A Captive of Chance (11 page)

Garnishing way too many curious looks, she had quickly tried to find her way to a merchant’s area. Hoping that perhaps away from the docks she would find some decent people. Usually close to the merchant’s center of most towns would also be a church. She could appeal for safety to the local priest. Unfortunately, the further away from the docks she got, the worse it got. There were no shops, no respectable people, no priest… no church! Just bars and brothels. The more she searched, the more lost she became. It was not long before she decided to head back to
Fortune’s Fate
.

Belle shuddered to think of Chance’s wrath and what punishment he would devise, but it was far better than what she would face in this lawless town full of real pirates, alone and unprotected.

Seizing upon a forgotten shawl lying trampled in the street, Belle covered her face and hair and tried to blend in as best as possible, desperately trying to calm her racing heart, to keep the panic at bay, so she could think. In seaside towns, all side streets usually led to the water. Despite this being a pirate haven, it was still a seaside town. She would just follow the side streets and hopefully it would lead her back to Chance’s ship. It was not a great plan, but it was all she had. It was not like she could ask anyone!

Belle did not get far before a foul-smelling hand closed over her mouth, wrenching her backwards. Viciously turning her around so she faced her attacker, Belle nearly fainted from fear.

“Well, look what we have here!”

The pirate’s fetid breath hit her like a wave. He was unwashed. His ill-fitting clothes were stiff with grime and what looked like dried blood. It was his face that truly terrified her. There was a grotesque hole where his left eye should have been. The slashing pattern of scars across his cheek, pulled his face into a macabre sneer.

“Let me go,” Belle said, moving her head sideways from the stench.

“I don’t think so, my beauty. You are going to fetch a nice price.”

Belle started to struggle in earnest. The disgusting pirate clipped her under the jaw. As she slumped to the ground, her last thought before losing consciousness was how much better she preferred the way Chance called her
my beauty
.

* * *

She awoke later in the cell with the rest of the women. Belle touched her jaw, gingerly feeling the bruise as she huddled closer to Rowan for warmth and comfort.

There was the sound of metal scraping against metal and then the screech of the rusted cell door as it was forced open. The women all blinked against the sudden shaft of bright light in the dark room.

“Get up, whores!” said another disturbing looking pirate. This one was missing most of his teeth. His skin was so dirty and weather-beaten it was dark brown. “I said get up!” he shouted as he kicked one of the prone women.

Slowly the women got to their feet and filed out of the cell.

“Time for the auction,” the pirate jeered.

* * *

Chance rubbed the bruised and bloodied knuckles on his right hand. Looking at the even more bruised and bloodied man at his feet, he said, “I am so glad you have agreed to cooperate. I would have hated for this to get unpleasant.”

The man spit out a tooth before replying, “Heartless Hal has your bird. Putting her up for auction today with all the other whores he collected from his last trip up the coast.”

“Where?” Chance asked through clenched teeth. The man didn’t respond soon enough. Fortunately, a swift kick to his midsection elicited a prompt response.

“The south pier,” groaned the man.

Chance leaned down on his haunches and looked intently at the man. “Do I need to tell you to keep your mouth shut about this?”

“No you do not,” whimpered the man before crawling away.

Chance struggled to keep a tight rein on his fury and, truthfully, his fear. In his world, there was a hierarchy just like in any other society. There were pirates like himself. Generally educated, ruthless only when necessary and in it purely for the adventure and coin. Gentlemen pirates as they were called.

Then there were the dregs. The low-life pirates who thrilled at being cruel for cruelty’s sake. Dirty scum who gave pirates a bad name. Below them, there was Heartless Hal.

A disgusting coward who didn’t earn his treasure the honest way by attacking a ship, but rather with marauding. He attacked quiet seaside villages, killed the men and took the women captive. There was rarely any coin to be found in these hand-to-mouth havens, so he makes his money by selling the women off at his infamous auctions.

Chance had never been to one, finding the whole enterprise distasteful. It was one thing to enjoy a female captive who happened to fall into your lap after a raid. It was another to drag them out of their homes and sell them for sex slaves.

And now this cruel, cowardly scum had Belle.

Chapter Nine

Her White Knight

The women were pushed and shoved out of their underground prison into the blinding light and fresh salt air. Repeatedly poking their guns into the women’s ribs, the awful pirates herded them into a straight line, marching them down to the sea.

Belle strained her neck, trying to get a glimpse of
Fortune’s Fate
from where she was standing. It was no good. There were too many ships. She quickly scanned the crowd of unwashed, rough pirates, knowing Chance would stand out among such rabble. He was not there. Belle felt a wave of despair and lost hope.

She wondered for the thousandth time if Chance was even looking for her. Would he care enough to try or just move on to his next conquest?

She had to believe he was out there looking for her. She could not have been so wrong as to fall in love with a man who cared nothing about her welfare. Belle wasn’t so foolish to think he was in love as well, but was it too much to ask for her charming pirate to turn into a white knight?

* * *

Chance watched from the obscurity of the crowd as the women were ushered down to the beach to stand on a rough-hewn platform. Scanning the dirty and worn-down faces, he desperately searched for a pair of sapphire blue eyes. Finally, he saw her close to the end of the line. His chest constricted at the sight.

Her borrowed dress was filthy and torn. Her beautiful hair dull and lank as it hung about her shoulders. But it was her eyes that troubled him most. From the first moment he saw Belle, her gorgeous eyes flashed rash defiance. It was one of the things he enjoyed most about his little spitfire. Watching as she scanned the crowd, he saw hope vanish from their blue depths.

There was not a doubt in his mind she was looking for him among the sea of dirty, callous faces. Chance was offended at the look of resigned disappointment that crossed her expressive face. As if she had only half expected for him to search for her! He would add that to the ever-growing list of why he was going to severely punish her when he got his hands on her.

The despicable auction began. It was obvious Heartless Hal was saving Belle and one redheaded comely lass for last. The majority of the women were older, matronly. In an odd way, it helped their fate. If a pirate was fortunate to make it to old age, it was not unusual for them to want to settle down, to find someone to keep their house and warm their bed. Being a pirate, they could not go the usual courting route, so procuring a bride through this non-traditional way was common.

The fate of someone as young and beautiful as Belle would not be so fortunate. Chance did not want to dwell on those possibilities.

It was the redhead’s turn on the auction block. A wave of excitement rippled through the crowd. You could barely hear Heartless Hal announcing bids over the obscene calls and rude comments of the pirates. To incite the crowd further and drive up the bids, Heartless Hal decided to display the merchandise better.

Belle was horrified when the disgusting pirate who had grabbed her on the street, approached Rowan. With a sickening wrench, the front of Rowan’s dress was torn from her body. Her pert breasts and flat stomach exposed to the leers and cheers of the crowd. She winced when Heartless Hal handled one breast, squeezing it painfully. Belle grimaced at the dirty hand print left on the woman’s pale skin.

The pirate crowd was not satisfied. They began to chant ‘Show her cunt’ over and over again till Heartless Hal obliged. Tearing the front of the dress straight down to the hem, he also made short work of the threadbare petticoat that was her final barrier against this shame. Rowan was all but naked before a crowd of blood lust pirates. Belle was astounded at how Rowan maintained her serene composure even in the face of such evil. Rowan’s chin was up. Her shoulders back. Her eyes glowed with an unholy light as if she were cursing every man that fell under its gleam. In that moment, Belle truly believed she was in the presence of a witch.

The bidding frenzy continued till finally one tall pirate separated from the crowd. For the briefest of moments, Belle thought it was Chance. He was handsome and well-dressed with thick black hair but there the resemblance ended. His eyes did not have the charming spark of Chance’s. This pirate’s eyes radiated danger. He approached Heartless Hal and spoke quietly. Whatever coin amount he mentioned, Heartless Hal seemed particularly pleased and immediately handed over the troublesome redhead.

As the dangerous pirate grabbed Rowan by the upper arm, Belle rashly grabbed Rowan’s other arm. Not thinking of what she would do next, her only thought was to somehow save the strange, brave woman. Belle’s eyes met the cold, dark depths of the pirate’s and she shivered. He was obviously not someone you defied.

Rowan leaned over and gave Belle a kiss on the cheek. With a knowing smile, she whispered against Belle’s ear, “I will kill him before the sun sets. Do not fear for me.”

Reluctantly, Belle released Rowan’s arm. As the strange woman was being dragged away by the dangerous pirate, Belle couldn’t help feeling more sorry for the pirate.

Her thoughts quickly returned to her own disastrous fate. Belle felt dizzy with fear and repulsion. She was next on the auction block.

* * *

Chance watched the exchange between Belle, the little redhead and the tall pirate carefully. The pirate was called Gentleman Jack, and he was both a fraud and strangely enough a friend.

Chance and Drake were probably the only two men alive to know that Gentleman Jack was truly Lord Grayson Bancroft. Chance had met up with him years ago after being confronted with somewhat overwhelming odds in an unexpected bar fight. Grayson had stepped in and fought on Chance’s side. They bonded over black eyes and copious amounts of rum.

Grayson was searching for the man who killed his brother. He was certain the key to finding him was the man’s redheaded sister. The young woman had proved to be elusive, frequently moving from town to town. Grayson had some tale of her using witchcraft to always stay a step ahead of him. Chance suggested it was more likely Grayson’s British attire and wealthy appearance, were making a sensation, that would lead to rumors of his presence from several towns over.

It was Chance and Drake who transformed him into Gentlemen Jack the pirate… for a handsome fee of course! They were, in fact, real pirates and rarely did anything out of the goodness of their hearts, bar fight or no bar fight.

It would seem Grayson had finally caught his elusive red bird, thought Chance before turning his attention back to his own blue-eyed bird as she was pulled towards the auction block.

Chance started to make his way towards the makeshift platform, the crowd immediately parting. He could hear whispers of “Le Chanceux” as he passed. Chance did not even try to hide his smirk. His reputation for having the devil’s own luck in a fight was hard won and completely deserved. Chance had earned fear and respect among a group that rarely feared or respected anything or anyone.

He boldly stepped on to the platform. Ignoring Heartless Hal’s greeting, Chance examined Belle’s disheveled appearance more closely. Taking in the hollow look from lack of sleep and hunger, Chance’s jaw clenched at the dark, ugly bruise on Belle’s jaw. He curled his fingers into fists as his eyes lit on the harsh grip Heartless Hal had on her thin upper arm, but it was her eyes that were almost his undoing. Bright with tears, they shone with such warmth and love, Chance was almost unmanned. Always the pirate, no one had ever looked at him like he was the hero.

Heartless Hal licked his lips in greedy anticipation. “Don’t think you’re going to get away with paying the same amount of coin as Gentleman Jack, Chanceux,” he sneered. “This whore has bigger tits and a better mouth.”

“I’m not paying for her,” said Chance.

Belle’s heart dropped. When she saw him prowling toward them through the crowd with such determination, her heart had leapt. Chance had come to rescue her after all! But now she was confused and heartbroken. Did he come to only get a look at the next man who was to hold her captive?

“She is already mine. I’m here to claim her,” growled Chance, trapping Belle’s surprised gaze within the primal intensity of his own.

With a sneer, Heartless Hal jeered, “Not much of a man if you can’t hold on to your woman. I found this whore running away from you. If you want her back, you will have to pay handsomely. Or maybe I’ll just keep her. Plow between her thighs for a bit before throwing her back to you.”

Chance sucked in a deep breath through his teeth, calming his rage. He motioned with his two fingers for Heartless Hal to lean in close. The moment the cruel pirate did so, Chance had a sharp knife to the man’s groin.

Placing a restraining hand on Heartless Hal’s shoulder, Chance calmly assessed the situation. “We all know you are not much of a man and a rubbish pirate, Hal. With the flick of my wrist, I can turn that from opinion into fact. So what shall it be? Will you dine on beef and ale tonight, or am I going to feed you your own shriveled balls?”

“Fuck you, Chanceux!” Heartless Hal angrily sputtered. “My men will kill you for this!”

Chance turned to look over the crowd before shaking his head. “Do you really think so?” he asked with amusement. “I have to be honest with you. They don’t look terribly motivated,” teased Chance, drawing Hal’s attention to the small group of men looking at the ground, the sea, the sky… anywhere but at the platform in an effort to willfully ignore what was happening.