Page 38 of Good Duke Gone Wild

Nothing.

His eyes flew open. Damn it. That was a dream?

He swiped his face that was dripping with sweat. God, he had never been so hung up on a woman before. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to lay claim to his marital rights. After all, they already knew each other in that way. What would it mean for them to do it again?

He knew what it meant. It would mean everything. Because somehow he knew that if he took her again, it wouldn’t be the last time. Not even close. It would be the last time he ever contemplated being with someone else. She would be it for him. Hell, they were married. She should be it for him. Why go through all the fuss of finding awoman and marrying her when he had already snagged—ahem, been snagged—by a woman? And not just any woman, a woman who knew how to hold her own, charm the masses, and seek adventure.

Only now was he conscious of the fact that he had allowed the full idea of her to creep into his mind and settle there. But what place did she have in his life? None.

Sluggishly, he pushed himself up to lean against the headboard. His skull was pounding. Like something was desperate to get out of there. And damn it all, he recalled this sensation again as if he were having deja vu.

As fast as he could, which wasn’t fast at all, he flopped out of bed and made for the deck.Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

This was the last time that Agatha would have the upperhand on him, damn it.

Not a moment before or a split second after his feet hit the deck, he thrust his finger out at her looking all nonchalantly over the water.

“You drugged me!” He yelled. And he rarely yelled. Sauntering over to her, he pressed his face right into her space. Not quite touching her face, but certainly breathing her air.

“Hardly.”

“Twice!” He stepped back, yelling again.

“That’s neither here nor there.”

“It’s everywhere that matters. Inside of me.” Jabbing his finger against his chest, he glared at her.

In response, Agatha waved her hand in the air as if shooing away a fly. Well, he was not a fly to be shooed.

“I can’t believe you would do this to me. Twice.”

“It’s my life, Jude. And I will live it how I need to so that at the end of it, I can say I did everything I wanted to do.”

“What about me?”

“Whataboutyou?” She raised her voice now. This was no longer the prim and proper tone of a lady. This was borderline shrew.

And he really didn’t want to lose any ground to her, but he took a half step back. Maybe this hadn’t been his wisest decision—to confront her in front of everyone.

“This is my life.”

“Yes. I know. You’re the captain. So you’ve mentioned, oh, I don’t know…several dozen times.” A few snickers from the crew peppered the air.

“And—”

“And I’m not finished.” She jabbed her finger in his chest. But she was the braver of the two because she allowed her finger to actually make contact with him. “This is my life. And I’m going to Folkestone to get married.”

“Married? What the devil are you talking about?”

“Amalie has been so kind as to notify me of an arranged marriage that was practically made for me.”

His eyes darted around looking for some kind of corroboration to her story. He found Amalie nodding her agreement. Damn his last job aboard this ship was going to be the death of him.

“Made for you? I was made—” he stopped. What was he going to say? Damn it, he didn’t care. He opened his mouth and growled the words anyway. “I was made for you.”

“Ha!” She turned her head and twisted her lips. “You made your choice. You don’t want me, so I’ll go to someone who does.”

Wait. His heart tripped over guilt in his chest. Guilt? That and panic. Yes, his heart was a frantic herd of elephants trampling over thick roots that shouldn’t be there.

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