Through the Maelstrom Read Free

with the guy as he warily eyed the crowd. Tell me about it, pirate man. She shuddered. Crowds sucked. Too many judgmental people hovering with inquisitive, judgmental gazes... No. Just no. She would rather jump in acid. Unfortunately, as an adult, she didn't have an easy out from it. Especially since someone had to pay the bills. Her boring filing job at a large law firm was perfect for her. She had her own office, didn't have to see the clients, and could avoid people for the majority of her work day.
    It was also the dullest job on the planet—hence, the gift of a birthday cruise from her friends. A much needed adventure, they'd said.
    As a woman threw herself at him, clinging tightly, Serena snorted. The pirate's eyes widened and he slowly peered down at the female clinging to him like a parasite and cleared his throat. He painstakingly sheathed his sword and tried to dislodge her. He obviously hadn't done the pirate act before. Maybe it was his first night at it, which was odd considering the cruise was in its last few days. In that moment, he seemed almost kindred soul; a victim of a crowd that wouldn't leave him alone.
    The few friends she had helped her through the times when people—in general—overwhelmed her. Perhaps that's what she'd do for her birthday: pay it forward. Taking a deep breath, Serena steeled herself for the inevitable horror of talking to people she didn't know. The karma for the good deed should turn her luck around at least.
    "Okay, everyone, okay. Break it up. Captain, eh, Morgan here will be back tomorrow. He has to go feed his parrot." Serena grabbed the pirate's arm and tugged despite protests from the crowd that there wasn't an actual parrot. The thick leather of his jacket was soft to her touch, his arm firm and warm beneath it. She shivered, but not because she was cold. Just the opposite. He didn't budge, and heat rose into her neck and face. She hoped she hadn't done something that would come back to embarrass her. She hated public embarrassment. Didn't handle it well, much to her friends' amusement.
    Instead, he stared at her hand and then his gaze slowly traveled up her arm to her face. Eye contact hit her like cannon fire—a sharp strike wrecking her resolve and leaving her bare as the world around them splintered away into the farthest depths of perception. As though he experienced what she had, his lips parted. Then a sly grin tipped up the corner of his mouth and she gulped while harsh, cold reality came pouring back with rapid intensity. He definitely had the swashbuckling rascal appearance down, and Serena feared she wasn't as immune to it as she hoped.
    "Oh, my God. That look," a woman from the crowd said, breaking the remnants of whatever spell had tethered Serena and the pirate momentarily together. "That right there. Pillage me, pirate man. Pillage me hard! " Giggles and scandalized gasps from the crowd pulled Serena free of her inertia while a little boy loudly questioned what pillaging meant, to many awkward chuckles.
    "Right," Serena added when the man didn't play along. Her heartbeat thumped rapidly in her chest, and her breaths quickened with panic the longer he and all those people had their attention focused on her. "You can either come with me or stay with them. Your call." She had to escape the crowd before she started hyperventilating and embarrassed herself further. She was making a damned fool of herself. He hadn't needed her help, and she had made an assumption she wouldn't again.
    The pirate regarded the women and children with a sneer, only appearing to recall their presence when he turned to seek out what pulled her focus from him—which created more of an excited ruckus in the crowd than before. He leaned down to grab a dirty old sack and draped it over his shoulder before gesturing for Serena to lead the way. She turned, headed toward the corridor she'd come from without waiting to see if he followed.
    She could hear the crowd behind them start to