Free Hold Your Breath 01 - Stone Devil Duke by K.J. Jackson Page B

stop her from wondering, ears reddened, what exactly went on in such houses. Hearing certain words tossed at her from the balconies only got her so far in her imagination, and she was beginning to wonder just how many holes were actually on the human body. What her mother had told her years ago bore no resemblance to the harlot speak she heard night after night.
    The bellowing b ehind her slowly tapered off, and she guessed the man was working on passing out. Aggie shook her head. Men and their carnal pleasures—after what she had seen on the streets, she wasn’t so sorry that she never got married.
    She clicked Sunshine on , her clomping hooves on the cobblestones echoing down the empty street. At least the drizzle had died off. It was late and only a few hours from sunrise. She wasn’t going to find the remaining two murderers that night.
    Get this fare home , and, for a change, she would bow to the needs of her exhausted body and be home before sunrise to get some much needed sleep.
    Tap, tap, tap.
    Aggie’s ears perked.
    Tap, tap, tap.
    The insistent tapping came from inside the coach. Could the night become any less productive?
    Aggie grumbled to herself as she pulled the reins. Her intoxicated passenger obviously needed to lose his dinner. Best that he did it in the street.
    Hopping off her perch, she quickly opened the carriage door and swung aside, knowing the man was about to fly out, hand poised over his mouth.
    Instead , an arm swept out, grabbing her wrist and yanking her hard into the carriage. Her shins banged into the carriage doorway. Before she could reach for a pistol, she was flipped onto her back and her free arm clamped into an iron brace.
    Stuck atop her fare, Aggie went to her last resort, kicking. Thrashing as hard as she could, her boots made several hard thunks on the attacker’s ankles. But then her legs were immediately captured between steely thighs.
    She stopped squirming, realizing it was wasting precious energy . Through the terror haze in her mind, she heard her name being repeated quietly and smoothly.
    A voice she recognized. A voice too familiar from earlier in the evening.
    No.
    It couldn’t be.
    Not again.
    The duke. And she was sprawled fully on top of him on the floor of the coach, her body clamped tight to his.
    “ Your grace, let me go.” She craned her head upward. “What of you?”
    He chuckled over her obvious indignation, not loosening his hold. “My dear lady, how could I resist another one of our exciting midnight jaunts?”
    Aggie blustered, wiggling again. “First, your grace, I am not your dear. Second, and more important, you were not invited on this particular midnight jaunt.”
    She pulled her arms with her wiggle, trying to free them.
    “There, you are wrong, my dear. I was invited.”
    She couldn’t see it, but she could hear the smile in his voice.
    Aggie groaned, stopping her wiggle. She kept her head craned as far as she could o ff of his chest. “By whom, your grace? For it certainly was not I, and unless you count inviting yourself along, I would say you have no argument. You are not a welcome companion, and I advise you to let me go, remove yourself from this coach, and go back to the brothel to find your nightly entertainment there.”
    The duke’s chest rumbled under her back. Aggie’s breath tightened. He took her plight with amusement. She was fighting for her life, and he was laughing at her. Again.
    “On the con trary, my dear, my presence is both necessary and invited.”
    Aggie couldn’t reply, the burn in her chest taking all words. She stared at the pockmarked ceiling of the carriage.
    “ Fate invited me. Fate put me in your path last night, and I am honor-bound as a gentleman to adhere to fate’s wishes. Fate wants you protected. I am obliged to bow to fate’s wishes.” His grip tightened even harder. “Cooperation, or not.”
    “Protection? ” Aggie struggled, growling, giving another attempt at getting out of his arms. “Your