“What are you doing?” Elise snapped as she dug in her heels and yanked her arm away from Mr. Ruffian.
He released his hold. “Nothing vile,” he informed her. “Just trying to keep both of us as dry as possible.”
There was that. It bothered Elise to think he might be right. She took a step closer to the trunk of a very large tree, thankful for what shelter the leafy branches could afford her from the heavy rain.
However, it wasn’t much.
“We need to keep moving,” Mr. Ruffian said. “There has to be shelter somewhere.”
She wasn’t certain his assumption was correct. She had also decided this was a miserable trip. And while her act of running away was to let hersisters know she could not, would not, live under Dara and Michael’s roof... right now, the thought was small comfort.
In fact, she felt completely foolish. What if she perished out here? Or was swept away in flooding—
“Why were you traveling alone on the Mail? Don’t you have any family?” His gruff voice stopped the strident trajectory of her thoughts.
She had plenty of family. And they would be horrified by her actions.
But she wasn’t about to share that with him. He was nobody... and exactly the sort of male who could ruin her if word got back to London of them traipsing around together. Elise had enemies. The other debutantes of the Season envied what they perceived as her social success. Whether she stayed in Ireland or returned to London, no one must ever learn anything about this terrible night.
Without answering, Elise pushed away from the tree, pulling the damp hood of her cloak over her head. “We aren’t finding shelter standing here.” She took a step in the direction of the road and stopped as the rain suddenly whooshed down in curtains. She jumped back, right into Mr. Ruffian. Her shoulder blades bumped into his chest. She teetered slightly, her balance giving in the soft earth under her feet. His arm, strong and solid, came around to steady her.
Elise’s first instinct was alarm. She hadn’t expected him to be this close. Her heel had almost stepped on his foot.
And then came awareness. Adangerousawareness. At how tall he was. How muscular. How he’d stopped her movement as if he were a brick wall.
A brick wall that caused a tightening response inside her. Surprisingly,deepinside her. In her most intimate places.
The jolt of awareness catapulted Elise into a new confusion. She was in no mood to deal with men. Her heart had been broken, never to be repaired. And yet, something inside of her was stirring, and it wasn’t anyplace close to her heart.
In that moment, she had clarity: she’d made a mistake. Sheshouldn’thave run away. She shouldn’t be alone with such a rough man whose presence unsettled her. She needed to return to London.Now.
As if the hounds of hell nipped at her heels, Elise charged into the rain. She didn’t completely understand her momentary unasked-for attraction to Mr. Ruffian, but she was not going to cater to it—
Her foot slid on mud and wet grass. She lurched forward. Her hands reached out to catch her, but then something pulled on her cloak, setting her back on her feet.
Mr. Ruffian.Again.
“Careful,” he warned, rain sluicing off thebrim of his hat. “It is growing too dark to go racing off.”
These were not romantic words. Certainly not the flowery phrases of her London suitors who would have thrown down their coats for her to walk over. He hadn’t even offered his oilskin for her protection.
Could it be that he didn’t find her attractive? This was a confusing thought. Granted, she didn’t appear at her best but men had catered to her. Sometimes, just for her youth alone. Apparently, Mr. Ruffian had no reaction to her. He acted as if she was being silly.
Elise picked up her cloak and her skirts and tried to march on, vowing to be more circumspect in the future. She didn’t care what he thought. He meant nothing to her. She moved into the forest, keeping to where a leafy ceiling of branches offered some protection from the weather.
“Yes, princess,” he muttered, following her.
Princess?What was he talking about?
Men were so annoying. She kept moving.
And he kept it up. As she pushed her way along the forest edge, the rain impeding her progress, he walked behind her, sarcastically grumbling, “Thank you, princess. I only live to serve, princess. Is there anything else you need of me, princess—”
Elise whirled around and punched a finger into his chest. “Stop this.I didn’t ask you to help me. You don’t even have to follow me—”
Lightning cracked the sky, electrifying a tree in the distance. For a brief moment, the flash of light emphasized just how dark it was in the forest.
His manner changed. “We need to get out of this,” he shouted. Before she could respond, he threw an arm over her shoulder and started to drag her into the almost total darkness of sheltering trees.
