Secrets of the Siren [Sirens and Sailors 5] (Siren Publishing Classic) (5 page)

“We need to get to the computer. It’s the only way to let the men know,” Kalliope said with a frown.

“Ademia can do that,” Ligia replied. “Naida, can you tell her to?”

“I d–don’t want to go back there with those men,” Naida wailed, as she burst into tears. “I w–was so frightened.”

“OK, I’ll go back,” Ligia said, decisively. “Kally, you and the girls stay here. Try to stay out of sight for as long as you can. Go into the sea if you have to. The more people they don’t know about the better.”

“The element of surprise,” Kalliope said with a gleam in her eyes.

“Exactly.”

“What about you? What will you do?”

Ligia bit her lip. “I’ll help the girls. Maybe if we can feed them up that’ll keep them happy for bit while we decide what to do. Actually, isn’t this where Rech and Aitan stored the booze for their bar?” She looked around the dark cave.

“Yes, it is. It’s down the back.” Kalliope pointed excitedly.

“Grab me a crate of spirits,” Ligia told her friend.

Kalliope and Naida rushed down to the far end of the cave.

“Don’t worry, girls. We’ll get word to the men and ask them to come back right away. It won’t take long with the new ship. In the meantime we’ll try to get the men drunk so they won’t be in a fit state to kill anyone.” Ligia’s eyes twinkled as she made her plan.

“There won’t be enough.” Naida groaned. “There’s dozens of those men. You won’t be able to carry enough drink by yourself.”

Ligia pouted as her mind whirled.

“How about getting them over here instead?” Kalliope suggested. “You tell them there’s a load of booze down here and they can come over and get it.”

“It might work,” Ligia said thoughtfully. “You’ll have to find somewhere else to hide, though.”

“Don’t you worry about us. We’ll sort something out. You just keep them occupied for a bit and then get them over here before the tide changes.”

“OK.” Ligia gave her friends a hug before setting off back to the main island.

She caught up with Hebe outside the hut she shared with Naida. The petite, auburn-haired girl frowned when she saw Ligia running toward her. Sapphire appeared with a large pan of water which she struggled to put on the fire.

“Give them as little to eat as you can get away with,” Ligia muttered. “And take your time. We need to keep them here as long as possible and then we’ll send them over to Destiny Rock afterward, just before the tide changes.”

“That’s at least another couple of hours,” Sapphire said, squinting as she looked up at the sky.

Some of the other girls had come to help with the food, and were busy preparing vegetables. They had all brought food from their own huts to contribute to the feast.

“If you need any more food, help yourselves from the store-shelters,” Ligia told them as she left. “Don’t make yourselves go short for these bastards.”

She made her way up to her own house and quickly fired up the computer. Anxiously, she kept checking the window in case the men came up this way. She could hear them outside somewhere, but it sounded like they were still near the
harbor
. Her time spent with Aitan had certainly paid off, and she knew how to Super-Skype the Central Electricity Board of Eastland, which Aitan had listed as CEBE. There were a number of e-mails and video messages which showed up as soon as she logged in using Aitan’s password. One was from Aitan’s mom and there were a couple from someone called Geva Daoud, who she guessed must be another of his relatives, as she shared his surname. There were a few other names she didn’t recognize. She felt a lump in her throat as she imagined the abuse the messages probably held, berating him for even thinking of marrying her. There was no time for that right now, though, so she bit her lip and concentrated on the task in hand. She managed to get connected to the CEBE straight away. She spoke to a secretary there and explained that her fiancé and his friends were in a meeting with one of their directors. The woman insisted that they couldn’t be interrupted, as it was such an important conference. Ligia managed to keep her cool and explained that this was an emergency and that a shipload of men with guns had landed on the island and already shot one of their men. She asked that the woman let the sailors know straight away and tell them they desperately needed help. A sudden noise outside made her jump. Her heart pounded as she awaited the secretary’s reply. The woman was saying something doubtful about doing what she could when suddenly the screen went black. Ligia sighed. She hurriedly hid the computer inside the bed and left.

On her way out, she could hear a ruckus next door. Peering through the window she could see two men foraging through Kalliope’s clothes. Knowing that her house would be next, the redhead rushed back to her own bedroom. She lifted the lid of her clothing trunk and rummaged for her ring.

“What do you think you’re doing?” a gruff voice demanded from behind her.

Before she had time to answer, a callused hand grabbed her and swung her around. She recognized him as the man who had shot Marinos.

“What have you got there?” His breath was rancid as he huffed in her face. He snatched the box from her hand and, after unwrapping it from the leaf, he opened it. His greedy eyes lit up.

“Well, well. We’d given up hope of finding anything worth having in this godforsaken place,” he said.

“Give it back. It’s mine!” Ligia saw red and grabbed at the box.

The putrid man seized her arm and squeezed it tight as he put the box into his back pocket.

“I think you’ll find it’s mine, now.” He sneered at her. “And so are you.”

He pushed her onto the bed and her back hit the hard laptop, which still lay hidden under the covering Elmwood leaf.

As the wretched man towered over her she tried to scream, but his hand was over her mouth in a split second. She tasted bile beginning to rise in her throat as his other hand unzipped his trousers. He wasn’t wearing underwear.
Oh God!

“Are you gonna do this the easy way or are you gonna get hurt?” His voice was rough and harsh.

Ligia’s eyes flashed at him as her mind ran rampant. He was going to take her, hurt her, and there was absolutely nothing she could do to stop him! She felt herself tremble uncontrollably as fear overtook her. The smell of him, the feel of his flesh on hers repulsed her and she felt his eyes burn into her, excited, demanding, evil. She was helpless and vulnerable. Her mind whirled.
How dare he?
A surge of anger and indignant rage rose within her, causing her to shake even more.

He managed to remove his T-shirt by swapping the hand on her mouth momentarily. She knew there would be no point in yelling. The girls were all down by the big house and, with the racket the travelers were making, they would have a hard job hearing her. Ligia was also well aware that this man had a gun which was still in its holster around his waist. She took a deep breath and took strength from the scent of her beloved Aitan, who had been lying in this bed just a few hours ago. She imagined how furious he would be that another man—this man—was attempting to take her in their own bed. Anger boiled deep in her stomach at the audacity of the filthy bastard.

The man was leaning over her, leering at her breasts while he stroked his cock. She looked down at his manhood and almost smirked. He was much smaller than Aitan, and seemed to be slightly bent to one side. He obviously noticed her watching him.

“Like what you see, do you, deary?” He was almost drooling as he sneered at her.

His hand left his cock and reached down for her breasts. He slid her bikini bra down so he could gawp at her pert bosom. He tried to tweak one of her nipples, and seemed disappointed that it didn’t rise to a hard nub.
Hardly surprising, you ugly fucker!

“Not frigid, are you?” He scoffed.

She shook her head as panic began to well inside her again. Her heart was thumping so loud it was deafening to her own ears, and she felt herself starting to pant. Afraid that the stupid bastard would mistake her reactions for passion—
as if!
—she forced herself to take deep breaths.

He swayed slightly as his cock stiffened. His legs were astride hers, and he shuffled slightly to keep his balance as his body relaxed into the steady rhythm of his strokes.

“What d’ya think, deary? Mouth first or pussy? Hmm, let me think.”

Releasing his cock for a second he yanked at her bikini panties, pulling them down her thighs. His attention was taken by the sight of her pussy and his eyes glinted with salacious approval.

“I love a furry pussy!” His voice was rasping.

Fury and panic overtook her, and she kicked both her legs up into his unguarded groin.

“Fuck!” His eyes bulged as the pain gripped him, and both hands automatically grabbed his pathetic manhood as his legs buckled.

Ligia slid backward over the bed, quickly pulling up her panties as she lithely climbed out of the little window. Luckily none of the windows in Refrainian huts had glass, so it was a simple task for the athletic girl.

“What the…Jared, what in hell’s name do you think you’re doing?” She heard his mate yell as she fled. She didn’t wait around for Jared’s reply. Her heart was racing with fear and anger. That bastard! How dare he do this to her? How dare he think he can come to her beautiful island, her home, and just take what he wanted? He had her ring and he so nearly had…It didn’t bear thinking about, she told herself as she choked back a sob.
I wish so much that Aitan was here
.

She kept checking behind her but Jared and his mate weren’t following.
Probably seeing what else they can take from me!

She raced up the hill to the big house, angrily wiping the tears which had begun to trickle down her cheek. Ademia and Melantho were there with Marinos. Both girls had been helping Dr. Jay in his new surgery lately and knew where to find everything they needed, including some morphine to help with the pain.

“We can’t get the bullet out, but we’ll try to keep him comfortable until Jay gets here,” Ademia explained. They had already cleaned and dressed the wound and Marinos lay sleeping on the new surgical bed. Seeing him there gave the redhead an idea.

“Do you know of any drugs which will put someone to sleep?” Ligia asked, wide-eyed. Her resolve was hardened by her determination to fight back.
This isn’t over yet!

“Nitrazepam is really good,” Melantho chirped. “Why?”

“Can we add it to their food? It might be safer for all of us if they could go to sleep until our men get here.”

“It comes in tablet form. We could crush them and add the powder that way,” Melantho replied quickly. “I don’t know about any long-term effects or anything though. I just know Dr. Jay has prescribed it for a couple of the sailors who can’t sleep. It seems to work really fast.”

“Great. Dr. Jay can sort out any aftereffects if necessary. In the meantime we need to keep everyone on the island safe. We’ve already seen what they’re capable of.”

Ligia wasn’t about to worry the girls by telling them what had just happened, but she certainly wasn’t concerned about any adverse effects the drug might have on those bastards. She was well aware that they wouldn’t give the islanders’ welfare a second’s thought.

The men all sat around on the grass, clearly enjoying the sight of the bikini-clad women passing around plates of hot food.

“I think we might enjoy some fun with these ladies afterward,” Captain Sivan announced, leering at the women.

That’s what you think, fucker!
Ligia couldn’t help smiling to herself as she watched them devour their food.

* * * *

The women deliberately gave the men nothing but water to drink with their meal.

“Haven’t you got any
real
drink?” Jared sneered as Hebe handed him another cup. Ligia, who had been avoiding him since he came back to join his shipmates, looked over and grinned.
Probably needs something to dull the pain!

“I don’t know what you mean,” Hebe replied through gritted teeth. The attitude of these rogues was evidently starting to grate on her last nerve now. Ligia guessed that she had also seen her face when she returned to the big house, and would have known something was off.

“They probably don’t, Jared,” one of the other sailors said with a frown. He turned to the captain. “Captain Sivan, could we get some beer from the ship?”

“Aye, good idea,” the captain said without looking around. Ligia could feel his eyes on her body as she moved among the sailors with the other girls, refilling plates and cups. She hoped he hadn’t noticed that she hadn’t been there when he first arrived. She jutted out her chin angrily, but he seemed to continue watching her.

A couple of the sailors stood up and went to fetch the drink.

“We’ll help,” Ademia offered, nodding to Ligia. Ligia was only too pleased at the suggestion. She was dying to see inside that ship. Every instinct in her told her there was something not right about these travellers.

“What do you think, Nadav? Shall we take a couple of women with us?” one of the sailors asked with a salacious grin.

Captain Sivan was still watching Ligia, who was downright outraged at his attitude. “You lay one finger on them and I’ll kill you, d’you hear?”

“Loud and clear, captain. They’ll be perfectly safe, don’t you worry.” Nadav was quick to respond, obviously well aware that the captain was making no empty threat.

The two girls followed the men down to the
harbor and Ligia climbed up onto the deck of the massive ship behind Nadav.

“Where have you come from?” she enquired as Nadav helped her up. She stared around the enormous vessel. The mizzen mast seemed miles away, and it was obvious this ship was worth a fortune. It was beautiful. The wood was highly polished and beautifully carved. The sails were folded neatly and tied securely with no messy ropes hanging down. Storage containers were fixed beneath the benches which ran the perimeter of the deck. It seemed everything had its place as the whole deck was beautifully tidy.