The Devil's Good Intentions (55 page)

She felt like a bitch in heat!

“
Stop touching me!" She cried out in distress as she broke into another round of sobs that she couldn’t control.

“
What the…Peter we don’t have time to play. Either bring the wench with you or stop screwing around, we have to go!” An irate voice boomed from the door.

“
Patience brother…” The man called Peter spat back.

She continued to shake her head in denial as she sobbed into her knees.

“
Damn it girl, I’m not going to hurt you!” he growled at her as she flinched away from his touch again.

“
Jesus Peter…” The other man growled and then she was being lifted.

She opened her mouth to scream and then froze.

Not two inches from her face was Alex’s.

She couldn’t speak, only stare.

She felt the other man’s arms wrap around her ribs and pull her to him; still she said nothing as she stared into the stunned face of Alex.

“
Go get Salvador, now!” Peter bellowed out from behind her.

That seemed to rattle her.

“
Peter” She whispered out, afraid to hope.

“
Shhh, you’re safe now.” He cooed in a gentle tone to assure her.

His arms loosened and she turned around slowly, crying out when she saw the truth.

She flung herself into his arms and cried, but this time they were tears of relief.

Picking her up to cradle her against him, he wrapped his arms securely around her.

As his arms brush against hers, she felt a tight knot in the pit of her stomach as a wave of desire spread from the touch.

“
No! Don’t touch my skin!” She cried out in alarm as she tried to squirm out of his arms.

“
It’s ok sweetheart, we won’t let anybody hurt you.” He responded reluctantly.

She spotted the shirt that she had fallen asleep in and pointed to it. He saw what she was pointing at and his grip loosened on her.

She took advantage of the moment and sprung out of his arms and found herself back in the corner he had found her.

She was gripping her towel close to her and trembling. Now she knew it was the drug that had somehow did this to her and she hated Captain Sebastian even more than she thought could be possible.

Peter lifted from the bed and slowly bent over to pick up the shirt.

As he held it out to her, she could see that she had hurt him.

“
He drugged me, you can’t touch me Peter…please” she ended on a sob.

“
Son of a bitch!” came an angry declaration from the doorway.

Her knees buckled and she crumpled to the floor in shame as she stared into the tortured eyes of her husband.

~

He could hear Charles curse from beside him but it sounded as though it came from a distance. Katherine turned her head towards them and their gazes locked.

She looked like a frightened animal backed into the corner, with one hand clenching a towel to her and the other hand held out to ward off Peter.

And then his heart sank as she crumpled to the floor in defeat.

He grabbed the shirt from Peter’s outstretched hand and sank down to the floor beside her.

She had a couple of visible bruises on her skin, arms and shoulders. He could tell that at one point she had been bound by the rope burns from the bruises on her wrists. Her lips were swollen and one of them had been bleeding. He was scared to touch her but knew that he had to get her off this ship.

“
My Love, I’m going to help you put this shirt on, okay?” he tried to say in the most gentle voice he could muster up and even that didn’t hide the shakiness and tremors in his voice.

She nodded her head but didn’t look up at him.

Reluctantly letting go of the towel, she lifted her hands so he could slip the shirt on. Once that was done, he lifted her into his arms.

He cursed when she flinched at his touch.

He could not dwell on the fact that his wife had been given an aphrodisiac and was still suffering the effects. He could not dwell on what that meant, not now.

“
If Salvador hadn’t slit Sebastian’s throat already, I would have taken the pleasure to do so now.” He heard Peter grumble from behind him.

Sebastian had been fighting Ed and was about to ram his sword through Ed’s heart before Salvador swiftly beheaded him with his own sword.

He had been running on pure adrenaline and he knew he was on the right track, but he still couldn’t figure out why he needed to be on this ship.

Now he knew.

Sebastian’s crew were littered around the ship, dead or injured or tied up and taken below deck. Captain Roberts had taken a nasty blow to his leg and was back on the Enchantress receiving medical attention. He had unfortunately lost a few of his own crew members who opted to board Sebastian’s ship with the brothers, even though they were nothing more than sea men.

Now his reason for living was tucked safely in his arms when he had only an instinct that her safety was compromised.

She was still trembling and he knew that the drug only played a small part in that.

He easily walked the plank to his ship, carried his beloved to his cabin and locked the door.

Salvador’s mind had never been in such turmoil as it was now. When he brought Kat back to his chamber, he had swaddled her in his arms and whispered words of endearment while she cried her heart out. She refused to say a word and eventually fell into an exhausted slumber.

He had left her to sleep on his cot and quietly slipped out of his room. The rage flowing through his veins was like none that he had ever known! He wanted to fight someone, anyone! He wanted to run his sword through everyman that crossed his path until the image of his broken wife subsided.

His brothers heard him leave his room and start to head for the upper decks. Ed stepped out of his room and hulled him inside. He raged and slammed his fist through the walls, he tore the bolted down cot from the floor and destroyed the room and still he could not calm the anger within him. They had shut him in their room to let him cool down – for safeties sake. Finally he fell to the floor, panting like a dog and wiped his hair out of his face with his bloodied hands. Charles slipped into the room and kicked the debris aside so he could sit next to him.

“
There is nothing you could have done Salvador” he said quietly.

“
She is my wife! I should have never left her!” he cried out as he covered his face with his hands.

His poor innocent wife! What the hell happened to her? How did she end up on Sebastian’s ship? Did he…

“
Salvador stop!” He heard through his fresh bought of rage.

He realized that he had grabbed Charles by the throat and had him squirming on the floor beneath him. Simon was trying to pull him off and wasn’t succeeding until now.

“
Sorry” Salvador mumbled demurely as he slumped onto the ground again.

“
Bring him some whiskey.” Charles croaked out.

“
Peter finished the bottle” Simon informed him.

“
Find the Captain and find out where the rest of his stash is.” Charles repeated his order.

He left the room without another word.

“
How is she holding up?” Charles asked.

“
She hasn’t spoken to me. She cried herself to sleep and that’s how I left her.” He chocked out.

He felt the moisture on his cheeks and wasn’t sure what it represented. Was it tears? Blood? Did he really care?

“
We’re running out of rooms.” Charles said flatly.

“
We’ll put three to a room.”

“
No good, Peter destroyed his room.”

That didn’t surprise him. Peter and Kat had developed a close bond since the day he carried her back from her meeting with that bitch. He never questioned their relationship again. Brotherly intent was all that it was for Peter and Kat relished in their relationship. He wasn’t sure why they took to each other like that, but he was no longer jealous and knew that Peter would fight to his dying breath for her.

Now all he wanted was to get Katherine back home and find out what the hell happened.

~

Katherine opened her eyes and felt empty inside. Everything came flooding back and all that stuck out was her body’s betrayal. She knew it was the drug that somehow warped her thinking, but she should have been stronger. Salvador really had turned her into a wanton and that stung. She remembered pleading for him to stop and when he had told her not to deny that she wanted him, he wasn’t so far off from the truth. She had to use all of her will power to keep from thrusting her hips forward to receive him into her - and he knew it.

At least her body wasn’t aroused anymore, she just felt empty and exhausted.

Turning onto her side, she rested her head on her arm and then froze.

It took her a moment to identify the lonely figure sitting on the floor across from her.

“
Peter” she whispered out and then closed her eyes against him so he wouldn’t see the shame in her eyes.

The only light in the room was from the lanterns burning in the hallway through the open door and she was grateful that she was shadowed. She wanted to hide from all of them; she feared their judgment and rejection.

When he scuffled closer to her, she could smell the whiskey on him.

“
We’re going to make this right Katherine” he whispered as he gently stroked her hair in a gesture of comfort.

She opened her eyes to see him sitting on the floor next to the bed facing her. She didn’t see accusation in his eyes, only compassion. Surely he must know that something had happened, yet he wasn’t judging her.

“
Talk to me Kat, tell me what happened.” He prompted her gently.

She trusted him. Peter was her safe haven, after Salvador of course.

She closed her eyes; it made it easier to speak when she didn’t have to stare in the face of her accuser.

“
Sweetheart” he gently squeezed her hand as an offer of support, she took it.

“
I was taken from my bed.” She began, remembering everything clearly. “I think it was a breeze that woke me up and by the time I realized I wasn’t alone in the room, it was too late. He gagged me and smothered my nose with a cloth. I must have blacked out then.”

“
Who gagged you?”

“
I don’t know - I didn’t see his face. The room was dark and there was a storm outside, I think. When I woke up, my head was pounding and my limbs felt heavy. I was lying on a cot in the room where you found me with my wrists bound behind my back. I was able to get up eventually and open my eyes without the room spinning. I felt nauseous. The door was locked and there was only a tiny port hole to tell me I was on a boat in the port.”

She remembered when Pennington came in. Her heart had sped up and the fear rose as he stared at her with his cold calculating eyes, then she remembered his lips on her breasts and the feel of his wet mouth.

“
Go on Love” he prompted her gently.

“
When he came into the room I knew it was no random kidnapping.”

“
Captain Sebastian?”

“
No, Lord Pennington.”

He made a hiss like sound and suddenly she found herself squeezing his hand to support him.

“
But he wasn’t on the boat” He mused out loud in confusion.

“
No, I suspect that he was in town trying to obtain an annulment for my marriage to Salvador while Captain…while I was escorted to one of his private islands.” She bit out.