Today, her journey would begin.
13
Three weeks later
“A raid is no place for a lady,” Wade told Julianne firmly. Their ship was alongside another and most of the crew was busy looting and pillaging the other ship. While this was the first time she’d seen pirates in action, Julianne was visibly frustrated when Wade demanded that she stay in his cabin instead of seeing the action up close.
“But I’m not a lady,” Julianne had fussed, feeling like he treated her too daintily.
Wade just frowned.
“Want to try again?” He asked, raising an eyebrow. He had not forgotten where she came from. He needed to make sure that she understood exactly what a risk it was to have her on board his ship, especially during a time like this.
Julianne lowered her eyes and looked at her hands. She bit her bottom lip, frustrated and ashamed. Wade knew she was having a hard time submitting to her captain, despite all that he had done for her. She was having a hard time making this work for both of them. Though she had been a stowaway, Julianne hadn’t had to report to anyone during that time. She had been able to make her own choices and set her own rules. Now, she had to do as Wade asked.
And she was having a difficult time getting it right.
She tried his patience constantly, and while he was satisfied with the way she touched him, with the way she melted beneath his body when they made love, on deck she was every bit as feisty as she’d been that first day at Darnial.
“Yes, Captain,” she whispered. “I will stay here until your return.” She kept her eyes down, obviously hoping it would show that she was remorseful, but Wade knew her far too well for that. She had been under his protection for a few weeks now. He knew better than to simply take her at her word.
“Oh, love,” he whispered, watching her. She looked so beautiful with her hair falling into her face as she stared at her lap. She was trying so hard to be submissive to him, to obey, to listen to what he required of her, but he couldn’t risk her safety. Not today.
While Wade often overlooked Julianne’s free spirit, he knew that he couldn’t this time. If he left his cabin and she followed him, she could put the entire crew at risk. He knew that his men had secured most everything from the other ship, but if there was a straggling crewmate who managed to grab Julianne, Wade knew that he would do everything he could to save the girl.
Everything.
Even if it meant losing everything, he would give it all up for her.
That thought alone was enough to scare him. The thought of how he felt around Julianne terrified him. She was everything he had ever wanted in a girl with none of the drama. She wasn’t constantly complaining about her mother or her shoes or fussing that she wanted better dresses.
No, Julianne was much more than that.
She loved to laugh with the men and tell stories of her childhood. She loved to read the many books Wade kept in his cabin. She loved helping Buck in the kitchen when he needed a hand. Most of all, perhaps best of all, Julianne was fiercely loyal to her twin brother, Nelson. She loved him dearly and Wade loved to see that.
No, he couldn’t lose her.
“I need you to understand how serious I am,” Wade said to Julianne. “You cannot, under any circumstances, leave the cabin today.”
He wished, for a brief moment, that he could just lock her up, but he wouldn’t. Having a lock on the outside of anyone’s chambers was a bad idea, but most of all his. If someone wanted to burn his ship, what better way than to lock away the captain? No, he would just have to show Julianne how serious he was when he said she needed to stay.
“Come here,” he said, motioning to her.
Julianne stood and walked over to Wade. She stood right in front of him, still staring at her hands, his boots, anything but his face. She didn’t want to look him in the eyes. Wade wasn’t sure if it was because she was scared of what she might see or scared of what she wouldn’t.
“Look at me,” he commanded. Julianne looked up, her eyes curious and bright. Wade resisted the urge to kiss her, but it was hard. Instead, he stroked her cheek softly, rubbing it, enjoying the feeling of her soft skin beneath his calloused hands.
“Bend over the desk,” he said.
Julianne looked surprised.
“What?” She asked, looking from the desk to Wade and back again.
He growled.
“You know I hate repeating myself, Julianne.”
She frowned slightly, but then listened to what he asked. She leaned over the desk, pressing her upper body completely against the surface. She placed her hands on either side of her head. He could practically hear her thinking out loud. Was he going to fuck her before he left? Was that going to teach her a lesson? Wade and Julianne had gotten to know one another quite well in their time together, but this was something new entirely.