Heather Graham - [Camerons Saga - North American Woman 02] Read Online Free PDF Page A

her skirt. She swung about just in time to save her flesh from the tip of the blade.
    “Go ahead, milady, skewer the young hearty!” the balding pirate encouraged. “The boy’s not dead; ’e sleeps!”
    “No more interference!” One-Eyed Jack called out. “If she’s as feisty beneath the covers, I want her alive!”
    This was a game to them, she realized, this fight, this murder, this death. And until they drowned in a pool of their own blood, they would play it.
    Until she fell. Until she was at the mercy of the one-eyed creature who watched the savagery with such gusto, and waited.
    “On guard, monsieur,” she told the youth. “To the death.”
    “Or … other.” The boy laughed.
    Skye stepped forward. Then she fell forward, stumbling along with the others. Suddenly, out of the grayness of the day, came another monster.
    The ship was rammed from portside. Pirates and officers alike teetered and grasped for balance and looked about in dismay.
    No one had seen the ship that had come upon them out of the murk and tempest of the day. None had seen her ghostlyshape or her haunting form as she came upon them, a wraith from the sea.
    None had seen her.…
    Until she rammed the injured ship.
    And now, Skye’s duel was interrupted, for new screams filled the air. Skye had hoped in an instant that it might be rescue.
    That hope was quickly dashed, like the deck beneath a cannon’s fire, for it was not rescue that had come.
    It was a second pirate ship.
    Muskets flared; screams rose. The screech and thunder of grappling hooks was heard again, and from the rigging of the newcomer, men leaped down upon the decks, and battle was joined once more.
    “ ’Tis the Silver Hawk!” someone called. “In the rigging! ’Tis the Hawk himself! Lay down your arms, and he’ll do no murder!”
    “Bah, you coward!” another man called out. “One-Eyed Jack is me captain, and I’ll not grovel before the Hawk.”
    “There, there upon the ropes! See him, he comes!”
    Skye forgot her own opponent. Her sword rested upon her torn skirts as she stared upward.
    Indeed, he was coming. The Silver Hawk, as they called him.
    He was clad in black from head to toe, his shirt seemed to be of black silk; his frockcoat, silver-threaded, was black brocade. His boots, thigh high, were black, as were his skintight breeches. A black hat with silver eagle plumes rested upon his head. A full set of neatly trimmed silver-and-black whiskers covered his chin. A black mustache curled stylishly upon his lip.
    And for all of his elegance of dress, he moved upon the ropes with skill and speed and uncanny ease. In seconds, he was upon the deck, and before his boots struck wood, he was engaged in battle.
    “Surrender, me hearties, and leave me the prize. Your choice, messieurs, to die!” he called, his deep voice a thunder that challenged the sky, that challenged the very tempest of the day.
    Pirates stepped back, and pirates stepped forward. The proud old-timer met and defied him first, and lay down so quickly and silently to die that Skye barely saw the battle.
    She saw his blade, the silver blade of the Silver Hawk, and she saw the striking, magical grace with which he leaped and danced and moved then upon the deck. No man challenged him alone. They came against him in groups, a pair first, a trio when they fell. And through it all, Skye watched in amazement, unaware of her danger.
    Until more of his men came upon the deck. Until fighting erupted all around her once again.
    “Take hostages of the crew!” came a shout, and Skye was aware that the deep, commanding voice belonged to the pirate, the Silver Hawk.
    “Hawk, I’ll kill you!” One-Eyed Jack roared out.
    “Valiant words, Jack! Match the action to them!” the Hawk retorted.
    And the men met with a vicious clash of steel. The fighting, all around Skye, was suddenly fast and furious once again.
    The blond youth swung around abruptly, his face a mask of fury. Skye, startled, raised her sword