Page 42 of The Duke's Goddess

Taking another dagger, she inhaled deeply, and was about to launch when—

“Eeeyaaaa!” A loud screech rattled through the trees up into the clear blue sky.

“James?!” she shouted, running toward the sound. What could have possibly happened to the man? She ran into the grove, calling his name. “James!”

“Joan, stop.” James bellowed. “Don’t move.”

“Where are you?” Joan looked around wildly. She could hear him but she couldn’t see him anywhere.

“I’m over here.”

“I can’t see you—”

“Look up.”

And there hung James in a tree, caught up in a hunter’s snare by one foot. His hair hung down at all angles, a flush was in his cheeks. But what really grabbed her attention was his hand on his partially exposed cock, falls flapping in the light breeze.

Chapter 15

“Thus the expert in battle moves the enemy, and is not moved by him.”

—Sun Tzu

“JOAN?” JAMES’S VOICE BECKONED to her. “Might you be willing to rescue a poor fellow?”

She chuckled. He looked a bit adorable hanging from the tree. Vulnerable. Something he had yet to show her willingly. And Joan couldn’t help but crave a little bit more of it, and a little bit more of it willingly. She wanted to know James better. What made him the man he was. What energized him in the morning. What he fell asleep dreaming about. At first he had only been a devilishly handsome rake. But now, when she looked at him, she saw him with her heart. With her soul. She was tethered to him in a way she had never been connected to another human. Part of her wanted to run. Leave the man hanging there. He was a rake, so she knew she could never have more with him. Moments of pleasure was all he was willing to offer.

And she didn’t want moments. She wanted…forever.

“Joan? I’m not above begging at this point, despite my predicament indicating otherwise.” The man was hanging from a tree with a partially exposed cock, and he could still tease her.

Realizing her delay in assisting him, she started to move in his direction. “Of course, I’ll get you down.”

“Watch your step,” the cautioning tone of his voice warmed her, and she proceeded with care. If she wasn’t careful, she would read into how he spoke to her. She would read into his teasingand the tone of his voice. She might even read into the half smirks he seemed to only throw her way. But she couldn’t be that woman. She was supposed to be smarter. She was supposed to be the one immune to his charms. She plastered a bland look on her face.

Needing to verbalize her options in order to distract her from the matters plaguing her heart, she spoke, “I’m just not quite sure how to get you down from there…Should I try to hold onto you so you swing your feet down and land on them? Or should I just cut the rope and hope for the best? Which is likely you landing on your bottom.”

“I don’t want to take you down with me, so…as much as it pains me to say it, just cut the rope and let's hope for the best.” He offered an optimistically trusting smile.

Not wanting to drag out the inevitable, Joan took the dagger and sliced through the rope.

“Oomph!”

She rushed to his side where he had fallen on his shoulder. It was impossible not to lay her hands on him, as if just through her touch she could heal whatever hurts, bruises, cuts he might have. Drawing near to him, she realized his breeches were still hanging open, so she squeezed her eyes shut.

“Are you all right?” Asking the question with averted eyes, so as not to observe a particular organ that was still freed of his falls, proved difficult. Her knee landed on his forearm.

He cried out in pain. “Arrgh!” At least, she hoped it was his forearm. The girth was too much to be anything else, wasn’t it?

Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were still closed, as she tentatively asked again, “Are you all right?”

“Mmm…yes,” he grumbled. “You can open your eyes.” Which she did, just in time to see him speaking through gritted teeth and a clenched jaw while rubbing his backside. “I thought you were going to give me a count.” His groans ricocheted in her body, as though his pain was hers.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t think about that. I’ve never been in this situation before.” She motioned with her arm to the whole situation. Not just rescuing a man from a trap, but also the partially exposed man hanging from said trap now fallen on his side lying like a clump of dirt. And not just that, but also that this was a man she was now curious to see exposed. Never in her life had she speculated so thoroughly regarding the male form. But after being pressed against him and his enticing male form, and finding a rather large amount of pleasure there, she was currently indecently inquisitive.

He groaned again, and Joan felt a heaviness on her conscience. She hadn’t meant to drop him like that, and the man was obviously in pain because of her actions. The guilt rolled through her. She wanted to comfort him.

“I’ll forgive you. You can make it up to me by massaging the pain away.” With one hand still covering his cock, his other hand circled his backside. “Starting here.”

---