Passion on the High Seas

It is 1724.

Mary Johnson was 24 years old and a still a young maiden. She was on her way to Jamaica to take her first posting from her Church-school as a school teacher. She'd had a very strict Puritanical upbringing and had worked very hard to get where she was. She was extremely proper, decent and well educated. But deep down she had deep and dark desires which were hard for her to reconcile with her normal life, secretly she would try to relieve herself, to no avail and at other times she would scourge herself with cold baths and prayer, also to no avail.

After 10 rough weeks on board, Mary was looking forward to being on land again and to continue with her chosen calling to teach children. She had secured a cheap passage on a merchantman that was mostly loaded with woollen goods sailing out of Bristol, she was one of only 9 passengers and the only woman on board. At around this point a sail was seen and later identified as Spanish, which caused much discussion and consternation on board. The Spanish were notoriously brutal and hostile to the English at sea. The Merchantman turned away from the Spaniard's bearing, trying to outrun it, but the Spanish boat was faster, and during the course of that day slowly gained on the merchantman.

This made the tension on the merchantman also grow by the hour, and the anticipation. Even though they were still half a week from Port Royal, they decided to continue to try to avoid the Spaniard overnight. But just before midday the next day they were overtaken. It was the dreaded Spanish Coastguard. They were basically privateers, they accused the merchantman of being in Royal Spanish waters the day before and of fleeing from the scene when they saw the forces of his most Catholic Majesty, namely themselves.

They were accused of being English pirates, intent on selling their contraband English goods to Spanish colonists (which was also a common problem, but not as common as these Coastguards made out), hence being found in Spanish waters and then them trying to run.

In vain the navigator tried to prove with his charts that they had never strayed on to Spanish water, but in the times before longitude could be accurately measured, being a couple of degrees out East or West was very common. The Englishmen knew the Spaniards were lying, and that this was piracy on the high seas with the most tenuous of legal cover. Regardless, they were all accused of piracy and therefore merited death and confiscation of all goods.

Mary was meanwhile trying to hide out below-stairs in the main Captain's cabin at the back in a wardrobe. She found a rosary in there and she began to nervously play with the beads and peek out, she heard the men being killed on the main deck, and Mary became really scared, knowing she was the only one left. Unfortunately the main cabin is nearly always the first one to get ransacked. A squat, hairy man ripped off the wardrobe door and there was Mary, rosary in hand. The horrible man in the striped vest wrenched Mary out of her hiding place and spilled her over the floor, her skirts raising, another man put his hand on her exposed thigh and squeezed, leering at her and leaving a sooty hand-print, Mary was horrified and screamed as the man tugged down her bodice and exposed her ample bosoms, all three men in the room stopped what they were doing and began making comments in their language about Mary, the door opened and in its' light stood a handsome man in his 30s.

Mary pulled up her bodice, still keeping the rosary in her hand and trying to get up, the man shouted at the others in the room and swiped the one closest to Mary hard across the face with the back of his hand. The man was over 6 foot tall and substantial in physical presence, he was typically Latin looking and had one of those small beards and moustaches that some Spaniards like to wear.

He reached out a gloved hand to her, "Come on" he said in accented English to her, Mary asked why she should, and the man told her because she would be safer with him and in his cabin than with his crew and the mood they were in right now. As Mary went out and on to the Deck, she saw the men slaughtered on the deck by sabre and other means, again Mary realised how serious her situation was, the man told Mary that was what they did with Pirates, but Mary was now privately confused as towhothe pirates really were in this situation.

Mary crossed the gangplank and on to the Spanish boat, which even smelt different from the English boat, again Mary choked down her fear and tried to put a brave face on things, the Spanish captain held a hand out to her to fetch her down from the Gangplank and on to his boat, he even welcomed her on board and Mary was reassured that even the Spanish was a gentleman of a sort. When she got into the Captain's cabin, he locked the door behind him with a click, which to Mary was very final.

He motioned her to sit on the bed, while he sat at his table next to the huge bay windows.

Mary was actually very attracted to this Spanish Captain and despite her situation, secretly she hoped he would feel the same and treat her kindly, she gripped the rosary in her hand slightly tighter and played with the beads absent-mindedly.

"You are Catholic?" asked the man, "Oh no...I..." Mary replied, dropping the rosary abruptly "I'm a Protestant Woman..." the captain got up quickly and picked up the Rosary, he placed it on a hook above and next to the head of the cot, Mary thrilled at him being so close, but also noted his disapproval at her dropping the rosary like that.

"I see" he said, cutting across her unsure assertion of Protestant faith. "The thing is, Senorita, I saved you from those men as a Catholic woman, I told them about the rosary in your hand and to have some respect" Mary was in a tailspin at his disappointment and sharp words; it was going to get worse.

"You see, to us Protestant women are nothing but whores, I would have left you to the men and they would've thrown you overboard when they were finished with whatever was left of you". Mary realised that in its own way the Rosary reallyhadsaved her.

"They say that Protestant women have sex before marriage, is that right?" Mary remembered how 3 years ago she had been tricked by a fiance into having sex with him. She was truly in love with him and wanted to give him what he pressed relentlessly for, she gave him her most precious gift and he then ceased to call around to visit with her or take her out. Like a typical cad he had only said that to have his way with her and potentially ruined her reputation. Luckily he had said nothing about it to anyone else, but Mary was still disgraced and cheated utterly, it was her deepest darkest secret and shame.

So Mary replied "That is not true sir, I still have my virtue and keep it for my beloved".

The Captain replied "Well I hope so, because that was the argument that I made to the men, and that is why we are raised to respect Catholic women above all others"

"In order to protect your life from the men from now on, I will have to maintain the lie that you are a Catholic woman, because if they discover that you are a Protestant whore your life becomes worthless, do you understand?"

Mary nodded her head and felt troubled about her lies, she wished that things had happened more like in her imagination where he took her as his paramour, and even that truly she could give her virtue to a man such as him.

"What is your profession?" the man asked. "Schoolteacher", she replied.

"Right, I will go out to the men now and explain to them that you are a convent school teacher and that we will return you to the Church but on Spanish land, and that they are not to touch you on that basis, do you understand?"

"Yes", Mary replied. To this the captain nodded his head and went to go out, but before he did he introduced himself, saying;

"I am Rodrigo Maria Aranjuez del Potrero" he put his right hand in front of his stomach and did a half bow, as is the Spanish custom. Mary replied with her own name. He smiled slightly in acknowledgement as he left, locking the room again, but as Mary now realised, more for her own protection.

Meanwhile Mary looked around the Captain's room. There were many maps and weapons, such as swords around the place, a small collection of spirits, a medicine chest and some expensive books, more than 5 and not about sail-craft or navigation by the looks of them, among these she found a small dirk, a Scottish-style dagger she could recognise from seeing similar styles where she was from, so like with the Rosary, made with English wood and the last reminders of home, Mary slipped it up her Bodice, and hearing footsteps in the Hall, she returned to sit on the captain's cot in its' alcove.

Captain Rodrigo returned, taking his hat off this time as he came in the room. Mary was still extremely unsure of her situation, so she still only looked at him indirectly when she could, but she did look in his eyes when answering him.

"So tell me, Maria..." he began, "Mary" she corrected, his dark eyebrows ruffled slightly, he said "Maria is Mary in Spanish".

Still unsure of what she was doing and scared of misunderstanding him (and so doing, as is common when in those states of mind) she said, "But my name is Mary".

Rodrigo exclaimed something in Spanish and slapped his hand down hard on the table, making an empty bottle jump and clunk to the floor, and Mary jumped too, she was not used to such behaviour in polite society.

"I am trying to benicewith you, are you stupid?"

"I'm sorry, Captain A-aranhueiz"

"Aranjuez! Miss Johnson, notice I have no problems remembering your name? You have no respect for me, do you?"

"I just saved your life!" He leaned over from his chair, but still across the room and looked in her eyes, making his bigger to underline the point.

"Yes, I understand C-captain... erm, good sir and I am grateful, truly..." Mary replied now anxious at this situation and how she was seemingly doing all the wrong things and making it worse.

"No-" He interrupted "Actuallyyoudon't understand, your ship has just disappeared, many ships disappear like that, maybe she sank, pirates, could be they ran off with the cargo, tropical disease, anything, I don't care, I just have this contract to fulfill with the Spanish Crown."

"Officially you don't exist any more, and I saved you under a false premise".

Mary thought of the English rosary and her Scottish steel in her bodice, her hand went to it to feel it was still there.

"And now you're being rude and ungrateful to me?"

"I-I'm sorry my good Captain, I will attend your laundry personally"

"The cook does that for me already"

"I-I can sing sing hymns"

"Protestant ones?"

"Yes"

"No good here"

"I-I... I don't know what to say, I appeal to you sir, to your good nature..."

Before she had even finished this Rodrigo said "So you are no good to me, completely worthless"

And that was how Mary felt, if only things could go back to like before, again she traced her fingers on the dirk under her Bodice.

"As a Protestant woman, and me a Catholic man, we can never be truly married, so you could comfort me as a man and outside of the sacrament of marriage..."

"But sir, this is not decent, I-I am a...

"Bu-bah, you are a person who does not exist and persona non grata on this ship"

In a panic now, Mary took out the dirk, holding out in front of her and saying "No, I would rather die than disgrace my virtue, it is the last thing I have" Again Mary felt like a fraud inside.

Fire flashed in the man's eyes and he stood up, drawing his fine Toledo sword, again Mary feared for her life, realising this tiny dirk could do nothing, woodenly, she continued to hold it out in front of her, the small blade, wavering.

"I save your life, be nice to you and you are rude to me and finally, you betray my trust in you as a gentleman and you point my own knife at me?"

"You are less than worthless to me, and now I will teach you a lesson as a treacherous Protestant whore, no wonder the brother Monks warned us against you in the seminaries"

Saying this, Rodrigo cast aside his sword and stepped towards Mary, grabbing her hand with the dirk in it and pointing the whole thing back into Mary's throat, pressing it against her skin far too deep, but not piercing the skin.

"Again, your life is in my hands, Maria"

Mary looked hopelessly at the rosary, now within view...

"Open your hand..." Rodrigo almost whispered to her and as he continued to grip that same hand ruthlessly to her throat, and as best she could she opened her hand, and the dirk dropped down. Rodrigo retrieved it and stood up again over her.

"You are nothing!" He slapped her hard around the face and Mary fell back onto the cot.

"Worthless to me!" as he sat down next to her and grabbed a handful of her hair and pulled her head back, like a rag doll.

With his other hand he put the dirk to her treacherous bodice, maliciously he cut the buttons on it calling her a lying treacherous Protestant whore.

Finally Mary's Bosoms spilled out and Rodrigo put his hand on one and said "Actually, these are not worthless".

He rubbed her nipples and pinched them fiercely, and they got very hard, Mary felt so ashamed, but Rodrigo strangely said "Good girl" to her.

He ripped her bodice off, like from a dolly, and Rodrigo told Mary to strip for him.

Mary replied "Protestant women are not whores, my Lord, you are mistaken, please, you have shamed me enough for one day..."

The Captain got up and said "So, you still do not understand the gravity of your situation..."

He walked over to the cabinet where the maps were "...You are mistaken, senorita if you think you can negotiate with me, the time for that is past, I treated you like a gentleman, and you spat that in my face!"

"If you were a man you would bedead, long ago."

Rodrigo took down a long bull-whip from the top shelf, it was made of black leather and it was flat and long and it had a big round handle, it was far too long to wield in here, so Rodrigo sat down on a chair, while Mary tried to cover herself up with her arms, still sitting on the cot.

"You are a woman that has not met your master yet in man, a woman not yet tamed, and I am the man to do that, because you betrayed the word or a true gentleman and you must learn the consequences of that" as he said this he cropped the bull-whip much shorter, about 25 inches long and half an inch wide and flat at that point.

He stood up and cracked the whip to test it still worked, smiling to himself when it did, he threw the whip on the bed next to Mary.

"Please, my Lord Captain, I see the error of my ways I will..."

"Why should I lie to my men for you, a worthless woman who does not even to offer her rescuer some small comfort that would not affect her dignity? Now to teach you your lesson I will take that all away from you, just like you did to me when you betrayed my trust in you"

As he said this he was rummaging in a chest of drawers and pulled some colourful fine silk cloths from the East, so often used as sashes by dandies.

Rodrigo stood in front of Mary, and again told her to take her skirt off, but Mary did not know what to do, she fumbled, so Rodrigo slapped her hard again and gave her a silk sash and he told Mary to tie it to her wrist, while she did this the captain picked up the cropped bullwhip. He then told Mary to hold her other wrist out and tied the other sash to it.

He then got both sashes in one hand and pulled them roughly to the Iron eyelet at the head of the bed from which the cot swung when out at sea, he then put both sashes through it and Mary's arms were pulled to that side and Rodrigo pushed her back onto the cot, making sure she could lie down properly while still with both arms attached via the sashes to the eyelet.

"No more adventures for you" He said.

"Now, up on your knees"

Mary was not quite sure, so Rodrigo bought the whip down on her side, lashing her naked skin, as best she could she go on her knees.

To which Rodrigo said "You Protestant whore!" and whipped her behind through her skirts hard.

He whipped and lectured her for about 20 minutes, telling her about honesty and faith.

Mary's skirts were now shredded, her skin felt raw and alive, throbbing from the lashes.

Rodrigo said that Mary should have stripped when she had the chance, but that it was fine, she did not need clothes any more, also this to prevent her escape and because he was going to make her into his whore in that room.

Rodrigo ripped off the last parts of Mary Skirts and now she was totally exposed, Mary had never been completely naked in front of any man before, and it was unsettling, but again she could see Rodrigo's attitude soften to her again, like before when he saw her breasts, perhaps there was a way out of this for her after all...

But no, despite this, Rodrigo whipped her again at least 12 times and leaving welts on her bare behind, inside Mary was tormented, because she had actually dreamt about this before in disturbing dreams that she had never thought would be real, was it a prophesy?

Mary became wet between her legs and her pussy throbbed in anticipation, but at the same time, Mary felt disturbed by this and was ashamed to be discovered like this by the Spanish Captain.

Finally when he was finished, Rodrigo came over and felt Mary's welts, almost lovingly and and he said "You are a strong girl, I am impressed", actually and after all the recent events, Rodrigo's hand felt wonderful on her skin and wounds, Mary tingled inside and out.

"But I must not forget what you did to me" Rodrigo said, almost to himself as he walked back to the table and to an earthenware pot with olive oil in it, Rodrigo poured olive oil on the thick, ringed handle of the Bull-whip.

He went back over to Mary and he slowly and forcefully pushed the bull-whip handle into Mary's exposed and striped backside.

Mary gasped, it was the first time she had been penetrated in years, and never there, helplessly she felt the big handle slide into her. She arched her back up at the unexpected sensation and pain, Rodrigo said gently "Just relax, it won't hurt then" and pushed her back down with his other hand, Mary tried to relax as the rest of the handle slid into her.

"Mmmm, mi Gatita, you are my little cat, Maria, you look so pretty now, with your shiny black tail"

Mary did not know what to say, she had never imagined herself to ever be in this kind of situation before.

"Miaow like a cat for me, Maria"

"I'm sorry, I'm not sure..."

Rodrigo slapped Mary's striped cheeks hard 5 times causing her to yelp in pain "Yes, you're sure! You're sure you will miaow for me like my pretty little cat, now say MIAOW!"

Mary miaowed "Louder, you whore!" Rodrigo slapped down again and Mary Miaowed, with feeling "Arch your back down and miaow like a cat, you whore" Mary miaowed a few times and arched her back as Rodrigo stroked her back and cheeks, twisting the handle of the bullwhip inside of her to to make it sit properly or make it dance.

"That's more like it" Rodrigo said "I need to go up and make sure they took all the wool and other things and sink your ship. You will wait for me here in that position, yes?"

Still shocked, Mary said "Yes", not getting his joke, but while she waited for him to return like that, naked as the day she was born and with a cropped Bullwhip in her behind, she did get it now.

Sometimes Mary would look at the rosary, now next to her head on the wood-panelled wall, and she would again try to get some sort of comfort from it while in this strange situation that she now found herself in.

As Mary knelt there on the cot thinking about her situation and the man that she was strangely attracted to, but who also scared her in his directness and roughness all the time; but such were the times. Mary thought about her humiliation in pretending to be a cat, but realised that the Captain was well pleased with her then and her stroked her appreciatively, as no other man had done before, she felt strangely desired and wanted, she remembered what he said about being his pretty little cat and even as strange as that was, she had never had a man speak of his appreciation of her or her form like that.