The Broken Duke Read online

  She shivered and shook off her thoughts. “You are lurking, dear Ewan,” she said, forcing herself to be light and airy so that he wouldn’t see that he made her shake far more than any stormy winter’s day could.

  He smiled. A small smile but it brightened his face and made him even more handsome than before. It was quite unfair, really.

  Smith nodded to her. “Excuse me, my lady, I will oversee the unloading.”

  He left the foyer and then they were alone. She swallowed hard as Ewan stepped closer, closer until he was right in front of her, towering over her, staring down at her and smelling of warmth and man and clean skin.

  “You’re soaked,” he signed in the old language they had concocted over the years. It had been meant to make it easier for him to communicate with his friends, but it had become so complicated that no one else seemed to be able to learn it.

  And so, as Meg had suggested a week ago, it was theirs.

  She shifted at the words he’d used. If only he knew. She was soaked, but not just from the storm. She wanted him. And his double entendre, even if it was unintended, did not help matters.

  “I am,” she whispered, her voice husky in the quiet room.

  There was a flicker over his face and then it was gone. He signed, “Smith will see to everything. Let me show you up to your room so you can get warm.”

  She nodded. “That would be wonderful, thank you Ewan.”

  They stood for a breath and then he slowly extended his elbow. She reached for him, everything coming in half-time and when she touched him, her body jolted with electric awareness. It was always like this with him.

  He guided her through the foyer and up the stairs as she said meaningless words about the roads and the weather and the bridge that one had to cross to get to his estate.

  He didn’t sign anything in response, but nodded in the appropriate places of her prattling. Finally they reached a door and he released her to open it. She stepped inside and took a breath. It was the same room where she had stayed on her last visit. A beautiful room that overlooked the garden and further off, the sea. Or it would once the storm stopped obliterating all evidence of the ocean in the distance.

  When she had visited before the room had been plain, but now it was bright and happy. The walls were a soft pink color, there were somehow flowers on the table, despite the time of year. Everything was perfect.

  And once again she got that sense that she was home.

  She pushed it aside and turned toward him. “Lovely, Ewan. So beautiful.”

  He held her stare for a beat too long and then nodded.

  “When do you expect the others?” she asked, running a finger along the edge of a pitcher that had been set on the table beside the window. “I hope soon, for the roads are so very treacherous, I worry about Baldwin and mother and Matthew and your aunt.”

  There was another flicker across his face and then he signed, “I’m afraid they may not make it, Charlotte. You see, my servants closed the bridge behind you after you crossed. It is too treacherous for anyone to try to make it over now. The rest will be stopped at the inn in Donburrow and accommodated there until it is safe to travel again.”

  “Oh,” she said, blinking as shock settled over her at this unexpected news. “I see. Well, of course, the river was so high under the bridge, it could be overrun.”

  He nodded. “It was last year.”

  She continued, “And all that ice. So tomorrow then?”

  He swallowed and she watched the action with fascination. Every move he made was so very…elegant. And yet still strong and masculine. Even a swallow obsessed her beyond reason or decorum.

  “The rain is expected for a day or two more,” he signed. “It could take even more than that for the water to recede enough to pass the bridge. It might be up to a week before they can pass.”

  Her mouth dropped open. What he was saying was sinking in and her reaction was so complicated that she could hardly parse terror from joy from excitement. “Oh. Oh, I see. Are you saying you and I will be…alone…for a week?”

  He nodded and to her surprise his gaze slowly flitted over her from the top of her head to the hem of her skirt. In that one slow stare, she saw what she could not deny. Desire. Ewan did desire her, it seemed there was no seduction required to inspire that in him.

  And suddenly this trip, this storm, everything that was happening seemed like…providence.

  “Well you and I have always been good company to each other,” she said, trying to maintain some normalcy so she wouldn’t scare him off when she felt so very close to having what she wanted. “I don’t mind if you don’t.”

  “I don’t mind,” he signed, quickly, without hesitation.

  She nodded. “Very well. Then I’ll ready myself and see you at supper?”

  “Seven o’clock,” he signed.

  “Seven,” she repeated, proud that she could keep the tremble from her voice.

  “I’ll have your maid sent up,” he signed. Then he gave her a little wave and left, closing the door behind himself.

  When he was gone, she sagged against the table. Since her shocking talk with Meg last week she had been going back and forth about what to do when it came to Ewan. Take the chance on seduction or leave things be and never risk another rejection?

  She hadn’t been able to make up her spinning mind on the subject, but now the universe seemed to have intervened on her behalf. Like some greater force wanted her to pursue this man.

  To take the chance that had always seemed so impossible.

  And in truth, she wanted that too. More than anything. More than breath. If this were to be her opportunity, she had to take it and hope that the results would be everything she’d ever hoped for or dreamed about.

  Other Books by

  Jess Michaels

  The 1797 Club

  For information about the upcoming series, go to www.1797club.com to join the club!

  The Daring Duke

  Her Favorite Duke

  The Broken Duke

  The Silent Duke (Coming November 2017)

  The Duke of Nothing (Coming January 2018)

  The Undercover Duke (Coming March 2018)

  The Duke of Hearts (Coming May 2018)

  The Duke Who Lied (Coming August 2018)

  The Duke of Desire (Coming October 2018)

  The Last Duke (Coming November 2018)

  Seasons

  An Affair in Winter (Book 1)

  A Spring Deception (Book 2)

  One Summer of Surrender (Book 3)

  Adored in Autumn (Book 4)

  The Wicked Woodleys

  Forbidden (Book 1)

  Deceived (Book 2)

  Tempted (Book 3)

  Ruined (Book 4)

  Seduced (Book 5)

  The Notorious Flynns

  The Other Duke (Book 1)

  The Scoundrel’s Lover (Book 2)

  The Widow Wager (Book 3)

  No Gentleman for Georgina (Book 4)

  A Marquis for Mary (Book 5)

  The Ladies Book of Pleasures

  A Matter of Sin

  A Moment of Passion

  A Measure of Deceit

  The Pleasure Wars Series

  Taken By the Duke

  Pleasuring The Lady

  Beauty and the Earl

  Beautiful Distraction

  About the Author

  USA Today Bestselling author Jess Michaels likes geeky stuff, Vanilla Coke Zero, anything coconut, cheese, fluffy cats, smooth cats, any cats, many dogs and people who care about the welfare of their fellow humans. She watches too much daytime court shows, but just enough Once Upon a Time (CaptainSwan FOR LIFE). She is lucky enough to be married to her favorite person in the world and live in a beautiful home on a golf course lake in Northern Arizona.

  When she’s not obsessively checking her steps on Fitbit or trying out new flavors of Greek yogurt, she writes erotic historical romances with smoking hot alpha males and sassy ladies who do anything
but wait to get what they want. She has written for numerous publishers and is now fully indie and loving every moment of it (well, almost every moment).

  Jess loves to hear from fans! So please feel free to contact her in any of the following ways (or carrier pigeon):

  www.AuthorJessMichaels.com

  Email: [email protected]

  Twitter www.twitter.com/JessMichaelsbks

  Facebook: www.facebook.com/JessMichaelsBks

  Jess Michaels raffles a gift certificate EVERY month to members of her newsletter, so sign up on her website: http://www.authorjessmichaels.com/

  Table of Contents

  The Broken Duke Copyright Page

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Epilogue

  Excerpt from The 1797 Club Book 4: The Silent Duke

  Other Books by Jess Michaels

  About the Author