A younger, softer woman might have quailed, given the situation I found myself in. But I was not as young as I once had been, and none would dare accuse me of being soft. I was Molly McBride, piratess and thief, old enough to know that captivity is only temporary, and a cool head will trump a fiery heart in any situation.
The young sailor eyed me with interest. His captain, Gentleman Jack, had charged him with watching over the prisoner. I tightened my lips at the word. Prisoner. No man held me prisoner for long. And no man lived long enough to brag about it.
Gentleman Jack, a pirate and thief in his own right, had ordered me bound to the mast. For moment, I thought he would order me stripped, too, but after seeing the look in his eyes, I surmised that he was reserving that particular pleasure for a later time and place.
"Here she is, boys," he had proclaimed to his crew. "Molly McBride. Lady pirate of the Seas. I have examined her vessel and found it lacking. I leave it to her crew. But, I will take the lass with me"
The men jeered at me, many of them having been on the business end of my sword a time or two. "She will be bound to the mast," the captain continued. "And once we are at sea, I will decide what to do with her."
"Give her to the crew!" The suggestion came from a one-eyed man with a scraggly red bread that did little to hide his pock-marked cheeks and chin.
"A worthy idea." The captain nodded. "But, I do not want my men infected by a poxy lass."
Oh! My blood near boiled at his words. Poxy lass indeed! I, who was fairly discerning about who dipped their quill into my inkpot! In fact, all my crew must be certified clean and free of disease before we set sail, so I could take my pleasure from them without worry.
I spat at his feet. "If I am poxed, it is because of your rotting dick," I muttered.
He made a move as if to slap my face, then halted his hand. "Bind her," he had said to the young sailor. "And beat her if she talks."
The young mate made overbold advances as he bound me to the mast. He ran his hand up and down my calves and tickled the backs of my knees before looping the rope around my ankles and affixing it to the post. He caressed the curve of my hips and squeezed my ass as he lashed a rope around my waist to secure me. After that, he ran his hands up my belly and over my breasts as he moved my wrists into place. He paused to pinch my nipples into tight points of desire before he wound the thick rope around them before looping it into a flesh-bruising knot.
He would be the second to die, right after the scurvy bastard of a captain that he served.
I tilted my head back and rested it against the wooden mast. My eyes closed briefly as I inhaled the salty scent of the air. It had often been said of me that the sea flowed through my veins, and I was certain that breathing deeply of its fragrance gave me strength.
I opened my eyes to find the young sailor's gaze fixed on my bodice. The deep breath I took had pushed my breasts up, and the rounded tops rose above the low neckline of my lace-edged top.
I glanced to the heavens. The moon was at three-quarters, and the night sky was lit with a silver glow.
"'Twill be a long night," I murmured.
The young sailor looked at me with a curious gaze. "Eh, then?"
"A long night." I smiled. "I daresay I won't be able to sleep with myself tied up like this."
"Perhaps we can find a way to pass the time." A deep chuckle came from my left and both the young sailor and I swung our heads toward the sound. "Lieutenant!" The young sailor nodded in obsequiance. "Cap'n has captured Molly McBride."
"So I heard." The shadows of the boat hid the man's features, and I squinted, trying to identify the this man who had risen to be second-in-command under Gentleman Jack. "I saw the captain at the tavern in town. He ordered me to take charge of the prisoner until his return, probably sometime tomorrow morning."