A Pirate's Revenge (Legends of the Soaring Phoenix) (22 page)

“Damn you, O’Brien,” Ronan growled. “D’ye have no decency?”

William glanced over his shoulder. Mariah had adjusted her clothing, but there was no way to disguise her tousled hair or her scraped skin. He’d given into the dragon’s ravenous appetite.

“Liar,”
the dragon whispered.
“Your lechery.”
 

William didn’t argue. What was the point?  Bloody hell, he wanted her. If Ronan hadn’t come down the steps…He was a nasty, selfish bastard. He deserved to have Ronan beat him to a pulp.

“William.” Mariah reached for him.

He jerked away, not trusting himself. He hurried into the galley, leaving Ronan with Mariah. He needed food—meat. Lots of it. He’d keep his and the dragon’s debauchery at bay. And at the first uncharted island, he’d demand Kane leave him.

“Cook,” he growled. The aroma of boiling chicken and potatoes filled the air. His mouth watered. Hunger monopolized him, a hunger he’d never experienced before, but he didn’t know if it was for food or Mariah.

Cook was cutting potatoes. “What are you done hollerin’ about?”

“I need meat. I need to eat now.”

“Keep your breeches on, boy. I’m makin’ supper. You’ll have to wait.”

“No, I won’t.” He elbowed him out of the way. Boiled chicken and potatoes were piled on a platter. Without asking for permission, he seized the cooked food and headed for a table.

“What are you doin’, lad? ’Tis enough to feed ten men.”

“Make more,” he said. He plopped down on a nearby bench and set the platter in front of him.

Cook reached to take the platter away.

William grabbed his wrist. “I said to make more.” He released a low growl.

Cook jerked his wrist away and mumbled something about blasted dragons under his breath and returned to slicing up a chicken.

Mariah marched into the galley with Ronan trailing behind. She put her hands on her hips. “What are you doing,
monsieur
?”

William tore off a piece of chicken with his teeth, wanting to push her away, but the meat paled to the taste of her smooth honey skin and silky mouth. He didn’t want the damn chicken. He wanted her. Naked beneath him as he plunged his cock inside her.

“Mate with her now.”

“You’re eatin’ like a starvin’ pig, O’Brien,” Ronan said. “What’s gotten into you?”

“A bloody dragon,” William said, between gulps.  

“You’re a bastard.” Ronan tilted his head. “Taking her by force.”

William swallowed a mouthful of chicken, trying to stuff more and more meat inside him to satisfy the dragon’s hunger, but he failed miserably.

“Will you two leave me alone?” he demanded.

Ronan wrapped his arm around Mariah’s waist.

Drakon roared inside him. William clutched the table to keep from leaping over and ripping out Ronan’s throat.

Mariah folded her arms across her heaving chest. “No, Ronan.”

“Look at him, Mariah,” Ronan said. “He’s an animal.” He tried to move her.

But Mariah slipped out of his grasp.

Ronan frowned and grabbed her, dragging her away.

Mariah slapped at his hand. “Release me.”

William’s resolve broke. He darted over the table.

Ronan shoved Mariah behind him. Determination glinted in his eyes, and his lips turned into a surly scowl. “Stay away from her, ye overgrown lizard.” 

William slammed his fist into Ronan’s jaw, and Ronan staggered, but quickly righted himself. He punched William in the gut, a blow that would have doubled over a mortal man. But William wasn’t a man, he wielded the strength of a dragon—an angry dragon bent on crushing a rival.

“She’s mine, vampire,” he said.

The two men circled each other. Beads of sweat glistened on Ronan’s forehead, and he glanced at Mariah. She looked between the two of them and shook her head. Ronan winked at her and smiled. William gnashed his teeth. He would be the victor.  

He grabbed Ronan’s hair, yanked him down, and rammed his knee into his face over and over. Ronan beat his thighs with his fists, but William ignored his punches. ’Twas as if a little boy was hitting him. Blood splattered onto the floor and onto William’s hands and trousers. He didn’t care.

Rage blinded him. He tossed Ronan back, and slammed him into a wall. He lowered his head and butted Ronan’s stomach, pinning him against the wall. He wanted him dead, dead, dead.

Mariah cried, “No! Cook, we have to do something.”

Cook lugged a bucket of sloshing water. “You two bulls stop.” He drenched them in the water. “Take it topside.”

Mariah grabbed William’s arm. “Stop, please. You are killing him.”

Her heart-filled words penetrated William’s rage, and he let go. Ronan slipped down the wall into a bloody, unmoving lump.  William panted. “I didn’t kill him. He’s immortal, but his wounds won’t heal until the full moon. Cook, get Doc.”

Mariah knelt next to Ronan’s buckled body. “Ronan, Ronan, can you hear me?”

William grimaced at the concern and fear in her voice as she wiped Ronan’s face with the folds of her dress, smearing red onto her blue.

Ronan answered with a gurgle.

William stretched out his fingers and turned over his hands, afraid they’d turn into a dragon’s talons. “What have I done?”

Doc, Kane, and Sean rushed into the galley.

“My God,” Sean mumbled.

Doc rushed over to Mariah. “Y’er covered with blood. Are ye hurt, lass?”

“No.”

“Cook,” Doc ordered. “Get me some fresh water an’ cloth. His cheek’s split open, an’ his eyes are swollen shut. Nose’s broken. He’s about to pass out.”

“Sean, get my bag,” Doc said. “’Tis in my trunk next to my hammock.”

Shaking his head and grumbling underneath his breath, Sean exited the galley without word.

“William, what have you done?” Kane grabbed William’s arm. “What happened?”

What had he done? He was a monster, a menace. “Lock me up, Kane. I’m losing control.”

“Ronan tried to usher me away,” Mariah said, her face pale. “William and I—”

Kane glowered. “You and William…what?”

“Kane.” William broke free of his gasp. “Don’t blame her. ’Tis me, not her.”

Kane shoved William’s shoulder. “What the devil’s gotten into you? ’Tis the second time you’ve tried to kill him.”

“I told you to lock me up. I’m not safe.”

“Don’t tempt me,” Kane warned. “What’s this?” He pointed to a pile of discarded chicken bones.

“I was trying to fill my hunger.”

“Why?”

“Because Drakon said if I ate as much as a dragon, food would calm his anger.”

“Apparently ’tis not enough,” Kane snorted.

William watched Mariah gently wipe the blood from Ronan’s disfigured and swollen face. Cook brought Doc a bowl of water and  a rag, and Sean returned with Doc’s bag. Doc readied the needle.

“I’m sorry, Kane,” William said. “I never meant to hurt Ronan. I don’t know what has come over me. If he hadn’t been a vampire and immortal…”

Hannah walked into the galley and stopped. Her eyes enlarged, and she put her hand over her mouth. “My word, Ronan.”

“I know what’s driving you mad,” Kane said. “The same thing that almost tore us apart.”

William swallowed back his guilt. Not so long ago, he had been in Ronan’s place. Kane had smashed his fist into William’s eye for lavishing attention on Hannah, but Kane hadn’t beaten him to a bloody mess. William considered Kane the monster and himself the gentleman. Now, he was worse than any vampire.

Doc dipped a needle into water and stitched Ronan’s bloodied cheek. Ronan groaned and leaned his head against the wall. William couldn’t tell if he had passed out since the poor man couldn’t open his eyes.

“William, your hands.” Hannah frowned.

“The dragon…I…lost control,” he stammered.

“Aye, you keep saying that,” Kane grumbled. “Mariah?”

Mariah squeezed the bloodied rag into the bowl of water. “
Oui, Capitaine
?” 

“Do I need to lock my brother up before he kills one of my crewmen?”

She stared hard at him and William. William squirmed under her condemning gaze.

She wiped her stained hands on her dress and stood. “No,
Capitaine.
That will not be necessary. I know the dragon’s second hunger.”

Frowning, Kane glanced between Mariah and William. “Second hunger?”

William winced at the wariness in his voice and the accusation in his eyes. 

She held out her hand. “Come, William.”

William swallowed. Shite, did she suspect? “I can’t be alone with her.” William stared at her hand, too afraid to touch her, too afraid of losing control, too afraid in giving into the dragon. “’Tis not safe.”

Kane shoved William toward Mariah. “’Tis her or the brig.”

“I’ll take the brig.” 

***

William sat on the bench in the brig. He rested his elbows on his knees and his head in his palms. Kane had allowed him to wash Ronan’s blood off before locking him inside. He knew it killed his brother to treat him like a prisoner, but he was no longer the brother Kane knew.

He sighed and detected the scent of lavender and groaned. Mariah. Kane had foolishly not left a guard.

She had changed her bloodied clothes and now wore a white gown with a full skirt. A richly laced collar sloped down over her slender shoulders, and a bodice with gold laces drew attention to her ample bosom. She was an angel with her dark hair cascading down her back.

She carried a knapsack, but he didn’t care what was inside. He leaned against the wall and stared at the wooden ceiling, forcing himself not to look at her, trying to fight the lust threatening to explode inside him. “Go away, Mariah.” 

“We need to talk.”

“No, we don’t.” 

Her skirts rustled, and he stole a glance. She grabbed the key hanging on the wall.

“Mariah, don’t.”

“I know the dragon’s hunger.”

“I need more meat. Kane had Cook fix me a snack.”

“
Oui
, I know. Enough salted fish for an army.” She studied him and slipped the key inside the lock. “Full?”

“Aye,” he lied.

“I can see the hunger in your eyes, William. I am a witch.” She lowered her voice, almost a caress. “I see what the others do not.”

“Mariah, I don’t know…”

She opened the door, stepped inside, and shut the door behind her. His words stuck in his throat. She knelt on the floor, opened her knapsack, and pulled out four candles and ceramic dishes and herbs. “William, you have to believe in your ability. There are forces of white and black magic here, and you need to understand how they work.”

He tried to concentrate, but her feminine scent distracted him, drawing attention to her luscious body.

She lit the candles and motioned for him to sit on the floor. “
S`il vous plaît
.”

He was not sure if he could maintain behaving like a gentleman. Hell, what was he thinking? He’d been a pirate for the past couple of years. He’d never raped a woman. Never wanted to. Until now. He loathed himself. “Mariah, you need to get out of here. Before ’tis too late. I’m begging you.” 

  Mariah gave him a demure smile. “Please sit. I promise I will not touch you.”

“But I can’t make the same promise.”

“I am not afraid.”

“You should be.” He sat on the floor, careful to stay within arm’s length.

“
Bon
.” Mariah set the candles around them in the four directions of north, south, east, and west. The sweet smells of jasmine and lavender filled the damp air, along with some other scents he couldn’t name. “Everything runs through energy, the sky, earth, your body. Magic is another way that channels energy. Witches and magical creatures like dragons can tap into this source.”

“Meaning?”

Mariah touched the center of her forehead. “This is where your third eye is located.”

“Hidden eye?”

“
Oui
, it allows you to see magic if you draw on it.” She placed both hands over her heart. “Your heart is another source of energy, as are your palms and groin.”

Groin. His energy was there all right, but not the kind she was
talking about.

“Dragons do not have a third eye. We do not cast spells. We are magical beings.”
 

William was too tired to argue with Drakon and stared at the flickering candles. “Breathe,” she said.

William tried, but he barely sucked in any air. His nerves were wound tighter than a halyard hoisting a sail.

“Magic is generated through will, expectation, imagination, and perception. All components must be used to channel your dragon magic. First, you must will something to happen and believe. There can be no doubt.”