Take Me Forever (5 page)

“You like that don’t you?”

“Yes,” she answered so low that he had to strain to hear
her.

He could no longer harbor his passion.
 
He picked her up and carried her to the
bed.
 
He slowly took off her dress and
stared at her exquisite body.
 
She was
everything he fantasized she would be.
 
He began undressing himself and realized that she wasn’t acting so much
like an innocent anymore.

“Why aren’t you fighting with me and begging me to stop?”

“You know I can’t stop you.
 
Please don’t hurt me,” she begged.

Hearing the innocence in her voice now, Cain realized she
was not ready for him yet.
 
He couldn’t
take her without her consent.
 
Any other
woman he could with no qualms about it, but not her.
 
Instead, he decided to tease her body and
give her a taste of what she could look forward to if she would only ask.

His hands trailed over her body caressing each part.
 
Wanting her to savor each second, he slowly
descended her body.
 
He left a fiery
trial of kisses down her neck, to her stomach, and beyond her curls nestled
between her legs.
 
Her body trembled with
each caress and each kiss.
 

“Mercy, I want you.
 
I
will have you one day.
 
You have created
a hunger in me that won’t be satisfied until I have you.
 
It is all I can do to keep from taking you
now.”

Don’t stop,
she
screamed silently.
 
She looked at him
with a puzzled look upon her face.
 
Her
body was raging out of control.
 
She knew
she should not be feeling this good, but somehow it felt so right.

He gave her a long passionate kiss and left her lying naked
on the bed.
 
She was stunned.
 
Why did he stop?
 
Did she do something wrong?
 
She didn’t know what she was supposed to do
to please a man.
 
She had always hoped
her husband would teach her these things on their wedding night.
 
Since he had stopped himself from ravaging
her and showed her what it could be like, she knew he was not the cold hearted
pirate he proclaimed to be.

Cain grinned as he left the cabin leaving Mercy naked on his
bed.
 
He knew it would just be a matter
of time before she was begging him to take her.
 
After all, he was not only a notorious pirate, but also he was a legend
as a lover.
 
He would show her that he
was the master of playing mind games.

Mercy decided it might be best just to wear the old ragged
shirt so she wouldn’t look so enticing to the captain.
 
She had just finished dressing when Cain came
back with some food.
 
Mercy’s cheeks were
red with embarrassment from her earlier behavior and he was acting as if
nothing had happened.

“You should try this orange.
 
It has a sweet taste just like you,” Cain said breaking the silence.

“Thanks,” Mercy replied as her cheeks burned even more.

From that point on, the two of them began to chat like they
were old time friends.
 
Her resistance
was weakening and she wondered if he was messing with her mind in order to
seduce her.
 
A couple of hours later,
Mercy began to yawn.
 
She was wondering
when he was going to leave her so she could go to sleep.
 
When he took off his boots, she realized he
had no attention of leaving.
 

“Are you sleeping in here?”
 
Mercy finally got up the courage to ask.

“It is my bed.
 
You
can sleep in it with me or sleep on the floor.
 
You decide,” Cain stated as he motioned to the hard floor as he
undressed and crawled into bed.

I can play this game
,
Mercy thought as she grabbed the blanket off of the bed and placed it on the
floor.
 
Mercy blew out the lantern and
went to sleep on the cold, hard floor.

Cain chuckled to himself as he watched Mercy play her
game.
 
He would let her sleep on the
floor if she was so stubborn.
 
A little
while later, Cain tossed and turned.
 
He
couldn’t sleep.
 
He glanced down at Mercy
and instantly knew why he could not sleep.
 
That woman!
 
He groaned to himself.
 
He got up and scooped her in his arms and
gently placed her in the bed before curling up beside her to keep her
warm.
 

When she awoke the next morning, Mercy found herself in a
soft bed instead of on the hard floor.
 
How did I get here?
 
She mused.
 
Her thoughts were interrupted by a sound of tapping at the basin.
 
Cain had a straight razor in his hand.
 
He was shaving his beard off.
 
She lay silently in bed watching his every
stroke.
 
When he finished, she saw
through the reflection in the mirror that he was indeed a very handsome
man.
 
She couldn’t take her eyes off of
him.
 
He felt her staring at him and
turned to catch her gaze.

“Does this meet your approval,” he asked as he ran his hand
across his newly shaven face.

“I suppose,” she answered nonchalantly.

“I thought if I met your approval in the looks department, I
might be able to get you to come willingly to my bed.”

“You thought wrong,” Mercy chided.

“We’ll see,” Cain chuckled.

“Don’t think for a second that I will come to your bed
willingly.”

“No problem.
 
I’ll
have plenty of women to warm my bed when I return home,” Cain answered.
 
But you
are the woman I want
, he thought.

“I just bet you do,” Mercy muttered.

“Women flock to me like I am their god.
 
If I can’t have you in my bed, then perhaps I
can satisfy my lust with all the willing women I’ve had before and will have
again.”

“You sound so confident,” Mercy stated slightly raising her
voice.

“Wait and see how the women swoon over me when we reach
Corbin’s Crow.
 
You will be begging me to
bed you.”

“Never!
 
I will never
submit to you.”

“Oh, but I think you will.
 
You might find that once you’ve been with me you will never want another,”
Cain said as he ended the conversation and left the cabin.

Late that afternoon, Mercy could hear thunder in the
distance.
 
She peeped out of the cracks
in the door and saw the crew scurrying around in a frenzy.
 
A storm was coming and Cain was needed on
deck to maneuver the ship through the swelling waves.

Mercy felt a twinge of motion sickness as the ship swayed to
and fro.
 
She needed some air and tried
to open the door.
 
Surprised that it was
unlocked, Mercy cracked it open.
 
She had
a good view of Cain battling the wheel in the wind and rain with his hair
whipping across his face.

She watched him for a few minutes before deciding to go lie
down to see if her motion sickness would go away.
 
She slept peacefully through the storm and
dreamt about life with her pirate.
 
He
was her protector and provider.
 
She kept
him happy in bed and kept his household in order during his absences at
sea.
 
If only her dreams were a
reality.
 
It was a life she could become
accustomed to.

When she awoke the next morning, the wheels in her mind
began to turn.
 
Perhaps she could make
her dreams come true.
 
She realized now
that she had developed strong feelings for Cain even though he was her captor
and she could feel the spark between them.
 
He hadn’t harmed her so far and she was beginning to think he didn’t
have it in him to harm a woman.
 
She
needed to know that she could stay with him and make him love her and only
her.
 
I
have gone completely mad!

The following morning, Mercy was disturbed by shouts coming
from the crew.
 

“What the hell?”
 
Cain
yelled as he threw on his clothes and ran to the deck.

All of his men had their attention focused port side as Cain
reached them.
 
He looked out across the
sea and saw a ship approaching them bearing a French flag.
 
Quickly, he instructed Luke to go to his
cabin and keep Mercy quiet until the ship passed.

“Aye Captain,” Luke answered as he followed orders.

“What’s going on?”
 
Mercy asked when Luke entered the cabin.

“Not to worry.
 
Just
be quiet or else you will have to answer to the captain.”

As the ship arrived within shouting distance, a young man
yelled, “Who is the captain of this ship?”

“I am Captain Cain Corbin at your service.
 
What can I do for you?”

“We are searching for a missing woman.
 
There is a handsome reward for information
leading to her return.
 
Her last
whereabouts were near Herron Bay.
 
We
think she may have boarded a ship.”

“What does the woman look like?”
 
Cain bellowed.

After the man described the woman in full detail, Cain knew
the woman in his cabin was indeed Mercedes McMillan.
 
Cain scratched his head before responding,
“Haven’t seen anyone that fits that description.”

“Well if you do, please contact Michael McMillan in the
Herron Bay area or the authorities.
 
The
reward is ten gold bards for her safe return,” the man said as he instructed
his crew to make sail.

“Captain, why didn’t you turn her over to them and collect
the reward now?”
 
Luke asked as Cain
entered his cabin.

“Their ship was loaded with more arms than ours.
 
They probably have instructions to kill
anyone connected to her disappearance on sight.
 
Her father has gone to an enormous amount of trouble to send search
ships out this far.
 
I will arrange for
her return on my terms.
 
If he is willing
to pay ten gold bars, I bet he will be willing to pay double that price.
 
As soon as we land, I want you to take a ship
and a ransom note back to her father demanding twenty gold bars.”

“Aye Captain,” Luke answered as he left Cain and Mercy alone
in the cabin.

“You wouldn’t send me back!
 
Not now.
 
Not after …,” Mercy
sobbed.

“Naïve girl.
 
You know
I’m only interested in the money.
 
I don’t
give a damn about what really happens to you.
 
I am a fortune hunter and now that I know your father wants you back,
you will go back to him and I will be twenty gold bars richer.”

Mercedes could hear no more as she ran to the bed and buried
her tears in the pillow.
 
She could not
believe she had been so naive to think this rogue could actually have had some
feelings for her.
 
He had just been
playing with her.
 
All the things he said
about keeping her with him were only part of his game.
 
He didn’t care about her at all.

Cain left her in tears as he returned on deck with his
crew.
 
He had to leave her because her
tears were affecting him far more than he cared to admit.
 
He did want the ransom for her, but he also
wanted her.
 
He couldn’t let these feelings
interfere with his business.
 
He was the
most notorious pirate in the seas and intended on keeping that reputation.
 
He was the best talker, best fighter, and the
best lover.

An hour later, Cain returned to his cabin to retrieve a map
and saw Mercy sleeping.
 
He paused for a
moment and watched her sleeping peacefully.
 
He wanted her.
 
His body craved
her.
 
He didn’t know how he could
possibly ever let her go.
 
He left his
cabin quickly before his lust consumed him.

Suddenly, the sun disappeared behind dark, black
clouds.
 
The wind began to blow making
the waves swell.
 
Cain looked at the sky
and knew that a severe storm was approaching quickly.
 
It had appeared out of nowhere.
 
He ordered his crew to prepare for Mother
Nature’s fury.

Cain entered the cabin and said, “Mercy, wake up!”

“What is it?”
 
Mercy
groggily asked.

“A storm is upon us.
 
We’re going to be in for a rough ride.
 
I need you to put everything that isn’t nailed down into the wooden
chest.
 
If the ship starts to sink, jump
overboard and try to swim clear of the ship.
 
If you don’t you will be sucked under with the force.