Mistress of the Stone Read Online Free PDF

look closely to find any marks on him at all. Yet the fever clung to him like second skin.
    No matter the cause, he lay dying, and with him fled any answers she hoped to gain.
    Luísa washed him down, nearly losing her breath when her rag skimmed around his sex and down his legs. God help her, the devil had a hold of her with both arms. When she got him as clean as she could, she wrapped him in every spare blanket she had. Hour after hour, she washed his face and wet his lips with lime-water, a precious commodity until they could resupply.
    This pirate-hunter was hours from being food for the fishes. If she didn’t break the fever soon, he would be past saving.
    Xander Daltry was a strange one. The only thing she knew about him was that he was a mercenary, a bounty hunter who roamed the seas in search of pirates with the highest bounties on their heads.
    Such a man wouldn’t have lacked for would-be assassins, but Saint-Sauveur had no cause. Both were devils living off the spoils of the brethren.
    And this rogue hunted on commission as well. Many a pirate lost his name, if not his life, within the annals of Daltry’s legendary black book.
    She pulled out the small oilskin-covered book and flipped through the pages. Judging by the entries, Daltry was thorough…and wealthy.
    Inside were the names of pirates now dead or awaiting trial. Blade Martin, Bootblack Jim, and Maryjayne the bold. Each had their names crossed off the list with a date and the prize money.
    Further into the book was a page with its edge turned down. She uncurled it and read the entry. The sea seemed to vanish from beneath the Coral’s bow. In bold letters was the name, Inácio Tavares, with a line through it. Beneath it—was her name.
    “ Dios mío ,” she whispered.
    The Coral maintained a low profile, raiding ships that didn’t raise the wrath or interest of influential people. Papa did that intentionally to protect her. Why was his name in this book? And even more puzzling, why was her name in here?
    She looked over at her patient, breathing steadily thanks to her care. “Demon,” she hissed. “You have a lot to answer for.”
    Luísa watched him sleep hour after hour, trying to make sense of the entries in his book. Her eyelids grew heavy with sleep and fatigue. Unable to fight it further, she collapsed into a chair that she had pushed near his hammock.
    Somewhere in her subconscious she heard the second bell, and then the third, but before the fourth bell tolled, a raucous clatter roused her from a sound sleep. Out of reflex, she jerked out her matchlock, still unlit. Never in her wildest dreams did she expect to wake to the spectacle of a hulking man, nestling naked between her legs.

Chapter Two
    Luísa stowed her pistol and collected her wits. Daltry moaned softly, still blindly unaware of his predicament. She struggled to pull him up, but he stayed on his knees. “Damn fool! What were you trying to do?”
    “Who the blazes are you?” He groaned, one hand on his head, the other on the floor. Daltry took a drunken look around, his naked body pitching to the roll of the keel. “What ship is this?”
    “The Coral .” Luísa helped him to her chair and quickly threw a blanket across his bare loins. “We found you in the water and fished you out.”
    His brow crinkled, eyes narrowing into amber slits. “Where’s my ship?” His voice took an edge now.
    Luísa lit a lantern and hung it on the nearest hook. “What ship is that, mate?”
    “The Persephone ,” he said with authority. “I am her captain. Xander Daltry.” He looked up at her. “Who are you?”
    “Luísa Tavares.”
    He eyed her with contempt. “Humph…so Captain Tavares really was balmy enough to bring his daughter into his business.” He took another wobbly look around before his gaze returned to her with obvious disapproval.
    “My father’s business is none of yours, English rat.”
    He rubbed the back of his neck and groaned. “Aye, and I suppose my English