Pirated Love (11 page)

When explained like that, Claire did not resent being told to stay in the cabin.  It made more sense now.  It was for her own protection, and the thought of being raped by a man, or an attempt at rape, made her shudder in fear.  She was content to stay in the cabin now that it was not knocking her about.  That storm had gone on too long and she had been frightened by both it and the man who had snuck in to rape her.  Thinking of him, she asked, “What about that man of yours who...?”  She looked down, ashamed at what had nearly happened to her.

“I will deal with him once we are out of port.  I did not even allow him out with the repairs so he could not escape my brig.  He is down below and locked up in irons,” she told the blonde.  “Do not worry about him.”  She glanced around the cabin, even with things tied down there were a few things in disarray.  “Can you find something to amuse you while we make repairs?” she asked.

“I have our clothes to wash and I would like a bath if that’s okay?” she asked, shyly glancing up at the redhead.

The captain nodded absentmindedly.  They had plenty of fresh water from the torrential rains that had pummeled them out in the ocean.  They had a lot of repairs to make and she was in a hurry to make as many of them as possible so they could be on their way.  She did not like this port, and while she had taken advantage of making land to send off a message to the Governor of Baleniesia, Claire’s father, to let him know she was alive and to give him a ransom demand, she did not trust anyone in this port not to slit her throat to get to the blonde or try to take her ship.  Her men were loyal, but there were a few others like the one down in her brig.  She’d sooner not tempt fate.

Tina changed into another man’s shirt after binding up her breasts.  Thinking about how they had come unbound and the lovemaking was making her aroused again, but she put such thoughts aside for the moment.  She had to get her meal eaten and see to the repairs her first mate had done while she caught up on some badly needed rest.  Pulling her pants on, she tucked the shirt in and threw her robe to the still unclothed Claire who had been debating cleaning the chamber pot with the toga-like blanket wrapped around her.  She quickly donned the robe and shoved the chamber pot under the bed where it belonged; she would clean it later.

One of the pirates brought in the platter that contained their dinner, roasted chicken with potatoes and beans, and Geoff had even managed a pie for the captain and her woman.  A full pitcher of ale accompanied the meal this time.  He gently set it down on the table and his eyes flicked to Claire briefly, before hastily averting them and leaving the cabin, closing the door behind him.

“This looks good,” Tina said, rubbing her hands together appreciatively.

“Smells even better, I am starving,” Claire admitted.

“Aye, we have not eaten much in the past few days, have we?” Tina agreed as she poured them both mugs of ale and, gesturing with her free hand, invited Claire to sit down.

“Are the storms in this part of the world always like that?” Claire asked, as it seemed they had some time for her many questions.

Tina shook her head as she divided up the roast chicken and filled Claire’s plate with a little of everything, then took just as much for herself before sitting down to eat.  “We were just unlucky to get caught in that hurricane.  We are lucky the boat did not come apart, but it is made of good English oak and strong New World woods that I had imported specifically for my boat to be built from.  I told you I designed it and had them build it to my specifications?” she asked, as they began to eat.

Claire did not mind that Tina did not take small bites so she could talk around her food.  It was considered rude to speak with food in your mouth, but they were not in polite company and both of them were hungry.  She wanted her questions answered, but she also wanted to eat.  Her bites were not dainty either.

Claire asked questions about the building of the ship that Tina was so obviously proud of.  She explained how she had owned other ships and let it slip that she had grown up on her grandfather’s ship, and learned from an early age that the sea was in her blood.  “But when I had enough saved to build my own, I insisted on the best materials,” she pointed out as she gestured with a chicken leg.

Claire was thrilled with this information regarding the mysterious pirate captain.  How a woman came into this position was fascinating, and she admired the freedom that had apparently always been Tina’s from an early age.

Tina, perhaps realizing she was telling too much, kept it to impersonal subjects from then on.  However, even impersonal subjects revealed she had a superior education.  She knew many subjects, the classics, and even goings-on in England, Europe, and around the world.  She could not hide her education or knowledge and Claire drew out more and more information from the woman.

Finally, realizing she had dallied over the fine meal too long, she quickly brushed out her long red tresses and braided them into one long plait down her back.  Strapping on her one sword, she checked her knife in the same belt, before looking up at Claire.   “Make sure you bolt the door after I leave and do not open it for anyone but myself or my first officer James.  I do mean
no one
,” she warned.

Claire was more aware of the dangers now and nodded.

“Someone could think I was distracted by the repairs or other work I have up on deck, and do not believe anyone that I was hurt or anything.  Do not leave this cabin for
anything or anyone
,” she emphasized.  “Do you understand?” she asked, and Claire, sensing the genuine concern, nodded.

“Good, I will be back late, so wait up for me to let me in,” she said with a small smile after scaring her a little about the seriousness of their situation.  She did not want to see her hurt again by any man.  As it was, she still had one man to punish for his impertinence.  She was not looking forward to it, but no one touched what was hers.  He had known the consequences if he were caught, and even if he had not been caught in the act.

Claire bolted the door behind Tina after she left and looked around at what she had to do to amuse herself until the captain returned.  She debated about taking a long, hot bath first and then realized she was delaying the inevitable.  She had clothes to wash and seeing the white spots on the blanket, she realized that these too would need washing.  Using the body soap that she had generously been bequeathed, she washed out the clothing she had soiled, as well as the captain’s.  Using the soap made them all smell with the distinctive jasmine odor, but she did not think Tina would mind.  She wrung out the clothes one by one and hung them around the cabin to dry.  She flung the windows wide to provide plenty of air into the cabin as she cleaned and straightened up.  She looked out at the strange harbor and wondered where they were, but heeding Tina’s warning, she avoided displaying herself to anyone.  She realized the floor had never been properly cleaned, but she had used so much soap to clean their clothes that she felt guilty and would not use it for the floor.  Instead, she looked for and found a mop, and using just plain water, did the best she could to clean the floor.  By the time she finished straightening up the room, had everything hung up and drying, and managed to eat more of what turned out to be a dried cherry pie, she was ready for her hot bath. 

The tub had been excellent for washing their clothing and she had rinsed it out carefully with cold water.  Now she filled it with a combination of hot and cold water and slipped into it gratefully.  Her tired and sore muscles were grateful for the heat and she relaxed.  She washed her hair as she remembered Tina doing it that first night.  She was pleased to unlash her trunk and take out a clean dress to wear for Tina’s return.  For some reason, she wanted to look nice for her.  She knew Tina would be tired from the repairs they had to do on the large ship.  Tina had mentioned she would want a bath so after rinsing the tub out once again from her own bath, she left the tub down for the captain.

Lighting a lantern, she read until quite late, and then feeling if the clothes were dry, she folded those she could and put them away.  The blanket was still damp and she left that fluttering in the warm, balmy breeze that still came in the windows.  It smelled different here and she hoped someday soon she would get to see one of these tropical islands she had heard so much about.

It was quite late when she heard a firm knock on the door.  She went to unbolt it, but remembering Tina’s admonitions she asked, “Who is it?” before removing the constraints.

“Good girl,” Tina’s voice could be heard through the sturdy door.  “Let me in,” she commanded.

Still being cautious, Claire opened the door slowly to see Tina and was relieved.  She opened the door wider and let her in.  Tina closed and locked the door.

“Any more of that pie left?  I do not think I have thought of anything else for the last hour,” she asked, as her eyes took in the infinitely cleaner cabin.  She saw the blanket propped up and hanging in front of the windows, blowing slightly in the breeze.  “Been busy I see,” she commented with a smile.

There was still a large piece of pie left, although it had been tempting to Claire to eat it all.  She was not a glutton though, and was pleased as Tina dug into it hungrily.  She did not interrupt her eating until she was done and filling the tub for herself.  “How are the repairs going?” she asked, to make conversation.

Tina found herself sharing as she soaped up and washed herself.  Washing her hair was a luxury she did not get often enough and she felt wonderful when the deed was finally done and she was soon brushing out its length.  Finding her robe had been washed and was clean and waiting for her to wear, she was pleased that Claire was taking such good care of her cabin, as they had agreed.

“The note went off to your father and we should hear back in a month or so,” she told Claire, wondering if she would be happy with the news.

Claire did not know how she felt about it.  Once the ransom was paid and she went to live with her father again, it would not be long before her fiancé would come to marry her and take her to his fine plantation.  If he was to be believed, it was large and prosperous.  It was also remote from what he had told her.  Something about that now bothered her.  He could and would do anything to her and no one would know as they lived away from other settlers.

Claire did know she was happy when Tina took her to bed that night and in the dim light of the lantern; taught her more about making love to a woman.  Her first real taste of Tina in her secret spot was a surprise.  Knowing she could make Tina insensible from the sensations it engendered, thrilled her at the power she held over her for however brief a moment.  Tina rarely let go, she sensed, and this was one of the few times.  Tina’s own passionate lovemaking made Claire happy and breathless.  She could not imagine what it would be like with a man, but she was satisfied in not knowing for now.  Tina made her feel...special.

CHAPTER FOUR

They left the following day when a majority of the repairs had been made.  The captain and her first mate had also traded a portion of their cargo for supplies and gold.  They made their way north from the island they had stopped at, but only because most ships headed further west and if anyone were following them, they had less of a chance of finding them.

The captain let Claire up on deck accompanied by Frank, but she warned her they would be punishing her attacker that day and if she did not want to watch she did not have to.  Claire chose to watch and stood behind Tina and James, her first officer.

The man was brought before the assembled crew.  The captain and her first officer watched several crew members of this man’s same ilk for trouble they could cause.  The man was forced to his knees.

“You were warned to stay away from my woman and yet during the worst of the storm you slipped away from your duties to attempt to rape her person.  How do you wish your punishment?” she asked him in a conversational tone.

“It ain’t natural,” he spat at her.  He had been fed gruel and had vomited it up more often than not.  The brig had stunk because he refused to use the slop bucket and had urinated wherever he felt the need.  Between vomit and piss and the pile of excrement he did manage to use the bucket for, it stank, and he had breathed it for days.  It had addled his mind, fueled his anger, and made his person stink unnaturally.

“You were told the consequences,” she said coldly, and nodded to one of the men who handed her a whip.

“It ain’t natural!” he repeated heatedly.  “Two women, it ain’t natural I tell you!” he shouted and the two men holding him were hard-pressed as he struggled.

“Tie him up,” she ordered, and watched dispassionately as he was tied between two posts, his arms spread and his legs barely supporting him as they raised him to his tiptoes.

She looked out at her crew.  “I do not speak to hear my own voice.  I expect obedience, and if you do not like it, and do not wish to share in the generous booty we have all worked for, you know you can leave,” she told them.  Several of the men nodded, acknowledging what was general knowledge to them all.  Still, a few muttered beneath their breath.

Tina took the measure of a few of the troublemakers and wondered when she would have to replace these men.  Some men would never appreciate her generosity, instead they would take it as a weakness and try to exploit it.  Some men were greedy and wanted what they believed were more treasures when she shared the booty they had captured.

Slowly, she pulled the long whip back.  The end was tipped in iron and would cut into the man’s flesh horribly.  A lesson needed to be made though, or there would be no discipline, and a ship ran on discipline.  If her men did not respect her, they would choose another over her.  It was hard enough to find men and she could only raid so many prisons to find men unjustly accused and willing to sail under a woman’s flag.  She let the whip flick back to hear the crack and the man tensed, but she pulled the whip back again. The second time she flicked her wrist, it cracked back and bit into his back through his shirt, which instantly tore beneath its iron tip.  The man cried out immediately in pain, but bit it back trying to withstand it and be a man.  Back and forth she flicked it, inflicting the punishment.  She counted as she crisscrossed his back.  Welt after welt rose up on the exposed back once the shirt was in tatters and filled with the blood oozing from the open wounds.  She was methodical as she went in an even pattern down his back and then up again, making the crisscrosses as she counted off the one hundred lashes that had been threatened long ago for anyone touching ‘her’ women.  Other women had been brought aboard the ship and she had to institute this harsh punishment to deter them from tumbling them.  Whore or lady alike, they had been under her protection, and she did not share what was ‘hers’ with anyone.

By the thirtieth whip mark his shirt was in tatters; by the fiftieth the man was unconscious.  No one could stand up to such punishment, and while every seaman was here to witness the penalty, not everyone agreed with it.  Some had gleefully looked forward to seeing this particular sailor receive his comeuppance. He had not been well-liked, except by a few of his select cronies, but no one wanted to see what the whip was doing to him.  By the seventieth whip many had turned away, but the captain had stopped and ordered them to look.  “He was warned.  This is what happens when you do not obey an order!” she told them, and they all watched quietly as she finished meting out the punishment.  “Cut him down,” she said, disgustedly, as she viewed the mincemeat that was now the man’s back. 

The doctor they had on board took him down to the small infirmary and administered drugs to keep him unconscious as he attempted repairs on the man’s raw back.  There was not enough flesh to sew it together, and if infection set in he would be lucky to survive, but then that was the purpose of the punishment…to make men avoid it if at all possible.

The crew was silent the rest of the day and discussed it as little as they could.  No one would forget the sight, and while many did not like the man, they wondered if it had been a just punishment.  Still, he had been warned.

Claire had stopped watching and slipped below to return to the captain’s cabin after the tenth lash.  The blood had been horrible, but actually seeing flesh being torn from the man’s body had made her feel quite ill.  She waited down in the cabin, wondering if her impressions of Tina had been wrong.  She was disgusted by the whole thing and to think she was the cause of it!  Then she thought about the alternative, that man’s fetid breath, his hands touching her body, his manhood inside of her, and she shuddered.  Tina had saved her from being ruined.  Was she ruined anyway?  Tina had, after all,
been
with her, but that was not real fornication, was it?  Like between a man and a woman, or a husband and his wife?  It did not count… did it?  Claire wondered, as she waited for Tina to return.

Tina finally came into the cabin and went immediately to the cabinet and pulled out the tub to fill a bucket with warm water and splash her face and hands.  She had been far enough away from the blood splatters, but they were all over the deck and she had assigned the man’s cronies to mopping the deck to clean it up.  She did not look at Claire for a long time; she leaned wearily over the bucket before finally getting up and pouring it down the drain.

“Are you all right?” Claire finally worked up the nerve to ask.  It was a familiar phrase Tina had asked her many times in the time they had been together.  She did not expect an answer.

Tina sighed gustily as she waited for the tub to drain completely, watching the little water go down the drain.  “I hate that,” she said sincerely.

Claire wondered what she meant as she came to look in the drain for the cause of her statement.

Tina looked up and looked very sad.  “I hate that I have to do things like that,” she said sadly.

Claire realized she did indeed hate that she had to mete out punishment, but in the time she had waited for Tina to return to the cabin she had come to realize, as harsh as the punishment was, it was also just, a deterrent to those who would take advantage of Tina’s sex and good nature.  She had to follow through on her threats to mete it out and put fear and respect in the hearts of some of them.  If she did not, she would not be the captain for long.  In that moment, she realized how much she respected Tina for hating that she had to do it.  She helped her put away the tub and hesitantly she took Tina in her arms to comfort her.  Much to her surprise, the gentle kiss she bestowed on Tina’s brow led her to kiss down her face and across her lush lips.  At first Tina did not respond and Claire pursued Tina for perhaps the first time in their relationship.  When she finally did respond, a tiny bit, Claire stopped and hugged her close, comfortingly.  She had not wanted to turn this into more intimacy, but she wanted to offer something to this brave and strong woman who hated having to hurt someone who did not obey her.

Tina had been confused at her own lack of response; she felt dead inside right now.  She had left her first mate in charge of continuing on their journey.  She would go up and join him in about six hours before relieving him for the rest of the night.  Meanwhile, she had come to her cabin to escape.  She had not really seen Claire sitting there watching her as she washed her hands and face.  From a small child on, she had seen punishments such as the one she had meted out be enacted.  She had never liked it, but it was a necessary evil.  She was the captain and it was her duty.  She understood duty.  As Claire took her in her arms and kissed her as a mother kisses her child, she felt her own lack of having had a mother to look up to.  The kisses had not continued to be like that and it took her brain a while to realize a response was being demanded.  Once it kicked in, Claire had stopped and just held her.  It was one of the kindest acts she had ever experienced and she held Claire close, appreciating the moment.

They did not make love that night, but merely held each other in the bed as each tried to sleep.  Claire was still awake when Tina finally arose to take over for her first mate.  “Can I come with you?” she asked, softly.

Tina tried to look down at her in the darkness.  “I appreciate the thought, and I would love you to, but not tonight.  Tonight is the night the others are most likely to try something with me,” she told her as she firmly attached her sword and knife belt around her small waist.

Claire sat up and tried to make Tina out in the dark.  She had not lit a lantern as she dressed to go out on deck.  She was alarmed at Tina’s words.  “What will they try?” she asked, naively.  The punishment was set and over was it not?

“To kill me,” Tina said, matter-of-factly.

“What?” Claire asked, not sure that Tina was not joking and unable to see her in the dark.