Sea Mistress by Candace McCarthy Read Free Book Online Page A

mature than Bess had remembered—harsh, angular. His steely blue gaze seemed to pierce through to a person’s soul.
    He stood, feet apart, hands braced on his sides, a powerful, threatening figure. Garret wore a double-breasted jacket that hung open, revealing his white linen shirt beneath. Fawn-colored breeches gripped his long, muscular legs, disappearing into the tops of polished black calf-length boots. There was something frightening, ruthless, about Captain Garret, as if he carried with him the dark aura of the devil himself.
    Bess shivered. She experienced her first niggling of doubt. Could she best this man and win? As she’d dreamed so often in her worst nightmares, she imagined the soft wail of a baby’s cry . . . and the deathly silence that followed.
    Damn him! She wasn’t afraid of Seth Garret! After all, he was just a man.
    â€œFeather!” the captain bellowed, “get below. I’ll deal with you later.” He watched as the man left, before he impaled the second mate with his cold, blue gaze. “As for you, Conrad—take the scallops out of the fore top stays’il.”
    Conrad’s eyes widened as he looked toward the ship’s stern. “But, c-capt’n,” he sputtered, “ther’ no scal—”
    â€œAre you questioning a direct order, sailor?” Seth’s tone was clipped, annoyed.
    â€œNo, sir!”
    â€œThen, get to it, man!” he barked. From beneath lowered lids, the captain watched Conrad hurry to do his bidding. He turned away then, seeming to have forgotten Bess and Reeves’s presence.
    As he walked toward the quarter-deck, Garret appeared preoccupied, his hand lifting to tug on his right ear. Bess stared at him in fascination. The younger Seth had done so whenever he’d been dismayed or deep in thought.
    She was transported back in time, and her heart softened at the memory. Abruptly, she returned to the present, feeling chilled.
    Garret glanced back. “Reeves, Marlton—I take it that it is Marlton—are you all right?”
    â€œWe are fine, sir,” Reeves was quick to answer. Satisfied, the captain nodded and moved away.
    As Seth went to the rail and stared out to sea, Bess found she was unable to look away. For five years, her only feeling for this man had been an overpowering, blinding, mind-consuming hate. But now, seeing him again after all these years, Bess felt confused, uncertain, and she didn’t like it one bit.
    â€œBess?” Reeves murmured. “You all right?”
    Stirring from her thoughts, she gave him a wan smile. “I’m fine. You?” He nodded. “That other man—” she said. “Not Conrad, but—”
    â€œAlf Feather. He was second mate until a few months ago when he pilfered another man’s food rations.” Reeves hesitated. “The cabin boy’s.”
    Bess was appalled. Did all sailors have no morals, no conscience? Had they just made enemies of the most lowly of men?
    John grabbed her arm when she started to walk away. “Where are you going?” He scowled at her.
    â€œBack to the cabin.”
    His eyes flashed angrily. “Then tell me, damn it! How do you expect me to protect you, if I don’t know your every move!”
    â€œI’m sorry,” she muttered, feeling properly admonished. John was right. As long as she was on board the Sea Mistress, her situation was potentially dangerous. She was a lone woman amidst dangerous men. John knew the way of this ship better than she did; it would behoove her to remember it.
    The man’s expression softened. “I don’t want you harmed.” He paused. “Your uncle would never have forgiven me.”
    She nodded in understanding. “It won’t happen again,” she promised.
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    After her first taste of freedom on the upper deck, Bess found it difficult to remain below. It had felt wonderful being out in the fresh air,