Raised By Wolves Volume four- Wolves (80 page)

“Nay, straight to England. We laid in the provisions for

“Nay, straight to England. We laid in the provisions for it, and I put allthe mennot willingto sailthere onother ships.”
I frowned. “Why the hurry to deliver us, or amI placing far too muchimportance uponus?”
Normansnorted congenially. “Nay, youare the cargo.”
“Truly, Modyford and Morgan place that much faith in myfather’s politicalsway?”
He shrugged. “That would be part of it, but nay, your father offered a fine reward.”
“So Morganlied.”I was not surprised, yet I was amazed the damn bastard was so convincing. He truly was a worthy opponent inthat regard.
“He was bettingona definite win,”I sighed.
Norman shrugged again. “I don’t care what the Governor and Morgan hope to gain. I am to deliver you and pick up the coin. I take myshare and deliver the rest to them.”
“Will delivering me be more lucrative than Panama?” I asked withcuriosity.
He laughed. “Ohaye.”
“What was eachman’s share?”I asked.
“Came to about tenpounds per man.”
“Ten pounds? For all that?” I exclaimed. I supposed there were a great number of men it had to be divided between, but still, it seemed a paltry sum compared to the amount of treasure and ransoms—even if Morgan did not capture the galleonwiththe plate and coin.
Norman awarded us a sly and crooked smile. “Panama was better to some thanto others.”

“Some?”Gastonasked. “Was it not shared equally?”

 

“Some?”Gastonasked. “Was it not shared equally?”

The sly smile remained. “There were things not considered part ofthe bootyfor all.”
“Like what?”I asked.
“Well, like you for instance.” He shrugged and chuckled. “The bounty for you, and then there would be your shares and the money he was due as surgeon. It was thought you would not

need it.”“All became part of another pot of loot to be shared

between… Morgan’s favored captains, perhaps?”I asked. “I will not say one way or the other,” he said. “Think
what youwill.”
“I will think you cheated the men: that you all conspired
to cheat the men—and the French, I suppose.”
He shrugged as ifto saythat went without saying. “Well, the Wayofthe Coast is dead,”I said. That wiped the smirk fromhis face, yet he said, “You’re
naïve to think it ever lived.”
“Non,” Gaston said quietly. “There was a time when it
lived, but it has been dying for years.” He shrugged. “It is a sad
thing, but it is no longer Will’s and my concern. Even if we live,
we willno longer live this life, and neither willour children.” Norman snorted. “From what I hear, you two won’t be
havingchildren.”
I frowned. “We have five—if all has gone well in our
absence. Has someone told youotherwise?”
He frowned and looked away. “Nay, I just assumed.”
He shrugged, but there was guilt about his mien.
I was tempted to wonder ifit could be exploited. He had I was tempted to wonder ifit could be exploited. He had
been oddly confrontational yet conciliatory throughout our
meeting: perhaps he was wrestling with his conscience. But nay,
such thoughts were unproductive and their pursuit fruitless. I had
to stop attempting squirm my way out of this trap. We were
going to England. No matter what occurred, it would be for the
best—inthis life or the next.
“What happened to that girl who was dressing as a
boy?”Normanasked.
We shrugged inunison.
“We do not know,”I said. “We canonlyprayshe is safe
and well.”
Norman’s eyes narrowed speculatively. “No one asked
ofyouafore we sailed.”
“I would think not.”
He gave another snort. “No one’ll be rescuing you,
either. Morgan told us how you say you escaped from the
Englishyour father sent. That won’t happenonmyship.” “My dear Captain,” I said, “I hope much of what
occurred on that vessel will not happen here. And nay, we do
not expect a rescue. We are quite resigned to our fate. We have
much to ask my father. So, we will not trouble you, if you—or
your men—do not trouble us.”
“Good,”he said and stood. He paused at the base ofthe
steps. “I hope things go well for you with your father.” He
seemed sincere.
“Thank you,”I said.
With that he left us—with both the opened and
unopened bottles.
unopened bottles.
“To you having graced my life for another wonderful
year,”I said and toasted and him.
He laughed and took the bottle from me to take a long
pull. “Oui, happy birthday to me.” he sighed, and his humor fled,
but his expression turned hopeful. “We will see what this year
brings, oui? We should reachEngland before your birthday.” That was sobering. I sighed and took the bottle back to
drink more. “I will resolve not to view the matter as our being
captured for your birthday and our being delivered to my father
for mine. Thoughthe Gods’ choice oftimingis…
questionable
if
we wishto perceive Themas benign.”
He chuckled, though his words were somber in
implication. “I willview my birthday gift as the realization ofwhat
we must do, and yours willbe the resolution.”
I could not but grin: the wine was tickling my heart; and,
truly, he was correct if we were men of faith. “This year will
bring much. I was nearly tempted to thank Norman for taking us
on this journey, but… alas.” I sighed extravagantly. “I could not
quite achieve that degree of magnanimity—perhaps by my

birthday.”Mymatelot laughed. “We have alreadyachieved much. I

was tempted to growlat him.”
“In truth, I was tempted to try and exploit his guilt to our
advantage.”
He smiled at me with great regard. “I feelthe Gods have
granted me a fine gift: I have you, and a life well lived, and the
wisdomto know what I hold.”

One Hundred and Twelve Wherein We Face Foes

Now that the hold was full and we were at sail, the
Lilly’s
crew did not come below except to retrieve victuals or tend to us. Norman came once a week or so and checked our bonds, but he stopped sending someone down to watch us. He had given us our things with nothing missing save our weapons— we had not had any coin in our bags anyway—and thus we had our blankets, our salves, and other personal items. We had privacy and peace. We frolicked. We exercised as our chains would allow. We grew our hair and beards since we could not cut them. I discovered Gaston’s hair was unruly even when short because it was curly. Given enough time, I was sure he would have a head of red ringlets for which the bewigged members of any royal court would die to obtain. We made love. We even engaged in Horseplay on occasion. Gaston found having me always bound amusing. He need only plant his weight on one sectionor another ofour chains to pinme.

We did not discuss the future:we could not know it. We made vague and happyjests about surelyneedinga large cave to house so manybabycentaurs—and their mothers.

The weeks passed, and eventually the air grew cooler. Crossing the ocean in the final leg of our journey proved to be a

 

level of Hell from our perspective. Norman found a westerly

level of Hell from our perspective. Norman found a westerly wind to push us as fast as the
Lilly
could sail across the cold northern waters, but it came at the price of a following sea that bounced the sloop continuously. In the hold, with no horizon by which to steady ourselves, we suffered from sea sickness as we had not in many years. When Norman told us they had spotted land on May Twenty-Eighth, we were actually relieved and had little thought for what it meant other than a cessation of the ship gettingher arse slapped againand againfor nearlya fortnight.

Once we were sailing in calmer waters down the coast of Wales, the cold night air began to seep into our bones and hearts in equal measure, and dread became our companion. We were bound for Portsmouth, and even with fractious winds we would arrive ina matter ofdays.

The day we turned east along the southern English coast, Gaston woke me in the darkest hours of the night. At first my cock and Horse held hope he might wish to tryst—as we had not felt inclined to do in several weeks between the sea sickness and our arrival on this forlorn shore—but then I remembered where we were and the promise of passion was dashed on the

rocks.“What?”I asked. I could not see himinthe darkness.

“We should talk.”His voice sounded small.
“Are youwell?”
“Enough,” he sighed. “I have been thinking or what we

might face.”
“Do not,”I whispered.
“Non, we should talk,”he insisted and kissed mycheek.

I sighed and moved to embrace him. “What would you

I sighed and moved to embrace him. “What would you have me hear?”
“You have ever been brave when confronted with pain; and I amtoo, though it is usually my Horse that bears the worst of it. I do not know how well I will be able to sit Himunder that kind ofduress.”
My breath caught as I realized how very close to the bone he wished to speak. I sighed. “My love, I do not know how I will behave this time. If I am tortured as Thorp did, my resolve willcrumble. IfI must watch you tortured, I willcrumble. I do not know how I willbear that. I willlikely cry, scream, beg, and act anythingbut brave.”
I felt him nod. “Oui, I do not know how I will survive seeing you hurt: it will break my heart, but… There is no shame, my love. There is only one thing you could do—or I could do— that would bringshame to us.”
“What?”I asked withalarm.
“We must not forsake one another. No matter what they do, we must not forsake one another. I do not care if it will save mylife or end mysuffering, please do not forsake me.”
I took a ragged breath. “I understand. I will not. I did not before…”
His fingers were onmylips. “I know, and I prayI canbe as strong as you in the face of…
your
pain. I know I can suffer anythingfor myownends – at least I have inthe past.”
I kissed his cheek and held him tighter; and allowed myself to think of what my father had wished before and might wishnow. “That is what he willwishfromme:that I forsake you.

And oui, the irony willbe that they willmost likely use the object

 

And oui, the irony willbe that they willmost likely use the object ofmylove to tryand break me.”

“Those are my thoughts,” he breathed. “I know I ask much. It is just that I would rather die—no matter how horrible the death—knowingtheydid not win.”

“They will not win,” I assured himwith conviction. “And you do not ask anything other than what you deserve—and very likelywhat the Gods demand. I amforswornand forsakeninallI hold holy if I renounce you. I will not, even if they tear you to pieces before me, or youare reduced to beggingme to do so…” I could not continue for the constriction in my throat. I could not help but imagine that of which I spoke. I buried my face in his neck and sobbed quietly.

“And I vow the same to you, my love,” he whispered and kissed myhair.
We arrived at Portsmouth on June Second. Norman once again placed us under guard while the
Lilly
sat anchored in the harbor for three days. Gaston and I had spoken no more of what we would face, but a pall of doom hung over us all the same. On the night of the Fifth, Norman handed us a bottle of rum and told us we would be delivered tomorrow night. We drank ourselves drunk, tried to make love, failed, and laughed and cried ourselves to sleep. In the morning we nursed our aching heads with water and good food—Norman was indeed treating us like condemned men—and waited. When the
Lilly
finally moved toward the wharfs, we pissed and shit as we were able. Thenwe sat holdinghands.
When the ship bumped against the wharf, my stomach roiled and my heart clenched, and I gripped Gaston hard enough roiled and my heart clenched, and I gripped Gaston hard enough to make himwince.
He looked to me with his Horse rearing in his eyes. “I love you,”he said fiercely.
“I love you.”
“I want to fight,”he said.
I was scared, and months of telling my Horse that we were not to attempt to escape had left Himconfused. I knew He would find his feet once roughhands were uponme, though.
“I do not think we should allow men to abuse us unanswered,” I said. “We are here to see my father, and our battle lies with him. I do not wish to turn the other cheek to common dogs my father has hired. Do you see the matter differently?”
“Non,” he said firmly. Then he sighed. “But we should not seek to abuse them. They are only doing what they have been told. If they choose to take glee in our discomfort, however, thenoui, theymust be taught a lesson.”
I found thin humor in our justifications. “We will give our Horses some reinthen, oui?”
“Oui.”He chuckled weakly.
We heard Norman welcome someone aboard, and then there were high, black, ornate boots descending the stairs. I recognized him before he doffed his hat and turned into the light to regard us. My heart clutched painfully and I was rendered mute. I could onlycrushGaston’s hand.
“Well, look at you two: such hair,” Thorp said with a mock grimace. “You look like Puritans—or Jews.” He grinned at our expressions. “What? Surprised to see me? Did you think I at our expressions. “What? Surprised to see me? Did you think I drowned?”
“Non,” Gaston said with insouciance that surprised me. “We are amazed Will’s father still employs the incompetent. I would think the frigate would have been an expensive lesson for

him.” I pulled my gaze from the hated bastard and fixed it on

my matelot with gratitude. I found himcalmand alert, with just a touchofhis Horse. He would have to be myanchor inthis. I was drifting into the maelstrom just seeing Thorp. I prayed to the Gods Gastoncould be myanchor.

“Lovely,” Thorp said with a touch of annoyance. “When you are not growling and thrashing about, you think you share your lover’s wit. Have thembothgagged and bound.”

I heard Normansnort. “Do it yourself. Theyalreadycost me sixmen.”
“Wonderful,”Thorp said.
“Unless your men engage in petty cruelty, we have no quarrel with them,” Gaston said. “We are here to meet with Will’s father.”
Thorp laughed. “Ohmy…”He ascended the stairs.
Norman paused before following him: his eyes on us. “Godspeed,”he said quietly.
“And to you,”Gastonsaid.
Then my matelot’s mouth was on mine with great fervor before Norman had finished ascending the steps. His plunder threw me into confusion, but it pushed the fear away for a moment. I met his earnest gaze whenhe released me.
“He was stupid and arrogant when he abused you, oui?” Gastonasked. “I recallthat fromyour accounts.”
I shook myhead helplessly. I could not think.
“Whenhe took you, he did it alone, oui?”
I nodded tightly.
“Good, thenhe willbe easyto kill.”
I blinked.
“The Gods sent us here to meet your father, and we will not fight their will; but Thorp is another matter.”
I took a deep breath. “So we will seek to kill him— despite…”I asked hopefully.
“Oui, we have vowed to do so. I cannot see where the Gods cannot honor that considering the bastard’s unwarranted abuse ofyou.”
My Horse was happy with this news, but afraid. “I want to killhim; but mylove, he scares me so.”
“I know. Youmust trust me.”
I nodded.
“Youmust let himpullyour strings.”
The idea filled me with dread and revulsion. There were boots onthe deck again.
“Will, trick him into giving us an opening,” Gaston said witha gleaminhis eyes. “Do it for me.”
I could deny him nothing, but this was… I took a deep breath and nodded as Thorp returned with four men who regarded us and the cramped quarters withtrepidation.
“’Ow do ya want us ta do this, sir?” the oldest man of the bunchasked.
Thorp shook his head with annoyance. “Bind their ankles, and then their wrists, and then bind their arms to their sides. Gagthem.
Then
remove the chains.”
Gaston scooted forward and put his legs out with his ankles together. He crossed his wrists in his lap. Then he looked at me expectantly. I did the same. I had already had to extend one legwhenhe moved.
“Don’t trust them,”Thorp warned his men.
“We are far more trustworthy than he is,” Gaston assured them.
They seemed torn between pillar and post, but at last the older man crept forward and tied my ankles together quite carefully. Emboldened, one of the others did the same with Gaston. Soon we were trussed like two sacks of grain and they were carrying us out of our home of three months and into the chillynight air. I closed myeyes:I did not want to see the curious or pitying looks of Norman’s crew, not did I wish to witness being dangled over the water as they got me onto the wharf. We were finally dumped side by side on our backs in the bed of a wagon. I opened my eyes and found Gaston’s calm green ones regarding me with love in the lantern light. I sighed around my gag and watched the stars drift by overhead as we clattered throughcobblestone streets.
I expected us to leave the city; but instead, the wagon slowed and maneuvered, backed up, and then the stars were eclipsed by a high, beamed ceiling. We were pulled out and deposited in the straw of a large, box horse stall. I glimpsed crates and barrels stacked along the walls at the edge of the candlelight as we were moved. I guessed us to be in a warehouse. I wondered why the Gods felt the need to add straw and the smellofhorses to myduress.
“’Ow will we go about bathin’, shavin’ and dressin’ ’em iftheybe so dangerous?”the older manasked.
Thorp had entered the stalland now stood lookingdown at us. “Very carefully,” he chortled. “We have an advantage: neither of them will wish to see the other harmed; or most likely attempt to escape alone. So we will do themone at a time, with a gunat the other’s head.”
“But…” the man said. “That be Lord Marsdale, correct, an’ ’Is Lordship said…”
Thorp glared at him. “Shut your hole.” He squatted beside me. “Lord Marsdale knows I amcapable of harming him without marring himif I wish.” He ran a hand up my thigh to my crotchand cupped mymember.
I fought the urge to screaminthe gag.
“Mister Thorp!” the old man protested. “’Is Lordship said there were to be none o’…”
“Shut up, Carmichael!” Thorp growled and tightened his hold onmycock.
This was what Gaston wanted. I closed my eyes and willed my cock to rise. It regarded me with incredulity—as did myHorse. EvenmyWolfstood slack-jawed.
Thorp caressed a little and then merely hovered. “But nay, this did not like me as much as I liked the rest of you. Perhaps your lover…”
I bucked my crotch against his hand. I did not open my eyes to see his expression as he returned to cajoling my reluctant member. He would see my revulsion and the game would be off ifI did.
I could not imagine it was Gaston touching me, but I could imagine my man standing there with the cruel gleam of his Horse in his eyes, watching me squirm as the knots in my soul tightened. My Horse and cock understood that. And once my member was on the rise, any touch, even Thorp’s, felt good enoughto continue.
“My, my,”he whispered. “I amflattered. Nay, amazed.”
I kept my eyes closed and forced myself to groan a little with pleasure; being careful not to overact lest he suspect something.
“Oh, and youdo not like this one bit,”Thorp crowed.
I turned my head and looked to Gaston. He was glaring at Thorp withmurder inhis eyes.
Chortling, Thorp stood and walked to the stalldoorway. He pushed the gaping and offended Carmichael out and closed the door, tellinghim, “Go have a drink at the tavern– allofyou.”
I glanced back at Gaston. He winked at me. I wanted to kiss himas I never had before.
“This is a wrongthing,”Carmichaelwas saying.
“Aye, it is. It is horrible of me. I am the worst sort of man. Aye, aye,” Thorp said with an insolent shrug. “But if you tell anyone, you will be without employment, and I might tell
His Lordship
things about youthat willlose your house as well. Who willhe believe?”
I heard receding footsteps. Thorp waited to see them leave before turningback to us.
“Now how shallI do this?”he asked as he came to gloat over us. “I definitely want you naked, both of you. Hmmm… And I think, ah, aye, that will do. I can’t have either of you feelinglonelywhile I attend to the other.”
He slipped out ofthe stall.
I looked to Gaston and found him grinning around his gag. I was greatly amused. We were very bad men, and Thorp was indeed verystupid whenaroused.
Our quarry returned with a satchel. Fromit he produced a fine, large, carved-ivory dildo and a crock of grease. I understood well why any man with our predilections carried grease, but I almost wished to ask him why he carried a damn dildo. I recalled the assortment of themhe had on the ship and I suppressed a shudder. My fear crept back: what if we could not get himbefore he got us?
He set the dildo on the straw between us, looking from one to the other of us to see our expressions when we saw it. Gaston feigned concern at the sight, which amused Thorp and he gave a gleeful grin and hurried off again. When he was gone, Gaston met my gaze and flicked his eyes at the dildo with a frown of befuddlement. Despite my growing fear, I had to suppress a chortle. I shrugged as best I could, and my matelot chuckled.
Thorp returned with a heavy, double horse yoke. He dropped it on the floor above our heads, and Gaston and I recoiled withsurprise at the resonant thud insuchclose proximity to our skulls. Then Thorp was squatting over me. He rolled me toward Gastonand onto mybelly.