The Pirate and the Feisty Maid-- Part One—At His Hand Read Online Free PDF Page B

he’d promised to love her and keep her safe. He’d
promised to never leave her longer than a season, vowing to always
return to her for the winter, fully aware of the difficulties she’d
had as a child, after losing her father to the sea.
    Having grown up around sailors and pirates all her
life, she refused to be just another abandoned woman, never seeing
her man and waiting months or years for his return—if he ever did
make it back. Women and children left to fend for themselves any
way they were able. Well, she’d not join their ranks—especially not
after she’d so narrowly escaped that fate.
    “Och, love. Do ye not think I’d rather be here with
ye? And I ken that I gave ye my word, but I must go, and ‘tis too
dangerous for ye to come along. Besides, ye’ll have Ilsa to keep ye
company while I’m away.”
    She pounded her fist on the table, her fork jumping
off her plate with a clatter, absolutely furious with him—and hurt.
How could he do this to her, especially when he knew how she
worried about him? Especially when he’d given her his word?
    Ronan had only just returned to her, and now he’d be
leaving her behind to worry once again. Not counting the few days
they’d have together before his departure, he’d be gone a year and
a quarter once all was said and done—far more than the season he’d
promised.
    She couldn’t bear it, and her fear and anger got the
best of her. “I curse the day I laid eyes on you, Ronan.”
    She pushed her chair back and headed for the door,
but he was out of his seat and at her side, pulling her into his
embrace before she could make her escape. She struggled to get
free, but her efforts were futile, his strong arm around her waist
like a vise, the nearness of him too much, upset as she was.
    “Sweet Molly, ye ken ye dinna mean that.” She was not
fooled by the sweetness in his voice, for they both knew she was
being bold. Yet with her temper up, she didn’t care of the
consequences.
    She held his gaze, her own fierce, for this was no
longer a game. “If you leave me here alone, I’ll mean every word of
it. Is it not enough that you’re usually gone from March until
October? I’ve never once complained, Ronan, but you’ll be gone well
over a year, what with you only having returned, and I cannot bear
it. And for what?”
    “It’s just the one time, lass.”
    “It’s never just the once, though is it? What’s so
important, it’d have you breaking your promise? Do we not already
have everything we need?” Molly knew Ronan had enough for them to
live well. Did he really need more?
    “Och, lass. I could lose it all and still be the
richest man if I had ye at my side.” His words melted away some of
her anger, so that when he kissed her with a teasing brush of his
lips, her stomach clenched and her heart raced. She couldn’t help
but lean into him, her need to keep him close extinguishing her
anger, only to replace it with desperation. “I love ye Molly.”
    “Then I’m begging you—if you’ll not stay, then take
me with you. I promise not to get in your way. Please, Ronan. I
cannot face the winter without you. I’ll do nothing but worry until
you return, and I swear it’ll be enough to do me in.”
    “Molly… I canna have ye stuck on a ship for months
with those men. Criminals, the whole lot of them.” He ran a
roughened finger down her cheek. “I couldna guarantee yer
safety—nor mine—if I stood in their way. With yer beauty, they’d
knife me for sure if it meant a chance to be with ye.”
    She fisted handfuls of his shirt, and leaned her
forehead against his chest, taking a deep breath to try and calm
herself. “Then they need not know. I’ll happily stay in your cabin
for the entirety of the voyage. You could sneak me onto the ship
before the crew boarded.”
    But already he was shaking his head no, making her
heart shatter. “We’ll be at sea for months, and ye ken how small my
cabin is. Ye’d not survive it, love. But the winter