The Black Rise Ch. 04

As the girl was led along, and up from below deck, she felt time slow. She focused on the roughness of the wood underneath her bare feet, and as she climbed her way to the deck, she could feel the cool sea breeze blowing gently into her hair and against her bare legs. She dared to look up, wanting to see the night sky. The flickering lights from the stars greeted her gaze and she felt as though she could see old friends within the stars.

Lisa could remember a time when she would lay back in the field near her home and look up at the stars with her father; together drawing pictures with the ever-shifting patterns through the seasons and delighting one another by finding them again in the next year.

Too long. She stared too long into the starry night, and it did not take the Captain long to realize.

"Head down, girl. Your last warning."

She startled at the harshness in his voice, and completely dejected, she hung her head as she followed him into

his cabin, away from the friendly stars casting their light down upon her.

After taking care of her toiletry needs, the Captain led the girl to his bed.

"Kneel."

Shaking, she knelt.

"You will learn to sleep with me in my bed, girl. Do you understand?"

Stalling, she shook her head 'no'.

He chuckled. "My apologies, little one, I will be clearer in my instruction. You will sleep with me, at night, naked, in bed. Eventually, I will take you as a man takes a woman, as I want. Is that clearer?"

She gave a short nod, still shaking. She had been trained since youth that a woman should never be in the bed with a man she wasn't married to. It was ingrained in her. She should be saving herself for her husband, and in this moment, everything would be ruined for her future.

Without speaking, he pulled on her chain until she was standing. Taking the chain off her collar, he turned her around and untied her, keeping one firm hand at the nape of her neck. He deftly untied the knots, and when free she rolled her shoulders forward in a most unladylike gesture and rotated her hands, trying to get the stiffness out of her limbs.

"I will help you this first night, but from here forward, you will do this yourself."

What does he mean? She wondered to herself, but silently shrieked when she felt the sudden movement of the shirt being lifted off her. She had heard him say naked. Of course, she had. But did her mind process it? Apparently not, and in her panic, she sank to the ground with her arms tangled in the shirt, trying to wrestle it from him.

He laughed at her struggles, and with a lightening fast strike, gave a well-placed handprint on her bottom. She stopped struggling from the shock. It was another act of humiliation, and it accentuated the plain fact that she was once again naked in front of him.

"Get into the bed girl."

She looked up at him from the floor, and covering herself, plopped herself next to the bed.

"If you don't get into the bed yourself, I'll be forced to put you there, and I'll make sure you don't bother me in my sleep. Now get into the bed, girl."

Shaking, she scrambled into the bed, too tired and too overwhelmed from the day to put up any more fight, and besides, he had said he would just sleep for now, there was time for the fight to continue when she had more energy.

She watched him take off his gear and clothing, stopping with his pants still on. She thought it was horribly unfair that he would get to keep some covering, but the thought was pushed quickly to the back of her mind when he began to settle in next to her.

He gave a patient laugh at the odd stiffness of the trembling girl beside him, and gently drew her in by the waist to lay beside him. With one arm around her, he leisurely pet her hair, as one would a scared dog.

"Good night, Lisa."

Shock would be the best way to describe how she felt at that moment. He hadn't tied her down, or even thrown a threat her way before nodding quickly into a slumber beside her.

She lay by him, feeling the events of the day wash over, and looked at her captor. He had strong features with the stubble of his beard beginning to spread over his jawline. For the first time since setting eyes on him, his mouth was not set in a smirk, nor did it have a threatening curl to distract her from their fullness. If only he wasn't a monster, she thought.

Lifting herself just high enough to look around the room she tried to take stock of what her situation was at that moment. There was no way this wasn't a trap of some sorts. He had kept her chained all day, while everyone was awake, only to unchain her beside his vulnerable and un-watching form. Her only disadvantage appeared to be that she was positioned on the side of the bed closest to the wall.

It was too good to be true, and yet she had to take the chance. She did not have much space but tried to roll out from underneath his arm.

"You'll find I'm an incredibly light sleeper. This is your one forgiveness. Go to sleep," he grumbled.

She stared wide-eyed at him. He didn't open his eyes, he simply gripped her harder, forcing her to lay down completely again.

Maybe he was extra alert in his sleep tonight simply because it was her first night there, she wondered, and another night may be her better option once his guard was down.

Exhausted, she closed her eyes and let sleep take over.

**

The Captain woke early in the morning and felt the heat from Lisa beside him. He smirked, knowing that she must have been disconcerted by her situation last night. Since he was young he had been a light sleeper, but events in his life had made him react to any movement during the night, so much so that he often did not allow the girls he kept to sleep with him and disturb his slumber. Fortunately, he mused, she seemed to sleep like the dead and did not bother him throughout the night.

He took the time to look at the little beauty beside him. Her chest rose and fell in her deep sleep, with her nipples at attention from lack of covering. Her hair was spread about her, leaving tendrils falling about her shoulders and he could not help but move them to the side. She was still red from her short time in the sun, and he noted that she would need more time to become accustomed to the life he had planned for her, both in mind and body.

Rolling over, he got up for the day and began to dress, opting to let her sleep in this once. Moving to his desk, he picked up a pile of papers that he taken from The Hanover before it sank. This practice had turned out quite lucrative for him: dealing in secrets was far more valuable than coin. Leave it to the bored wealthy to splash what should have been kept in silent confidence all over a page. It was in these letters from The Hanover that he hoped to find more information about his little siren.

Not two letters into the pile, he heard the creaking of a floorboard behind him.

Turning around quickly, he saw his pet frozen in place. She had managed to get two paces from the bed, and oh how coincidently, they were towards his weaponry wall. He might have to rethink that wall...

"Kneel."

She burst into a sprint to the wall, with her fingers just brushing against the handle of a short sword when she felt his arms crush her from all sides.

"We will put that energy to good use soon, little pet," he chuckled at ear, "and, since you are so eager to start the day, let's not waste any time with something so frivolous as clothing, yes?"

She slumped in his arms, and he took her roughly as he gathered a chain to attach to her collar. As he began to lead her out naked from his cabin, she pulled frantically back.

He turned and stood tall and immobile from his spot, beginning to wind up the chain and bring her closer to him. She trembled as he took hold of her collar and hissed at her, "every decision you make, will have an outcome, whether good or bad, and its time to learn to make the right decision. You're going to follow my lead, or I will double your punishment. Now move."

Scared. She finally admitted it to herself. She could find no footing in this new world of hers that left her any dignity, and the man in control of her body was about to make that lesson very clear.

She gave a small nod and cast her eyes down; still shaking from the prospect of being seen naked by the other men.

Whistles and hoots accosted her from all sides as she took a step into the sunlight behind the Captain.

"Quite the little bed mate, Captain!"

"To work, all of you!" Laughed the Captain beside her.

In that moment, she didn't think it could anymore, but her hatred grew. It welled up inside of her, and she could feel every fiber of her being singing out against this treatment and the man who was the cause of it.

As he led her across the deck, towards the latticed entrance to the galley, she lifted her eyes past the hooting men and saw the sea looking back at her. The clear blue waters being kissed by the morning sun seemed so inviting and lovely compared to this harsh new reality. She shook her head. She promised to herself, as he took her below deck and set her naked and chained against the cooks table, that she would live, and she would get away. She would get away from this main who planned to keep her degraded. She would get away from the expectations of her mother. She would get away from her unwanted betrothal. She would do all of these things one step at a time.

A small blanket drifted from the heavens around her trembling shoulders, and she dared to the look up at the cook.

"It will get better girl."

**

She stayed there through the men's breakfast. Unlike dinner, they came and went more freely. They all ignored her. She ate a piece of dried meat that the cook had given her without looking up from the floor again.

After a few hours, the Captain came to retrieve her. He looked at Neo with annoyance when he noticed the blanket on her.

The cook mirrored the same look back.

"How was she?"

"Silent as the grave, Capn."

He gathered the chain and gave a small tug. She got up without complaint, only hugging herself, trying to cover her body with the blanket.

"You have once chance to show me that you want this," he said as he put the shirt he had brought in her eyesight, "or you'll be in the sun for the rest of the day."

Miserably, she knelt in front of him, her hand crossing her chest in the gesture he had given her, and she kept her eyes down to the ground.

His cock twitched at seeing her kneeling in front of him, wanting nothing more than to have her put her sweet silent mouth around it in this position, but that would be for another time.

He granted her the shirt and then led her back up to the deck to the wheel, where he allowed his helmsman a reprieve. She was placed sitting in front of the wheel, with her chain left untied to anything.

She took this time to look around at the men as they moved about the ship with well-practiced efficiency. While the crew of The Hanover had been militant and efficient, these men seemed to glide about the ship. It was their life, not so much a job like it had been for the men of The Hanover, she realized. Daring to look up, she saw the Captain looking over his men with confidence. Shaking her head, she drew her gaze back out the sea. While the sails kept her in relative shade, they could not stop the reflection of the sun off the waters. It was a beautiful fair day and the wind caressed the hair around her face.

After spending a few hours like this, the Captain saw her contented mood as she looked out at the ocean, and without picking up her chain, he motioned for her to follow him.

When they reached his cabin, she was more than confused by his actions. Not more than a few hours ago she had tried to get his knives and now he was letting her go around without keeping her strictly tethered.

"Stand at the pole there, and don't move, girl."

He circled around her, assessing why she was suddenly in a compliant mood. He'd seen this stage before; girls wanting to lull him into a false sense of security before striking.

Moving back in front of her, feel much like a cat stalking its prey, he pressed one firm hand at her waist and moved into her space, hearing her intake of breath.

He pushed her wild hair to one side and lifted her chin to him, watching the fear in her eyes as he lowered his lips down to hers in a gentle kiss.

She didn't move. She did not struggle, nor did she return the kiss. She was simply shocked that he would do something like this. Her shock did not fully take away from the spark that she felt, her hands clenched together into tiny fists.

If he saw the movement, he didn't care, lifting his eyes back to hers and once again stroking her wild locks.

She watched him, beginning to tremble as his hand moved from her hair and down to her breast, brushing over her raised nipple.

Her hand went to his wrist to stop him.

"Tsk tsk, put your hand back down, or loose your privilege of being untied right now, girl. I wish to show you something."

She slowly put her hand to her side and gripped at her shirt, ready to fight to keep it on.

His playful fingers continued, and he bent his head to her side, licking along her jaw line. She startled but tried not to move. One strong hand remained an anchor to her waist the entire time, removing any illusions she might have of really being able to get away from this.

He took his time, and despite her best efforts, he began to feel some of her tension wash away.

It didn't make sense to her, and her mind was a whirlwind, but his assault on her senses was like nothing she had felt before. Of course, he had toyed with her the previous day, but it was not this sensual, not this gentle, and to her horror she could feel a fluttering at her core.

His hand at her waist dipped low without her first noticing, as he kissed her again. This time she tentatively kissed back, realizing too late the danger her dignity was in.

A finger swiped across her pussy, gliding easily through her wet lips.

Both her hands shot out to the offending hand as he pushed her roughly against the pole and deepened the kiss.

Just as she was gathering her mind and was getting ready to strike out at him, he pulled away from her completely, leaving her a quivering mess. Lifting his finger, he showed her, and to her shame she could see the wetness there. Even in her naivete she knew what it meant and she watched in mortification as he put the finger in his mouth and smirked at her.

"What a delicious little pet you are."