Once a Pirate (Mystical Realm Series Book 1) (15 page)

Much to his surprise, Anna shrugged. “He’s not my father,” she stated. “Why would he care how he found me?”

Jake wondered if it was her innocence which prevented Anna from seeing the Prince’s desire for her or if she simply didn’t want to know. In either possibility, Jake decided not to share the information. He only had a short time with Anna and Jake wasn’t about to spend his time fighting another man for her.

With a sigh, Jake pushed away from the bed, replacing his shirt and gloves as he approached the heavy wooden door. Jake looked back to see Anna had straightened her clothes and now saw on the edge of his bed. With a smile at her confidence, Jake opened the door, taking a step back as the Prince entered his bedroom.

“Why are we going to Mermaid Cove? It’s dangerous and certainly no place for,” Char fell silent as he caught sight of Anna, “Anna.”

“Mermaid Cove sounds like a lovely place,” Anna commented.

“I’m afraid the Prince is right, Love,” Jake crossed the room to pour a glass of water. “What you’ve read of Mermaids in the past has no comparison to the true creatures they are.”

“They are violent and dangerous,” Char seemed to forget his shock of Anna’s presence and turned to face Jake. “I will not allow Anna to be placed in danger on some fool’s errand.”

“It is no fool’s errand, Mate,” Jake assured. “Aye, the Mermaids are all you say and more, but they have something we need. If there were another way I wouldn’t hesitate to change course, but there isn’t.”

“And how are you so sure?” Char demanded. “Because the man you tortured told you so?”

Jake winced as Anna paled at the Prince’s reminder. “He wouldn’t have lied,” Jake informed him, setting his glass down before the anxious tremors in his hands became noticeable.

“You killed him, didn’t you?” Char asked coldly.

Jake looked over at Anna, who averted her eyes from him. He didn’t want to answer the question, especially since everyone in the room knew the answer already, but he nodded. Jake hadn’t been willing to release the man back to his Dark Guild. If the man were to escape or find a way to contact his compatriots, Jake and his crew would no longer have the element of surprise on their side.

As it was, Jake had enough information to destroy the Guild’s plans for Anna. He wouldn’t risk that for one traitor’s life. It wouldn’t matter once they reached Mermaid Cove what Anna thought of his actions against Guardian Maxwell anyway. Anna would never be able to accept what Jake planned to do. She would turn from him. Once she saw the monster he truly was; once he killed a Mermaid.

Chapter Fifteen

The bright, promising first rays of sun quickly vanished behind a thick, inky layer of storm clouds. A light mist dusted the deck of the Crimson Jewel, soaking her crew with a dreary display of nature’s misery. Anna watched from the windows in Jake’s quarters, having decided to remain while he tended to the duties of his Captain status. Sully came to keep her company, by order of his Captain by the man’s account. However, she suspected the man made the suggestion himself in attempt to keep Anna from being left alone to wallow in memory. Anna didn’t mind the quartermaster’s attention, laughing at the stories he told of his and Jake’s journeys together.

“So, what are Mermaids like?” Anna asked as she poured a cup of tea for herself after Sully refused one of his own. “Are they as horrible as I’m told?”

“Aye,” Sully nodded severely. “And, if it be by Jake or the Prince’s lips you heard from, I’d imagine they are a far sight worse than even they describe.”

“Will you tell me about them?” Anna asked with a nod of understanding. She knew Jake and Char wanted to keep her in the dark about their mission.

“Mermaids are the most beautiful creatures in the realm by far,” Sully began with the positive. “Their hair holds the waves of the Ocean and their eyes are turquois pools. Their legs are powerful and look to be made of millions of gemstones in every color.”

“Legs?” Anna prodded.

“Aye, the stories you hear tell about their fins are exaggerations. They are just as deadly on land as in water, perhaps more so as they have more to defend.”

“They don’t sound so terrifying,” Anna remarked over the lip of her mug.

“Aye, to see one would make the hardest soul weep with the joy of them,” Sully agreed. “But, they aren’t beautiful where it matters. Their hearts are frozen to any beyond their own kind. They would sooner drag you to your death at the bottom of the abyss than speak a word to you.”

“Why?” Anna asked.

“Why what, lass?” Sully eyed her with confusion.

“Why are they like that?” Anna clarified.

“The why doesn’t matter,” Sully shook his head.

“Of course it matters,” Anna remarked in surprise. “No creature is born to hate or fear, Sully. Experience teaches them to be that way.”

“Sully doesn’t indulge in the why and how of a situation, Love,” Jake spoke tenderly from the doorway, his obvious love for the older man clear in his tone. “He only cares what is.”

“Aye,” Sully nodded and stood to greet his Captain. “I’ll keep an eye on our course, Captain.”

Jake nodded and closed the door behind his quartermaster. “What do you want to know?” Jake asked Anna as he came to join her at the window.

“I thought you didn’t want to concern me,” Anna retorted at his offer of information.

“Personally, Love, I’d rather drag you to my bed and spend the afternoon exploring every inch of you, but since that wouldn’t be very honorable of me,” Jake shrugged mischievously. “We may as well explore the history of the Mermaid.”

Anna was tempted to tell him what he could do with his honorable intentions, but she still hadn’t forgotten his confirmation of killing Guardian Maxwell that morning. Of course she suspected the truth before, but to have Jake admit to the act was chilling. “So, why do they hate outsiders?”

“Why wouldn’t they?” Jake asked in return. “Mermaids depend on the Ocean for their very existence. They feed from it, live in it, raise their young and send off their elders. Outsiders interfere with the balance of their home.”

“It seems a simple answer,” Anna observed.

“I’m afraid I don’t have a better one, Love,” Jake admitted. “Mermaids don’t speak to outsiders, especially of their affairs. How could anyone know why if they won’t tell?”

“I suppose,” Anna nodded, accepting his answer. “So, how are you going to get what you want from them if they won’t speak to you?”

“I’m going to take it,” Jake admitted after a slight pause. Anna’s concern must have been obvious because Jake was quick to assure her. “If they would speak with me, I would ask or offer payment, but they won’t. I’ll only do what I must, no more.”

“I’m sorry, Jake,” Anna remarked with a sad smile. “That isn’t very reassuring.”

“I know, Love. If there was any other way,” Jake stopped speaking as Anna slipped into his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck and laying her head on his shoulder.

“I know,” Anna comforted, placing a kiss on the skin of his neck.

Jake groaned at the press of her lips, wrapping his thickly muscled arms around her in a crushing grip. Anna smiled at his obvious need for her acceptance. If she needed further proof of his attempt to change, Anna would have had it in that moment.

***

Jake took the sweetness Anna offered him, pressing his erection against her denim clad hip in desperation to ease the agony. He’d suffered with the persistent affliction for hours since leaving her that morning, but Jake knew Anna needed time away from him after his confirmations earlier. The knowledge she didn’t hate him for his act of violence toward Guardian Maxwell eased his heartache and Jake allowed his body to accept his need for her.

Jake stood, easily lifting her light form in his arms and moved toward his bed; still mussed from their time together earlier. He came down over her, using his knee to spear apart her thighs and allow him to settle between. He fumbled at the stiff closures of her pants, wishing she’d worn one of the skirts he’d seen her in before. With some effort, he managed to free the material, pressing it down her hips enough to reach his hand inside to fondle her panties. The silken material was already wet with need and Jake groaned.

“Jake,” Anna shifted along his fingers, her legs widening to offer greater access as her hands fumbled to unbutton his shirt and push it from his shoulders.

Jake’s hand pleasured her as he claimed her lips with his, darting his tongue past her lips to mimic the movements of his fingers. She arched, his fingers pressing deep inside of her at the movement as her body contracted with release. Jake smiled arrogantly at his ability to bring her pleasure so easily, releasing her lips to press kissed down her jaw and neck. He freed his hand, using it to remove the loose t-shirt she wore and reveal her bra-clad breasts.

His teeth nipped at her covered nipples, standing at attention through the white satin of the garment. Jake’s hands pressed down on her jeans until they fell to the floorboards before turning to his own leather slacks. The material gave painfully, his erection springing free of its confines with force. The feel of her wetness on his shaft sent Jake into a frenzy of need and he rubbed himself along her folds desperately.

His breath came in pants as he continued to move his hips, his fingers taking the place of his teeth at her nipples so he could taste other areas of her. “Anna,” Jake growled as she arched beneath him, the action forcing the head of his shaft into her warm pussy. “I can’t hold back, not this time, Love. I want you too badly.”

“You don’t have to,” Anna moaned in return. “I want you inside of me. Please, Jake, take it, take me.”

Jake sobbed with the force of his want to indulge in all she offered, but he knew there would be no redemption for the act. He pressed his forehead to hers as his cock slipped inside of her, staring down into her heated brown eyes. He saw the moment he reached her barrier as her eyes widened; not with fear but with expectation. Jake almost lost control, shuddering with the strength it took to pull away. The grasp of her walls tightened around his cock, demanding reentry which Jake did not deny. Her orgasm came quickly, her eyes widening and darkening with it as it rushed through her. Her legs clamped around his hips as she bucked under him. Jake tried to hold her still, his hands braced on her hips and his teeth grit against the need for his own release.

The action was futile as her body shuddered. Jake pressed her hard to the mattress, bracing her with his own weight as he pressed his length as far inside of her as he would allow. The tightness of her walls milked him, giving him the orgasm he craved and drinking every drop of cum from his swollen cock. Jake buried his head in her neck, his body aching to press deeper but remaining stiff where it rested. The torrent of his need was never-ending, coating her pussy with his thickness and making them both sob with its power.

When he was spent, Jake rolled to his side, pulling Anna with him. He wanted to show her concern and clean their indiscretion away as he had earlier, but Jake couldn’t bring himself to move. His legs were weak from release and his body rested in a sated state of contentment.

***

The storm which threatened for the majority of the day opened just after dark, bursting forth with a torrent of rain and crashing waves. Anna watched Jake at the wheel from the safety of the overhang above her bedroom door. His white shirt was plastered to his chest, clinging to every inch of his impressive physique. Jake’s face was set in concentration as he yelled orders to his crew. The confidence in his demeanor gave calm in the storm and the men obeyed without hesitation or question. She sighed at the masculine sight as she grasped onto the wooden braces beside her for support against the violently rocking ship.

“You should be inside, Anna,” Char admonished from behind her. “Please, come in and get out of the weather.”

Anna didn’t want to take her eyes off Jake, feeling a slight bit of apprehension of him being alone on the upper deck of the Crimson Jewel, but she sighed and followed the Prince into his quarters. Char’s room was a mirror image of hers, with a small bed, a dresser along the far wall and a chair beneath the window. Char motioned for her to sit in the chair and Anna obeyed, accepting the mug of warm tea he offered before he sat on the edge of the bed. Anna watched him shift nervously for several minutes as he seemed to be debating something.

“Anna,” Char finally spoke hesitantly. “I’m not sure what is going on between you and Captain Reynolds, but I wouldn’t forgive myself if I didn’t say something.”

“Char,” Anna attempted to halt whatever lecture he planned, but he held up a hand in plea.

“Please, let me speak,” Char pleaded. “I’ve heard tale of the Captain’s charm with women and I’m concerned you may have been drawn in beyond your depth.”

“Char, I’m not a child, I know what I’m getting into,” Anna smiled at the man.

“Then my suspicions were accurate,” Char sighed. “You do have feelings for him.”

“I do,” Anna admitted.

“He isn’t the man you believe him to be, Anna,” Char informed. “Jake Reynolds is a monster; a Pirate.”

“I thought he was a Captain in your royal fleet,” Anna reminded.

“Yes, I can see how that would confuse you,” Char ran a hand through his hair in frustration as Anna noticed Jake do on occasion. The longer she sat with the Prince in his quarters, the more similarities Anna saw between them. “I just don’t want to see you hurt.”

“I know, Char, and I appreciate your concern for me,” Anna assured. “Maybe, if I knew what was really going on, why are we really going to Mermaid Cove? What’s so important?”

“I can’t say,” Char sighed.

“No, Char, you won’t say,” Anna corrected.

“Anna, our reasons for going to Mermaid Cove are only known to Reynolds. He hasn’t shared the information,” Char informed. “I have heard only whispers of what he intends.”

“And,” Anna probed. “Tell me what you’ve heard.”

“I’ve heard the Mermaids have possession of something Reynolds needs,” Char paused. “An ancient magic they will not wish to part with.”

“Then, how is Jake going to get it?” Anna asked.

“Anna,” Char paused. “I didn’t offer Reynolds a position in my fleet because I believed him to be a good man; I offered because I knew he wasn’t.”

Anna’s blood chilled. “How is he going to get it, Char?”

“He will most likely try torture and threats first,” Char admitted.

“Like Guardian Maxwell,” Anna whispered.

“Yes, but Mermaids are far stronger and more stubborn a creature than man,” Char sighed heavily. “Reynolds has sworn he will obtain this magic and he is nothing if not a man of his word. He will do whatever it takes.”

“Tell me,” Anna pleaded.

“He is willing to kill for what he wants, Anna,” Char looked apologetic.

“He would kill a Mermaid?” Anna asked in shock.

“Not just one,” Char shook his head sadly. “Reynolds will kill until he gets what he needs from them.”

“I don’t believe it,” Anna shook her head in denial. Surely Jake wouldn’t be so cold and heartless; not the man who held her so tenderly the night before. Jake wasn’t a monster.

“I’m sorry, Anna,” Char reached for her hand, but Anna pulled back. “I know you wanted to believe he was a good man.”

“He is a good man, Char,” Anna defended. “He won’t do it; he won’t kill them.”

“Anna,” Char reached for her as she stood and walked toward the door of Char’s quarters.

“No,” Anna pushed past the Prince and out onto the deck.

The rain had slowed to a miserable drizzle, but the wind still whipped strong enough to make the droplets feel like tiny pellets against her skin. Anna ignored the sting, finding the crew of the Crimson Jewel had dropped anchor in a small cove. Jake stood on the main deck barking orders to his men, his white shirt plastered to every inch of his impressive torso. She approached him as the crew tossed a net over the side of the ship.