Once a Pirate Read Online Free PDF

you supply me with food and water.”
    “Prisoner of war? Is that what you think you are?”
    Squaring her shoulders, she nodded curtly.
    Andrew drew back in surprise. He’d expected tears but had seen none, only a fleeting, haunted vulnerability, now gone. In its place was the unflinching resolve of a fighter facing impossible odds. A position he knew all too well.
    A rush of tenderness and respect for Richard’s betrothed caught him off-guard. Recoiling at the unaccustomed sensation, he snapped, “This is most disagreeable behavior, Lady Amanda. You are far too old to cry over milk and biscuits.”
    Before she could fire off another volley of nonsense, he turned to his steward. “I’ll see you on the deck, Mr. Gibbons.”
    Andrew strolled from the cabin to the deck and headed toward the bow, port side. He’d give the chit an hour or two to ponder her empty belly before having Willoughby prepare her meal. Halfway to his destination, a voice interrupted his thoughts.
    “Sir!”
    Andrew halted, one brow raised in question. “Yes, Mr. Gibbons?”
    “’Tis not right to torture a high-born lady.” Gibbons’s voice carried clear across the deck. Andrew looked around to see who had heard.
    “I—”
    “The men will not stand for it,” Gibbons went on. “She’s a lady.”
    “Mr. Gibbons—”
    “No man on this ship shall torture any soul, highborn lady or no,” a voice said. It was Cuddy, who must have heard and come over to join the rather one-sided discussion. “Have you heard a man speak of doing so, Mr. Gibbons?”
    “Aye.” Gibbons removed his hat, bowed his head. “The cap’n. He refuses to feed Lady Amanda, though the lass is hungry.”
    Andrew rolled his eyes and rested his palm on the ivory hilt of his dagger.
    Cuddy looked him over with a good deal of disbelief. “Now, where would Gibbons get such a notion, sir? That’s
torture!”
    Before Andrew had the chance to reply, a whoop of delight interrupted him. Theo, the cabin boy, shimmied down a mast and landed lightly before them.
    “Torture? Have you sighted Lord Paxton’s other vessel?” the boy asked eagerly. “After we sink the ship, will we hang the men or feed them to the sharks?”
    Andrew uttered a weary groan. “No one is to be hanged or tortured, Theodore.”
    Gibbons brightened. “Ah, I knew you would cometo your senses, sir.” He inclined his head toward Theo. “Cap’n intended to torture Lady Amanda.”
    Theo’s eyes opened wide.
    “Wasn’t going to give the lass any food,” Cuddy chimed in.
    Andrew gripped the handle of his dagger with a white-knuckled fist. “I am merely administering discipline, which the chit sorely lacks.”
    Gibbons brows drew together in anger. “The lady needs a meal more than she needs discipline.”
    “She has eaten today, has she not?” Cuddy inquired.
    “She’s a wee bit of a thing,” Gibbons added. “She needs meat on her bones else she’ll blow away with the trades.”
    The entire matter had sailed out of control. His sole intent had been to goad the wench.
    Andrew sauntered to the railing. From there, he turned and faced his men. “She’s too big for her breeches. A little hunger will do no more than whittle her down to size, so to speak.”
    Cuddy threw his head back and laughed.
    Unappreciative of his friend’s mirth, Andrew scowled. They’d served on the same ships, fought side by side, caroused and shared countless bottles of spirits. Their years together had given Cuddy the uncanny advantage of being able to read Andrew’s thoughts. He wondered what his friend thought he knew.
    Cuddy joined him, standing shoulder to shoulder against the railing. With his thumb, he bumped his tarpaulin hat back on his head and scratched his thatch of prematurely silvered hair. “Go on, feed her, Andrew,” he said under his breath. “Why try to break her spirit? What will that gain you?”
    Andrew had no answer. In the space of a single day,the woman had driven him half mad. When he