Pirate - Duncan Falconer [48]
He removed a couple of glasses from another box and near filled them both. He went to a fridge and took a bowl of ice from it. He placed several chunks in each glass, returned the bowl to the fridge, walked over to her with the glasses and offered her one. She looked at him – her hands still tied firmly behind her back. She hoped he might untie them.
‘Open your mouth,’ he said.
She obeyed and he touched the edge of the glass to her lips and gently poured the drink into her mouth. She grimaced at the bite of the liquor. He tipped it all the way up, emptying the entire contents into her mouth, much of it spilling down her neck and inside her shirt. As he removed the glass, she coughed and spluttered.
Lotto took a long sip of his drink and put both of the glasses down. He stepped closer to her, his smile turning lustful. She looked defiantly into his eyes.
‘I’m disappointed in you,’ he said.
She did not react.
‘I hope you’re going to put up a bit of a fight,’ he said, grinning. Then brought up his bony hand and slammed her across the face. She flew back on to the bed.
She went giddy instantly, found it hard to focus her eyes on him.
He leaned over her, turned her on to her front and untied her hands. He pulled one of them to a corner of the bed and secured it with the line to the bedpost. She started to struggle beneath his heavy frame. He put a knee into her small back and stretched out her other hand, tying it with another piece of line. She fought to get him off her, bringing her legs up to try and kick out. But he was too strong for her. He got off her and grabbed her left ankle, tied it to a post and then did the same with her right leg.
She struggled for long enough to realise how hopeless it was. She pressed her face down into the mattress, panting with the effort.
Lotto kept smiling as he reached for a knife at his belt. He inserted it at the bottom of one of her trouser legs and sliced all the way up to the top. He did the same with the other leg and then, with a magician’s flourish, ripped the garment away leaving her in her panties.
He sat beside her and cut away her shirt, unwrapping her in a way that gave him great pleasure. She wore no bra and lay there naked but for her knickers. She closed her eyes tightly in an effort to control herself. She tugged at the bindings again but it was hopeless.
Lotto turned his attention to her panties and cut one of the sides and then the other and pulled them off her. He got up from the bed and stood to admire her.
He took off his shirt, then his boots, then his trousers and he stood naked.
She expected him to climb on top of her but she was wrong. He had something else in mind. He took the heavy leather belt from his trousers and wrapped it around his fist a couple of times to leave a long tail. He cocked back his arm so that the end of the belt fell down his back. When he brought it forward, he did it with great effort.
The cutting thwack could be heard along the street. Her scream reached even further into the town. The guards outside the prison hut heard the shrill cry. One of them said something and the others laughed.
Stratton sat in the darkness of the hut, his eyes closed, but far from asleep. He couldn’t see a way out of the predicament. The girl’s screams bulldozed into his thoughts until he could only think of her and her suffering. He looked at the other prisoners. All of them could guess what was happening to the girl, more or less. He didn’t feel responsible. Not for her. But he felt utterly sympathetic. His thoughts turned to Hopper again. His partner’s position looked many times worse than his own. And it was Stratton’s fault.
He could have taken Hopper with him. It hadn’t been so import -ant for him to stay behind. Stratton knew well enough why he had gone to the ship by himself. He just preferred operating alone. He always had. He achieved his best results that