Blood in the Water

Table of Contents

Love’s Landscapes

Blood in the Water - Information

Blood in the Water

Chapter I

Chapter II

Chapter III

Chapter IV

Chapter V

Chapter VI

Chapter VII

Chapter VIII

Chapter IX

Author Bio

Love’s Landscapes

An M/M Romance series

BLOOD IN THE WATER

By Tami Veldura

Introduction

The story you are about to read celebrates love, sex and romance between men. It is a product of the
Love’s Landscapes
promotion sponsored by the
Goodreads M/M Romance Group
and is published as a gift to you.

What Is Love’s Landscapes?

The
Goodreads M/M Romance Group
invited members to choose a photo and pen a letter asking for a short M/M romance story inspired by the image; authors from the group were encouraged to select a letter and write an original tale. The result was an outpouring of creativity that shone a spotlight on the special bond between M/M romance writers and the people who love what these authors do.

A written description of the image that inspired this story is provided along with the original request letter. If you’d like to view the photo, please feel free to join the
Goodreads M/M Romance Group
and visit the discussion section:
Love’s Landscapes
.

No matter if you are a long-time devotee to M/M Romance, just new to the genre or fall somewhere in between, you are in for a delicious treat.

Words of Caution

This story may contain sexually explicit content and is
intended for adult readers.
It may contain content that is disagreeable or distressing to some readers. The
M/M Romance Group
strongly recommends that each reader review the General Information
section before each story for story tags as well as for content warnings.

This story is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved worldwide.
This eBook may be distributed freely in its entirety courtesy of the Goodreads M/M Romance Group. This eBook may not be sold, manipulated or reproduced in any format without the express written permission of the author.

Blood in the Water, Copyright © 2014 Tami Veldura

Cover Art by
Diego Candia

This ebook is published by the M/M Romance Group and is not directly endorsed by or affiliated with Goodreads Inc.

M/M Romance Group Publication

BLOOD IN THE WATER

By Tami Veldura

Photo Description

Two pirates sit together in the lower deck of a ship enjoying each other. One of them, blond, is shirtless and smiling. He has a snake tattoo on his left shoulder. He leans forward to lick the nipple of his lover. The second pirate has black hair down to his chest. He straddles a leg of the blond and arches toward him. He appears more reserved. The blond restrains the black-haired pirate by one wrist.

Story Letter

Dear Author
,

Being a pirate is one of the most dangerous and exciting jobs ever. What people don’t know is that what makes it even more thrilling is to intercept another pirate’s mission, especially when you’ll get to see the other pirate’s bewildered expression. When will he notice that I always do it on purpose, but not because I hate him? They do say there’s a thin line between love and hate…

I hope you’ll be able to write our story and make it into one of the most exciting journeys ever, even if it means that many battles will have to be fought.

Sincerely,

Jane A

Story Info

Genre:
historical fantasy, paranormal

Tags:
treasure hunt, slow burn/ust, sea battles, pirates, demons/spirits, spirit possession, tattoos, HFN

Content Warnings:
extreme graphic violence

Word Count:
27,922

BLOOD IN THE WATER

By Tami Veldura

Chapter I

January

Kyros sipped his slurry of a drink and held up his other hand to stop the spill of words. The ragged man across the table bit his tongue. Kyros grunted at him. “I don’t need your life story. I need your sworn word, on your honor, that you will fight.”

“You have it, sir.”

“Who brought you in tonight?”

“Rodrigo and Hugo, sir.”

Kyros stared for several heartbeats, but the man didn’t try to slide away from his scrutiny. “I’ll check with them, you realize?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Very well. Register your name with my quartermaster.” Kyros leaned his head slightly to the left and watched his new recruit’s expression tighten. “You’ll be on three-quarters share for a period, make sure you don’t cause any trouble.” The man flashed a hard look at Kyros and with obvious discontent slid himself down the bench to sit across from Araceli.

They always reacted the same. Disbelief, anger, haughty self-importance, reluctant tolerance. Sometimes they made it past tolerance and worked well before the mast. Sometimes they didn’t. Araceli didn’t suffer fools. She calmly slid a knife against the edge of a whetstone, coloring the tavern chatter with the familiar slide of metal. It was more than a show, she’d already used the weapon twice in the few hours they sat here.

“Quartermaster.” The new recruit spat on the bench. He lifted his chin. “Don’t get too comfortable.”

“Name, please.” Araceli asked with no apparent interest.

“You can call me God, if you like.”

Araceli continued to sharpen her knife and the utter lack of response deflated the recruit’s ego a bit. He glanced at Kyros who didn’t even offer a raised eyebrow of acknowledgement.

His bravado slid a bit more. “Antony Louis.”

Araceli set the whetstone to one side of her ledger and the knife down on the other. She inked her quill and scratched his name onto the list. Kyros watched the recruit lean across the table and sniff at her. She hummed. “Captain says you get three-quarter share, understand?”

“Sure, darlin’.”

Kyros saw Araceli’s shoulders twitch a hair tighter. Antony couldn’t handle a woman in charge, or perhaps he didn’t like a negro telling him what to do. It was just a matter of time; he’d show his true colors. Araceli continued, “We sail after merchant vessels and will track down any legitimate treasure hoard. Any news you collect on that front you bring to me or the Captain—” Araceli paused at the blatant lust on Antony’s face. “Repeat that so I know you’re listening.”

Antony reached forward to stroke a finger across Araceli’s wrist on the ledger. “I’ll listen to your voice all ni—”

Araceli swept his hand to the side, dropped the quill for her knife. She stabbed Antony’s hand to the table. Her expression remained idly disinterested. Antony jerked to his feet with a shriek. He tried to punch her and missed. The whetstone skittered toward Kyros. Araceli pinned Antony’s head to the table. His rapid breath ruffled the pages of her ledger. He whined, the fingers of his impaled hand white with stress. Blood seeped between the cracks of the table.

Araceli continued, the interruption not worth the effort, “Merchants and treasure hoards. You’ll start in the rigging. Do you have any experience with line repairs?”

Antony’s free hand scratched at the table, and his face took a more pasty shade. Araceli waited. “Yes.”

A barmaid knocked into Kyros’ arm with her hip, her hands full of drinks. She nodded at Araceli. “Keep scarring that table and you’ll be paying for a new one.”

“These benches have seen worse than a few knives.”

“Your knives’ll be the last. This ain’t the Seal, we won’t be seeing any brawls from you or yours in this place.” She frowned at him and turned away to deliver her orders.

Kyros collected the whetstone. Araceli made a final note in her ledger and allowed Antony to lift his head from the table. She pressed the quill into his free hand and turned the book toward him. “Make your mark.” Antony marked a shaky cross of lines. Araceli yanked her knife out of the table and their new recruit’s hand. He gladly put more space between them.

“You’ll find the Hawk left of the bay,” Araceli said, moving the knife in a flat gesture that Antony backed away from. “Move your things aboard. The coxswain will show you your hammock. We go with the tide in two days, understood?”

“Yes, Quartermaster.” Antony cradled his hand and made his escape from the tavern.

Araceli measured her beer over the blood he left behind, filtering it through the wood and down to the stone floor. Kyros watched her wipe the knife. He handed her the whetstone. “What does that bring us up to?”

“Three score, even.”

“Ought to be enough.” Kyros sipped his drink. “Last minute concerns?”

“Going after this trade ship from Africa… that’s another target Midnight Sun tracked down, isn’t it?”

“So what if it is?”

She frowned at him, expressing multitudes of discontent. “You gamble with all of our lives. What happens when the Sun’s Captain elevates you from annoyance to threat? I wouldn’t take that ship with two hundred men.”

“Have you bought into the stories, then? A cursed man that slaughters souls by the dozens?”

“No. If he were manic he wouldn’t be able to run the kind of business he does.” She closed the ledger and tapped her quill free of ink. “Their six-pounders match ours, and they have a pair of long nines out the front.” She shook her head. “Frankly, she might match us for speed. It isn’t wise to antagonize him.”

“I’m not trying to get us all killed—”

“Then what are you doing?”

Kyros drained his mug and tapped it on the table, pensive. “I just need the distraction. And a spice ship is a good challenge for us. There’s a lot of profit in it.”

“Sure. So why are we taking on the Sun, too?”

Kyros wiped his hand down his face and pushed the mug away with one finger. “I need a treasure to chase.”

“Don’t avoid my question.” Araceli sheathed her knife on the back of her forearm.

“I didn’t.” Kyros signaled the barmaid for another beer.

“You just refuse to accept that some things should be avoided, don’t you?”

“I don’t take ‘no’ for an answer, girl. It’s not in my nature.”

Araceli snorted at him, a deep sound in her broad lungs.

****

January

That Night

Eric touched the shirt over his chest on the way up to tuck his hair back. He knew the shirt covered him. He’d put it on himself. It was not going to disappear. He tied several locks together at the back of his head, brass rings clinked on the strands. The Midnight Sun listed to port over a wave and moonlight blinked through the sails.

“Closing in to starboard, sir! Looks like an English boat.”

“Guns?”

A pause while the crow counted. Then, “Thirty, sir. And she rides low.”

“Tacking starboard! Full sail.” Eric swung the wheel before him, pulling the Sun to port, then turning to starboard on a direct approach. The boom of the mains’l drifted to port and the fabric stretched taut. “All hands. Ready the guns.”

“All hands!”

“All hands!”

The cry echoed over the ship, and men jumped to obey. Below him, Eric felt two score men load and roll out a full complement of cannon. The deck swarmed with men readied at sail and line. The Sun breached a wave, on the hunt. “Load the long nines, chain shot.”

“Load the nines with chain!”

“Ready!”

Two larger cannon out the fore rumbled into place, and Eric listened to the distance countdown. The crow called estimates every few seconds and as the numbers dropped, the tension on deck spiraled up.

“A hundred yards. Seventy. Fifty. Thirty—”

“Fire the nines.” Eric called to his men. And shortly: BOOM! Moonlight danced in the smoke. The Midnight Sun sailed right through it.

“Hit! The mains’l and rigging. She’s tacking port, Captain— they’re gonna fight.”

“Let them try.” Eric touched his course to keep the Sun as perpendicular to their target as he could, presenting a small target to their more numerous guns. Eventually, the tangent slid too far. Eric let the Sun angle behind their target instead. “Ho, the sails!”

Men dropped from on high, knots of rope in their hands to yank every sail up and out of the wind, using the fall of gravity for speed. The Sun slowed in the water, scraping behind the English ship without striking her. The seamen bristled at each other over the short distance. Wood groaned. Water sucked against the ships. Eric watched… “Starboard, fire centers.”