Free The Pirate Lord by Sabrina Jeffries

of sight before the Chastity returns to Santiago and sends a ship after us.”
    Barnaby nodded, but didn’t leave his captain’s side. “The trouble is, these aren’t just any women. They’re prospective wives, and the men don’t like it that they’re so upset. It’s not what they expected.”
    “It’s not what I expected either, believe me. It’s that blasted Lady Sara. They were quiet until I threw her in the hold with them. I should’ve known she’d stir them up. She’s a troublemaker if I ever saw one.”
    “Aye.” Taking out a cheroot, Barnaby lit it and drew deeply on it. “Maybe you should have left her behind. All her threats were pointless. Even if she could have convinced her brother to go in search of a few convict women, he couldn’t have found us. Our island is uncharted and—”
    “I didn’t want to take the chance. If we’re to do what we plan, we must have peace. We can’t always be looking over our shoulders for some confounded earl.”
    “Bringing her along didn’t prevent that. If anything, it’s made the situation worse. Do you think this earl will let his sister simply disappear without looking for her? Not bloody likely.”
    Gideon stared back at the quickly receding Chastity . The fact that Barnaby was right didn’t make the man’s words any easier to stomach. “As you said, who will find us? Besides, the woman would be more of a threat back in England, inciting her brother. Without her around to goad him, he might not bother. If you had a sister like that, would you want her back?”
    “I don’t know. Maybe.” Barnaby let out a puff of smoke, his expression thoughtful. “Are you sure youdidn’t have…um…other reasons for bringing her with us?”
    With a scowl, Gideon strode to the quarterdeck. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
    Barnaby followed him. “She’s an earl’s sister, and you have been known to do things simply to tweak the noses of the nobility, captain.”
    Gideon remained silent as he climbed up to the quarterdeck and took the helm from the bosun. He couldn’t honestly say what his reasons had been for bringing Miss Willis—Lady Sara—aboard. Except that when she’d thrown her brother’s title at him, he’d seen red.
    The British nobility always made him see red. Those mincing fops were a bane on the civilized world. If not for people like the Earl of Blackmore and his sister, there’d be less oppression and heartache, less cruel separation of lovers…
    He cursed as the old pain hit him anew. No matter how many times he’d made fools of those blasted dukes, marquesses, and viscounts, no matter how often he’d taken their property and scoffed at their warships, it hadn’t driven out the pain or changed the British system that had destroyed his father and had convinced his mother to do the unthinkable.
    His mother. He fingered his jeweled belt buckle. It had once been a brooch, but he’d had it made into a buckle as a constant reminder of his mother’s treachery. Maybe Barnaby was right. Maybe he had brought Lady Sara aboard because he’d wanted to torment her for being nobility.
    “If you didn’t bring her aboard because of who she is,” Barnaby added, as if he’d read Gideon’s thoughts, “then perhaps it was because of what she is. I’m sure you noticed she’s a very pretty young woman.”
    “She’s one of them ,” he spat. “It outweighs everything else.”
    When Barnaby laughed, Gideon tightened his fingers on the wheel. Yes, he had noticed Lady Sara’s pleasingfigure and winsome face. He’d seen only a bit of her hair, a lock or two peeping out from beneath that prudish cap, but it had been a rich, dark red. He found himself wondering what it would look like blowing loose in a fine tail wind or even wet and streaming down her slender back.
    Her stubborn back. Confound it all, he couldn’t be thinking of the chit in those terms, could he? She was a quick-tongued nuisance, for God’s sake. Enticing though she might