Seacrets Read Online Free PDF Page B

intrusion of his private property. "Well ya see sir, I was tidyin' the desk area and a rather strong gust of wind from the open pane blew your quill pen under the bunk and, well, I just went to retrieve it and came upon the chess set." Maura spoke so swiftly that all of her words became one muddled sentence. "Was it alright to take it from its hiding place, cap'n?" sounding a bit as though she may have done something wrong.
    "Don't be stupid, boy. Of course it's alright." He shouted in frustration, throwing his hand in the air. "I couldna care less about the confounded chess set."
    Maura had no clue why Daniel would have been so short with her… but Daniel did.
    For the past week he had not been sleeping very well. He kept awakening to th e same frustrating dream he’d experienced on the night before the Arabella left port. Waking, with tears in his eyes and shaking. He was also quite confused about his attentions to this cabin boy . A boy is a boy. Never had he been so over protective or overly generous with any male with regards to getting used to the ways of the sea. It would have been, C'mon lad, pull ya self up by ya bootstraps and be done with it! No, it was more than just being Jeannie's nephew. Of that he was certain, but could not place his finger on what was different. Another disturbing fact was he kept thinking he could smell a female about. Was he going mad? He silently questioned his sanity. I am out to sea but a few weeks and already the omnipresence of women is thus insistent? That usually did not occur until more than half way through a trip. Am I becoming a buggerer of boys? This could not be. He was certain that he still lusted after the fairer sexes, which is why he keeps any and all sensual reading materials away from himself and his men during any long journey. Daniel placed his head in his hands, rubbing his face in frustration.
    Maura instinctively placed a hand upon his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him, though not understanding her own motives.
    Daniel straightened his back against her touch and then let fly an earpiercing shout in her direction. "What the hell do ya do that for, boy! Is it ya way ta be puttin' ya hands on every male that be within two feet o’ ya!"
    Maura jumped back, snatching her hand from his shoulder as if she had just been burned by fire. "N-no, Cap'n", she stammered.
    The thing he hated most was nervous stammering. He glared at her with a contemptuous look.
    "I, I was just wantin' ta try and make ya feel better if ya was sick… with a headache, ‘tis all". Maura had forgotten her self for just a moment and her voice was far too feminine for both their liking.
    "Off with ya now, boy, and fetch the evening meal. I'd like ta get it done, have my bath and get ta bed early. We'll have a long days work ahead of us in the mornin'. Tis time that ya started ta earn ya keep 'round here. No more makin' ya out to be the helpless lass."
    Maura immediately became furious within and began to seethe as if she were embers in a fire. “ Ooo that man, helpless lass, indeed! Why , she thought , I’ll show him I am not helpless if it is the last thing I do on this trip. Mark my words!” With her jaw hardened and her fists clenched Maura stormed out of the cabin, slamming the door behind her.
    Daniel w as left astounded with his mouth agape feeling as though he'd just had a raging argument with a hot headed female. Stunned, he shook his head in disbeleif and asked himself, “Am I going insensible?” Again, that feeling of being around a woman, he could not shake.
     
     
     
    §
     
    Chapter Five
     
    Maura stomped through the gangway, making her route toward the galley. Her pride still stung from Daniel’s careless barbs. So swathed was she, in her anger over his treatment of her, she failed to notice she was being followed.
    Seconds before reaching the galley door, she was pulled into darkness. The shrill scraping sound of metal on metal, followed by the heavy echoed clang of the