No one answered.
“Help!” she bellowed, but still there was no reply. She even called for Coombe, but the groom must have been busy elsewhere today. The one time she wanted to be followed, there was no one following her.
I’m lost, she thought despairingly, as she turned another corner.
The highwayman was seated on an old wooden bench, smiling at her, his pale eyes gleaming wickedly through the slits of his black mask. But she’d seen his face now, and her secret gave her a small surge of power in what seemed a hopeless situation.
“Do you need help, Antoinette?” he asked sweetly.
“You know I do,” she said crossly.
“Are you willing to accept my proposal? Every time I point you in the right direction you will pay a forfeit of a piece of your clothing. Agreed?’’
Her eyes narrowed. He was altogether too pleased with himself and she would have liked to refuse, but the maze was beginning to frighten her badly. Besides, what he was suggesting was exciting and dangerous, and it was quite possible she might best him. Once she reached familiar ground she could find her way on her own and walk out without losing very much at all, and then it would be he who looked foolish.
“I agree.”
He stayed where he was, but his gaze slid slowly over her body, assessing her items of clothing. “We’ll start with your dress, I think.”
Antoinette hesitated. She was wearing petticoats and chemise, as well as numerous other undergarments. If he imagined she would be overcome by the removal of her dress, then he was wrong. Swiftly she began to unbutton her bodice.
He paid her flattering attention.
She tugged her sleeves over her hands and eased the dress down over her hips and stepped out of it, leaving it where it fell. And then she stood before him with her back straight and chin up, and waited.
He grinned and stood up, holding out his hand. Slowly she placed her fingers in his and was drawn toward him. “This way,” he said, and led her down a pathway that looked exactly the same as all the others.
What followed was a battle of wits and wills. By the time they reached an area she thought she recognized, she had removed all her petticoats and her chemise, as well as her shoes. Now, in only her drawers and stays and stockings, she was finally sure of her direction. Antoinette halted, and when he turned to see what was the matter, she gave him a broad smile.
“Thank you, sir, but I believe I know the way from here.”
A quizzical look, and he shrugged and folded his arms. “Go ahead, darling. Surprise me.”
Antoinette took her time, peering one way and then the other. She remembered this junction, and if she wasn’t mistaken—and she was confident she wasn’t—this was the way out. With a final triumphant glance over her shoulder, she made her choice.
She was wrong, but she didn’t know it.
Gabriel watched as her confidence began to melt away, drop by drop, and her steps faltered. Did she know how gorgeous she looked? The stays were tight, pushing up her breasts until they threatened to overflow, and her drawers hugged her waist and flared out over her hips and bottom. Her stockings were fine silk, and the curve of pale thigh between their tops and the drawers made his mouth water.
When she finally stopped and turned, admitting her mistake, he was right behind her. “Oh!” Her eyes widened, her lips parted. It was too tempting for him. He drew her into his arms and began to kiss her.
She didn’t struggle. She stood up on her tiptoes and clung to his neck, and her mouth opened eagerly under his. He cupped her bottom, lifting her higher, settling the hard length of his cock against the warm niche of her thighs.
She made a soft sound of need, and he knew if he didn’t get inside her he was going to burst.
“I was so sure,” she gasped. “How did you know I was wrong?”
“I’ve walked this maze since I was a child.”
“But…”
“Hush,” he said arrogantly. “It is time to pay your forfeit in full, Antoinette.”
He kissed her again, fingers in her hair, drinking from her lips, but this time she wouldn’t let him work his magic. She twisted away and ran back the way they’d come, turning in the direction she’d spurned before. He followed, at first walking, certain she’d stop, and then running to keep up when she didn’t.
As he expected, eventually she took another wrong turning and arr
ived at a dead end. And that was when Gabriel pounced.