Only With Your Love Read Online Free PDF Page B

Cap’n.”
    “Nay, I’ll do it without a show.”
    Without another word, Griffin turned and walked to the center of the room, where the crowd had cleared away a tight circle. The one Risk had called Pounce, a tall, solidly built man with a hideously slashed cheek, stepped forward.
    The din of encouragements, threats, and excited cheers exploded into a frenzy. Terrified by the noise and animosity that thickened the air, Celia leaped to her feet, knocking over her chair. Driven by instinct, she backed away from the ferocious crowd, and felt an obstruction behind her heels. Unceremoniously she fell into Risk’s lap. He had tripped her again.
    “Big feet,” he said, answering her glare with an innocent smile. “Always in the way.”
    She tried to push herself off his knee, but he kept his arm around her waist. Although he was slim, there was a resilient steeliness in his limbs. “’Tis me duty to keep ye here,” he remarked pleasantly. “Don’t fear I’ll maul ye with these scaly paws, darlin’. Ye’re a sweet temptation, sure…but I know too well that Griffin would start in on me after finishing with Pounce.”
    And truthfully, his hold on her was far more impersonal than any other man’s so far. Celia forced her muscles to unclench. “Poor mite,” Risk said, noticing the cracked surface of her lips. “How long since ye last had water to drink?”
    “I-I do not remember,” she said in her uncertain English.
    “We’ll fix ye after the broil’s over. Vagabond ’s got a first-rate cook, serves up grub that won’t sour in yer belly.”
    She did not even try to decipher what he had just said. “Your captain…will he lose maybe?”
    “Oh, Griffin nivver loses. He’s kin to the divvil an’ fights twice as mean.”
    She looked at Risk curiously. His appearance was almost civilized compared to the others in the room. His hair was cropped short, completely unlike Griffin’s wild locks. In spite of the ruined eye and the black patch, his clean-boned face was far from ugly. He was a young man, perhaps even her age. “Why does he do this?” she asked. “What does he want with me?”
    “That’s for the cap’n to say. But know this, ye’ll be better off with Griffin than Legare.”
    She stared at him bitterly. For a moment she could not think of the right words in English, and then she formed a reply. “You cannot know for certainly.”
    “For certainly I do,” Risk said, and laughed. He lifted her off his knee and stood up. “Come, darlin’, let’s have a look at the fight.”
    Celia didn’t know how he could see anything with the room in such an uproar. They were all animals bellowing coarsely, with threatening fists and bloodlust on their faces. Occasionally there was a break in the crowd and she caught sight of the flashing of knives in the shifting circle. Risk did not bother to restrain a few vigorous shouts of his own. She strained away from him, but his arm was firm around her waist, and his guard did not slacken.
    Pounce was a hulking giant, with a shaggy mane of dirty brown hair. Griffin ducked underneath the arc of a knife swing and aimed a kick at his midsection. As his opponent tumbled to the ground, Griffin launched himself forward. A booted foot caught him squarely in the chest, andhe let out his breath as he hurtled over Pounce’s head. Rolling as soon as he hit the ground, Griffin scrambled to his feet. They faced each other once more, breathing heavily, their clothes soaked with sweat.
    “The great Captain Griffin,” Pounce muttered. “When I finish with you, you’ll be nothing but a smear on the floor.”
    Griffin did not reply, his blue eyes focused intently on the man’s scarred, mocking face.
    Pounce attacked with a series of knife thrusts, and Griffin leaped backward several times to avoid the bite of the blade. Shifting their weight with lightning speed, the opponents advanced and retreated in a fight that proved to be a game of balance. Griffin blocked one deep drive