Once a Pirate (Mystical Realm Series Book 1) by Sarah Snyder Read Free Book Online

he didn’t want Anna thinking beyond this time with him.
    “Far away,” Anna answered, a sad coolness settling over her features.
    “How did you come to be so far from them?” Jake asked, suddenly cautious of his questioning. He was curious of the woman, but didn’t want to probe too deeply and ruin the small bit of progress he’d made with her.
    “It wasn’t my choice,” Anna revealed.
    “You wish to return,” Jake didn’t form the words as a question, but Anna nodded anyway. “Why not go?”
    “I can’t,” Anna mumbled.
    “Is someone keeping you here?” Jake felt an enraged tension forming in his limbs. If the woman was being held in Meridelle against her will, Jake would find those responsible.
    “No,” Anna shook her head slowly.
    “Anna, I must finish my business here, but if you request passage on my ship, I will find a way to get you home. You have my promise.” Jake smiled gently, pulling her to stop and tipping her chin with his finger to meet her gaze. “And, no man or creature will force you where you do not wish to go.”
    “It’s too far,” Anna whispered.
    “You came just as far to be here,” Jake’s tone revealed his confusion. “Besides, my ship has yet to find a place too far. She’s been all over this realm and back again. If you want to go home, I can take you.”
    “I wish you could, Jake,” Anna’s lip quivered, the force of her desire to return home tangible in the cool night air.
    “Awe, Love,” Jake rested a hand on her hip, pulling her close in an effort to comfort.
    Anna’s hands splayed across his chest. Jake braced for the press of palms in unspoken request to release his grasp, but the push never came. “I never thanked you for hiding me from the Guards earlier. You could have turned me in; I know most men would have turned me in.”
    “You must not know many good men, Love.” Jake remarked.
    “Then, thank you, for being one of the good men,” Anna smiled up at him.
    “Anna,” Jake breathed her name, amazed at what her words did to him. He leaned toward her slowly, his lips a breath away from hers as his chest rose and swelled with the pride her words gave him. Never had a woman claimed Jake as a good man; competent, feared and intimidating, but never a good man. This small, innocent woman believed in him and Jake ached to be the man she held him to be.
    “Cap’n!” A slurred voice echoed down the dock, breaking the spell pulling at them. “We are out for drink and dame, come join us!”
    Jake groaned at the arrival of one of his crewmen, his presence a brutal reminder of the secrets he kept. “Not tonight, Mac.” Jake gritted out the words through his teeth, trying to slow the sudden racing of his heart. Mac was a loyal crewman and friend, but not the brightest man in his crew and definitely not the most restrained.
    “Ah, I see you already have the dame,” Mac chuckled. “Good choice, Cap’n, much nicer than the one last week.”
    Mac’s last sentence was meant as a whisper, but the man was too inebriated to remain at any tone below a growl. Jake felt Anna stiffen at his side and knew he had to end this conversation quickly before his secrets were offered up for her through drunken lips. “Good night, Mac,” Jake pulled Anna toward the docks, desperate to be away from his mate. Once they were far away from the ranting of the drunken Pirate, Jake risked looking down at Anna. “Sorry about that, Love.”
    “He’s one of your crew?” Anna asked.
    “Aye,” Jake admitted ruefully.
    “He’s,” Anna paused in trying to find an appropriate word, a hint of amusement in her tone. “He’s very animated. If you’d like to spend time with your friends, I don’t mind.”
    Jake shook his head, feeling his body relax at her acceptance of Mac’s drunken, unsubtle barbs. “Nay, Love. I wouldn’t submit you to the likes of Mac and my men.”
    “Or, maybe you’re afraid of the stories they might tell me,” Anna’s astuteness wasn’t a