Between A Rake And A Hard Place [Pirates of London Book 2] Read Online Free PDF Page B

spot obviously meant as a place to sit down and eat, a crystal goblet dangling from his long fingers.
    For the first time, she was able to get a good look at him in a well-lighted space when she wasn’t running for her life.
    Dark hair, thick and slightly wavy, framed a face that maybe wasn’t classically handsome, but still strikingly attractive. His eyes were a very light crystalline gray, his nose straight, the line of his jaw masculine and clean. Since he was still only clad in his breeches, she could see the muscled contours of his bare chest, tanned to a light bronze, and his long legs were extended. There were smudges of ash on his torso and small smear on his chin. His mouth quirked upward in one corner and he rose in a lithe movement to pull out her chair. “Such a pity to swathe you in concealing cloth from the neck down, but I must admit, for the best. If you will excuse me for a moment, I still smell like whatever that sulfuric concoction was that Marc used to start the fire to distract the guards. Have a glass of the wine the chef swore to me you would appreciate.”
    “Thank you,” she mumbled. Christopher Ives was quite tall, which she’d already noticed, and though the cabin was spacious, he seemed to take up more than his fair share of the room when he was on his feet, and she needed a moment to get her composure back.
    Cassandra picked up her wine and took a sip, finding it to be crisp and a bit sweet, the vintage unknown to her but lovely and refreshing. Trying to ignore the sound of splashing water, she studied her surroundings. The room was luxurious in an understated way, the chair she now occupied covered in dark gold velvet, the screen behind which Mr. Ives was now undoubtedly naked exotically painted with palm trees and camels. The rug on the floor was finely woven in brilliant hues of azure, saffron yellow and red, and the bed large, well-appointed and hung with silken drapes.
    The bed.  At least he’d made it clear he would sleep elsewhere. This was all disconcerting enough without having to worry over that, too.
    He made a much faster business of his ablutions than she had, and when he emerged, his damp ebony hair curling against the strong column of his neck, he wore a white, full-sleeved shirt and fawn breeches, but was still barefoot. He unceremoniously took the opposite seat again and refilled his glass. The slight splash of the waves against the hull was soothing.
    He said, “I imagine we’ll be in Gibraltar soon given an uneventful voyage. Uneventful is a hope. Don’t let me alarm you, but Barbary pirates can be an issue in these waters.”
    He resembled a romanticized version of a pirate himself, she thought, wickedly handsome and dangerous.
    “I am rather beyond being alarmed, and I thought the Sappho couldn’t be caught.”
    “An altercation is always an inconvenience.” Silver eyes regarded her steadily, his lean body relaxed in a negligent pose she sensed somehow was deceptively casual.
    He seemed like a man who knew quite a bit about danger. Whatever he said about it, there was no question he’d freed her at great personal peril.
    What she might have said next was interrupted by the arrival of their dinner, a light knock on the door followed by a young man with a tray, a rich smell filling the air at once. She’d eaten barely at all since her captivity, mostly because she’d been drugged almost the entire time to keep her docile, and up until this point, she hadn’t realized how hungry she was. The first course looked delicious; pristine white scallops fragrant with melted butter and lemon and once she was served and the first bite devoured, she took another sip of wine and murmured, “That’s superb.”
    “The chef has a weakness for women in general and beautiful ones in particular.” Her companion smiled wryly. “I have a feeling he will try to outdo himself this evening. From a purely selfish point of view, I am just glad I am here to enjoy the experience,