Jack woke to black skies outside his main windows. He realized he had fallen asleep in waiting for her to sleep peacefully. He gazed down at her to find her face snuggled against his abdomen, an arm resting across his lap. Her dainty fingers had even managed to slip under his shirt, just brushing the bare skin of his stomach. Altogether not a bad way to wake up, but if he continued thinking of her snuggled so close any longer it would lead to more fiendish thinking which would not lead to a good wake up at all. He tugged away from her slowly, so as not to wake her. She mumbled something in Italian softly in her sleep, and quieted again. He would go see to the needs of his ship, and speak with his first mate about where to take her.
Marietta woke alone in the darkness of the captain's quarters. She rose slowly, still having difficulty steadying herself against the rocking of the ship. She walked to the window, the moonlight breaking through the clouded night sky. As she stared at the luminous orb the feeling of freezing loneliness sunk in. All that she loved had been taken from her, left in the wreckage of a smoldering ship. She almost wanted to cry again, mourn for all hope that was lost. But tears would do nothing to get back what was taken away. Her sister was likely in a worse predicament than she, and she had to be strong for Mia. She swallowed back her grief and wrapped her arms about herself tightly, gazing at the moon again. Deep in her thoughts of loss and revenge, she did not hear Jack return. Only when he wrapped a tattered blanket around her, did she move. At first she stiffened reflexively, but relaxed and touched his arm. She felt scarred skin at his wrist, the shape of a P. He had been branded a pirate. The touch of that marred skin reminded her once again of her attacker aboard the ship. She stepped away instinctually, but turned to face him.
"Grazie Captain. The sea, she always makes me feel cold and lonely." Marie bit her still swollen lip softly as another sob rose in her throat. "Except this time, I truly am alone."
Jack did not speak, merely closed the distance between them, pulling her into a tight embrace. He held her about the waist to avoid aggravating her wounds. In the moonlight, she looked more like a hallucination than a flesh and blood woman. She looked almost magical, like a siren of folklore. Her dark eyes met his under the silvery light, the tears she had not shed still sparkling like diamonds. Her face so close to his, he could smell her skin, her lips. He gazed away from her glittering eyes to watch her lips; the full pink lower lip still succulent even with the bruise, the top as soft and inviting as the lower. When her lips parted, he had to draw in a breath, before tasting the lips of the hallucination before him. She felt real under his mouth and hands, soft every place he touched. His tongue touched her wounded lower lip, tasting her breath and the saltiness of the cut. When his tongue divulged into her mouth completely, Marietta's hands moved up to his chest.
Marietta had never been kissed like this before. She remembered a shy stable boy kissing her cheek when they were 10, numerous suitors kissing her hands in hopeful greetings, and most recently Captain Theron's rough chin, penetrating tongue, and cruel teeth seemingly taking her mouth hostage. Jack's kiss was like none before. While the kiss was dominating her mouth, she did not feel threatening or imposed upon; in fact she
welcomed the new sensations of a real kiss. His soft braided beard brushed her chin. As his tongue slipped between her lips, she tasted the rum on his breath, and the flavor made her pull back abruptly. Jack smiled at her, slightly dazed.
"Captain, I fear we are not well enough acquainted with one another for you to kiss me like that..." She couldn't break away from the circle of his arms.
"Did he hurt you anywhere else, love?" He whispered, allowing one hand to slip into her dark tresses and softly knead into her tense neck.
"Any physical pains he caused me will heal in time." She looked away from him, embarrassed and forcibly holding back more tears. His fingers continued to massage her neck and scalp, pressing her face to his white linen shirt.
"What else happened on the Siren, love?" With the question, Jack worried he would get sobs for a response, but Marie didn't cry. Her voice was calm and distant as she continued the tale.
Flashback to the Singing Siren
Marietta remembered her sister's high pitched screams, the terrified voices of the nurse maids, and the sight of her father's decapitated head being carried by the hair in front of her. Shackled at the wrists, she could do little to save her sister and escape, and with the throbbing pain in her temple she had a hard time concentrating on anything around her.
"Take the girl to the Harlot, put her in my quarters, and make sure no one touches her, or they will suffer great punishment at my hand, and even greater at the hands of the Brothers." Captain Theron ordered, grabbing the chain that held Marie's hands together and tugging her away from the stairs to the upper deck. Mia screamed and fought as hard as she could to get to Marie, but weighing little more than rabbit, the pirates lifted her off her feet and carried her away. Marie jerked as hard as she could from Theron's grasp, taking him by surprise. She managed to race away from him and to the upper deck, using her full force to knock down at least one of the pirates carrying her sister. Theron was hot on her heels, enraged and excited by her constant defiance. Marie managed to wrap her shackled arms around her sister, and whisper into her ear,
"I will rescue you. Prometto, la mia sorella cara. I promise." Mia's tear filled eyes looked hopefully up at her sister, and she kissed Marie's cheek and they hugged a last time before Theron barked orders to get the young girl off the Siren. Marie watched the men take her baby sister away, feeling all the more helpless as Theron grabbed her shoulders.
"She'll be well taken care of, lovely. And if you'll behave yourself, maybe you'll be taken care of too." The tone in his voice did nothing to ease her troubles, in fact only worsened them. She balled her fists together so tightly she thought her nails might cause
her to bleed, and swung both shackled hands towards his face with all her strength. The minuscule attack only landed a moment of satisfaction, having her fists connect with his jaw. Next thing she knew, she landed with a hard thud onto the main deck, Theron having doubled the force she used. She tasted blood on her lips, and sat up quickly to attempt retaliation. Theron merely grabbed her thick dark hair again, pulling her to her feet and back below deck. She could not see exactly where they were going, but she saw looters running in and out of rooms, collecting booty for their own gain. Her captor jerked her roughly into a dark room, throwing her forward into some barrels. She barely caught herself from falling over one when he walked up behind her, kicking the door shut behind him. She whipped around to face him, to be fearless in the face of this demon pirate. He smiled like a devil, taking hold of her shackled wrists and using some rope to hold her up. Looping it through the beam above, Theron had her just dangling on her toes before him.
"If you could have just behaved yourself, lovely, I might have been more merciful… Tender flesh like yours is quite a treasure to find after being at sea for so long, shame I'll have to mar it with my whip. But you need to learn…"
Marie cut him off with a spit to the face. He only laughed raspy and cruel, pulling his black leather gloves from his hands. With his icy cold hands now bare, they trailed down her neck, over the bodice of her chemise, to the fastenings of the outer dress she quickly put on moments before the attack. He ripped the thick garment forcibly, revealing the under dress's transparent material. When he pulled his dagger from his belt, Marie began to panic a little.
"Please… Don't…" The dagger sliced cleanly through the material of the outer gown at her sleeves. After he finished the white and rose patterned garment lay in tatters at her feet. He stepped closer to her trembling figure, running his hands down her frame then up her back. The chemise ripped like tissue paper in his fists. He spun her around on the rope to view her naked back, touching the flawless golden brown flesh. When he turned her back to face him, fierce tears were sparkling behind her eyes.
"Still so defiant, lovely. Think of the bright side, the more I take out on you, the less I will need to take out on your baby sister…" Theron leaned into her mouth, trailing his tongue up the line of blood from her lip. The thought of him touching Mia in anyway made her blood boil, but to save her, she would sacrifice what she had to. When his mouth crushed down on her bruised one, she went passive. 'It will all be over soon, then I can save her.'