Page 49 of The Duke's Pet

“I would guess that you are unique in your belief.”

He shrugged. “Perhaps, but it is impossible to change what you truly believe, deep down in your heart.”

As they walked on in silence, Jemima thought about what he’d said. For a long time she’d truly believed it wrong to sell her body for money, yet here she was about to embark on that very profession. She’d believed her parents were strong and healthy, yet they’d died so suddenly. She’d also believed she’d hate a man who paid for her and touched her and pushed her to the very limits of decency.

Yet here she was.

“Look, the deer.” The duke gestured with his cane. “They are roe deer, quite fine, don’t you think?”

She peered into the wood. The white flash of tail gave the creatures away. “Yes, very.”

They’d come to a halt beneath a huge oak tree. The trunk was gnarled and lumpy and the branches were low. The shade was nice after the heat of the sun, though the cooler air pinched her nipples.

“The stag is likely somewhere nearby.” He released her and cupped his eyes with his hands, as though focusing his vision farther.

It was then Jemima saw him, a man, James. He was in the woods to the right. She could just make out his rifle.

“Oh!” She clasped her hand over her chest.

“You can see him?” The duke stepped forward. “Where?”

“Not the stag... a man...” She turned, looking for somewhere to flee to. There was nothing but huge expanses of grass and the duke didn’t even have his morning coat to hide her shame.

James is bound to come over and talk to his master.

She glanced upward, at the tree. There was only one thing for it. She’d have to hide in the foliage.

Rushing to the trunk, she reached upward and grabbed a lower branch. Using a protruding lump of bark covered in moss, she sprang into the branches. The plug moved inside her and she reached back for the tail, not wanting it to get stuck on anything.

“Little kitten!”

She ignored the surprise in the duke’s voice and continued to climb, going from one branch to the next, the leaves brushing her cheeks and shoulders. She disturbed a bird’s nest and it fell to the ground, scattering what the fledglings had left behind.

“What are you doing? Get back here... now.”

“No, I can’t.” She glanced downward.

The duke’s face was just visible staring up at her.

“I command you, now, this instant.”

“I can’t be seen like this, not by James, not by one of your servants.”

“You too are a servant, now do as you are bid this instant.”

She stilled. There was red-hot anger in his voice and it scorched her ears and clenched her stomach.

“Now!” he shouted.

“No.” She shook her head and clasped a branch above her with both hands. The tail fell downward, swinging in the air. “It is too much for me to bear, to be seen this way. You must understand.”

“All I understand is that you are disobeying me, in the highest extreme.”

“And what you’re asking of me is extreme, even for a paid woman.”

“I demand you come down from this tree.” He paused. “Before you fall and kill yourself.”

Jemima had no concerns of falling. She’d spent many an hour of her childhood climbing trees.

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