Andrea Kane Read Online Free Page A

Even standing tall, her shoulders back, he dwarfed her by more than a foot.
    It was time to change tactics. Alex looked up at him pleadingly. “Please, sir,” she began, “I must get to Canada. I would be happy to pay my way.”
    “This is not a passenger ship, my lady,” was the cool reply.
    “I am aware of that. And therefore I would expect to pay considerably more for my passage. Also”—Alex smiled winningly—”I am an excellent sailor. I could help relieve your men.”
    “The kind of relief you would provide would not be at the helm, princess.” The way his eyes raked her slender form left no doubt as to his meaning.
    Alex blushed and lowered her lashes.
    A nice touch, Drake thought to himself bitterly. The innocent maiden. She really belongs on the stage. Yet a vague feeling of guilt tugged at him. And when a tear slid down her cheek, that feeling intensified.
    “Why is it so important for you to travel to York?” he asked in an even tone. “Are you running to something or from it?”
    “Neither,” she told him truthfully. “I am just seeking something that I have yet to find.”
    “Which is?”
    “I cannot tell you until I have found it.”
    Drake ran his fingers through his hair in exasperation. He would be crazy even to consider allowing her passage. She was a woman and that meant trouble anywhere, but especially at sea, among men who would be without a woman for months. This exquisite little thing would be too tempting a morsel for any man to resist.
    “The sea is no place for a woman.” He was stunned to hear his own voice, which sounded as if he was actually contemplating the idea of taking her to Canada.
    Alex heard it, too. “I promise to stay out of everyone’s way,” she said eagerly. “I’ll do anything you ask, Captain. Please.” Once again the soft voice and the fathomless gray eyes beseeched him, and Drake felt himself weakening. The weakness infuriated him, and he tensed, staring down at her, wondering at the effect she had on him.
    Alex saw him stiffen. I am not reaching him at all, she realized sadly. He must be made of stone.
    Until that moment, Alex would have been correct. But she could not know of the war that now raged inside Drake. While his heart was indeed encased in stone, he could not resist the enchanting vision she made, so small and yet so determined, pleading for passage to York. A faint flicker of warmth sparked inside him. What choice was there really? a small voice in his head whispered. To leave her at some strange port would be barbaric; to turn back to London would be to lose precious time. Besides, he thought, a challenging light intensifying his emerald eyes, the little wench said she could hold her own. Let’s see her do so.
    Drake folded his arms across his chest and stared down at her. “Your clothes will have to go.”
    “Pardon me?” Alex’s fingers flew instinctively to the front of her gown.
    “I said your clothes have to go. I can’t have you walking around the ship dressed so … er, provocatively. Instead of working, my men would be … attempting to enjoy your charms, shall we say?”
    Alex’s blush told Drake she understood his meaning.
    “I have no other clothes with me,” she protested weakly. “I left in rather a hurry.”
    That much was true. Unwilling to risk discovery, Alex had decided against taking a traveling bag with her, for fear that it might hinder her undetected departure.
    For the third time his gaze moved over her, slowly this time, taking in every detail of her modestly clad body.
    “You are tiny,” he commented, almost to himself. “But I’m sure that young Thomas is not much bigger than you.” He nodded decisively. “I’ll arrange to have some clothes brought in at once.”
    “You expect me to wear men’s clothes?” Alex asked in amazement.
    “Any objections?” he drawled. “Because if there are, I have more than enough time to stop at the next port and—”
    “No! I have no objections,” Alex