As the girl was led along, and up from below deck, she felt time slow. She focused on the roughness of the wood underneath her bare feet, and as she climbed her way to the deck, she could feel the cool sea breeze blowing gently into her hair and against her bare legs. She dared to look up, wanting to see the night sky. The flickering lights from the stars greeted her gaze and she felt as though she could see old friends within the stars.
Lisa could remember a time when she would lay back in the field near her home and look up at the stars with her father; together drawing pictures with the ever-shifting patterns through the seasons and delighting one another by finding them again in the next year.
Too long. She stared too long into the starry night, and it did not take the Captain long to realize.
"Head down, girl. Your last warning."
She startled at the harshness in his voice, and completely dejected, she hung her head as she followed him into
his cabin, away from the friendly stars casting their light down upon her.
After taking care of her toiletry needs, the Captain led the girl to his bed.
"Kneel."
Shaking, she knelt.
"You will learn to sleep with me in my bed, girl. Do you understand?"
Stalling, she shook her head 'no'.
He chuckled. "My apologies, little one, I will be clearer in my instruction. You will sleep with me, at night, naked, in bed. Eventually, I will take you as a man takes a woman, as I want. Is that clearer?"
She gave a short nod, still shaking. She had been trained since youth that a woman should never be in the bed with a man she wasn't married to. It was ingrained in her. She should be saving herself for her husband, and in this moment, everything would be ruined for her future.
Without speaking, he pulled on her chain until she was standing. Taking the chain off her collar, he turned her around and untied her, keeping one firm hand at the nape of her neck. He deftly untied the knots, and when free she rolled her shoulders forward in a most unladylike gesture and rotated her hands, trying to get the stiffness out of her limbs.
"I will help you this first night, but from here forward, you will do this yourself."
What does he mean? She wondered to herself, but silently shrieked when she felt the sudden movement of the shirt being lifted off her. She had heard him say naked. Of course, she had. But did her mind process it? Apparently not, and in her panic, she sank to the ground with her arms tangled in the shirt, trying to wrestle it from him.
He laughed at her struggles, and with a lightening fast strike, gave a well-placed handprint on her bottom. She stopped struggling from the shock. It was another act of humiliation, and it accentuated the plain fact that she was once again naked in front of him.
"Get into the bed girl."
She looked up at him from the floor, and covering herself, plopped herself next to the bed.
"If you don't get into the bed yourself, I'll be forced to put you there, and I'll make sure you don't bother me in my sleep. Now get into the bed, girl."
Shaking, she scrambled into the bed, too tired and too overwhelmed from the day to put up any more fight, and besides, he had said he would just sleep for now, there was time for the fight to continue when she had more energy.
She watched him take off his gear and clothing, stopping with his pants still on. She thought it was horribly unfair that he would get to keep some covering, but the thought was pushed quickly to the back of her mind when he began to settle in next to her.
He gave a patient laugh at the odd stiffness of the trembling girl beside him, and gently drew her in by the waist to lay beside him. With one arm around her, he leisurely pet her hair, as one would a scared dog.
"Good night, Lisa."
Shock would be the best way to describe how she felt at that moment. He hadn't tied her down, or even thrown a threat her way before nodding quickly into a slumber beside her.
She lay by him, feeling the events of the day wash over, and looked at her captor. He had strong features with the stubble of his beard beginning to spread over his jawline. For the first time since setting eyes on him, his mouth was not set in a smirk, nor did it have a threatening curl to distract her from their fullness. If only he wasn't a monster, she thought.
Lifting herself just high enough to look around the room she tried to take stock of what her situation was at that moment. There was no way this wasn't a trap of some sorts. He had kept her chained all day, while everyone was awake, only to unchain her beside his vulnerable and un-watching form. Her only disadvantage appeared to be that she was positioned on the side of the bed closest to the wall.
It was too good to be true, and yet she had to take the chance. She did not have much space but tried to roll out from underneath his arm.
"You'll find I'm an incredibly light sleeper. This is your one forgiveness. Go to sleep," he grumbled.
She stared wide-eyed at him. He didn't open his eyes, he simply gripped her harder, forcing her to lay down completely again.
Maybe he was extra alert in his sleep tonight simply because it was her first night there, she wondered, and another night may be her better option once his guard was down.
Exhausted, she closed her eyes and let sleep take over.
**
The Captain woke early in the morning and felt the heat from Lisa beside him. He smirked, knowing that she must have been disconcerted by her situation last night. Since he was young he had been a light sleeper, but events in his life had made him react to any movement during the night, so much so that he often did not allow the girls he kept to sleep with him and disturb his slumber. Fortunately, he mused, she seemed to sleep like the dead and did not bother him throughout the night.
He took the time to look at the little beauty beside him. Her chest rose and fell in her deep sleep, with her nipples at attention from lack of covering. Her hair was spread about her, leaving tendrils falling about her shoulders and he could not help but move them to the side. She was still red from her short time in the sun, and he noted that she would need more time to become accustomed to the life he had planned for her, both in mind and body.
Rolling over, he got up for the day and began to dress, opting to let her sleep in this once. Moving to his desk, he picked up a pile of papers that he taken from The Hanover before it sank. This practice had turned out quite lucrative for him: dealing in secrets was far more valuable than coin. Leave it to the bored wealthy to splash what should have been kept in silent confidence all over a page. It was in these letters from The Hanover that he hoped to find more information about his little siren.
Not two letters into the pile, he heard the creaking of a floorboard behind him.
Turning around quickly, he saw his pet frozen in place. She had managed to get two paces from the bed, and oh how coincidently, they were towards his weaponry wall. He might have to rethink that wall...
"Kneel."
She burst into a sprint to the wall, with her fingers just brushing against the handle of a short sword when she felt his arms crush her from all sides.
"We will put that energy to good use soon, little pet," he chuckled at ear, "and, since you are so eager to start the day, let's not waste any time with something so frivolous as clothing, yes?"
She slumped in his arms, and he took her roughly as he gathered a chain to attach to her collar. As he began to lead her out naked from his cabin, she pulled frantically back.
