Page 10 of A Captain So Callous and Cruel

And yet after my personal encounter with the Captain, I’m scrambled. I’ll be spending a while processing it.

“Aye, what compartment are you putting this one in?” a sailor asks, stopping us in our tracks. I glance up briefly. The man is unkempt, his shirt half tucked in soiled looking trousers. I can smell the alcohol on his breath and fight back the bile climbing up my throat.

“What’s it to you?” Kai retorts, his tone cold.

“I wanna visit this one. Been the talk of the ship. What whore compartment is she going to be in, sailor? You can’t have her for yourself.”

“She’s to be untouched and in her own cell,” Kai says simply. “Captain’s orders.”

“She can have her own cell, then, and Cap can have her tomorrow, but right now,” —a hand gropes at my bottom, and I let out a startled gasp as the man’s breaths blow closer in my face— “we’d like to have a spin before he gets to have his fun. What do you say, poppet?”

The man’s hand instantly leaves me. I hear a sickening crack before I see what’s going on. It happens so fast, I’ve barely blinked. Kai let go of me and is holding the man against the wall of the corridor. There’s a loud bang, and the man lets out a yelp, his hand moving to the back of his head.

Kai’s tone is deadly quiet as he holds the man in place, but the warning is there. “Captain would have your head—as would I—if you so much as touch a hair on her head. An order is a fucking order.”

Letting go of the man, Kai stalks back to me and grabs my arm painfully, shoving me forward.

I let out a cry as he snaps, “Silence, whore. And move.”

My feet move quickly. I feel the eyes of the men we pass drag along my skin like slimy tentacles, and I realize the precarious situation we’re in.

I’m presumed to be a whore, surrounded by violent, drunk men. It dawns on me that in this moment, I may be safer in the Captain’s company.

Kai’s body looms over me as we walk. He’s so big—bigger than most of the men aboard. As we pass, they look at me with lustful eyes, but they give a wide berth to him, painfully aware that he could squash them like a bug should he want to.

His aura is menacing, and if I didn’t know him like the back of my hand, I might even be second-guessing his intent as he leads me sharply to another section of the ship.

It’s quieter here. The compartments are filled with prisoners who aren’t free roaming like others.

They’re captives. The prized women that were taken against their will to serve a purpose. But even from here, I can hear them beg not for food, but for gala green.

When we approach my room, I realize that we’ve made it all the way to the very end room of this section of the ship. Kai roughly places me behind him as he undoes the lock on the door. When he opens it, he grabs me and shoves me in so hard I let out a sharp yell.

His face is dark when he growls unnecessarily loud, “What did you just say to me, whore? You think because you’ve dined with the Captain that you’re somehow above us?”

What the hell is his problem?

I glare back at him, confused, but he gives me a look that I interpret as ‘play along’. Shrieking, I say, “No! I swear it?—”

“And now you’re spitting vile words at me? Why, I oughtta fucking cuff you to your bed.”

He comes barreling into the cramped room, his face full of darkness as he slams the door shut behind him. I’m supposed to play along, but he’s so convincing in his venom, I back up, my heart in my throat as a swirl of wary thoughts invade me. For a moment, I wonder if I’ve misunderstood.

But this is Kai.

My Kai.

He’d never hurt me.

Charging toward me like a tsunami, I don’t have time to form a response or even attempt to raise my hands to protect myself from his rapid advances before his mouth slams against mine.

His kiss is so intense, my head spins as his large hands wrap around my thighs in a squeezing, possessive way. Lifting me, my back slams against the wall, and a sharp pain runs down my spine. The desire I feel overwhelms the pain, as Kai works my mouth like a fucking god, his tongue lapping against my own.

When he pulls away, my breaths are hard and fast. I look at him needily, but I attempt to glare. “You almost had me,” I whisper-hiss at him.

“Good.” He bites at my bottom lip, and I quiver.

“Not good,” I retort through a half-moan. “You were so rough with me, Kai.”

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