Free Into His Arms by Paula Reed Page A

village, but it had always been to protect her reputation only. She had never truly feared the men around her. Her earlier feeling of dread returned full force. “What manner of men are these?”
    “Ordinary men, Faith. Men who know they’ll be a month at sea without women. Men who would find you a temptation even were they surrounded by willing wenches with common looks.”
    “What would they do?”
    “With enough drink, who’s to say? At best, they might beat me senseless and game for you, at worst throw me overboard and share you.”
    Again she looked to Giles to confirm what she’d heard and was terrified by his nod.
    “Are you pirates, then?”
    “Nay, Faith!” Giles protested.
    “Privateers!” Geoff corrected. “The king has granted us a letter of marque to harass the Spanish, and we pay our fair share of profit to the Crown. Still, we’re not navy here. The discipline is not so harsh, and the men more likely to have minds of their own. Most of the crew are honest Englishmen with respect for a good woman, but there are those with fewer scruples, and after a night of drink, the line between the two gets a mite thin.”
    When the captain had left her earlier, Faith had begun to relax. It had seemed that Providence had guided her to a safe haven. Now, her newfound security slipped through her fingers, and the food that remained on her plate lost all appeal. “I see.”
    “Speaking of the crew,” Giles interrupted. “One of us had better be up there.”
    “Aye,” Geoff said. “I’ll join you shortly.”
    “Welcome aboard, Faith.”
    “Thank you, Giles. And thank you for saving me.”
    He smiled shyly, but at his captain’s frown, he made a hasty exit.
    “One more thing, Faith. When you’re on deck, ‘tis best if you—well, if it appears that we have a somewhat closer relationship.”
    Faith’s aqua eyes grew round. In a voice hardly above a whisper she asked, “They think I’m your whore?”
    Geoff scratched his head and tried to think of how to soften it. “I’ve laid claim to you for myself. It was for your own safety.”
    She studied a long scratch in the surface of the desk. “What does that mean, ‘laid claim’?” she said, never lifting her eyes.
    “Most will assume we’re lovers.”
    Her face burned, and she kept her eyes carefully focused on the scratch. “But they will be mistaken.”
    “I cannot abide it when you will not look me in the face, Faith!” He was glad he had insisted, for he saw not the look of fear he’d expected. Her face was red, but her eyes flashed with challenge.
    “You said that you do not take women by force, Captain. If that is so, then anyone who assumes that we share a bed will be mistaken.”
    “You will call me Geoff. We’ll hardly convince anyone that you’re taken if you call me Captain.” The golden glints in his eyes twinkled, and the genuine smile that lit his face chased away the sinister look he carried when serious. “Besides, it will be no mistake. I cannot leave you here unguarded at night, and I’m not thinking to sleep with my feet upon my desk each night.”
    Again, Faith felt her momentary calm rocked by a sense of alarm. “Surely you do not think to sleep here, with me?”
    “Aye, there’s nowhere else. ‘Twill be an exercise in self control, but I’ll manage.”
    “Nay, Captain! What you suggest is out of the question! I’ll sleep on the floor, then. I don’t wish to trouble you.”
    He reached across the desk and lightly traced the line of her delicate jaw, sending strange fluttery feelings down her throat.
    “You will trouble me no matter where you sleep, but I cannot put you onto the hard floor. I promise, I will be utterly trustworthy. Or is it yourself you do not trust, fair Faith?”
    She looked anxiously, first at his broad shoulders, then at the bed that had seemed so large and comfortable. It appeared to shrink before her very eyes. “I cannot sleep in the same bed with a man.”
    “Well, if you insist,