Read Online The Rogue's Surrender (The Nelson's Tea Series Book 3) by Katherine Bone - Free Book Online Page B

have a strange way of showing it.” Held against Seaton’s solid wall of a chest, she was forced to acknowledge his power over her in ways she couldn’t define.
    “Quit struggling.” His pained snarl caught her off-guard. He held both of her hands in one of his then grabbed her hair, yanking her head back, forcing her to look into his face. “I’ve come to save your life.”
    “My… my life? You have a despicable way of showing it.”
    “Would you prefer to be dead?”

FIVE
    Garrick wanted to slap Senorita Vasquez’s beautifully clothed and perfectly round ruby bombazine derriere as if she was an errant child. He’d made every attempt to be generous and a captain’s orders must be obeyed. The sea, especially the Bay of Biscay, provided a difficult enough hazard to bypass without fear that a woman meant to torch his ship or kill him.
    As much as he strived to fulfill Simon’s directive — bringing both Vasquez children back safely to England — he fought for some semblance of control. Lady Mercedes Vasquez Claremont was almost as dangerous as Delgado had been to him. She’d cut him, ruined his coat, threatened to shoot him and burn him alive. If her gun had discharged, not only could she have killed him, but the gunshot could have ricocheted and ignited the full gunpowder magazine below. Spanish señorita, my foot.
    Devil damn me, I haven’t sailed back into hell to lose the Priory — to a woman.
    Hadn’t he promised Keane to bring the ship back unscathed? He meant to do that very thing even if he had to bind the young Spanish lady’s hands and feet like a lamb on a spit in order to bring her under control. It didn’t matter who she was. What mattered was the evidence she had that would save Melville’s life and getting her back to Simon Danbury alive.
    The journey back to England would take two weeks, providing they could keep the wind at their backs. He grimaced. If today was any indication, the señorita would be lucky to live out one of those weeks.
    Was this what he had to look forward to — her fighting him at every turn? Could he honestly blame her? He’d been held against his will. He understood the doubt and fear coursing through her veins. Was it fair of him to force that same fate on her? His goal had been to explain to the señorita she was in danger, not lay hands on her.
    “Get your hands off me!”
    She made behaving like a hero or a gentleman extremely difficult. If it was the last thing he did, he’d put a stop to her madness.
    “I’ll gladly do so if you promise not to produce another weapon, señorita .”
    Her body began to quiver. She peered up at him, fresh tears streaming down her cheeks. Each drop coiling around his innards like a sly but deadly snake.
    “I. Will. Kill. You. For. This.”
    He gritted his teeth. “I’m already dead. Now—”
    “Let me go.”
    Her words clutched onto pieces of memory. Soon her oval, olive-toned face materialized into that of a seductive gypsy dancer. Esmeralda . He lost himself in defiant eyes that pleaded without success for his help.
    Bile rose in his throat and he swallowed thickly. The blood…
    “Did you hear me?”
    What? Garrick blinked back Esmeralda’s unbearable stare and shook his head until Mercy’s beautiful unblemished face focused.
    “What is wrong with you?” She regarded him suspiciously.
    Mortified that he’d had an episode in front of the woman, he cleared his throat. “You are making this more difficult than it has to be.”
    “ I am making this more difficult? I am not holding you prisoner.”
    Reality hit him like a broadside. He became all too aware of the way her breasts pressed into his chest. “If you will promise to stop trying to kill me, I will release you.”
    Wisps of her hair caressed his face at each shake of her head, igniting his senses. “No. I demand you tell me what you’ve done with Eduardo.”
    “He’s safe.”
    “ Diablo! ” She squirmed in his arms. “What have you done with