Free Master of Seduction by Kinley MacGregor Page B

that task.
    “I assure you, Captain Rhys, that I can resist your most dubious charms. You’d drop to one knee and declare your undying love for me long before I ever give myself to you.”
    “Is that a challenge?”
    Lorelei thought it over. Was it? She’d meant it as a comparison, but now that the words were out, she pondered it.
    There’s not a man born I can’t wrap around my little finger .
    That boast had seemed so simple the night of the party, and yet as she stared at Jack, she wondered if maybe she’d met the one man she couldn’t control so easily.
    Nay, she decided.
    This time Jack Rhys had met his match.
    “Aye, ’tis a challenge. I’ll claim your heart before you claim my body.”

5
    J ack’s laughter rippled in her ears. “Jack Rhys down on his knee before a woman, declaring his undying love. Now there’s a thought borne of pure fantasy.”
    “On the contrary,” Lorelei said haughtily, fortified by her experience with the opposite sex. She remembered a time when Justin had also laughed at the idea. But in the end, she had won him over, and she was certain she would win this time as well. “Men, for all their denials, are susceptible to the same emotions as women. More so, in fact.”
    “And how do you figure that?”
    “You live your life for vengeance. I live mine for peaceful tranquility. Tell me, whose life is more emotional, more volatile?”
    “I can certainly tell you whose life is more boring.”
    “Ah, there ya are, child.”
    Lorelei turned her head to see Kesi coming down the ladder Jack had just used a few moments ago. Kesi held a small basket in her arms that was covered with a green gingham cloth. “I was just bringing ya some bread and cheese to break your fast.”
    Once again grateful for the woman’s kindness, Lorelei walked the short distance that separated them and took the basket of food from her hands. “Thank you, I am a bit famished.”
    “I thought ya might be.” Kesi greeted Jack. “How’s your shoulder doing?”
    “Throbbing actually.”
    Kesi’s eyes glowed. “Ya always say that.”
    The pirate walked forward to address them. “If you ladies will excuse me, I have duties to attend.” He paused beside Lorelei and spoke in a whisper only she could hear. “And a seduction to plan.”
    Flames of embarrassment burned her cheeks. “You’re wasting your time.”
    A light of self-assurance sparked in his eyes. “Nay, Lorelei, ’tis you who are wasting your denials.”
    Kesi frowned at them while Jack took his leave. “What was that about?”
    Lorelei pursed her lips, not willing to share such an indelicate matter with a stranger. “Nothing important.”
    “Come on then, let’s go topside and get a bit of fresh air. ’Tis truly a lovely day.”
    Lorelei hesitated. “Is it safe up there?”
    “Aye,” Kesi said. “You’re safer here than anywhere else on earth.”
    “But the pirates—”
    “They won’t touch ya, child. Captain Jack already told them that he’d have the life of any man who so much as frowns in your direction. And ya can trust in the fact that none of them are willing to face the captain’s wrath.”
    A chill crept up her spine. Jack must be terrible to intimidate his crew so. When scary men became scared, it wasn’t a good sign.
    “Now don’t be giving me none of that sour frown,” Kesi chided. “It’ll make ya look old before nature intends. Now, come. The other women are all wanting to meet ya.”
    Shifting the basket to the crook of her arm, Lorelei followed her up the ladder to the main deck.
    She supposed it was a beautiful morning, provided she didn’t think about the fact she was on board a ship full of pirates and headed for an unknown destination while the king of the pirate brood had sworn to seduce her.
    But then, given the number of rude stares she collected from the ruffian bunch as she crossed the deck a step behind Kesi, how could she think of anything else?
    All around her, young men were stripped to the