around her face as the steel shot past, though when she raised her gloved hand, there was no blood on her cheek.
“Damn and blast,” she muttered, surprised nearly being run through didn’t cause her much upset. In fact, she felt rather exhilarated. The rush of her blood, her heart lodged in her throat, pounding out a staccato beat against her neck… fantastic!
Audrey scanned the crowd for where the arrow could have come from. There were several possibilities. To her right a group of men huddled together, one of them looking in her direction from time to time. On her other side, a lone gentleman shoved something under his coat. Even a group of young boys who looked distinctly guilty about something could have been to blame. Before she could find the culprit, two strong hands grabbed her arms and yanked her down from her little perch on the hill.
“Audrey!” Griffin said close to her ear. His voice was full of the fear she herself hadn’t felt a moment before.
The sound of his voice and her sudden presence in his arms threw her off-guard. “Griffin?”
She turned toward him and was surprised at the look on his face. He still held one of her arms tightly, but he didn’t move at all for a long moment, merely staring at her face as if he was afraid she would vanish if he moved or spoke.
“Griffin?” she repeated, her voice much softer this time.
The sound of her voice snapped him from whatever spell he was under, but instead of answering he turned on his heel and began dragging her across the park. Her bonnet flew out of her hands as she stumbled after him, barely maintaining her balance as he yanked her through the crowd toward the carriages.
“What are you doing?” she demanded with a quick glance around her.
The two of them were receiving strange looks from the crowd. The men had a knowing gleam in their eyes, while some of the women seemed scandalized.
“Stop it!” She practically had to run to keep up with him in the hopes it would look less like he was dragging her away. “Griffin, please!”
He ignored her, hauling her ever closer to the carriages a few hundred yards away. Like a man possessed, he guided her through the groups of people until he reached his coach. The driver looked down from the box in surprise. Audrey couldn’t blame him. It should have been hours until their return.
“My lord?” The young man jumped down with a tilt of his head.
“Get us out of here,” Griffin said through clenched teeth. “Now.”
The man gave a smart bow. “Yes sir.” Reaching up, he nudged the footman at the back of the carriage none too gently. “Hey, you, open the door for his lordship.”
“Never mind.” Griffin yanked the door open himself and shoved Audrey inside. “Just take us home.”
“It may take a while to get us out of this bottleneck, sir.”
Griffin climbed in beside her and neatly blocked her attempt to escape with his body. Ignoring her glare, he snapped, “I don’t care if it takes an eternity!”
With that, he slammed the door and slid the curtains shut, enveloping the two of them into dark, warm silence. The carriage tilted as the driver climbed back up to the top and the vehicle rocked into slow motion.
“Are you planning on explaining yourself, Griffin Berenger, or just dragging me back to your home like the puffed up, pompous…” she trailed off, trying to find the right word. “
He didn’t answer, but turned his head away to stare at the curtain-darkened window.
“Griffin!” Her voice rose a notch as her frustration elevated. “You drag me away from my job, put my life, as well as my brother’s life in danger and now you refuse to even speak to me? Of all the…”
She stopped as she took in his expression in the dim carriage. His face was pale, ashen almost in the fading light and his hands trembled even though he’d clenched them into fists in his lap.
“You look like you’re going to be sick.” She moved closer to him and tilted her head to look at his face. “What is it?”
“I thought…” he began, then swallowed hard and took a deep breath. “You almost died and there was nothing I could do, Audrey. I watched that arrow pass within inches of your head and I couldn’t protect you.”
With a sigh of relief, she relaxed against the carriage seat. It was only fear for her life that made him look so torn.
“I’m fine,” she reassured him. “After the first explosion, Douglas went to investigate and Hannah saw an informant so she left to press him for more information. I believe the arrow was just a misfire, not aimed at me. My cover is fine, Griffin.”
“Your cover?” He turned to look directly at her. His voice grew dangerously low in the gloom. “Damn your cover!”
Suddenly his arms wrapped around her and pulled her against his chest. Her breasts flattened against the broad expanse of his body and her bated breaths reflected back from his throat.
“I thought you might die. I couldn’t lose you, not when I’d just found you again. Do you understand me?” His voice cracked as he gave her a gentle shake.
“Griffin,” she whispered, pulling one arm free from his powerful grip to raise her hand to his face. He flinched as her palm cupped his cheek, but relaxed almost immediately with a throaty groan.
“Don’t do this to me,” he said, just before his lips came down on hers with consuming force.
Though words of protest sat on her tongue, Audrey couldn’t seem to voice them. Any resistance she had left melted away and immediately she wrapped her arms around his neck to hold him closer. Close enough that she could feel his pounding heartbeat through his crisp linen shirt and dark jacket.
Opening her mouth, she reveled in his taste, the sensations that ripped through her when his tongue brushed hers, dipping inside the cavern of her mouth. All the reasons for them to stay away from each other faded as their kiss intensified. The carriage seemed to shrink, leaving little room for anything but the tangled heap of their two bodies straining to get ever closer.
Griffin’s hand settled on her waist, then inched up to cup the swell of her breast. She moaned against his lips at the crackle of sensation that shot from his hand to every nerve of her body, arching nearer and praying this moment would never end.
Pulling back, she yanked her gloves off to toss the yellow silk on the carriage seat opposite them. She wanted nothing to separate them. Somehow her hands found the buttons of his shirt and she tore at them. She didn’t even care when one popped away and clattered to the carriage floor to disappear under the seat. She wanted to feel his skin pressed against her, to wrap his warmth around her until they were one. It was the only way she’d ever be close enough.
Pulling the tails of his shirt free from his trousers, Audrey unfastened the last of the buttons and slid her hands into the opening. Griffin let out a long hiss as her fingertips raked across his naked torso, tangling in the wiry curls on his chest.
“Did I hurt you?” she whispered. Somehow she feared the moment would end if she spoke too loudly.
“No,” he said, his own voice just as low.
He edged his hands up from her shoulders to cup her face and pulled her across his body for a long kiss. Shifting, she eased herself into his lap, holding fast to his chest as his fingers sent her auburn locks trailing out of her bun and down around her shoulders.
The carriage tilted as it moved slowly around a corner on the busy city streets, and Audrey found herself pushed even closer to Griffin. Her cloth-covered thigh brushed against his lower body with increasing pressure.
“I’m not going to be able to stop if we…” His dark eyes met hers and held them.
“I don’t want you to stop,” she answered as she feathered light kisses along his cheekbones and down his jaw line. “I can’t help it.”
“
“But you can’t.” She grasped his wrists and slid his hands away from her arms and to her waist. She never let her eyes move from his. “You can’t any more than I can.”
“What are we doing Audrey?” he asked even as his hands stole to the tiny buttons at the back of her dress. One by one, he worked them open.
