Chapter 5: Breathless, Battered, and Bewildered
Elizabeth fought the blackness that overcame her, but it was no use. She was slipping, slipping…
Rising?
She forced herself to work through the hazy pain that threatened to overcome her to see the least likely hero she’d ever seen finish off her attacker with a quick blow to the head.
“Giles?” she tried to gasp out in disbelief. Unfortunately, her throat was so bruised that it merely came out as a wheezing gasp.
In an instant, Giles was at her side, the bat still firmly held in his hand. “Can you breathe?” he asked anxiously.
She managed to nod numbly and tried to speak again, but all that came out was a little croak.
“Don’t worry,” Giles said nervously, moving to take off his glasses and clean them before he realized that that probably wasn’t the wisest thing to do in the current circumstances.
The current circumstances involved Anya shrieking like a banshee and swing her knife – as well as a sword she’d picked up somehow – in such erratic and violent arcs that the enemy was scrambling helplessly to get out of her way. There was just no way to predict what she was going to do next well enough to risk any kind of attack.
Even though her throat was burning and she felt as though she would collapse any minute, Elizabeth still rose shakily for her feet. There was plenty of time for fainting later; right now Anya needed all the help she could get in holding off their certain deaths.
Elizabeth picked up her sword and made the first half-dizzy lunge at the nearest enemy pirate just as Anya’s sword missed its own target and became lodged in the wall. She was forced to leave it behind, relying only on her dagger.
Giles, realizing their grim situation, leapt into the battle at well, swinging the large wooden bat ferociously at their attackers.
And, all the while, more and more of the enemy pressed inward…
* * *
“Is that everyone?” Xander gasped, out of breath, when the deck was finally cleared of the enemy.
William let out a deep breath of relief. “Seemed like there were more ‘f ‘em…” he commented, leaning back against the rail to catch his breath…
And then, in the quiet, they finally heard the sounds of fierce battle below.
“They’re below deck!” Xander leapt to his feet in alarm. “Anya’s down there!”
A quick echo of ‘Elizabeth!’ fluttered through William’s mind as well before he raced down the stairs after Xander, a half dozen of his best fighters at his heels…
And stopped in shock.
The majority of the enemy had gone below deck after the first attack, and William and his crew quickly found themselves fighting just as fierce a battle as they had above.
Up ahead, William saw the door to his own room busted inwards, and at that moment, pure panic overcame him. In a fit of rage, he crashed his way through his foes, not even feeling the slight stings where blades knicked him. His attack had roughly the same affect as a bull charging, and even men much larger than he was fell under his fury.
“Elizabeth!” he gasped hoarsely, practically diving into his rooms. He found the outer room empty and the inner door…also bashed in.
In that one moment, his world fell out from under him. Elizabeth would’ve put up a struggle, of course, but in the end, she wasn’t a skilled cutthroat, and…
“Oh god!” he gasped out, hesitantly approaching the open doorway, terrified of what he would find within.
Memories flashed through his mind of the infuriating little blond turning her chin up at him in her haughty manner, throwing any projectiles she could find at him, tackling him to the ground and trying to him up and… Well, he’d always had a rather strange definition of romantic.
He leaned his forehead against the doorframe, eyes shut tight. He couldn’t bear it – couldn’t bear to see the warm, soft, beautiful body that had mercilessly captured him less than an hour before, now still and lifeless and cold and…
He opened his eyes.
She wasn’t there.
He breathed a deep sigh of relief. At least until his mind provided him with thousands of other horrible images of what could have happened to her…
“William!” Xander’s voice from down the hallway quickly shook him back to attention.
Maybe she was all right, maybe she’d found a place to hide – yeah, right – maybe…
He ran out into the hallway just in time to see Xander drag one of the invaders back from the dinning room and stab him in the back.
“That’s what you get for even thinking of hurting her!” he hissed menacingly.
William was at the entrance to the dinning hall door in a flash, his mind registering the sight of Elizabeth beaten, bloody, but still alive…and fighting off two more of the attackers. His mind quickly returned back to the battle at hand, and he easily disposed of her two opponents as Xander, Anya, and Giles took out the remaining three.
Elizabeth stood shakily against the back wall, her feet splayed at shoulder width in a desperate effort to keep her balance, her skirts ripped and caked with blood, several light cuts on her arms and chest, deep purple bruises just beginning to darken on her throat, hair tangled and dirty, eyes wild, the tip of her blade still pointing to where the last attacker had been…
And William was stunned speechless. He had never seen anything more beautiful in all his life. The deep ache that had begun in his heart when he thought her dead grew steadily more painful. But this time it wasn’t out of fear but… My love, my goddess… The words flitted through his mind of their own volition.
Elizabeth finally seemed to realize that he was there and flashed him an annoyed look. “I could’ve taken care of them,” she insisted in a rasping, hoarse voice.
And he couldn’t do anything but laugh. In a second, he’d brushed her weapon aside and caught her about the waist, holding her to him, steadying her weary body against his stronger one.
“I could’ve,” she repeated, her voice sounding even weaker than before. And, although she wouldn’t admit it, relief flooded her entire being now that she was safe, in his arms…
“I ‘ave no doubt,” he agreed with a gentle little smile, looking deep down into her hazel eyes as he slowly leaned in and…
“Oh, bugger,” he grumbled under his breath when her head lolled suddenly to the side, having passed out from her injuries and the danger she’d just barely survived. There was no real anger behind the words, however. Gently, he lifted her up into his arms, one arm behind her knees and the other cradling her small body to him. He absentmindedly brushed one golden lock of hair from her forehead before carrying her back to his room and her bed…
* * *
“Mmm,” Anya woke up naked several hours later, still on the floor of the dinning room. “Whatever happened to Elizabeth anyway?”
Xander shrugged before pulling her back down to him with a searing kiss…
* * *
Elizabeth lowered her eyelashes and opened her mouth, obediently drinking down the soup broth that William had guided to her lips. Somewhere in the back of her mind she knew that there was something seriously wrong about letting a pirate spoon-feed her, but she was enjoying herself too much to care.
She eagerly parted her lips for the last spoonful and drank it down dutifully.
“There now,” William said softly, moving to put the tray over onto the desk so that it no longer separated them. “Feelin’ better?” he asked, turning back to her.
She nodded with a little smile. All the other injuries she had sustained had been minor, but her throat had grown even more swollen over the last day. She couldn’t really even talk now and couldn’t eat anything solid. She was, of course, capable of feeding herself the soups that William had specially made for her, but she’d come to enjoy having him pamper her. It was definitely the sort of thing a girl could get used to…
He sat back down in the chair beside her bed, straddling the back and using it as an elbow rest. “We’re goin’ back out to sea,” he informed her casually.
She sat up more against her pillows and prepared to listen to him. The quiet was far the most tedious thing about having no voice, and the deep rumble of his baritone was the perfect balm to soothe her irritation.
“Wanna make sure that those wankers don’ ‘ave any friends,” he explained. “An’, if they do, we’ll need to lose ‘em before we reach Dead Man’s Island.”
She quickly scrambled for the parchment and pen before her and wrote “Dead Man’s Island?” in a hand that her father had always informed her was far too impatient and not anywhere near ladylike enough.
William didn’t seem to mind, however. “Sort ‘f a pirate refuge,” he explained. “’S a safe ‘aven – no fightin’ or killin’ of any sort allowed. An’ when I find out who sent those nonces, I fully intend to kill…” His eyes narrowed to dark slits, and he unconsciously reached out to caress the one curve of her throat that hadn’t been bruised.
She felt her cheeks flush a deep red and lowered her eyes, looking up at him through long, curled lashes. She found it quite paradoxical that out of all the men she had ever met in her life, the one to treat her most tenderly was a pirate.
William’s cheeks darkened slightly as well, and he pulled his hand back, running it through his snowy-white, sun-bleached hair. When he spoke again, his voice was composed into a simple friendly narrative, however.
“It shouldn’t be too long, though. A week at the most, an’ that’s only if we’re chased.” His eyes suddenly dropped to the floor, and his brow furrowed as he spoke his next words. “I know you’re eager to get off this ship an’ all…”
She gently reached out and caught his hand in hers. He looked up at her in surprise, and she slowly began to caress his knuckles with her thumb.
She had never really noticed before what lovely hands he had. They were strong and callused from his years at sea, true, but they were more slender and graceful than she would have at first thought. And large and warm… Feeling his touch like this felt so incredibly natural to her.
She reluctantly released his hand and turned back to the parchment before her. “I actually think that I shall miss it,” she wrote. “It’s far less dull than my father’s tea parties.”
William let out a whoop of laughter at that, and she laughed silently along with him. However, he stopped abruptly, his hand recapturing hers and his brilliant blue eyes staring right into hers as if looking straight into her soul. She felt herself mesmerized by his beautiful gaze…
“You shall not miss me as well?” he asked softly.
She was struck again by how his accent could change. His normal tones were rough and uncultured, but when he spoke as he did now, he sounded every bit the gentleman. As for his question…
She quickly turned back to scribbling in her own unique handwriting. “About as much as I would miss the plague.” She gave him a triumphant little smile.
He smiled as well, but something seemed to turn off in the back of his eyes at her response. She frowned slightly; it was as if she could see a brief twinge of pain and then he was closed off from her, distant once more.
He rose to his feet, putting physical distance between them as well. “You need your rest,” he commented simply. “And,” a slight scowl crossed his face, “’ve got several crewmen who should now be sober enough to be properly punished…” He gave her a brief nod, before exiting the room and shutting the door firmly behind him.
He didn’t lock it.
But Elizabeth was too absorbed in other matters to care. She hadn’t liked the way he’d reacted to her last little tease; it made her feel strangely…guilty. She rolled onto her side and burrowed deeper into the blankets, turning over the incident in her mind. There was something off about it, something she wasn’t getting…
She had quite decided that she wouldn’t be able to sleep. But, as if to mock her, drowsiness came abruptly upon her then, and she drifted off into a dreamworld like no other…
* * *
“Drunk,” William said simply, rage and disbelief radiating off his entire being as he sat across from his three derelict crewmen.
Graham and Riley at least had the decency to look sheepish; Forrest just looked pissed, like it was somehow William’s fault that he’d gotten himself into this trouble…
William felt the beginnings of a major headache coming on. “What were you thinking?” he asked in a voice that was deceptively calm. “This ship was attacked an’ you were all too pissed to do a thing about it!”
“We were…” Riley began before trailing off with a gulp.
“What?” William demanded, his eyes cold.
“Well, see, we were so close to Dead Man’s Island that—”
“You decided you could jus’ shirk your duties?!” William was actively yelling now. “Do you have any idea ‘ow close we came to—!” He broke off suddenly, the thought of the personal loss he could have suffered too much to bear.
“There’s no excuse for it,” Riley agreed numbly, hanging his head in shame.
“Damn right, there innit,” William agreed. “And if any ‘f you ever has a lapse like this again…” He leaned forward on the table, his eyes blazing. “You’re off the ship,” he finished coldly before stomping out of the room.
Graham shuffled uncomfortably in his chair. “Guys…” he began hesitantly.
“We don’t want to hear it,” Forrest quickly snapped.
Riley let out a sigh. “Well, that was a disaster. At least we were kept out of the fighting, though…”
Forrest frowned. “I think we’re screwed.”
Riley shrugged. “Maybe,” he conceded, “or maybe not…”
* * *
Xander gave William a sympathetic look as he stepped from the empty storage room they were using as the ‘brig’ for Riley and his associates. The normal brig had been taken up by all the surviving attackers.
“Any ‘f the prisoners talk?” William asked, already knowing the answer.
“No,” Xander shook his head. “They say they don’t know who hired them.”
William sighed. “Not surprisin’,” he agreed before turning back to look at the door he’d just exited.
“Not a task I envy you,” Xander commented simply, taking in the furious expression on William’s face.
“Some day when you’re captain…” William countered.
Xander shook his head. “Not for a long while, ‘mate’,” he insisted.
William raised an eyebrow at that. “You could take the derelict as yours,” he commented, removing a cigarette from the silver case he kept in his pocket and lighting it up. He let out a little relieved sigh and breathed out a stream of warm smoke.
“I could,” Xander agreed, “but then who would watch your back?”
William shrugged. “’d work it out.” He watched the smoke in the air thoughtfully for a minute. “You’d make a good captain,” he finally commented. “Did a great job armin’ the men before you checked out that ship. If you hadn’t’a done that…”
Xander nodded grimly.
“Now,” William said with a coy little smile, “don’ you ‘ave a woman ‘round here somewhere that deserves your time much more’n I do?”
Xander cracked a wide grin at that as well. “Can’t imagine what I’m thinking,” he joked lightly, “hanging around your ugly face instead…”
William chuckled slightly before turning to head back to his quarters. “Tha’s quite a woman you’ve got yourself, mate,” were his parting words. “’d tell ‘er before you lose ‘er…” He vanished into his room.
“You, too,” Xander commented under his breath before returning to his own wonderful world of Anya…
* * *
Elizabeth gasped at the first feel of warm, wet lips on the back of her throat. Instinctively, she tilted her head to the side, giving the man behind her better access.
He was fully pressed against her now, his arms wrapping slowly around her waist from behind and his body brushing right up against hers on the soft mattress. His lips abandoned her throat, trailing upward along her jaw until they finally reached her ear.
She let out a little moan when he first nibbled at the delicate shell, and one of her hands reached behind her to tangle her fingers in his soft hair while the other covered the strong, callused hand at her waist, holding him in place.
“You like that, my love?” he whispered in a deep, husky voice, his breath tickling the short hairs at the back of her neck.
“Yesss…” she whimpered back headily.
“I can give you more,” he informed her, his tongue flicking out to catch her pounding pulse point.
“Yes, William,” she gasped, rolling over on the bed to face him and smiling at his slender beauty, sculptured features, white tousled hair… “More.”
His arms pulled her into him further, bringing her soft body flush up against his hard chest. “My Elizabeth,” he murmured softly into her hair before bringing his lips down to hers and…
And sweet niceties flew out the window at that.
Overwhelmed by the glorious taste of his tongue plunging deep into her mouth, Elizabeth grabbed him roughly by the shirt, flinging him over onto his back and ripping the pale silk from his muscled chest as she did so.
She rolled on top of his bare torso, her hands eagerly caressing the smooth skin beneath her palms. He moaned and returned the favor, yanking at the clasps of her gown, pulling it roughly down her shoulders…
Somehow her undergarments had vanished…as had the rest of her clothes. She let out a little whimper when he twisted beneath her, sending her off balance and over onto her back.
She was dimly aware of the fact that she should have fallen over the edge of the narrow bed at this, but in her dreamworld the bed obligingly widened to accommodate their passion. The matter didn’t concern her at the moment, however, because now he was on top of her, as naked as she was, and the world seemed to stop…
“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered against the pale curve of her throat.
Her eyes widened when his knee slipped between her bare thighs, opening her up to him. “Oh, William!” she cried out, her legs instinctively wrapping around his waist.
“My love,” he repeated softly, his eyes looking deep into hers as he slowly, gently thrust in…
And Elizabeth awoke with a start. Her body was covered with a sheen of sweat, and her heart was racing like mad, and…
She blushed horribly when she realized she’d pushed her skirts up around her waist in her sleep in order to allow her fingers to slip inside her. She quickly removed them and had to fight back a moan of despair as she did so; after all, her throat was still swollen and making noises would only bring her more pain.
Horribly embarrassed by her predicament, she straightened her skirts with her clean hand before going over to her pitcher of washing water to clean up. She filled the small basin and rinsed her right hand clean as best she could, although the scent of her pleasure still lingered upon it.
Finished with that, she turned to the desk chair and slumped into it, resting her head in her arms as she tried to sort out what had just happened. It wasn’t the first time she’d touched herself, true. Back in her ‘scare away every respectable suitor’ stage, Anya had advised her to use her hand on herself while picturing the young men that sought her. According to her friend’s theories, that would cause her to more clearly associate the boring, pretentious men around her with the orgasms she was trying to seek from them and thus hopefully prevent her from scaring them all off.
It hadn’t worked. Elizabeth had never succeeded in holding any of their faces in her head as she pleasured herself. Not until now…
And this time, she hadn’t even been trying. Of its own accord, her body had sought its pleasure with, with…that pirate! She knew she was deeply into ‘burning in hell’ territory here.
“When you finally find a man that you only need to think about to bring you to orgasm,” Anya had said one night during their seemingly innocent knitting by the fire, “that’s when you know you’ve found the one for you…”
Elizabeth shook her head and took a good, long look at herself in the dirty mirror on the wall. Oh god! Her mind was panicking. Surely, it can’t be… Oh god!
* * *
William softly rested his forehead against the closed door to her room, closing his eyes and visualizing the beautiful, fiery young woman within. He let out a little sigh that managed to be contented and frustrated both at the same time before turning to go to bed.
And that’s when he heard it.
A whimper so faint that if he hadn’t been there listening silently, he never would have picked it up. In fact, he still wasn’t quite sure if he had imagined it.
Nevertheless, there was a smile upon his face as he crawled into bed and closed his eyes. As he drifted off into sleep, he replayed her heady, needy little moan over and over again in his mind:
“William!”