Damned (30 page)

“You have a hot little mouth.”

I take him as deep as I can and enjoy the sounds he makes above me. I pick up the pace as he moans and grips my hair so tightly I wonder if he has pulled some out.

“God.Fuck.Jade.” He roars.

He explodes and I am shocked at the feeling of him pulsing into my mouth. I take all of him and wait until he pulls me back before doing anything more. He looks down at me with a hooded expression.

“Well holy crap, no woman has ever swallowed.”

I blink. I had no idea what was right or wrong; I had no experience with it. “Oh, really?”

“God, that felt amazing.”

I blush. “Why thankyou.”

I slide up on the bed beside him and glance down at the pink dildo. Blushing, I turn to Jax.

“Why did you push it in at the last minute?” I ask, remembering the intense orgasm he had given me with this little machine.

“Makes it explosive.”

“I don’t want to know how you know that.”

His smile fades. “Yeah, you probably don’t.”

Jealousy tightens my heart. “Jax?”

“MMMMM?”

“How many?”

“How many what?”

“How many women?”

He closes his eyes and stiffens. “Baby, you don’t want that answer.”

“Please, I want to know.”

He inhales slowly and then releases just as slowly. “One wife, three…well…now four girlfriends and about twenty or so lovers.”

I stiffen. “Twenty or so? What is twenty or so?”

“Jade…let’s drop this.”

“You don’t know your number, do you?”

He growls. “No, ok. I fucking don’t.”

“Oh.How many per week?”

“Jade.”

“Please, I want to know.”

“When I was young, it depended but probably two per week, sometimes the same girl.”

“Oh, ok.”

“What does it matter?”

His eyes meet mine, and I feel tears well. Stop it Jade, past is the past.

“It matters because I don’t just want to be a god damned number.” I cry.

“You’re not just a number.”

“Aren’t I? It’s going to end just like that isn’t it? The next girl you talk to, there will just be one more number on your belt.”

“God dammit stop this shit. You are not a fucking number.” He yells.

“Well, what happened to your wife and your three girlfriends? Well?”

“It didn’t work out.”

“Why?”

He glares so heavily at me. “Because I wouldn’t give them what they wanted.”

It is like a slap in the face. “Exactly.”

“Jade…”

“Don’t Jax, don’t try and tell me it’s different because it’s not. God I am so stupid.”

“Baby, stop. You are different.”

“No.”

He strokes my cheek. “Yes. I never did this with any of them, cant you see that? Jade this jealousy has to stop.”

“I need some air, can I have a minute?”

He sighs. “Fine.”

He walks out before I get a chance to say anything more. Oh Jax.  I walk out of the room and up onto the deck; it is a chilly night, the breeze is just a touch higher than usual so the ship rocks from side to side on the gentle waves. It is almost calming. I stare out, enjoying the beautiful night sky when I feel a sudden sting in my neck. I groan and reach up, the last thing I feel is a dart protruding from my skin. Then, the floor raises up to smash me in the face.

CHAPTER 16

I wake in a cold, musty room. I groan and grasp my head, panic shoots through my body. I sit up, my eyes searching around to see where I am. It is dark, too dark to make out clearly where I am but somehow I know; I am not on Jax’s ship anymore.

“Good morning, captive.”

That voice, I turn and glare at the man it belongs to, Bill. When the light flicks on, I squint and glance at him. In the straight light, I get a close look. He has long blonde hair, greeny blue eyes that sort of
resemble Jax’s, a scar runs down his left cheek; he has thin, straight lips and a crooked nose. He is well built, probably in his mid thirties. I rub my head, wincing at the pain.

“What do you want from me?” I growl.

“For a start, you beat the shit out of me and shot me.”

“Revenge? Fine, then shoot me and get it over with.”

He laughs, and it’s bitter and cold. “I want revenge alright and guess how I am going to get it? From that lover boy of yours.”

“Leave Jax out of this.”

He grins, stepping closer. “You think I didn’t see the way he looks at you? Why, I think I have finally found his weakness. When he finds out you are here, he will give me what I want. Then, I will kill him slowly in front of you, and you my dear will stay and heal all my men for the rest of your days. Good job eh?”

“He doesn’t want me, did you ever use your petty pirate brain and remember he was sending me away?”

He looks confused a moment, then his grin returns. “He was protecting you, he loves you enough to try and hide you.”

“No, he can’t stand me. He is dumping me.”

“No, Jax doesn’t work like that my dear. Why do you think Bella is on this ship?”

“She betrayed him, it is fairly simple.”

“Aye, but he still cared for her. Yet, he never gave her the same treatment, never set her free.”

“It’s different, do what you want. He will not come for me just like he never came for her.”

His lip twitches. “You didn’t betray him.”

“And you know that how?”

“You’re words do not phase me, he will come for you because he looked at you in a way he never looked at her. Take it from me, the man will save you and kill himself doing so.”

“Why don’t you just kill me?”

He laughs. “How easy that would be, but he has what I want my dear, and so do you…”

“You’re a pig.”

“No, if I was a true pig I would have stuck my dick inside you and shackled you to a wall forcing you to use your powers to heal yourself over and over as I tore you from the inside. Now, aren’t you glad I am being kind?”

“You will pay for this.” I hiss.

“No my dear, you will.”

“I will do nothing and neither will he.”

“Get her to the cells, where she will learn the hard way that I do as I promise.” He orders another pirate who is standing in the room.

I fight the pirate who grips hold of me, dragging me through the old run down ship. I have to get out, to get away, or he will kill the one person who means something to me. The pirate drags me down below and into a small, cramped area. It smells of rotting flesh and rodents. I try to cover my nose, but the pirate yanks my arms down by my sides and continues to push me along. He gets to the cell door and swings it open, a strangled cry escapes my lips as I notice a dead man chained to the wall. His body is decaying slowly; rats tear at his skin. I scream as the pirate thrusts me in and slams the door.

“No, please. Let me go.”

He is gone without an answer. I turn and feel my stomach heave, god no, I can’t do this. I yank the shackles on my wrists, nothing. The room is no bigger than a
small bathroom; a small bed sit
s in the corner. Its sheets are stained with blood and urine. The pot on the floor, which I guess is a poor attempt at a toilet, is so disgusting, and mouldy I don’t dare guess what is in it. The floor is damp and covered with what feels like slime, and the old decaying man is sprawled out on the wall, his wrists still tied. He still has skin on parts of his body; his head is severed slightly and a dagger protrudes from his chest. I grasp the sheet off the bed and put it over him. I can’t look for a second longer.

I lay my jacket on the bed and sit on it, trying to think of anything but the rotten smell that fills the room.  I have an idea, and go over and very gently pull the dagger from the dead mans chest. It could come in handy. They wouldn’t break me now, not ever. The door squeaks above and I reach down to grasp the dagger in my hands. A shadowy figure appears and slowly comes into view. It is Bella.

“Bella!”

“We meet again. What are you doing on this ship? Did my darling husband get tired of you too?”

I shake my head; the woman has no heart. “How could you do it? How could you hurt him like that?”

“I had no choice, do not pretend you know about our life because I know you don’t.” She growls, her beautiful eyes narrowing. Damn, I am so jealous of how gorgeous she is. I hate that Jax and her have unresolved issues.

“You always have a choice.”

“Have you seen what he is? Looked into his blood red eyes? Seen him kill men like they are no more than small objects. He is deadly, dangerous and scary. It killed our marriage, my baby.”

“Baby?” I whisper, shocked.

“I was pregnant, and he beat me so badly I lost the baby. He turned and could not control the monster inside. I left, and when I heard he was running the bar, I thought he might have changed so I went back. Turns out he hasn’t, he is still that monster. I snuck onto Bills ship in hopes of finding the treasure, destroying it and removing the curse forever.

“He can remove the curse?”

“Of course he can, if that treasure is destroyed, the curse goes with it, but he will not give it up. For nothing or no-one. He and Bill will fight to the death one day and only one will remain standing.”

“Well, it doesn’t matter right now does it? What matters is we are both stuck here.”

“You think I can’t see that? I made a huge mistake; I can’t escape this ship.”

“So what now?” I ask; I want to beat her to death, but I know she may be the only way out.

“Don’t let him kill Jax, fight.”

I stand up and glare at her. “With what?”

“I will help you.”

“What can you possibly do to help me?”

She looks around wearily. “You surely noticed that Bill is an attractive man, it doesn’t take much for him to fall for the charms of a lady.”

“You want me to seduce that monster?”

“He will….take you anyway Jade. If you play along he is going to be more lenient and might release those shackles.”

“He will never trust me, he knows Jax is in love with me.”

“Jax said that?” She gapes.

“Yes, he did.”

Ok he didn’t exactly but who cares, she deserved to hear it. “Well, for now we just have to deal with what is at hand. The rest can wait till later. Bill trusts me.”

“He does?” I say, trying to ignore her ‘we can deal with the rest later’ comment. What did that mean anyway?

She nods.

“Yeah well you have to sleep with him to get that far.”

“He is a remarkable lover, it is not so bad.” She blushes, seriously blushes. What a bitch.

“How could you? After what you did to Jax?” I roar, kicking the bed.

“What would you have me do? Live in that cell, you do not know the hell you will endure on this ship if you don’t do as he asks. It is the only way to survive.”

“He can try his hardest.” I snarl.

“Fine, then you will cop what he dishes out and I can tell you now you will wish to god you were dead by the weeks end.”

I feel my insides turn to liquid as she storms out of the room. Is she right? Should I just pretend and go along with it? I can’t bear that man to be anywhere near me, what will I do? I fidget nervously, waiting for something to happen. It is becoming dark now; the room is becoming uncomfortably covered with shadow, soon I would not see at all. I hear footsteps once more and Bella arrives again, her face pale.

“You need to listen to me Jade, that man will use you in ways you could not begin to imagine.”

“Why should I listen to you? You told me to sleep with the man.”

She glances about. “No, I said don’t fight him. If you fight, he will torture. I think I have a plan to get us off this ship.”

My eyes widen. “What?”

“I need to get off and so do you, together I think we can work it out. Jax wouldn’t come for me, but he will come for you and that gives us a chance. He can’t be far off; we need to be ready when he arrives. We need to be able to get out of this cell and into the water.”

“So how do we do that?”

“I don’t know yet. I need time. I know you hate me, but we need to stick together for this.”

“I never said I hated you.” I mutter.

She hears a noise above. “I have to go.”

She is gone before I can say another word. I settle into my tiny spot on the bed covered with my Jacket and lean my head against the mouldy wall. My eyes droop; I am so tired, so worn. I hear more footsteps, this time it is Bill.  He has a bottle of rum in his hands; his grin is lopsided.

“Well well, have you changed your mind yet?” He slurs slightly.

“No.”

He shakes his head. “Very well.”

He opens the cell and saunters in, grasping my hands and lifting me to my feet. He is strong and sturdy even though he has been drinking.