Read Taken by the Duke for Free Online Page A

we leave? Only if it will not bring you trouble.”
    The innkeeper’s wife seemed to ponder that a moment. “I suppose if the question were to be asked and my husband was not aware of the conversation, I could say that I saw you, what day you were here and in which direction the duke took you. But only if it were never revealed that I was the source of such information.”
    Ava drew in a breath. Well, that was a small chance, but a chance nonetheless. She assumed her brother would send searchers out for her once it was evident she had gone missing.
    If he noticed she wasn’t there at all. Or cared.
    But she couldn’t think of that now.
    “That is as much as can be expected given the circumstances,” Ava said. “Thank you.”
    “Let me fetch that wrap for you,” the other woman said and disappeared from the room.
    Ava stared at the table before her. There were a few breakfast rolls remaining and she took a napkin and wrapped two up in it. She had no reticule and no pockets in her ballgown, but she shoved it into the jacket pocket instead. Before she returned it to Rothcastle, she would just have to do her best to transfer the food. Just in case he didn’t intend to feed her again for a while.
    “Amazing that one with so handsome a countenance could be so utterly disagreeable,” she muttered as she finished her tea. “It seems a waste, really.”
     
     
    Christian stood beside the carriage door and watched as Ava stepped from the inn. She stood in the sun for a moment, looking up at the sky as if she were savoring her last moment of freedom. Then she shocked him by turning toward the innkeeper’s wife and giving the woman a brief embrace. They spoke in hushed tones before Ava straightened her shoulders and strode toward him with more confidence than a hundred other women in her position would have done.
    Of course, she might have tried to plead for the assistance of the innkeeper’s wife, but it would be for naught. The two might own the building, but Christian owned the land, and they believed there was a great deal at stake if they betrayed him. He had no doubt they wouldn’t, though the idea of his tenants living in fear of him did not sit well in his belly.
    But there were sacrifices to be made in obtaining revenge. This was just one of them.
    Ava reached his side in a few long steps, and there she stopped. “I obtained another wrap from the woman who runs the inn, so I will return your coat now,” she explained as she held up a piece of cheap, woolen cloth bundled into a ball. It was utterly simple, but would be warm if the carriage became drafty again.
    She removed his jacket and handed it over to him. Immediately he smelled her on the fabric, a sweet combination of vanilla and lemon that hit him in the gut like a punch and made those unwanted stirrings in his loins rekindle.
    He ignored the desires and kept his gaze on her.
    She stared into the dim carriage. “And you will ride outside the vehicle?” she asked, casting him a quick side-glance.
    He nodded. “For a while, at least. I would think you would welcome escape from your captor.”
    She arched a brow. “I would, if this were truly an escape from this madness you insist upon. But it isn’t, as we both are well aware.”
    He held out a hand to help her into the carriage and with a sigh, she accepted his assistance. At some point she had removed her long, white gloves and now her bare hand touched his. He jolted again at the contact of skin on skin, even in this benign circumstance.
    She settled back against the carriage seat, watching him the entire time. Her focused regard made him uneasy, so he left the door open and walked to his horse. He reached into the saddlebag and withdrew a few items, then returned to her.
    “Here,” he said, holding them out into the vehicle under her nose.
    Her brow wrinkled as she took them. “A newspaper and two books?” she asked, staring at him as if she didn’t understand what was happening.
    “To help