“Did Farruco pronounce you healed?” she murmured as he brought one booted foot up onto the bottom rung of the railing and leaned his forearms against the top.
“Not quite healed, but well on my way. And he commended you on your care. Apparently you’ve the makings of a fine ship’s surgeon.”
“No, thank you. I’d rather stay at the helm, if it’s all the same. I nearly retched each time I cleaned your wounds.” An unfamiliar, giddy sort of laugh teased her lips. Why did she feel so dizzy, as if she might swoon? It was uncomfortable and yet, a bit amusing at the same time. Her belly fluttered as if alive with a million butterflies all trying to break free, and as she cast a sidelong gaze up at him, those wings intensified their beating. It was like seeing him for the first time all over again.
He sighed softly, looking out at the silver trail caused by the Serena’s wake. “Not exactly my most preferred way to pass several weeks, but nonetheless, not the worst, either.”
As he spoke, he turned to give her a slow smile and her heart tripled its beat. The sudden rush of blood to her head made her giddier still, and her instinct was to tighten her grip on the railing, lest her knees betray her and crumple right out from beneath her.
“No, I don’t suppose it was the worst,” she said as he turned completely sideways to rest on one elbow as he gazed down at her. His eyes glittered like black opals, though she knew they weren’t black at all. They were like topaz, a beautiful warm mix of gold and brown. “Tiger eyes,” she murmured without thinking.
“What was that?”
His voice cut through her fog and she cleared her throat. “I…uh…that is… It is lovely out here. I’ve missed being at sea.”
“We are heading to St. Phillippe. If you like, I can take you to Port Royal.”
A tempting offer, the thought of being at sea with him for at least another three weeks. But no. It wouldn’t be wise. Her feelings twisted and fought with her head far too much. Regretfully, she shook her head. “No. I thank you for the offer, but I will find my own passage to Jamaica. Or perhaps I will simply go home.”
“Where is home these days?”
“London. My brother and I own Markham now. Well, my half-brother, that is.”
“Half-brother?”
She nodded. “Did I never mention him? His name is William. His mother was my father’s wife, but my mother was his great love.” She offered him a wistful smile. “Perhaps I should be ashamed of that, but I’m not. Theirs was a tragic love, but wildly romantic as well.”
His eyes softened. “You never struck me as the starry-eyed romantic, Gabby.”
“Because I’m not. Their story did not end happily, though I was fortunate my father claimed me as his right from the beginning. It is also fortunate that I shared his love for the seas, while William saw it as dirty work.”
She shrugged, her smile fading. “I became the son William was not, but unfortunately, my father could leave me only my financial interest in Markham. I own the Galatea outright, and receive a stipend of Markham’s profits, but William owns controlling interest. I’m not at all certain how he managed to do this, but my father was quite the miracle worker, you know, and I don’t think he trusted William overmuch.” Another shrug. “Not that it matters to me. I prefer not having to deal with all of the rubbish that comes with property ownership and running the company. I am quite happy to sail my ship and watch my bank account fatten. William can’t sack me. He can’t even touch my ship. Although, since I haven’t a clue where the Galatea is right now, that is moot, I suppose.”
Her eyes stung with unexpected tears. Her ship. She hadn’t realized how much she missed it until that moment. But miss it she did. Much as she loved being at sea on any ship, it couldn’t compare to being aboard her ship.
“Perhaps Carmichael has it. He might have returned to Jamaica to file a claim.”
“Perhaps. I wouldn’t put it past him to claim salvage on it. I only hope he isn’t fool enough to sail near Eleuthera. He’d be no match for the wreckers.” She pressed her lips together as fresh anger flared in her belly at the thought of her precious Galatea destroyed because Carmichael fell prey to those who made their living from the ships they lured to their shores and then stripped. “If that happened… When I find him, he will be sorry.”
Diego reached out his free arm to cup his hand on her shoulder. “Perhaps you’d best concentrate on finding a new ship, first. It’ll be difficult to chase Carmichael down without one.”
She groaned at that. “Never mind a ship. I’d need a crew as well. And there aren’t many willing to serve a woman. I can only imagine where mine has scattered. Surely they’ve found other crews to join, I’ve been gone so long.”
“Fools, all of them. No loyalty at all.”
Gabby looked up to find him gazing down at her, a teasing smile pulling on his lips. “Diego, no…”
“What? I’ve done nothing.”
“I know what you’re thinking.” She wanted to step back, to put some distance between her. “And trust me, you don’t want to do it. It’s simply the full moon, and the water, and the—”
“And the beautiful woman standing before me.”
She almost shivered at his low growl. “No. Didn’t we agree that what happened on the island was a mistake?”
“True. It was a mistake, but it was a rather pleasant mistake as well.”
He brought his hand to her cheek and his fingertips swept over it with feather lightness. A flutter of desire rippled through her, despite her best efforts to ignore it. “Diego…”
He caught her face in both hands, tilted her head back as his fingers reached into her hair. Panic rose up as the tension thickened between them, and she wanted to pull away as strongly as she wanted to melt into him.
“Gabriella,” he whispered, and her eyes drooped at the promise laced through that one almost breathless word.
Midnight Secrets
Jennifer St. Giles
Is he her darkest dream…or most terrifying nightmare?
Cassiopeia’s dreams have never been her own. They are harbingers of death. Yet when s
he learns her gentle cousin, Mary, has disappeared from a remote castle on the Cornish Coast, the official story doesn’t fit with Cassie’s prophetic dream.
The mystery compels her to leave the safety and middle-class comfort of Oxford to take a job as a maid in the house of Killdaren. There she discovers more than the daily indignities the working class must endure. There’s a darkness surrounding Sean Killdaren, a man born with his hands at his twin’s throat. Whispers of the murderous Dragon Curse…and an aversion to daylight that adds vampire to spine-chilling rumors.
When Cassie encounters him in the shadowy corridors, his touch should make her tremble in fear. But that’s not what makes her knees shockingly weak. It’s the spell of desire he casts with his wicked green eyes…and the small acts of kindness that soften her heart.
The closer she comes to the truth, the greater the danger. Mary isn’t the only woman lost to the Killdaren brothers’ curse. And as a killer lurks ever closer, Cassie wonders whom she can trust…and if she will be the next victim.
Warning: Contains a prim and proper advice columnist who finds herself in situations not covered by the rules of etiquette, and a deliciously dark hero who sees more than a maid in itchy wool…he sees the only star that lights his tortured life. Lace hankies strongly recommended.
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This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
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Midnight Secrets
> Copyright © 2011 by Jennifer St. Giles
ISBN: 978-1-60928-375-9
Edited by Tera Kleinfelter
Cover by Kanaxa
All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
First Samhain Publishing, Ltd. electronic publication: April 2011
www.samhainpublishing.com
Table of Contents
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
About the Author
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Copyright Page
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