“Things got so bad that eventually I realized I couldn’t help her anymore, and I left. I became a full-time pirate. Dimitri thought I was his father, he didn’t know any better, and I loved him. I was selfish, because I left him with no explanation. I kept tabs on him at all times, making sure he was okay, making sure he was protected, but one day when he was fifteen my sources came back to me and told me he was in the hospital. He’d been so badly beaten and…raped…that he was in a coma. I went mad. The woman had tangled herself up so much that her own son had copped it. So, I paid a well-known pirate to put a hit on her.”

“My father,” I whisper.

“Yeah, he had his men take her out. It went wrong, and they ended up having to take out more than just her. That’s why he’s chasing me for payment; he didn’t get enough for the job they had to do. I wasn’t giving it to him. We had a deal. After she was gone, I went into the hospital to see Dimitri. He was awake, broken and completely damaged. He hated me, he thought I was the reason his mother had nothing and got herself into such a bad place that she got killed. He swore then and there that he would kill me for it one day. I left, and since then I haven’t seen him again.”

Oh, God.

“I’m so sorry,” I whisper. “I know how much it must hurt.”

“He might not have been my son, but I loved him like he was. I know what I did to him. I know the damage I put into him. I also know the damage that was done the day he got beaten and raped. His soul is darkness, and I’m sure by now it’s consumed him. I tried to keep tabs on him, but he disappeared, and I lost track of him.”

“It’s such an awful thing to happen to someone,” I say, gripping his hand.

“Yeah, and the fucked up thing is that I could have taken him with me on the ship, but I thought he was better off with his momma.”

“Sometimes we make mistakes, Hendrix. It’s human nature. So long as we learn from those mistakes then we should be forgiven for them.”

He shakes his head, and grips my face, pulling me close. “How’d you get so fuckin’ smart?”

I smile. “I didn’t, it’s just reality.”

“Hmmmm,” he murmurs, pressing his lips to mine for a moment. “Well, you make reality sound awesome.”

I giggle, and he pulls me into his arms.

So many stories, so many endings.

I wonder what my ending will be?

Blow the man down!

“Have another one, lassie.” GG grins, pouring me another rum.

I giggle and shoot it back. The liquid burns my throat. Warmth floods my veins, and my giggling intensifies.

“You’re going to get into trouble soon.” I laugh. “Hendrix is watching you.”

He smirks and wraps an arm around me. “I love his jealous side.”

I laugh loudly. “Me too.”

“Dance with me, scallywag.”

I snort and roll my eyes, “That’s my joke!”

“Well, you’re one of us now, so I can use it against you.”

“Fair enough.” I grin, taking his hand and leading him out to the middle of the room. We begin to dance, wiggling our hips to the music on the radio.

I catch a glimpse of Hendrix every now and then, and the look in his eyes is purely sexual. He’s grinning at me, and every now and then he shakes his head as I do a saucy dance move. I turn slowly and begin wiggling toward him. He’s sitting in a chair at the back of the room, and when he sees me approaching he lifts his hands and puts them up behind his head. A lazy smirk appears on his lips as I shimmy closer. He lifts his hand, and crooks his finger, encouraging me toward him. I shake my head and keep grinning as I move.

His smile gets bigger and he pats his leg. I shake my head again.

And so the challenge starts.

He crooks his finger again, and I continue to dance in circles, shimmying around him and refusing to do as he asks. With a smirk, he gets to his feet and begins stalking toward me, looking like sex on legs. When he reaches me, I spin away just as he stretches his hand out. Chuckling, he lashes out and catches me, spinning me into him and placing his hands on my hips. Then he begins to grind our bodies together in time with the music.

Oh, yes.

His hips move from side to side, his hands slide down to my backside and he grips it, making my ass move with his. He’s grinning down at me, those big brown eyes connecting with mine. I bite my lip and slide my hands around his waist, finding his shirt and sliding my hands up underneath it to feel the hot hard skin there.

“Get a room,” someone yells.

I laugh, and reach up, pressing my lips to his. He dips his head, deepening the kiss and sliding his tongue into my mouth. Mmmmm. I will never get tired of kissing him.

“Cap?”

We hear Drake’s voice, and pull apart. I turn and smile at him, and he gives me a small grin in return.

“What is it buddy?” Hendrix says, not taking his hands from my ass.

“Meeting is starting in five.”

Hendrix nods, and turns to look back down at me. He organized tonight so he could go over some things with the guys, but us girls crashed his party. Well, me and Jess. Though Jess is in the corner with Lenny chatting about something that has her giggling loudly every few minutes.

“Meeting,” Hendrix bellows.

The guys stop what they are doing, and all stand, walking over and taking a seat around the large table. I go to walk out, but Hendrix tightens his grip on me. “You’re on my lap, revenge for that dance tease you just did.”