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

found myself quite fascinated by the way his biceps curved around his bones. He noticed me enjoying the feel so he flexed to taunt me. I felt my cheeks blush and turned away from his gaze as I let go. He stepped closer to me and I could feel the guns on his belt and the hilt of his sword between us. He grabbed my face and made me look at him. “Don’t hide from me, Charlotte. I like it when ye blush.”
    As he stood before me I realized it was the first time I had seen him in daylight, and he was even more handsome than the moonlight or dim lighting in the tavern could ever account for. Under the cloudy sky his green eyes glimmered like a shallow bay, his smile was like the cresting waves, and his goatee was like a flame, streaked with hints of gold and red. I gasped through my lightheaded daze. “I think you are going to make me faint.”
    He laughed at my dramatic sigh and wrapped his arms around me. “I’ll catch you.”
    Then he nearly drowned me with another drunken torrent of passionate kisses.
    When he pulled his face away from mine he looked into my eyes and slurred, “Yer eyes be pretty like the sunset, Charlotte.” He kissed on my neck and breathed near my ear. “I don’t want any man loving on ye but me. Ye be me woman now.”
    The statement was more of a demand than a question, but I consented with a sigh. “I would love nothing more than to be your woman, and I will never love another man.”
    Then I grabbed his ponytail and pulled his face off of my neck so he had to look at me. “And you?”
    “Me? What ye want to know ‘bout me?”
    “Will you be with other women while you are away?”
    He looked completely stunned and gave me the most peculiar look as he practically questioned, “No?”
    I had little faith in his shaky response, so I lifted my eyebrow at him. “Is this why Faron said his grandmother could beat you at a game of cards? I see right through you.”
    He laughed at my insistence and tried to kiss me again, but I remembered how awful I felt when I saw that wench in the red all over him, so I saw no humor in his attempted evasion. I turned my cheek and locked my lips together to show him I was serious. He laid his face in his hand and laughed as if I was joking, then he shook his head with humorous defeat. “I never had a woman of me own, Charlotte. I don’t be knowing how the code goes.”
    I looked him straight in the face and attempted to be strong as I asserted, “I could be ousted from my home for committing my love to you, and it will hardly be worth the risk if you are gallivanting the world kissing on other women.”
    He looked up at the sky and exhaled. I dreaded the outcome of his next sentence.
    He looked back at me, put his hands on my cheeks, and stared intently into my eyes as he promised, “Ye have me word, Charlotte Wetherby. I won’t be loving on any woman but ye.”
    I believed him and smiled to show my appreciation.
    Caressing the length of his goatee with my fingers, I stared at him for a moment, absorbing his aura in wonder. He was tall, strong and handsome as could be, his spirit was wild and his humor was vibrant, and he just committed to be faithful to me. My life had never been better.
    I reminded him that I had to leave, so he pulled away from me and leaned his hand against the wall, giving me room to go.
    “I cannot do it, Sterling. My feet are frozen to the ground.”
    He laughed, “Ye look like I’m about to make ye walk the plank.”
    “That is exactly how I feel.”
    “Ah, I won’t make ye, love.” He picked me up to carry me and yelled at Faron to walk with us.
    Sterling and Faron walked Mary and me towards the end of the alley where we could safely return to the street, and as Faron said goodbye to Mary, Sterling grabbed me by the shoulders and kissed me again. Knowing it would be our last kiss for a while, I reveled in the moment. Everything was perfect there in his arms. I thought of how this feeling between us was unaccepted by the rest