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But now Gray could show her he’d changed As iven up the reckless, albeit far , life of a privateer and beco concern, with t vessels in construction besides the Aphrodite, and investors lining up to back more Able to offer her a hoht desire Bel row a conscience, rather than build a fortune But Gray knew better than to waste his time If a scoundrel like hith of Isabel Grayson’s prayers

Prayer wouldn’t help hiainst seasickness was to turn one’s hts drifted to Miss Turner He thought he’d outgrown adlish roses Give him an exotic orchid A voluptuous woman with unbound hair and bold, dark eyes, who knehat she was about Girlish blushes, deo

But still he thought of her He could no more rid hisfitfully in his bunk, he recalled her near-breakable beauty, her delicate scent And the feel of her body pressed against his for those few seconds in the rowboat Not just the enticing sensation of her soft, pillowy breasts flattening against his chest, but beneath theainst his torso through all those layers of woed inside her was cla him to set it free It was then he discovered an unhappy consequence to all his tossing and turning One of the ropes binding him to his bed had drifted south--and now cinched his body at a most unfortunate latitude

Damn it to hell

He undid the ropes and wrestled out of the bed What the devil was happening to hioverness had hi, he was losing his instincts Joss had been right; the storainst either side of the corridor, Gray entlemen’s cabin to the coe how the ship’s new rigging and spars eathering the gale

But when he reached the stairs, his plans changed There was a girl in his way

Miss Turner stood perched on the third rung of the ladder, straining on tiptoe to peek through the half-open hatch Had Gray been the superstitious sort, he ers hite, delicate here she clutched the handle of the hatch with one hand and the ladder with the other Flashes of lu illuht features and the droplets of spray clinging to her hair and eyelashes

No, she wasn’t a ghost But she was a vision just the saainst the wall She didn’t turn around

Gray cleared his throat and tried again "Miss Turner"

Now she startled, nearly losing her grip on the ladder "Mr Grayson I …"

Her voice caught, and she dabbed her face with her sleeve "I wanted to see the storm"

"And how do you find it?"

"Wet"

Gray chuckled, surprised

"And beautiful," she continued, as another bolt of lightning threw her features into relief "Out here on the water, with no solid land beneath--it’s so different As though there’s no boundary between sky and sea, and we’re sierous, is what it is"

"Yes, precisely" Another bright flash revealed the curve of a s at hih his blood with each gliht to be huddled in her bunk, fearing for her life He crossed the s the ladder with one hand and offering her the other, to assist her descent "Wise passengers wait out a stor his hand "What does that er He didn’t miss the coy lilt in her voice, nor the tremor of her rain-daed for his embrace No, she didn’t even realize the invitation she’d ns were unmistakable to Gray He’d seen this reaction, many times before, and he knew better than to be flattered by it It was nothing more than instinct

Any port in a stor her down The feel of her chilled, slender fingers in his triggered all manner of instincts "It irl with an overactive i had ceased, but her eyes sparked with a fire all their own

"But I--"

"You’re not safe here" He wrenched open the door to the ladies’ cabin and waved her through it "Go to bed, Miss Turner"

Yes, go to bed, he thought, as she wordlessly swept through the door and he drew it shut behind her Go to your bed, before I sweep you off tomine

CHAPTER FOUR

Sophia ith a start, alone and disoriented in the dark Her pulse responded first, puh her veins at a furious rate She pressed her hand to her heart, and her fingers curled around her purse Awareness returned in a dizzy rush

A faint silvery glow leaked under the door of her berth It was , that ht She turned onto her side Every muscle screamed with pain Her skirt and cloak were still heavy with da her feeble attempts to rise Perhaps she didn’t need to move, after all

Oh, but she did She drew a deep breath, then wished she could spit it out The air was thick with hue She slid fro lied for the staircase, scra up on her hands and knees A salty breeze nipped at her ears as she eray dawn She inhaled a deep, bracing breath of fresh air The thought of returning below held no appeal whatsoever Yet neither could she re fro ht position, planting her feet in a wide stance to buffer the ship’s rolling Sophia closed her eyes Either the ship was caught in a whirl pool, or her head was spinning like a top She looked toward the nearest rail--only five paces away, perhaps six Beyond it, the English coastline appeared to teeter on a fulcruaze on the deck beneath her, and took one step Two

Then the deck pitched suddenly, and her locked knees buckled She was falling, spinning, out of control

She was caught