Other patrons were beginning to empty out of the boxes, but Rafe was quicker. He looped his arm around her waist and hustled her down the nearest staircase.
Halfway to the ground floor, their way was blocked by two ruffians who were racing upward. The men stopped, their eyes gleaming at the sight of Maggie.
Without waiting to see whether the men would attack, Rafe threw a savage fist into the belly of the nearer one. His victim made a hoarse, squawking sound as he tumbled against his fellow.
While the two men struggled to save themselves from falling down the steps, Rafe caught Maggie's hand and pulled her past them. No longer protesting, she lifted her skirts with her free hand and ran swiftly beside him, her fingers tight on his.
The stairs came out into a deserted passage. The sounds of the riot came from the right, so they turned and continued left until they reached a side exit.
Outside, they found that both aristocrats and common people were pouring from the theater. A man was running down the boulevard screaming for the Guards. Fortunately, Rafe's carriage was waiting nearby. He bundled her inside, and within a few moments they were heading away from the theater.
Maggie's skirts rustled as she settled herself in the corner of the carriage. Rafe's heart was still pounding. The threat to her safety had roused the most primitive of protective responses in him, and he still felt shaken an her behalf. On impulse he moved across the seat and put his arms around her, needing to reassure himself that she was all right.
She gave a kind of shiver, then turned her face up, her mouth seeking his. Their tongues touched, and suddenly they were kissing with frantic intensity. She slipped her hands under his coat and began kneading his back, her nails digging deep into the muscles.
Dimly he realized that the brush with danger had unleashed something in her, something dark and primal that roused him to equal madness. They sank into the deep velvet-cushioned seat. Her exotic scent filled his nosstrils, intoxicating him. He buried his face in the warm curve of her throat, kissing her beating pulse. The sound of her rough breathing filled the coach.
Remembering that she had always had exquisitely sensitive ears, he trailed kisses upward, along the line of her jaw, until he could tease her lobe with his teeth. She gasped and stiffened, her head arching back and her legs separating so that his knee slipped between hers. They twisted against each other as their bodies instinctively sought a closeness impossible in the cramped quarters.
Their mouths came together again and they shared the same heated, hungry breath. Her breasts crushed against his chest, soft and lush. He ran his open hands down her sides, over her slim waist to the delicious fullness of her hips.
The carriage shook as it hit a hole, almost throwing him to the floor. He lifted himself a little, bracing his shoulder against the side panel and one foot against the base of the opposite seat. She adjusted herself to his new position, her pelvis pressing against his.
Her thigh was firm and shapely, and as he stroked downward he discovered that her skirt had worked its way over her knee. He heard the whisper of silk as his fingers skimmed over her stocking-clad calf. If he had been reasoning, he would have moved more slowly, but he was beyond reason. He caressed upward, over the ribbon of her garter to the bare, warm flesh of her inner thigh.
She sucked her breath in, then drew her head away from his. "Enough!"
As he looked into her stark eyes, Rafe became very still. The glow of a streetlight showed that there was still desire in her face, but her wildness had faded.
The same was true of him. Though passion burned through his veins-ye gods, how it burned!-the madness had subsided. He was profoundly unnerved to realize how thoroughly he had lost control of himself.
Instinctively he retreated. Though his body ached to complete what they had begun, he made no attempt to persuade her to continue. Very carefully he lifted himself away and sat on the facing seat. His muscles vibrated with tension.
Maggie pushed herself upright and tugged her skirt down over her bare legs. "What was that about?" Her unsteady tone belied the banality of her words.
"A brush with danger often provokes a passionate desire to celebrate life," Rafe observed, trying to sound detached, as if they hadn't just been on the verge of ripping each other's clothing off. He was grateful that the darkness concealed his embarrassingly obvious state of arousal.
"The danger wasn't that great." Satisfied that her gown was straight, she began checking her hair. "Such scenes are not uncommon. The royalists are trying to intimidate the rest of France now that they have the upper hand. It's called the White Terror. If we had stayed in our box and waved white handkerchiefs, we would have been quite safe."
"While I admire your aplomb, no one is ever entirely safe during a riot," he said dryly. The horrific image of Maggie under attack flashed through his mind again, and he shuddered. If she had been alone, a white handkerchief would have been a poor defense against men like those on the stairs. "Since you seem to have more courage than sense, I feel responsible for keeping you intact, at least until you find our assassin."
She pulled out a hairpin and reattached a loose lock. "A pity to miss the rest of such a fine play. Luckily I've seen Tartuffe before, and leaving early means we will reach Lady Castlereagh's evening salon in good time."
He wanted to laugh at the absurd way they were both ignoring that spectacular outburst of passion. "What, no maidenly vapors?"
"They would be singularly inappropriate since I am not a maiden," she said sharply. She drew a deep breath before continuing. "I've heard that Count de Varenne often attends Lady Castlereagh's evenings. While it's unlikely that an Ultra-Royalist would be behind our plot, I would still like to meet him." After a moment's thought, she added, "I was warned that he is a thoroughly dangerous man."
"I'll bear that in mind. Is he likely to challenge me to a duel, too?"
"No, I believe he is more the knife-in-the-back type."
"Sounds like a charming fellow. Remind me to keep my back to a wall if we encounter him." The uneasiness Rafe had felt at losing control began to fade, leaving him pleased with the progress he had made. Maggie was coming closer and closer to yielding; he didn't doubt that very soon she would be willing to accept him. And soon after that, he would make sure that she got rid of her other lovers.
Satisfied with his conclusions, he stretched his long legs as far as possible in the limited space. "Lead on. I hope that Lady Castlereagh has a good supper planned. There's nothing like a riot to put an edge on a man's appetite."
Chapter 8
As the carriage rambled down the boulevard toward the British embassy, Maggie's hands were locked so tightly in her lap that her fingers must be white inside her gloves. She wondered if her voice had betrayed her near-panic at the theater riot.
The episode had brought back all her worst nightmares in hideous detail, and she had been so paralyzed by fear that she could hardly move when Rafe had dragged her from the theater. There had probably been little real danger-she routinely carried both a white and a violet handkerchief in her reticule, just in case- but panic was immune to reason.
While she would have forced herself to stay in the theater rather than give in to her fears, it had been a relief to go along with Rafe. Most of the time Maggie would fight hammer and tongs if a man tried to compel her against her will, but not tonight, not in the face of that seething brawl of mad humanity.
It had been profoundly comforting to have his strong arm around her, and pure pleasure to watch him dispatch those two ruffians so deftly. All in a day's work for the Duke of Candover, of course. He hadn't even wrinkled his perfectly tailored coat, and he had betrayed no more concern at the riot than if a mule cart had blocked his carriage.