The Rogue Pirate’s Bride Read Online Free PDF Page A

credit. She was fighting like a hooked shark. She clawed, bit, kicked, and bucked. One of her knees came perilously close to his balls, and he’d had enough. He pushed her arms down viciously and rose over her until he was straddling her. “Look at me.”
    She continued to fight, her black hair flying about her face. He squeezed his knees into her side and pushed her arms down again. “Look at me, little hellion!”
    She stiffened in midflail and glared at him. He could see the hate in her eyes—deep hatred, something that went much farther back than anything he’d done in the past few moments.
    “Calm down.”
    “Get. Off. Me.”
    “I will. If you calm down.”
    She clenched her jaw. “I’ll calm down if you get off me.”
    “ Mon Dieu , but you are impossible.”
    “This is only the beginning.”
    He shook his head. “Don’t tempt me, ma belle . I like a challenge as much as you do.”
    “What challenge? If you want to kill me, then do it. I’d rather die than bear your touch a moment longer.”
    He raised a brow. It was the first time a woman had ever said such to him, and it was a bit disheartening. “I think I could persuade you otherwise.”
    She rolled her eyes. “I’m swooning with passion. Go ahead and try to rape me. You’ll regret it.”
    Now he was truly offended. Rape her? Who the hell did she think he was? “I’m insulted, chérie . I have no intention of raping you.”
    She glanced down at the juncture where their bodies met, and he had the sudden realization that he was hard. He shrugged. “You’re an attractive woman. I can’t control that.”
    “Get off me, pirate!”
    But now he was aware of his reaction—and really his attraction to her had been simmering for some time—he had the urge to test it. What would it feel like to kiss her? To tame that defiant mouth and make it bend to his will? He leaned closer.
    “No!” She turned her head to the side. “Get off!”
    “One kiss. If you don’t like it, I’ll release you.”
    “Release me?” She sounded too hopeful.
    “To begin your duties as cabin girl.”
    She sighed and rolled her eyes. “You might as well let go now.”
    “Wait.” He trailed a finger over the palm of one of the hands he held captive. “If you do like it—”
    “I won’t.”
    “ If you do, then you follow my orders without further argument.”
    She stared directly at him, those green eyes intent. “Fine.”
    He blinked. “Fine?” Her quick compliance made him uneasy.
    “Yes, fine. Hurry up and kiss me.”
    “Hurry up…” He shook his head. “ Ma belle , I do not kiss that way. A kiss should be soft and slow and—”
    “Are you going to talk, pirate, or kiss?”
    He laughed in spite of himself. She was constantly surprising him. In answer to her question, he bent and brushed his lips over hers.
    “No, not impressed.” She shook her head. “You may release me now.”
    He frowned at her. “That wasn’t the kiss.”
    “Your lips touched mine. That was it.”
    “No.” He leaned down, but she turned her head away.
    “The agreement was one kiss. This is two.”
    “ Merde , but you are exasperating.”
    “I resent—”
    He closed his mouth over hers, effectively silencing her. Her lips were tense in protest, but he forced them open. He was tired of her games, tired of the push and pull. He would show her who was in control. This would not be a soft, slow kiss, but one that demanded her submission. Her lips finally parted, and he dipped his tongue inside her mouth, twining it with hers, overwhelming her resistance.
    She tasted surprisingly sweet. If her hair had smelled like cherries, her mouth was more of the same. Ripe. Dark. And a little tart. No surprise, as she had spirit, what the English called pluck. It maddened and drew him. Even now, as she fought his kiss, he alternately wanted to tame and free her.
    But taming won. His body thrummed as his lips slanted over hers again and again, kissing her deeply and without mercy. Finally,