Page 7 of Her Perfect Pirate
His eyes lit up, just as Chow had known they would.“Have you splurged to treat me with a gift?”
Rebecca’s chin lifted a little.She didn’t cast down her eyes, as she had when Chow had first met her, but neither did she look directly at the captain.
“She had a goat,” Julio de la Cruz said, his tone mixing defense of Rebecca with respect for the captain so that it came out as a croak.“We’ve been having fresh milk every other day.”
The captain was busy feasting his eyes on Rebecca.Almost the whole deck stood between them, yet Chow saw the distance closing as if Captain Boukman’s desire alone could erase physical space.
She squared her shoulders.“I’ve joined the crew.Rebecca Smith.Sir.”
“A woman on the crew?”Captain Boukman didn’t scoff, as Chow had, but instead smirked like a cat who had licked the cream.“I’ve never had one of those before.”
Chow stepped forward.He was approximately between them.If he could find the right words, he could stop whatever was about to happen.“It’s not like that, sir.”
“Not like what?She’s not a woman?She is not on my crew?”Captain Boukman leered at her.“Is my crew not sworn to obey my every order?”
Rebecca wore her embarrassment in her fists, clenched around the fabric of her skirt.“I’m flattered, sir, I’m sure, but…”
“Ah, listen to her, with the manners of an American coquette!”Now Captain Boukman advanced, as smooth as a snake slithering across the deck.He got close enough that his hat blocked the sun from falling on Chow.
Chow did not step back.
The captain loomed over him.“What do you think I’m going to do to her?Kill her?”He looked over his shoulder to gauge the reaction of the crew.A few of them laughed weakly under his examination.Then he threw his gaze to Rebecca.“Come here, sweetheart, and let’s show poor Sharkhead there’s nothing to be afraid of under your skirts.”
“Captain Boukman…” She spoke in that smooth, silky voice, but it trailed off again, as if she couldn’t quite find what to say.
The trouble was, there were no magic words she could say.Captain Boukman saw only breasts and pussy, and nothing from her mouth would change his mind.
Which was why Chow had to say what he said next.
“She’s mine.”
Chapter Four
Rebeccahadneverdreamedthe ship could be so quiet.Even the wind died down so that the sails didn’t creak.The whole bay resounded with Sharkhead’s declaration.
She’s mine.
She didn’t know whether to look at Captain Boukman or Sharkhead and ended up doing both.Except for a straighter spine than usual, Sharkhead looked as disinterested as ever.As for the captain—Rebecca hadn’t been prepared for him to be somuchof a man.Skin as dark as midnight.Head as high as a tree.Shoulders as wide as a house.
Desires as big as demands.
He stared at Sharkhead as if the quartermaster had turned into a kraken.“She isyours?”
The rest of the crew stared, too, and Rebecca wondered who would be the first to contradict Sharkhead.
“How much did you pay for her?”the captain asked.
She bit her cheeks to keep from defending herself.She had known a pirate ship wouldn’t be friendly to a woman.Sharkhead himself had warned her of this.If she quibbled over being mistaken for a whore, she would still be taken for a whore—only, perhaps, more roughly.
“It’s not like that, sir,” Sharkhead said again.He gulped.“She’s my wife.”
Hiswife?
Rebecca had never thought she would be someone’s wife without a wedding—or without being consulted on the matter first.
Captain Boukman parroted back, “Yourwife?How did you come by a wife and not invite me to the ceremony?”
Sharkhead’s whole head was red as a tomato with the lie.“Well, sir, it wasn’t in a church.You know I don’t hold with any of that.I met Rebecca doing provisioning, and…well, how else does a man end up married?A pretty face and too much alcohol.”
