Blow Me Down Read Online Free PDF Page B

mentioned something about a Bart?
    “Bartholomew Portuguese,” Corbin answered, moving a step closer. “He and his motley crew are currently running this island into the ocean.”
    “Har-har,” the pirate behind Corbin laughed, nudging his boss with his elbow. “We be takin’ care of that problem soon, eh, Cap’n?”
    “Aye, we will. These are two of my crew—Bald Bob,” Corbin answered by way of an introduction, gesturing toward a man with waist-length black hair, “and Leeward Tom. Loo is my bosun.”
    “Looward?” I asked, wondering why that word sounded familiar.
    “Aye. It’s spelled leeward. It means the side of the ship protected from the weather,” Corbin answered.
    Leeward Tom pulled a ragged kerchief off and ducked his head at me before turning back to Corbin. “Be we leavin’ or stayin’?”
    The new and (to my mind) improved Corbin waved a dismissive hand. “We’ll leave in a moment. I want to talk to this charming lady another minute or two.”
    “Flattered as I am to be promoted from tartish, pox-riddled wench to charming lady, I must insist that you let me pass. I promised my daughter I’d try out this game and advance a level or two. I’ll start by hunting down some extra legs.”
    Tom looked confused. “What be the wench talkin’ about?” he asked Corbin in a loud whisper. “What game? Think ye she has the fever?”
    “No,” Corbin answered, a smile curling his lips as Tom unobtrusively crossed himself. “So you’d like to advance beyond newbie level, would you, Erika? There’s one sure-fire way to do that.”
    “Really? Something beyond collecting wooden limbs?”
    His smile turned into an outright grin, a grin that had me responding with a smile of my own despite my better intentions. The blond Corbin was a devilishly handsome rogue, but this one was a hundred times more dangerous with his playful smile and warm, humor-filled eyes. “Swordplay advances your skills. You said you fenced?”
    “Yes, for three years. I was on my college’s fencing team. Er . . . you want me to fight you?”
    “Afraid?” he asked, offering me his rapier with a fancy scrollwork hilt.
    “Me?” I wondered whether I remembered anything from my fencing days. I set down my spare leg and took the rapier, trying my best to summon up a sneer. “Never Letting Them See You’re Insecure Is the Key to Staying in Control” had always been my motto. “Ha. I am Earless Erika! I laugh in the face of danger. Or . . . er . . . in the face of deranged pirates.”
    His grin got even bigger as he accepted a rapier handed to him by Leeward Tom. “So I’ve moved down from seductive to deranged, eh?”
    “That’s actually an upward move,” I pointed out, testing the weight of the rapier. It was nicely balanced. Although I was more proficient with a foil, I had used a rapier once or twice. “Shall we go with the first one who makes a fatal touch the winner? Jugular or heart?”
    “Oh, jugular, don’t you think?” he said. “No blood, just a touch.”
    “Good enough. Prepare to be humiliated. En garde. ”
    Both of his men snickered to themselves at my false bravado.
    “Eh . . .” Corbin dropped the point of his sword, his eyes speculative as they swept my rag-clad self. “Why don’t we make this a bit more interesting?”
    “Interesting? Interesting how? That’s the same lascivious look the blond you was making. I objected to it then, too.”
    His teeth flashed in a grin that made something in my stomach flutter. “Interesting as in a wager. If I beat you, you have to give me something.”
    “Like what?” I asked, waggling the tip of my sword in a meaningful way at him.
    “Yourself,” he answered, his eyebrows bobbing up and down. I raised the rapier so it was pointed at his throat. “Er . . . all right; how about dinner, then?”
    “Dinner?” My sword point fell as I gawked at him. Was he asking me out on a date? A computer character? He wanted to date me? How pathetic was that? And