Abandon Ship (Anchored 4)

And then that pirate could use that treasure to retire quietly from a long life of thievery and fighting.

Though the rumors varied from port to port, Wade had been captivated by the stories from the first moment he heard them. His crew advised him to stop his search and insisted that it was futile, but Wade didn’t care.

He had to find the treasure, no matter how long it took or how much it cost him. The Cursed Hangman’s bounty would be his. Of that Wade was sure.

“How long to port, Cap’n?” Nelson asked, silently sidling up to the captain. The boy was quiet as a mouse, and smart. Wade had picked him up in a tiny port town nearly a year ago. While Wade wasn’t the kind to take on strays, something about the weariness in Nelson’s eyes made him bring the boy aboard.

He hadn’t regretted it yet.

No other crewmate worked half as hard or twice as long as Nelson did.

“Dawn, if we’re lucky,” Wade said, eyeing the vast sea before him. He maintained that they were only stopping for supplies and for the men to have a bit of fun, but Nelson saw through that story. He never called Wade out on it, though. He was much too smart for that.

No, Wade didn’t want to stop for supplies and he certainly didn’t need to find a woman. Though it had been months since he had found anyone to bed, the treasure kept him focused. It required all of his attention, all of his energy.

And tomorrow, if fate was on his side, Wade would be one step closer to finding his heart’s desire.

**

Julianne shifted in her tiny position behind the stacks of trunks and crates. Nelson didn’t have his own room on the ship, of course. Only the most important crew members did. What he did have was access to the captain’s storage room in the hold, which is where he had placed Julianne for safekeeping.

Though part of her resented the idea that she was a possession that needed to be kept safe, Julianne quickly learned the ins and outs of the entire room. To be fair, there wasn’t much to see. There were barrels and crates full of supplies, along with random items that had been pillaged. At the back of the room was a row of heavy trunks. Nelson and Julianne had quickly pushed them out from the wall to make a small clearing. That was where Julianne spent her time hiding. There was only space enough for her to lie down on her side, but if they pushed the trunks out further than that, someone would notice and ask why Nelson was wasting space.

Julianne did not need to be noticed, no matter how uncomfortable she was.

The rest of the room was unimpressive and dull. In addition to supplies, Wade stored many of his treasures and favorite items here. Anything he wanted to keep and hold onto, but didn’t quite have room for in his chambers ended up here. There were other places for cargo on the ship, but this was the captain’s private bounty room. It was small, but carefully kept.

There were many unusual artifacts and treasures here, but nothing delighted Julianne quite as much as a small gold owl that rested on top of a small table. She spent some time each day touching it and holding it, wondering who had owned the owl before Wade plundered it. Maybe a princess, she dreamed, or a fair maiden from a faraway land. Someone had given that owl to one lucky gir

l as a gift, Julianne knew, long ago. How wonderful must it be to be loved so deeply that someone gave you gifts just because they wanted to?

At night, Julianne slept on a soft blanket on the hard wooden floor. Though it was nothing like her bed at home, it gave her plenty of time to be thankful for all the pleasures she had enjoyed during her short life. And while Nelson couldn’t get away from his duties often to spend a lot of time with her, he managed to come by every day to bring her some food and water. When he brought her meal – and it was usually only one per day – would vary. Nelson had to be careful when he sneaked around. If he raised suspicion, he risked Julianne’s discovery, and no one wanted to be the lone woman on a ship.

By far the most interesting aspect of life as a stowaway, for Julianne, had been the many times that crew members sneaked down into the hold for some quick fun. Anytime the ship stopped at a port, women were inevitably brought on board to be entertainment for the crew. While most of the men brought their women to the crew’s quarters, some wanted more privacy, and would sneak into this store room to play.

Julianne always tried to remain quiet from her hiding spot, but it was hard when she was so desperate to see exactly what was happening. She had been intimate with a man before, long ago, but never with Vince. She wouldn’t. He had tried and she had refused, claiming she wanted to be pure for the wedding.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Now, being witness to so many indiscretions, Julianne found it almost impossible to keep herself hidden away. Maybe she was wrong in hiding from all the men on the ship. While some of them were crass and unpleasant to look at, some of them weren’t. Some of them were handsome and rugged. Some of them were strong and stunning.

During the days when the sailors brought their whores into the storage room to fuck and play, Julianne would silently touch herself behind the trunks, hidden away. She wondered why she herself didn’t wander onto one of these shores and begin a life of prostitution herself.

Judging from the moans and screams of everyone involved, it seemed like a quite wonderful line of work.

It seemed like something that made everyone happy.