Free Justified Treason (Endless Horizon Pirate Stories, Book 1) by Cristi Taijeron Page A

offered me an ale. I looked over to see that Faron had handed Mary a mug so I smiled and accepted his offer. He handed me the one he had and whistled for the bar wench to bring him another. I dreaded the thought of coming face to face with the woman who just had her hands all over him, yet I liked the way he stood with his arm over my shoulder as he paid her. She looked at me as if she hated me, but I smirked with confidence from under his arm. As she walked away I told Sterling, “I don’t like her.”
    His look was inquisitive, but before another word was said between us, Planky passed out and hit the deck face first. I found the humor in the spectacle this time and laughed with Sterling. Pete hollered, “Man overboard,” and a man I didn’t know rushed to save the drink Planky had spilled. I laughed again as I heard Faron explaining Planky’s routine to Mary, and everyone carried on around the drunk man’s sleeping body as if he wasn’t laying there face down on the floor.
    I was completely enthralled by the lack of expectation, and the open ended extremes of the rowdy behavior surrounding me, but I was especially amused by Sterling’s outrageous humor. His drunken slur was ridiculously entertaining, and at one point he had me laughing so hard that my stomach hurt. After a while of enjoying the light buzz, crude humor and wild festivities, I realized the hour and looked to Sterling with a pout. “I have to be going soon.”
    Sterling bit at his lip and looked me up and down before he suggested, “Let me take ye out back before ye go.”
    I adored the face he made. The way his eyebrow lifted over the heat that radiated out of his stunning green eyes, while his crooked teeth clamped down on the enticing plush of his full bottom lip; I was sure I would follow him anywhere when he allured me with that look.
    “I would love to go with you, but I can’t just leave Mary.”
    Sterling nodded, and then looked around the room. His gaze halted on Faron Flynn, who was standing right behind us, yet Sterling yelled his name as if he was at the other end of the tavern.
    Faron squinted and shook his head as he yelled back. “Blimey Bentley. What ye hollering fer, ye drunken ogre?”
    Faron bumped Sterling with his shoulder and Sterling laughed as he continued in a dramatic whisper, “Bring that beauty out back.”
    As we walked out, Mary and I pulled our hoods back on for disguise. 
    The back door led to a small, smelly alley where the ground was covered with hay, a goat was standing there eating a piece of it, and a man was sleeping in a puddle with a bottle of rum in his hand. Sterling carried on with no regard to the scenery, pinned me up against the wall, and kissed me.
    It was so sudden I had no time to panic or excite. He parted my lips with his ale flavored tongue and poured his passion all over me like the ocean rolling ashore. His lips were warm like the Caribbean Sea and his rhythm was smooth like the wind of a cross breeze, but his hands were wild and hot. His intentions seemed eager and his breath intensified as he grabbed at my sides and slid his hands up the bones of my corset. Just as I began to fret over the drive of his momentum, he let go and pressed his hands against the wall behind me instead.
    As he pulled away from our kiss, he playfully bit at my lip, and he looked in my eyes and huffed through his heaving breath. “I be leaving soon, Charlotte.”
    “I know. I am just glad I get to see you before you go.”
    “Aye. I didn’t like leaving ye in tears last night, but I do like seeing ye sneak around in a disguise like a bloody pirate today.”
    I laughed. “I did not think of it that way.”
    “Because ye be a natural.”
    I grabbed onto his strong arms that he had me surrounded with and smiled. “Good. Then you can take me with you next time.”
    His lips rose with a slapdash smile and he shook his head as if he doubted my desire.
    Continuing to rub along the shape of his arms as we talked, I