Read Online Dark Hero; A Gothic Romance (Reluctant Heroes) by Lily Silver - Free Book Online

agitated
shouts and loud thumping noises. Heavy boots echoed on the planks outside her
cabin. Donovan wasn’t supposed to return for at least two days.
    What on earth were those men doing out there, yelling and
making such a terrible racket?
    It sounded like they were fighting. She sat up, confused and
frightened by the sounds.
    The outer door burst open. Light moved and wobbled about the
murky darkness beyond her closet door. Several men with torches filed into the
small chamber and surrounded the bed.
    Elizabeth screamed. She was roughly seized by two men. She
kept on screaming, writhing, squirming, and fighting them--to no avail as her
wrists were bound in front of her and she was dragged from the bed and out into
the dark night.
    Once on deck, she was hefted over the rail and into the
waiting hands of other men on a smaller craft that was tied alongside the
count’s ship. As her eyes adjusted to the dim lantern light, she saw she was
surrounded by a tight circle of men. They groped at her bottom and her breasts,
and laughed at her outraged cries. They pushed her back and forth between them,
like a toy. She screamed with every fiber of her being. She scratched at them
with her tethered hands and shrank away from those rough, pinching hands,
hoping to awaken from this nightmare.
    The crack of a pistol rent the air. The men stopped
tormenting her. One of their comrades slipped to the deck with his chest
blooming crimson. She looked about for her rescuer, hoping Donovan had returned
during the melee. A portly, unkempt fellow waved his pistol in the air.
    “Stand away from the Countess.” He bellowed. Stepping
closer, he grabbed her forearm and pulled Elizabeth toward the hole in the
deck, while placing himself in front of her with his pistol leveled at the
crowd who had tormented her moments ago. He pointed to the ladder and gestured
for her to descend into bowels of the ship. Frightened, confused, and grateful
for his interference, she did as he instructed, climbing down the ladder. He
jumped down behind her, rather than climbing as she had done. Once there, he
took her wrist and pulled her along by behind him until they came to a small
cell with iron bars. He shoved her inside. “There, now. You’ll be safe here. My
apologies, Miss.” He said, freeing her bound wrists with a knife. “My men don’t
know how to treat a fine lady.”
    Her first thought was to thank him. She caught herself. This
man might have prevented her from being ravished, but he wasn’t helping her
escape, he was locking her up. Elizabeth rubbed her chaffed wrists and
concentrated on summoning the courage to demand her release, and manage not to
sound frightened into the bargain.
    Before she could form the words to chastise his actions, she
was abruptly flattened beneath him on the dirty floor as he attempted to take
over where his comrades left off. With her arms free of the bonds, Elizabeth
fought hard, determined to wriggle from beneath his considerable bulk. She hit
him with her fist and then clawed at his face, aiming for his eyes, but
succeeding only in scratching his cheek. A fist slammed against her temple,
stunning her with an explosion of bone shattering pain. As she tried to recover
her senses, her assailant grabbed her ankles and pried open her legs. She
kicked and twisted, to no avail. His hands were iron shackles. Crawling
upwards, he pinned her legs beneath his knees, unbuckled his belt and yanked up
her bed gown.
    “God’s tooth--what’s this!” the dirty sailor swore, drawing
his crimson hand from between her thighs. “No wonder that spook left you alone.
You’re a disgusting mess!” He sidled away from her and stood, wiping his bloody
fingers on his yellowed shirt.
    Thankful for the first time for something she’d considered a
curse, Elizabeth scrambled back into the shadows, away from him. “Who are you?
Why have you abducted me?”
    “Cap’n Sully’s the name. I could have left you up there to
deal with my men.”