Never Trust a Pirate Read Online Free Page B

harm,” the talkative one wheedled. “You know that any woman comes around here is fair game. Only working girls walk these streets, and I’ll grant you she’s a lot prettier than most of them, but she ain’t no better off. Some of them likes a bit of a fight.”
    “I don’t think she did.”
    Taking a deep, calming breath, Maddy turned to face her rescuer, and for a moment everything froze within her.
    She hadn’t known a man could be beautiful. She was used to pale Englishmen—this man was bronzed by the sun, with long, curling black hair, high cheekbones, and faintly slanted eyes. He wasn’t looking at her, he was concentrating on the miscreants, and when she was finally able to break the odd spell he’d cast over her she turned to look at them as well, now that it was safe.
    The big man was struggling to his feet, groaning loudly, and the old man was fumbling with his breeches, presumably refastening them. She shuddered, just faintly, but it caught the stranger’s attention. “You should know better than to walk alone in this area,” he said coolly. He had a lovely deep voice with an odd accent that she couldn’t quite identify. She could recognize a bit of the London streets, mixed with half a dozen other accents that made his voice indescribable.
    He wasn’t struck dumb with her beauty, a shock. In fact, he’d barely glanced at her, and what he’d seen didn’t appear to impress him. It was a novel experience, and she wasn’t sure she enjoyed it, particularly when faced with someone who could, in another life, have that same effect on her. “I got lost,” she said, with no note of apology in her voice. “You would think a girl could walk through town without being molested, but then, I’m new here. I hadn’t realized the scum of the earth lived in this city.” She realized belatedly that she’d forgotten to use the accent she’d planned on. It didn’t matter now, but she mustn’t forget once she got to the captain’s household.
    “Real uppity, ain’t she?” the old one said. “She needs to be taught a lesson.”
    The stranger’s slightly tilted dark eyes crinkled in amusement. “I don’t think she needs the kind of lesson you had in mind. Stupidity isn’t a crime, rape is.”
    Maddy bristled. “I am not stupid, I simply don’t know this wretched town. One can walk in London without being subjected to such vile behavior. Had I known Devonport was so depraved I would have looked for work elsewhere.”
    “Where do you work?” the stranger demanded, and she gave him a suspicious glance.
    “I work for a milliner,” she lied glibly. “And I’m already late. If you’ve finished discussing my stupidity then I’ll be off.”
    “In what direction?” His voice was lazy.
    Rats. She hadn’t thought that far ahead. “I’m looking for North Water Street.”
    “And you were heading south,” he observed.
    It didn’t matter how bewitching he was, he was thoroughly annoying. But she’d lost everything—her father, her comfortable living, the houses in London and Somerset. She at least still had her pride, and she had manners. “Thank you very much,” she said stiffly. “I appreciate the rescue.” She paused. “But I could have fought them off myself.” The knee trick had worked so effectively that the big man was still hunched over, moaning slightly to his privates. She could have used it on the other two and then run for it.
    “Oh, really?” he drawled.
    She didn’t want to look at him, but she kept her gaze at his shoulder. He was dressed in plain clothes of good quality—breeches, a white shirt, a dark blue superfine jacket that was loosely tailored, and no cravat whatsoever. She noticed a glint of gold beneath his black curls and recognized a hooped earring. She shouldn’t have been so shocked—of course he was a sailor, with that bronzed skin and lean, wiry body, though he was definitely taller than most. “I don’t need help from someone who’s doubtless no