Read Online Souls Aflame by Patricia Hagan - Free Book Online Page A

you still plead for his life, or would you be demanding his death?”
    She shook her head, blinking back the hot tears of frustration. “I don’t know. I just wish none of this had happened. Please, just leave me alone.”
    But he made no move to leave. She jerked the blankets all the way up over her head and lay very still. She could feel him staring at her. When he did speak, she was stunned.
    “There’s no denying you have a lovely body.”
    She threw back the blankets and stared incredulously at him. Then she realized it was dawn at last, and the cabin was light enough for her to see him and make out his features. She was startled to find him handsome. His hair was dark, the color of rich, warm coffee. Long, thick lashes fringed eyes as black as the murky swamp waters of the Savannah marshes.
    He was quite muscular, with brawny arms and shoulders. The shirt he wore was open to the waist, and his chest was covered with thick, curly hair that trailed down to his waist and seemed to ripple with each breath he drew.
    Her eyes moved downward to tight pants stretched across strong, hard thighs. She sensed something quite fascinating about him, his lips slanted in a mocking smile, the long, straight nose with nostrils that flared ominously, the penetrating gaze as though he could see to the very depths of her soul. He looked dangerous and feral, and despite her determination not to be intimidated by this man, she fought the impulse to wither beneath his almost impudent stare. He exuded strength, as though he could easily crush the breath of life from a man with his bare hands.
    Finally she found her voice once again, and choked out her indignant reaction. “How dare you say such a thing?”
    He smiled lazily. “From where I stood last night, even I could appreciate such a fine figure of a woman. And I understand Harky tore your clothes, exposing you for everyone else to see…”
    He moved quickly, like the sleek black panther she had once glimpsed in the swamps. He was beside her, and she shrank back into the mattress as he towered above her. “I knew you’d have green eyes,” he murmured, “as green as the cold, dark currents of the deepest waters. But I see a fire in them, a warmth, and when your passion is aroused, I’ll wager they blaze like the sea at sunrise.”
    She could only stare at him, her lips parting and closing in surprise.
    He chuckled. “You think me some kind of monster, don’t you? I have my men beaten, keelhauled, and I possess the power to take their lives. You find all this repugnant. That shows the stupidity of women. You’ve no knowledge of how brutal and dominant a captain must be to run his ship and keep his men under control.”
    “I…I don’t find you anything,” she said nervously, not liking his nearness, the way his eyes kept moving over her as though she were naked. “You’re nothing to me. I wish you would just go away—”
    “But what about Harky?”
    There was that mocking smile once more. He drew on his pipe thoughtfully, then set it aside on the desk. He took a deep breath, and the hairs on his chest rippled once more. “I will tell you what I intend to do. I’ll have him kept in chains till you decide his fate. Since you’re the one who was attacked, and you seem to find my methods of punishment so harsh, then you will be judge and jury. Do you find that fair?”
    “Fair?” She sputtered angrily, “I want no part of it. I only want to be left alone. I can assure you I won’t go on deck again till we reach Bermuda, when I’ll gladly take my leave of this ship. Until then, I want nothing to do with you or your men, and that includes your officers. I’ll take my meals in my cabin, and—”
    But he was not listening to her outburst. He moved closer, his arms wrapping about her to pull her against him, his lips crushing down upon hers.
    For an instant she was so stunned by his movements that she could do nothing but lie there, frozen. His lips were warm, teasing,