Free Island Flame by Karen Robards

as his eyes moved over her body with insolent appraisal.
    “I can see that you are.” His voice was approving, and his eyes echoed the sentiment. The little flicker at the backs of them should have given her pause, but Cathy stormed on regardless.
    “I hate you! Get out of here!”
    When he continued to stand there like some greatimmovable object, Cathy began to kick and beat the water with her fists like a child in a tantrum. Jon’s mouth clenched as the soapy water sloshed over his dry clothes. He moved around behind her so swiftly that Cathy had no chance to prepare for what happened next.
    “You were rinsing your hair when I so rudely interrupted, I believe,” he said silkily. “Let me help you.”
    Cathy felt a large hand pressing down on the top of her head, and just had time to take a deep breath before her head was forced under the water. She squirmed and twisted, clawing frantically for the surface, but Jon held her under until she thought her lungs would burst. Finally he relented, removing his hand while she came up for great gulping breaths of air.
    “You swine!” Cathy gasped when she could speak. “Isn’t rape enough for you? Or do you drown all your victims afterward?”
    “Not all of them, no,” he told her, sitting down on the edge of the tub and playing idly with the wet strands of her hair. Cathy jerked the locks away from him angrily, tossing him a fearsome glare. He smiled mockingly back at her. “Just cheeky little brats who need to be shown who’s master.”
    “Master!” Cathy screeched, recovering at this jab to her pride. “You’re not my master and never will be, you insufferable animal!”
    “Now, that’s where you’re wrong, my sweet,” Jon’s eyes narrowed until they were nothing more than glittering slits in his dark face. “I’ve been your master since the moment you first set foot on this ship. If you haven’t realized it yet, then I’ve been too damned soft with you. Something which I intend to remedy right now.”
    His hand was on the top of her head again. Cathy didn’t even have time to draw breath before he was forcing her back beneath the surface of the water. She slipped and slid on the bottom of the tub like an eel, finally managing to free herself. He grabbed for her again as she sucked air into her starved lungs. Cathy caught one of his reaching hands in both of hers, burying her teeth in it until they touched bone.
    “Bitch!” he yelled, snatching his hand away. This was the chance Cathy had been waiting for. She jumped up, flinging the soapy washcloth in his face. During the instant he took to free himself from its entangling folds she grabbed the quilt and sprinted for the door. The knob turned easily under her hand, but the blasted thing wouldn’t open! She pulled at it frantically. It had to open, it had to!
    “It’s locked,” Jon growled menacingly from across the room, and Cathy whirled to find him advancing toward her, his face tight with anger. He had wrapped the washcloth around his hand where she had bitten it, but blood was already beginning to seep through. Cathy felt a momentary triumph. Whatever the outcome of this night’s work, at least he wouldn’t escape totally unscathed!
    “So the big, brave pirate had to lock the door, did he?” she jeered recklessly, edging toward the corner where she had strategically placed the chamber pot. “What’s the matter, Captain? Were you afraid a mere female might get the better of you?”
    Jon moved slowly toward her, his eyes promising a painful retribution. Cathy was too incensed to notice, or care if she had. At least she was getting a little of her own back on him! She made it over to the corner and bent to retrieve the chamber pot, straightening and hurlingit at him so quickly that Jon didn’t even have time to duck. It hit him squarely on the shoulder, making him stagger backward. Cathy cursed her poor aim even as she grabbed furiously for another weapon, this time a book of plays. If