“That’s what I want.”

She nodded her head against him, and squeezed him again. She supposed she should try and do some kind of steady rhythm, but that seemed impossible. There was a tension within her, spiraling out with every tantalizing rub of his fingers, and she could only respond by clutching him tighter. Every few seconds she forced herself to release, concerned she might be hurting him, but he never said a word.

Instead his fingers worked her, rubbing in small circles while pushing with just enough pressure to drive her mad.

Tiny twinges built in her body, and suddenly she was filled with a sense of terrible energy. She couldn’t move, couldn’t shake it, even though she desperately needed to. She shifted restlessly, clenching and unclenching as his fingers continued their slow, terrible torture of her body.

She was close to the edge. She shivered in tension, and with every breath she clutched at his cock, the solid pressure and presence driving her crazy. She wanted him to move , needed him to move. She wanted him to push her forward on the deck and pound into her, crushing her with his weight and filling her with his seed. She wanted that terrible tension to ease, and she’d do anything to make it happen.

She moaned out loud, and he gave a long, low chuckle. His fingers stopped moving, and he whispered in her ear once more.

“What do you want?”

“I want you to fuck me,” she said, each word a gasp. “Oh Sean, I need it so bad. Please.”

He laughed, wrapping one arm firmly around her waist and holding her to him as he shifted. As if he’d read her mind, he lowered her before him face first to the deck. Somehow he managed to pull the shorts off her completely, although she had no clue how. She found herself on her hands and knees on the prow of the boat, speared by his cock and poised on the edge of insanity.

“Do it now,” she demanded, her voice hoarse with frustration. His hands gripped her hips, pulled back, and then slammed forward into her with a force that nearly dropped her.

He was huge. He pushed her delicate tissues open, a marauder set on taking her for his own. Eyes closed, it was easy to imagine she was on an old sailing ship, prisoner to a pirate’s lust and subject to his every whim. Again and again he pummeled her, each stroke bringing her closer to the edge. His fingers reached around her, dancing cleverly across the center of her desire, and then she exploded into a thousand pieces. She felt her limbs give way, and he lifted her by the waist, torso dangling forward. He swung her around, laying her face down across the top of the cabin, arms spread out before her and knees braced on the deck. He started thrusting into her again, and her sensitive flesh cried out for relief. It was too much, she couldn’t take any more. Again and again he thrust into her, and she hovered desperately on the brink of another orgasm.

He rode her hard, never giving an inch. Her muscles clenched and unclenched, grasping at him as if she could hold him into her body if she just tried hard enough. Each time he pulled away from her before slamming into her again.

Finally, right on the edge of her orgasm, her head lolled to one side and her eyes drifted open. Standing before her were both of the crewmen, their faces intent. To her horror, Skip rubbed an enormous erection through his pants. Jose stood behind the smaller man, arms wrapped around him, nuzzling his neck. The two men must be lovers.

She wanted to scream at them, to wilt in shame at being seen this way, but all she could do was focus on breathing. She closed her eyes again, pretending they weren’t there. Sean thrust into her one more time and she was done.

Starbursts exploded behind her eyes, and every bit of her seemed to cease for one brief, shining moment.

She could hear Sean crying out behind her as his seed burst forth into her body. He shuddered against her, and then collapsed over her, sucking in deep breaths of air.

Gradually she became aware again of the rocking of the boat, and the soft sighing of the wind as it whispered through the empty rigging. Sean lifted himself, and then pulled her back into his lap, cradling her and kissing her face softly. She felt tears building up and welling out of her eyes, and then it washed over her. Everything that had happened, from her kidnapping to this strange new existence hit her at once. She missed her old life, that was true—but what scared her the most was she’d just allowed herself to be fucked by the man who’d captured her, in front of his crew, and all she could think was how much she wanted it to happen again.

What had come over her, what kind of person was she deep down inside?

She sobbed quietly in his arms for what had to be an hour, and he simply held her, rubbing the top of her head and giving her small kisses on her face. Then he led her slowly around the deck to the ladder, taking her down into the cabin. She realized later that she still wasn’t wearing her shorts, and that the two other men had seen everything .

It doesn’t really matter, though, she told herself that night as she looked in the mirror. Once two men watch you fuck doggy style on a boat deck, a little casual nudity isn’t all that serious in comparison.

Chapter Ten

No one should be enjoying life as much as this, she thought in disgust. There was something vaguely obscene about how pleasant it had been over the past week. Much like her time at the villa, she found herself falling into a sensuous routine on board the boat. The only thing that made it less than perfect was the fact that Skip and Jose were still with them. She and Sean had a much better understanding of how to sail the boat, but Sean still didn’t want to get rid of the two men. She wished he would—they frightened her. She knew they still had a lot to learn, but surely there were better people out there to teach them.

They had gone ashore three times, and each time she and Sean stuck together. At first she’d had some dim idea of escape, but it was pretty clear that wouldn’t happen any time soon. For one thing, she didn’t have any money. For another, she was terrified of Skip. Her earlier fantasies of killing the crew and taking over the boat had been ludicrous. She didn’t want to kill anyone, even if she could.

She knew Sean would be able to find her if she ran, but that didn’t scare her. He wouldn’t hurt her. If Skip found her, though, she’d be finished. He’d gut her without thinking, using that long, wickedly sharp knife he kept in his belt. Where the hell had Valzar found a man like that?

Every time he looked at her, he had a smug, smirking look in his eyes. As if he knew all about her, and wasn’t particularly impressed. She supposed part of it was in her head—after all, it was hard to feel friendly toward a man who’d spied on you during sex. But she wasn’t imagining the entire thing. He watched her closely, and his looks weren’t friendly. She felt sorry for Jose. Skip wasn’t the kind of man she’d wish on anyone, and couldn’t help but think that sharing his bed wasn’t the kindest of fates. Still, the young man didn’t seem to be unhappy. He did all that Skip asked of him cheerfully, and each night they disappeared to their tiny cabin near the engine compartment without comment.

Despite this, though, things were good. Skip wouldn’t be around forever.

She’d made a decision, too. She wasn’t going to leave Sean. She didn’t like everything that he did, but she’d realized something a while back. She wanted to be with him. Regardless of “Stockholm Syndrome,” she knew her feelings for him were real. She hadn’t left anything behind that was so important to her. Living with Sean was good, and she wanted it to continue.

Once she made that decision things got a little easier.

The days blended into each other, and she spent her mornings lazing on the deck, occasionally dipping in for a swim when they weren’t under sail. Much of the time they spent anchored off small islands, many of them almost untouched by the tourist trade. She had always been a strong swimmer, and practicing in the warm Caribbean waters only made her better. So when, on the spur of the moment one evening, he asked her to swim to shore with him, she didn’t think twice. She simply pulled off her sarong revealing the two-piece swimsuit underneath and dove in.

They played as they swam, him catching up to her and ducking her under, and her pulling him down with her. He was stronger, of course, but in the water he was still vulnerable. They raced the last hundred yards to the beach, wading up out of the water laughing and gasping for air. She ran to a coconut tree beyond the water line and tagged it.

“I win!” she called, although touching the tree hadn’t been part of the original race. In response he growled, running toward her with a look of mock menace. She squealed, and ran down the beach. He followed, catching her up in his arms within a few yards and tossing her around as if she weighed nothing.

She clutched his neck, steadying herself, and before long they were both in the sand, laughing and giggling like children.

Sean’s face stilled, and he leaned over and kissed her suddenly. It was a quick kiss, hard and full of intent. Humor faded, and he looked down into her eyes, pinning her beneath him with his body.

“I love you,” he said suddenly. “I don’t know how I was lucky enough to find you, but I love you.”

“Thank you,” she said softly, not quite ready to say the words back to him. “I wish I’d found you earlier.”

“Me too,” he said. “Although you’d have had a hard time visiting me. They didn’t let anyone in to see me most of the time, let alone women.”