Page 56 of A Pirate of Her Own

“Yep,” Morgan said with a sigh as he brushed his wet hair out of his eyes, “Hayes really wants me.”

How could he be so blithe?

Morgan raised his voice to shout to his crew. “Retaliate. Booty only to those who earn their keep!”

She shook her head. “How can you be amused by this?”

He gave her a rakish grin. “I live for this. It makes me feel alive.”

“It makes me feel like I’m going to be sick,” she whispered, her stomach pitching in fear.

Morgan pulled her to her feet. “We need to get you below.”

“And if they sink the ship?” she asked, not wanting to be trapped below deck where she couldn’t get to a lifeboat.

“There’s a greater risk of your being hit by a bullet or cannonball than there is of the ship going down.”

“I don’t believe you,” Serenity said. Why should she, when everything about him was a lie. “Kit told me that it’s entirely likely.”

Remembering how his ship theRosannahad been torn apart during a similar fight with the British last year, Morgan decided she might be right. “Then I want you to hide over by those barrels and don’t move.”

“Show me the way.”

Serenity followed him to a small alcove.

Morgan squeezed her elbow to reassure her. “Don’t worry.”

She gave a very unladylike snort. “‘Don’t worry,’ he says. We’ve only got a madman trying to blow us out of the water, and theMaraudertells me not to worry.” She looked up and met Morgan’s gaze. “Tell me, Captain Pirate, at what point should I start to worry? When I see the whites of their eyes? Or when the sharks begin to circle me?”

He smiled at her outrage. “I would say you should definitely start to worry when the sharks begin circling you.”

“That’s what I love most about you, you’re just so comforting.”

Morgan shook his head. She was a brave woman. Something inside him hated leaving her there to fend for herself, but he had too many other duties to attend.

And a vicious enemy to confront.

Serenity watched him cross the deck, checking on his men like a normal military commander. Cannon fire roared all around her with a deafening pitch and she placed her hands over her ears in an effort to protect them. Sulphur rolled across the deck in thick waves of odor that stung her lungs and brought tears to her eyes.

“What have I gotten myself into?” she breathed. She must have been insane to ever wish for an adventurous life. Suddenly her days of safety hidden behind her large desk seemed a blessing.

And yet, as she watched Morgan she realized that he really did love it. He was a natural leader as he confronted death.

She widened her eyes as one cannonball whizzed just past his head, ripping a portion of one mast. The force of the damage sent splinters over Morgan and one grazed him. Blood creased his brow, and he absently wiped it away as if it didn’t concern him in the least.

But it scared her. Terribly.

It felt as if the battle raged on forever. And as every second ticked by, the explosions grew louder and louder.

Until at last the crewmen’s shout went up louder than the cannons.

“That’ll teach ’em to fly the Jolly Red,” Barney shouted. “Shove it up their bloomin’ arses!”

Morgan looked more than well pleased with them, and Serenity raised her head up to peer over the side of the ship to where she could see the sloop. Large pieces of her side were missing and her masts had collapsed, and were now lying half on board and half in the water.

They had done it. Somehow his crew had crippled the ship with very little damage to their own.

She looked to Morgan, and a strange warmth glowed inside her. He stood shouting orders to Kit and Jake. His hair curled about his neck as the wind whipped through it. He gestured toward the ship with his sword.

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