Brook No Quarter (III)
(formerly Mulan Pirate Whump)
Read part one here // Continued from here
*****
Marcy tried to push herself further into the wall to get Vex’s leg away from her… nether regions. It was indecent, wrong and Vex was a woman and that wasn’t… proper. Though, Marcy knew it happened. When she ventured with William, her friend, into the shady alleyways of the city, down narrow streets and through dead pubs into the “back”, where the real club was. Sometimes it was in a cellar in the basement, other times hidden upstairs of a rundown hotel.
She glared at Vex as she squirmed to get away but Vex simply jerked her knee higher and oh. A jolt ran through Marcy’s stomach at the movement, and a little gasp left her lips at the strange sensation.
Vex leaned her head down so she was eye level with Marcy, her strange eyes half lidded and cat like with interest. “Oh, darling. You really are a delightful little treasure, aren’t you?” Her chin dipped as she pushed Marcy’s chin up, so her neck was exposed. Hot breath fanned Marcy’s pulse. “Did that feel good, sweetheart?”
Marcy released an irritated huff as she struggled to push Vex off her. The more she squirmed the bigger the effect Vex seemed to have on her. Was it the eye contact? What was going on? Was Vex some witch? Marcy closed her eyes, just in case, as she pressed her shoulder blades into the wall and tried to push herself up.
Her eyes flew open with a startled gasp as warm breath drew closer to her throat, before soft lips folded over Marcy’s pulse. A tongue slid along the flesh caught between teeth and Marcy bucked and squirmed.
“Please! Stop it! Stop it! Please!”
“Hm. Not quite the begging I was hoping for but,” Vex murmured before placing another delicate kiss against Marcy’s neck. “You do beg so sweetly.”
Marcy wasn’t thinking straight. She wasn’t. She had this strange warmth in her stomach, some foreign strange spell Vex cast on her, so she wasn’t minding her words as she said: “do is redundant in that sentence.”
Vex’s hold on Marcy’s throat slackened. A moment of the waves rocking the ship passed between them. A perfect brow quirked. “What?”
Marcy stared at the ceiling of the captain’s room before she swallowed. “You said you do beg, but the verb is beg. You don’t need to add the "do" before it to make it make sense. It's superfluous.”
Vex pulled back slightly, her knee dropping a blessed inch and Marcy was no longer on her toes of her good leg. The sole of her foot against the planks felt like progress in this— whatever this was.
“Did you just correct my grammar?”
“Um. I mean. I— it just kind of fell out.”
Vex’s eyes brightened. She tilted her chin back and let out a delicate laugh, soft and melodious. The hand moved from her throat to Marcy’s hair, the stray piece in front of her eye and tucked it behind Marcy’s ear.
“How far did you get in your education, love?”
“Enough to know that you calling me sweet names isn’t proper for ladies.”
“Oh, for ladies. You’re noble born?”
Marcy almost answered reflexively but stopped herself so all that came from her mouth was a squeak of sound. How did Vex know that? How did she get a feel for that so quickly? Perhaps Marcy was extremely well read and common born, Thomas was! But to have Vex figure her identity out before any of the crew she sailed with for the last seven months in the space of a conversation…
“Oh, you are,” Vex purred. “How interesting.”
Vex dropped her hands from Marcy who crumbled back into the wall of the ship, leaning her weight heavily against the support, relieved she could finally breathe.
Vex studied her with her strange eyes, before she nods at the giant table to the side of the room. “Come. Sit.”
Marcy shoots Vex an exhausted brow raise. She shrugs her shoulders, gesturing at her bound hands. “I can’t exactly walk.”
“Oh, pardon me, my lady,” Vex says grabbing the tails of her magnificent coat and curtsying. Marcy’s nostrils flared as rage bloomed hot in her chest. “How rude of me, allow me to help you.”
Vex stepped in and slunk an arm under Marcy’s shoulders before Marcy could think to protest.
“What’re you—” her words cut off in a squeak as Vex slid her other arm under Marcy’s knees and scooped her up like she weighed nothing. “Put me down!” The world rocked and Marcy buried herself into Vex’s chest, her arms dangling uselessly under her, the infernal ropes holding her wrists firm.
Vex didn’t reply. She carried Marcy with the same confident stride that she did when she wasn’t carrying somebody in her strong arms. She deposited Marcy into the fine chair around the other side of the desk, Vex’s chair, she realised with a nervous swallow. The material lining was truly a delight after so much harsh aches and pains from the firm wood and the battering of the sea her body took.
She let out a sigh and rested her head against the back of the chair before she realised where she was and who she was with. Vex perched on the edge of her table in front of Marcy, the same vulpine smile on her lips.
When Marcy opened her eyes again, she frowned. “Why are you smiling like that?”
“I like you in my chair, pet.”
“I’m not your pet.”
Vex winked. “Not yet.”
Marcy swallowed hard and looked away, fixing her eyes on her injured leg. It looked bad. The swelling alone was dangerous; it was double the size of her other ankle. Her body moaned at her like the creaking wood of the ship. She must have bashed against the debris of the ship in the water, her ship… her crew, her captain.
Marcy worried her bottom lip as she risked a glance up at Vex. The captain tilted her head at the look.
“What are you going to do with us?” Marcy asked quietly.
Vex’s smile turned vicious and victorious all in one, like she was waiting for Marcy to ask that question. “Well, your darling first mate and the others will be given the option of providing their sea faring services to me or being confined to the brig without food. If any of them are as injured as you and unable to work, well,” Vex dipped her chin, her eyes sparkling. “They’ll be given a quick death.”
Marcy stiffened in her seat. What? Vex was going to kill her?!
“Oh, kitten,” Vex continued, leaning forward, putting her hands on the arms of the chair, caging Marcy in. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to kill you. You’re far too interesting. No, I’m going to personally look after you.”
“Why?”
Vex’s lips quirked at one corner. “You really shouldn’t question me, darling. It may dissuade me from keeping you. And, given your options…” she trailed off devilishly.
“But…” Marcy should shut her mouth. “But…” She should just stop talking. “Why help me and kill others in my position?”
“Didn’t I just answer that question?” Vex raised a finger and stroked her knuckle down Marcy’s cheek. “You’re fascinating. A noble lady running away from her life of comfort in favour of dressing like a newsboy and living amongst sailors.”
Marcy longed to turn her head away but Vex didn’t let her. She turned her to look in those baffling, impossible oil-slicked eyes again. “And I want to know what you’re running from princess.”
“I’m not a princess.”
“No?” Vex asked with a pout. Her grip turned bruising on Marcy’s chin and she squirmed. “Pity. I’ll make do with a noble lady then I guess.”
“I am not your entertainment!” Marcy snarled, baring her teeth. It was a mistake, but she couldn’t stop the rage that threatened to claw her open and tear her apart around this- this woman! “I am a human being, and you can’t treat me—”
A swift, deafening slap made Marcy’s head snap to the side. Heat, shame and embarrassment blossomed in her cheeks in what she imagined was a cardinal shade of red.
Vex grabbed her chin and turned her to face her beautiful, oil slicked eyes, and slapped her again. Marcy sucked in a sharp breath.
“I can’t do what, kitten?” Vex asked, her voice soft and sweet.
Marcy slowly turned her head and looked at Vex. Her tongue, thankfully, locked behind her lips. Vex smirked down at her.
“Your hands are currently tied, love. Your ankle will not heal right unless seen to by a doctor. Luckily for you, I have one in my employ.” Vex’s smirk widens into a triumphant smile, but her eyes show a deep hunger that threatens to swallow Marcy whole if she steps out of line again. “I have told you what I do to injured sailors who can’t serve me and have offered to see to you personally.”
There was no threat in her words, Vex was just stating facts plainly, and yet, Marcy’s heart pounded harder at this than at the shock of the slaps. Vex’s finger hooks under her chin again, and her smile exposes her teeth.
“Need I remind you that your ship is currently at the bottom of the sea, your fellow crewmen are being held in the brig, and you are in no position to try and fight me off.”
Vex leaned down. Marcy shrivelled away, trying to keep as much distance as possible between them, but her head found the back of the chair and Vex kept moving closer.
Her breath fanned Marcy’s face and her lips came closer to Marcy’s and Marcy couldn’t help the noise that escaped her throat. A mix between a whimper and a plea as she turned her head to the side and Vex’s lips settled beside her ear.
She swore that Vex heard the very pounding of her heart, the deafening swell of it and the speed of which couldn’t be healthy.
“So, tell me again, dear, will you refuse my special interest in you, or will you accept my help in your unfortunate circumstances?”
Marcy shuddered at the offer.
There wasn’t an actual choice for her; Vex wanted her to know that. There was only one answer that Vex wanted to hear. Only one that gave her a chance to try and heal. Only one way she could eventually fight back against this loathsome pirate and her crew.
Despite her trembling, despite her fear, despite the so-called common sense she should inherently possess, Marcy turned her head to Vex and looked into her oil-based eyes.
“I will graciously accept your kind offer, Captain,” she said, her voice — thankfully — composed as she met the dread pirate’s gaze.
Vex smirked at her, her painted lips curling back and a gleeful smile taking over her expression.
“Well, that is just wonderful, kitten. I’m so happy we could come to this accord.”
Marcy’s heart almost exploded as dread settled in her stomach at what exactly the captain’s special interest would entail. But she foolishly left home for adventure, and adventure found her in the form of a dead pirate legend and a wrecked ship.
She made a devil’s bargain.
Her father would be so disappointed.
And though she wouldn’t admit it, somewhere, in the back of her mind, it the blackness of her gut, or the shadows of her body that are hidden even from her, something small beamed at the thought of what her father would think of her if he knew where she was right now.
A small flame the size of a candlelight ignited within her, and despite the fear and the looming uncertainty of what was to come, it warmed her to the core.
*****
What do you think of Whumpee's real name? Good? Bad? Yay, nay? I like it a lot personally, I think it suits her.
OKAY SO I GOT 900 FOLLOWERS WHICH IS CRAZY, AND THIS WAS A SUGGESTED STORY TO UPDATE AND IT WAS SO CLOSE TO BEING FINISHED AND I FINISHED IT TODAY!!! SO YAY!!! Uh, thank you to everyone who reads, 900 is a big number, a big big number, and um yes, thank you for reading my stories, and putting up with my ramblings and yes, thank you thank you thank you, for reading, and bullying, and crazy asks, and all you unhinged little shits, you really make me laugh and smile, and make me a little feral and if I ever see some of you it's on sight, but hey, what more can you expect from me? Hehehe, onto a 1000 baby, put in your requests for the 1000th update now 3:)
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