Dark Angel Read Online Free Page A

stance, the melancholy in his profile, made me believe he had changed his words as an afterthought. Could it be possible a man such as he—with a becoming appearance, in possession of apparent wealth, and perhaps a lord by custom if not by right—might not have friends? My heart softened and I bit my lip, wondering how to offer my friendship without having him misinterpret the gesture. Before I could act on my impulse, he turned back to me.
    “If it pleases you, then I will knock next time.”
    “And wait for my permission to enter?” I imagined him offering a peremptory knock as a mere sop to my request before barging in on me again.
    He sighed dramatically. “Will these conditions never end? Very well, I will wait until you say I may enter.”
    I smiled with relief, which was short-lived at his next words.
    “As long as that is what you say.” He tilted his chin down to look at me directly. “For you would not keep me from you for long,” he said softly, his gaze warm and frank, “if I thought you might have need of me.”
    Oh my. My breath stopped, then started again.
    I trembled under his regard, drawing the sheets higher around me. I felt exposed, the silver mists of his eyes enclosing me like a cool fog.
    “You’re shivering,” he observed with concern. “Are you chilled?”
    I grasped at the excuse as a drowning sailor would a life preserver, though that might not be the best analogy given my recent experiences. “Y-yes. The fire has died. Would you send for someone to relight it?”
    “I will do it.” He went to the fireplace at once and knelt before it, reaching for kindling and logs.
    “Do not trouble yourself with such menial labor,” I told him hastily. “You will dirty your hands.”
    He stepped away from the fireplace, and astonishingly, the flames were already beginning to rise. I had not even seen him strike a match. He turned to me with a wicked gleam of amusement. “It is accomplished.”
    “Well.” I stared at the roaring blaze, dumbfounded. “It most certainly is. You have a promising future as a chambermaid should you ever decide to abandon your life as a gentleman.”
    “I will try to remember that.” He searched behind him, spying and seizing on a large, overstuffed chair he pushed to my bedside with ease. He sat down in it with some ceremony, and leaning forward, rested his hands on his knees. “Now, tell me, how are you feeling today? Have you recovered from your ordeal?”
    “Before I answer, may I ask how long I was unconscious?”
    He lifted a shoulder. “A few hours before you awoke in this room.”
    “Well, sir, that in itself astonishes me. I expected to be cut and bruised, even to have broken bones, but save for a few scratches and some weakness, it is as though nothing has happened to me at all.”
    His intense gaze slid away, becoming interested in the carved posts around the bed. “Hmm. Yes, it is a mystery.”
    “I do not understand it. I knocked my head, and my ribs were damaged, and yet as you can see, I am quite whole.”
    “Perhaps you are a naturally fast healer.” He looked back at me. “Or were not as injured as you first believed. You were quite traumatized. And we agreed you would call me Gerard.”
    Under duress , I thought, and yet it was a small concession given all he had done for me.
    “Yes, Gerard,” I stammered, and noted the pleased expression on his face.
    “I must know more about this place,” I pressed. “I am unfamiliar with your island. The captain would not speak of it before—” I hesitated, my stomach plunging at the memories, “before disaster befell us. He seemed unusually afraid of making landfall here.”
    I’ll not make landfall in these parts . Not for gold or glory.
    Gerard leaned back in the chair, steepling his fingers in front of him, gazing at them as though they held a crystal ball. “Yes. The tides will not carry any ships to our shores, and even if they did, the barrier of the reefs awaits them. Nothing can