If You Give a Rake a Ruby by Shana Galen Page B

murmured.
    â€œYou have already made a scene,” she hissed. “I don’t think you can do any worse.”
    He shook his head. “Fallon, I thought you knew better. I can always make it worse.” And in one swoop, he caught her about the waist, tossed her over his shoulder, and marched across the dance floor, interrupting the quadrille.
    Shocked gasps and murmurs and an angry scream from Fallon herself reverberated in place of the orchestra, who had gone suddenly silent, but no one tried to stop him. Her friend, the red-haired Countess of Charm, did run alongside him. “Fallon, are you all right? Mr. Fitzhugh, what is happening?”
    â€œShe’s fine, Countess,” he told her because she looked genuinely concerned. “I’m not going to hurt her. We have a small errand together. That is all.”
    â€œI see.” She scampered ahead of him. “I am not certain Fallon has agreed to this errand.”
    â€œI haven’t, Lily,” Fallon called from over his shoulder. “Make him stop.”
    Lily gave him a plaintive look, and he shook his head. “My apologies, Countess.”
    â€œOh, dear.” She moved aside, and he could feel Fallon struggling to lift her head to see her friend as they passed.
    â€œLily, help me! This is an abduction! Help!”
    And then he was out of the ballroom and taking the steps two at a time to reach the vestibule. She really was quite a light little thing. He wasn’t winded at all. The footman at the bottom of the steps did not so much as raise an eyebrow when Warrick asked for Fallon’s carriage, and to avoid the crowds congregating at the top of the staircase, he decided to await the carriage’s arrival outside.
    When he stepped outside, Fallon made a real attempt to free herself. She’d pounded his back before, but clearly she had not wanted to make the incident more than it was. And she probably truly believed someone would come to her aid. Now she struggled and fought and clawed at him. He adjusted her slightly and bore the brunt of her kicks and punches. In her current position, she couldn’t do him much harm.
    â€œDo you want me to put you down?” he asked when she paused to catch her breath.
    â€œYes!”
    â€œThen say my name.”
    â€œYou ass! Put me down!”
    â€œWrong answer. My name is Warrick.”
    â€œAnd you are an ass! Put me down!” And she was back to punching and screaming again.
    Finally the carriage arrived, and he deposited her inside, closing the door before she could escape. She tried anyway, and he had to restrain her. He didn’t mind all that much because it meant he wrapped his arms around her and held her still against him. He could smell the clean fragrance of her hair as she whipped her head to and fro in front of his nose. “You’re going to hurt yourself further if you don’t stop,” he said. “Your rib, remember?”
    â€œYou weren’t thinking of my rib when you slung me over your shoulder.”
    â€œYes, I was. I would have carried you under my arm if I hadn’t been protecting your rib.”
    â€œOoh, I hate you! Let me go.”
    â€œWill you stop trying to escape?”
    â€œYes, damn it! The bloody carriage is moving now.”
    He released her and she jumped away from him, tumbling into the seat across from him. With a wince she clutched her ribs. “I told you to be careful,” he said. She threw her reticule at him, but he ducked.
    There was a long silence, in which he assumed she was thinking of all that had happened. He, in turn, rolled his neck and shoulders to loosen them.
    Finally, she exploded. “What is wrong with you?” she all but screamed. “Are you trying to ruin me?”
    â€œI asked you to come with me nicely,” he pointed out. She muttered something he didn’t really want to hear, so he parted the drapes to check their location. A few more minutes and they