Maddie had a moment to wonder if she shouldn’t be the one Dover was protecting, and then another ball crashed through the carriage, and all she could do was cower at Blackthorne’s feet.
Her heart was slamming so hard against her sternum that she was afraid the bone would break. And her lungs seemed to have shrunk. She couldn’t fill them with air, and she gasped and heaved like a fish tossed from the lake onto shore. She closed her eyes and prayed—or at least tried. She couldn’t think of any actual words at the moment, so she hoped God could read her mind. Another shot rang out, missing the carriage, but loud enough to make Maddie scream. And then the carriage wheel hit a hole and she was pitched forward, straight into Blackthorne’s lap.
His knees closed protectively around her, and she was suddenly warm and cocooned. He smelled like coffee and tobacco and man.
“Love the idea, sweetheart,” Blackthorne said. “But now’s not the time.”
Maddie looked up and realized her head was buried in his nether regions. A wave of mortification rushed over her. The feeling was so strong that she would have fainted—except that would have put her right back where she’d been.
She scrambled to escape her compromising position, but Blackthorne held her prisoner between his legs. He was staring out the window at their pursuers, so she couldn’t be sure he was aware of what he was doing. But she had the distinct feeling that he was enjoying all of this a little too much.
“Sir! Release me!”
No response. Blackthorne completely ignored her.
“Sir!”
He gave her a distracted look, then actually scooted forward on the seat. Maddie gasped. She was now closer to the area she was trying to avoid. “Sir!”
Blackthorne kept her locked between his knees and struggled to remove his tailcoat. He had it unbuttoned but couldn’t seem to free his broad shoulders from the form-fitting material.
“Sir!” Maddie said more loudly.
“Stop whining and help me get this coat off.”
“Whining? I’m not—”
He freed the garment, and the blue tailcoat was stuffed into her face. Then she fell backward in surprise as he released her from between his legs. Maddie struggled to find her way out from under the garment, and just when she freed her head, she looked up to see Blackthorne trying to open the carriage door.
“What are you doing?” she screamed. She sounded like a lunatic but couldn’t help it and didn’t want to. In light of the situation, it was perfectly appropriate for her to scream hysterically. What else was she to do when the deranged idiot before her opened the door of a moving carriage? What kind of mad fool put himself in the path of a bullet?
Blackthorne threw the door open, and Maddie had her answer.
“Hold on,” he called over his shoulder. “I’m going to show my brother how to drive this thing.”
“But—”
And then he was gone, scrambling out the door and holding onto the side of the carriage. The door swung wildly, its hinges creaking, and the next pistol ball ripped right through the window, spraying Maddie with glass.
“Are you all right, Lady Madeleine?” Mr. Dover asked. At some point he’d released Ashley and was now moving toward her.
Maddie wanted to say no. She wanted to creep under her seat and hide for the rest of her—what was sure to be short—life. Instead, she gave Dover an encouraging nod, then watched as he crawled over her, reached for the door, and pulled it closed again.
That done, he extracted his pocket watch and tsked at what he saw.
Outside, she heard shouts and the thunder of hoofs but no more gunshots. She listened for Blackthorne’s voice but couldn’t make it out amidst the other noises. She thought she heard a thump on the roof of the carriage, and she looked up, expecting to see Blackthorne open the hatch and smile down at her.
But then the coach lurched violently and there was a horrible wrenching sound from underneath. Outside, the shouts grew more frantic as the carriage seemed to careen uncontrollably from this side to that.
Maddie held onto the seat, the floor, Ashley—whatever she could—but she was still thrown wildly about. The carriage went left then right, swaying like a drunk sailor on his first day in port.
Her head hit something hard and a sharp ringing overtook the noise outside.
Everything in the carriage flew around them, and Maddie saw her reticule flop onto the floor and then bounce out the open window.
Slack-jawed, she watched all the money she had tumble out of sight. With a groan, she closed her eyes and clutched her throbbing head.
Finally, the carriage slowed and, with another screech, came to a shuddering stop. Maddie slowly opened her eyes, wary of the sudden quiet.
