Page 48 of The Duke's Goddess

That unshakable ground he had been standing on, riding on, mocking even…it was shaking now. Joan was showing him that love just might exist. And after living so many years ignoring it, James wasn’t sure how to accept its presence.

Was it enough that it was a real person displaying it? A real person who looked him in the eyes? Someone he could touch and someone whose touch he could feel to his soul. Was it enough that she spoke to him as a friend? Their conversations easy and engaging. Was it enough that she responded to him? His body, his touch. She allowed him to influence her. He knew she was cautious, yet ever since he had known her, she had been willing to add a dose of recklessness to her days. And look where that had got her? Nearly ruination.

And he could be to blame, save the fact that no one saw them together. But that fact didn’t signify. He didn’t care that no one had seen them together. He knew what they had done. He knew he…what? How did he feel about her?

Seeing her in such close proximity to Lord Tamely lit a fire inside of him that he knew could only be doused if he knocked the man out. There was no other course of action. Even still, he had tried to maintain his composure. But when the man had challenged James's claim on Joan, that was the last straw. He didn’t take too kindly to the man’s skepticism.

If anyone could protect Joan, it was James. He was a duke. His name and status alone would be enough to protect.

But that thought felt hollow. James wanted to offer Joan so much more than just his name.

Chapter 17

“I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship.”

—Joan of Arc

JOAN COULDN’T SWALLOW WITH the dryness in her throat. Lord Tamely lay flat on the terrace while James was shaking out his hand after his right hook to the man’s jaw.

Everything around her was spinning. The man on his back. The man in front of her. Turning. Slowly. There were two of James. Why were they two? Darkness was creeping in from the sides and from up above.

And as the world swirled before her, his words churned in her mind.Like hell, she isn’t.She wasn’t his to protect, yet he had claimed her. But he was a rake. An ever-darkening rake.

“Joan?” his rakish voice sounded fuzzy. “Joan.” Wait. That one sounded panicky.

Darkness.

Only darkness.

“Joan?” It was little more than a whisper this time. She shifted her heavy limbs.

Unsure of how much time had passed between her swooning and her resting snuggly in his arms, she gradually opened her eyes. He was sitting with his back against the balustrade and her head was cradled against his chest. His arms were wrapped around her, one around her back and one pressed gently against the side of her head, keeping her in place.

When her eyes finally cleared and she could see his face, she was greeted by something she hadn’t really seen in his eyes. Concern. He was staring back at her as if she mattered. To him. Of course it only mattered that she hadn’t been hurt. She had just swooned, after all.

“Are you all right?” But even his voice was laden with alarm.

“I’m fine,” she murmured, not sure that she believed the words herself. Her body felt like a sack of sand. It was hard to move, and she didn’t really want to move. Resting against his chest, she felt cozy wrapped in his cologne marked with traces of spice and something distinctly James.

“You can rest here as long as you need,” he said gently as his hand brushed along her hair. It was exactly what she wanted to hear. She started to relax, and warm, as he soothed her with his hand. Closing her eyes, she allowed herself to revel in the touch of his fingers slowly tracing her ear, her jaw, down her neck, and back up to her hair.

“So you’re not just a rake then, are you James?” It was time to confront him on the airs he put up.

“It’s what everyone knows about me. It’s what I am.”

She reached up a finger to his jaw, trailing along the short stubble. “I don’t think that’s all you are. There’s more to you. I have seen it.”

“Perhaps,” was all he said. But she saw how his mouth curled up and his eyes softened before she closed her eyes again and laid her head back against his beating heart. A heart she knew. A heart she was sure she had fallen for.

And she was almost perfectly relaxed when her name, uttered on more than one tongue and with varying tones, rang out into the darkness.

She bolted upright, but in her frenzy, her elbow connected with the member between his legs. James shot forward to cradle himself and wrapped her up closer to his chest to make room for his hand to cup himself between his legs.

Terrified to look up and determine who discovered them in this compromising situation, Joan slowly turned her head.

Her two sisters stood front and center. Nobi’s hand was covering her mouth. Mimi was grinning to the high heavens.

And if it had only been those two, Joan would have sighed in relief. Her sisters could catch her in the most scandalous of situations and still be trusted not to gossip.

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