Shout out to Reviewers Hintori-hime and KiraSerket!
I'm pleasantly surprised by the enthusiasm my non-yaoi stories are getting!
Lovina stared at him. "You-you were the beggar," she spluttered. "What the hell where you doing there? I should have had you arrested while I had the chance! And why the hell did you keep this?"
The captain stepped back around the desk, plucking the tomato from her fingers and returning it to the wooden surface. "It is a very good tomato, I was thinking of saving it as an after-raid snack. I didn't think I'd ever see you again, my lady. It was a sad thought."
He was standing closer to her now. She wasn't sure if this was supposed to make her feel good or bad, so she took a step back.
"Sad for you maybe, bastardo, but good for me. I am a damn prisoner on a damn pirate ship."
"You say that as though it's a bad thing, señorita," he commented, eyes dancing.
Lovina felt her fists clinch. "People are dead because of you. You're a liar and a thief and a murderer. I want nothing to do with the likes of you."
"I do not control the individual actions of my men, señorita," he said sadly. "I do not kill unless it is self defense."
"What do you want with me?" asked Lovina, trying to keep her voice from shaking as she met his gaze. "What is going to happen to me?"
"I can't let you leave," he mused, wandering over to the back window. He clasped his hands behind his back, looking out at the sky as they sped away from the coast. The window panes spanned the length of the room, though with it being the middle of the night it was difficult to see through them.
Lovina eyed the axe leaning in a nitch on the wall. Then her eyes fell on the decorative dagger on the desk. She had a feeling there were plenty more weapons around the room, improvised or otherwise, but those were the two most obvious.
"I suppose you'll be staying with us for a while, Lady Vargas."
Her hand closed around the dagger's hilt, and she braced a hand against the sheath to pull it out.
"Windows are fascinating, sì? They are clear, and you can see right through them, but only if the other side is lighter. If your side is lighter, it is like a mirror."
Lovina's head snapped up to look at him even as she yanked the dagger free. The steel blade hissed as it was unsheathed, and she held it ready in one hand. Though the captain had not turned, he was regarding her coolly in the reflection.
"I don't give a damn about the windows, bastard. I just want you to let me go."
"Why would I do that, Lady Vargas?" he asked, turning to face her, a kind smile on his face. "This is the first time I've had the pleasure of traveling with una belleza, such as yourself. What could I possibly have to gain by releasing you?"
"What do you have to gain by keeping me?" Lovina countered, trying to ignore the heat rising in her cheeks. Sure Feliciana and Roma said she was pretty, beautiful, but they were family, it didn't count. Feliciana was the one who got called beautiful by others, not her. Apparently her personality was a natural people-repellent, and she usually didn't mind. She wasn't the social type.
"As opposed to your release or giving you back to the crew?" he asked, eyes twinkling as he raised an eyebrow.
"What's the difference between a bastard and a crew of bastards?"
The twinkling vanished, the brows dropping slightly. "I take care of my crew, but I am not like them, señorita. We don't spend much time on land, which is the only time they can find female company. Unlike them I care whether or not I have consent before I bed someone."
Lovina felt pale, but kept her death grip on the dagger, her eyes locked on the captain.
"If you have such a shinning moral code, then let me go."
"I have a code, but I wouldn't call it shinning," the pirate chuckled, idly making his way over to her. With each soft thump of well-made boot on the wooden floor, Lovina found herself fighting the urge to back towards the door. "I am not without sin, Lady Vargas, but I draw my lines."
"Stay away from me, bastardo," she hissed, shifting her grip on the dagger, bending her arm back slightly.
Eyes glinting, Captain Carriedo cocked his head slightly. "Be careful with that, señorita, you might hurt yourself."
"I'm not some wimpy noble brat," hissed Lovina.
"I know. That's why I warned you."
Before Lovina could make sense of that, Captain Carriedo was darting forward. She took a step back in surprise, stabbing at the approaching man. The Spaniard slipped easily to the side of the blade, grabbing her wrist in an iron grip and forcing her hand open. Lovina gasped as it clattered to the floor, his free hand gripping her jaw.
Her back hit the wall. Lovina felt fear stronger than anything she had felt yet churning in her belly. It was the first time the danger, the brutal reality of what could be done to her, had been so…intimate. He was so much taller, broader, and stronger than her. His hand wrapped easily around her right wrist, his fingers overlapping. She thrashed and struggled with everything she had, but even then she could barely move.
The hand on her jaw jerked her face up, forcing her to meet the glinting emerald gaze.
"I did try to warn you," he chided gently.
"Let go of me you son of a-
"No, none of that," he said, smiling as he shifted his grip on her jaw, clamping her mouth shut. She glowered at him, even as her heart pounded in her chest. "But there is a price for getting free, mi pequeño tomate. Tell me, have you been kissed before?"
Lovina found herself spluttering as he returned to his original grip on her jaw. Not just at the question, but at what he called her. "W-What the hell? What kind of a question is that? Of course I've been kissed. And there's no way in hell I'm anyone's little tomato, let alone yours you bastardo!"
"Liar," chided the Spaniard, a smile on his face.
Before Lovina could defend her lie, the captain did something that froze her in place. Holding her jaw in a surprisingly strong grip between thumb and forefinger, he dipped down, slanting his mouth across hers.
It was….strange. His lips were cool, but then everything seemed to grow very warm very fast. They moved over hers, gone as limp from shock as the rest of her. He gently sucked on her lower lip, even as he moved his fingers higher up on her jaw, forcing it open.
When he started to slip his tongue through her lips, Lovina snapped out of it. She waited, still in semi-shock, until he was passed her teeth before biting down as hard as she could.
The Spaniard yelped, tearing away from her. Well, tearing his mouth away from her. It was a start.
"I can't believe you just did that," Lovina hissed. "What's your problem, bastardo?"
"I thought you said you'd been kissed before," teased the captain, eyes dancing brighter than they had before.
Lovina's answer was to jerk her knee up as hard as she could. Why hadn't she tried it before?
Emerald eyes went wide, white showing all the way around the green. A strange, remarkably high pitched wheeze escaped his lips. Lovina tore from the frozen hands, shoving him away. He staggered back a step, doubling over, but he was straightening slowly as she made a dash for the door.
Lovina grabbed the heavy bar, throwing her shoulder into it as she tried to heave it open. She managed to get it halfway out of its slot when a tanned hand slammed it back down again, another grabbing her by the forearm in an iron grip.
Whirling to glare at her captor, ready to give him the tongue-lashing of a lifetime, Lovina found herself faced with an expression she had yet to see. For once, there was no trace of twinkling or amusement, or anything remotely positive in those emerald eyes. They seemed darker, more dangerous. Everything about Captain Carriedo did. Lovina realized with a chill she had crossed a line, realized she had sparked a temper she hadn't known existed. In her burst of temper she'd almost forgotten that she'd actually heard of this man before. The infamous pirate, Captain Carriedo, one of four who roamed the seas and had been labeled by the East India Trading Co. as a Pirate Lord. The price on his head was second only to that put on Captain Kirkland, a former admiral in Her Majesty's Navy. Carriedo himself was said to be a former conquistador.
"Ungrateful moza," he growled, his voice sending a chill down her back despite the fact it was still an octave or two too high. "Would you rather be tossed back to those mestizos sucios? Do you have any idea what they would do to you then?"
Lovina stared up at him, fear piercing her heart like a dagger.
He constricted his grip, making her eyes tighten as pain shot down her arm. "I am your best bet, accept that. Why can't you see your position clearly, tonto?"
Before she could even contemplate an answer, he spun them around and shoved her onto the bed. Lovina landed with a gasp, and soon found her boots being yanked from her feet. She tried to kick out, struggling to sit up and scramble away, but then the captain was over her, pinning her down. He grabbed her flailing wrists, pinning them above her head, pinning her legs under his knees before she could kick him again.
"Understand your position, Lady Vargas," he said coldly.
Lovina glowered up at him, though she was fighting tears. "I understand it just fine, bastardo, now let me go!"
"No, I don't think you do, señorita. Not every fight can be one by merely a sharp tongue. If you keep going like this you'll get yourself killed, or worse."
This time there was no sharp comeback on her tongue. It was a rare event for Lovina. It was the first time since she could remember that she was too scared to even lash out. And what did she have left to lash out with if not words? The reason she used them to begin with was because she shared her twin's borderline petite frame, and while a slender figure was lovely when it came to dresses it did nothing to help you win a fight. Carriedo was holding her down without seeming to try. She was at his mercy.
Closing her eyes in hopes of keeping the tears at bay, she asked in a low voice, "What do you want, Carriedo?"
Lovina started as he sighed, and rested his forehead against hers. "I'm sorry to frighten you, señorita. But it would break my heart to see something happen to you because you challenged the wrong person."
Lovina's eyes flew open, a startled gasp escaping as the pirate stopped supporting himself, flopping down on top of her. She jerked away as he nuzzled her neck, chuckling. "I have no wish to hurt you, Lovi. And don't call me Carriedo. My name is Antonio."
"Lovi?" demanded the girl incredulously.
"SÍ," said the pirate. She could feel him smiling, and started wiggling again.
"You might want to stop doing that. You're already tempting enough," chuckled the pirate.
Lovina froze. "Pervert!" she blurted, face flushing.
"Only for you."
"Get your oversized pirate ass off me!"
The only response this got was a patient sigh. "Go to sleep, Lovi."
"Like this?!"
"You smell nice," he mused sleepily.
Lovina groaned, exasperated. "Dio, what kind of pirate are you?"
"At the moment? A rich, happy, and very tired one. Now go to sleep or I'll put you in the brig."
"I'll take the brig."
"And I'll leave the key with one of my least-trusted men."
Lovina clamped her mouth shut. Still, she was tired. When she nodded off she was muttering a variety of names at the pirate that she knew the nuns would not approve of.
BREAK/BREAK\BREAK
When Lovina opened her eyes groggily, it was to morning light streaming through the windows. She was on her side on the large bed, one of the blankets thrown over her. For a moment she stared at it, frowning. It took all of a few seconds to remember what had happened the night before and where she was. It took a few more before she realized Carriedo was gone, and had apparently put the blanket over her before leaving.
Muttering about perverted pirates, Lovina crawled off the bed and went searching for her boots. They were scattered on the floor just passed the foot of the bed, and she set about yanking them on. She had one foot shod and was yanking on the second when the door opened.
She looked up in time to see the Spaniard push the door open, balancing a tray in one hand. He smiled when he saw her, though she noticed he didn't even bother to shut the door. He carried the tray to the desk, setting it down.
Ignoring it, Lovina slowly got to her feet, planning a break for the door.
"Don't waste your time, señorita. Please, come, sit, eat. The food is always best after a raid."
Lovina glared at him, but didn't move from her current position. "What do you mean waste of time?"
He turned to her, still smiling, and said, "We've had the favor of the wind ever since we left Port Diego, Lovi. We are nowhere near land, and even a good swimmer would risk running into more pirates before they reached it."
Lovina gave him one last glare, and then eyed the food. It was an hour passed sunrise, at least, and she was hungry. She saw bread, cheese, apples, and a dull bronze goblet.
As he turned to leave Carriedo said, "You're welcome to roam the ship, Lovi, but please try to avoid the weapons. My crew will use any excuse to get their hands on you."
Rather than snap at him, Lovina went for the food. She was starving, and despite what she may thing of the pirate he was right. The food was good, though the goblet looked suspiciously like the ones kept in the kitchen for use when Nonno wasn't entertaining guests.
Once she'd cleaned the plate and drained the goblet, Lovina turned towards the door with a sigh. It might be a while before I get a chance to get away, she thought grimly. Might as well have a look around. Then she grudgingly admitted, at least he's not keeping me locked up in one room all day.
Resigned for the time being, she marched towards the still open door.
Please note that I only know a few random words in various languages that are not English. What I don't know is left in the hands of the sometimes sketchy Google Translate. If I make a mistake please don't be offended, it was a honest one, and feel free to review and correct me so that I can go back and fix it. I'm a stickler for accuracy, ladies and gents.
Spanish Translations:
Una belleza- a beauty
Moza- essentially 'wench' as I understand it.
Mestizos sucios- dirty mongrels
Tonto- 'idiot'
If Lovina has to get creative in her swearing I will put up translations of those too, but I think the classics can be easily recognized.
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