Once a Mistress Read Online Free PDF Page A

and restrained her, snickering at her frantic struggling.
    “Hold her,” he rasped.
    Diana tried to roll away as a second man climbed up on the bed. Taking her wrists from the first man, he straddled her, his legs clamping hard around her thighs.
    “Take yer time,” the man atop her sneered. “I’m likin’ this.”
    “Don’t like it too much,” the first man answered in his harsh voice. “The captain wants first poke at ‘er.”
    Fear shot through her at the words. She struggled harder to dislodge the man on top, her screams muffled behind the hand over her mouth.
    “I think she likes me.” The lascivious laugh along with the unwashed stench of the man above her sent terror rippling down her spine. She jerked her hips in an effort to unbalance him. “Hurry up and tie her, mate,” he sniggered. “The wench is eager to have me.”
    The hand moved away from her mouth. Diana sucked in a deep breath, preparing to scream. A wad of foul-tasting material was shoved between her lips. She tried to push it out with her tongue, but another strip of cloth was pressed between her teeth and tied behind her head to hold it in place. She shrieked her frustration behind the gag. The two men laughed.
    “She’s a hot piece, eh?” came the abrasive voice of the first man. “I wouldn’t mind havin’ a taste o’ her myself.” Roughly he wrapped thin, coarse rope around her wrists, binding her hands together.
    “We’ll all have a turn when the cap’n’s done.” The man atop her ran his hands over her thinly clad body. “I just hope he leaves enough for a bit o’ fun.”
    Fury and fear lent her a strength she did not know she possessed. As the first man moved to tie her legs, she bucked her hips and swung her bound hands at the head of the one who straddled her. The double movement sent the unsuspecting brigand to the floor.
    Swearing, the first man dove for her. She raised both legs and slammed them into his stomach. He cursed, his harsh voice becoming more so as he stumbled backwards and struggled for breath. Diana rolled off the bed and ran.
    “Bitch!” A hard yank on her hair halted her flight mere steps from the door. The man she had pushed to the floor whirled her to face him. “Bitch!” he snarled again. Drawing back his hand, he cuffed her hard to the side of the head.
    Pain exploded in her skull. She whimpered, hanging limply in his grasp. He slung her over his shoulder like a sack of flour. As the blood rushed to her head, the throbbing from the blow increased. Her vision blurred. Dimly she grew aware of hands on her ankles, binding them together with more coarse rope.
    “Hurry up, mate.” The man holding her shifted his burden, sending a new wave of pain washing through her brain. She groaned.
    “‘Tis done,” said the first man, his harsh voice augmented by his labored breathing.
    “Then back to the ship for us.” A slap stung her bottom, and the ruffian’s hand lingered. “And with ye as well, milady.”
    Despite Diana’s struggle to stay coherent, the laughter of her captors started to fade to a distant buzz. A cool breeze tugged at her night dress, and she realized she had been carried out to the terrace. She caught a glimpse of the stone balustrade. Her vision wavered, then swirled into a cloud of black…

Chapter Three
    The iron manacles hanging from the wall cast eerie shadows in the candlelit room.
    Shuddering, Chilton looked away from the gruesome sight and picked up his goblet of wine. Other tortuous devices decorated Marcus’s cabin, but Chilton had learned long ago that his comrade’s activities were best ignored by those who could not stand the sight of blood.
    “You did not tell me she had red hair.”
    At the words, he glanced across the table at Marcus. The pirate’s blond good looks and melodious voice gave lie to the evil and perversion in his soul. At the moment Marcus stared with peculiar fascination at Diana, who lay bound and unconscious on the bed.
    “You never asked