This has got to be the least amount of dialogue I have ever written. There is literally like one word, and it's not even a word, it's a sound. I'm oddly proud of that, even though this chapter is shorter than the others. Oh well. Hope you like it anyway.
Holy damn I've gotten a hell of a lot of faves and follows on this story! Thank you guys so much! I just finished my Star Trek story, The New Frontier, so hopefully I'll have more time for this one. We'll see.
The fight drained from her body unwillingly. His grip on her shoulders was firm, but not bruising like she thought it ought to be for one of his kind. Tears still stung her eyes but none fell. She had cried far too much in the past hours to be able to shed any more. Instead she weakly pushed against the man's chest, hoping to be able to sink to the ground like the pathetic creature she was. If he wouldn't allow her the freedom to take her life, then she wished to crumble in despair in peace.
He seemed to think otherwise however, pulling her roughly closer and forcing her to look up into his eyes. Her hands were still on his chest, now squished between their bodies as he stared down at her tearstained face. Before she had time to react, time to stop him (as if she could), lips were crashing against her, bruising in their force. She whimpered lightly, hands pressing against the giant expanse of chest in front of her, all for naught. His tongue quickly joined the fray, pushing past her lips as if she weren't scrabbling to get away.
Finally, with a burst of strength she didn't know she had within her, she pulled back, her hands gaining freedom long enough for her to draw back and swing her open palm forward. It connected with his cheek with a deafening crack, reverberating in the air around them. If any soul had been able to sleep through all the noise from before, they surely couldn't have slept through that.
He released her in his surprise, allowing her to stumble back and fall down against the railing she had been standing on not too long ago. She slumped to the ground, curling her legs up to her chest in a feeble attempt to shield herself. Her future husband stared down at her, eyes wide with one hand pressed to his cheek. She stared back defiantly. Despite the fear pulsing through her, she refused to be seen any weaker than she already had. If he was going to force her to live and live with him, he'd take her as she was. A slow smirk spread across his face, his eyes twinkling in amusement. He let out a small chuckle that had her trying not to cower away, her resolve to not be weak still staying strong.
Slowly he turned away from her, returning to his place at the front of the ship. She watched warily as he settled back under his fur blankets for the rest of the night. He turned over and moved no more. Temperance waited a few minutes before she dared look around, curious as to why no one had made a sound during their struggle, only to find all the men still fast asleep. How had they not awoken? Or had they, and they simply chose to ignore whatever their leader was doing in favor of sleep they surely didn't come by easily during raids. She swung her head around to where she knew her one ally had been sleeping, only to make eye contact with the one person she dreaded seeing all of that confrontation.
The large man was still cradling Lifa against his chest like he held a precious jewel, but his sharp eyes were trained on her, no ounce of pity, curiosity, or even anger. They were flat, dead, as though she didn't matter, didn't count. In that moment, she knew, he had been awake through that whole thing, had seen her about to jump into the sea and had done nothing. Because he didn't care whether or not she lived.
His gaze didn't waver until she physically cringed away, suddenly afraid to die if it meant dying at that man's hand. She needed a safe harbor, somewhere she could fool herself into thinking she was hidden safely away from those piercing, cold eyes. But the sole person who would be willing to give that to her was currently curled around the enemy's side, sleeping peacefully. Temperance had never felt so exposed in her life.
Mentally she went through the other inhabitants of the ship, discarding every one, only lingering momentarily on the one who seemed to be related to Lifa somehow. He seemed gentler than the others, but at the same time much more dangerous. The gentleness was a mask, luring in his prey before he shredded them to pieces. He was the one to bring her to the leader, after all. It was essentially his fault that she was here. She couldn't trust him.
But what did that leave her? She needed someone here, someone she could trust with her life. Lifa was fine, but it was clear where her priorities lie. Temperance needed someone who would look out for her, and she dreaded the answer to that. Because she knew exactly who was the only individual willing to look out for her, even when she refused to look out for herself.
Swallowing what little pride she retained, she pushed herself to her feet, only to trip and crumble back to the ground with a small cry that got lost on the wind. A sharp pain radiated from her ankle, telling her she had fallen wrong. It was probably sprained at the very least. She'd sprained her ankle once before when she was a child playing in the woods near her father's hunting cabin. She remembered the agonizing week spent locked inside with her foot elevated. She hadn't been allowed to play at all, and the few times she'd tried to walk on her own, pain had shot through her leg, forcing her to sit back down. This time, she doubted these people would be willing to allow her to rest her foot. She'd probably be forced to walk on it, pain or no.
Looking up through her lashes, she saw that man, the killer, still watching her, expressionless. She turned away quickly, biting her lip against the throbbing pain. It seemed fate refused to leave even a shred of dignity for her to cling to. She forced herself to push her body across the deck on her butt. Luckily there was a clear path to her reluctantly chosen destination.
The leader didn't even twitch as she collapsed next to him, his back facing her. His breathing was slow and even, signaling that he slept deeply. Temperance glanced over her shoulder, glad when she could no longer see that man from her position. That meant he couldn't see her either. She sagged in relief, curling up on the floor and hoping to catch a few more minutes sleep before she was forced to rejoin these savages for whatever they deigned to call breakfast.
Her eyes had just slipped shut when they flew open once more at the feeling of a wide warm palm settling on her stomach and dragging her back into an equally warm chest. Her hands clawed at the deck below her, trying to stop herself from being pulled in, only for the man behind her to chuckle lightly and tug her closer. She could feel all of him along the line of her back. He manhandled her into position, tucking his arm under her head for her to use as a pillow and tangling their legs together so she had no chance of escape. When he was comfortable, he settled his arm around her once more, his fingers gently rubbing circles on the flat plane of her stomach that was both soothing and distracting. Little bolts of electricity jerked her muscles at the sensation, making her cheeks blaze with embarrassment. It didn't help that his hot breath would occasionally blow against the side of her neck, disturbing the curls resting there.
Once his fingers stopped moving, and his breathing once more evened out, Temperance very carefully began to extricate herself from his embrace, only for his arm to tighten around her again. She huffed in exasperation after the third failed attempt. He was determined to keep her there while he slept and she was helpless against him. There was little chance she would sleep any more that night. She couldn't allow herself to relax while in her enemy's grasp. He may have been the lesser of two evils, but that hardly made him safe to be around.
"Shh," he breathed into her ear, making her shiver. He murmured something in his language she didn't understand, but his tone was soothing as if he meant no harm. Despite her mind screaming that it was a trick, her body relaxed, leaning into his chest as though she had no control over it whatsoever. Her eyes drooped when she felt him bury his face into the back of her neck, breathing in deeply. The last thing she heard before she dropped off into oblivion was a light manly chuckle vibrating against the back of her neck.