Island of Darkness Read Online Free PDF

hull. Worse still was the long, jagged scratch on the immaculate varnish of the sailing dinghy, which she viewed with dismay.
    It was while she was thanking heaven that the occupants of both boats were at least dry and unhurt that she recognised her partners in disaster and felt a chilling dismay in the pit of her stomach. Scottie’s face, as he leaned over the scratched bow of the dinghy, was gloomy, and he did not recognise her until she spoke. “Oh, Scottie, I’m so sorry!”
    He looked startled for a moment, then glanced swiftly at his companion as if he regretted her having identified herself by her voice. “It was an accident,” he said hastily.
    Seeing Jason Connor seated in the stern of the sailing beat and seemingly in charge of the tiller took Leonora by surprise for a moment, but then she was forced to admit that it was probably just feasible that, with Scottie’s guidance, he could manage to operate the tiller, especially in such quiet waters. It was just the kind of chancy thing that a man like Jason Connor was reputed to be would do, rather than sit inactive on that sunny terrace where she had first seen
    him.
    His blond hair looked like yellow gold in the sun, thick and tousled after contact with the same light breeze that filled the sails of the dinghy in fits and starts that had made its progress erratic on the blue waters of the bay. His rugged features still showed that hint of impatience, and the lean, golden tanned torso was without even a shirt to disguise it this morning. Only the gold medallion swung from its chain against the broad, smooth chest, and a pale blue handkerchief knotted round his throat added to the piratical look of him.
    Before either of them had time to say more, he turned his head in Leonora’s direction with that same uncanny accuracy she had found so discomfiting at their first meeting. That same tight, twisted smile was on his mouth again too as he recognised her voice, and he shook his head slowly.
    “Ah! Little Miss Fireball!” he said dryly. “Now how the hell did we manage to tangle with you?”
    Much as she hated to admit it, Leonora knew she was in the wrong and it was no use denying it. She bit her lip and looked at Scottie before she spoke and hoped she would be able to keep her temper if Jason Connor chose to blame her, as he was entitled to do.
    “I - I didn’t see you,” she said, trying not to sound too humble about it. “It was my fault.”
    “I heard an outboard,” Jason Connor said. “I presume that was you!”
    “Yes, it was.”
    “And don’t you know enough about the rules of sailing to know that power gives way to sail?”
    “Yes, yes, of course I do!” She looked again at Scottie.
    “I’m sorry, Scottie.”
    “And why apologise to Scottie?” Jason Connor demanded “Unlikely as it may seem in the circumstances, I’m in charge of the boat!”
    Leonora bit her lip. The temptation to retaliate cruelly and ruthlessly was hard to resist, but she would never have forgiven herself, she knew, if she had made any such reference to his blindness, so she bit on her anger and apologised.
    “I’m sorry,” she said quietly. “But I just wasn’t thinking and I didn’t see you.”
    Jason Connor sighed deeply. Large brown hands still held the tiller and outwardly at least he looked fairly relaxed; only the muscles under the skin of the bare brown arms betrayed the tension that was otherwise well under control and the blank lenses of his glasses seemed to bore through her.
    “You didn’t see us,” he echoed in a dry, sarcastic voice. “There you are, in full possession of your sight, with heaven knows how much white sail and sixteen feet of highly polished hull staring you in the face, and you didn’t see us!”
    Leonora felt the colour warming her cheeks and her good intentions were sorely tried as she looked at Scottie again, seeking his more tolerant view and hoping he would help her to keep her temper. “I - I was miles away,” she