Her Pirate Master Read Online Free Page B

see her like that, her behind bared to the world. Sahman suffered no embarrassment. With a quick thrust of his pelvis, he attempted to spear her. Imi threw herself forward. Sahman hissed in frustration. He yanked her back to him, twisting her arm. Imi grunted in pain. Then just as quickly as she’d been caught, she was freed. Imi stumbled, then caught herself and smoothed her tunic down around her hips even as she turned to see what was happening.
    “Did you not hear me, Sahman?” the captain asked, in an almost–conversational tone. He gripped the crewman’s shoulder in one hand.
    “I . . . I did.”
    “So, you chose to ignore me?”
    “No, captain, I . . . ah . . . I thought . . . you cast her out. I thought . . . “
    “It is not for you to think,” the captain said. Before Imi even saw it coming, the captain’s fist flashed out and connected with Sahman’s face. The sailor crumpled to the ground, screaming, as blood flowed from his nose.
    “Come,” the captain grabbed Imi’s hand and pulled her behind him to his cabin. He pushed her in and then strode back on deck. Imi didn’t hear what he said to the sailors, but silence greeted the low rumble of his voice.
    Her heart still racing, Imi searched the armoire for a strip of cloth she could use to fashion a new undergarment. In the back, crumpled in the corner, she found a piece of coarse linen that was the right size if not the best material. She tied it around herself and sank onto the bed, feeling better now that she was again modestly covered.
    The sailors thought her a priestess of Isis, and, more than that, one who had been initiated into the sexual secrets of the East. Imi closed her eyes. Great Goddess, how tired she was. There was nothing she’d have liked more than to sleep, but an idea was already germinating in her head. The captain had not tried to rape her, but he was not immune to her either. And if he thought she was some sort of expert in sexual matters, well, surely that could be turned to her advantage. She could not offer herself to him outright without breaking her vow to the goddess, but there were other things between a man and a woman. There was much she could do without becoming an oath–breaker. The more she thought about it, the more she thought it could work. She was no mistress of seduction, but she had traveled much and was no innocent. She could pull this off. She had to. And then she would return to Ephesus, her oath unbroken, the sacred articles still safely in her possession.
    Imi went over to the small table where her box still sat and opened it. The sistrum, the gold coffin, the uraeus, all were still there. She picked up the coffin and opened it. Inside lay a small lock of thick, black hair. Isis’s hair. She stroked it reverently before re–closing the coffin and secreting the box away in the armoire. The pirate captain had no idea how important the box and its contents were. Her lips curled. To any member of Egypt’s royal family, the box and all it contained was worth a hundred—no, a thousand—of the gold goblets from which she’d drank, but he didn’t know that. And she must keep him from ever knowing or her plan could fail. Imi sat back on the bed, rehearsing what she would say.

Chapter Three
     
    Seleucus pushed open the door to his cabin, stepped inside, and stopped short. His eyebrows drew together in a frown. His captive sat on his bed facing him, a small, welcoming smile on her face. He didn’t even know her name, but already he knew her well enough to be suspicious.
    “Yes?” he said cautiously.
    “Come, come.” She waved her hand expansively.
    “Thanks for inviting me into my own room.” He crossed to the chair farthest from the bed. “You want something.” He didn’t make it a question.
    “Well, of course, I want something,” she started tartly then appeared to recollect herself and beamed sweetly at him once more. “I want my freedom.”
    “We already discussed that. It’s not on the