Page 37 of Good Duke Gone Wild

“What are you grinning about?” he demanded. Did the man have any other tones besides angry, irritated, or demanding? Those were his three defaults.

“Nothing. I’m just glad you suggested it. I’ll even pour.” Since there was no point in redirecting him, she would play along with the offer for tea. As strange as it was, it would work.

“Fine. I’ll be back shortly.” Grumbling, he quit the room, giving her plenty of time to execute her plan.

A knock sounded.

Odd. Jude obviously wouldn’t knock.

Agatha approached the door and pulled it open to find Princess Amalie in the corridor. Looking just as beautiful as before, not a hair out of place, not a wrinkle in her skirts, not a fleck of dirt dress. Priceless. Perfection. Cringe.

“Can we talk?” she asked brightly. Though somewhat fakely.

“Come in.” This was not great timing. Agatha had a plan that she needed to execute, and with the princess here, she couldn’t do anything that she needed to do. But perhaps if she placated the princess quickly enough then she could escort her out before Jude returned.

“I have to say this quickly. There’s no time.”

Well now, that was the perfect thing to say. No shooing would be necessary.

“I know we don’t know each other, but you’re the only one I can trust. Is there any way you can convince the captain not to take me to England?”

Agatha took a step back from the heavy load placed in her hands. “What?” She had so many questions, she wasn’t even sure where to begin. “What makes you think I could convince the captain of anything?” Especially something of such magnitude.

“I see how he looks at you. How protective he is of you.”

“He doesn’t look at me in any particular way.” Agatha refuted the claim meanwhile hoping it to be true.

“Oh, but he does. Maybe you can’t see it.”

“Well, pfft…he’s not protective of me.” Had she really just pfft at a princess? God, one day on this ship and she had lost all her manners.

“To the contrary. He’s quite protective of you. Trust me. I would know.”

“You would?”

“Yes. And…well, I just assumed you were together. Is it not true?”

“It’s not not true.” At Amalie’s perplexed stare, Agatha explained, “It’s complicated.”

“Men always overcomplicate things, don’t they?”

“That they do.” Agatha found a seat and a smile on her face. Perhaps the princess being a kind person was going to be a good thing. She seemed to have no interest in Jude. And of course her observations of Jude’s attention to Agatha had her heart (and ego) inflated. “But even if I could change the course of the ship, why would you want me to do that?”

“My father has arranged a marriage for me, but I’m not in love with that man. If I’m delivered to Dover, my life will be over. I’ll be forced to marry a man I do not love. I just need you to convince him to dockin Folkestone, just west of Dover. I’ve already sent a missive to my lover to meet me there. Please, Agatha. Can you help me?”

“How very interesting. You need my help…” Agatha tapped her fingers against her thigh. “This might just work out perfectly.”

And that’s when the plan fully formed in her mind. To set everything in motion would be easy. It merely required an accomplice. And she knew the perfect one.

“Yes. I can help you, Amalie.” She patted her hand. “If you can help me.”

Chapter 20

HER MOANS FILLED HIS ears while her plump breasts filled his hands. She was slick against his cock, riding him. He was harder than granite. Than any diamond he’d held in his hand before. And that panting in his ear was driving him wild. In a way that only she could. He had never felt so desperate to please, so desperate to be pleased.

This pleasure he sought with her was life.

Writhing, he bucked up into her, his cock seeking her warmth.

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