Emily's skin went cold under Conner's hand and she trembled unable to pull her eyes free of his burning glare anymore then she could hope to pull out of his grip. She felt the first warm tears sliding down her face. "Please don't kill me." Captain Teirly's face split in a cruel smile.
"I see no cause to kill ya Miss Perrington." His hand slid away the rough skinned fingers tracing so gently across the sensitive skin of her wrist that she shivered as he pulled the bottle to his mouth and drank deeply without releasing her from his gaze. It was like a great serpent, an ancient dragon of the sea, had fixed her with its deadly gaze and she could do nothing but wait for the strike. The touch of his skin and the strength of his eyes had stirred something in her and she dared to believe she might make it through this night alive what scared her though was what may done to her in lieu of execution. She had never felt the kind of excitement, that now grew along with her fear, even while exploring and pleasuring herself and she found herself wondering if the pirate demanded she serve his lusts would she do so as a matter of survival or as a wanton creature willingly submitting to a predator. He handed the bottle back in silence.
"I think I should go."
"We had a deal. Belt for belt straight to the bottom."
"I don't think I should let myself drink that much with a man looking to avenge himself against my father."
"Have ya any inkling what might happen should I shout yer name here Miss Perrington?" She froze amid gathering her skirts about her to rise then shook her head. He smiled more cruelly and wider then ever before he spoke. "I don't think you'll find many friends of yer father in this Inn. Those what don't bare his brand have likely been on the raw end of one of his salvage claims. So you can share a drink with me or likely wind up sharing a bit more with all the other gents. Unless ya believe they'd keep their manners with the half native illegitimate child of a man they hate." He tipped the bottle neck towards her again and she took it quickly drinking rather deeply wanting to feel the relaxing warmth of the rich liquor. "Smart girl." The bottle passed between them a few more times in silence before Emily found her voice again. "Are you going to kill my Father?" He looked her over smiling. Not the vicious smile of the sea dragon, this one was both frightening and exciting. When her Father's friends had looked her over in this way it had always met with her disgust but here in this powerless situation, surrounded by cruel enemies, drunk, and unarmed she felt herself growing aroused. He was rugged and strong and very different from the world of her father and his rules and customs. The rules and customs to which they only held in convenience and cast aside when the opportunity to gain was presented. She was not sure why but she did not doubt Captain Teirly's tale of her father's treachery. Though she had only known kindness and firm guidance from the man, those in his company had certainly over the years shown her their capacity for deception and opportunism when it came to trying to lure her virtues from her. Only now did her father's own lesson of 'judging a man by his company' seem to apply itself to that same teacher. "Its true yer Da took A life from me but he did not take my life so I'll not take his." He drained all but the last dregs from the bottle and pushed it back to her. She took the final belt and looked back at him; the room twisting around him as she tried to focus. She had never been this drunk.
"I think I sh-should go now Captain." She hiccuped lightly and pushed herself to her feet.
"Seeing as I've spared both yer life and yer identity Miss Emily I think ya may find ya at least owe me a dance, then I'll escort you personally out of the Inn." She had not seen him stand nor did she remember him moving to her side but knew she was glad that he was there else she'd have been sprawled on the floor and it seemed none too clean. The thick arm snaked around her waist and he pulled her to him.
Conner's hips were pressed against her belly and the hand at her back now caressed gently up and down her sides as they stepped around the small area free of tables near the musicians' corner. His other hand knead her neck in a soft but firm massage that made her feel even more relaxed in his arms. She realized her arms had looped behind his neck and between her hanging from his neck and him holding her to him so tightly she was barely using her legs to hold herself at all. Its like floating, she thought. The swift moving, close bodied, grinding dance was like no dance that would have been seen among the parties of her Father and his peers. The only times she had felt the hardness of a man's arousal pressed against her it had been while fighting off some depraved merchant or naval officer who had a few too many and decided to have a go at the boss's bastard. In this foul tavern though the rigid lump pressed between his hips and her naval felt fine. Perhaps it was because she expected a pirate to try and compromise her honor; that it only seemed indecent with her father's friends because they were to be held to higher standard. Perhaps it was the lack of slobbering on her neck and attempts to rip open her corset that made this more comfortable. His hand drifted up her side and under her breast as they turned again and she let her head lean back into his massaging grip. Emily's lips parted lightly in a gasp at as his touch. She knew what was coming and invited it shamelessly. The rough wind chapped lips met hers and their tongues flicked against each other and in that moment she forgot about the vendetta, the weapons, the threats of rape and murder, and even the swirling drunken fog of rum clouding her brain. In that moment she felt alive and free from worry or distraction. The second the kiss broke it all flooded back. Conner, for all his appeal, was a bloody pirate and she could not give herself to such a man. She knew the thought had been there but now as they rocked and swayed she again felt his hand grouping her breast and the fingers that were so tender on the back of her neck were now roughly massaging her scalp as they clawed in her long dark hair.
