A surge of sultry heat blooms beneath her skin, dewing it with sweet-tasting mist. I make sure to kiss every inch of it until she’s writhing, her body wanting more than my lips and hands can deliver.
“Please, Luc,” she begs me, and I waste no time ripping off my clothes.
I fish through my wallet for a condom and roll it into place. Then I’m standing in front of her. Naked. Exposed. Not only my body, but my heart.
This is all I’ve ever wanted. I’m giddy and terrified at the same time. But most of all, I’m totally and completely head over heels.
She pushes up on her elbows, and her dark hair falls around her shoulders, making her look like a naughty angel. I feel her eyes travel over me like a physical touch.
“Wow,” is all she says.
Just like that, I’m laughing. And it feels good. It feels right. It feels like it should. Likeus.Despite the desire and the pounding of blood, we’re friends. We always have been. We always will be.
She reaches for me, pulling me onto the bed beside her, but I secure her hands above her head. I can’t have her touching me. If she touches me with nothing between us, I’ll lose my mind.
Ineedmy mind to pay attention to the way she moves. The way she sighs. The way she offers pieces of herself to me.
“Luc,” she whispers when I position myself between her legs. My heart stops. I recognize the look in her eye. It’sthelook. The one I never thought to see directed at me. “You’ve always been the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” she says.
Her words wrap around my heart, warming me from the inside out. When I slowly push into her sweet, willing body, it warms me from the outside in. I can feel something in the room with us. Something huge and timeless. Something powerful.
It’s love.
Chapter Eighty-six
______________________________________
Maggie
Even when wearing a mask, a person’s eyes give them away.
When Luc and Cash appear in the doorway to the ballroom, I see two things. One, Luc is happy. Joy shines in his eyes like a beacon as his gaze scans the room and finally lands on me. Two, Cash is in pain. He tries to hide it with a wide smile and a quick nip of whiskey from his flask, but it’s there in the bruised look in his eyes.
The party is in full swing. Everyone who’s anyone is here, masked and dressed in their finest, enjoying the tuxedoed blues band onstage and the waiters roving around the room with tasty finger foods on silver serving trays. From the bunting strung across the ceiling to the centerpieces on the tables, the ballroom is decked out in the colors of Mardi Gras. And the whole place sparkles.
Aunt Bea and Vee decided to go glitzy this year, covering everything in sequins and glitter. It’s outrageous and excessive andsototally New Orleans during Carnival season.
I take a sip of champagne and watch the sea of revelers on the dance floor part to make way for Cash and Luc. Even sick, Cash is still a strapping man. And the mask he’s wearing hides the signs of illness on his face. The only clues that all isn’t as it should be with him are his eyes, like I said, and the rented tuxedo that hangs loose on him.
By contrast, Luc’s tuxedo is tailored to a T. The jacket stretches across his broad shoulders and emphasizes his slim waist. Then there are the pants. They seem to make love to his thighs, and even though I can see only the front of him, I know they’re hugging his cute behind. That behind I’ve grabbed while—
Whew. Is it hot in here? Or is it just me?
We haven’t spent a single night apart since our first date at the beginning of the week. And don’t judge me too harshly for sleeping with him right out of the shoot. I’ve known him for years, so first date, shmirst date, the rules don’t apply to us.
“I see you finally got to dress up like Batman,” I say to Cash, accepting the kiss he plants on my cheek when he and Luc stop in front of me. He’s wearing the mask I saw in the shop window the other night.
“Better late than never.” He twists his lips around a smile.
“Luc.” I turn to him, my breath catching at his proximity. He’s the kind of man who gives off a vibe. You know the kind I mean? Thatmanvibe? That powerful, predatory thing? “Aren’t you a handsome devil?”
The half mask he’s wearing is pure black, plain except for the horns that curl up from the top.
Even though half his face is covered, when he smiles, you can still tell he’s a dream. And his body is certainly made for a woman’s pleasure—I should know; Idoknow. But it’s his words that seduce me. “Maggie May, you’re the most beautiful woman in the room.”
I’m not. Not by a long shot. But he believes what he says, and that’s all that matters.
“Give us a twirl.” He circles a finger in the air. “Let us get a gander at that dress.”
