Li Wei would have hated that outfit. His conservative mother would have had a heart attack at first glance. Neither of them would have ever hit her.
And they were dead.
And it was over.
Undoing that first button was remarkably easy. The second one, nothing at all. After all, it was a question of math. Could be reduced to statistics. A desperation worse than any mental lapse to escape that horrible place.
Her third button popped, the captain squinting as he demanded to know, “What are you doing?”
Giving in. Giving in as she flipped up the pleated skirt and let the men see lace panties. “Who wants to go first?”
Not one of them moved to take her, wide, wet eyes begging, no matter how they gawked. “Come now, red light special at Table #2. I’ll go for as long as I can take it. Five-thousand tickets a ride.”
And still, no one touched her. After all their offers—after all their rejected presents and dirty talk over chess—not one of them made a move.
So she did. Standing, the captain mirrored her movement.
Which suited just fine.
His tickets were as good as any other man there. Hand to his buckle, she fought off his restraint. “Face-to-face the first time? Isn’t that how it goes? Ass in the air after?”
Oh, was he mad. Mad enough to give her a shake. “That’s enough out of you.”
“I’m not joking!” Red curls went flying as she fought to pull his shirt from his pants. “I want off this goddamn boat, and if that means I have to fuck everyone on it to get there, then I’m ready.”
The clown of the show started laughing, John’s amusement meaner than any slight she’d heard in her entire life.
The sound off, because he was missing a tongue for telling tales.
Not that it mattered.
Not really.
The only thing that mattered she couldn’t reach, despite his ugly guffaws. “I’ll even fuck John.”
The captain’s command was given lightly. “Throw him overboard.”
Order followed before John might comprehend why, those nearest him hoisted him up and sent him cartwheeling through freefall.
He screamed all the way down. And must have landed feet first, bones shattered, to yell as his broken body tried to swim and sank.
A good minute, he thrashed for life, not a soul at the party making a sound.
One soul swallowing it down as if a kiss had touched her lips for the first time in years.
Opening her eyes, infinitesimally lighter in spirit, she met the captain’s hazel gaze and said, “I thought foreplay was against the rules.”
Chapter Eleven
Aaron didn’t find her quip funny. Looked angrier than she’d ever seen him. “Go to my room. Clean yourself up. I want you naked on the bed when I get there.”
It wasn’t so bad a plan. She’d start with the captain and get him out of the way. More importantly, the rest of the men might be more eager if she wasn’t bloody and wild-looking. Brushing her hands on her mussed skirt as if smoothing the Chanel suit she’d worn for her Harvard Med scholarship interview, she pulled herself together in a way that would have made her mother proud.
And walked away without a word.
Operating on instinct, allowing no thought, she washed herself, felt no pain as grit was scrubbed from abrasion. Raided the pirate king’s medicine cabinet for precious aspirin and bandages. He’d charge her for them, but she needed to be a presentable fuck.
Because her new goal was nothing but tickets, tickets, and more tickets.
Wet curls combed, her pussy shaved for the first time in her life, she sat at the edge of his bed and stared forward. There was no acknowledgement when the door opened, no acknowledgment of the man who had come to take what she sold.
Kneeling down in front of her, he held ice to her cheek, hushing her when she startled.
“I don’t need that.”
“I say you do, troublemaker.” Another hand to her knee, he gave it an easy squeeze. “It’s going to swell up something awful if you don’t hold still.”
A little spite, a lot of bitterness. “Are you going to order me to call you Doctor while we do it?”
“I technically am a doctor, so you wouldn’t be the first.”
She rolled her eyes, which didn’t help the headache.
With a chuckle, he explained, “Multiple PHDs, former professor at Tulane. I taught history and philosophy.”
“You have got to be kidding me…”
Smirking, he confirmed, “Dr. Aaron Kingston.”
Jealous down to her toes that he’d made it academically further than she had, Eugenia sneered. “And here I thought you were some kind of renegade cowboy soldier.”
“Former Navy. Family tradition. My grandfather was the governor of Mississippi. Also a family tradition.”
“What a fancy pedigree… one which explains a lot. Mississippi had a terrible track record for human rights.” As much as he was right about the ice, she didn’t have time to waste. “Let’s stop with the small talk. I have a bunch of tickets to make. And it isn’t my night to be in here, so I want Hellen’s tickets too. Unless you can go more than once…”
Voice husky, he made a promise. “We’re going to go more than once.”
“All right then.” And she scooted back to get on her hands and knees.
Or, tried to scoot back and was caught. Tired of the endless struggles, she put up a token effort before flopping still and laying an arm over her eyes. “I don’t want to do it face-to-face like this matters. I know what you said about first times, but you have a pass. Can we please just get it over with?”
“Look at me, Eugenia.”
Obeying the order, she found him standing between her legs, unbuttoning his shirt while he held her eyes. While he took his measured time removing one item of clothing after another, exposing brawn, defined abs, a body that would have graced GQ pre-bombs.
Hair on his chest, strong laborer’s body, southern aristocracy. Cocky, because he was born to it. And he did have an unusually large penis.
One that, frankly, made her a bit nervous.
A hard cock that pulsed with the beats of his heart as it grew even larger. Foreskin drawn back, that delectable ridge running along the bottom.
“No one is going to want to fuck me after that rips me in half.” And it was going to hurt. And there was a mental quota that didn’t have time for recovery nights. “Hellen can keep her tickets.”
He laughed when she tried and failed, again, to crawl away. “I know it’s a bit daunting, but considering your medical training, I’m fairly certain you grasp that the vaginal canal was designed to stretch.”
“For babies, not for massive, freakish cocks!”
It didn’t look like he intended to argue anymore, creeping over her to plant a kiss right on her mouth.
“Aaron! Kissing is not allowed!”
Not that her swallowed complaints stopped him from dipping his tongue into her open mouth. Just like the secret lovers who kissed in dark halls on a boat where rules lead to misery and misery led to survival. Languid and keen, he drank her down no matter her lack of reciprocation. Nipping her bottom lip before kissing her jaw.
Holding her still by the roots of her red hair.