Seduced by a Pirate Read Online Free PDF

with the muscled brute he appeared to be, but of course there was no way that strength could compensate for a partially missing limb.
    “Please,” she said quickly, “do sit down. I know it must be very difficult to manage your balance.”
    He looked at her through absurdly long lashes. Really, if he weren’t so monstrously large, he would be attractive, the way laborers sometimes were.
    For a moment she thought he hadn’t understood her, but at last he sank back into his seat.
    His associate backed against the wall and remained there. One hardly noticed a footman standing at the ready, but this fellow had a distinct air of menace, evoked by the fearsome scar across his chin. The hairs on the back of her neck prickled at the very idea of such a man under her roof.
    Once Sir Griffin arrived, she would have words with him about sending such a pair of reprobates to greet her, even though it was considerate of him to send advance notice. She truly appreciated that.
    “Please tell me what I can do for you,” she said, spacing the words slowly. “I understand that Sir Griffin Barry has returned to the country.” She hesitated and then plunged in. “Are you here to inform me of his imminent arrival?”
    “Something like that,” he replied. His voice was deep and lovely, like water on stones. “Do you suppose the boy would like to join us?” He nodded behind her.
    She turned and saw the tip of Colin’s sword poking out from behind the bricks. “Colin Barry, I told you to stay with Nanny,” she scolded.
    The blond man stared at Colin with his brows furrowed. She did not allow people to scowl at her children, and she gave him a look that told him to stop it, this minute .
    Really, the man seemed a bit thick. Naturally, Colin hadn’t paid her the slightest mind; he was edging toward them for all the world as if she might not notice his disobedience.
    “Is this your son?” the man asked. ’Twas an impertinent question from a total stranger, unless perhaps he was a foreigner—yet he sounded English.
    “He is indeed,” she said, putting some severity into her tone. “I am disappointed to say that he is quite naughty.”
    “Ah, but he’s a pirate,” the man said. “Pirates are naughty.”
    Phoebe took another deep breath. “Should I assume, sir, that you speak from experience?”
    “Retired,” he said solemnly.
    Colin was at her side now. “I’m not retired,” he said, his voice coming out in a near bellow. “I’m going to spend my life sailing the seven seas.”
    “How old are you?” the man asked.
    Colin pushed out his chest. “Five and a half. Almost six, really.”
    Phoebe wrapped an arm around him and kissed his hair. “He turned five a couple of weeks ago.”
    “I should like to speak to your mother alone for a few minutes,” the man said.
    Colin obeyed him instantly and moved to the far end of the courtyard; given his usual disinclination to listen to whatever she had to say, this was profoundly vexing.
    Still, it probably showed an instinct for self-preservation that she was glad to see in her child.
    The servant stepped away from the wall. “Perhaps the young master and I could stroll down to the lake,” he suggested.
    Phoebe gave him a searching look. His nose had been broken at some point, and his face was marred by a flower design near his eye, not to mention the scar. A single sentence was all she had to hear to know he’d grown up in the East End of London.
    But she’d made it her business to stop judging people by superficialities like accent and appearance. There was kindness in his eyes, almost as if he were laughing inside. “What is your name?” she asked.
    The blond man planted his cane to stand, but she touched his sleeve lightly. “Please, sir, do not bestir yourself.”
    She turned back to the servant and held out her hand as her mother had taught her to do. “Ladies curtsy,” her mother had said. “Women of worth and value shake hands. Without gloves. And even with