged him tighter and tried to bury her face even deeper into his chest. Her breathing was off and he could tell she was trying to hold her tears in.
“Come on love…” he prompted her as he stroked her hair.
It took a while but finally she was able to look up at him. Her nose was read, her eyes swollen, face pale and her cheeks were wet.
He handed her a handkerchief and she blew her nose. She almost tucked her face back into his chest but stopped herself in time, which was a good sign.
