Chapter Two - Captured!




Emma immediately ran forward and pulled the dagger from the dead man’s back, clutching it firmly in her hand as the sounds of struggle continued outside. Ellie pulled out her own knife while Giles took hold of one of the chairs and stationed himself right next to the door, prepared to bash anyone over the head who tried to enter.

They waited, listening to the sounds of battle approaching closer and their own ragged breaths. Several more loud crashes, and then all was quiet outside.

"Is that a good sign or a bad sign?" Ellie bit her lip nervously.

Emma and Giles both shrugged and held their breath as they waited for someone to come. After nothing had happened for several seconds, Giles slowly loosened his hold on the chair…

And that’s when the door burst inward.

A man with wild black hair immediately clocked Giles on the jaw, knocking him unconscious onto the floor. Ellie lunged at the intruder from behind, her blade flashing in the morning sun, but he caught her wrist easily, slamming her back hard into the wall and pinning her in place.

Emma, meanwhile, was left to face his companion, a tall, brutish-looking blond man with a jagged scar down one side of his face. She quickly concealed her weapon in the folds of her skirt when she saw that he had a knife as well.

He flashed her a toothy smile when he saw what appeared to be a helpless, frightened woman as his only opponent and advanced on her with a purposeful leer.

Emma let him back her up against the wall, not having to fake her fear at the situation. If these really were pirates, then there were undoubtedly dozens more where they had come from, and she doubted that even she could overcome them all.

"Pretty little thing, aren’t ya?" the pirate said in a rough voice. He quickly caught her by the waist and hair, pulling her right up against him. "Don’t worry," he said with a lustful sneer, "I’ll take good care of you…" His knife sliced into the bodice of her dress, exposing the white lace underneath, and he yanked her hair back to get a better look at her face. "Very pretty," he decided.

And that was pretty much all Emma could take. She quit trying to synchronize her own attack with Ellie’s and just swung at him.

The pirate cried out and staggered backward when her knife slashed his back, and she caught him right between the legs with her toe as he went down.

He clutched at her skirts, but she evaded him, making a run for the door and hoping to find someone else from their crew that could help her.

Her plan was foiled just as she reached the door, however. She crashed headlong into a third pirate, and this one was not so easy to defeat as his predecessor. He instantly caught the wrist that held her knife and twisted until the blade slipped from her grasp.

She aimed her free fist at his face, but he quickly caught that hand as well, pinning them both behind her and holding her against him so that she couldn’t get the leverage she needed to kick him…or to reach for the sword he wore at his waist.

She froze then, realizing she was trapped, and looked at her captor for the first time. He was of slim build, although sleekly muscular from his many years sailing. Tight black slacks and a white silk shirt open at the breast showed off his lean body and sun-kissed chest admirably. His face was no less striking - razor-sharp cheekbones and scarred eyebrow defined his features while brilliant blue eyes gave it life. Perhaps the most exotic aspect of his appearance was his hair, however. Years of exposure to the sun’s blinding rays had bleached it until it was almost white, giving this pirate a strangely angelic appearance.

Emma quickly shook the silly notion from her head and continued her useless struggles against him.

"You all right?" His accent was unmistakably British, although of a much lower class than she was used to hearing.

The bulky blond pirate grunted in response, clutching the bleeding slash in his side and still hunched over from her kick. "I’ll live," he agreed gruffly.

The pirate that held her seemed to be struggling slightly with mirth at his companion’s predicament. "We’ll ‘ave ta work on that overconfidence ‘f yours, Cameron," he chuckled. "One of these days it’ll get you killed…"

The blond pirate - Cameron - cast an annoyed scowl in his direction and turned to where the dark-haired pirate still had Ellie pinned as well.

Emma let out a disappointed sigh when she realized that any hope of Ellie overcoming her captor and freeing her had gone. Although…

Emma’s eyes widened when she realized that Ellie hadn’t even bothered to try to escape. In fact, right now, she was just letting the man hold her, looking up at him with a coy smile on her face.

The man seemed equally entranced, his grip changing from a rough hold to a gentler embrace.

If Emma hadn’t known better, she would have sworn a string quartet was playing soft love music around the pair, closing them off in their own private world…

The pirate who held her made the same observation and raised one eyebrow in surprise. "Jimmy?" he inquired.

The dark-haired man - Jimmy, Emma gathered - didn’t respond, remaining transfixed by the blond in his arms.

Her captor rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Jimmy!" he exclaimed.

"Huh?" Jimmy turned to look at him for the first time.

"You have everythin’ under control there, mate?" he demanded skeptically.

Jimmy nodded numbly. "I’ve got her," he agreed.

"He’s got me," Ellie agreed perkily.

Emma groaned inwardly. Why did Ellie have to pick NOW to start thinking about sex? Her silent rhetorical question went unanswered.

"Right then," the white-blond pirate who Emma deduced was in charge nodded. He glanced down at Giles’ unconscious form. "We need to get the passengers off the ship before-"

"I’m not going anywhere with you!" Emma exclaimed in sudden outrage.

He cast her an annoyed scowl. "Yeah, an’ what’re you gonna do ‘bout it?" he demanded.

"I’ll be happy to take care of her," Cameron’s eyes narrowed at her, "teach her some manners…"

"I don’t think that’ll be necessary," he gave the other man a tight smile. "Carry the preacher out of ‘ere; ‘ll take the girl."

"You will not!" Emma exclaimed. "I’ll have you know that my father is-"

He rolled his eyes at her. "Do I look like I give a damn who your father is?" he said sarcastically, grabbing a firmer hold on her waist and trying to drag her out through the door.

Emma jabbed at him with her toe, and when that didn’t work managed to get her foot hooked around the doorframe, making it essentially impossible for them to leave the room. She stuck her chin out at him stubbornly. "I’m. Not. Leaving."

"You wanna burn down with the ship?" he retorted.

"It’s better than being kidnapped by a bunch of…of…pirates!" she hissed.

He merely looked more annoyed than before. "Jimmy?" he turned to the dark-haired man.

Jimmy untied the red bandana that he wore around his neck and handed it over to his captain.

"What are you doing?" Emma’s eyes widened, and she began her struggles anew.

However, he still managed to get her hands tightly tied behind her back before flinging her back over his shoulder.

"You’ll never get away with this!" Emma cried out from where her face was pressed up against his back, kicking uselessly as he carried her out the door.

Sean followed with Giles slung over his shoulder, eyes still narrowed at the girl that had wounded him - even if it was his pride more than his body that had been hurt.

And behind them, Jimmy and Ellie walked out arm in arm, seemingly oblivious to the world around them. After all, it wasn’t every day that love at first sight occurred…

* * *

"Will you please, please cut out that racket?!" Jay exclaimed irritably when the wild young captive’s piercing screams for help finally became more than he could bear.

"Heeeeeelllppp!" was Emma’s only response.

Jay ran his hand down his face and moved so that he was sitting against the edge of the desk in front of where he’d tied her to the chair when he’d realized at it was the only way to keep the lower regions of his anatomy intact for long.

"Look," he began, "your crew’s dead; the ship’s burnt. The only people who can ‘ear your cries ‘re my men…"

"I don’t care," she said sullenly.

Jay breathed a sigh of relief that at least she was talking instead of screaming now. "That may well be," he agreed with a sly smile, "but you’ll save yourself some wear an’ tear on your voice this way."

Emma debated screaming yet again just to defy his regrettably reasonable logic. However, he did have a point; her voice was getting tired. "If you so much as think about touching me," she informed him in an icy voice, "you’ll die a death more slow and painful than anything you’ve ever imagined…"

"Dyin’ from my ears bleedin’ due to your constant screaming?" he couldn’t help but tease.

Her face remained stony.

"Look," he began with a sigh, "’m not gonna ‘sully your virtue’ or some rot like that. Truth be told, we din’t think there were gonna be any passengers on that boat. So, we’ll jus’ drop you off when we get back to land, an’ you can be on your merry way then. All right?"

Emma’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. "I don’t trust you," she informed him primly.