Owned by Pirates

“But how does it work?” I had asked, the curiosity overtaking me even more than my embarrassment.

“Just let the man do as he will, and try not to fight back,” mother had said.

“Is there only one way?”

Mother’s lips tightened, and her hand had fluttered to a tiny scar on the side of her left jaw. “Sometimes he might try to get you to put his manhood into your mouth like a common whore.” She stroked the inch of disturbed flesh without even thinking. “Sometimes it’s worth fighting back, and sometimes it isn’t.”

The memory had always upset me terribly. But now that there was an actual man in my life, the conversation took on more meaning. The thought of pleasing the Captain thrilled me on a level I didn’t even understand. I wanted him to want me. I wanted to satisfy his every need. Yet I could barely get my hands around his… piece. The thought of it sliding between my lips... looking up at him while he smiled his encouragement...

I dropped the sewing needle, grabbing it just before it disappeared between the floorboards.

“Something wrong, Miss?” Larry inquired as he came into the room to check on me.

I felt my cheeks flush, which likely told him that my mind had wandered far from my task. “Sorry.”

Larry nodded in underst

anding. “There are many things here that are very new to you, aren’t there?”

“Yes.”

“You seem to be handling it better than most. You’ve not even been seasick,” he said with a touch of admiration.

“When I was small, I would sneak down to the docks and lie in an old boat at the end of the pier, where nobody could see me,” I recalled dreamily. “It was my secret place to run away from the world. The rocking of the waves, the lilt of the water has always calmed me.”

“Even the way you speak is pretty,” Larry said.

“Thank you.” I smiled at my new friend, realizing with delight that I was somehow closer with him already than I’d ever been with my school mates. “I’m glad that I’m here to share the work with you.”

He laughed. “I had three main jobs on the Fortune. Lifting the heaviest cargo, sewing, and listening to the Captain when he needs an ear.” His slightly lopsided grin amused me. “I’m very glad you’re here to take care of the stitchin’ now.”

I giggled, then looked over at him as he sat with me for a moment. His face was quite rugged, and would have looked downright frightening if not for the warmth in his eyes and his easy smile. “Larry, may I ask you a question?”

“You want to know how I got this huge scar.”

I nodded. “I guess everyone must ask you that. I’m sorry – you don’t have to tell me.”

“It’s okay. I used to tell women that it happened while saving a puppy from a mountain lion, thinking they might find that endearing.”

I snickered but quickly fell quiet. My curiosity about this gentle man had been growing, and this seemed like a tale that was important to him.

"I don't know that it's a very exciting story," he said softly. "My first Captain wasn't always as organized as Captain Samuels. He didn't always inform the crew of what was going on. This made it difficult for us to help each other out on our various…" He paused, looking up at me with a worried glance. "Excursions."

I reached out to pat his hand. "Larry, I can imagine that life is rough out here, and I'm sure that some jobs are a bit, shall we say, shady. Just skip over that part if it makes you feel better."

He nodded quickly. "Thank you, Miss. So, I was dropping off a small barrel of, um, special powder. Three of us had been carrying barrels, but I knew that mine had a very sensitive cargo.

“When we stashed them in the back of a stable as the Captain had instructed, I noticed that the other two crewmen decided to take a break, sitting on the barrels and lighting up a cigar."

His eyes grew tense. He didn't look up at me as his hands began to shake slightly from the memory that obviously made him uncomfortable. "I knew that cargo was supposed to be a secret, but I couldn't let the young lads take a chance on being blown to kingdom come. As I was deciding what to do, I saw one of them throw a match near the bottom of the special barrel, which looked like it had a small leak."

He looked up at me with an absolutely haunted expression. "Secrets be damned, Miss, I couldn't let anyone be maimed like that. I charged them, knocking them both through the back doorway of the stable just before the black powder went up."

"Oh my goodness," I whispered. "Thank goodness you noticed in time."

He shrugged. "Not in time to save the stable. It exploded, and we had to run for the docks as if the devil himself were at our heels. I didn't even realize until we reached the ship that a piece of flying wood had clipped my ear and half of my face."

"But that's the only place you were hurt?" I asked frantically.