Too Great a Temptation by Alexandra Benedict Read Free Book Online Page A

cauldron. It was a lot of shouting and tearing around deck before we finally captured her. James was furious, we all were, but we were too far at sea to turn around and bring her home. We needed more supplies.”
    “And that’s how you found yourself in
New York
?”
    Quincy nodded. “We had to get rid of our plund—our cargo, load up some new supplies, and then head home.”
    “So you’re taking Belle back to England?”
    “Hell, yes! Why wouldn’t we?”
    Damian waved a dismissive hand. “Just the impression I got from her, that she was already a member of the crew.”
    “Belle wishes to be a member,” grumbled Quincy. “That’s the trouble.”
    Trouble indeed. Damian could still feel the heat twisting in his belly at the memory of his morning spar with Belle. To avoid her—and another sensual encounter—he had shut himself below deck, tending to navigational charts. But imagine having to endure voyage after voyage with Belle strutting around deck in her tight leather breeches, her arse swaying like the pendulum of a clock, mesmerizing all eyes. Nothing would ever get done.
    “Why all the questions about my sister?” Quincy abruptly demanded.
    Bemused, Damian glanced back at the kid. “No reason.”
    That got him a skeptical look. “You’re to stay away from her, Damian.”
    He stood up. “I know.”
    “I mean it.” Quincy eyed him intently. “I’m in your debt and all, but that doesn’t mean you can do whatever you want with Belle.”
    Do whatever he wanted with Belle? Now there was a tempting thought.
    “I don’t plan on doing anything with her,” Damian insisted, more to convince himself than Quincy. He backed away. “I was only curious about her.”
    “She belongs on shore, Damian, married with a brood of children. Unless you want the job of hus—”
    “I don’t,” he cut in, reaching for the doorknob. “I only want the job of navigator.”
    Quickly Damian escaped from the cabin, Quincy hollering after him, “Are you sure?”
    Up on deck, Damian paused to inhale the briny sea air. Him a husband? Clearly, the kid’s fever had yet to break. What a daft suggestion. It was no better than being tossed overboard, for the distraction of a wife would surely hamper his mission—especially if that wife happened to be a sultry siren. Besides, he could never take a wife. He was too much like his father. No woman would ever be safe with him.
    The hammering overhead captured Damian’s attention. He glanced up at the darkening sky, sucking in a sharp breath at the sight he beheld.
    Mirabelle was perched on the mainsail yard, pounding away, her thighs straddling the wood beam, her legs crossed at the ankles.
    Was the woman mad? Dangling up in the air like that? She had no business—
    Wait. He had no business giving a damn. Let her brothers worry.
    Damian headed aft, determined to find something other than Mirabelle to occupy his attention.
    Passing the ratlines, though, he took no more than two steps before he turned on his heels and began to climb up the crisscrossing ropes.
     
    Mirabelle took the nail from between her teeth and positioned it over the splint. She envisioned Damian’s head and brought the mallet down with a resounding thwack.
    Obnoxious devil. How dare he accuse her of being foolhardy? So she didn’t fret over every potential peril. That did not make her reckless. Why, the ship could be swallowed up by a sea serpent at any moment. What good would it do her to panic over the possibility?
    Another hard thwack.
    It wouldn’t do her any good, dreading unknown hazards. Damian knew it. He was just being an ass—like her brothers. Worse even, for he pestered her without benefit of kinship. But like her brethren, Damian had tried to frighten her into retreat. He had said it himself the other night; how “unusual” it was to have a woman aboard ship. He thought to disturb her with ghastly tales of sea misadventures. Unnerve her to the point where she demanded to go home—where she