A Pirate's Agony (Legends of the Soaring Phoenix Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page B

and wrists prevented him from sliding off his jailers. A man yanked on the chain around his neck, nearly choking him, while two others clamped onto his arms. He struggled to breathe as he was dragged into the large, white-columned house. He slipped on the hardwood kitchen floor and banged his knee, sending pain throbbing up his leg. But the man didn’t care. He pulled Amadi toward a door that led to the chamber.
    “Open the damn door.” The man tilted his head at a wide-eyed servant girl. 
    The girl opened the door, her hand shaking. Before Amadi knew what was happening, he was shoved down the stone steps. He rolled headfirst and slammed his side onto a step. Blackness shrouded him.
    ***
    Amadi woke naked and with his arms stretched high over his head and his legs pulled apart. He dangled from the ceiling like a starfish. Dried blood caked on his left side where he’d slammed into the step. If he’d been human, he probably would have died. The stench of human gore clung to the dead air. A  smoldering fire burned in a blackened pit. Pain throbbed between his temples, and his stomach swirled. He leaned his head back.
    “He’s awake,” a male voice said. “Go tell the Maîtresse .”
    Heavy footsteps hurried up the stone steps. Amadi strained to glance over his shoulder. The skinny man who had thrown Chloe at the slave woman watched him with a wiry grin.
    “You’re going to learn your place. You may be bigger than most darkies, but you will learn to respect your betters. The Maîtresse will see to that.”
    Amadi lowered his head. It seemed like it would take a hundred days before the full moon would rise, but it was less than two days away. Then he’d rip his tormentor’s skinny ass apart.
    The door creaked open, and soft footsteps clicked along the steps. “Leave us, Troy.”
    D’Aubigne. Amadi cringed.
    “Yes, Maîtresse, ” Troy said.
    The door slammed, and Amadi leaned his head back. Spider webs hung from the ceiling along with black lichen.
    Maîtresse D’Aubigne strolled around him. She no longer wore her frilly dress and dressed like a man, reminding him of Hannah, who always wore the Capt’n’s clothes. But unlike Hannah, the Maîtresse’s black shirt and breeches fit snug around her body. A whip hung off her hip, and on the other, a dagger stuck into a sheath. She stared at his manhood boldly and licked her lips as if he were roasted meat. “My, you are magnifique .”
    The wench had less shame than a Billy goat. She ran her bare hand down his chest, and he struggled to bounce her fingers off his skin, but he could barely even move. The woman was worse than the demoness Natasa.
    “Flog off,” he said. He used his best commanding master gunner voice.
    She narrowed her eyes like a pissed off cat ready to lunge. “I know you’re part of the crew of the Soaring Phoenix .”
    Amadi refused to wince from the hatred flooding her eyes.
    “You bastards killed my brother.”
    He spit onto the filthy floor. “He deserved to die.”
    Hatred left her eyes, but something else replaced it, something he couldn’t read. She sauntered around him. “Oh, I believe I’m going to thoroughly enjoy this.” She laughed.
    Her laughter reminded him of clanging chimes, and it rang in his ears, intensifying the throbbing pain on his left temple. 
    “Since you’re the only one here from the Soaring Phoenix , you’ll pay the price for killing my brother.”
    He pushed back the terror brewing in his gut. “Hope he’s rotting in hell.”
    Her brows deepened, and her lips turned down into a scowl. “Mmm, seems like it’s time for your first lesson in obedience.”
    “I’ll. Never. Obey. You.” His voice low, he emphasized each word.
    Appreciation flickered in her cold eyes. “Such fire, oui ? I bet in bed, you are splendide .”
    “Devil burn you.”
    He summoned all his revulsion and spit. Saliva smacked her on the cheeks. He waited for her to wipe the spit off her face then hurt him. But she did neither.