Smuggler's Kiss Read Online Free PDF

I wondered how they were all accommodated on this ship. It did not seem to be especially large. Almost all of the men were uncouth and dirty. They looked a low bunch of ruffians to me. I was relieved I’d not seen sooner the kind of scum that were deciding my fate.
    ‘Right then, men,’ said the skipper loudly. ‘The coast is in sight. Let’s make ready.’
    I was weak with relief; so relieved, in fact, that the prospect of collaborating with a crew of common criminals didn’t horrify me as much as it perhaps ought to have done. I just covered my face with my hands and fought the tears that wanted to surface.
    They left me a few minutes in peace as men bustled around me calling out about ‘reefing’, ‘winding’, ‘hauling sail’, and ‘dropping sail’. Then Jacob touched me lightly on the shoulder.
    I dropped my hands and looked up at him. ‘Come and get a bite to eat,’ he said. ‘That’ll put some heart in you.’
    He shambled ahead of me to the galley, a tall giant in shabby, patched clothing. I could smell the crisp, rich scents of bacon and coffee and realized I was starving. When Jacob brought me out a mug of bitter black coffee and a hunk of bread and bacon, I fell on it gratefully.
    ‘That’s right. Eat up!’ said Jacob in a satisfied voice. ‘So thin and pale you are. You need fresh air and good food, I reckon.’
    I refrained from telling him that fresh air was highly injurious to a lady’s complexion, for I sensed he was trying to be kind, uncouth and common though he was. And he had saved my life. He’d done it in a roundabout way, as though he scarcely knew what he was doing. I couldn’t make up my mind whether he had some native cunning or whether he really was simple and had made a lucky suggestion.
    The coffee tasted fiery, and I guessed it had been laced with some unfamiliar liquor. Something nudged at my ankle and I looked down to see a black-and-white cat winding itself around my leg, meowing. I threw it a scrap of rind which it swallowed greedily.
    ‘I’ve never been at sea before,’ I told Jacob. He was standing next to me, arms folded. He looked about him with a contented smile.
    ‘It’s a grand life,’ he said simply. ‘You’re going to love it.’
    I didn’t answer him, having a mouthful of bacon and not being sure what to say. Was I really going to stay aboard this ship with all these dreadful men?
    ‘It was the best I could do, see,’ said Jacob unexpectedly. ‘If I’d have pleaded to let you go, they’d likely have put you to bed in the sea. But you remind me … Well, to tell you the truth, you remind me of the daughter I lost to the scarlet fever. I wanted to protect you. I hope you can make the best of it.’
    I was startled. He had known what he was doing. I hadn’t imagined he could harbour so much intelligence inside such a rough exterior. The mention of his daughter stirred a little unexpected pity in me.
    ‘But how long are you expecting to keep me here?’ I asked, my voice sharp to mask the sudden confusion of my thoughts. ‘The rest of my life?’
    Jacob grinned, a slow, cheerful grin. ‘We’re just keeping you and us safe. And how long you stay’ll depend, won’t it? On how well you win their trust an’ liking. You ain’t home and dry yet.’
    He got up on the words and went back to work on the sails. I watched him. Win the trust of cut-throats and criminals? Of rough, working men who thwarted the law and cheated the king? My mind struggled with the concept. In my world, the working class treated me with obsequious respect. They did my bidding and performed tasks for me. They did not question my right to be superior to them, nor did they question my word. And I certainly didn’t have to consider their feelings or what they thought of me.
    But now I was being asked to gain their liking, and to work to get their trust. I’d never worked in my life. That was something the lower orders did. And to try hard to please them ! It was