Hart's Passion (Pirates & Petticoats Book 2) by Chloe Flowers Page A

not have me willing as long as I have the strength to resist," she hissed.  
    “I will have you, claw-cat , any way I deem fit.”
    Keelan chanced a quick glance at Landon. He stirred, thankfully. He was alive but wounded and unarmed.  
    Distract.  
    She glanced toward the door Gampo had entered earlier. A sudden sprint for freedom might spur him to follow. She took a deep breath, looped the chain around her arm and began to run. Just as she reached the door, Gampo grabbed at Landon’s coat, dropping his sword in the process. She stumbled against the doorframe.  
    When the pirate tried to pull her to him and snake his arm around her neck, she squealed and plunged an elbow into his ribs. He grunted with pain, but still clamped his other hand over her mouth as he pulled her against him and hissed in her ear.
    “Be quiet, wench! If ye scream again, devil take me to the fire, ’twill be the last sound you make! I still haven’t reckoned whether I should kill ye now or later.”
    Keelan twisted her head, and his fingers slipped over her lips. She opened her mouth and bit down hard until she tasted blood.
    Cursing, he jerked his hand away. She pivoted and with every ounce of strength, buried her right elbow into his belly.  
    “Oh no,” he gasped for breath while holding her chain. “Ye can’t go unaccompanied. Ain’t safe fer a ewe white lamb like ye.”
    She glared at the tall man holding her iron tether. “I will die before I allow you to sell me, you soulless bastard!”
    He yanked hard and snarled, “Ye’ll die if ye run, and ye can lay to that, says I.”  
    Keelan’s fingers silently groped in the jacket pocket for Crowe’s knife. Instinct told her to lunge for his midsection; he yanked on the chain again and she stumbled. The knife bound for his belly sank into his thigh, instead.
    His yelp pierced the still air of the cell. Dropping the chain, he clutched the hilt, and with a pained grunt, he jerked the blade free of his flesh.
    Landon crawled toward the saber, his shirt soaked with blood. At least he was alive and moving.  
    Gampo shifted his attention to her and raised the bloodied knife. His lip curled back in a grimace of hatred and agony.  
    “Ye has run out of blades, dearie.” He motioned to his wounded leg. “Do ye really think this little nick will hinder me too much to collect ye?”
    Keelan backed through the far doorway, groping behind her for support. Chancing a furtive glance over her shoulder, she noted the rickety stairway leading down to an alley below.  
    Go! She turned and jumped down several steps to the landing. He followed, limping down the wooden stair. She’d done it. She’d drawn him away from Landon. Pausing long enough to gather up the iron links she fled down the next flight to the street below. Several shadowed shapes poured out of a broken warehouse window and fled. Gampo’s men? She hesitated. They appeared more concerned with running away than capturing her, so she continued until her feet hit the alley’s cobblestones, then took off at a dead run.
    She heard his voice hail her with hoarse fury, “Ye’ll not escape me, Keelan Grey! I will find ye or may I be damned blood, eyes, and liver! Mark this—I will hunt ye down! Ye and that yellow-eyed bastard who bought ye! Ye will pay dearly fer killing my first!”  
    A sickening shiver clenched her spine. He knew her name. She ran as if the hounds of hell nipped at her heels. Where should she go?  
    Daniel. He’d know what to do.
    Talons of indecision clawed at her mind. If Daniel believed she ran away, then he would wait for her at The Whistling Pig.  
    She couldn’t go there dressed like this.
    The only place she could obtain clothing at this hour was Jared’s townhouse. She almost laughed at the irony. With any luck, she’d be able to sneak in, dress and sneak out. Would the servants would let her in and help her? Hopefully, she wouldn’t end up locked in her room again.
    Gampo would be hindered by a