Read Kit Black for Free Online

one, absolutely no one but Roger had ever been so very kind and generous to me.
    â€œYou want me to change my mind about the offer you made me to live in Paris, don’t you?”
    â€œI want you to be comfortable, Kita. I don’t see you being the type who changes her mind once it’s made up.”
    â€œI won’t, you know.”
    He seemed concerned. “You can’t be serious about The Black Moon . I know it’s docked somewhere near here. There are stories about this Gareth captain. He was once in the English Navy. They drummed him out for cruelty.”
    â€œHe’s a privateer. And he’s not said to be a slave smuggler.” I was going to kill Roger for telling him.
    â€œHe’s said to be a brute. He’s a pirate.”
    I shrugged. “I can look after myself. If any man tries anything with me, he dies.”
    He touched his injured brow. “I believe that. But you’re too pretty, they’ll know.”
    I blushed. “I can do it.”
    â€œI’ll be worrying about you.”
    â€œYou have no cause to worry about me. You’ll have a wife to worry over soon.”
    â€œYes, that’s true. I wanted to ask you something else. Do you think there’s any possibility that you may have conceived that night? I didn’t take the precautions I’d meant to.”
    I blushed. “No. I’m sure.”
    â€œKita, Mon amour , it can happen the first time. I want you to know that I’ll—”
    â€œI’m sure,” I interrupted him. “My monthly flow is on me now.” I didn’t want him calling me his love. I didn’t want that. Not ever.
    He seemed relieved. Perhaps he was. I was not certain, it was hard to read his gaze. I suspected he was practiced at hiding his feelings, as are most military men.
    â€œI have something else to give you.”
    â€œI don’t want anything else.”
    â€œAh, but you have to take it. It’s of little use to me now.”
    He removed his scabbard and the fine sword within, and handed it to me.
    â€œNo! I will not take your sword! Never.”
    â€œI can’t use it now.” He gave me a rueful smile. “You know what the legend says, don’t you? We, Navy men, are very superstitious.”
    I glared at him. “What legend?”
    â€œIf a man…” He grinned and looked at my bound breasts. “If a man has taken your sword and used it against you and draws blood, it will never be trusted again. I cannot use it. I’d risk death in battle.”
    â€œThat’s not true.”
    â€œIt is. I would never lie to you.”
    â€œThat’s silly.”
    â€œI shall just leave it in the trash heap, then. It was a gift from my grandfather.”
    â€œYou can’t.”
    â€œI will.”
    I looked at the sword, glistening like gold in the sun. It was a fine weapon, beautiful. There were letters carved into the hilt. AED. “What do they stand for?”
    â€œArmand Etienne Dupuis.”
    I sighed. “I’ll take it, then. I’m sorry I took your luck. One day I’ll return it to you and you can give it to your son.”
    â€œMaybe I’ll have a daughter.”
    â€œMaybe she’ll need a sword.” I could feel my throat thickening. “If you’ll accept something from me, I’ll take it and I’ll look after it just as you would have.”
    He nodded.
    I pulled the medallion from out of my shirt and over my head, and laid it in his warm palm. “This was my father’s. Now it is yours, Armand Etienne Dupuis.”
    He smiled. “I’ll wear it with pride, Kita. One day I’ll return it to you.”
    I nodded. My chin was trembling. I was going to cry. How I hated this. I didn’t want to part with him, but he was not mine to keep. He would never be mine, not the way that I wanted him. I would never share him.
    I took the sword, and wearing the boots which felt as light