Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 55308 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 277(@200wpm)___ 221(@250wpm)___ 184(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55308 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 277(@200wpm)___ 221(@250wpm)___ 184(@300wpm)
“You’ll die, John. I’ll see it through!”
Her line of sight was spoiled by an all too familiar face, a person who dared say, “Don’t look at him. Look at me. Hear what I’m saying to you, Eugenia. If you don’t calm down, I’m going to have to calm you down. And I’m asking you not to make me do that.”
Fuck all of it! “Aaron, I can’t do this anymore.” Tears, desperation. All the things she’d kept in. “I can’t.”
Gaze so heavy she’d rather carry a thousand tons, he murmured, “Take a deep breath for me.”
She did, one that shook all the way into her aching ribs. And then another one. And another. Until she stopped fighting and the men cautiously let her go.
Not that she hesitated to slap off their arms as if it made any difference.
Looking down at herself. At her stupid outfit and the way her tits were held back with nothing but a couple buttons. The front of a silly shirt tied under her bosom, midriff on display.
Li Wei would have hated that outfit. His conservative mother would have had a heart attack at first glance. Neither of them would have ever hit her.
And they were dead.
And it was over.
Undoing that first button was remarkably easy. The second one, nothing at all. After all, it was a question of math. Could be reduced to statistics. A desperation worse than any mental lapse to escape that horrible place.
Her third button popped, the captain squinting as he demanded to know, “What are you doing?”
Giving in. Giving in as she flipped up the pleated skirt and let the men see lace panties. “Who wants to go first?”
Not one of them moved to take her, wide, wet eyes begging, no matter how they gawked. “Come now, red light special at Table #2. I’ll go for as long as I can take it. Five-thousand tickets a ride.”
And still, no one touched her. After all their offers—after all their rejected presents and dirty talk over chess—not one of them made a move.
So she did. Standing, the captain mirrored her movement.
Which suited just fine.
His tickets were as good as any other man there. Hand to his buckle, she fought off his restraint. “Face-to-face the first time? Isn’t that how it goes? Ass in the air after?”
Oh, was he mad. Mad enough to give her a shake. “That’s enough out of you.”
“I’m not joking!” Red curls went flying as she fought to pull his shirt from his pants. “I want off this goddamn boat, and if that means I have to fuck everyone on it to get there, then I’m ready.”
The clown of the show started laughing, John’s amusement meaner than any slight she’d heard in her entire life.
The sound off, because he was missing a tongue for telling tales.
Not that it mattered.
Not really.
The only thing that mattered she couldn’t reach, despite his ugly guffaws. “I’ll even fuck John.”
The captain’s command was given lightly. “Throw him overboard.”
Order followed before John might comprehend why, those nearest him hoisted him up and sent him cartwheeling through freefall.
He screamed all the way down. And must have landed feet first, bones shattered, to yell as his broken body tried to swim and sank.
A good minute, he thrashed for life, not a soul at the party making a sound.
One soul swallowing it down as if a kiss had touched her lips for the first time in years.
Opening her eyes, infinitesimally lighter in spirit, she met the captain’s hazel gaze and said, “I thought foreplay was against the rules.”
Chapter Eleven
Aaron didn’t find her quip funny. Looked angrier than she’d ever seen him. “Go to my room. Clean yourself up. I want you naked on the bed when I get there.”
It wasn’t so bad a plan. She’d start with the captain and get him out of the way. More importantly, the rest of the men might be more eager if she wasn’t bloody and wild-looking. Brushing her hands on her mussed skirt as if smoothing the Chanel suit she’d worn for her Harvard Med scholarship interview, she pulled herself together in a way that would have made her mother proud.
And walked away without a word.
Operating on instinct, allowing no thought, she washed herself, felt no pain as grit was scrubbed from abrasion. Raided the pirate king’s medicine cabinet for precious aspirin and bandages. He’d charge her for them, but she needed to be a presentable fuck.
Because her new goal was nothing but tickets, tickets, and more tickets.
Wet curls combed, her pussy shaved for the first time in her life, she sat at the edge of his bed and stared forward. There was no acknowledgement when the door opened, no acknowledgment of the man who had come to take what she sold.
Kneeling down in front of her, he held ice to her cheek, hushing her when she startled.