Free Pleasing the Pirate: A Loveswept Historical Romance by Sharon Cullen

everyone close to him will be in danger as well.”
    That was her fear, had been her fear since Phin told her Grant was wanted for treason. And yet she couldn’t give up because she had no other choice. She had nowhere to turn and no one else to turn to.
    “I’m tired, Captain. I’m sure in the morning everything will seem better.”
    Three heartbeats of silence passed while the men below caroused. Finally Phin pushed away from the door. “I’ll leave you to sleep, then. I’ll post a man at the door.”
    “Do you fear I’ll escape?”
    He paused as he reached for the door handle. “You’re not my prisoner, lass.”
    Ashamed, she looked away. “My apologies for being a shrew.”
    “Not a shrew. Desperate and tired but not a shrew. He’s posted outside the door to keep you safe, that’s all. If you need anything, tell him to come for me.”
    He slid through the door and quietly closed it behind him, leaving Mairi with her shame and desperation as he so eloquently called it.
    * * *
    Phin dropped into the chair next to Sebastian and grabbed his tankard of ale. But just as fast as he’d grabbed it he pushed it away. He’d lied to her. Hell, he’d lied to her from the beginning, so why was this latest lie sitting ill upon his shoulders?
    He’d posted his man outside the door for exactly the reason Mairi said. So she could not escape. Because she was the only thing that stood between him and the hangman.
    Sebastian watched him silently, but Phin had no interest in striking up a conversation, especially the conversation Sebastian would want to have.
    Hell and damnation. Mairi truly was desperate and truly did think Grant would help her.
    “Everything well?” Sebastian asked.
    “She’s tired and overwhelmed.”
    He could well imagine the weight that rested on those slim shoulders because an equal, if not heavier, weight rested on his. Damn but he was in a predicament.
    “Do you think Grant will get the message?” Sebastian asked.
    Phin ran a hand down his face and sat back, fiddling with his tankard but not drinking out of it. “That Connor fellow was his friend. I have no doubt he’s now running to Grant with the news that Mairi is here.”
    “Good.” Sebastian took another swallow and looked with jaded eyes and a twist of his lips around the room.
    “What will happen when this is finished?” Phin asked.
    “What do you mean?”
    He pushed his tankard one way, then the other, watching the water droplets roll off it. “We’re using Mairi to flush out Grant. Once we catch him what happens to her?”
    “I suppose it depends on what role she has played in all of this.”
    “You believe she’s aiding her brother?”
    “We would be fools not to consider the possibility.”
    Sebastian was right, of course, but no matter how Phin thought about it he couldn’t see Mairi being involved in any of this.
    “It’s true she hates the English,” he said. “But I saw her reaction when I told her Grant was wanted for treason.”
    “And?”
    “And one would have to be an excellent actress to fake such shock. She knew nothing of his activities.”
    Sebastian’s jaw muscles worked as if he were chewing on this latest information. “The man who sent her to you is my man. He’s been living on her land and working for her for months now.”
    Phin had suspected as much. “And what has he reported to you?” He was surprised at how tense he’d become and how much he didn’t want to hear that Sebastian’s source had labeled Mairi a conspirator to her brother.
    “Just that she works tirelessly for her people. That they rely on her entirely too much. I think the man is enamored of her.”
    Phin didn’t like his reaction to that piece of news. His stomach clenched and his fingers folded into fists. He had to consciously relax his body, but it had been enough of a reaction for Sebastian to notice.
    “I hope the same is not happening to you.”
    “Of course not.” He took a drink of ale in part to hide his eyes