Taken by the Duke by Jess Michaels Page A

would put himself in great danger indeed.

Chapter Six
    It was mid-morning when Ava’s eyelids fluttered open and she stared around the unfamiliar room with a start. Where was she? She’d had a dream that…
    But it wasn’t a dream. She sat up and recognized the same small guest quarters in Rothcastle’s home where she had been put the night before. A prison.
    A very nice prison, with a comfortable bed, warm blankets, a roaring fire and a hot bath, but a prison nonetheless.
    She pushed to her feet reluctantly. She had slept fitfully, her dreams troubled by images of Christian kissing her, touching her, looming over her until there was nothing left in the world but him.
    But in the light of day she was able to think more clearly. At least, she hoped she could, for soon she would have to meet with him and tell him her decision about giving him her body as part of a trade for her brother’s debt.
    When stated so plainly, that should have been a terrible thought. But when she thought of Christian’s passionate, pleasure-inducing kiss last night…
    She shoved the blankets aside and got out of the bed with a shake of her head. She had no idea what magic he had been performed to make her so weak and wanton, but she could not repeat it. Offering her body in trade for her brother’s safety was something she had to consider, but her own pleasure could not factor into the decision. She doubted her pleasure figured much into Christian’s offer, after all.
    She would remain emotionless and face off with him in a calm and collected matter. That was all there was to it.
    Steeled to her new decision, Ava looked around the room. The maid who had helped her last night had taken her dirty ball gown at some point. Ava had assumed it was only to clean and then return it, but as she looked around, it was nowhere to be seen.
    “She didn’t want to disturb me by bringing it back,” she reasoned to herself as she went to the bell by the door and rang it for the girl. Or for someone.
    As she waited, she looked around the room. It had been painted in soft grays with fresh, white wainscoting, and there were a few pretty landscapes hung on the walls. It wasn’t a large chamber and the door to the adjoining room was locked, but it had a nicely sized wardrobe and a dressing table for her convenience. She moved to the wardrobe and opened it, but it was empty. Not even a robe to cover her nightgown was in sight.
    With a sigh, she moved to the window. Throwing back the curtain, she shook her head. There were no bars on the windows to hold her captive, which she supposed was something to celebrate after all. Of course, the room was high above a garden below and directly above a stone terrace that would likely kill her if she tried to jump.
    “Still, it is lovely,” she murmured.
    The door behind her opened just at that moment, and the same young woman who had assisted her the night before stepped inside. Laura, if Ava remembered correctly through the fog of the past few days.
    “Isn’t it a wonderful view?” she asked, though Ava wasn’t certain her comment had to do with Laura having overheard her musings or just because it was a fact.
    “I was just thinking the same thing, yes,” Ava agreed as she looked out again. Green hills rolled away from the edge of the large, well-groomed lawn, and in the distance she could see a wide, blue lake. “Very lovely. If only I were here as a visitor.”
    She turned to spear Laura with a stare. If she was going to be held here against her will, she was going to make sure every servant knew it. Perhaps one of them would help her if she made them uncomfortable enough.
    But Laura only shrugged. “I wouldn’t know about that, miss. Were you ready to get dressed?”
    Ava nodded. “Yes, though I do not relish the idea of getting into that ball gown again, no matter how well it was cleaned.”
    “Oh, we won’t put you back in that, my lady. It has a tear that must be mended, and we want to give it a more