Taken by the Duke Read Online Free PDF Page A

relief, her fingers gripping the fine leather reflexively.
    “I see,” she managed to croak out in a moment. “Then what will you do?”
    He shook his head. “Now is not the time for us to discuss these matters, Lady Ava. We have a long drive ahead of us. I suggest you rest yourself. We will have plenty of time to talk once we arrive.”
    A flurry of questions passed over her face, and he saw her struggling not to blurt one or all of them out. A struggle not to make demands she likely deserved to have met. But she won the struggle and finally nodded once.
    “Very well.”
    He arched a brow. “You will not fight me?”
    Her lips parted slightly. “Would it do any good? I assume if I tried to hurtle myself from the carriage, I would find the door locked, since I heard the click of it when you first tossed me in here like a barbarian. Even if I could release the latch before you stopped me, we appear to be riding at breakneck speeds. I would be injured if I tried to flee.”
    Christian flinched as he pushed away images of Matilda alongside a road just six months before.
    Ava continued, blind to his painful thoughts.
    “I suppose I could physically attack you, but you are far superior in strength, so there would be no point in it. Nor is there a purpose in arguing with or questioning you. To have come this far, to have snatched me in public from a ballroom, you must have some kind of plan in your mind. I doubt my screaming and wailing for some innumerable hours will do me any good except to give me a headache, which I fear I am already suffering at present. So having considered all those things, I feel it is best to do as you ask, not risk your further ire and hope that once we reach our destination, you are more amenable to discourse and even negotiation.”
    Christian had merely stared at her during her response, but now he actually had to choke back a laugh. Great God, she was unlike any other person he had ever known. Not one woman in a thousand would respond to a kidnapping by an enemy in such a fashion. Yet here she was.
    “Lady Ava,” he drawled. “You are clearly a person of elevated intelligence and correct on all counts above.”
    She folded her arms. “Do not sport with me, sir. Just because I have agreed to your terms at present does not mean I intend to allow you to have your way with me indefinitely.”
    Christian blinked as a sudden image flashed through his mind of having his way—his wicked, wicked way—with this odd woman. He pushed it aside and shrugged.
    “As you see it,” he grunted, then turned his face away to look out the window and effectively end the conversation.
    But he could not end the remnants of the fantasy that had begun to spin itself in his mind. A fantasy of gray-blue eyes fluttering shut on a groan of pleasure.
     
     
    Day was beginning to dawn, sending little shafts of sparkling light around the drawn curtain of the carriage. Almost against his will, Christian took a moment to glance at his captive for the first time since they’d exited London and the lack of city lights had made her face impossible to see.
    She was asleep, though her rest was fitful at best. Her hand, cuddled up beside her face as a pillow, twitched from time to time, and her eyes darted around behind her shuttered lids.
    Even so, there was no denying how lovely she was. He had seen her before, of course, across ballrooms and parks. But all those times, he had been distracted by the brother at her side. Certainly he had never been so close. Even last night on the terrace, he hadn’t looked at her so intently—he had only ensured her identity and attacked.
    But she was undeniably a pretty girl. Her dark hair, when hit by sunlight, revealed an auburn hue, and her skin was fresh and clear. The gown she wore was tight around the bodice, as was the fashion these days, and clung to her small, perfect breasts. In the night, the skirt had hiked up a few inches to reveal the turn of her ankle, the smoothness of