Damned (4 page)

“Not much choice love.”

“What if I just say no, you
cannot
force me?”

“I can and will or you know what will happen.”

I snort. “How, by forcing my legs open so James can dive in? I believe that would be rape father.”

He stands and slaps me so hard I see stars. I
hold
my cheek and storm out. I hear my mother yell at him
,
but she does
no
t come after me. I find James in the garden, I don’t bother to stop.

“Jade, where are you going?”

“Go to hell, you don’t want
this either. W
hy in the hell do you play along when we all know you
a
re
banging Celeste?
”

He growls
and yanks me further into the gardens. “I am doing my duty. If I w
ant
to be king, it is through
you. All kings have mistresses.”

“You’re not a king yet and if I say no, you won’t be.” I warn.

“Y
ou have no choice.”

“I do have a cho
ice, what if I decide to sleep with another
?”

He slaps me, damn, two in one day. “You touch another man and I will make sure
your
father finds out
,
and you are punished.”

“So it
i
s ok for you, but not me?”

“I am a man, it is my right. It is not yours.”

“You do
no
t own me.”

“Yes, I do. The sooner you realize that, the better. You do
no
t have control over your life, face it.”

“Don’t I? I think you
a
re wrong.”

I turn and
rush off, heading
straight to the wall and unlocking it.
I still have the
key
;
Sandra had given it to me to keep safe last night when she had begun getting a little too under the weather. I see the pub right away and
run
over
. It is
quiet
,
and nobody seems to be around. I walk through the front door
;
Jax is cleaning the bar but looks up when the door slams.

“Knew you couldn’t stay away, can’t help yourself huh?”

I growl, then turn and
start
heading out, I do
no
t need his shit either.

“Hey, wait.” He yells, rushing over and grasping my arm. He spins me around
;
glances at me and then touches my cheek. His hands are soft but rough, very manly.

“Who hurt you?”

I tell him what happened
,
he tilts his head and stares at me oddly. “Sounds like you
a
re going to marry a fuckwit.”

“Couldn’t have put it better myself. How does he expect to screw around and consider it ok? My father thinks he can just force me to get pregnant. Like I am no more than a dog. And to top it off, he just said he is going to take my inheritance if I don’t.”

Jax takes my hand and leads me into the back of the pub
;
it is a small apartment with an open plan living
room
that boasts a small kitchen, a small couch and a television. Off to the side, I can see a toilet and bathroom, along with a single bedroom. It is
stylish
enough but small.

“You live here?”

“Yeah.”

He takes me into the small kitchen and sits me down, then hands me an ice pack from the freezer.

“You should
no
t have to put up with this.”

“What choice do I have? I can run
,
but
they will find me.
I can’t just make my own choices and be happy with them. Every
decision
is made for me. Even if they did let me run, do you
honest
ly think I could live in the real world? I’ve rarely been outside the palace walls
,
and when I do, it
i
s only with escorts for parades or meetings.”

“It doesn’t have to be that way, surely it
i
s not legal for them to do that?”

“They are royalty, they do what they want. Anyway, I
guess
you
’re glad I failed and came back?
” I say, changing the
subject
.

He grins. “It was the best part of my day so far.”

“I love how you say so far. So where
i
s your last night’s shag?” I ask
,
looking around.

He snorts. “I sleep alone.”

“Oh, so you’re a shag and get out kinda bloke?”

He nods. “I don’t share my bed.”

“Wow, you’re
a winner
. Truly.”

He smiles lazily and I
flush
. Stupid
handsome
man.

“And FYI, I shagged nobody last night.”

“Couldn’t stop thinking of me huh? Don’t be ashamed, they all do.” I wink.

He laughs, that
low
rumbling sound cascades through my body. “I did think about you, that’s for damn sure.”

“Enough information.”

“I wasn’t going to give you anymore.”

I sit down. “Mind if I stay a while?”

“Won’t they go crazy with security, helicopters and all that?”

I laugh, god now that’s
an image. “We own over a hundred hectares
;
there are times I
head
off for a whole day and night, they don’t look. I always come back.”

“Rebel.”

“For two people who do
no
t know each other, we get along kind of well.”

He winks at me. “I am charming, what can I say?”

“Charming is
no
t the word I would
apply
but
ok,
we will st
ay
with that.”

“You like me darlin, just admit it.”

“I kind of do, I don’t know why. Considering I do
no
t know you, but
,
you make me smile and that’s something.”

“Don’t fall in love with me though, I do
no
t
do
a nice lover.”

I stare at him and see he is serious, the deep set of his eyes and his frown tells me so. “So you screw around, but you don’t fall in love?”

“No. I will be
your
friend, best one you ever had
.
I will fuck you, stroke you, take care of you
,
but I will never love you and you would do good
never to
love me.”

“Wow, you never cease to amaze me. Don’t panic, I have no plans of being anything more than a friend to you, Captain.”

“Not after any of the other perks?” He winks
,
and I
hi
t him
with
my best glare.

“No, thanks. It seems you have plenty to stroke, take care of and fu…play with.”

“Can’t say it can you, little princess?”

“Fuck fuck fuck fuck.”

“Stop that.” He growls.

“Can’t take the heat, Fabio?”

He touches my face
,
and I
shudder
. “I can take anything you got, I doubt it works the other way around though.”

“I could handle you.” I say proudly, chin raised.

“No, you couldn’t. You
a
re a nice girl
;
you would fall in love with me the m
oment
I laid my hands on you.”

“What makes you think you
a
re that good?”

“I can see it in your eyes, you
a
re already mad a
bout me. If I got that close
, you would melt.”

“Oh get over yourself. I find you attractive, I may or may not be developing a crush on you
,
but I certainly am not about to fall in love with you. It
i
s called Lust pirate, look it up. I have known you less than twenty four hours, calm down.”

“Once or twice it would be lust, if I kept coming back it would be love. Take my
advice
princess, do
no
t fall for me.”

“You are so in love with yourself.” I mumble into my hands, god damned arrogant man.

“As I said, you
a
re a nice girl. I don’t like to see nice girls get hurt.”

“Who did the damage to you pirate? Why wouldn’t you allow yourself to care for some
one
?”

I dare to take a
peek
at him
,
and his stare is hard. “I’m a pirate, I am a monster. I am not good for any woman other than for a good fuck. It
i
s where it ends.”

“What if you did fall in love, then what?”

“I’d never let anything g
o
that far, I would run far before it got to that point.”

“You would just up and leave, just like that?”

“Yeah. I give women everything they
need
, just not my heart. I would never chase a girl, even if I did love her
.
It
'
s just
how I am.”

“So…you’re saying if you fell in love for real and that girl left, you would
no
t go after her?”

“No, I would
no
t. If she chose to leave, it means she does
no
t want me. Why would I bother?”

“She could just be hurt!” I protest.

“I do
no
t chase. End of story.”

“Have you ever been in love pirate?”

He shakes his head. “Never.”

“Close?”

“Close. I was married.”

“You were married?” I gasp.

“Yeah.”

“And you swore
your
loyalty to a woman, but didn’t love her?”

He shrugs.

“Wow, you got issues.”

“How?”

“You just do. I thought I was complicated.” I roll my eyes and shake my head. God the man is
trying
.

“You are.”

“Well, you need not
worry
. I have no interest in anything more than friendship.”

“Friends with benefit’s?” He adds with a smile.

“Dream on.”

“You’ll give in.”

“I doubt that.”

“You will.”

“Oh stop it or I’ll leave.”

“No one’s stopping you.” He snaps, seriously.

“You’re a
nasty person.
”

“I am.”

“Well you be
tter
be nice to me
,
or I w
ill no
t come visit you.” I say, folding my arms across my chest and nodding my head in a ‘so there’ kind of way.

“Again, no one’s making you.”

I
thrust
my phone at him. “Did you read
your
stalker message this morning?”

He laughs and throws up his hands. “Alright, I will be nice to you, if you visit me.”

“Deal.”

An older man walks into the room then, followed by two others. One is very
attractiv
e and reminds me of a vampire with his long black hair, pale skin and blue eyes. The other is an older pirate, with long hair, a goatee, tattoos and a kind face. The third is a middle aged pirate, who looks rougher than the other two.

“Cap.” They say in greeting. “Princess…”

I smile shyly. “Hi.”

“You came back, aren’t you going to be hung for sneaking out?” The older pirate asks, plonking down on the chair next to me.

I laugh. “Something like that. I’m Jade, though you probably already know that.”

“Rusty…nice to meet you lass.”

“Jack.” Says the handsome one, extending his hand. I take it and sh
udd
er as what feels like an electric shock runs up my arm, he seems to feel i
t too, and I wonder for a moment;
if he knows of my secret. He pulls away and smiles as though nothing has happened.