Free How To Please a Pirate by Mia Marlowe Page B

is Licorice.”
    “You’re silly,” she said with a grin.
    “No, I’m your Uncle Gabriel,” he said,
lifting her onto his knee. “And you’re Lily.”
    Lily snuggled close, her babyish smell
wrapping an invisible hand around his heart and giving it a
squeeze. Barring Uncle Eustace, the rest of his family was gone,
but for better or worse, at least he had these girls. He needed to
let them know they had him as well.
    “I’m new at this uncle business,” he
admitted.
    “We noticed,” Hyacinth observed coolly.
    “However much it pains you, niece, we seem to
be stuck with each other,” Gabriel said.
    Hyacinth had obviously conceived an intense
dislike for him, but he was making inroads with the younger ones.
The twins rocked on their heels, grinning at him and Lily
investigated his pockets, hoping to find a sweetmeat. He made a
mental note to make sure he was better provisioned next time.
    “What do you supposed an uncle might do for
his nieces to prove his good will?” he asked.
    “You could be my pony,” Lily suggested. “We
could ride around the garden.”
    The twins approved, hopping up and down and
clapping their hands.
    “Pony rides it is, then. Up you go.” Gabriel
leaned forward so Lily could crawl onto his back and wrap her arms
around his neck.
    “Don’t be ridiculous,” Hyacinth said. “If you
were truly concerned for us, you’d suggest riding lessons on real
ponies, at the very least.” She turned a sly expression toward
Daisy. “A proper uncle would be more interested in helping us with
our studies.”
    “Oh, that’s right,” Daisy said with a nod.
“Especially as we are without a tutor at present.”
    Gabriel realized later that warning bells
should have gone off in his head at this point. Hadn’t the girls’
previous tutor left shortly after he arrived under less than
pleasant circumstances?
    But at the moment, Gabriel was more
interested in gaining some allies in Dragon Caern. Jacquelyn
thought the sun rose and set on these girls’ golden heads. What
better way to soften Mistress Wren’s heart than to earn his nieces’
trust?
    “Quite right,” he said. “Being a naval man, I
have some expertise with mathematics and astronomy related to
navigation and such. What have you been studying?”
    “We were learning about the Colonies,” Daisy
said. “More specifically about the aboriginal peoples they call
American Indians.”
    “I’ve put into a few Colonial ports,” Gabriel
said. “I may be able to help you with that subject.”
    “I’m sure of it.” Hyacinth bared her teeth at
him in a feline smile, then under her breath, she said. “Daisy, get
the rope.”
     
     

Chapter 8
     
     
     
    Gabriel had survived the death of a ship.
Before that, he’d acquitted himself admirably in dozens of
skirmishes in defense of King and country. And once he turned
pirate, his sword arm put the fear of his wrath into the heart of
every member of his buccaneer crew.
    But for the life of him, he couldn’t figure
out how to defend himself against his nieces. Not without harming
them at any rate. They seemed so fragile. It was the chivalrous
chink in his armor the little vixens were counting on and they
weren’t disappointed. They swarmed over him in a tangle of arms and
legs.
    Without knowing precisely how it happened, he
found himself gagged with an embroidered handkerchief and bound
tightly to the stone settee. His nieces were doing a fair imitation
of an Algonquin war dance in a circle around him. Daisy appeared
briefly in his field of vision with a leering grin and an armful of
kindling.
    She disappeared beneath the settee for a few
minutes.
    He wasn’t able to raise his head, but he
thought he smelled sparks from steel and flint. What a fool he was.
He’d been sure Daisy liked him.
    Obviously, he didn’t understand women at all.
Even fledgling women.
    “Captain, what be the meaning of this
caterwaulin’?” Meriwether’s voice boomed from the castle door.
    Salvation! And