Read Online Justified Treason (Endless Horizon Pirate Stories, Book 1) by Cristi Taijeron - Free Book Online Page B

the room to see if he was there. Once I saw him, my heart skipped a beat and I grasped Mary’s arm as I gasped, “That is him.”
    He was standing in the back holding a leather tankard buzzing with his mateys. It was mostly his back facing us, but when he would turn to talk to Faron, we could see a clean profile of his handsome face. I admired the wisp of the feather in his hat and enjoyed the view of his broad shoulders.
    “Oh. He is definitely a fine looking man, Miss Charlotte.”
    Before I had a chance to blush with pride, one of the barmaids put her hand on Sterling’s arm and looked to be flirting with him. The intruding woman was wearing a deep red dress that was embellished with black lace, and her dark hair was pinned up with a feather, but I was most alarmed by her tempting red lips, and the way her bosom busted firmly out of the low chest line of the dress. She was quite stunning and the thought of competing with someone like her cause my heart to sink into my gut.
    Mary held my arm to keep me in place as she attempted to soothe me. “Oh deary, calm down, let’s get closer to listen.”
    She dragged me to the table behind the pillar they stood near, and we wedged close together while we eavesdropped. Mary insisted, “Just wait and see what he does…”
    Through the rowdy volume of the music and the crowd, I couldn’t quite make out the words they spoke to each other, but my heart heated with an awful fire of jealousy as I watched her giggle at something he said. Next thing I knew she was pressing her ridiculous cleavage up against his chest, and as she whispered in his ear I watched him wrap his arms around her waist. I had not ever felt so betrayed.
    Though I had never been in any kind of fist fight, and I had never before been so angry that I wanted to hurt someone, watching that floozy claw all over my man overwhelmed me with a wild urge to run over there and grab her by the hair. Of course I opted to resist my violent impulse, but the surge of outrage continued to rush through my blood as I watched him carry on in conversation with her.
    The music slowed, and in the lull of volume, I heard his words. “I got meself a woman, and she don’t want me money.” He let go of her waist and smirked, “I just came here to drink, so if yer wantin’ so bad to be doin’ something for me, ye can go get me an ale.”
    He laughed at himself but she was hardly amused. In fact, she looked upset as she walked away from him, but I felt as if a bucket of cool water was poured over my firing blood, and I exhaled my worries as my nerves numbed with relief.
    Mary rubbed my arm and smiled, “Awe, I think he loves you too, Miss Charlotte.”
    “Shall we go talk to him, Mary?”
    “Well, we did not come here to watch the filthy wenches.”
    Suddenly I felt extremely awkward for attempting to approach him in a bar that I shouldn’t even be in. I led Mary to the table across from where he stood with his friends, and told Mary we would just watch them until he noticed me. She agreed with the notion and as the band picked back up, we relaxed and watched Faron tell his over dramatized tale. I could tell Sterling was feeding his exaggeration as he asked questions from behind his mug, and once Pete picked up on the story he started reenacting the amusing details with Faron. Looking over at Mary to laugh, I realized she was watching Faron with an awestruck gaze. I whispered, “He sure is handsome isn’t he, Mary?”
    Before she could respond, Sterling came plowing over in my direction. He lifted me out of my chair and basically attacked me with his sloppy embrace. He started kissing on my neck as if I were one of his common bar trollops, so I put my hand on his face and shoved him away from me. He laughed from behind my hand and playfully bit at my palm as he pulled me closer to his chest. “At first glance I thought ye were a beautiful woman, second time I thought I must be dreaming because ye looked just like my Charlotte,