angrily, wondering how the man could dare to do this to her. He had just been exciting her with his kisses and caresses. Now he was striking her with a passionate fury. She tried not to think of her arousal, unhappy with the fact that it had not dissipated. Her nipples were still rock hard nubs and the avaricious yearning between her legs was an urgent drumbeat.
‘Who are you? And why are you here?’ he demanded. The cane whipped through the air. The sound was lost amongst the rustle of the stiff sails. Emily felt two blows strike her in sharp succession. The tip of the cane bit cruelly against her inner thighs. It was a mere whisper away from the lips of her vagina. She held herself still, not daring to think of the pain she would have experienced if his aim had been a millimetre higher.
‘I’ve told you who I am,’ she said stiffly. ‘And I’ve told you why I’m here. Why don’t you believe me?’
This time the cane struck her nipple. She moaned loudly, torn between conflicting sensations. The pain was intense. A fire of unprecedented proportions burnt furiously in her breast. Along with the pain, she could feel an exquisite explosion of pleasure beginning to spread through her body. Shivers of excitement tingled in every pore. The combination was so extreme it thrilled and terrified her.
He moved closer and kissed her again.
She responded to him eagerly.
Inside, she could feel a dark cloud of self-loathing beginning to develop. She hated herself for enjoying his punishment yet still she pushed her tongue into his mouth and explored him. She heard herself gasping with pleasure and realised how close she was to orgasm. When his fingers touched the aching tip of her bruised nipple, she felt the orgasm tear through her. Waves of delight washed over her body and she shrieked loudly, engulfed by a torrent of ecstasy.
Emily closed her eyes tightly against the pleasure-pain coursing through her body. When she opened them, he was smiling broadly into her upturned face. She glared angrily at him.
‘Captain Wilde! Captain Wilde!’
The urgent voices were calling him from the stern and he turned to face them.
Emily followed the direction of his gaze and saw the man and woman running along the deck. She recognised them as the blond man and the dark-haired woman who had been with the captain in the pilothouse. They were both dressed in loose robes, but she knew they were naked beneath the garments.
Emily watched as Laura moved from her side and approached the couple.
‘Nothing to report, Laura,’ Vincent told her. His words carried easily in the night.
The captain took a step toward him. ‘Nothing?’ he barked sharply.
Vincent shook his head. ‘We’ve searched from bow to stern. There’s no one else on board and she has no baggage of any description.’
The captain turned to Emily and smiled at her. ‘Well,’ he grinned. ‘It looks like you may have been telling the truth after all. Perhaps I should untie you.’
She glared at him, despising his indifferent tone. ‘That would be a nice idea,’ she said through clenched teeth.
He shrugged. ‘I’m tempted to leave you tied to the mast,’ he said. ‘But I suppose you’ve been punished sufficiently for stowing away.’ He studied her silently, his black eyes glaring contemptuously at her. Without another word he turned away and nodded a silent command at Laura.
Emily felt a wave of relief washing over her as the woman untied her wrists. She glared hatefully at the captain while Laura did this. ‘You had no right to do that to me,’ she told him angrily.
He laughed. ‘I’m the captain of this boat,’ he said crisply. ‘And you’ll soon find out that I have the right to do whatever the hell I want.’
Emily swallowed and tried not to shiver beneath his commanding glare. She did not doubt that the man would be capable of a lot worse than she had already experienced. The idea unsettled her. In spite of the fact that she had found dark