Enslaved by the Ocean
Page 61

My heart stops.
How did he get her?
Was she on the deck? Did he just leap over and grab her?
“H…H…Hendrix,” she whimpers, her face pale.
I clench my fists, feeling ill. Is he going to kill her? I can’t even see his face. He steps closer to the edge, and when Hendrix lifts his gun, he growls and yells, “I wouldn’t do that if I was you, pirate.”
“Let her go,” Hendrix growls.
“That’s not going to happen, not yet,” he rasps.
“Who the fuck are you?”
The man laughs. “Didn’t you hear there were new pirates on the block?”
“These are my fuckin’ waters, now I ask again, who the fuck are you?”
The man chuckles again. “Always thinking you own the world. Well, I’m here to show you that you don’t.”
“Give her back to me, or I’ll blow your fucking brains out,” Hendrix growls.
“Oh, her?” the man says, pressing the knife closer to Jess’s throat. “No, I think I will keep her a while.”
“What do you fuckin’ want?” Hendrix barks, raising his gun.
“You shoot me, she dies, I won’t hesitate.”
“Don’t,” I whisper as Hendrix’s hands begin to tremble. “One wrong move and she dies. You can’t risk her Hendrix, please.”
“If a fight is what you want, I’ll give it to you,” Hendrix hisses, lowering his gun.
“Oh, I want a fight, don’t you worry about that, but I want so much more first. I want you to suffer. I’m going to take this girl, and I’m going to make her suffer. Every moment she’s with me, you’re going to know it’s your fault. You’re going to drown inside, and you’re going to begin going mad. Then you’re going to come and find me, and when you do, I’ll be ready. She’s going to give me every bit of information you’ve ever given her, and I am going to make sure I destroy you in the worst, most painful way possible. See, if I just kill you now, I won’t be satisfied. You need to suffer first. I not only need to destroy you, but everything you are. I’ve been wanting this for so long you can’t even begin to imagine the kind of fucked up I am.”
I watch with wide eyes as the man reaches up and grips his hood, lowering it. I gasp, one, because he’s much younger than I imagined, and two, he’s devastating. I’m not talking beauty, I’m talking pure, raw, masculinity that makes you want to drop on your knees and lick him from head to toe. He has dark hair that sits around his shoulders, and by the looks of it, it’s thick and silky. His eyes are light—from this distance I can’t tell just how light, but I can see they are. His body is tall, extremely powerful, and, from the glimpse of his shoulder peeking through the coat, ripped. He has that overly masculine square jaw, a straight nose and big, full lips. He’s absolutely mind-blowing to look at.
I hear Hendrix gasp beside me, and I turn to see him locking eyes with the young man.
“Did you really think I’d never come back for my revenge?” the young man rasps.
“If you’re here for revenge, take it out on me, not her,” Hendrix hisses.
“See, that’s where you’re not seeing the big picture.” He grins, pressing the knife closer. Jess cries out. “This is all for you.”
“You’re wrong about everything,” Hendrix says, his voice becoming gentler. “If you’ll just…”
“Shut the fuck up,” the young man roars. “Don’t fucking tell me your bullshit lies.”
He takes a step back and lifts a hand, waving it. The ship begins to move.
“Jess!” I cry. “Hendrix, you can’t let him take her.”
Jess is still trembling. Her eyes are wide and frightened.
“You want the girl back alive?” the young man bellows. “Then you fight for her.”
The ship keeps moving back, and we both stand in shock. Hendrix turns suddenly, screaming out for his boys. Some are already on deck, guns raised, but at his call the rest appear.
“Not wise,” the young man yells, and then whistles. A moment later at least forty pirates appear, all armed, all deadly.
There’s no way Hendrix has the men, or the weapons to fight. They’re holding guns I’ve never seen in my life, and they look deadly.
“Back away, or I slit her throat and then my men destroy you.”
Hendrix waves a hand, and everyone lowers the weapons. He can say nothing, he just watches in shock. The young man laughs. “See you soon, Hendrix.”
“Hendrix?” I whisper, gripping his arm, hearing my own voice tremble. “Who is that?”
“That is Dimitri,” he rasps. “My stepson.”
I grip his hand, and he trembles. “Is she going to be okay? Tell me for real, Hendrix.”
He looks mortified. “I don’t know. I really don’t know.”
As we watch the ship disappear into the distance I know we’re both praying that we can find a way to get Jess out of this.
One thing we both know is we will fight to the end for her.