Swept Away (The Swept Away Saga, Book One)

Chapter Twelve

 "Evening, lassie."

Spinning around in shock, I backed up alongside the wall, the weight of my skirts pressing against me. Hopefully they were hiding my shaking legs.

Captain Rodrigues stood in the doorway, a crooked, drunken grin plastered on his face. His wig had disappeared, revealing patchy gray hair underneath, tufts of which were longer than others. Bloodshot eyes devoured me hungrily, and I desperately looked everywhere except at them. His black buckle shoes were scuffed, there was a run in one stocking, and the long ebony coat was missing several of its gold buttons. His frame seemed small in the opening after seeing O'Rourke standing in it. Even the wood of the ship appeared dingier than it had before, as if it were mirroring the dirty, smelly man before me.

"C-Captain," I stuttered, terror ripping through me at the sound. O'Rourke had only been gone about an hour and I hadn't expected anyone but him for the rest of the night. Apparently, the captain remembered I was here after all. I'd never been in a situation where rape was a possibility—at least not to my knowledge—and a part of my brain was screaming at Tristan for not keeping me safe like he'd promised. Who were we kidding, really? It was almost impossible to think I could spend three months on this ship and not be seen by the captain.

"Captain!" O'Rourke suddenly appeared behind him, a quick flash of anger crossing his features before being masked by unconcern.

"O'Rourke, why didn't you remind me we had a lovely lady on board?" The captain's voice was grainy and swoopy, probably from all his drinking. It didn't appear he'd stopped once he was on board either. I felt like I was on display in the dark purple and gold dress, the way he continued to stare and lick his lips.

"I was merely waiting for you to finish yer meal, sir," O'Rourke stated calmly.

"Nonsense, nonsense," he replied, waving for me to come towards him. When I didn't, he laughed a throaty chortle, bloodshot eyes narrowing. "Come, lassie. We'll take supper in my quarters together."

Frozen, filled with fear, my gaze flicked to O'Rourke for an instant. He gave me the smallest of nods, his mouth pursed tightly. My emotions, which had been flying all around trying to figure out how we were going to respond to the situation at hand, suddenly settled on fury and I marched forward, repressing the urge to shiver as the captain took my hand.

"There now. That wasn't so bad, was it?" The captain chuckled his dark guffaw again and pulled me into the hall, wrapping my arm around his. "O'Rourke, bring our supper to my room. We'll take a turn around the deck while ye get it ready."

"Aye, Captain." There was a slight edge to his voice, but it was gone as soon as I tried to decipher it. Without another word, he passed by us and went off to follow his orders.

Holding tightly to me, Captain Rodrigues towed me in the same direction, but up the stairs to the deck instead of off into the bowels of the ship. As we came out into the fresh air, an involuntary sigh escaped me, my eyes growing wide as I really saw the ship for the first time.

It was just like any other pirate ship I'd seen in movies, but more grand somehow. Everything was in order, put away in its spot, gleaming under the light of the moon. At certain points, lanterns were lit and I could see crew members milling about. The thick ropes were practically majestic, holding it all together. White sails were out, full of wind, pulling us across the water. Here, at the highest place on the deck, it almost gave me the feeling of flying. Cool air brushed over my skin, chilling it slightly, and spray from the ocean would land on me every now and then.

"Beautiful isn't she, my Adelina." It wasn't a question, merely a statement, so I remained silent, allowing him to lead me past the helm, where a crewman was minding the red wood and gold inlaid wheel, and down the stairs onto the lower part of the deck. Here, the floor was open to the level below and there were several men sitting around, drinking and playing cards. We didn't take the next set of stairs down into the pit-like place, though, instead walking around it towards the front of the ship. With each passing moment, I wished I'd had the cloak O'Rourke had said he'd bring me, or at least the shoes.