"Weneed to make some repairs" Rikardsvoice boomed

itcarried from the shore and onto the bank where I was sleeping

"aswell as see to the wounds of fallen men and um .......girl" hecontinued

myhead began to throb as pain flowed through my body I whimperedquietly and let off a slight groan of pain as I opened my eyes warilyI was in the shade of a group of palms and using what felt like allmy strength I sat up the Hawk had been beached and the bigsplintery hole in the ship had been funny enough de-splintered andshaped so the cut bits of wood would fit snugly into the gap my sideswere heaving with the effort as I pulled my leather vest off it had abig cut in it and the right arm was coated in my blood I winced inpain as I laid back onto the bank and closed my eyes trying to breathsteadily I opened my eyes and sat up again my movement caught Rikardsattention and he made his way over to me kneeling down beside me

"sotraitor" I looked up at him

"willI ever live that down?" I growled painfully Rikardshook his head

"howdo you feel?" he ask a concerned tone in his voice

"couldbe worse" I said cringing again "I could have been sliced inHalf" I smiled painfully"but truthfully I feel sick"

Ilowered my head and bit my lip as beads of sweat dripped down my faceand onto my lap Rikardsmiled at my poor attempt of humour I moved slightly making bloodslowly seeped into the sand on the bank as I repositioned myself

"staystill" he said "your only going to make it worse you have lost alot of blood"

"well"I said "I can't make it any more worse than it already is?"

Rikardsighed as he peered around to look at my side. the wound was notscabbing as I took in a rasping breath

"letsjust hope it has not hit any internal organs or your going to be inreal trouble"

"lookwhose worried?" I said rolling my eyes

"notworried, concerned" Rikardcorrected I snorted

"whatever don't you have something better to do?"

"asa matter of fact I don't" he said

ashe positioned himself beside me he sat there watching his crew work Isighed looking to where I had left my vest with the huge gap in theside where the axe had hit it I yawned and then my eyes began to blurover my head lulled back I felt a warm hand grab me behind the necklowering me gently to the ground I turned my head painfully to theside looking at Rikard Itook in a staggering breath my body shivering closing my eyes as mybreathing calmed down I felt something warm and gentle stroke my sideI opened one eye slightly as Rikardpush some of my sweat soaked hair out of my eyes then continued tostroke my side my eye closed and I fell asleep 888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888

whenI woke up it was starting to get dark and that I had been movedaround a fire I lifted a hand to my throbbing head looking aroundmany of the men who had been injured were beginning to move around Ihad a log behind me and I was covered by a thick woollen blanket Ipushed it off and immediately felt the warmth of the fire on my skinas I pushed myself off the ground and I sat on the log breathing hardI sighed leaning forwards slightly holding my head moving it awaygrimancing at the blood my body shaking and a feeling of weaknesspassed over me

"everythings an effort for you isn't it Angel?"Rikard asked

thenoise was so sudden I jumped he sat beside me his hand ran through myhair passing gently over the tender skin that sent small shocks ofpain to my brain

"well"said Rikard "at least youdidn't try to bite me"

Iturned to him and bit the air wincing as pain once again shot throughmy head his lips lifted up into a small smile and in turn mine did aswell then he began to lean closer to me closing the small amount ofspace we had between no one was watching and his lips lightly touchedmine and held for a few moments I was shocked and disgusted butsuddenly found myself kissing back he shifted closer until thre wasno longer any space left between our bodies I felt his tongue againstmine as he deepened the kiss our teeth clashed momentarily in therush for control I felt his hand run along my back and that was whenI finally broke the kiss after realizing that I just kissed mykidnapper and strangly though ... I liked it. the only thing that wasaudible was the drunken laughter of the crew and our raspy breathsthat seemed louder with the silence I shot a look back to Rikardhis pupils had dilated and he had a lustful look in his eyes I forcedmyself to calm down and turned my gaze to the fire

"Ithought I couldn't be trusted?" I stated calmly

hestraightened snapping out of the daze he was in and turned his eyesback to the fire he shrugged then looked back to the crew who weredrunk stumbling over sticks tree roots the logs even each other allof them having drunk a whole 16 litres of ale between the 46 of themwhich in my opinion was not that much ...... even Neonwas walking around clumsily which was funny he didn't strike me asthe drinking type

"Ichanged my mind" he said smiling at them

hishand touched mine uncontiously like he was unsure that I was stillthere I hesitated before I pulled my hand back he looked back at me asmall smile on his face then in a matter of seconds his smiledisappeared as he fell serious his hazel eyes found mine and seemedto intensifed putting me under some sort of spell sending shiversdown my spine he sighed deeply

"yousaved my life" he said

blinkinghis eyes breaking the trance he had over me and my body his face wasblank and void of all emotions but swirled with something unknown ashis eyes strayed to the large red spot on my side and then up to thetop of my head before settling on my eyes again I froze not from thelook he was giving me but from the realisation of what I actually did

"r-r-really?"I stuttered out "who would have thought s---"

"butyou did" he barked causing me to jump wincing from the jerkingmovement "and I can't stand for it"

hishands slowly rolled into fists and his body tensed I moved backslowly I Half thought he wasdrunk and readying himself to attack me but then he suddenly calmeddown allowing his hands to relax and lay flat on the log and thesilence drag between us

"whenI boarded that ship" he said slowly looking up at the sky like hewas looking for something

"theDragon Fly?" I offered

"yes"he replied nodding as he continued to tell his tale "I wasplanning to raid it and kill every one on board then burn the ship"

"whyare you telling me this?" I asked as his eyes met my own he presseda finger to his lips and I raised an eyebrow as amusement flickeredthrough his eyes but even that look vanished leaving his eyes onceagain emotionless except for that one strange emotion swirling aroundinside them

"letme finish okay?" he asked

"okay"I said slowly nodding for him to continue but he didn't need mypermission

"butwhen your captain told me there was no loot aboard and I found he wastelling the truth it was only when that thought pass did I notice---"he paused swallowing hard his hands clenched into his lap his headbowed forwards

Imoved closer a little bit reaching my hand out I touched his shouldergently and he flinched looking at me

"andyou noticed...?" I started

helooked pained like he didn't want to say anything to me but he drewin a breath making the situation bigger then it actually was

"didI notice" he side glanced me "you" I froze

"me?"I thought

"sothen I decided I would take you"

Icould see him blush then standing up he stretched and yawned

"I'mbeat" he said I laughed

"yourbeat?" I teased laughing slightly "i'm the one loosing more bloodthen I have in my body, what ecsacly did you do all day?" he smiled

"foryour information I have done enough work today for the entire week"at that I laughed again

"youwork as much as I do"

hesmiled then turned on his heels and made his way to the ship. Ilooked back to the group who were dancing around the other firewithout a care in the world they only went to bed when the fire burntdown to it's embers then I followed suit picking up the thick woollenblanket and settling back on the ground leaning against the wood Ifelt my head swirl as I fell to the side darkness consuming me

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