Sarah's Pirate Read Online Free PDF Page A

the whole nearly besting him part. Hell, she moved faster than anyone he'd ever seen.
    He watched the faces of several of his men, and judged by their reactions that the scrap of lace she barely wore had ridden up her legs, exposing her ass to their salivating attention. One pirate even caressed his obvious erection as he slowly moved towards them. A little worried that the show was getting out of hand and would create the exact situation he was trying to avoid, he bent and hoisted her over his shoulder, her bare ass exposed to their audience. He slapped her hard, the noise reverberating around the hallway as she stopped wriggling and growled her annoyance. He slapped her again as he stepped into the room and quickly closed the door on their audience. Harsh male laughter flowed through the door as it slid across.
    He stalked to the bed and dropped her roughly onto the mattress, angry at her for attacking him, but more irate at himself for not anticipating it. He was truly pissed off, of course, that she’d moaned in arousal the second time he’d smacked her. Even now, her cream rolled down the smooth flesh of her thighs. The sweet scent of her arousal sure wasn’t helping his peace of mind.
    She scrambled to the other side of the bed and pressed herself against the wall, her anxiety seeming to override her body’s sensual reaction as he stood and glared at her.
    “Don’t look at me like that,” he growled, annoyed at himself for caring how she looked at him. He’d set this up to protect her, but he didn’t expect a thank you.
    She watched him warily as her eyes darted around the room, no doubt selecting objects to brain him with. He released his breath with a loud whoosh, suddenly more tired than he could ever remember. He turned and walked over to his desk, loosened the top button of his jumpsuit and slid the zipper part way down. What he wanted was another cold beer and about twelve hours worth of solid sleep, but with his fiery house guest he wasn’t going to hold out too much hope.
    He heard her whimper behind him and he turned to see true fear flash across her face just before she managed to hide it behind a sarcastic sneer. Acting on instinct, he crossed the room to sit on the edge of the bed.
    “Sweetheart,” he said softly. “I’m not going to attack you. I just had to make the crew believe that so that you’d be safe from them for a while. As long as they think they might get their chance later, they’ll leave you alone. I just haven’t figured out how to get you out of here yet.”
    She couldn’t hide the relief on her face and the tears that she’d held in check in the midst of her terror tipped over her eyelids and slid down her face.
    “I’m sorry if I scared you, but I was running out of time and had no way of telling you beforehand,” he said, stretching the truth just a little. It hadn’t really occurred to him that she would be genuinely frightened of him. He’d honestly expected her to kick him in the balls and laugh as they turned blue. He supposed that they’d both misread each other.
    “Hey,” he said softly. “Please don’t cry.” He reached over to her, breathing a relieved sigh when she didn’t flinch from his touch. He smoothed a callused finger carefully over her cheek. She whimpered again and gulped air into her lungs, words obviously impossible.
    Unable to control his protective instincts anymore, he grabbed her under the arms, hauled her onto his lap, and pressed her face against his heart as he rocked her back and forth. She clung to him as she slowly regained control, her tears no longer flowing quite so fast.
    “I’m sorry,” she mumbled as she burrowed deeper into his arms, her own slender arms wrapped tightly around his waist.
    “Sweetheart,” he said, “I’m the one who’s sorry. I wish I’d handled that very differently. I’m sorry for putting you through that.”
    She sagged against him, exhaustion seeming to claim her as she finished crying. He