Part One

Notorious rake, and confirmed bachelor of thirty-five years, Anthony Edwards sat up on the side of the bed. The lovely brown haired wench behind him sighed as he stood to dress. "Oh Tony, why are you leaving," she asked poutingly as he pulled his pants on. "Don't worry love," he said, "I'll see you again." He watched as the sheet fell from the wenches gracious breasts as she sat up. "But when, love," she asked through a fake pout. Pulling his second boot on, he said, "The next time I'm back in port." The wench on the bed huffed and slammed her fists into the bed, showing actual frustration, and demanded, "But when!" Completely dressed now, except for buttoning and tucking in his shirt, he reached for the door. "Look wench," he said angerily, "you're not my wife and I don't have to answer to you, or any other female for that matter. If you don't loose the attitude before I return, it will not be you who shares my bed." He closed the door behind him and hear the wenches scream and an object hitting the door.

Anthony boarded his ship, the Santa Maria, and sought out John. John was not only his first mate, but also his younger brother and best friend. Seeing him with the new hands he had hired, he headed straight for them. He watched as his brother pointed towards him as he approached and heard him saying, "And this gentlemen is your captain. May I present to you Captain Anthony Edwards." He turned to face them and said, "Good evening, men. I'm sure my first mate here has told you what will be required of you. If you wish to bow out, now would be the time to do so. I'll not stand for mutiny or petty squabbeling on my ship. Any problems are handled between the accused and the accuser. If they can't handle it..." he paused just long enough to pull the pistol from his belt before continuing, "I will. Is everything understood." A round of "Aye aye Captain" was heard.

Anthony sat behind his desk and rubbed his eyes. "So..., how went the wenching," John asked. "She was really good, but turn posessive when I started to leave," he replied. "Don't they all," John laughed. He shot his brother a "go to hell" look before asking, "Who was the skinny lad with the squeaky voice." "That's your new cabin boy," John replied as he sat on the corner of the desk. "Nice kid," he continued, "but really shy. He's a bit willowy and weak looking, but he's tall. I think with a little ship work and some good meals down his throat, he'll turn out just fine."

No sooner had John finished, the lad in question appeared at the door. "What is it lad," Anthony asked. He watched as the lad nervously entered the room. "I was told to report here, Captain," the lad said in a high pitched, almost feminine voice. The boy didn't only sound feminine, but looked very feminine too. He was tall and slender with a girlish face, body, and hands. Even his eye lashes were long and lushious like that of a girl's. He noted that the young boy never looked at him, but stared down at the floor or at the walls. He gave a light chuckle because this was not the first time he had scared a cabin boy when they first appeared before him. In fact, four of the men on his crew had once been his cabin boy. They had found that he wasn't nearly as scary as he first seem he seemed.

But yet there was something about this cabin boy that still didn't seem right. "What is your name," Anthony asked. The young lad shifted his weight from on leg to the other; making his hips sway a little more provocatively than they should have and that made him a little more suspicious of the lad. "The name is Tony, sir," the lad quietly said. But then a little louder, "Tony Bowers, sir." This made him laugh. It was funny that his new cabin boy had the same name as his nickname. "Alright Tony," he said. "I've not eaten yet today. Why don't you see if the ship's cook has anything fixed in the galley that I can eat." "Yes sir," the lad said and quickly left.

Anthony smiled at John. "If I didn't know any better, I'd swear that was a young women standing before us and not a young gangly youth," he said. "You too, huh," John said. "But, like I said before, with a little ship work and some good meals, he'll improve." "I hope so," he said, "because if he doesn't, I don't know if we can keep him." Moments later, the lad returned with a plate filled with warm food. After being waved in, the lad sat the plate before him. "Is there anything else, Captain," the lad asked. "Not tonight, boy, you may bed down for the night," he said. He couldn't keep from chuckeling as he watched the lad nearly ran from the room.

Anetta Bowers laid herself down on the cot that had been given to her. She nervously wrapped the blanket around her, tucking it in as tightly as possible. She had managed to fool all the men aboard into thinking she was a boy, but she still worried about being discovered. At twenty, this was the most frightening thing she had ever done, but none the less, necassary. The first mate John seemed like a nice fellow, and had even seemed sympathtic to her pleading of wanting to leave England. Not once had he asked "why", but had finally allowed her to join the crew.

The captain on the other hand was totally different. He seemed to be man that one would not want to mess with, or meet in a dark alley at night. Anetta smiled as she thought of the handsome man. Even as she laid in her cot, she could see him sitting behind his desk. His shoulder length hair was black as coal. And his eyes were so dark brown they almost looked black. It was no wonder everyone cringed at the sight of him. Just one look from those eyes would do a person in. His heigth was another thing that would scare a person. She was a tall women, just a few inches short of six foot herself. But she had to look up just to she this mans face. All of this and wide broad shoulders with well muscaled arms and chest. The thick black curls completely cover the area that was revealed by his open shirt. He was indeed menaceing looking, yet very handsome; too handsome by far. A man like that could easily make her forget her ruse of being a cabin boy and have herself in deep trouble in his bed.

Anetta found herself falling to sleep with the thoughts of what Captain Edwards could easily do with her. Not that she knew what all that could entail, seeing as how she was still a virgin, but from what she did know, it sounded wonderful. She slept soundly thru the night and the next morning found that the ship had set sail sometime after she had fallen asleep. She had also found that her long blonde hair had fallen loose from her cap and was now laying about her shoulders. She wondered if anyone had seen it and found out her little ruse.

For the better part of the morning, Anetta eased her way around the men, but by midday, she felt herself calming down. But that wasn't to say that there were those rare occasion when she had to slip away and releave herself in private; once nearly being caught by the Captain himself. For the next three months, she made sure that her hair stayed covered at night and that her female necessities were taken care of privately. And once the ship made port, she made sure that she took some shore leave to gather things she would once again need before setting sail again.

Anetta begged off from the younger men she had made friends with and returned to the ship. They would be in port for a few days and even though nearly everyone was ashore, she opted to stay aboard the ship. Little did she know that her unwillingness to go wenching with the others would be what brought her to the Captain's attention.

Once aboard, John found her and told her, rather "Tony", that the captain would be needing "him" that night. She had become quite use to being in the small quarters with Captain Edwards and found the request not unusal at all. But she soon would find that this meeting would be nothing like any of the others.

Anetta stood before Captain Edwards' desk and waited for him and John to finish. Once John left, she waited for instructions from her captain. She had been so calm in the setting, that she had not noticed that John had locked the door from the outside when he left. The small click of the lock had went unnoticed.

"Is there anything you would like to tell me Tony," Captain Edwards asked. Anetta began to nervously shift her weight from one leg to the other as she asked, "Like what, sir." She watched the huge man lean back in his chair and place his hands behind his head. His eyes seem to pierce her like a knife. But what made her draw in a deep breathe was the way he now looked at her. It wasn't that of a captain talking to his cabin boy, but that of a man eager to see the naked body of a woman. He now leaned forward and stared at her. "Let's start with your real name," he said huskily. "And don't try to say that Tony is your real name. As much as it's funny that we share a name, being my nickname is Tony, I don't think that it's your real name." His eyes scanned her tall, lean body as he said, "I know what your clothes really hide." His eyes returned to hers. "You can either confess everything now to me. Or I can strip you in front of the men and let them see the softness of your skin, the perkyness of your breasts, and even the color of your hair down there."

Anetta felt herself sinking into the chair that was next to her. "How did you figure it out," she said in her actual voice, no more trying to sound like a boy. She pull the cap from her head and let the long blonde hair cascade down to her waist. She knew that her sky blue eyes and long eye lashes had always been in question, but she thought for sure that she had concealed her breasts with the bandages and baggy clothing. "I wasn't for sure," Captain Edwards said, leaning forward, "but I followed you several times at night when you thought you were alone and notice that your method of releaving yourself was not like the others."

Anetta narrowed her eyes on him. "What do you plan to do with me," she asked. "First," Anthony said, "answer my question. What is your real name?" "Anetta, sir," she said; her eyes avoiding him as she stared at the floor. She raised her head proudly as she continued. "Anetta Bowers to be exact. And I begged your first mate to allow be passage so that I could leave England. He did not know that I was a female." "And why did you wish to leave England," he asked. "From what I can see, your are far from homely looking and would have no problem finding a husband." "Yes," she eagerly said, "that is quite true. But you see, it was not what my stepfather wanted for me. That is to say... Now that my mother had passed, he wanted to be my husband." She held back the urge to start crying, but felt the wetness forming in her eyes. "Please Captain Edwards," she begged, "do not let your men have me. If you do, then my hopes of staying pure and finding a husband will have been for nothing."

Anetta watched as Captain Edwards paced the cabin and thought of what to do. With his back to her he stared out the cabin window. "If you stay aboard," he finally said, "my men will eventually discover you and then all hell will break loose for my keeping your idenity a secret." He turned and faced her. "But if you remain on board as my wench, you will be protected from them so long as the ruse of your being mine is believed." He came to stand in front of her and asked, "What will it be, Anetta? Will you be takeing the risk with all of my men? Or will you allow me the pleasure of having you for my wench?"

Anetta swallowed hard as she looked up at him from her sitting position. She drew in a deep breath before asking, "Will my being your wench be a ruse or am I to actually share your bed?" She felt fear when he leaned over and placed his hands on the arms of the chair she sat in. His face was so close to hers; their lips nearly touching. "That will be your choice," he said husikly, melting her fear, along with her will. She closed her eyes as his lips brushed over hers as he said, "But I am sure that you will find great pleasure in my bed. I promise to make it worth your wild." With that he kissed her deeply and throughly before standing back up.

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