Lord of Devil Isle Read Online Free PDF Page A

realized her state. She crossed her arms over her chest. “Very well, Captain. Let us remove to your cabin immediately.”
    She followed him down the companionway. He held the hatch open for her and gave her a casual leg, a much less elegant gesture than his first mate had sketched for the women.
    If wrestling a shark wasn’t enough to impress this woman, Nick couldn’t imagine what would.

Chapter Four
    Eve Upshall breezed past him into his sanctuary and lifted his greatcoat from its peg without waiting for his help. After she donned it, her sharp eyes swept his cabin. Like everything on the Susan Bell, it was spartan, but he was proud of it.
    The small cabin held a narrow bed along one wall. A table that doubled as space for both his mess and a working desk was screwed to the floor in the center of the cabin. An oil lamp swung from one of the low beams. A row of windows canted over the stern, giving Nick a sweeping view of where he’d been. A narrow shelf held his charts and instruments and a few precious books that filled his infrequent idle moments at sea.
    “Please, have a seat.” He offered her the only chair in the room. In the lamplight, he noticed that her bedraggled dark hair had auburn highlights.
    He’d always fancied redheads.
    He reached over to brush an errant lock off her cheek, but she shied like a whipped pup.
    “Easy, lass,” he said, as he tucked the strand behind her ear. Her cheek was soft, but lightly grained with salt from her time in the sea. “Check your bearings. You’re safe now.”
    Nicholas opened his sea trunk and pulled out a dry shirt. He thought about offering her one, but she’d been given an opportunity to find dry clothes and dismissed it. Besides, she was now thoroughly engulfed inhis heavy oilskin coat. Pity. He’d have enjoyed the show till the muslin dried.
    “I’m deeply grateful for your assistance this night, and in truth, I’ve never seen such a reckless display of courage. Nevertheless,” she said primly, “you owe me an apology, Captain.”
    “Indeed? For what offense?”
    Her cheeks flamed. “For kissing me without permission.”
    He laughed. “That was hardly a kiss, lass. It just seemed a shame to waste a pair of lips at the time.”
    He considered her for a moment. Fashion favored a little pink bow of a mouth, but this wench’s red lips were a wide, full ribbon, slanting sensually across her oval face.
    Nick decided little pink bows were overrated.
    He leaned forward, bracing himself on the arms of her chair. “Now this,” he said simply, “is a kiss.”
    She opened her mouth to protest, but it only made his job easier. He slanted his lips over hers, capturing her with ease. She was rigid with surprise at first, but he expected that. He also fully expected the way her mouth softened under his in the next heartbeat. Her lips were dusted with sea salt, but he slid his tongue past them to search out the honey inside.
    Damn, she was sweet. She made some noises, but they didn’t sound like the usual moans of pleasure he coaxed from Magdalen. He tried to tease her tongue into chasing his back into his mouth, but she played coy.
    Her hands found his chest, raking her nails across his skin.
    Encouraged, he deepened the kiss.
    And then the little minx grasped a few of the dark hairs that whorled around his nipples and yanked them out!
    “Ow!” He jerked away from her, rubbing his chest.
    “The next time you force something into my mouth without my permission, I will bite it off,” she promised with an evil glare.
    Even fully enraged, she was a damned fetching bit of muslin. His stiff cock was wholly undeterred by the stinging spot of skin on his chest that was now bare as a baby’s butt.
    “Do you make a habit of trying to maim the men who save your life?” he demanded.
    “Only those who seem to think a heartfelt thank-you is insufficient gratitude.” She refolded her hands in her lap. “Captain, I ask for your promise that in the future you will