"Belle of Biscayne" by Christi Smith Hayden

She was known as 'Le femme de Mer' . . and believe me,  you never saw another lass that dared to walk the buccaneer 'rolls as did Belle Biscayne.
 
No one knows where she came from, save by her own word that her father was a Frenchman . . . and by her manners and words, his blood is telling. She runs both red-iron hot and deep-water cold with her emotions. As for her mother, well . . .  less said, the better.

She is a vicious-yet-sweet little yellow-tail; if you found her favor, you benefited richly. The Belle of Biscayne could cloy you with words that practically dripped from her tongue like cane-pressed rum, until you crossed her... then her wit came out sharp as Damascus steel, dripping with venom so vile, sea snakes would slink off to the depths and even the great white shark wouldn't dare to cross her wake.

For all that, she knows her way 'round a captain's mast and runs a competent ship and crew. All that serve her knows she can be compassionate and supportive, but she brooks no fools or slackers on or below decks. Her ship -- the Soleil Renard -- is fast, nimble and armed with enough cannon to take down even a heavy-ladden merchant man or a bristling man-o-war.

A true Daughter of Posideon, she is like the lionfish; beauty and danger all rolled into one sleek bundle of cunning and gile. She gives no quarter, and should any dare to collect the bounty the King has placed on her snowy-curled head, well . . . in her own words: 
 
 "Si vous osez moi defier, monsieur... Je vous verrai au fond de la mer. Ce n'est aucune menace... qu'elle est, un guarantee." ("If you dare to challenge me, Sir... I will see you at the bottom of the sea. That is no threat... it is, a guarantee.")

        ---- from the chronicles of Lolly Rackham, gentleman pirate

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There are times when my scanner really aggravates me. Case in point -- when I scanned the original of this pic, most of the background and her skintone dropped out. Thank goodness for Photoshop, that's all I can say.

Photo Reference:
http://mjranum-stock.deviantart.com/art/La-Pirate-S-5-135905772