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Chapter 1: Prolog: Worlds Collide
The night air was thick with the scent of treason and the only light was that of the moon. Most wouldn’t dare go out the night of all Hallows Eve. Elizabeth Summers wasn’t most people.

She grunted as she fell out of her window and hit the roof with a thud. She was on her feet before the sound reached her ears and was carefully climbing out onto the nearest tree branch. Effortlessly she swung to the ground and grinned as she wiped her blistered hands on her britches.

Her dark blonde hair was tied up and hidden well beneath her fathers top hat. Her breasts were hidden beneath his oversized dress coat and her sun tanned face was free of all powder and rouge. She thought she was well disguised but only a blind man wouldn’t be able to tell, she was fully woman.

She broke out in a sprint and ran toward the front gate, at the entrance of her father’s estate house. She prayed that Mr. Andrews had left the gate unlocked for her again tonight, and wasn’t disappointed when she reached the opening. The old rusty hinges squealed and protested loudly as she opened the gate just enough to squeeze through the gap. Panting she took off down the street as fast as her short legs would carry her, toward O’ Riley’s Bar.

The bar was crowded, as it always was when Elizabeth entered and tried to muscle her way through the mobs of men. She cleared her throat to get the bartenders attention and ordered her whiskey. She loved the noise and the thrill of being out doing something no proper lady was allowed to do. She ignored the women in the crowded room completely. She might not have conducted herself as a proper lady at all times but she was better than them. She was better than every sailor, officer, and whore in that room when she was Elizabeth Summers, but when she was John Tarleton son of a farmer and brother of a whore she was no better than anyone else in the bar.

She found her seat at her usual table and nodded to the rest of the gentlemen. The weekly poker game hadn’t started yet. There was still an empty seat and until someone filled it they wouldn’t start the game. She recognized most of the men sitting at the round table in the center of the tavern, she had played with them many times.

“So Johnny boy you feeling lucky tonight?” Hughbert Barton slurred as he nudged her. She could smell the stink of liquor on his breath and it made her want to vomit. Hughbert Barton was a fat man with six chins and a drinking problem. He disgusted her but she was careful to never let it show.

She snorted and imitated her father’s deep, clear, crisp English voice when she answered. “Luck has nothing to do with it Hughbert.” She slapped the older man on the shoulder as he went back to talking with one of the bar maids.

He caught her attention the moment he walked through the door. A man she had never seen before with an angels face and a devils smile. The crowds seemed to part for him as he made his way to the counter. She couldn’t take her eyes off him. He towered over almost every man in the place but it wasn’t his height that did it. He couldn’t have been taller than 5 foot 10 but the way he carried himself made him look ten feet tall and she swore on her dear mother’s grave that she had never seen a more strikingly handsome man in all her life.

He looked in her direction and that broke the spell, she turned away so quick her head spun. She scolded herself as she felt her cheeks flood with warmth. No respectable, honorable man would be caught dead in a tavern. She needed to get her head on straight. She was here to win a poker game not think utterly unthinkable thoughts about a total stranger. She went back to starring into her glass of whiskey when she felt a light tap on her shoulder.

“Is there room for one more at this table?” The stranger asked and all she could will herself to do was stare blindly and nod her head.

He grinned, “Thank you,” he tipped his hat to her and took a seat in the chair across from her. He looked at her like she was a woman. With eyes as blue as the sky and a smile that could melt even the coldest heart. There was a question in his eyes and she knew he knew who she was. She felt herself blush. The way he looked at her made her feel naked. His eyes didn’t miss a thing.

The cards were dealt and the game started. She forced herself to concentrate. Her first hand was terrible, she folded right away. She caught the stranger’s eye, he smirked and with a mischievous glint in his eye he winked, than folded himself.
He was laughing at her! She couldn’t believe it! He knew she was a woman and he was laughing because he thought she didn’t know how to play the game! He thought that she wasn’t gutsy enough to go for it, to throw caution to the wind and go for it. Well, he was in for a big surprise. She’d show him. She was just as good as any man!

The next hand was dealt; she had a pocket pair of Queens. She inwardly grinned. This was going to be her hand. The stranger frowned and placed his cards back on the table. Her smile grew.

Ten minutes later there was a crowd of thirty very rowdy, very drunk men surrounding their table. “Give it to him, Cap!” One man yelled.

“He aint nothing but a pretty boy! Send him home to his momma!” Another slurred.

Elizabeth’s heart pounded furiously. She had bet more money than she had. The pot just kept getting bigger. The man sitting across from her smirked. It was time to lay down her hand. She had a pair of queens. She should have never stayed in. She was going too loose and there was no way to pay him. In that moment she knew that nothing would ever be the same. She would be ruined or killed tonight and she didn’t know which was worse.

She laid her hand down.

He tsked. Shook his head and laid down his cards. He had four aces. “No one has ever beaten me at poker,” he smirked “boy.”

She swallowed slowly trying to choke down the lump in her throat. “I don’t have the money.”

His smile widened. “Than you’ll work off what you owe me. My ship, The Talon is docked in the harbor. One of my men will go home with you and you can collect your things.” He turned away and she stormed after him grabbing his arm. He spun around and her breath caught in her throat. His eyes were furious. Blue clashed with green in a battle of wills.

“You touch me ever again and you’ll loose your hand, boy. You be very careful.” It was his warning and she didn’t dare say anything back. He walked away, out the door and she released the breath she hadn’t realized she was holding.

“Come on boy.” A big man pushed her in the back and she hit her knees. Oh God. What had she done?





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