Ashelin strained her ears as hard as she could to try to figure out what the pirates were doing, but all she heard was the click of the door behind them.

Silence.

She let out a deep sigh of relief. Her stomach growled, but she couldn't think about her hunger while her legs felt like they were on fire. She wriggled a little, to test her feet, and sucked in a breath as the pins and needles stabbed her skin everywhere. Her feet felt like anchors as she lifted them and set them down.

She did this for a few minutes until she could feel her legs again and her feet didn't feel like they weighed a thousand pounds. She tested the bonds around her wrists, and tried to slip her fingers underneath the ropes. They were just tight enough that they wouldn't give, and she held on to the attaching ropes to avoid putting too much weight on her joints.

"You didn't run." Vaas' voice startled Ashelin into a shriek.

She wanted to swear, to ask how he'd gotten there so quietly, to yell at him for scaring the shit out of her. But her heart was pounding and her breath caught in her throat because the realization crashed down on her that she was tied and blindfolded in front of the pirate king.

This was the moment she'd dreamed of. She wished she could see him.

Vaas smiled at the cry of shock that came from her mouth and watched her squirm. Her breathing was quick, accelerating the swell of her creamy breasts in a mesmerizing cadence. He'd had to have her blindfolded; those eyes were disconcerting. He wanted to drink her in without having her disarming desire accusing him of wanting her.

"You were put in an open cage, untied, and not given any food or water." He kept his voice at a low growl, and began to circle her. "But you didn't run."

Ashelin let his voice wash over her senses, picturing his beautiful mouth forming the words. He sounded like he was walking around her, like a lion stalking its prey. She didn't know what to do, other than try to breathe through her need.

"Why didn't you run?" He was behind her, mouth inches from her ear, and she whimpered, unable to form words. He reached up and fisted a hand in her hair, wrenching her head back. "Why?!" His voice rose to a level tinged with insanity.

"There was nowhere to go!" Ashelin cried, trembling in his grasp. "I would have been caught!"

He shoved her head forward, letting go of her hair, and she flopped forward, forgetting to hold on and slamming her whole body weight down onto her wrists. She seethed, but the pain wasn't entirely unpleasant. The familiar sting of being tied and helpless sent tingles of excitement to her core, and she relished in how alive she felt at that very moment. The other edge of the knife was laced with fear, not knowing how far he was going to go with her, but she couldn't deny the fact that that, too, excited her.

"I think you're lying, hermana." Vaas' voice was back to playful, a far cry from the screaming lunatic from a few moments ago. "I think you've got enough fight in you to have tried to escape. Instead you knelt in that cage like an obedient little dog." His hand crept up her chest and rested around her throat. Not to squeeze, but just to let her know it was there, and Ashelin stifled a moan. It was as if his maleness was filling the room, suffocating her in a wanting that clawed at her skin, desperate for a very particular type of contact.

He leaned closer, so she could feel his breath on her cheek. He smelled like debauchery. Cigarettes. Whiskey. A hint of campfire, and an underlying musk that was all Vaas and she was drunk on it. "Are you going to answer me, hermana?" His voice was a low growl, and she drew in a ragged gasp as his fingers tightened on her throat. "WHY DIDN'T YOU RUN?" He screamed in her face, his breathing heavy in the silence that followed.

Ashelin parted her legs. "Why don't you touch me and find out?" The words fell from her lips like silk, a hint of attitude beneath them. Vaas trailed his free hand down and slipped under the dress, fingers dancing up her thigh. Without warning, he slid two fingers inside her and his cock went instantly hard at her slick heat. They groaned in unison, and Vaas let go of her to free himself from his pants.

They'd barely pooled at Vaas' feet before he shoved her dress up and plunged his throbbing dick all the way into her hot wet cunt. Ashelin let out a cry and he clutched her hips, reveling in her tightness clutching at him. She wrapped her legs around his waist, accommodating herself to his girth.

Vaas pounded into her and she let her head fall back, gripping her bonds for the leverage to slam herself back against him. They grunted in unison and her vision went starry as an orgasm crashed over her body like a freight train. Her pussy milked him as she came, and he let out a yell as he lost it inside her.

He spat out a string of Spanish as he pulled out of her. He threw open the door with a crash and stumbled out of the room. Ashelin could hear his voice barking in the distance and she hung limply, not even feeling the strain on her wrists.

She was vaguely aware of hands lifting her, carrying her, hearing lots of chatter and feeling the cool night air hit her too-warm body. She slipped out of consciousness in a euphoric stupor.