Free A Pirate's Heart (St. John Series) by Lora Thomas Page A

still, she mentally told herself as she attempted to lay motionless under the heavy quilts. The more she willed herself to keep still, the more her body screamed to move and then her leg began to itch. She fought the desire to scratch, but suddenly her leg gave a small jerk as the itch intensified. The movement of her leg caused the objects on top of her to slide off her, and she could see the hilt of a sword.
    Kristina could hear the footsteps approaching the bed and she panicked. She grabbed the the sword and quickly stood up in the bed, pointing its tip towards the occupant of the room. As she stood, the bottom of her borrowed shirt caught under her foot and brought the side of it down to her left elbow. She gained her bearing quickly and pointed the tip of the sword at the occupant’s chest once again. Her brown eyes widened as she realized she was pointing the sword at the man she intended to marry.
    Max viewed the defensive beauty before him. Never in his life had he seen a more desirable sight. She stood there proudly, defiantly. Her oval face was surrounded by soft wavy black hair. Her long raven locks were down her back in soft waves. She was breathing rapidly causing her nostrils to flare. Her mouth parted bringing his attention to her full red lips. He noticed she was wearing one of his shirts. It engulfed her like she was a small child, but he could see from the curve of her breast protruding from the neckline of his shirt that she was anything but. This feisty creature in front of him was all woman. His eyes traveled back up her body and locked with hers. He could see the passion she possessed in her chocolate eyes. A wolfish-grin crossed his face.
    “Well, well. What do we have here? Did Alex decide to make up for all his teasing about the monkey? He shouldn’t have really.” His eyes hungrily traveled the length of her body. “But I will not refuse this lovely little peace offering he has bestowed upon me. That would be rude you know.”
    Kristina’s eyes grew wide as she realized what this handsome man was insinuating. He thought she was a prostitute! Bought for his pleasure! How dare he? This was the man she thought she wanted to marry!
    “Why you no good, lowlife, whoring, bastard!” She shouted at him, not realizing he did not understand a word of her Spanish insults. “If you think for one minute that—”
    Her rampage was interrupted by the door being pushed open. She glared out of the corner of her eyes at the blond-haired man. He was with this man at the tavern yesterday. She should have known they were shipmates.
    A deep, throaty chuckle came from the blond-haired man. He was laughing so hard he had to hold onto the doorframe to keep from doubling over.
    “What the hell are you laughing at, Alex?” she heard the black-haired man snap.
    “This is rich!” Alex hooted again. “Never in all my days would I have dreamed that you, of all people, would bring a woman on board my ship, especially without asking first.”
    “You mean you didn’t put her in here?”
    “Now why in the hell would I do something as foolhardy as bring a woman on board a pirate ship?” Alex replied as he observed Max. “And put your hands down, Max, you look ridiculous standing there like you’re surrendering.”
    A sheepish look came across Max’s face. “Yeah, I know,” he replied as he lowered his arms. “Thought I’d give her a little hope. Make her think that she was in control.”
    “What in the hell did you do to make her so angry?”
    “How do you know I made her mad?”
    “Well, since neither of us speak a word of Spanish, I am assuming you’ve had a thorough tongue lashing. And now it looks like she’s planning on skewering you and having you for dinner. So, yeah . . . I’d say she’s mad.”
    “Thanks for your insightful observation, Alex. It’s helpful as always,” Max replied drily.
    “What did you do? Not bed her or bed her too much?”
    “I just got here!”
    “Ahh,” Alex