STORY EXCERPT

Back up on the deck, she looked up in the sky and saw two sea birds circle then skid into the water. Cora felt like the only woman in the world who wasn’t in love. She couldn’t fool herself anymore. She was just thinking how much she wished Jeremy was someone else entirely—a little bigger, a little stronger, and even a little meaner—when she thought she heard some kind of engine grunting. Then she caught a whiff of diesel exhaust and saw a little white shape appear on the horizon before it dipped back behind the waves.

“Jeremy,” she called, sure he was engaged in some fussy chore, ironing his boxer shorts or something similarly inane, or else absorbed in another TV show, having completely forgotten about her.

“Down here,” he grunted.

Jeremy had made it clear early on he needed his own space, that she was one part of a tightly scheduled day, that there were other things of more concern than she. She hadn’t thought it would be this way on vacation, but often it seemed as if he were hiding from her.

Cora watched in a trance as the little white dot grew larger and larger. What is that? she thought dreamily to herself. What could it be? Soon she could make out figures on it—men, two of them, and before long she could see their features, too. They were bronzed men, thick limbed and tawny. The pace of her heart quickened, and her breath caught in her throat. The strange feeling she’d had before, this intuition that something would happen—it was happening now.

She could see the expressions on their faces then, even though they were still quite far away, and this more than anything thrilled her. One man, quite ugly and grizzled with matted yellow hair, sat by the outboard motor looking grim and angry. The other stood at the prow of the boat, wearing no shirt, his arms and chest glistening in the sea spray.

They were almost to the yacht. Cora called to Jeremy and received no response. No matter, she thought. She could probably protect herself better than Jeremy could anyway. She fingered the pearls hanging around her neck and the two diamonds pinned in her ears. She took the ring off her finger and slipped it into the pocket of her dress then looked around her for an oar or bottle of wine, anything that might serve as a weapon. She saw nothing close-by and tried to convince herself she was overreacting. Perhaps they needed something—gas, cigarettes? What else could they need? She yelled to Jeremy again but was only met with silence.

Perhaps they knew Cora and Jeremy were lost.

Cora should have been running down the steps to get Jeremy, but she just watched as the shirtless man on the skiff came closer and closer, his eyes hard and blank as they moved over Cora’s form. Her sundress flapped in the wind, and she shivered beneath his gaze. In an instant, he clambered onto the yacht’s deck. The other pulled the skiff alongside the yacht and tied off then pulled himself aboard with the calculated and controlled movement of an animal. Pirates!

The shirtless pirate sauntered to Cora, his face made of stone, and pointed to the deck.

“Get down,” he said. “On your knees.”

Strangely mesmerized, she did as she was told. He grabbed her slight hands with his own, which were callused and dirty. He tied them with weathered rope. He smelled of salt.

“You’re hurting me,” she said. The rope dug into her wrists. She knew she should be scared, but her heart beat with something close to excitement.

The ugly pirate cackled at her discomfort then scrambled below deck and soon emerged with a dazed Jeremy.

“So, Jacques,” the ugly pirate said to Cora’s captor. “What do you suppose a couple of lovebirds are doing in our seas?”

“Lost or stupid,” said Jacques.

“Are you lost, or are you stupid?” the other asked Jeremy.

“Let go of us!” said Jeremy.

The ugly one laughed, but Jacques remained stoic, staring at Jeremy as if he were a bug.

“My father is the richest man in Connecticut! I’ll have you prosecuted! Have you ever heard of the U.S. Coast Guard?”

Jacques smiled with pity. He put his hand on Cora’s shoulder and squeezed.

“This is what is going to happen, son of the richest man in Connecticut. I am going to stay here with this lady. You are going to open up your safe for my friend, Langley. And then we will proceed. Do you understand?”

“Fuck you!”

Jacques squeezed Cora’s shoulder hard, and she squealed.

“What was that, son of the richest man in Connecticut?”

“You won’t get a thing!” said Jeremy.

Jacques pressed his knee into Cora’s back.

“Then we’ll just take the lady.”

Jeremy stared at her as if deciding. He was breathing hard.

“Open the safe, Jeremy! Do it!” she yelled, appalled and a bit panicked and boiling mad.

Jeremy did not move.

“New plan,” said Jacques, Cora’s head hard against his waist. “We’re taking both of you and the ship.” He grabbed Cora by the arm and roughly pulled her up. Her slender arm fit easily within his grip. He dragged her down into the skiff with Jeremy and the other pirate Langley stumbling after.

ADULT EXCERPT

“I said, stop talking. Cora, Cora. Dammit.” He pulled her against him, his mouth suddenly upon hers. Startled and elated, her heart shot into her throat. She couldn’t believe it was actually happening.

She kissed him back with equal passion, her tongue reaching for his. She tipped her head back, and his mouth touched her sensitive neck, and her nipples hardened as a current travelled straight down to her pussy. She was completely wet. His smell and his nearness alone made that spot between her legs pulse with desire.

“Jacques. Wait. I need to talk to you,” she said. He pulled back, his hands running down her sides to rest on her hips.

“What happened to Isabel?”

“Let it go, Cora.”

“But, Jacques…”

“I said let it go!” he snapped.

But his voice caught, and for a moment she thought he might crack. As quickly, the look passed and he grabbed her by the waist, hoisted her up on the railing, and pushed up her nightgown. With one hand holding her in the small of her back so she wouldn’t fall to the shark-infested waters below, the other found its way beneath her panties and began to rub her sensitive clit. She gasped as he found his mark, stroking until a moan escaped her lips. With her ass balanced on the railing, she looked down and knew it would take only a slip of his supporting hand to plunge her to her death. This only heightened her excitement.

“Jacques—” she moaned.

Without a word he pulled his hand from between her thighs and lifted her off the railing. As if she were a sack of sugar, he hoisted her over his shoulder and carried her across the deck to the plank. Cora’s eyes widened, and her heart began pounding in her throat.

“Where are you taking me?” she pleaded, her voice low and hot with desire.

He didn’t answer.

He carried her to the end of the plank. Cora had heard the other pirates joking about tossing their victims from its edge into the roiling depths. Her heart began to race. Had it come to this?

“Jacques, please!” Cora pleaded. He lifted her off his shoulder and held her body out in front of him. She kicked and wriggled in panic.

“I’m begging you, please!” Cora gasped. “Please, Jacques, stop!” He brought her down onto the plank. He began laughing.

“You thought I was going to toss you overboard? And throw such a sweet morsel to the sharks to enjoy?” He pulled her body down to adjust her position on the plank. The rough wood scratched at her back. “As a matter of fact, I think I might need to secure you to the ship to avoid losing you.” He smiled and walked over to the deck, returning with a length of rope. Cora’s eyes widened. Jacques knelt and took her wrists firmly in his right hand, pinning them above her head. He tied her arms tightly to the plank. “Trust,” he said, locking eyes with her. She strained against the ropes then surrendered.

He slowly drew down her panties. His tongue traced a line from her belly button to the top of her pubic bone, the light scratch of his chin stubble giving her goose bumps. Deftly, Jacques moved to her clit, working his tongue over it until the blood coursed in her ears and Cora felt she could barely stand it. She arched, her body open and vulnerable as she lay pinned to the plank. Her breaths came in bursts.

“Jacques,” she said as she felt the waves of pleasure cresting.

Savoring every inch of her flesh and balancing on the plank, he made his way up to her breasts. He traced his finger around her nipple and looked in her eyes.

He leaned into her for a lingering kiss.

Cora lay still, breathing hard, arms still above her head.

Jacques drew his cock out, hard and smooth. He pushed her legs apart as he moved down over her body and guided his rock-hard cock to her sensitive pussy. With a sharp exhalation he parted her lips to push himself in. She cried out when he entered her, the sensation of being filled radiating through her whole body. She looked up at his muscular chest above her, the heat rising off him as his torso glistened in the moonlight. Overcome with sensation, she twisted but found the restraints on her arms held her in place. It drove her wild with desire, every nerve ending hyperattuned and expectant. Jacques groaned. As he thrust she felt the roughness of the plank below her and turned her head, and it was as if they were fucking suspended in air, with only the miles of ocean around them.

“Oh, fuck me, Jacques,” she heard herself whisper, and he slowed, pushing himself even deeper inside her. He bit at her neck before finding her mouth again, and his salty taste drove her mad with craving. He put a strong hand on her wrists above her head as he thrust, holding her gaze. Their bodies were moving in time, the light slap of his hips meeting hers indiscernible from the lapping waves against the ship’s hull below them. She felt the tension in her body building as their movements became quicker and more urgent, and she writhed beneath the ropes tethering her to the plank.