Red Is The Color Of Desire

Chapter 9

It had been a week and Emile had not uttered a word to her since the incident. Whenever he stepped into the room, he would take her in his arms, bringing her to the now familiar depths of ecstasy , then leave. Jewel couldn't quite understand why his silence bothered her so. 

Boredom felt as if it were slowly eating her alive, killing her. She stood, wrapping the comforter around her nakedness. She slowly headed for his dresser, opening the drawer with the journal inside it. She hugged it close to her chest, closing the drawer. Before she moved back to the bed she opened another drawer hoping to find something to slip into. She quickly pulled out a soft beige shirt and slipped it on over her head. It was big and baggy on her but she simply didn't care. She sat on the bed and flipped the journal open, her eyes scanning the pages as she read over the long expressive paragraphs and maps.

As she continued to read through it the name Jacques seemed to pop up on almost every other page.  

Her mind raced as she turned page after page. Why was Emile franticly searching for this man? From the tone of the words written, Emile had much hostility and hatred for the man. She couldn't help but wonder what the man had done to insure such animosity from Emile. She continued to read on through the journal, her attention suddenly caught as a map stole her eyes. She looked over it, her eyes pursuing the information on the page with interest.

The page was not titled like the rest of the many maps held within the folds of the journal. There were small dots within the drawn map and she furrowed her brow in confusion. Suddenly a loose page fell from the journal and she reached for it before it fell. She sat the journal in her lap and flipped the paper over.

Her eyes widened as a drawing a beautiful long hair woman stared back at her. The woman in the drawing had long lashes that framed her large, doe shaped eyes, plump lips, a love filled smile and happiness on her face. The woman was truly beautiful, almost like an angel staring back at her.

She had been so concentrated on the drawing that she hadn't heard the door, Emile walking in with a tray of food for her. He dropped the tray onto the table, catching her attention. Her head shot up and she meet the angry gaze of Emile. She had no excuse for going through his journal, none other than boredom and curiosity getting the best of her.

"What are you doing?" He snapped as he swiftly moved toward the bed. Her hands shook as she tried to stuff the drawing back into the journal.

But in her haste she balled it up a bit.

He snatched it from her trembling hands and stared down at the crumbled drawing of his mother. Anger quickly filled him and he snatched his journal from her lap as well. "Toi idiot! Regarde ce que tu as fait!"

She flinched back at his foreign words. For the first time since she had been forced aboard this horrid ship she saw hatred flicker in his eyes for her. Though she did not know what he was saying she was sure it was something hateful.

"I-I didn't mean to upset-," he cut her by cursing.

"Look what you've done! You had no right to touch my journal!"  He snapped.

Her anger slowly rose and she climbed off the bed. "You had no right to abduct me! So consider us even now!"

He stepped closer to her, rage seething within him. "You think you hate me now? You don't even know what hate is!"

Though she felt fear creeping up her spine she refused to acknowledge it, raising her chin high in defiance. "I hope you never find this Jacques Cru you are searching so franticly for. I hope you die on this ship searching for him!"

His face turned tomato red, "Don't speak as if you know anything about my affairs!"

"I know you are a selfish, dishonorable man!"

"You know nothing about me!"

"I know that I hope Jacques learns of your plot to rob him and shoots you for it!"

His face turned redder by the second, "Don't say that murderers name with such familiarity! You know nothing of the crimes he has committed! Rob him? Ha! I want nothing that belongs to such a demon! The men he's killed, the women he's raped, the children he's slaughter! Rob him? Hah! I intend to kill with," he raised his hands, "my bare hands for the crimes he's committed!"

He pulled his eye patch from his eye and glared at her, "It was his knife that did this to me! And it will be that very knife that I cut him open with!"

She turned ghostly pale. The expression on his face was truly murderous. The angry glint in his eye enough to have her taking a frightened step back. She had never seen such an expression on anyone's face before. So much loathing. So much murderous intent.

He ran a hand through his hair and placed his eye patch back over his eye. He couldn't remember the last time he had lost control like that. He usually had his emotions guard behind his serious façade. But this woman, he met her frightened eyes, was slowly but surely pushing all of his buttons.

He truly couldn't think at that point, his mind whirling with animosity for Jacques, an urge to strangle the honey colored girl before him and then kiss her senseless. Had there ever been more contradictory emotions?

"Mon dieu...You're making me crazy!" He spat. She flinched back, finally hitting the wall behind her. She stared at him wide eyed.

"Oh please...," she said pressing herself closer to the wall, "take me home. I can't stand another moment in this cabin. On this ship. I hate it here. Can't you see that we're only making each other miserable? Take me back to London..."

He clinched his jaw. His heart pounding in his ears. A small part of him agreed with her but something in him refused to let her go so easily. "I'll let you go when I see fit to release you."

She opened her mouth to respond when the ship suddenly dipped and she shrieked as she stumbled forward into his chest. He caught her with one arm, grabbing the bed post with his free hand. The ship bounced up and down violently, and she clung to him out of pure fear. The rocking stopped for a moment and someone burst through the door.

"Ere's a storm brewin' cap'n!" The man shouted over the roaring beyond the door. Emile nodded, picking Jewel up and sitting her on the bed.

He pointed to the corner of the bed, "Sit there and hold onto the bed post. Don't let go of it." She paled but did as he asked, quickly crawling to where he pointed and holding onto the bed post for dear life.

With that he spared one final look before rushing out of the door just as the ship rocked forward.

*Comment, like and share! Their argument got pretty intense, huh? What do you think, drop a thought!*