"Good." Zach stood aside and held the door open for her. When she hesitated, she was quickly assisted the remainder of the way into the coach. Just as he was about to enter the coach, there was a warning shout from down the street.
"Get us out of here, now!" Zach ordered, pushing her unceremoniously to the floor of the coach.
She felt the forward lunge of the coach, and then she was smothered by a strong male body as St. James crouched low over her. Anything she might have said was buried against his shoulder as they lay together on the floor, pinned between the seats.
Something Lucy had said flashed through her mind as she struggled to right herself and was rewarded by the pressure of his shoulder against her breast. She wondered if this was what her friend had meant when she'd referred to making love in a coach.
Their legs and bodies were hopelessly entangled. She should have been angry. At the very least, she should be afraid they might still be stopped and questioned. Instead, all she could do was laugh at the ridiculousness of it all. The evening hadn't turned out at all as she'd expected.
"What the devil are you laughing at?" Zach tried to untangle his legs from hers and instead became more hopelessly tangled with her as the coach careened down the street.
Any response was muffled against his chest. Grabbing the edge of the seat, Elyse struggled to sit upright and immediately realized the danger in doing so as she came up atop and fully astride William St. James.
"I can't say much for your methods, but I applaud the results," he quipped, a devilish gleam in his eye. His arms closed around her slender waist even as her hands flattened against his chest, trying to wedge distance between them.
"I'm afraid it's no use," he told her. "Sandy is not the best driver in the world. You might as well give up and enjoy the ride."
"Let go!" She struggled further, only to be flattened against his body as the coach swung around a corner. She finally gave up, deciding there were worse things than being in close proximity to a maddeningly arrogant man, worse things such as the broken bones she would surely have if she tried to move around.
The coach turned again, then around the next corner, then ground to a bone-jarring stop. Elyse groaned as she tried to push away from him. But she wasn't quick enough. The driver jerked open the door.
Sandy coughed loudly. "Er, ah sorry, sir," he apologized.
Elyse wanted to die. She wanted to crawl into the nearest hole and pull the sides in after her. As it was, she could do neither.
"Let me up!" she ground out, her mortification complete, for she could well imagine the full view the driver had been given as he’d entered the coach.
"I'm trying to," Zach winced at the sharp edge of the seat cutting into the back of his shoulder.
"What are you doing?" Elyse gasped at the intimate thrust of his knee between her legs.
"Trying to let you up. Lie still!" he commanded.
She twisted under him, only managing to wedge their hips more tightly together, aware that the coachman stood just outside, probably enjoying the best performance he'd seen in years.
Leaning over, Zach fastened her with a cool smile.
"I'd like nothing better than to lie with you like this for the rest of the night. But there is the matter of your reputation. Now, if you will please move your bottom." His hand closed over her hip. He lifted her, freeing his pinned knee.
"There. Easily done."
"Easily done," she whispered, still affected by that intimate contact, her anger now replaced by something confusing. His hand lingered at her hip, the fingers fanning out across the curve of her bottom. Zach breathed out slowly.
Every time he was near her, he found it impossible to keep his hands off her. His voice was tight as he rose up on one knee, cool air rushing between their bodies as he offered his hand.
"What's happened?" a voice greeted them.
Elyse emerged from the coach as a portly man came down the steps of an imposing house, lantern in hand. She immediately recognized the residence as the London home of Lord and Lady Vale.
"What in the name of...?"
The man was immediately cut off by St. James
"There was a bit of trouble this evening. I believe you've met Miss Winslow." He made a brief introduction as he escorted Elyse to the house.
"Winslow?" The older man was left to ponder in their wake. "Good God! You don't mean Barrington's fiancé?"
She could have died right then and there, but she wasn't even given the time to contemplate doing so. Instead, she was pulled up the stairs and through the front doors.
