Girl in the Beaded Mask Read Free Page B

as if he didn’t quite remember the steps. He laughed ruefully, and Lulu laughed, too, even though her heart was pounding so loudly she could hardly hear anything else. She was with David —he was right here, holding on to her. It was like a wonderful dream, and she didn’t intend to let it go.
    She carefully guided him in the slow dance steps until he found the rhythm again. The grace and agility she had once admired as he danced with other, luckier girls on the Hatton Hall terrace was still there, hidden, just waiting to come out.
    But she was the lucky girl now. As his arms closed around her, Lulu rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. The music swayed and turned slow and languid. She let that music slowly wind around her as his warmth seeped into her heart and she didn’t know anything but him. It was all she had longed for so long.
    She had never felt so safe in her life, and she never wanted the music to end.
    Their steps slid together perfectly, their bodies fitting as if they had always been just like that. This was the dance she had always been waiting for, and the one she would always want. With him.
    If only David could feel the same.
    But as the song wound to a close, his arms slipped away from her and he took a step back. Lulu shook away the shimmering clouds of her dream and looked up to see a wry, humorless smile twisted his lips.
    â€œI think you’ve done your duty now, my dear,” he said.
    Lulu blinked at him. “My…duty?”
    â€œDidn’t our host urge you to take pity on the poor, lonely man hiding in the shadows?”
    â€œCertainly not!” she said indignantly. How could he think that of her, of himself? Didn’t he see, didn’t he know?
    But she knew that he didn’t know. He couldn’t. Whatever terrible things had happened to him, however dark his heart had become, he was still David. She didn’t know how to tell him that in a way he could believe.
    She had to show him.
    Lulu stepped closer to him, one inch at a time as if she feared he would run from her. He stood very still, as wary as a jungle tiger, as she wrapped her hands around the lapels of his jacket and went up on tiptoe. Gently, softly, she kissed the scars that marred his face below the edge of the mask. One, then the other, to show him how beautiful he was to her.
    She ended with a soft kiss at the corner of his mouth. “I’m here because I want to be,” she whispered. “This is the only place I want to be—with you.”
    He gave a deep growl, and suddenly his arms were around her, pulling her close and setting his lips against hers.
    Lulu’s mouth parted on a startled gasp, and she felt the touch of his tongue on hers, tasting, exploring. When other men had done that it seemed somehow vile, and she had pushed them away with impatience. But with David, it felt wonderfully delightful, creating a heavy, delicious heat deep inside of her. Was he convinced of her true feelings now?
    She twined her arms around his neck and went up on tiptoe, letting him deepen the kiss. It felt as if she had dived into a warm pool of water, deeper and deeper, until all there was in the world was him. His touch, his kiss, the way he made her feel.
    It was even better than she had ever dreamed it could be.
    She buried her fingers in the rough, waving silk of his hair and held him close to her. She felt him groan against her lips, a ragged sound of need that echoed her own. She pressed herself tight to his body, and there was the hard proof of his desire, she could feel its weight against her belly through the thin satin of her gown.
    He did want her! David Carlisle actually wanted her, as she wanted him.
    He spun her around in his arms without breaking their frantic kiss and she felt him lift her up onto the wide stone railing. She instinctively parted her legs and he stepped between them. One of his hard, strong hands swept under her thigh, on the bare skin