Crimson Rapture Read Online Free PDF Page B

fueled an impotent rage as he lay on his
bunk staring blankly at the four walls, in futile search of some hope, any
hope. There was none, though his senses heightened insidiously until it seemed
as though death hovered directly overhead. Shadows darkened and the air grew
thick and stifling.
    He
had to escape...
    The
sun had just disappeared on the horizon and the air was a breath cooler when
Christina finally managed to steal a few precious moments to talk with Justin.
She felt disturbed, a vague restlessness put her on the edge of her seat,
despite the hectic and exhausting day. And Justin could hear the strain in her
voice as she related the events.
    "I've
never been more scared in my life." She related the fight that had
occurred in her cabin. Like most men, he found physical fights among females at
best amusing, at worst disgusting. "And goodness but Marianna needed Dr.
Michaels's services and it took Elsie nearly an hour to calm poor Hanna down
and my, but it was awful, just awful. I don't know what's happening to
everyone. Everyone's behaving so cruelly, so... uncivilized."
    Justin
smiled, for it was exactly what he would expect Christina to think in such a
situation.
    "Even
the ladies are behaving poorly. Do you know what Lady Everett said to Hanna
yesterday?"
    "No,
what?" he asked, not really concerned until he heard it.
    "She
asked Hanna to give up her water ration to her, practically making it an order!
Can you imagine— Oh no—" she stopped abruptly, looking up to see Mr.
Carrington standing just feet away.
    "Well,
well," Carrington said with a slight slur as he stepped toward her.
"It seems the lovely Miss Marks does favor at least one man with her
company."
    Something
was terrible wrong and Christina recognized the trouble. Smiling wryly at
having caught her in the act, the man had a crazed look. His hair and uniform
were disheveled, perspiration lined his brow, and he seemed at once like a
madman. She never hesitated or bothered to reply. She immediately rose to leave
but as she stood up, Carrington grabbed her in a painful grasp and jerked her
hard around.
    "Please...
let me go!"
    "Scream,
Christina!" Justin yelled.
    A
scream rose in her throat, but Carrington clamped his hand hard over her mouth.
He shoved her against the wall, knocking the wind from her, and then stopping
her struggle by pressing his body into her.
    "You
bastard! Take your hands off her!"
    She
squirmed desperately and terrified, she could not catch her breath. She thought
for a blessed moment she would faint.
    Carrington
loosened his hold on her mouth and she gulped in breath. He looked down at the
hole, amused by Justin's outrage, his helplessness to do anything about it.
"Ah, have no fear, Mister High and Mighty Phillips," he laughed,
returning his gaze to Christina's terrified eyes. "I will give you the
pleasure of listening as I have this treat."
    Carrington's
mistake was in thinking Justin was helpless, for anyone who knew him knew that
he was never but never helpless. Justin reached his arm through the hole,
managed to find Carrington's booted foot and, like the jaws of a shark, he
grabbed the man's ankle and pulled with frightening strength. Caught off guard,
Carrington was thrown off balance and fell with a loud thud against the deck.
    "Run,
sweetheart!" Justin shouted and then, with one merciless strong hand still
on Carrington's ankle, he pulled the leg, twisted it through the hole, and
pressed down until he heard a sickening crack of bone.
    Christina
swung open the door of her quarters and burst inside. The door slammed shut.
She collapsed to the floor and pulled her knees up into a tight ball, trying
first to quiet the pounding of her heart and then to make sense of the furious
noises on deck.
    Hanna
lifted herself onto her elbows and looked curiously at Christina.
"Christy! Wat's 'appened to you?"
    Christina's
eyes lifted to the lower bunk and instantly she flew to Hanna's side. "Oh
Hanna—" The story gushed out in a rush of