Lost Honor Read Online Free PDF Page A

sailing.”
    “Now I think he is ready for a change. I could replace him.”
    As her eagerness washed over him, a lead ball dropped into his gut. He had thought compassion lay in her inner core, but she was like every greedy female, thinking only of herself. He would treat her with the same respect she showered on everyone else. Very little. His voice dripped with disgust. “I will never replace him. I think it is time for you to straighten this room, starting with my books.”
    “But we haven’t settled anything.”
    “We have. Apparently, you haven’t been listening, little stowaway.” He pointed at the bookcase.
    “Not to my satisfaction. And my name is Arianna.”
    “Well, Arianna, you are to clean my room, dress as a female, and if you want duties, I can think of a few urges you can take care of.”
    ****
    She spun away, refusing to press further. Especially when she knew what those duties he spoke of entailed. It was the only thing men ever desired from a woman. She snatched up the books one by one and shoved them in the bookcase.
    “They are to be arranged alphabetically, according to the author’s last name. You can read, can’t you?
    “Yes,” she bit out.
    He was infuriating. She longed to throw one of the books at his head. She yanked them off the shelf and slammed them on the table. The resounding thud filled her with satisfaction.
    “Easy with them. They may mean nothing to you, but they are precious to me.”
    More precious than humans, since he handled them with more care. She glared at him, and as she did so, she again noticed even though he complained about her disregard of his novels, he didn’t sit and read all day. When he had gripped her arms and slapped her buttocks, she experienced the strength in his hands, and when he carried her over his shoulder, she felt the power in his muscles as they bunched and roiled. Fire filled her face. She fought to subdue it before he spied her distress.
    His was a fit body much larger than hers that could be used to crush or harm or kill. When he confronted her on the upper deck, rage radiated from him, and fear filled her. With no friends, relatives, or alliances on this ship, she was vulnerable to his whims. Although more capable than most women, she was just that, a woman with few defenses against a strong, menacing male. But though he could have injured her in a number of ways, he had not laid a brutal hand on her, except to drag her down to his cabin. He had yelled, demanded, and scolded, but not beaten her.
    Concentrating on the documents strewn across his desk, he didn’t realize she watched him as he examined a paper with a frown and then placed it on one of three piles. She really was sorry she had made such a mess, but he had forced her to do it.
    That wasn’t true. She could have been more careful, but she had never been a neat person. Her poor maid always grumbled about the disarray she left behind her.
    He suddenly looked up, and she swung her eyes away, but her flesh rippled as his gaze bored into her back. Had he sensed her studying him?
    “If your father owns a shipping company, why did you stowaway on the Sea Dragon ? Were you sent to get information? Is he the one attacking my ships? Is he sabotaging my operation, so he can steal customers from me?”
    “No.” She whirled to face him. “My papa would never do that or ask it of me. He is a man of integrity.” Even if he was a tad superior and refused to listen to reason. Similar to Captain Danvers.
    Those suspicious, inquisitive eyes framed by long lashes that had been heating her back now caught her eyes and attempted to burrow deep within her soul to seek out lies or secrets. She glanced away, refusing to allow him or any man access to her inner being and thoughts.
    “He would not allow me to sail once I turned twelve, no matter how much I pleaded. Staying at home was unbearable, so I finally made a plan to hide in an empty hogshead to be loaded on my brother’s ship. Somehow it