When she saw the man her instinct told her that her saviour have arrived, why she felt that he was her rescuer, a gentleman, she could not have said. After all he was also one of the pirates, he was bloodstained like the rest and gazed at the havoc about him with an eye as hard as cold. perhaps it was the trim fit of his doeskin breeches over his well muscled thighs and the gleam of his expensive boots. Or his neatly trimmed hair or his face, sun browned and angular but clean shaven? it was a pleasant face, different from his profession and the other faces on the deck around her, like a breath of fresh air in a highly polluted environment. But it was more than just his appearance. She sensed an almost tangible confidence about him that seemed to say he was a man who had no need to bully those beneath him to prove his worth. The other pirates gave him a grinning respect and a wide berth.
He approached her now and she almost spoke to plead her cause. Hope leaped into her large black eyes and words trembled on the soft curves of her lips, but he gave her only a very brief glance before turning to the other pirates, De Lessops, I heard you found a woman on board.
Her heart thundered and shattered in dismay. His glance had been swift and penetrating, as if in that second he taken note of every detail about her, yet it had been indefinitely brief. And now his word, his tone, were too casual, as if he asked about a bundle of silk or a keg of rum. " She is mine! snared her captor, rounding on the new comer.
A very slight arching of his brows was the only reaction she observed from the new pirate. I wasn't aware that the division of our prize was done . But at any rate, we agreed before the voyage that any captives were to belongs to me or have you forgotten our agreement?
Raven looked from one pirate to the other, she knew nothing of this tall, broad shouldered buccaneer casually leaning on his saber, except that he was aloof, his speech and accent were that of a gentleman, and he seemed infinitely preferably to De Lessops when compared two of them.
"The crew," De Lessops corrected, his lips twisting into a triumphant grin. " Our agreement was that you get the crew. We said nothing about passengers, Captain.
There was a mere flicker of irritation that crossed the blond buccaneers face before he shrugged, as if dismissing the matter altogether. He laughed and tapped the toe of his boot with his saber. You are right, of course, De Lessops. I think you are splitting hairs with me, but you are right. You have as much right to her as much as I.
Raven shuddered at his cold dismissal of her. Why had she expected help from this man, anyway? She certainly had no claim on him. In spite of his elegant carriage and gentlemanly air, he was just as much a pirate, and as heartless and cruel as his unwashed companions. But the mere presence of a seeming gentleman had so raised up her hopes that she now felt as if she has been betrayed. As nothing else had been done, his casual words and easy laughter while the two pirates discussed her brought home to her the desperate reality of the situation she was into. They spoke of her as if she were no more than any other piece of cargo.
With horrifyingly certainty, she knew that whether they decided to try to put ramson on her, or to throw her into the sea, or rape her on the spot, there was no one to whom she could appeal to for help. And very little she could do to help herself from her presence predicament.
"Tell me, De Lessops, what do you plan to do with her?
De Lessops traced a path along her neckline, once again with his grinning finger. "There is only one use that a man has for a woman," he said, licking his lips as though he would devour her. And when I tire of her, there is always Maricabo, the smile did not leave the lean captain face, but there was tightening, a hardening about his eyes. "the slave market?"
Raven eyes widened further in horror, but she was unable to shrink from De Lessop's touch. The bonds biting into her arms were too secure. she clenched her teeth and held her head another proud notch higher, determined to still the trembling she felt beginning deep within her.
The tall captain turned those cool blue eyes upon her, letting them travel the length of her , smiling appreciatively. And though they reminded her of two chips of glacial ice, his look did not chill her as De Lessop's had. Indeed, she found herself growing strangely warm beneath his scrutiny.