Till Dawn Tames the Night by Meagan McKinney Read Free Book Online

chastised by one of the seamen in the rigging. Taken aback, she looked to the other sailors to see if they too abided by such behavior. When she did, each and every one of them violently averted his gaze. She knew it was proper to keep a distance between passenger and seaman, but this was odd behavior indeed, especially when just the night before these same sailors had tipped their caps and nodded pleasantly to both her and Mrs. Lindstrom.
    Shrugging off an ominous feeling, she went to the rail and looked out. They were well past Gravesend by now and the Channel stretched out before them like a frothy blue jewel sparkling in the morning sun. A few whitecaps were stirred up by the wind, and though the breeze blew brazenly over her bonnetless head, she was loath to return to her cabin. Instead she watched as the English coastline gave more and more of itself up to the sea. They were going along at a fantastic pace, and she found it exhilarating.
    "Miss Dayne. I hope your accommodations are satisfactory."
    Aurora spun around. She was sure Captain Corbeil was her solicitor, but the smile on her lips died as she faced the Seabravery's terrifying owner.
    He was most definitely not a gnome. If anything, in the morning light he had grown a foot from when she had last seen him. With the sunlight flickering in his eyes, she could now see they were a vivid shade of emerald green. His eyes, despite all their promise of terrible emotions, took her breath away.
    Dumbstruck, she tilted her head up to look up at him; it was all she could do to utter even the most inane conversation.
    "I'm—I'm afraid we haven't had an introduction, sir."
    "Allow me," he said, nodding his head. "My name is Vashon. I'm the owner of this vessel." With that, he leaned back on the railing next to her. He was very close. Almost too close. With his legs slightly apart and his elbows against the rail, he seemed very much at home. Now, as last night, he most definitely looked the part of the commander of the Seabravery.
    "And I am Miss Dayne. But, of course, you seem to know that already," she said.
    He was so near she had to suppress the urge to step back out of his shadow. She really wanted to flee to her cabin, but she told herself that she was no longer the milksop maiden John Phipps had thought her. She was a lady of adventure now. It wouldn't do to run away. After all, she told herself, what harm could come to her on this ship?
    She took another glance up at him and suddenly she had her doubts. This man was anything but harmless. He was clean-shaven and well-dressed in breeches, boots, and a shirt as blindingly white as the sails above them. Yet the man's appearance still unnerved her. She found the heavy coils of his long black hair, though neatly bound, threatening. He was unlike any man she had ever seen. His silver ear hoop, glinting off the sparkling water, confirmed this. He was no John Phipps, a man as easy to run from as an unweaned puppy. Somehow she felt if she ever dared run from this Vashon, he was just the kind who would go after her. And not stop until he'd got her.
    "Are you enjoying your voyage, Miss Dayne?"
    She tilted her head up once more to look at him. His eyes were alight with laughter. Somehow he must have known she was intimidated and obviously found it amusing. She suddenly became annoyed.
    "Everything is quite satisfactory, Mr. Vashon. Unfortunately, you'll have to excuse me now—"
    Tensing, she felt his gaze lower to her throat. She unwittingly looked down and saw he was staring at her locket, deep in thought.
    "Your pendant is beautiful," he murmured, his eyes reflecting the light with all the subtleties of a jewel. "And how well it suits you, Miss Dayne."
    "My father gave it to me," she whispered, growing flustered. She had never met a man as brash as this one. John had been loath even to look at her locket, calling it "a pagan thing." This man was not only staring at it but admiring it as well. He looked as if he ached to reach