“He was as temptingly made as the first Adam must have been. God hadn't shirked his duties when creating Gideon Horn. No, indeed. In fact, she wondered if God hadn't put just a jot too much effort into it. He should have given the man something more useful than good looks and a treacherous charm. Humility, for example. She tried to imagine a humble Gideon, but it was impossible. Such a creature would be beyond even the Almighty's powers of imagination.”

“Nothing she says or does would surprise me.” Gideon faced the helm once more, putting his back to Barnaby. He wasn’t about to go anywhere near Sara again, not the way he was feeling now. Let Barnaby deal with her today.“Maybe not, but that doesn’t mean it’s nothing to worry about. You’ve got more schooling than I have, but isn’t Lysistrata the play where the women refuse to have relations with their husbands until the men agree to stop going to war?”With a groan, Gideon clenched the wheel. Lysistrata was among the many words of literature his father had forced down his throat once he was old enough to read. “Yes. But don’t try to tell me she’s teaching them that. It’s Greek, for god’s sake. They wouldn’t understand a word, even if she knew it well enough to recite it.”“She knows it well enough to give them a free translation, I assure you. When I left her she was telling them the story with great enthusiasm.”Barnaby reached for the helm when Gideon swung away from it with an oath. “I should never have taken her aboard,” he grumbled as he strode for the ladder. “I should have sent her back to England gagged and bound!”

“If we don’t get a good day’s work out of you, we’ll maroon you.”He ignored Barnaby’s raised eyebrow. They’d never marooned anybody before, even the English nobles they hated, but Gideon meant to put the fear of God into the man.”

“Horns. The skull had horns His heart sank. Only one pirate ship bore that flag—the Satyr.To make sure, he looked for the figurehead. When he saw the telltale carving of the mythological half-goat, half-man, he groaned aloud. Then he lifted his glass, and saw the black-haired man standing in the bow. It was the Satyr, all right. And its demon owner Captain Gideon Horn.“Tis the Pirate Lord himself!”

“And how is the expectant mother? You mustn't tax yourself, you know.I don't want my nephew born early enough to raise eyebrows."Gideon laid his hand in the small of her back in a protective gesture she knew all too well. "Are you implying that I'm the kind of man who'd allow his wife to tax herself?""If the shoe fits-""Behave, both of you," she admonished as Gideon bristled and Jordan glared. "I swear, when you two get near each other, you act like school boys fighting over a half-pence.""Oh, you're much more valuable than a half-pence," Jordan retorted. Before Gideon could say anything to that, he added, "And in any case, I didn't come over here to anger you, moppet. I merey wanted to let you know I'm leaving.""Good," Gideon mumbled under his breath.”

“Whatever she might have said was drowned out when the door to her cabin swung open and slammed against the wall. She and Petey sprang apart at once, but it was too late. Gideon was staring at them with thunder on his face.“You and I had a bargain, Hargraves. And it appears you aren’t keeping your end of it.”Though the blood drained from Petey’s face, he pulled himself up straight. “It wouldn’t have been right to leave without sayin’ goodbye. An honorable man wouldn’t have done it.”“An honorable man wouldn’t have sold her out for gold, either. Did you tell her that? Did you tell her you were more than happy to take wealth over her?”When Petey merely shrugged, the look on Gideon’s face made Sara’s heart skip more than one beat.”

“Gideon went still. All his pleasure at having her there abruptly vanished.His mother? Silas had told her about his mother?That blasted old fool. When Gideon got his hands on him, he’d yank his beard out.”