The Captain's Caress Read Online Free Page B

minutes.”
    “Please let me go. You’re hurting me.” The lash of his scorn tore at her courage like a rasp at soft wood.
    “Not until I have a good look at you.”
    “It is an outrage that this madman should be allowed to attack your passengers,” Brinklow shouted at Bonner as he scrambled past open-mouthed crewmen to reach Summer’s side. “If you don’t put an end to this monstrous affront to a noble family’s honor, I shall see that you lose your ship, and that all of you"—his waving arms encompassed the crews of both ships—"rot in the bowels of Newgate.” He opened his mouth to say more, but surprised everyone by crumpling to the deck with a dull thud.
    “His voice grates on my nerves,” Smith explained, calmly wiping the butt of his pistol.
    Summer looked from one man to another. Horror-stricken, she knew there was no hope of deliverance.
    “Please let my mistress go,” Bridgit begged, pushing in between Summer and Brent. “Your rough and angry ways are frightening her.” But Brent’s grip did not loosen.
    “I’d have thought she had enough courage to face a dozen men like me,” he sneered. “It must take nerves of iron to live with a man like Gowan.”
    “Sir, you’re insulting,” expostulated Bridgit.
    “But then I have found that greed can assume many guises, even wide-eyed innocence.” Brent let his gaze rest on the soft curves of Summer’s body, the swell of her creamy breasts, and he felt a surge of desire flare through him. Unaccountably, that only infuriated him all the more.
    Summer’s own anger flamed rapidly now and it consumed her fear. Who was he, this arrogant young outlaw, to demand that she leave the safety of her cabin to be openly insulted like some nameless jade! She faced him with a proud tilt of her chin.
    “Sir, I do not know what I have done to offend you so greatly, nor can I fathom why you should publicly abuse me in this cruel manner. Furthermore, I cannot accept such an unflattering reading of my husband’s character from a man who is himself wholely lacking in honor or integrity.”
    Brent’s face grew more threatening with her every word, and his crew fidgeted nervously. Summer, too, felt her surge of fury waver before his sulfurous gaze, but she pressed bravely on.
    “Now that you have seen me, I desire to return to my cabin. I find your company distasteful.”
    “You act the role well,” jeered Brent, “but a woman who sells her virtue, even in marriage, is no better than a harlot.” Brent ignored the murmured protest from his crew. “Indeed, I have more respect for a prostitute who plies her trade honestly, than a woman who hides behind a coronet.”
    Summer went white under the lash of his scorn, but she refused to lend credence to his staggering accusations by running away. “You cur!” she cried, striking at him.
    “So milady doesn’t like to hear the truth?” Brent said, easily catching her wrists.
    “How dare you speak to me of truth when you have made no attempt to discover it,” she raged, struggling to hold back tears of anger and mortification. “I’d never sell myself to anybody, most particularly for money and a title.” But the words rang false in her ears. Her father had sold her and she was sure this terrifying young man would admit no distinction between force and willing compliance.
    “I’m not impressed by outraged virtue, nor will I let you hide behind the shield of your rank and sex. I’ve known your husband all my life, and no decent female would marry him.”
    “I don’t believe you,” Summer protested, her dismay at the picture he painted of the earl greater than her anger at his slander of herself. His harsh laughter only intensified her disquiet.
    “Either you’re a blind fool, or you’re afraid to admit to yourself what Gowan is really like. He’s a viper! There’s nothing too low for him, not stealing from his best friend or murdering an old drunk and blaming it on an unsuspecting boy. He has wealth,