Plundered

Author's Note: Thanks go firstly to my beta's: Shannon and Laurel, and secondly to my lovely readers who have so graciously provided sumptuous plot bunnies for this fun tale.

Chapter 6 Bilge Rat

Faint sunlight trickled into the captain’s quarters causing Harry to stir and yawn as he stretched over to pull his lover against his chest. The sheets beside him however, were rumpled and the bed was empty of Draco’s lithe form. Blinking his eyes open, Harry looked around the room to try and discover where the blond might have run off to, but Draco was nowhere in sight.

It was only then that he felt, or rather didn’t feel, the weight of his ever-present amulet dangling from his neck. Instinctively he raised his hand to his throat and gasped when he found it bare; his bauble was missing. He searched frantically in the sheets for his lost heirloom; tossing the pillows to the ground after running his hand along the inside of their casings. He pulled all the linens back and even slid the mattress away from the wall so that he could look behind it. He knew the necklace had to be there somewhere, it wasn’t something easily lost.

After several moments of sheer panic, Harry forced himself to pause and take a deep breath as he logically tried to recall if he’d taken it off for any reason the night before, but he could clearly remember its comforting weight on his chest as he dozed off after a particularly fantastic bit of lovemaking with his wily pirate companion. It was then that the worst thought occurred to him and his veins seemed to fill with ice-cold water.

“Draco,” he whispered, his tone both menacing and deeply hurt. He hated the thought that the pirate had taken his amulet, though, admittedly, it was entirely within his nature to do such a thing, Harry was sure Draco had thought more of him than that. For a while now he’d felt that their contractual relationship had morphed into something of a mutual fondness, but apparently he was mistaken. A shiver ran down his spine at the thought of all he’d done with Draco, all he’d given up for the man, and now to find it all a sham.

He should have known better of course. Their agreement was for sex, not the exchanging of vows, but still, Harry had felt ready to turn his heart over to the pirate captain and to now know that Draco regarded him so lowly was a massive hit to his pride, and so much more, that Harry didn’t have the strength to continue thinking on it. He was in desperate pain, his heart on the verge of shattering to pieces at the loss of both his family heirloom and the love that was never truly there between he and the pirate captain.

“Oh, you’re up!” Draco called excitedly from the door. Harry had been so wrapped up in his despair that he hadn’t heard the man enter. The sound of Draco’s voice, happy in his betrayal, was the final blow that forced him into a blind rage.

“You!” Harry growled and leapt at the pirate without warning. Draco’s hands were full of the breakfast tray he’d been bringing in for them to share and Harry’s attack caught him so off guard that the contents went flying into the air. Before he knew what was happening, Draco was covered in juice, slices of meat and chunks of fruit, and Harry had a choking hold on his neck. While gasping for breath, Draco tried to kick the man off of him, but Harry had straddled him and pinned him to the floorboards so completely that Draco stood no chance of escape.

“Harry,” he rasped with the last bit of breath he had left but the incensed captain only scowled down at him. “Can’t…breathe.”

“Good,” Harry snarled and Draco’s eyes went wide in their sockets. There was no denying the captain was out for blood, this was not simply a domineering sex game gone awry. “You stole my necklace you bastard. I fucking fell in love with you and you stole from me!”

“Didn’t,” Draco rasped weakly, but it was all he could get out as his world turned into shades of gray and then altogether black.

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Harry woke up in the brig with shackles cutting into his wrists and ankles. He was strung up like a drooping ‘X’ in the middle of the barred up room and his head ached worse than he’d felt in a good long while. He tried to recall how he’d gotten there and the memory flooded back to him in a sharp wave. He was strangling the final bit of life out of the man who had betrayed him when some of his pirate flunkies arrived to check on the ruckus. They tried to pry Harry’s fingers from their captain’s throat and when Harry refused to budge, he was knocked out…and apparently dragged down into his old cell.

His body felt cold, and not just because he was as nude as he had been when he’d woken up that morning to discover his mother’s necklace missing, but also because he worried that in his fit of rage he’d actually killed Draco. Part of him hoped he had, it was the least the treacherous pirate deserved and what Harry had set out to ensure from the beginning, but the rest of him was screaming at the unbearable pain he felt knowing that he may have just murdered the first man he’d ever loved.

Looking around at the other empty cells, Harry wondered when the crew would come for him. His arse wasn’t any more sore than it had been from his last rendezvous with Draco, so he was fairly certain none of the men had defiled him while he’d been unconscious, but he worried that it might still happen. If the pirate captain was well and truly dead and he was strung up here, there was nothing he’d be able to do to keep the men from raping him, beating him or worse. All he could do was pray that he died before it got too brutal.

So, when the door he knew stood between the makeshift prison cells and the deck was opened, Harry swallowed thickly and braced himself for the worst. The man who descended the stairs was dark, with thick long dreadlocks down his back. The clothes he wore were better kept than that of most of the crew he’d seen working away on deck, which led Harry to assume the man was Draco’s first mate, or if Draco was dead, this man was now captain. He suddenly wished he had taken the time to better acquaint himself with the crew while he’d been onboard since he was now at their mercy, or lack thereof.

Harry bowed his head and pretended to still be unconscious, but it didn’t fool the other man. “He’s awake,” he grumbled to someone standing in the shadows created by the open door.

Forgoing all pretenses, Harry looked up to see the man step forward and Harry let out a breath he hadn’t known he’d been holding when he saw Draco step into the light. He was a little worse for wear, his throat held red stains that were already turning into deep purple bruises from Harry’s strong hands, but he was alive. “Thank you, Zabini. You may go now,” he ordered the man.

“Sir, with all due respect, this man almost killed you, are you certain it’s a good idea to be alone with him?” Zabini challenged, shooting a look of pure loathing at Harry.

“I’m well aware of that, Blaise,” Draco replied softly, his eyes never leaving Harry’s gaze, “but I need a moment alone with our prisoner. I highly doubt he’ll be of any great menace in his current position.”

Blaise grunted his displeasure but eventually nodded and left the two men alone. Draco made no move to come closer and his face was set into an unreadable mask. Harry wanted him to say something, but it didn’t seem the pirate was planning to oblige him anytime soon.

“Draco,” he whispered at last, needing some noise to fill the tense quiet between them. He didn’t know what he would have said after that, an apology perhaps, or maybe a confirmation that he should have finished the job, but it didn’t matter because Draco cut him off sharply.

“Silence,” he ordered, though his voice was not raised and Harry suddenly realized he may have temporarily damaged the man’s vocal chords during his attack. With nimble fingers Draco reached into his pocket and extracted a ring of keys, flipping them torturously slow until he came across a thin rusty one that he used to unlock Harry’s cell. He stepped inside and directly in front of Harry’s naked form, but he didn’t speak or make any other movement besides.

“You embarrassed me greatly this morning, Potter,” he said at last, his tone that of a chastising parent. “I trusted you in my private rooms when all the other crew said I was crazy not to leave you down here to rot. I told them that we had an agreement and that Captain Potter is a man of his word.”

Harry had nothing to say to the contrary. He was a man of his word, but he couldn’t stand by and leave Draco’s betrayal unchallenged. His heart felt fractured and broken by this man’s actions but even with the knowledge that Draco had stolen his only tangible memory of his parents; still Harry wanted to kiss him.

“I don’t appreciate being made a fool of,” Draco continued evenly, though his throat was raspy.

“Neither do I,” Harry replied, his own tone holding both menacing and longing twisted together in one conflicting package.

Draco didn’t respond, he simply reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out the sparkling emerald amulet that Harry had been searching for, confirming all of Harry’s suspicions about him. “I found this in our room, wedged between the bed and the nightstand.”

Harry’s eyes went wide with shock; Draco hadn’t taken it at all. The horror of what he’d done struck home and raised gooseflesh all over his body. He’d nearly murdered the man in front of him, the man he loved, and all for nothing. The necklace must have come unclasped and slipped off his neck and down the side of the bed while he was sleeping. The weight of the necklace on his chest and the warmth radiating from the pirate’s arms as he slipped the jewel back around his neck now only made him feel ill.

“I’m sorry,” Harry sighed, knowing the words would not be enough to make up for his horrid behavior.

He was right, it wasn’t even close to enough penance. Draco merely laughed at the apology and extracted a black riding crop from his tall boot. “No, I think you can do better than that,” Draco replied levelly as he slapped the crop into his palm. “I think you need to beg for my forgiveness, plead for me to take you back and make this transgression up to me with your body.”

A lump formed in Harry’s throat at the pirate’s words and he felt his prick begin to stir beneath the layers of self-loathing he’d wrapped around himself. “Whatever I can do to serve you, Captain,” Harry replied at last and Draco chuckled darkly as he brought the crop down on Harry’s bare arse.

With a yelp, Harry struggled in his binds but there was not much he could do to resist, so he took his punishment with as much dignity as he could muster. Draco brought the firm strip of leather down several times until tears pricked the corners of Harry’s eyes and he was nearly whimpering. Still, his throbbing cock was evidence that Harry didn’t mind the treatment as much as he possibly should. “Are you sorry for attacking me?” Draco asked sternly.

“Yes,” Harry confirmed in gasping breaths. “I’m terribly sorry.”

“And what exactly are you prepared to do in order to show me how sorry you are?” Draco asked, sliding the tip of the crop around Harry’s abdomen and thighs in a more sensual manner.

“Anything,” Harry gasped. “I’ll do anything for you.”

The words seemed to have struck something deep within Draco, for his response elicited a smile. “Because you love me?” he asked, his eyes gleaming.

Harry was taken aback by the question but he vaguely recalled confessing his feelings to the pirate as he strangled the life from his beautiful body in a wash of rage. “Yes,” he admitted. “I do.”

Something flashed within the smoky depths of Draco’s eyes and he turned away from Harry’s prone form. “Zabini!” he called and only a second passed before the door opened and the man strode purposefully into the room. “Release him,” Draco ordered, but Blaise only looked at him with shadowed doubt.

“Sir,” he began, obviously planning to argue, but Draco pressed him with such a withering glare that Zabini obeyed wordlessly and unlocked the shackles from Harry’s wrists and ankles, letting the man drop down on to all fours.

Harry didn’t notice what else transpired between the two men as he rubbed at his injured flesh, but a moment later Zabini was gone and he was alone with Draco once more. “Get up,” Draco demanded, and with his head hung low, Harry slowly complied. “Now move,” he directed next and Harry marched up the stairs, out onto the deck and up into the topmost cabin he was most familiar with, all while enduring the crew’s catcalls as Draco followed him.

When they were back in the Captain’s quarters, Harry noticed that the room had been turned upside down, no doubt in the search for Harry’s heirloom. Again he felt sick at his nearly fatal strike against his lover, but his anger and dismay had been too much to bear and his mind had simply snapped under the weight of it.

“If you ever do something like that again, the crew has been ordered to kill you, and I dare say you won’t take kindly to their method,” Draco warned and Harry could only nod. He was surprised they hadn’t done that to him in the first place.

“I’m so sorry, Draco,” Harry whispered again, reaching to stroke the horrible bruises already forming on Draco’s pale and elegant neck. The man flinched and the fear he saw in his eyes broke a piece of Harry’s heart away, nonetheless, Harry led him slowly to the bed and began making quick work of discarding Draco’s clothing.

Straddling him on the edge of the bed, Harry pressed soft kisses into the shadowed flesh made by his fingers. “I’ve marred your beautiful skin,” he groaned to himself. “I’ll make it up to you until you heal,” he promised.

“That might take more time than what is left to us,” Draco replied hesitantly.

Harry pulled his lover’s face to his and kissed him deeply, feeling everything within them both respond naturally as it always did. “Then so be it,” Harry whispered against Draco’s swollen lips.

“You shouldn’t give me an out,” Draco warned. “If I can find a way to keep you here with me instead of going off to prison, I’ll take it.”

“Maybe all you have to do is ask,” Harry replied softly and waited for Draco to respond.

The blond sat back and studied Harry for a moment, trying to gauge him. “Harry,” he began at last, “will you stay here with me once our bargain has lapsed?”

“Do you love me?” Harry asked in return and Draco’s eyes widened at the question but his mouth remained pressed into a tight line. Harry sighed and nuzzled into the crook of his lover’s bruised neck. “Then no, I’ll hold you to your word.”

“What if I had said ‘yes’?” Draco asked, kissing a hot trail down Harry’s neck starting at the shell of his ear.

“I would have known you were lying,” Harry replied honestly, “and I’d prefer you not lie to me just to get out of a stint in prison.”

“But you love me,” Draco stated, as if asking for confirmation and Harry nodded. “And knowing that, you’d still be willing to see me imprisoned?”

“I want justice,” Harry explained, “but I also want to be happy. I could be happy here on this ship with you forever if I knew you loved me, but staying in a one sided relationship would hurt me too much, so I would choose justice instead.”

Draco shook his head and felt a renewal of respect and confusion for the ruthless captain on his lap. “It’s that cut and dry for you, is it?”

“It is,” Harry admitted. “The only thing I would give up my mission of justice for would be a chance to be truly happy. It makes perfect sense to me.”

Draco kissed him then, as if he could extract Harry’s love into his own heart and claim it was his own. If all he had to do was fall in love with this blustery and handsome captain, perhaps he could manage it. Harry certainly had the charm and wit of a person Draco would like as a lifelong companion. He certainly loved having sex with the ebony-haired man, and that had to be a step in the right direction, but the words wouldn’t leave his mouth and as he looked upon the bauble he had designs on. He knew in his heart that love was not what he felt for Harry and it couldn’t be while he was so willing to steal something so dear to Harry’s heart.

Harry hadn’t been off base when he accused Draco of stealing the amulet. He had taken it off the sleeping man to study it further and he must not have clasped it properly when he returned it to the captain’s neck. He both respected and feared Harry’s sudden fury and knew now, beyond any doubt, that he would have to pry the necklace from Harry’s cold dead fingers if he ever wanted to keep it for himself.

There was still time to think of dreadful things, still several weeks that Harry would be all his to enjoy as he wished before anything needed to be decided or done.

“I think I could love you, Harry,” he told the man in hushed tones and a gleam of hope burned in Harry’s emerald gaze, the light of which competed even with the necklace’s brilliance. That light dulled almost at once, however, and Harry only smiled weakly.

“It’s a nice sentiment, Draco,” he whispered, “but I need more than faulty promises given from a pirate whose profession is to lie.” Draco opened his mouth to protest, but Harry simply shook his head. “Make love to me, Draco, and I can pretend just for awhile.”

Draco’s heart tugged viciously at the sorrow in Harry’s voice, but he obliged his lover and took him more tenderly than he had ever thought possible with the burning desire that raged through him every moment he looked into the captain’s warm gaze. Perhaps his words weren’t completely false, maybe he could come to love Harry the same way Harry loved him, or perhaps it would all end tragically with Harry’s death so that Draco could wield the amulet. Only time would tell, but Draco feared that time was running out.

Author's Note: Maybe Harry won't have to pretend for long? lol. Either way the next chapter will be quite entertaining thanks to a handy suggestion from Laurel.