Page 82 of The Captain Claims His Temptress

Perhaps it worked because the man strolled to her.

She beamed up at him. “Do you speak English?”

His brow furrowed.

Horse feathers! Her French was subpar. If only she’d looked at more than the first four pages of the French textbook. “Parlez-vous l’anglais?”

He shook his head as he knelt beside her. “A small little.”

That was better than nothing. Although she was too terrified to eat, she stared at the bread in his hand.

It worked. He offered it to her.

She held up her bound wrists. “I cannot feed myself. Perhaps you could untie me while I eat?” Tilted head. Pouty lips. Prominent bosom. Every feminine tool at her disposal….

He held the bread to her lips. That hadn’t gone quite as planned, but at least she’d established he had a heart. She nibbled.

“Leo!” Pierre called in his screeching lilt.

The young man flinched, and the bread slipped from his fingers.

“Vousarrêtez,” Pierre yelled.

Maddie was unsure what he’d said, but Leo blanched and plodded to him. Pierre grabbed him by the collar and slapped him so hard he stumbled backward. While the rest of the men watched with wide-eyes and open mouths, Pierre kicked him until he curled into a ball, blood dripping from his nose.

Maddie swallowed bile.

Pierre stomped to her. Before she could say anything, he hoisted her to her feet and dragged her to the man.

“Look what you made me do?” He kicked him again. “And I adore Leo.”

“I’m sorry,” Maddie mouthed to the poor man as he writhed in pain.

It was absurd to ask, but fear, horror, and exhaustion made her sentimental. “Pierre, why do you hate me so much?”

He snorted. “’Tis nothing personal. I detest your cap-a-tain, and he adores you. Well, it wasn’t personal until you spit on me.” He swallowed, puckered, and a glob of his phlegm landed beside her foot. He inclined his chin toward one of his men. “Le livre,Nathan.” His grip tightened around her forearm. “Now that I think about it, I am done playing games and tired of carrying around useless things.”

What in the dickens did that mean? Too terrified to say anything, Maddie held her breath. Finally, Nathan returned with the book.

“Is this what you want, mademoiselle? Is my personal journal the reason you tried to seduce Leo?” Pierre asked.

Good lord, the man’s waving arms and bouncing eyebrows were dramatic.

“Burn it,” Pierre said to Nathan.

“No,” Maddie begged.

Without hesitation, Nathan tossed the journal into the fire.Puff!In seconds, all that remained of Pierre’s secrets were ashes and the black smoke reaching into the clouds.

She whimpered.

“Now it is your turn,mademoiselle.”

Did he mean to throw her into the flames? As cold as she’d been earlier, the idea of suffering the same demise as the book was still less than appealing.

“Into the fire.” He circled his hand above his head as if he were winding up to throw a lasso.

So much for her light-hearted inner voice. He truly meant to burn her alive.