"Captain didn't say anything about there bein' any women aboard. Boy am I glad he was wrong though." The man said, stepping in closer to Kris.
He was much larger than she was, standing at least another foot or so above her. Shorter than Nathan, but still tall none-the-less. But she'd dealt with larger, scarier looking men in her life. Well, not dressed like this at least. Kris clutched her half-buttoned shirt closer to her chest, taking a step back towards where she knew her swords were. Just steps away beside the closet. She had no idea what was going on upstairs, and with this strange man standing there near her bed now, she really wanted to know. Were these the guys that Morgan had been so worried about?
The man took another large step towards her, the glint in his eye causing her to shiver. She'd never felt more vulnerable in her entire life. Standing there practically half naked, with only half of her shirt buttoned up and sporting a pair of Nathan's boxers, she almost lost herself. Giving her head a small shake, she brought herself back, carefully watching the man's feet as she backed up towards the closet. Hoping that he wouldn't notice her reaching for her swords.
But unfortunately, he did. She was reaching a hand back towards one when he suddenly came forward and grabbed her by the wrist, forcefully throwing her down onto her bed. He then quickly jumped on top of her to pin her down. Trapping her. He grabbed her throat roughly while she thrashed beneath him, fighting him with all of her might. But with his forceful grip around her neck, tightening with each jerking motion she made, she found herself unable to breath. She slowed her motions, unable to move with her oxygen restricted. Screaming wasn't any option anymore, attempting to but failing miserably. This seemed to satisfy the man above her, and he grinned wickedly.
Instead of losing her head to panic, she took a moment to interpret her position as the man busied himself with unbuttoning the few buttons she'd managed to do earlier. He was way too occupied with what he wanted to do to her, and in just a few moments, he'd completely lose focus. That would be her chance. He would loosen his hold on her throat, and then she'd attack. Until then, she'd just have to endure. She distantly wondered where Nathan was, but quickly realized that he was probably upstairs dealing with this guy's comrades.
"I wonder whose woman you are… No matter." The man grumbled as he opened her shirt, exposing her bare chest to his viewing pleasure. Kris looked away, feeling his rough hands rub her belly up towards her breasts. She was beyond disgusted, resisting her sudden urge to vomit. But she had to focus. Any second now.
He grunted in satisfaction as he palmed one of her breasts painfully, squeezing it with incredible pressure that caused her to yelp. But then it happened, with his concentration fully on what he was doing, his grip loosened considerably on her neck, and Kris made her move. She brought her knee up and slammed it up into the man's crotch with as much force as she could. The man screamed and released her, going to reach for his crotch. Kris then slammed her forehead against his, knocking him off of her and onto the floor. Had adrenaline not been pumping through her veins, her forehead would've likely been screaming with pain, but she felt nothing as she sprang up from the bed. Taking no time to grab her swords, she threw the door open and ran down the hallway towards the deck, grabbing the front of her shirt and holding it closed in front of her.
The voices and clanging of swords she'd heard earlier were gone, and as she threw herself up the stairs, she saw no one but the rest of the crew. All looked wearily exhausted, the obvious sign of a victorious battle, and she looked up to see another ship sailing away at a quick pace. Nathan wasn't in sight, but she could see the rest of the crew, panting heavily after what appeared to be one quick and fierce battle. Morgan seemed to notice her standing there, her disheveled appearance, and walked over quickly, taking off his jacket and draping it gently over her shoulders. Kris wordlessly accepted the garment, glad to have the added protection and held it against her.
"You okay Kris?" He asked, sounding marginally worried.
"Yeah, I'm fine. What happened up here?"
"A ship came and started attacking. We managed to fight them off, but I'm pretty sure they'll be back."
"Were they those pirate traders you were worried about?" Kris asked.
Morgan nodded. "Afraid so." Fuzzy came over to them then, wiping some blood off one her sword with ease.
"What happened to you? You look like hell!" Fuzzy asked, standing next to Kris
Kris tightened her clasp on Morgan's jacket around her. "One of the guys made his way downstairs. Found me in me and Nathan's room."
"Did he do anything to ya?" Fuzzy asked, sounding slightly concerned.
Kris shrugged. "Of course he tried to do something, but I kicked him in the family jewels and knocked him out."
"What'd you just say?" Kris heard Nathan ask, coming up quickly from behind her. He spun her around to face him, and as he took in her appearance, he widened his eyes. She saw his eyes trail from her now throbbing neck, down to her hands clasping the front of her shirt closed. He reached forward and touched just below her collar bone, moving the shirt just enough for him, and her as well, to see the bruises forming there. He returned his eyes to hers, two infernos of fire and fury staring down at her now.
"Where is he?" He growled, with such ferocity that it shocked even Kris.
"Downstairs in our bedroom. I knocked him out." She replied, watching as he released her from his hold and stormed quickly down the stairs. Normally should would have gone after him, tell him not to get all upset and that she was fine. But there was just something in his eyes just now, something dark and fierce that kept her standing there. Staring down the stairs as Morgan and Fuzzy were doing as well.
Russell suddenly appeared next to her and Fuzzy, crossing his arms. "He's gonna kill him."
Eduardo walked up and placed one arm on Russell's shoulder, leaning against him. "Nah. He's just gonna beat the crap out of him."
"How much you wanna bet on it?" Russell quipped.
Fuzzy reached forward and slapped the back of Russell's and Eduardo's heads. "This isn't something to be gambling on you two!"
"Ow!" Russell cried out, rubbing the back of his head, "Why the hell not? I haven't ever seen Nathan that mad before. You never know what he's gonna do." Loud cursing began resonating downstairs, followed by loud thrashing sounds, and Kris grimaced. What in the world was Nathan doing?
"I wouldn't want to be that guy right now." Eduardo stated with a slight wince.
Nathan suddenly emerged from below deck, but behind him he was dragging the man that had attacked Kris earlier by the hair. Kris covered her mouth in shock. The guy looked like he'd been put through a meat grinder. Blood was practically gushing down from his nose, and his face looked almost swollen with bruises. She knew her fiancée could be a force not to be reckoned with, but the complete and utter damage to this guy's face and body just totally astonished her. Her sweet and gentle Nathan could be a brute when and if he needed to be. The guy was screaming and crying, praying for mercy as Nathan drug him over to the side of the ship. He hauled him up so that he was face to face with the guy, a look of calm rage overwrought his face. A sight that had even the crew around him backing away in fear.
"You touch my woman again and I'll fucking blind you." He snarled and looked out at the ocean, towards the ship that was sailing away from them.
"Hey! Assholes! You forgot one!" He shouted. Then, with both incredible force and ease, he quite literally threw the man overboard, launching him up into the air and into the sea below. Kris wasn't sure whether to continue watching Nathan with such awe, or whether to laugh. But she wasn't given much time to decide, as Nathan came over and grabbed her by her wrist and began leading her towards their room.
"Come with me." He said simply, pulling her along behind him. Kris followed him obediently, still in shock over his actions that she wasn't sure what else to do. She'd never seen Nathan that angry before. Sure, she'd seen him upset plenty of times. Mad, a few times as well. But never angry. He'd looked almost possessed, his entire body emitting such a dark aura of pure rage that it had been suffocating just to look at. But as he led her into their bedroom, closing the door behind them, the dark aura around him seemed to just disappear. He looked over at her gently, as he usually did when they were alone.
"A-Are you okay?" He asked softly, staying his distance away from her. Like he was afraid he would scare her by coming too close.
Kris nodded, giving him a gentle smile. "I'm fine Nate. Really."
"He hurt you. He dared to touch you."
She nodded again, taking a step closer to him. "He did. But as you well know, I can take care of myself."
"I'm fully aware of that. That's not the point. It's not that you can't take care of yourself… I just can't believe I left you down here by yourself…I should've just let you come with me and this never would've happened…"
"Oh what, are you seriously gonna start blaming yourself for that or something princess?"
"This is serious Kris! He could've done something worse to you!" Nathan snapped back, avoiding eye contact with her now and looking down at the floor.
Kris closed the gap between them and took his face in her hands. "Well, he didn't. Let's not think of the 'what if's' of it, okay? Besides, while yes he did manage to pin me down, I was able to take care of him, wasn't I?"
"Babe…"
"Wasn't I?"
"Yeah…"
"So there you go. You really need to start trusting more in my abilities."
Nathan sighed. "Kris, that was never in question. I will always know that you can take care of yourself, and protect yourself. But, as the man who wants to spend the rest of his life with you, seeing someone do anything like that to you just boils my blood."
"I know Nate, and I love you for that. But it's over with now. Let's not think of it again, okay?"
Nathan slowly reached forward and touched her neck, softly tracing the bruises she knew had formed there. "He bruised you. He touched you in places only I'm allowed to touch."
"Getting possessive are we?" She teased, trying to lighten the mood.
"Damn right I am. You are mine, Kris. And I'm yours. That will never change, understand?"
"I know. I never want that to change… I can't believe you actually threw him overboard though. That was pretty funny if you ask me." She giggled.
Finally, Nathan smiled at her, resting his forehead against hers. "You thought that was funny?"
"Well duh. It's not every day that you get to see your fiancée throwing some guy over the side of the ship like a limp, wet noodle."
He chuckled. "He's lucky that's all I did. I'll kill any man who tries to hurt you, or take you away from me."
"My big strong man." She teased in a purring voice, wrapping her arms around his neck.
He pressed a gentle kiss against her lips and pulled her into his embrace. "I'm serious."
"I know you are. I'm still just getting used to having such a wonderful man in my life. One that actually wants to love and protect me, instead of just feeling like he has to."
"Well get used to it babe, because here I am!"