He tried to fall back, but he couldn’t get away far enough with his legs still jelly from taking a shock bat straight to the nuts. The stick cracked right across his muzzle. She didn’t see the teeth come out, but she heard them clicking against the metal grate before blood began mixing with the drool dripping from his muzzle.
She kicked him in the chest, and he was so stunned, it was easy to knock him back against the railing. He didn’t even try to resist her as she closed the space between them. She brought the bat up again as she glared.
He was a little too comfortable with his rape threats for this to be his first time. And he was a pirate clearly comfortable with stealing and probably murder too.
She didn’t have a single hang up about bringing the bat straight across his face. He grunted weakly, slumping to the side. Garnet brought the bat back again, snarling at the piece of shit. He was limp, but his eyes were fluttering, like he was trying to hold onto his consciousness.
Garnet started to swing-
-only to find her wrists caught.
She gasped, looking up. Surprised to see a bright, crimson red ribbon somehow twisted around both her wrists, keeping her from bringing her hands down. The fabric was soft, like silk, but it was strong like a steel cord, the end of it surprisingly heavy as it dangled down.
She only had to turn her eyes as Tanin walked up behind her. As she watched, he carefully pulled the shock stick from her hands. She let it go without a fight. He used his thumb to twist part of the handle, turning it off, before stowing it in one of his pockets.
With his other hand, he took hold of her wrists. He lowered her hands, looking over them carefully. It wasn’t until she saw her own reddened palms that she felt the throbbing there and in her fingers. She might not have been shocked by the bat, but she’d still felt the full force of the blows.
Tanin lifted his gaze and locked eyes with her. She faced him confidently. Unafraid. Rather proud of herself. She hadn’t lifted and thrown her opponent, taking out two people at a time, but she’d still held her own.
Tanin looked away first. He began slowly unwinding the ribbon as he spoke, low and calm.
“There are three rules to being in my crew. Absolute rules that I do not let anyone break. Rule one: We always finish a job, no matter how difficult or dangerous it may be. Unless the client breaks their end, we do whatever we must to complete our missions.”
He finished unwinding the ribbon. He held it in his hands as he took hers and, again, inspected the reddened skin there. His fingers were gentle as they stroked her palms. They were a bit rough in places from her jobs, but his were rougher. And she didn’t mind it.
“Rule two: Nothing comes on my ship without my knowledge. And I mean nothing. I inspect every object and person on my ship personally. It’s how I found you. It’s how I’ve found other smuggled things in the past. I’m sure I will find similar things in the future.”
He finally released her hands, though she was reluctant to pull away. As she watched, he wound the ribbon around one of his wrists before tying it in a quick, messy knot. The kind that could come undone with a single tug of the trailing end.
“And Rule three: No killing without my express permission.”
She finally looked up, catching his gaze again. “I wasn’t trying to kill him.”
“Too many hits with a shock stick to the face or chest can do a lot of damage,” he said. “And I didn’t give you permission to kill.”
Garnet wanted to sass him back. To remind him that she wasn’t his crew, by his own denial, and so she wasn’t bound by his rules. Or maybe to ask him why he thought she needed his permission to do anything.
But she was spellbound by those scarlet eyes as he looked at her. So calm and confident. Like he knew very well that she was going to do exactly as he said, just because he said it.
And the realization that she actually would made her shiver. Garnet had never been the submissive type before. In fact, the harder a boyfriend tried to dominate her, the more likely she was to act exactly the opposite of what he wanted. Not even because she was trying to be a brat to earn a fun-ishment – though she wouldn’t say no to that. She just found their attempts funny and enjoyed bucking their authority, knowing they couldn’t actually control or stop her.
But the way Tanin looked down, the steady strength in his gaze, made her want to drop to her knees and do whatever he said. Any trace of feminist power drained away as she instead wondered if maybe he needed a cock sucker to play under his desk.
Then, his gaze turned away. The spell over her snapped and she felt like she could catch her breath again. Her heart was pounding, and she knew by the burn in her cheeks that her face must be bright red. How could he control her just that easily?!
“Take him back to their ship. Alred should be finishing his job soon,” Tanin was saying, giving an order to Sorbet and Tebros – who were right there while she was imagining sucking off their captain!
Garnet tried to gather herself as she moved aside, making way for the twins to each grab one of the downed guy’s arms and drag him over to the steep stairs. As she did so, she got to look down into stowage and noticed that it was conspicuously empty but for a few blood smears, all of them dragged back towards the hijacked door.
“What happened?” She asked, confused.
“We won,” Tanin said, coming up to her side. “They weren’t really that big of a threat. So, I’m going to let them leave.”
“Just like that? They’ve agreed to leave?” She asked, surprised.
Tanin shot her an amused glance. “Not really much to agree with. They’re leaving. Besides, pirates are cowards at the heart of it. They act big in a fight, but they only pick fights they’re sure they can win. My ship is registered as a delivery ship, so they probably assumed it would just be full of ordinary delivery workers. To their detriment. They’ll be eager to break the connection and get away the moment we seal our side of the door.”
As Garnet watched, Sorbet and Tebros literally threw the guy she’d knocked out through to the other side.
