Catey's Capture Read online

  Sally was given only a few moments to clean herself up as best she could and put her clothing back on before Clemens shoved her unceremoniously outside into the glaring heat. By now the other men were approaching, carrying a few relics from the house. They eyed the girl with interest. One of the men spat a stream of tobacco juice into the dirt, just missing her bare feet.

  “You gonna share that one, Cap’n?” the man asked. He smiled at the girl showing rotting stumps of teeth.

  Clemens shook his head. “Not this one,” he said. “This one’s mine. She says she can cook and knows medicine. We’ll see. If so, we can use her. Don’t want to damage her too badly. You boys’ll have to find yer fun somewhere else.”

  He turned the girl to face him. “Can you find food?” he asked.

  “Some,” she said through tight lips. She was pale from her ordeal but her eyes were hard.

  “Good. Phillips here’ll go with you. Get as much as you can.” He turned to the men. “We’ll stay here tonight, then go meet up with Granger in the morning. The rest of you check the other buildings. And Phillips, remember what I said—keep your hands off my property.”

  Phillips frowned but nodded, motioning Sally to lead the way. The other men dispersed, while Clemens went in search of some privacy. He dreaded it. Lately whenever he urinated it hurt like hell. Maybe the black bitch could help.

  * * * * *

  “Hit me.”

  Catey had finally gathered herself together and was sitting on the edge of the bed. Jess was propped on an elbow watching her.

  “What?” His eyebrows raised in surprise.

  “I said, hit me—right here.” She pointed to her jawbone.

  “Whatever for?”

  Her eyes were determined. “You said the men out there need proof that you’re the same as them—that we did it rough. Then they’ll want to see the marks.”

  Jess shook his head. “No. I don’t want to hurt you anymore.” The thought of marring her perfect skin made him shudder.

  “Don’t be stupid,” she said. “I’m not as fragile as you seem to think. If a couple bruises are what it takes to make those men believe I’m yours—and keep them away from me—then what are you waiting for?”

  Jess sat up and held up her bruised wrists. “This is enough. I’ll make them believe me.”

  Catey let out her breath in exasperation and searched the room with her eyes, finally espying a carved iron bookend. She stood up, grabbed it and, before Jess could react, struck herself forcefully across the jaw and mouth. Blood flew from a split in her lip and her jaw began to swell immediately.

  Jess leaped to his feet and was across the room in an instant. He ripped the bookend from her hand before she could repeat the process.

  “What’s the matter with you?” He grabbed one of the rags that had bound her wrists and dabbed at the blood smeared over her mouth and chin.

  She winced at his ministrations but smiled coldly. “I guess I want to live,” she said. “That’s what’s the matter with me.”

  He looked into her eyes and was taken aback by the steely determination in them. Gone was the childlike innocence he’d briefly witnessed. Here was a woman who knew her mind and would not take no for an answer.

  “I wish I had some ice…” he muttered, seeing the purple swell spreading from her jaw to her cheek. He gently placed his palm on the spot. It was hot and she winced but didn’t move away.

  Her eyes softened as she saw his sadness and regret. She reached up and placed her hands on his cheeks, looking deeply into his eyes. “Jess, this is what we have to do. If we want any chance at all of making this work, we can’t go about it using halfway measures. If they suspect you have the least bit of compassion for me, it’ll be all over. You said so yourself, remember?”

  Jess frowned. She was right.

  “Remember Marcy?” Catey continued, her eyes glimmering with tears as she thought of her friend. “Is that what you want to happen to me?”

  Jess squeezed his own eyes shut trying to blot out the memory. He’d seen the girl’s bruised and mutilated body before they buried her. It was a vision he’d never forget. He opened his eyes again and looked into Catey’s face, wincing at the sight of the injury she’d inflicted on herself but knowing she was right.

  He put his arms around her waist and lowered his head, oh-so gently kissing her swollen lip, tasting the blood. He then kissed the bruising on her face. “I wish there was another way,” he said.

  “So do I,” she murmured, sliding her arms around his back and down to his buttocks, feeling the tautness of the muscles and the baby-fine down on the skin.

  He groaned and lifted her in his arms, taking her back to the bed where he laid her down gently, pushing her hair away from her face and kissing her forehead, then moving his lips to her ear. He kissed the top of it, then moved his mouth lower, sliding the tip of his tongue gently into the ear canal.

  Catey shivered in ecstasy, becoming totally lost in the sensations.

  He moved his mouth to her unharmed cheek, kissing it softly then moving lower and running his tongue slowly down the side of her neck. He kissed the rounding of her breasts and finally found a nipple, covering it with his lips and sucking gently, teasing it with his tongue.

  She sighed, her eyes closed, feeling the electric current running from her nipple to her clitoris.

  His knee gently parted her legs and, still sucking sensually at each nipple in turn, he rubbed his hot, hard penis up and down between her legs.

  Wetness began to flow from her as she felt a mounting desire. She needed his hardness inside her—needed to feel it touch that aching spot deep within.

  But he continued to tease her, placing the tip of his rod just at her opening and then withdrawing it.

  Finally, she could take it no more. Her hands moved to his buttocks and she thrust her hips up hard, forcing his organ deep into her. She sighed and shuddered with pleasure. He groaned, barely able to contain the fire mounting inside him.

  She moved her hips instinctively in a circular motion, titillating her pleasure bud as she did so. There was no more pain. She was wet and hot—totally ready.

  He remained very still, his eyes shut, drowning in the pleasure of her sensual movements. His penis was so hard he felt it would burst at any moment.

  Finally, when he could stand no more, he thrust into her—hard—again and again, in and out. She cried out with pleasure, thrusting her own hips higher to take him as deeply inside as she could. The urgency in her mounted with each rhythmic movement until, in a dazzle of flickering flames behind her eyelids, she climaxed, gasping with the intensity of it, feeling as though her insides were exploding in spasm after spasm.

  Feeling the muscles of her vagina pulsate hard around his shaft, he could hold off no longer. He felt his scrotum contract and, in a violent flood, shot his semen deep within her, sweat running in small rivulets down the small of his back, beads moistening his brow.

  He lowered himself gently onto her and turned on his side, his rod still pulsing inside her. She wrapped her arms tightly around him, her face resting in the warm, moist crotch of his arm and they both drifted into that dreamy, sleepy state of total bliss.

  * * * * *

  They woke to a hammering at the door. Jess sat up, startled. For a few minutes he’d almost forgotten their situation. Now it came back to him with a force that nearly took his breath away.

  He glanced down at Catey who was looking up at him with wide, frightened eyes. Automatically he reached out a hand and stroked her swollen cheek, trying to sooth her fears.

  “What!” he called out in an angry bark. He winked at Catey and tried to smile but she didn’t smile back. Her eyes were still lit with fear.

  “We’re done searchin’ the place, Lieutenant. We found some food but not much. You comin’ outta there soon?”

  “Yeah,” Jess said. “I’m comin’. Just give me a second.”

  There was silence outside the door and Catey cowered, half expecting
the man on the other side to burst in. Instead they heard a shuffling as footsteps receded.

  Quickly, Jess reached down and kissed Catey on the lips, then stood up and began to dress.

  Catey sat up, suddenly afraid, unsure whether their plan would succeed. The vision of her friend’s fate filled her mind.

  Once dressed, Jess sat down on the bed next to her, handing her what was left of her clothing. “Put these on,” he said.

  She did as he said. He helped her to do up the buttons because her hands were shaking.

  Once she was dressed, he gave her shoulders a reassuring squeeze. “It’ll be okay. I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

  She looked into his eyes and saw his unbending resolve, this made her feel a little better—but she knew Jess Granger was only one man. Even if he wanted to, could he really protect her from those beasts? There was no point thinking about it. She took a deep breath and gave him a half smile. “Okay,” she said. “I’m ready.”

  With his arm firmly wrapped around her waist, they went to the door and threw it open, ready for the performance of their lives.

  Chapter Three

  Sally made her way to the Spanish moss-draped trees that mark the start of the marshland. She knew this area well and had learned many things from Mahmusa Janga, the wise woman who lived deep in the confines of the swamp. The man, Phillips, trundled behind her, his gun at the ready. He didn’t like the look of the dark recesses of the swamp but he didn’t dare complain to the captain. He’d already seen men shot for less insubordination than that.

  Sally followed a path that only she could see. Occasionally she’d squat and forage in the underbrush, sometimes pulling up a tuber, sometimes plucking the leaves or berries from a plant. She carried them all in her skirt.

  Once she stopped and waited for Phillips to catch up, then pointed to some tracks in the dark earth. “Wild boar,” she said.

  He knelt and inspected the tracks.

  She motioned toward the bushes. “In there. I’ll shoo him out. You be careful. They’se dangerous.”

  Phillips watched as she carefully placed her berries, roots and leaves in a small, out-of-the-way pile on the ground, then picked up two rocks and began beating them together as she made her way around the far side of the bushes. Eventually she’d made a half circle and was walking back toward him, clapping the rocks and shouting something unintelligible. When she was only a few yards away from him, there was a scuffling sound and suddenly a small, plump black boar rushed out of the underbrush, its tiny eyes peering left and right.

  Phillips raised his rifle and fired. The boar squealed, leapt into the air, then fell, twitching, to the ground. Phillips gulped as he looked at the gleaming tusks on the animal. He knew those tusks could rip a man to shreds.

  Sally came up to Phillips and put her face close to his. “Pig meat is mighty tasty—tastes like men,” she said.

  He frowned, the glint in her eyes made him uncomfortable.

  “Help me find a couple of sturdy branches,” he said gruffly, “we’ll have to tie this hog on and drag it back. Be quick about it, we want to be back before dark.”

  Before she went to do his bidding, Sally looked at him and smiled. It was a smile that made his skin crawl.

  As far as Phillips was concerned, the sooner he got back to the plantation, the better. This blackie gave him the creeps.

  * * * * *

  “Hey, Lieutenant! Was she good?”

  Daryl Cripps smiled lewdly showing brown teeth through his matted yellow beard.

  Jess smiled back and winked. “Best ever,” he said. But he tightened his grip around Catey’s waist.

  The other men were gathering around them and Catey instinctively shrank against Jess. One of the men, a small, stocky man with a pockmarked face, reached out dirty fingers to stroke her arm. Catey jerked instinctively. Jess casually shoved the man’s hand aside.

  “Keep your paws off, Burns, this one’s mine.”

  The man’s eyebrows rose and there was a general muttering among the others.

  “Since when d’you get t’ keep pussy fer yerself?” one bolder man asked, his eyes slitted, his cheek bulging with chewing tobacco.

  Jess stared at the man and Catey could see the contempt in his eyes. The look on his face was one she’d never seen—cold, hard, uncompromising.

  “Since now,” Jess said evenly. “Anyone want to discuss it further?” He looked around, his eyes challenging.

  Jess was head and shoulders taller than the rest of these men and obviously in better physical shape. Catey could feel the muscles in his arm bulge as he assayed the milling men. She knew no one of them would be a match for Jess but all of them together? She shuddered at the thought.

  Tension filled the air for what seemed like many minutes but was probably only a few seconds. Finally, the man who’d spoken spat a stream of tobacco that miraculously found its way into a large empty vase. In better days the vase had been filled with fragrant flowers arranged lovingly by Catey’s mother. The man shrugged and grinned at Jess.

  “Guess she was pretty damn good, then. ‘Bout time you joined in and enjoyed some of the spoils.” He turned to the other men. “Let ‘im have ‘er,” he said, “when he’s tired of ‘er, we’ll see what all the fuss was about.”

  The other men laughed and nodded agreement. Catey cowered at the thought but Jess held her tightly, letting her know with the pressure of his hand he’d protect her.

  “If I get tired of her,” Jess said, his voice low and controlled, “I’ll let you all know. Until then, if any of you so much as touches a hair on her head, I’ll kill you.”

  There was a moment’s silence as his words sank in. The look on Jess’ face confirmed his threat.

  There was more shuffling and muttering. “No need to get cranky, Lieutenant,” Burns said.

  Jess shrugged. “Just tellin’ you how it is.” He turned Catey to face him and looked directly into her eyes, gripping the tops of her arms so hard it hurt.

  “And you—you’ll do as I say. If you try to run, we’ll hunt you down and kill you. If you do as I say, you may just live. Do you understand me?”

  Catey was momentarily stunned until she realized this was part of Jess’ act for the men. She had to remember the part she was to play in this.

  She gulped and nodded, widening her eyes in a fear that was only partial pretense. “Yessir!” she said, “I‑I promise! I’ll do as you say—just…just don’t hurt me!”

  The men laughed at her display of submission. It galled her having to show such weakness but she knew it was necessary.

  “Good,” Jess said, loosening his grip on her arms. “Now get back in the bedroom and stay there. I may need a bit of your sugar real soon.”

  Catey bit the inside of her cheeks to keep from making a sarcastic retort. Instead she simply nodded and as she turned to retreat, Jess gave her a resounding smack on the rump. She jumped and turned, startled, her face flaming with humiliation. This made the men laugh uproariously. She glared at Jess who was grinning widely, then hurried back into the sanctuary of the large bedroom, closing the door behind her and leaning against it, her heart pounding.

  Had they pulled it off? Would the men leave her alone? And if so, for how long?

  Perhaps she was safe for now but even Jess couldn’t be sure what would happen when Leroy Clemens returned.

  * * * * *

  Clemens and his men ate well that night. The wild boar was roasted on a spit over a pit, while Sally’s contributions of wild yams and small potatoes made the feast even better.

  Clemens made sure Sally stayed within his sight. He didn’t entirely trust her but she’d already shown an aptitude for cooking and foraging. He was ready to find out what she knew about medicine.

  By the time the meal was completed, the moon was high in the sky and the men were lounging around the fire pit picking their teeth and enjoying a couple of bottles of fine wine found unbroken in the wine cellar.

  Clemens pulled Sally down
next to him. She didn’t resist but squatted in the dirt beside him, a blank look on her face.

  “You done good, girlie,” Clemens said to her. “Now I needs t’ know what you know about doctorin’—you said you knew some, right?”

  Sally nodded. “I’se learned ‘bout med’cines all right.”

  Clemens nodded, then put his mouth close to her ear and whispered, explaining to her his problem.

  She didn’t smile, in fact her face remained immobile as she listened. Finally, when he was finished, she nodded. “I’se got herbs t’ help—back in my house.”

  Clemens smiled. “Good girl! You go get them and make me up some medicine.”

  She stood to go and Clemens called out to one of the men to go with her. “Keep an eye on her.”

  Sally had collected a large variety of herbs and kept them in a hole under the floorboards of her hut. She knew what Clemens needed. She also knew that her survival depended on him needing her around. As much as she’d like to tell him to rot in hell, she knew she had to help him.

  She retrieved her collection and returned to the fire. She poured hot water over a combination of select herbs, allowed it to steep, then handed the cup to Clemens. “Y’all drink this. You’ll need a cup three times a day for five days.”

  Clemens looked skeptically at the dark liquid with the herb leaves floating on top. But he was willing to try anything at this point, so sipped it carefully. It was all he could do not to spit it out but slowly he downed the entire cupful.

  Sally nodded and took the cup from him. Then she looked him straight in the eyes. “I’ll help you if you leaves me alone,” she said.

  Clemens raised his eyebrows. “What’s that? Are you threatening me?”

  “No sir, massa, sir, I’se jes sayin’ that effen you wants the cure, I kin make it for you. But you has ta leave me be. I ain’t gonna be no good t’ you effin you kills me or effin’ I gets sick and dies.”