Girl in the Beaded Mask (3 page)

He raised his head to stare down into her eyes behind the beaded mask. His hair fell over his brow, and his eyes glittered in the dark night. “Who are you? Are you some kind of sorceress?”

But Lulu wasn't ready to let the spell break, as it surely would if he knew who she really was. In answer she covered his lips with hers again, and poured all her heart and all her hopes into the kiss.

His arms tightened around her and he lifted her up, her legs still twisted around him. She felt him carrying her, but they didn't break the kiss. The world whirled around her, and she landed on her back on something soft. Only then did David slip out of her arms.

Dazed, Lulu opened her eyes. They were in the swimming cabana, moonlight filtering through the canvas walls to reveal the silhouettes of changing screens and chairs. She lay on a low chaise, the peaked roof high above her.

She raised herself up on her elbows to watch David as he stripped out of his jacket and tugged his tie loose. She kicked off her shoes as he lowered himself against her again for another frantic kiss.

She fell back, closing her eyes to absorb every sensation, every feeling of his body on hers. It was like a wild, wonderful dream, one she never wanted to wake from! He kissed her throat, the hollow at its base where her blood pounded with desire for him.

She felt his open mouth on the swell of her breast just above her satin bodice, and she moaned at the electric rush of sensation.

He reached for the strap of her dress and slowly eased it down, kissing each bare inch of skin he revealed. He slipped it down over her hips and completely off her body, letting it fall to the floor in a clatter of beads. She wore only her silk knickers and stockings.

For an instant, she turned her head away in a fit of shyness and tried to cover her breasts with her hands. But he wouldn't let her. He twined his fingers with hers and held her hands against the chaise.

“So, so beautiful,” he said, and her shyness vanished. He lowered his head and took her aching nipple deep into his mouth.

“Oh!” Lulu cried, her back arching. She had read about men doing such things, but she hadn't imagined it felt like
this!
Like sparkling lights showering down all over her body.

He let go of her hand to reach for her other breast. His long, hard fingers curled around its softness, caressing, molding. He plucked gently at the nipple, and she sobbed at the feeling. No wonder people didn't want girls to read novels—it gave them such
ideas.
If she had known it felt like this, she never would have waited so long to try it.

But she also knew that she
had
to wait. That this had to be with David and no one else.

She reached out blindly for his shirt and crumpled the fine, starched fabric in her fists. She pulled him back up to kiss her lips and fumbled to unfasten the buttons.

She managed to slip the buttons free and finally touched his bare skin. It was smooth and hot under her eager hands, like satin over the hard steel of his muscles. It felt slightly damp in the heated evening, and the sprinkling of crisp hair that arrowed down his torso tickled her skin.

He felt so wonderful.

Her fingertips skimmed his left side and barely touched the roughness of a network of scars when he pulled away. He shrugged out of his shirt and let it drop beside her gown. Then he slid down her body to slowly, provocatively, unroll her silk stocking from her leg.

He kissed every inch of skin he bared, from just behind her knee to the arch of her ankle. As he tossed away the stocking, he bit lightly at her toe, making her laugh and moan all in the same breath.

He did the same with her other leg, and when she thought she couldn't bear it any longer he eased away her knickers and she was completely naked.

And somehow…she didn't even care. Not when he looked at her with that hungry, avid look in his eyes. She knew now that
this
was how she could help David, how she could bring him to life and the world again. With her body, her love.

He lowered himself against her again and she wrapped her whole body around him, welcoming him.

He kissed the curve of her shoulder and whispered, “I don't even know your name, and yet I need you more than I've ever needed anyone. How is that possible?”

“I feel it, too,” Lulu answered, her throat thick with unshed tears of joy and emotion. “I want
you.
”

His palm caressed her hip, the curve of her waist. She closed her eyes and felt his hand on her womanhood. Shocking and utterly delicious. One finger dipped inside of her, sending hot friction through the very core of her.

“You're so wet,” he whispered. “So…tight.”

“Please,” Lulu begged. Surely she would explode if he didn't do it
now!
She had waited so long already. “Please!”

“I'm sorry, sorceress,” he said hoarsely. “I can't wait.”

She felt him unfasten his trousers and then he was sliding into her, his penis thick and hard, velvet-soft and rough. He thrust forward…and her haze of delight shattered in a momentary rush of pain.

Lulu instinctively turned her head away, tears pricking at her eyes. David reared up above her, and she could feel his stare piercing down into her.

“What…?” he growled.

But the pain was fading now, and Lulu didn't want him to leave her. Not now. She tightened her hold on him and wouldn't let go when he tried to pull back.

“Don't go,” she whispered. “Finish, please.”

She could tell from the taut tension of his shoulders and back that he wanted to pull out—and he wanted to stay.

“It doesn't hurt now,” she said.

Finally he groaned a curse and thrust forward again. He braced his arms to either side of her body and moved slowly at first, carefully, letting her body adjust to his.

The pain faded completely, and slowly, gradually, something else built up inside of her. Something warm and pleasurable, something that grew and grew as he moved faster and faster. She closed her eyes and gave herself over to it, letting it sweep her away. She felt as if she were floating up into the sky among the burning stars, higher and higher, the real, dull world left far behind.

Then those stars exploded, and she held on to David to keep from burning up with them. She cried out wordlessly, and above her she felt his body arch. He threw his head back and cried out along with her.

Then he collapsed beside her on the chaise, their arms and legs all twined together. She could feel herself floating back down, weightless and light as a scrap of chiffon. She smiled happily and snuggled close to him. That had been amazing, just like in the novels—no, better, because it was with David.

He untangled himself from her and sat up on the edge of the chaise, turned away from her, his back ramrod-straight. She could feel the tension vibrating from him, the anger he held in check. For a moment she was confused—how could he be
angry
about what had just happened? It was stupendous!

But then she remembered. He didn't know who she was.

She slowly sat up against the high, scrolling back of the chaise and drew her knees to her chest. She felt cold and shiveringly vulnerable, where only a moment ago everything was stars and flowers.

David reached for his shirt on the floor and handed it back to her. As she put her arms into the sleeves, he said roughly, “Who are you? What kind of game is this?”

“It—it's not a game,” Lulu stammered. She hadn't planned out
this
bit of the scene. “I just wanted…”
You.
All she had ever wanted was him. Surely she had shown him that now.

She had to tell him the truth now. He deserved that, and she needed to know how he really felt. If he rejected her, if he were furious…at least she would have this one memory.

She slowly untied the mask and let it fall to her lap. “It's me, David. And this isn't a game. I just didn't know how else to reach you.”

David looked back over his shoulder, and for an instant his own grim, stone-like mask fell away and his eyes widened. He looked shocked, appalled, furious. And for just one glimmering second…happy.

Or maybe that was her wishful thinking. In the next moment he grabbed her arms and gave her a shake, the mask back in place.

“Lulu Hatton, you crazy little fool!” he growled. “What on earth were you thinking?”

David stared down at Lulu's pale, heart-shaped face as he held on to her arms. In the chalky starlight filtering through the canvas walls, her eyes were huge and glowing green. She bit her lip as if she were scared or nervous, but she looked back at him boldly and didn't turn away. Her body was warm and as pliable as a willow branch, and he remembered all too well how it felt naked and pressed against his.

This was a wild dream—a nightmare he would surely snap out of at any minute. He had seen her like this so often in his troubled sleep, it couldn't be real.

But this was no dream, no fantasy. It was much, much too real. He had just taken Lulu Hatton's virginity. In a lakeside cabana at a noisy, drunken party. All because he was overcome with lust.

No—no, not lust. When she had danced with him, when she had so tenderly kissed his hideous scars as if she were not repulsed by them, something had seized hold of him. Something warm and soft, and full of a powerful longing. Something he had thought long dead inside of him.

Tenderness. A great, aching tenderness. For her. His newfound angel.

But the angel was Lulu Hatton.

He let go of her, practically thrust her away from him, and turned around to run his hands through his hair. He had to make this right, but how? He would make her the most appalling husband. She deserved so much more.

“Please, David, don't be angry,” she said, her voice trembling. “This is my fault. I just…well, I just wanted you so much, I grabbed the moment. I shouldn't have deceived you.”

“No, you shouldn't have,” he answered.

“Would you have kissed me in the first place if you knew it was me?”

He gave a humorless laugh. “No. I would have dragged you back to Hatton Hall immediately.”

“Exactly. So I lied. And I'm sorry for that.” Her voice was thick with tears, but she added defiantly, “But I'm not sorry you made love to me! It was just as I dreamed it would be. And I won't tell anyone, I promise. You won't ever have to think about me again, if that's what you want.”

David laughed again. Not think of her anymore? As if he could think of anything else! Even now, in the midst of his anger, he could smell her lavender perfume, feel the soft warmth of her against his back, and it nearly drove him mad. That tender longing crept back onto him.

He wanted to taste her again, feel her arms around his neck drawing him close to her. He felt like a starving man, trapped in a lonely desert, who was given one sweet taste of nectar, and now it was gone again.

Lulu, Lulu
—what had he done?

He turned back to her and took her gently into his arms. She rested her head on his shoulder and gave a choked sob. He couldn't hurt her anymore, he had to do the right thing. If only he knew what that was. He never had when it came to Lulu.

He smoothed her tousled red hair and murmured, “Shh, Lulu, don't cry. Everything will be okay. I've lived like a hermit bear in my cave for so long I can't remember how not to roar at people. I got carried away, I'm sorry.”

“I'm not sorry,” she whispered. She wrapped her arms around his neck and held on as if she would never let go. “Not for making love to you. I've been waiting for a long time.”

Waiting—for him? David could hardly believe it. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head and said, “You would make a terrible movie vamp, Lulu.”

She tilted her head back and grinned up at him. “I know. I lack the wardrobe for it, for one thing. But I'm getting better. I just need a little practice.”

“Minx.”

“What are you going to do now? Take me home?”

“Do you want to go home?”

She shook her head. “Who knows when I'll get to see Bertie's party—or you—again. I think I'd like to dance.”

“Dance?” he said in surprise.

She nodded. “Of course! I've been learning the Charleston, it's the latest thing from America you know.”

“I haven't danced in a long time,” he said doubtfully. He rubbed at his leg, but the old pain had long turned to numbness. He wasn't sure it could ever feel again, certainly not enough for the kicks and leaps of the Charleston.

But then he had also thought his frozen heart was dead. And now it felt as if it were touched with a sunny, thawing warmth as Lulu smiled at him and he longed for her so much.

“Even bears can be trained to dance. You did so well before, by the lake,” she said. She let go of him and leaned down to pick up her dress. He caught a tantalizing glimpse of the pale skin of her upper thighs under the edge of his shirt.

She gave him a teasing grin over her shoulder. “Come on, David. We need to live a little.”

Live a little
—that was exactly what he was afraid of….

Lulu leaned toward the bathroom mirror as she carefully applied her lipstick. She was almost shocked that she didn't look completely different, that her face hadn't changed to match her heart. But aside from a flush in her cheeks she looked just the same.

Yet she wasn't the same at all. She had just made love. With
David.

She wanted to shout the words out loud, to throw out her arms and twirl around. The bathroom was too small for that, though, so she just grinned at herself in the mirror. She tossed the flannels she had used for washing into the covered basket, dropped the tube of lipstick into her handbag and patted her hair into place before she replaced the mask.

What would happen now? She had no idea. David had looked so angry and appalled by what happened between them. She thought her heart would shatter until he took her into his arms again. She didn't want to think about the future. She just wanted to think about tonight, with David, and how all her hidden, secret dreams were coming true.

She unlocked the door and stepped out into the corridor, where a short line of women in pastel silk dresses waited for the bathroom. As she made her way down the wide, winding grand staircase, she saw that the party had spilled from the tents and into the house itself. Knots and rivers of people, loudly laughing and shrieking to each other in greeting, flowed in and out of open doorways and around carved pillars. The smell of perfume and champagne was heavy in the air.

Lulu slid past them, catching up a pink cocktail from a waiter's tray as she went back out to the gardens. There were even more people there, and a row of cars with their headlights blazing still made their way up the drive. The strains of “Lovin' Sam (The Sheik of Alabam'),” her sister's favorite novelty song, drifted out from the tent along with the
click-clack
of dozens on high-heeled shoes and the rattle of beads.

She stood at the top of the front steps and sipped at her drink as she scanned the crowd, looking for David. She couldn't see him at first, and her heart sank. Had he already left?

But then she glimpsed him, taller than the crowd that milled around him. He drank a glass of champagne as he stood there at the entrance of the tent, watching the party with a bemused half smile on his face. And her heart pounded all over again with joy to see him there.

She hurried over to him, dodging around the staggering stream of people until she stood by his side. He looked down at her and his smile widened.

“Are you sure you feel brave enough to jump into
that?
” he said, and gestured to the dance floor with his glass.

It was so packed, a kaleidoscope of black evening suits and bright gowns, that she could scarcely tell one person from another.

“Maybe I need to finish this drink before I give it a try,” she answered. What she really wanted was to be alone with him again. But she didn't want him to vanish from her life once more.

“You must go to parties like this all the time,” he said.

Lulu shook her head. “Deb parties are much more staid and quiet! We have to fox-trot with boys down from Oxford while our mothers keep a close watch.”

David gave her a wry smile. “I'm surprised you're not already engaged to one of those Oxford boys. They must be lined up outside your door with offerings of orchids and boxes of chocolates.”

“Not me,” she said with a laugh. “I can't listen to long stories about shooting parties and cricket games for the rest of my life. I think Mum and Dad might like to get me off their hands, though.”

“I can't believe that. I never saw such fond parents as Lord and Lady Hatton. Your house always seemed so warm and welcoming, full of fun.” David's voice sounded sad and distant.

Lulu gently touched his arm. “It still is. We'd love to see you there so much. Mum and Dad and Jessica talk about you so often. I think Mum worries about you.”

He laughed. “Does she?”

“You know what a mother hen she is, always feeding people and tucking shawls around them. Won't you come and see us sometime soon?”

He gave an unreadable look, and for an instant she dared to hope he
would
come. But then the music slid into a slow, lilting song, and he turned away from her to watch the dance floor. It cleared of the thickest crowd, leaving couples clinging to each other as they drifted in slow circles.

David took her empty glass from her and deposited it along with his on a tray. “Come with me,” he said, and offered her his arm to lead her out of the tent and into the house.

 

David held on close to Lulu as he slowly led her up the stairs. With her he forgot about his limp, his scars, he even forgot the terrible nightmares that plagued him. The guilt that never left him.

In her shining, hopeful eyes everything looked new, and made him feel new, too. Made him look at the world in brand-new ways.

Come back to Hatton Hall.
Her soft plea echoed in his mind. Once Hatton Hall had been his favorite place in the world, so full of laughter and fun. So different from the cold, quiet rooms of his family's house. He had thought of it so many times over the years, thought about going back and seeing them again. Seeing Lulu.

But then he would remember his last visit there, the black wreath on the door and Lady Hatton's red-rimmed eyes. He knew only one thing then—he lived, and Bill died. Hatton Hall was gone for him.

Lulu didn't seem to think so, though.

He looked down at her head on his shoulder, the glow of her red hair in the golden light. Sweet, passionate Lulu. Did he dare hope? Could he let himself?

They stopped on the shadowy, quiet landing and he couldn't stop himself. Seeing her, holding her, it was like a force of nature he couldn't hold back. Lulu swept over him like a hurricane.

He bent his head and covered her mouth with his. Her lips parted in surprise, and he swept his tongue past them to taste her deeply. She was so sweet, like lavender and cocktails and the country night air. She was the innocence and wonder he had lost, and found again in her tonight.

She curled her fists into the front of his jacket and pulled him closer to her as she answered his kiss with a passion of her own. Their feet grew still and he forgot where they were, who he was, he forgot everything but
her
, and how it felt to make love to her.

To come alive again with her. She was his magic sorceress.

Suddenly he desperately needed to see her face, to hold her and
know
it was her. To show her the life-changing tenderness she had shown him.

His kiss slid from her lips, skimming over her soft, pink-flushed cheek until he could whisper in her ear.

“Come somewhere quiet with me,” he urged. She went still, glancing over his shoulder to the crowd downstairs, and at first he was afraid she would refuse. That she would leave him alone again.

Finally she nodded and gave him a smile. “I will.”