trampled.'
She turned to him. 'But my friends are out there!'
'They'll be safe. Two acquaintances of mine came here tonight and already had their sights on the women you were with. They'll see them home.'
'But—'
'Both of those men are capable—and a thousand times more honorable than I am.' He met her eyes. 'Worry only for yourself, lass.'
Nibbling her bottom lip, she said, 'Earlier, I saw a back way out.' Wary by nature and out of habit, she always traced an escape route from any building she entered. When she and the others had first arrived, Maddy had surveyed a back hall where she'd seen a couple donning jackets before entering it. They hadn't returned. 'Could you help me get out?'
'I seem to recall that you'd never leave with me.' He leaned back against the wall and drew a knee up, still holding her skirt. ''No'a chance in hell, 'to be exact.' He smirked, then immediately stopped, as if even a cold smile was unwelcome. She'd seen people do that when they had missing teeth, but his were white and straight and perfect. Perfect like everything else about him. Except for his arrogance.
'Then release me.'
'I'll see you clear of this place…for the kiss I almost stole.'
She had an insistent need to kiss him and, of course, her well-developed sense of preservation—these were not at cross-purposes, yet now was not the time. With a long-suffering sigh, she said, 'If Imust . But only after you get me to safety.'
He showed no alarm about what was happening outside. 'A kiss now, or more later. What would one kiss hurt?'
'What would it help?' she countered, but he remained unmoved. 'Oh, fine.' She crossed to him, then reached her hands up to his neck. Tugging him down, she briefly pressed her lips to the corner of his.
When he stood fully once more, he said, 'Ah,aingeal , that was sweet, no doubt of it. But it was no' quite what I had in mind.' He cupped his palm over her nape. 'I'm demanding a deep kiss. Until you're panting.'
'Panting?' she murmured, gazing up at him. 'Truly?'How…titillating.
With his other hand, he cradled her face and brushed his thumb across her bottom lip. 'It'll be easier just tae show you—'
More whistles shrilled. Screams grew louder outside.
'But they'll be back here soon—there's no time!'
He shrugged. 'Then prepare yourself for more, later.'
'Be specific, sir! What's more?'
He drew his head back as if he'd never expected her to agree. 'I want to take you.'
'Impossible.'
'Then kiss you'—he grazed the backs of his fingers over the tips of her breasts—'here.'
With a gasp at the surprise shock of pleasure, she jerked back, crossing her arms protectively over her chest. 'No, emphatically no.' She wondered if he'd imagined pressing his lips against her there, and her face grew flushed. 'Haven't you heard the old adage: At leastattempt your own escape from the police before you allow a strange Scotsman to kiss your breasts?'
He either coughed or laughed into his fist, then frowned at her as if she were an unknown breed of animal. 'You're a daft lass, do you ken that?'
'And you ask too much from this daft lass.' When she opened the door to step out—and was almost trampled—he reeled her back in, slamming the door.
'A wee lady like you does no' stand a chance out there.'
'I'm notwee .' She was five foot three!
'Stubborn, too. But I canna let you run to your death.'
I can always renege.'Very well, I agree to your terms. Now can you please get me to safety?'
'Too late. The terms have changed.' When she held her tongue, he said, 'You'll let me touch you where I wish, and you'll touch me as well.'
'You're ruthless to take advantage of me this way!'
'You have no idea,' he said in a deliberate tone, his eyes dark with warning. 'What do you think will happen if you go to jail this eve? I'm the lesser of two evils—take advantage of that, for it is no' often the case.'
If she were jailed, Quin would have to come bail her out. The humiliation! 'Yes, yes! I agree,' she said, planning to run from the Scot as soon as he freed her from this place.
'Good. Now doona let go of my hand.' His hand was warm and swallowed hers when he took it, and they both glanced down. When he caught her gaze again, he said, 'As I said—wee. But I'm thinkin' I like it.'
She didn't have time to point out thateverything was wee compared to him, because he opened the door. 'Stay behind me,' he commanded, having to raise his voice over the din of the crowd.
'Can you get to that hall?' She pointed out that back hall she'd seen, which was now pouring fleeing patrons.
'Aye, but there's no exit. That's why they're runningfrom that direction.'
'Just go that way! Please, I can find a way out ofanything !'
He faced her, narrowing his eyes, but finally started forward into the chaos. He stiff-armed anyone who got in his way, and she easily trailed along in his wake. A less powerful man wouldn't have made any headway, much less defeated the flow to reach the hall, but he did. Then he barreled his big body through that crush as well, until he found an empty corridor.
'Yes!' she cried. 'Go down there!'
He turned into it, and at the end, they came upon a door to the outside.
Bearing an oversize, ominous padlock.
He raised his brows at her, and she shrugged helplessly. She turned back, trying to determine another escape. They were trapped back here, perfectly snared—
A crash sounded behind her. She whirled around to find the Scot kicking forward, connecting the bottom of his boot to the door just beneath the lock. Splinters arced into the air. Another kick and the door flew open, making her gasp.
He was magnificent! And Maddy had seen her share of magnificent men. When she strode forward to exit, he grabbed her elbow. 'No' yet,aingeal . Behind me, then.'
She nodded breathlessly, staring up at him, not bothering to hide her admiration.
He glowered, pulling at his collar. 'Stop lookin' at me like that.'
'Like what?'
'Like I'm something I'm no'.'
'I don't understand—'
Two policemen leapt in front of them, and the Scot tossed her out of the way. He elbowed one officer and punched the other, leaving the first stumbling to his backside with a busted nose and the other laid out cold.
When the Scot grabbed her hand and pulled her after him once more, she said, 'You just hit policemen!'
He grated, 'They got in my way.'
Some of the gendarmes in her rotten neighborhood were honest, but most weren't. There'd been many a time she'd wanted to lay one flat. 'But—'
'I told you I'd get you from here safely.' He paused and turned to gaze down at her. 'Doona think I'm no' prepared to move mountains for my reward.'
Magnificent? No,glorious . She knew she was staring up at him like an idiot—dumbly, with her lips parted. Every girl dreamed of a rakish masked man to protect her from villains, or a highwayman to relieve her of her jewels and her virtue. Maddy was no different, and she had to wonder if she would, in fact, renege on their bargain.
Of course she would! She was wavering only because he'd planted those ideas in her head—of his kissing her breasts and her touching him. Add to that one of the most splendid demonstrations of male power she'd ever seen, and naturally she would falter a bit.
No one had ever fought for her before—never, no matter how badly she'd needed someone to.
Again, he seemed uncomfortable with what he saw in her expression. 'Try to keep up, then,' he said gruffly, then turned away, speeding them down back alleys, farther from the harsh whistles. Continually glancing back at
