The Mermaid's Pearl (Tears of the Deep Book 1) Read Online Free Page B

soon, but I want you to feel at home. You really are safe on my ship. There are clothes over there that should fit you, and there are books for you to read. If you even know how to read. And I’m hoping that my men haven’t hurt you in any way. They don’t know how to treat beautiful things.”
    “You can’t keep me here,” I insisted and put my finger in his chest.
    “Oh to the contrary, my dear, I can do whatever it is I want. This is my ship. I make the rules and whether or not you want to, you will follow them.”
     

Chapter Four
    I slept on the window seat that night, tossing and turning without the ability to fall into a deep sleep. My eyes kept roaming over to where Aiden slept to make sure he was not going to try anything in the middle of the night. That’s exactly what I expected from a pirate—to take advantage of a woman when she was vulnerable. 
    When he awoke the next morning and left the cabin, I was thankful. I pulled myself up into a seating position and stretched. My body was so sore from my sleeping arrangements, and I yearned for my own bed. Gazing out the window, all I could see was ocean for miles. We were probably far away from my home by now, and I couldn’t think of another way to escape…
    Unless he left the door unlocked.
    I hopped up from my seat but stumbled from the force and fell to the floor. With a frustrated growl, I pushed myself up and forced my legs to take me to the door. It was a slow journey, but I made it without another face plant. With both hands I grasped the knob, twisted, and pulled, but to no avail. It was locked. Even putting a foot on the door and pulling did nothing. I felt trapped, but I wouldn’t let that stop me.
    As quick as I could, I searched through the room for the perfect weapon. There were none to be found. Aiden must have swept the room and removed them before he brought me in. However, my eyes settled on an empty bottle of rum on the table across the room. A smile broadened over my face, and I ran over to where it was. I picked it up and smashed it against the corner of the desk, turning it into one long jagged weapon. The extra bits of glass I pushed under the table to hide. Then, I tucked it underneath the pillow on the bed and returned to the window to wait. Surely with my mermaid charms and a weapon I could escape the cabin.
    When the sound of the door unlocking rang through the room, my body stiffened. I hadn’t expected him back so soon. The door opened, revealing a young boy around the age of thirteen with a tray in his hand. He gave me a sheepish smile and closed the door behind him. The boy was thin, with dirty blond hair a mess upon his head.
    “Excuse me, miss?” His voice was timid and quiet as he looked at me for a moment before averting his large, brown eyes to the ground.
    My body relaxed at his sight, although I wondered why he was here. “What is a young boy such as yourself doing aboard a pirate ship?”
    He came over to where I was without a word and held out the tray. The fantastic aroma of freshly cooked food flowed to me from the tray, and I could see the delicious looking meat and sides sitting upon it.
    Still, I shook my head. “No thank you.”
    He frowned. “But the cap’n be angry with me…”
    “You tell the captain that it was all my fault. I want nothing to do with him or his food. Now, I asked you a question.”
    “Can I…can I sit down?”
    “Of course,” I replied and moved over on the seat. What could it hurt to talk to the boy? He wasn’t large enough to hurt me, and perhaps I could get some information from him about what I had gotten into. At least there was one person on this dreadful ship who might be somewhat normal.
    “I wanted to be a pirate,”  the boy explained and then looked up at me with sparkling eyes. I could see the excitement there, though I didn’t understand why anyone would want to be a pirate.
    “So you came here on your own?”
    He nodded. “But the cap’n’s been good to me.