“Valzar’s told me all about you, chippie,” he said in low tones. “I have a great deal of respect for our mutual friend, and don’t think for one moment I’d hesitate to slit your throat if I thought he was in trouble.”

He leaned back, all smiles again.

“We understand each other?” he asked, his tone friendly once more. She nodded her head quickly, feeling faint. Valzar’s presence hung around her like a dark shadow. The man wanted her dead, and she had no doubt that given enough time he’d find a way to make it happen.

Skip nodded to the men in suits and walked quickly over to the hatch. Within seconds he was out of sight, and she stood on the deck once more, looking at the boats around her and wondering if anyone on them could help her.

She thought about screaming, jumping off the ship into the water and making for a friendly face. But none of the boats around appeared to have anyone on board, and the two men in suits had their eyes glued to her. She wrapped both arms around her body, a part of her wishing they were still at the villa. At least there she’d known she was trapped. She’d hate it, but in another way it had been strangely comforting.

There had been no hope of escape, and that meant she didn’t have to worry about it. All she had to do was lie back, relax and enjoy the bizarre situation in which she’d found herself. It was a place out of time, out of space.

Now she was back in the real world. There were other people around her, places she could run. There were probably even policemen in the harbor, if she could just think of a way to contact them.

Of course, given the way things had gone for her so far, they were on Valzar’s payroll, too. Everybody seemed to work for that man.

* * *

Three hours later Valzar was gone, and they were slowly motoring out of the harbor. She sat up on the bow, watching idly as they passed a variety of other vessels, occasionally waving to a friendly face on another boat.

Sean came and sat down beside her. Surprisingly, he wore a ragged pair of cutoffs and nothing else. He cocked one eye at her startled expression.

“What?”

“I’ve never seen you look so… casual,” she said after a moment.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been this relaxed,” he replied, leaning his head back against rise of the boat’s cabin “Do you realize that we don’t have to do anything?”

“Well, we have to leave to sail the boat,” she said.

“Yes, but we don’t have to do it right now.”

“How long will the crew be with us?”

“I haven’t decided yet,” he said, reaching one arm around her shoulders to pull her close. “Why, do you dislike them already?”

She looked back to where Skip sat at the wheel. Their second crewmember, a youngish man named Jose, scampered about, checking ropes and tightening things.

“No, I don’t like them,” she said. “Did you know that Skip threatened me?”

“I’m not surprised,” Sean, dropping his head to kiss the top of hers. “We already knew how protective Valzar is.”

“I think he’s jealous of me,” she said suddenly. “He wants you to work with him again, and he thinks that I’m the reason you’re not. Is that true?”

He stayed silent, rubbing the top of her head with his fingers instead.

“It is true,” she said softly. “You can let me go, Sean. I don’t want to hurt you. I want you to go on with your life, and I want to do the same.”

Once again he didn’t reply. Instead, he reached down and tilted her head up toward his. His lips dropped down, kissing her softly on the mouth, and then straying across her cheek. His hands started a restless crawl across her body, reaching down and grasping her hips, turning and pulling her until she straddled him. She could feel the length of his erection through her shorts. Liquid fire jetted through her and she melted against him. Why was he able to do this to her so easily?

“Don’t,” she whispered nervously.

“Why not?” He asked, his tone bemused.

“Because they’ll see us,” she said, her voice tense, eyes darting across the horizon at the other boats.

“I don’t care if they see us,” he said softly into her ear. His clever fingers slid her zipper down, even though her hands batted at him, trying to stop him. He took no notice.

“I care,” she hissed back. “And I’ll bet they care, too. Why should they have to put up with that? You’re sick.”

His hands were inside her shorts now, cupping the curve of her buttocks, rubbing her back and forth against his cock. She shuddered in need, and then took a deep breath before pushing at his shoulders hard to catch his attention.

“I’m not going to do this,” she said firmly. “It’s simply not going to happen.”

He cocked his head at her then lifted his hands.

“You win,” he said.

She sniffed, pulling herself free and sitting beside him on the deck. Her pants were still loose, but she couldn’t quite figure out how to fasten them without sitting up on her knees, and that would give the two men behind them too much of a show.

They sat together quietly for a time. The sun started to lower in the far horizon when he reached over and pulled her into his lap again, this time facing away from him.

She started to fuss, but his hands came up and stilled her.

“Just sit and enjoy the moment,” he said softly. His strong fingers rubbed her shoulders, easing the tension of the moment. She relaxed, and it seemed entirely natural when his hand drifted down her shoulders until it cupped her breast, rubbing absently at her nipple through the soft cotton fabric of her shirt. She leaned back against him, enjoying the sensation. For some reason it didn’t seem as threatening as before…

perhaps because they were out of the harbor. She could feel the bulge of his erection growing beneath her bottom, but he wasn’t intent on rubbing it against her this time. He seemed more inclined to simply be close to her, enjoying her presence and the touch of her body.

She felt each breath he took against her back, his muscular chest swelling and falling in time. She let her head loll back against him, enjoying the warmth of the sun as it washed over her with a gentleness that hadn’t been present in the jungle.

His hands left her breasts, moving slowly down her body to her stomach to loosen her shirt. His finger slipped under it with deceptive ease, and then started rubbing the soft skin of her belly. It felt so good.

She knew she should make him stop, but she couldn’t seem to make herself move. Just breathing had become an effort.

Gently, the fingers of one hand slipped beneath her panties. She tried drawing her legs together. Before she got far, his knees came up between hers, and his legs levered hers apart with a gentleness that belied the firmness of his touch. She found herself draped across him, butt in his lap, legs sprawled across his, and she knew in that instant that no matter what he did to her, she wouldn’t try to stop him. It simply felt too good.

She shivered when his fingers grazed against her clit. He knew how to touch her, knew how sensitive the little nub was. So sensitive that it was almost painful at times, but his hands were soft. Back and forth, squeezing and working, his fingers slipped across her clit, their way eased by the flood of moisture seeping out of her. When his hand dropped lower, his fingers slid into her opening with a gentleness that was almost embarrassing. So much for her earlier protests. At that moment she didn’t care who might see them, all she wanted was to make sure he kept touching her.

Then he pulled his hand away, and she gave a little whimper of protest.

“Wait,” he whispered in her ear, and then he wrapped one arm around her waist and lifted her body ever so slightly. His hand dipped down behind her. Then it came back around and he pushed her legs together a bit, pulling her shorts down from behind. When they were around her upper thighs, he brought her back over his lap.

“Just hold still,” he said, and she could feel the hot length of his cock against her ass. He lifted her body, and to her surprise, his cock slid neatly into her vagina.

He was big, and he’d always filled her completely, but this time was different. Perhaps it was the strange position, or the fact that her legs were nearly closed, but he seemed to be larger somehow. She could feel every delicious inch of him coming into her, a slow slide from behind that almost made her gasp several times. His hands came around front again, and this time he reached up inside her shirt to work her nipples. She hadn’t worn a bra, leaving her breasts completely exposed to his touch. His fingers sought out the stiff little peaks, massaging and pulling on them as he slid into her waiting body with slow determination. She tried to move, tried to wiggle her hips, but he clamped down on her, pinning her to his body with his hands.

“You do what I tell you,” he said softly. “I’m in control here.”

She nodded her head, a secret thrill running through her. After long seconds of slowly sinking, she reached bottom. She felt his belly against her ass, and unable to control herself, she squeezed him once with her internal muscles. His hips bucked up involuntarily, and he gave a muffled groan.

Not completely in control, she thought wickedly.

He head still lolled back against his shoulder, arms at her sides and her breasts being worked by his hands. He cocked his hips a bit, and then whispered, “Touch me.”

She nodded her head, knowing instinctively what he was asking. She flexed herself within, and felt an answering twitch from him. One of his hands left her breasts and drifted down, fingers diving between her legs to the tiny nubbin of her clit. As he plucked at it, and then rubbed her firmly, she arched her back and gasped. Inside she clenched him once more, wringing a moan of satisfaction from him.