Duke by Day, Rogue by Night by Katherine Bone Read Free Book Online Page A

daily affair. His eye commanded her obedience. Every ounce of her being wanted to comply, to believe this devil meant to help her, but horrors of the past, pirates, her mother descending beneath the foamy spray, took an unrelenting hold upon her mind.
    He grabbed her waist. She yelped.
    â€œDo you want my death on your conscience?”
    â€œNothing would please me more!” she cried. She didn’t want to die. Her eyes searched the dwindling space in the hold. She began to doubt getting off the Octavia was even possible.
    â€œDo you want to live?”
    â€œY-yes … ” she finally stammered.
    He pulled her toward the hatch opening, and then released her momentarily to get a grip on the ledge. Almost immediately, a blunt object scraped her leg, knocking her out of his reach. She cried out and snatched for his hand. He grasped her hair, yanking her back toward him as the sea roiled like a living being beneath them.
    â€œLeave me,” she gulped, gasping for air. “I’ll only get you killed!”
    â€œGrab hold of my neck and don’t let go. We’ll climb up to the hatch and make for the Striker .”
    â€œI’m … a-afraid,” she cried, teeth chattering.
    â€œConcentrate. I’ll get you out of here if it’s the last thing I do. I swear it upon my sister’s grave. Trust me,” he implored. His entreaty robbed her of all thought. She nodded. “That’s it. Hang on! Let me do the work.”
    He swam them to a beam in the hull, dodging wood fragments flooding past. With the strength of what seemed like ten men, he reached up for the edge of the hatch, pulled himself up, and then dangled his body above her.
    â€œKeep a firm grip on the rail,” he shouted.
    Stars sparkled above as he deftly swung himself up and out of the hold. For a moment, the outline of his body was blocked from sight. The ship groaned. Water swirled like a whirlpool about her. The momentary joy she felt upon seeing him free of the chaos beneath them, knowing he’d promised to save her, fled as a wave crashed over the hatch dousing him with a terrifying sea wash.
    Water flooded over her head, temporarily submerging her. Constance struggled to keep her grip, but her hands slipped. She sank, swallowing her fill of seawater as she tried to claw her way back up to life-giving air.
    The willowy form of a woman appeared. Take hold of my hand, Constance. Don’t give up. Grab my hand!
    Constance kicked her feet and stretched out her hand. But the hand she grabbed didn’t belong to her mother, but a devil with a worrisome snarl. The brute yanked her upward and onto the Octavia ’s sloping deck.
    â€œYou’re a lot of trouble.”
    â€œMrs. M-Mortimer,” she said, choking out the seawater she’d swallowed.
    He slapped her on the back. “Your maid is already aboard the Striker , along with Guffald and Captain Collins.”
    â€œMake way for the captain!” an order sounded in the semi-darkness.
    The ruffian — lifted her and carried her to the edge of the Octavia ’s deck. “No! You can’t mean to — ”
    â€œGrab the girl, Jacko,” he ordered, throwing her overboard. “Clear the ship!”
    She landed with a big splash, and then found herself clawing mindlessly at water again until she was quickly fished out of the sea by two sneering crewmen. Once inside the boat, she glanced furiously over her shoulder and held her breath as the brigand dove into the sea, effortlessly swimming to the side of the gig, where he grabbed hold of a proffered arm and swung himself deftly aboard.
    â€œShe’s goin’ down by the head, Captain.”
    â€œAye,” he said. “Get us clear, Jacko, before she takes us under.”
    â€œRow, men! Steer us free!” Jacko bellowed. But as the distance grew between the boat and the sinking ship, Constance wondered if drowning wouldn’t have been the better