Too Great a Temptation Read Online Free PDF Page A

at least, enough time to convince her pigheaded brothers she’d make as good a pirate as any of them.
     
    The Bonny Meg sliced through the black, velvety ocean.
    Damian stood at the stern, hunched over the rail. He watched the bubbling waves, mesmerized.
    A woman aboard ship? He had never heard of anything so daft. Who could think with a stunning siren strutting across deck? Not Damian, that was for sure. Warm blood rushed through his veins at the thought of Mirabelle. She was a bloody temptation. And she would destroy him if he wasn’t careful. Just a short while ago she had said his name, and like an adolescent mooncalf he’d been completely bewitched. He had paused right in the middle of the deck—an obedient sailor heeding the siren’s enchanting call.
    Bloody idiot. Any more mishaps like that, and he was bound to find himself in the frothing water. If the brothers suspected he had any wicked intentions toward their sister, he’d be tossed overboard.
    “Damian?”
    She had a sultry voice. One that stirred the carnal heat in his belly. A sudden vision gripped him, an image of her lush and bare body writhing beneath him, as she cried out his name again and again in wanton desire.
    Damian closed his eyes, banishing the erotic dream. “Yes, Belle?” Her name did her justice. She really was beautiful. Too beautiful.
    “The captain wants to speak with you.”
    “About what?”
    “Our course, I suspect.”
    He glimpsed at her sidelong. She had a dry wit…and a devastating figure. Curse it, why was the woman here? It just didn’t make any sense, the peculiar family union. To risk the welfare of one’s own sister on the treacherous sea? The captain seemed the strict sort, certainly not the kind of man to allow any frivolity or a laxness of rules. So what the devil was she doing here?
    Damian crammed the lustful yearnings deep down inside him. “How long have you been a member of the crew?”
    She paused for a moment. “Not long. Why?”
    “It’s unusual to have a woman aboard ship.”
    “There’s nothing wrong with my being here,” she said, a tightness in her voice. “You’re the intruder, remember?”
    “I was asked to join the crew.”
    “For one voyage. Don’t get too comfortable here.”
    He had ruffled her feathers. For some peculiar reason, he liked the thought of that. And he wasn’t sure why. Feisty females had repulsed him in the past. He had always preferred an obedient woman, one to satisfy his carnal appetite. But the spark in Mirabelle was oddly fascinating. And that was treacherous. He could not let her stir his dormant demons of lust. He had a mission to complete.
    To soothe her temper—and the heat in his belly—he deftly inquired, “What happened to the previous navigator?”
    “Thomas?” She snorted. “Love drove him to shore.”
    “Love?”
    She propped her hip against the rail and crossed her arms under her splendid breasts. “So it would seem. Thomas had a ladybird in port, one he visited each time the ship moored. He hadn’t seen her for a few months, though. Imagine his surprise when he came to call and she had a squalling infant in her arms.”
    A surprise indeed. Even more of a surprise was Mirabelle’s candor. She behaved like a man, coolly chatting over delicacies like a mistress and a by-blow. Something a dainty maid would never do…
    “Thomas decided to do the gentlemanly thing and marry the wench,” she said.
    There was enough emphasis on “gentlemanly” that Damian recognized the sarcasm. What, she didn’t believe in love? That was odd for a woman. And speaking of odd…
    “You speak your mind most freely,” he murmured.
    “Shouldn’t I?”
    He delved deep into her catlike eyes. “It’s not something a proper miss would do.”
    Did she just shiver? He couldn’t be sure. He was too enraptured by the shimmering strands of her honey blond hair lilting in the wind. Like streaks of moonbeams, he mused.
    “And what do you know of a proper miss,