Free Open Waters by Valerie Mores Page A

behind him, running her fingers through his hair. Though she still told herself it had to be an act, couldn't be anything but an act, it still hurt. It still tore at her heart to see the woman she cared about, the woman she thought cared for her, clamoring all over another as if Jane had never even mattered.
    Lock stood up, face set in a sneer as he wiped the spit from his cheek. The only thing she received for it was a hard kick to the ribs.
    Jane grunted, the air leaving her lungs in a swift exhalation as pain lanced up her side. She gasped for breath, feeling like there wasn't enough air in the room. Gasping, she glared up at Lock, refusing to let him think he had gotten the best of her, would ever get the best of her. Whether she died or lived through this whole ordeal, she would never let him win.
    Cecily stepped forward, sliding herself in front of Lock with the ease and grace of practice, her back to Jane. "Let me take care of ya, Cap'ain," she purred, capturing the man's attention immediately as she flaunted her breasts. "Let me make ya feel good."
    Lock slid his hands up her sides possessively, a feral grin spreading across his face. His gaze swept up momentarily and, noticing Jane watching, addressed her even as he continued to fondle Cecily. "Don't worry love," he mock-soothed her, "you'll get your turn tomorrow." If this was an act—an assumption that Jane was thinking was not true anymore, what with the current event—Cecily was being damn convincing. Jane didn't think that she would take it this far. And yet, here they were.
    Jane averted her eyes, ignoring Lock's comment and knowing exactly to where the event unfolding before her would lead, and having no desire to be any more a witness to it than she was already forced to be.
    But try as she might, she couldn't shut out the sounds.
    The rustle of clothing pushed aside, followed by strings of compliments and ribald comments hissed out between breathy pants. The squelch of lips and spit on skin was punctuated by moans or grunts until those took over entirely, filling up the room with their imagery and obvious manner as the bed frame rocked and bumped, taking Jane's iron-clamped wrists for a ride. Her head filled with scenarios without her consent, taunting and teasing her with what she and Cecily could have had, what they could have been, but might be no more, if the space between them was filled with lies and betrayal. Try as she might, Jane felt her heart ache as she was forced to bear witness, sitting there chained like a dog, listening to the reason why her world may very well shatter to pieces again. And it continued to shatter, over and over again, until she felt like she couldn't breathe, couldn't even draw a single breath, as tears slipped down her face unhindered and unwanted, but whether from anger or misery, she no longer knew.
    She sat there, hearing the sounds of their coupling replay over and over in her head even after they had smoothed out into even breaths and soft snores. Even after the sunlight had disappeared from beyond the window and darkness had taken its place.
    But though the sounds were on replay, Jane's mind was whirling, thinking, planning, going through scenarios and ways she could turn the tide in her favor. She would come out of this no less the woman she was, with her life intact or not.
    *~*~*
    "Rise and shine, poppet!"
    Jane awoke with a start, jumping as hands appeared in front of her, grabbing and hauling her to her feet, pawing at her unnecessarily as they unshackled her wrists. She didn't even remember that important detail occurring, but then again, such a rude awakening left little for her sleep-addled brain to digest.
    She was all but dragged from the captain's quarters—her own bloody quarters for fuck's sake—and out onto the main deck. The sun's rays pierced her eyes like daggers, forcing her to blink to allow her sight to adjust. By then, she and her unscheduled entourage had come to halt and she was finally able