Pirated Love (3 page)

“I want you to tell me exactly, so there is no misunderstanding between us,” the captain stated, looking at her closely as she examined the pretty blonde’s countenance.

“I will service you for the duration of my stay,” Claire said quietly, almost in a whisper, horrified at what she had just agreed to.

The captain did not smile at her capitulation, but her eyes did gleam in an odd way.  She nodded once as a knock sounded on her door and she called, “Come in.”

“Done with your dinner, sir?” a pirate stood where he had just opened the door.

She nodded shortly.  “Tell the cook it was absolutely delicious, as always.”

He smiled, showing half his teeth missing.  “I will tell him, but his head will swell.  He knows we stay because of his cooking!” he teased, as he gathered their used dishes.

“Just because of his cooking?” the captain asked, with an eyebrow raised.

He laughed, knowing she was teasing.  Already the men were thrilled with the lot they had to sell off from the capture of the British ship and one before it.  They all anticipated having gold in their pockets and soon.  He left and she rose to lock the door from the inside with a very odd little bolt.  Sitting down again, she used a boot jack to begin to pull off the boots that went up to her knees from her slim calves.  It, like everything else, was bolted to the floor.  She sighed as she put her boots next to the bed and stretched and in an odd little gesture, wriggled her toes. 

Claire had watched the teasing exchange between the captain and one of her pirates with surprise.  The man had been respectful, but able to tease the woman without reprisal, familiar and yet deferential.  This captain was like no woman she had ever met.  Even at boarding school where she had met women from all over England, she had met no woman this masculine.  In a society where women were always deferential to men, she was puzzled.

The captain next took off the crossed swords from her back, slinging off the belt, holding first one and then the other from around her torso and slinging them over the bedstead within easy reach.  Next she removed the sword belt, which also contained a knife, from around her waist.  Turning, she looked thoughtfully at her captive and said, “Come here.”

Claire got up from her chair and walked to stand in front of the taller woman.  It was only now that she was so near that she realized the woman was much taller.  She tried to look in her eyes to read what her intent was and was startled to realize the intensity of the green in them, flecked with brown near the pupil.  The woman smiled slightly as she took in the looks of the smaller blonde woman who was wearing her blanket around herself like a toga-armor to protect herself.

The captain captured Claire’s waist suddenly with her arm and pulled her close against her own body.  Taking advantage of Claire’s surprise, she grabbed the other side of her face with her free hand and leaned in for a kiss.  Claire was shocked to feel the warm and supple lips of her captor on her own.  She had only felt a few stolen kisses from her fiancé in her entire life and, as he had been so totally repugnant, had never enjoyed any of them.  This was different.  The captain was gentle; she kissed firmly, coaxingly, with the unschooled blonde.  She pulled back momentarily to gauge Claire’s reaction before smiling gently and kissing her again, this time a little more forcefully.  Claire began to enjoy the feeling.  Her lips were not at all repugnant.  They were firm, smooth, and slightly moist, but she still felt strange to be kissing a woman.  She was not sure that there was not something wrong in this.  Slowly, the captain coaxed her mouth open and gently teased at her lips with her tongue.  Claire did not realize it as the captain got her to open her jaw to slip her tongue inside and gently begin to probe, playing delicately with her own tongue, teasing it to come out and play in her mouth as well.  Once Claire realized what the captain wanted, she surprised herself by thrusting her own tongue inside the captain’s mouth.  She was astonished how delicious it tasted to her, the remnants of the wine they had drunk at dinner, and something more.  The captain responded by pulling her body tighter to her own and deepening the kiss.  Claire could hear the captain’s breathing as it too, deepened.

Slowly, the captain pulled away, holding Claire close as she looked deeply into the blonde’s blue, innocent eyes.  She smiled slightly as she examined Claire’s face at close quarters, breathing in her essence.  Her nose twitched slightly.  “Would you like to take a bath?” she asked, gently.

Surprised to be asked this, Claire nodded slightly, bemusedly.

Gently the captain released her, making sure she was steady on her feet before letting her go completely.  She turned to go to a cabinet in the wall and opened its doors to reveal a tub that swung down.  Turning the faucets on, water began to fill the tub and she pushed a cork into a hole in the bottom.  She turned to an astonished Claire and smiled.  “Clever, is it not?  I had a shrewd man design what I described.  The kitchen and the rainwater tanks are above this area and these pipes siphon off water, not too much mind you.  After all, we need water to drink.  But once a week it is nice to take a freshwater bath, eh?”

Claire looked as the water gushed into the small tub and realized it was large enough for a person to sit in quite comfortably.  It really was clever and she looked wonderingly at the pipes that went up and into the wall.

“When we are done with our baths, I pull the cork and the water siphons off out to sea and we swing the tub back up into the wall cabinet,” the captain explained, proud of the invention.

“We?” Claire asked.

“Well, it is a sin to waste water here where it is so hard to obtain.  We collect the rainwater as much as possible in large cisterns mounted above us,” she indicated the decks above.  “And this is mainly used for drinking and cooking.  As very few of my men bathe once a week, if at all-and then they usually use sea water-I keep it down for myself to once a week.  When you are finished with your bath I will take mine, as I am sure you would not be willing to share.”  She smiled wickedly and her eyes twinkled at the blonde.  She was pleased to see the startled look in Claire’s eyes.

Claire had never thought of taking a bath with someone else.  Her own had always been private and usually with her shift still on.  Her shift was now ruined by that pirate who had been about to rape her and the ministrations of the others eager to get at her body.  The captain’s suggestion shocked her and when she saw the amusement she turned away, blushing.

“Take off your clothes and get in.  I have some soap here,” the captain indicated a jar she had pulled from a cabinet.

“M-m-my clothes?” she stuttered.

The captain looked at her again and nodded.  “Aye, all of them.”

“I do not have anything to bathe in,” she protested.

The captain grinned.  “You will not be bathing in any.”

Claire’s eyes opened wide in consternation at the suggestion.  She could not remember the last time she had been naked, fully naked.  She glanced from the filling tub to the captain and looked away, blushing.

The captain turned off the water and turned each of the fixtures extra tight to make sure they would not be dripping.  She tested the water with a finger and nodded.  Looking up at her captive, she was annoyed that Claire had made no move to remove even a shred of clothing, much less the blanket.  “Remove your clothing,” she commanded.  She waited a moment before adding, “Or have you changed your mind about our deal?  I assure you, my men will not care whether you bathe or not?”

Claire slowly shook her head.  She hesitated a moment before attempting to open the blanket she had wrapped around her, hiding the torn blouse of her dress.  When the captain moved slightly away, she quickly unbuttoned her blouse, despite the tear, and slipped out of it and her skirt.  The captain was watching her out of the corner of her eye, but appeared to be busying herself with looking in another cabinet.  Claire unhurriedly unbuttoned her torn shift, noting that she might be able to sew it if she could find sewing materials.  She removed this and her other underclothes quickly and grabbed up the blanket to hide her nearly naked body.

“Are you going to bathe in that blanket?” the captain asked with a hint of sardonic amusement in her voice as she turned back to look at Claire.

“N-n-no,” she returned, as she sat on the edge of the bed to roll off her stockings carefully, one at a time, not realizing how intensely erotic it looked, as the captain narrowed her eyes appreciatively.  She pulled the blanket up to remove the garters and the captain got a view of her lovely legs for the first time.  With the garters gone, she had nothing left to delay her getting in the tub.  She could see that the captain was not going to turn away she had a strange glint in her brilliantly green eyes. 
‘I am not going to let her scare me anymore,’
thought Claire, as she walked bravely to the tub and, turning her back, dropped the blanket and got in.  The water was warm, almost hot, and she gasped!

“I said the water came from the kitchens as well as the rain barrels,” the captain chuckled.  “The water is heated in a cistern behind the stove so we always have hot water for coffee and tea, and when I need a bath.”

Claire was amazed, used to servants bringing in buckets of what had started as hot water from the kitchen to her room and pouring it in a barrel lukewarm, she thought this idea innovative.  She liked the feel of the very warm water on her body and began to relax a little.

“Here, use this,” the captain handed her a jar of something that looked pasty and Claire held it to her nose to smell the most delicious scent.

“What is this?” she asked, delighted.

“It is Indian jasmine.  I bought it for its delicious scent, but never found a use for it.  It does not smell good on me.”

“I have never smelled anything like it.”  She inhaled it.  Cautiously, she dipped a finger in the paste and was surprised to find it a soft soap.

“I am not surprised.  There are many things available in other countries of the world that England does not have yet.” 

The British accent was there, but there was something that was not quite British about it, a hint of something that Claire could not put her finger on.  It was not that it was unpleasant, it just brought something to her voice that humanized it, made her unique.  ‘More unique than being a female sea captain,’ she chuckled to herself as she began to smooth the pasty, soft soap on her body-by adding water, the soap went farther.  The soap foam was delicious as it gave off the beautiful aroma; she delighted in rubbing it on her skin.

The captain could feel herself becoming aroused as she watched the naked woman in her tub wash her skin.  She was unconsciously beautiful in her delight and wonderment.

Claire lifted her arm to wash behind her neck.  “Oh no, I have forgotten to put up my hair!”  She realized it was tumbling down her back and getting soaked in the water.

“Do not worry about it, we will wash that as well,” the captain assured her as she sat down in a chair watching her captive bathe.  It was quite enticing and she was enjoying it immensely.  “Lay back and get it all completely wet,” she suggested.

“It will take forever to dry,” Claire said in a pained voice and the captain nearly laughed as she complied.  She sounded so...feminine in her complaints.  She came up and her hair was slicked back.  She worked the soap into her locks and lay back again to rinse a little and scrub her scalp until she heard no more bubbles popping in her ears, and then sat up.  Claire lifted her legs one by one to smooth the soap on and wash them.  The captain could see the blonde hairs, darker on her legs.  Rising suddenly, she went to the locker again and, grabbing another jar she returned to the tub, with a cloth as well.

“Oh, a washcloth?” Claire asked, eagerly reaching for the cloth, but the captain held it out of reach.  Unless Claire wanted to rise out of the water that was hiding her naked body, she would have to sit and wait.

“Nay, this is not for washing, but for wiping,” the captain explained.  “Stand up!” she commanded.

“What?” Claire looked up in consternation.  Surely she had not heard correctly.  Was her humiliation to begin already?  It was bad enough the captain had allowed her no privacy to complete her bath, she had watched her the whole time.  Was she going to have her stand naked before her?  She reached for the blanket she had used to wrap herself in, but the captain used her stockinged foot to pull it out of reach.

“Stand up!” she commanded again.

Claire gulped and began to rise from the tub.  She used her hand to hide between her legs and held her other arm across her breasts.  The captain nearly laughed again.

“Raise your arm above your head,” she commanded.

“W-w-why?” she stuttered, alarmed.  Raising her arm would mean she would not be able to hide her privates.  She would be on view for the captain to see all.

“Because I said so, and unless you want me to call two of my men in here to hold you as I want you, I suggest you comply,” she said sternly, her eyes suddenly hard; she was not willing to play games.

Because Claire did not know the captain well, she did not know if the threat was real or not.  Hesitantly, she began to raise her arm, the one across her breasts.  Closing her eyes against her humiliation, she raised it above her head.  She was surprised when the captain wiped some of the contents of her jar under her arm with the cloth.

“Lower it and then raise the other arm,” she commanded, as she watched Claire and indicated what she wanted.