Free A Woman Made for Sin by Michele Sinclair Page B

faint picture the captain kept in his cabin, but her pale hair, high cheekbones,
     and long lashes were an unmistakable combination that belonged to only one person.
     The captain’s woman.
    When they had left port last Christmas, the captain had been in an extremely foul
     mood. Nothing had pleased him, and it had taken very little for him to be irritated.
     After several weeks of such unusual behavior, Collins had caught the captain in his
     cabin holding a picture of a lady. He had been drinking, a very uncommon indulgence,
     and told Collins that he had found her—the One. The one woman men searched for all
     their lives. But she couldn’t be his.
    Collins had asked why the captain could not marry her, and it was then he learned
     just how deeply the man felt about Society’s rules. He was the second son of a lord,
     and without a title, she could never be his. Collins did not understand, as the captain
     was very wealthy, something he would have thought could negate the lack of a title.
     But when he declared that any woman would be lucky to have a man with such means,
     the captain had slowly shaken his head.
    Money was not enough. Not for her. She was the daughter of a marquess, and more than
     that, she was the sister of his best friend. Who was he? An ex-soldier who became
     a mere merchant. Collins said no more, but he noticed that not once since Christmas
     had the captain even looked at another woman. When at port, he did his business and
     kept to the ship. He didn’t even imbibe with his men. His captain had become a haunted
     man. Haunted by a woman he referred to as the One.
    Collins was about to knock again when he thought he heard a high-pitched sound. A
     second later he realized that what he heard was singing. It was quiet and soft, but
     the tune was haunting and he could not help but stand there and listen. Only after
     several minutes did he realize what he was doing.
    Damn woman , he hissed to himself. How much worse could this get? Did the Lord really need to
     make her a siren too? It did not matter what she looked like; a voice like that could
     ensnare a man’s soul and make him forget just where his loyalty lay.
    This time Collins banged on the door. The singing thankfully stopped. As he waited
     for her to open the door, he rehearsed what he was going to say, for he wanted no
     arguments about leaving immediately to see the captain. The sooner he turned her and
     all the problems her presence was going to cause over to someone else, the better.
    The moment the door opened and he saw what was on the other side, all thought left
     him as his jaw fell open. When it came to women, Collins gravitated to those who were
     curvaceous, dark haired, and dark eyed, but he had never seen an angel before.
    Once she was no longer covered in grime and filth, he knew she would be pretty, but
     nothing had prepared him for the vision standing in his cabin beckoning him to enter.
     Finally, the captain’s strange behavior all made sense, for the woman standing in
     his cabin was the most beautiful female he had ever seen. Yes, this fairylike vision
     could indeed drive an eternal seaman to the land.
    Aimee smiled at the warm assessment Collins’s eyes were giving her. As she suspected,
     the bath had done much to improve her appearance. “Mr. Collins, thank you so much
     for the bath and clean clothes. They are greatly appreciated. I can tell you that
     I shall never again take a fresh gown for granted.”
    Collins noticeably gulped and he sought to calm his inner voice when she swung her
     arm wide, indicating for him to come into his own cabin and join her. But as she did,
     her wrists became visible. Collins’s eyes bulged with rage as he stared at the angry
     red wound. No bath could diminish the raw, painful injury. He looked down at her other
     arm and saw that it was damaged just as badly, if not worse. “Who did that to you?”
     Collins demanded, his voice tight with unleashed anger.
    Aimee