Her Pirate Master (Entwined Fates) (3 page)

Her lips thinned into a tight, angry line.

“Are we clear?” he asked.

“Crystal,” she sneered.

“Good.”

* * * *

Jack fought hard to keep the tears at bay. She never cried, and she’d be damned if she’d start now. Haydrien had assured her the men would arrive at their destination safely, but she still couldn’t stop chiding herself over being stubborn and not listening to Agnus. She hadn’t even gotten to tell them good-bye.

She’d let her arrogance get in the way. She was a good captain, and she knew it. Infallible she was not. Agnus tried to tell her this guy was looking for her, but she stupidly believed she would be fine.

This was all her fault.

Agnus would let her family know what happened. Jonah would hit the roof. Her father probably would too, and it would take both her uncles to keep her father from losing his temper and killing Haydrien. Not that she wouldn’t mind seeing Haydrien die slowly.

She glared at Haydrien as he walked past her to the column where she’d been working on the wire connections.

“I see you were trying to fix your problem,” he said as he opened the panel and slipped his hand inside. “You were close. Fortunately for me, you missed it.”

The lights in the room came on, and the roar of the engine restarting shook the entire ship. She had been close. If only she’d had a few more minutes, she might’ve found the problem. Would that have made any difference? She doubted it.

“Lear,” Haydrien said.

Lear leaned casually against the wall. “Yes.”

“I need you to find that package. It will have to be off-loaded the second we arrive.”

Lear nodded in agreement. “Gora will want that right away.”

“What package?” Jack asked.

“That’s above your pay grade, sweetheart,” Haydrien replied.

“It’s my ship.”

Haydrien’s head tilted. “Is it?”

He waited for her to answer. Anger welled up inside her. He was right. It wasn’t her ship, not anymore. If she wanted to hold to the lie that she was Agnus’s daughter and Captain Marcone was on his way to Tilarus, then the ship was never hers. She needed to remember that. She had no idea what this pirate had in mind for Captain Marcone, but until she found out, she needed to keep up the ruse. She just hoped he continued to believe it.

“That’s what I thought,” he murmured as he pushed away from the column and closed the panel. “I’m going to head to the bridge and get this beast pointed toward home.”

“What about her?” Lear asked.

“She’ll go with me.” Haydrien turned his firm stare toward her. “And if she knows what’s good for her, she’ll behave herself.”

Jack crossed her arms.

Haydrien walked toward her and waved his hand. “Lead the way, sub. I want you where I can see you. Especially your ass.”

He grinned wickedly, and despite Jack’s anger, her heart skipped a beat at the wicked gleam in his whiskey-colored eyes. That thought made her frown all the harder at him.

“Go,” he commanded with a nod. When she didn’t move right away, he slapped her behind. She gasped, startled at the sting from his hand, but even more startled by the wave of heat that snaked up her spine. “Now.”

She turned to head down the hall toward the bridge. “Slap me on the ass again, you prick, and—”

Haydrien grabbed the back of her shirt collar and tugged her to a stop. Jack sucked in a breath, then held it as he moved in close behind her and placed his lips at her ear. “Careful, sub. I will inflict punishment for a smart mouth.”

Jack couldn’t stop the shiver that ran just under her flesh. She hadn’t experienced being a sexual submissive much, but when she had, she’d enjoyed it immensely. All her life had been about being in control, making all the decisions. She enjoyed letting someone else be in control for a change.

Just not this man. At least that’s what her head said. Her body said something else entirely.

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” she snarled.

“Definitely,” he whispered.

He wrapped one arm around her midsection. “I like punishment,” he said very softly.

His breath was warm against her neck, his lips soft as they brushed over her pounding pulse. And it was definitely pounding. She hated the fact that her body reacted so strongly to his dom personality. She just hoped she could keep that hidden from him, but she had a feeling she’d failed miserably. A good, experienced Dom would be able to read her.

“And so will you.”

She snorted and almost choked. She cleared her throat as she tried to deny the way her body reacted to the vibration of his chuckle against her back. Inwardly her heart sank. How could she possibly have such a reaction to her captor, especially a man who would probably kill her the second he found out who she really was?

“I will never enjoy a punishment inflicted by you,” she growled.

He chuckled louder as he moved away from her. The loss of his body heat was like a punch. The air of the ship moved between them, instantly cooling her back, and she shivered. He slapped her right butt cheek, and she jerked forward in surprise both from the sting and the tingling warmth that flooded her ass.

“Move, sub,” he commanded.

“I hate you,” she snarled under her breath.

As she made her way through the halls of the ship, she mentally ran through every possible escape scenario she could think of. Unfortunately, all of them ended in disaster and the death of her crew. With her on a separate ship, there seemed to be no way she could think of to get away without them being hurt in the process.

What was two weeks with this man going to be like? Agnus thought he was a Dom and played heavily in BDSM. Jack could believe that. His personality thus far and the way he carried himself and spoke about punishment led her to believe that was probably the case. So what did that mean for her?

Would he be rough? Abusive? Did the submissive aspect carry over to more than just the bedroom? For the first time, real fear for her own safety gripped her chest like a vise.

She stepped through the doors of the bridge and moved aside, allowing her captor to follow her inside the small room.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

Haydrien didn’t answer. Instead, he moved to the control panel. As he studied it, he dropped onto the left seat. Outside the massive window in front of them, Jack could barely see the stars. This part of the shipping lanes was considered dead space. There was no sun to light the stars or give off any warmth. Here they were so far away from anything even resembling a planet, they appeared as though they floated through black velvet.

“You didn’t answer my question,” she said.

Haydrien looked at her through the reflection in the glass. “I don’t have to answer your question. I never gave you permission to speak.”

“You never told me not to speak, either. If I recall,” she countered with more bravery than she really felt.

He relaxed back in the chair, and Jack could see his expression in the window. His brow wrinkled as though he was thinking hard about something. He turned the chair and faced her head-on. Jack couldn’t stop the little flutter of butterflies in her stomach at just how handsome he was. Eyes so dark and dreamy watched her with interest and just a spark of amusement. In a way he reminded her of her brother, Jonah. They both had that dominant personality and calm exterior.

“It would seem you are correct,” he said.

Jack blinked as his deep voice brought her back to the present and away from the wayward track her thoughts were treading down.

“Here are the rules,” he began. “You do as I say. You may speak and ask questions for now, but if your attitude becomes too rebellious, you will be punished.”

“Punished how?” she asked.

“However I see fit.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Don’t you think I deserve a little more than that?”

“I’ll give you this.” He shifted slightly in his seat, leaning his elbows on the armrest and tenting his fingers in front of his chin. “I’m not into abusing women, so you can stop worrying that I’ll beat you. I will spank you, flog you, use a whip. All of which I’m sure sounds like abuse, but I can promise you it isn’t.”

Jack swallowed at the feel of her breasts tightening. “You’re assuming that I get off on all that.”

His lips twitched. “You might want to, but you’ll only get off when I allow it.”

Jack snorted and rolled her eyes.

“I have a feeling that you and I are going to have a lot of fun,” he drawled, then pointed to the seat next to him. “Sit.”

“What am I? A dog?”

His eyes narrowed dangerously, and the soft planes of his face suddenly turned hard and menacing. “I said sit, sub. Now.”

Jack decided that this was probably not the best time to test him. Glaring, she moved to the seat and sat down.

“Open the navigational maps,” he commanded.

Jack sat back and crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m just the cook. I don’t know where those are.”

He turned to her with a look of annoyed disbelief. “You were in engineering trying to get the engines going again. Stop with the petty nonsense and open the navigational maps before I lean over you and do it myself. And trust me,” he said as his eyes narrowed into hard slits. “That’s the last thing you want to happen.”

Keeping her gaze glued to his, she reached over and hit the button, opening the maps onto the window in front of them.

“Thank you,” he said, then turned to study the map.

He punched in a route, then hit Engage. The engines roared loudly as they pushed the ship toward the planet he’d selected. Jack leaned forward to read the screen and raised an eyebrow in surprise.

“Meenose?” she asked.

“Home,” he replied.

Chapter Four

Haydrien watched Jacquelyn from the corner of his eye. Damn, she was stunning. He’d never seen anyone with eyes such an unusual shade of blue-gray. They were like storm clouds gathering in a summer sky. He’d noticed the angrier she became, the darker the gray would get. Definitely unusual and most definitely an enigma. He wasn’t sure he bought the old man’s story that she was his daughter. If she wasn’t, then who was she?

“You look nothing like your father,” he said.

Jack gave him a strange look. “I take after my mother.”

“And what race is she?”

She scowled as though she might refuse to answer, but she looked away and replied, “She’s from Earth. My father is Tilarian.”

“Has he been friends with the Marcones long?” Haydrien asked, genuinely curious.

He needed to find out everything he could about this young woman. The fewer surprises, the better.

She turned back to him, a look of rebellious hatred on her face. “Considering I’m named after one of them, I’d say awhile. Is it my turn to ask questions?”

“No. How long is awhile?”

She puffed out a frustrated breath. “He knew them long before I was born. He’s friends with Damon.”

Haydrien lifted an eyebrow. The patriarch of the Marcone clan? It would appear the old man had friends in very high places. “Interesting,” he murmured.

“So you see it’s not just Jack you’ll have breathing down your neck,” she said, then smiled a tight-lipped, sarcastic smile.

He leaned over and set his elbow against the armrest and supported his chin on his thumb, his curled fingers covering his mouth. “Do you think that should frighten me?”

“I think that should terrify you.”

Haydrien smiled softly behind his hand. “Good thing I don’t scare easily. How old are you, sub?”

She glared at him. “I have a name.”

“True, but who said I wanted to use it?”

Haydrien could see the muscles working in her cheek. She struggled to keep her temper in check, and surprisingly he found it very entertaining. So did his cock. The damn thing hardened behind the buttons of his pants, and he had to shift in his seat to find a more comfortable position.

He nudged her leg with the toe of his boot. “I asked you a question.”

“I’m twelve.”

He snorted. “Maybe mentally.”

She narrowed her eyes at him.

“How old?” he asked again, this time more forcibly.

“Twenty-eight.”

She looked younger than that to him. “Unmarried?”

“Would that matter?”

“No.”

Jacquelyn sighed. “Why doesn’t that surprise me?”

“I don’t know, but you didn’t answer the question.”

“Fine. I am unmarried. Happy?”

“Giddy.”

She snorted and stared angrily out the front window. He took a moment to study her profile, her pert nose, her full, kissable lips. If he kept looking at her and imagining her face flushed from pleasure, he’d end up starting their Dom-sub relationship here, and he didn’t want that.

When he’d taken her as a sub, he hadn’t really intended to play with her sexually, just let Marcone believe he had. Watching her now, feeling the way his body reacted to her nearness and her rebellious nature, had him rethinking that idea.

With a tired sigh, Haydrien stood. “We have eighteen hours until we reach home. What do you have on this ship that’s worth eating? I’m hungry.”

She pointed with her thumb over her shoulder. “Galley’s that way. Knock yourself out.”

He again raised an eyebrow. What the hell had she just said? “Excuse me?”

“It means get it yourself.”

He leaned down and brought his nose close to hers. “I don’t think so. Dom”—he pointed to his chest, then pointed to hers—”sub. Master,” he said, pointing to himself again, then back to her. “Slave. Now get up off your pretty little ass and take me to the galley.”

Anger flared in her eyes, and for a brief second, she looked as though she might refuse. He stood straight, put his hands on his hips, and waited. Some of the anger faded, and she lifted her chin in resignation.

“Fine,” she snapped and pushed herself out of the chair.

Haydrien almost laughed as she turned her back to him and started walking across the bridge, head held high. He took off behind her, keeping his gaze on her tight ass the whole time. He wasn’t even sure what halls they’d gone down or how many turns they’d made by the time they finally got the galley. All he knew was that his balls ached terribly.