Till Dawn Tames the Night (54 page)

"Look at me, love. I am all too mortal."

She lowered her eyes and studied him. He did look worse. He was much too thin for his frame. His face looked almost gaunt and his bronzed skin was gone, but to anyone who didn't know him, he might be merely sporting a lordly pallor.

"If I touch you, will you vanish?"

"Touch me and see for yourself."

She ran her hand down his chest. It was hard and warm and thrummed with the beating of his heart. She laughed and cried in the same breath. "How could fate be so merciful?"

"I had to survive, don't you see?" He took her face in his palms.

She shook her head and her tears fell over his hands.

"I finally had something to survive for."

She closed her eyes, and with unspeakable relief she let him hold her. She placed her cheek against his chest and felt the strong, reassuring beat of his heart. She would never want for another thing as long as she had him.

When her tears were finally spent, he pulled her away and studied her with the same intensity she'd studied him. It was as if he couldn't bear to miss a detail. But out of the blue, something in her appearance struck his fancy and he tipped back his head and laughed. It was a beautiful sound.

"And what are you laughing at, good sir?" she asked smartly, all the while wondering if she could ever bear closing her eyes in sleep again if that meant she had to part with him.

"When Isaac returned to Hugh Town and told me how you insisted on returning here, I must admit I expected to find you in a rather sorry state. But to look at you now, I can't believe you ever missed me. Why you're actually getting plump."

She met his gaze. Her eyes held the slightest hesitation, but that alone spoke volumes.

He inhaled sharply, understanding flooding his features.

She hardly needed to say her next words. "I fear it's not the state of my mind that has me growing plump."

He stepped back and leaned on John Phipps's desk. Crossing his arms over his chest, he perused her. "And what shall we name this babe? Is it a boy or girl?"

"I cannot tell you that now, sir." She smiled softly. "But regardless, I do have the name picked out. I hope it will be agreeable to you."

"And what name is that?" he asked, puzzled.

She reverently lowered her voice. "I should like very much that this child's name be Blackwell. For its father is the viscount, you know."

He reached for her. When she was in his arms once more, he said, "I like that name. It's been used too infrequently in my family." He sobered and looked down at her, his face the most handsome in the world. "I told you how I felt on that bluff,
Aurore
.
The words were never spoken, but they shall be now, both loud and clear. We shall marry in the cathedral of your choosing and we shall have everyone there to hear those words, Flossie, Isaac, even the Regent if you wish."

"The Regent!
He wants you twisted!"

He glanced at
her,
obviously surprised at the slang she'd picked up on the
Seabravery.
"On the contrary, I've secured a complete pardon. He owed me that, at least, for all I've done for him. And he's proclaimed me the Viscount Blackwell, renouncing Josiah's evil deeds. I promise you, from now on, we'll live the quiet life here in London. I will be the
most stuffy
peer in town."

"Good heavens! I can't even imagine that!"

"Well, you must imagine it. Everything will be changed now. The pirate Vashon is gone."

"But you cannot take away the dragon," she said, running her hands down his back. "You'll never be rid of it, Vashon, and in the future, when I look at you across a crowded ballroom, I'll know it's there, for my eyes only."

"The dragon will be the only thing to stay."

"But we must have Mirage. We cannot give up Mirage."

"Mirage will stay also.
If you wish it."

"And Isaac shall marry us quietly aboard the
Seabravery
while we return home. I could not have you unhappy in London, my lord. You belong,
we belong,
at
Dragonard
."

"Is there anything else you desire, my greedy
viscountess
?" He laughed.

"Yes.
One last thing.
I beg
you,
buy me the Home as a wedding gift. And allow me to rename it simply 'The Bluefield Home for Little Wanderers.' "

"It shall be done. But what has happened to your illustrious Phipps?"

"Is that a note of jealousy in your voice?" She smiled. "I suspect John will now be the one to have an adventure ahead of him.
Especially when he learns of my upcoming nuptials."

He smirked,
then
kissed her with a passion that took her breath away. It was a long time before they parted, but when they did, he shook his head. "I'm afraid one thing has changed. The
Seabravery's
gone. She's the
Sleeping Beauty
now."

So that was why he had escaped the notices at
Queenhithe
. She laughed and fell into his arms. She never wanted him to let her go.

He stroked her hair, and they stood in each other's arms for another long moment. Finally he said, "I love you,
mon
Aurore
.
When you came upon my ship that very first day, I thought I was the one who had captured you. But now I see it very differently."

She stopped at his words, unable to believe he had really said them. "What did you say?" she whispered.

"I said I love you. You think you forced me to feel it, but you didn't. In the end I found I couldn't help myself." He stroked her cheek with the back of his hand. "When death came to take me on that bluff, the only thing stopping him was my love for you. And in that tug of war, I finally knew what truly made me strong."

"And what was that, my love?"

He held her tight.
"You."