Page 37 of Storm over the Caribbean (Storm and Silence Saga #8)

“Oh, we will.” Wiping the blood from his mouth, the pirate smirked up at him—then reached into his pocket and pulled out a bottle filled with an amber liquid.

Without an instant of hesitation, he hurled it straight at Karim.

The bodyguard only realized what was going on when, a moment later, the pirate drew a pistol and took aim.

“Duck!” the Mohammedan roared and threw himself behind a barrel.

The muzzle flashed.

Boom!

Splinters of glass tore through the air as the bullet tore the bottle apart and burning alcohol was spattered all over the deck.

People who had been hit screamed in agony as they tried to scratch the burning liquid off their faces with bare hands, and the captain cursed as he clutched his arm, penetrated by a piece of glass.

“Hell! That one nearly got us! We should retreat and regroup if we want to—”

One look from Karim cut him off.

“You think this is bad?” the bodyguard snarled. “What kind of hell do you think Ambrose Sahib and the Sahiba are going through right now?”

The captain swallowed. “M-my apologies. You’re right, Sir. They must have it so much harder than us.”

***

“Aaah…oohh…!”

I felt Mr Ambrose’s hard length press against me.

His mouth ravaged my own, pulling a moan from deep within my throat.

After months of marriage to Mr Rikkard Ambrose, I thought there was nothing about him that could surprise me anymore.

By now, I expected the heat emanating from this iceberg of a man.

By now, I expected the love shining in his eyes.

What I did not expect was the pure, unadulterated ferocity of his mouth on my own.

“Three weeks,” he growled, not separating his lips from mine for just an instant. “Three entire weeks I have spent without touching you! First, I was poisoned by that infernal fruit—”

“Which, I might add, you ate yourself due to your own stupidimmmmmh—!”

My words were cut off abruptly by a pair of lips once more slamming down on mine. “ Then ,” he hissed against my mouth, “I was awake, but weakened by that poison, unable to sit, unable to move, unable to hold my own wife !”

“Mmmm…”

“Well,” he cut me off once more, before I could get out anything coherent. “I’m not unable now .”

And he let loose. Let loose like he never had before.

Clothes went flying in all directions, leaving me nearly bare to the world.

Around us, the world had slowly darkened as the sun had vanished behind the horizon, but if the air was growing colder with the coming night, I didn’t notice it through the heat coming off of me. Coming off of him. Mingling between us.

“M-Mr Ambrose…”

Ignoring my words utterly, he tore my sorry excuse for trousers off me and hurled them into a corner. Skin slid over heated skin. I could feel his hot breath on my—

No, Lilly! Concentrate!

“M-Mr Ambrose, we shouldn’t! The pirates—”

“—are drunk off their arse,” he completed my sentence, pressing another kiss to the corner of my mouth. “And I mean that literally. I saw one of them trying to balance a bottle of whiskey on his bottom before falling over and starting to snore.”

All right. That was a fairly good argument for continuing.

As is the way he’s kissing you.

Heck! Now he’s even seducing my inner voice?

Definitely! Ohh…ahhh…yes, more…!

Shut up! I have to stop this before someone hears us! I have to stop him—

And then, suddenly, he stopped. His skin separated from mine, his muscles no longer digging into me, his heat gone, leaving me cold and alone.

At least until, from above me, I heard the rustling of cloth. His tailcoat flew over my head and, a moment later, he was there, skin burning against naked skin. The only thing between him and me now were the flimsy remnants of my underwear.

Well, that and my baby bump.

I smirked up at him. “So…still not willing to let me on top?”

I couldn’t see much of his magnificently chiselled face in the darkness, but I could see enough to make out the twitching muscle in his cheek.

“Mrs Ambrose…!”

“Yes, Mr Ambrose?”

That muscle in his cheek twitched again. Then he rolled away from me, onto his back, extending a hand to me.

“Come.”

I smirked. “Oh, I intend to.” I did not move.

That made the muscle in his cheek twitch once more. “Mrs! Ambrose!”

“Come on,” I coaxed. “I want to hear it. Say the magic word.”

A long moment of silence stretched between us. Then…

Maybe it was just a play of the shadows. But it almost looked as if his eyes softened. Somehow that didn’t lessen the fervour glowing in his eyes in the least. Quite the contrary, in fact.

“My little ifrit …” he murmured, his eyes boring into my very soul, “Please. Come here. Mount me.”

A shiver went down my spine.

“Well…” Eyes sparkling, I slowly, torturously slowly, advanced upon him. “Who am I to refuse when you ask me to be above you?”

His little finger twitched. As did the muscle in his cheek.

Two muscles at once? I almost feel honoured by—

That was when he launched himself forward. In a blink, his iron grip had closed around my upper arms and lifted me bodily up into the air. A moment later, I came down on top of him, skin on skin. Beneath me, I could feel his hard muscles flex. One in particular.

I felt my mouth dry.

“W-we really shouldn’t.”

I couldn’t even pretend to sound convincing anymore. My voice was soft and breathy.

“I know.” His deep, dark, fathomless eyes bored into me. Reaching up, he tore the last scrap of clothing off of me. “But we’re still going to.”

And the world started to spin.

Later that night—much, much, later—we quietly lay together, snuggled against each other, watching the sparkling stars through the threadbare fabric of the tent.

“So…what now?” I whispered, turning over to gaze at him. “What do we do tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow?” Two icy eyes met mine. “There is nothing much we can do until we get a chance to slip away or get control of a boat. So we lie low. We bide our time. And, most of all, we pretend as best we can that we are pirates.”

***

“Grraah!” With a squelching sound, Karim ripped his knife out of his enemy’s throat and dropped the carcass to the deck. “Bloody pirates!”

The captain eyed the blood-spattered corpse. “Um…I’d have to agree. Extremely bloody.”

“Have we taken control over the entire ship?” the bodyguard demanded.

“Aye, everything but the crow’s nest. There’s still one of them cowering up there.”

“Get him down! Or do you want someone to put a bullet in your head from up there?”

The captain paled. “Aye aye, Sir! Right away, Sir! I’ll—”

Suddenly, a cannon shot sounded in the distance. Everyone turned to face the newcomers, ready for a fight—but the moment they saw the British flags fluttering above a fleet of very simplistically designed, completely undecorated ships, the whole crew breathed a sigh of relief.

“Those are Mr Ambrose’s ships!”

“The reinforcements!”

“ Now they arrive?”

“Better now than never.” Wiping his sabre on a rag, Karim gestured to one of the sailors. “Signal them! Tell the captain to come aboard, and have them fish any pirates that survived out of the water!”

“Aye aye, Sir!”

Ten minutes later, the commander of the newly arrived fleet had climbed into a dinghy and was on his way to the other ship.

Judging by the surly expression on his face, he didn’t very much like being ordered around—but that expression vanished the moment he climbed over the railing and spotted Karim.

Immediately, he saluted and gestured for his men to do the same.

“Mr Karim, Sir. How may my men and I be of assistance?”

“Come with me and search every single inch below deck. Don’t let your guard down. There may still be pirates down there. Keep your eyes peeled for any sign of Ambrose Sahib and his wife.”

“You have reason to think they are here?”

“I have reason to look for them everywhere . Now move! And be careful. Their safety takes top priority, understood?”

“Understood, Mr Karim, Sir!”

The commander saluted and, together, the two men descended into the belly of the pirate ship. A long line of men followed after them, their faces tense, weapons clutched in their hands.

It didn’t take long to search the ship. They did not find who they were looking for. They did however find something else.

“Dojakhan agg!” 29 Karim cursed as he slammed his sabre down, striking the restraints off the cowering figure in the corner. The emaciated man was so drained by hunger and exhaustion that he didn’t even budge an inch when he was freed. “Slaves!”

“And hostages,” the fleet commander growled, scowling at the stench in the hold.

“In one of the cabins, I found a child that I swear I recognized from a ball in Port-au-Prince. He’s a wealthy merchant’s son.

If we hadn’t come across this ship, his father would have had to pay through the nose for him, and probably still would have only received a corpse in return. ”

“And if they have one hostage,” the bodyguard growled, “they might have more.”

The two men’s eyes met in silent understanding.

“Mr and Mrs Ambrose?”

The bodyguard’s face darkened. “Quite possibly.”

“So, what now?”

Karim didn’t reply. Instead, he turned around and climbed out of the hold, back onto the deck. There, he marched to the railing and gazed out onto the ocean. Time ticked by. One minute. Two minutes. Three.

Finally, he turned around.

“I have decided. Now that we know the pirates take hostages, it is clear that the danger to Ambrose Sahib and the Sahiba is much greater than we thought before. So we will do the following: the fleet will fan out and sweep the ocean. If we find any pirates…” His eyes hardened.

“…those kutte are to be exterminated to the last man!”

There was a moment of awkward silence. Karim’s eyes narrowed. “Any objections?”

“Well, ehem, Sir…” The first mate cleared his throat. “Aren’t we supposed to be looking for Mr and Mrs Ambrose? Why would we suddenly go on a pirate hunt?”

“How many pirates are currently in this area?”

“Err…quite a few?” The first mate scratched his head. “Isn’t that why the big boss came out here in the first place?”

“It is. So, tell me, what do you think would happen if, instead of us, those pirates would find Mr Ambrose first? Or, may Allah in his mercy prevent it, his pregnant wife .”

The sailors paled. Some at the thought of the horrible fate that might await the young woman. Most at the horrible fate that would await them if Mr Rikkard Ambrose ever found out about this and got his hands on the men who failed to prevent it.

“Excellent point, Sir!” The first mate nodded quickly. “We should definitely hunt down the pirates in the hope of finding Mr and Mrs Ambrose faster. Or, failing that, at least prevent them from falling into the hands of those scumbags!”

“Hear, hear!”

“Down with those rat bastards!”

“Death to pirates!”

The entire crew cheered. That is, until one of them cleared his throat loudly, interrupting them. Everyone’s gaze focused on him.

“Speaking of pirates…”

Trailing off, the man pointed to the south. Everyone followed his outstretched arm with their eyes. It didn’t take long before they spotted the single ship with a black flag on the horizon.

“Commander!” Karim barked.

“Aye aye, Sir?”

“Turn the fleet around! Prepare for battle!”

“Aye aye, Sir!”

Eyes glittering, Karim turned back to the gathered crew and swept his arm across the crowd. “Are you ready?”

“Aye aye, Sir!” answered a thunderous chorus.

“Excellent.” Clenching his fist, Karim stepped to the railing and surveyed the ocean. “Then, now we go to crush those pirates! Every. Last. One!”