Read Online Taken by the Duke by Jess Michaels - Free Book Online Page A

and motioned for her to do the same across from him. She did not.
    “Direct, as always,” he said.
    “In this case, I feel I must be direct,” she said with a shrug as she remained standing, looking around his room with darting glances, as if she were seeking escape routes. But that was the only indication she gave of her fear.
    Just as she had been in the carriage after her kidnapping, she seemed calm and collected. Nothing like he would assume an innocent would be after having been made a shocking offer like his.
    “I…” She hesitated, and now she reached for the back of the chair she would not take and clung to it for support. “I will be your lover, Your Grace, if you spare my brother.”
    Christian blinked. Her agreement to come to his bed made his head spin with wicked delight, but it seemed their negotiations were not at an end. He had to remain as cool as she seemed to be.
    “Spare him?” he repeated, as if he did not know what she was talking about.
    She shook her head. “Please, let us not play games with each other. I know you have plans for him. That you wish to hurt him physically after you make him suffer from the consequences of this kidnapping plot of yours.”
    His lips pressed together hard enough that it caused a twinge of pain. She was not wrong in that assessment.
    “If you want me,” she continued, “you must forget those plans.”
    He tilted his head. “So certain of your prowess, are you, my lady?”
    She swallowed as hot color filled her cheeks. “No, not at all. I have no idea of anything to do with…with what you suggest. But this is my virtue we are haggling over. It must come with a price, mustn’t it? It is the only thing of value I possess that is mine and mine alone.”
    He folded his arms and leaned back in his seat. “And is it worth this high a price? After all, you will already be seen as ruined, you know. Having been with me, unchaperoned, for over twenty-four hours will put your reputation in shambles.”
    Her expression, which had been so calm and cool, suddenly wavered. There was regret there, pain and fear. Guilt stabbed at Christian, but he ignored its insistence.
    Finally, she said, “Yes, I am ruined already. And so if that is your purpose in taking me, I suppose you have succeeded. But last night you claimed you wished for something more.”
    “I do,” he admitted and watched her face carefully for her reaction. “Pleasure beyond your wildest imaginings. Pleasure far more intense than that which made you moan so wantonly last night when I kissed you.”
    She lifted her chin with pride and said, “Well, that comes at a cost, Your Grace. You must promise not to take further revenge on my brother. Promise me now, and you may do as you wish.”
    He doubted she had any idea how powerful those words were. Do as he wished? Great God, the things he wished to do. But she had to understand something first.
    “This will not end the war between our families.”
    She shut her eyes. “Of course not. I could not expect that my virginity could possibly change generations of idiotic hatred and war. That would be too much for any woman to change. God knows there have been some who have tried.”
    He flinched at her assessment. Did she know how Matilda had begged him to end the war? Had some servant, even Laura, spoken out of turn and given her ammunition against him? Or was she speaking from her own experience in her family over the years?
    Whatever the truth, he felt compelled to defend himself.
    “I do not love war, Ava,” he said.
    “Of course you do,” she retorted, pacing away from him. “Both you and my brother love it, our fathers loved it, our grandfathers loved it and even farther back than that. Or else someone would have ended it by now and saved our families from scandal, heartbreak and loss.”
    She spun to face him, arms folded and steel in her eyes. “But that is not the topic of our conversation. Do you agree to spare my brother from your wrath in