But her body and her mind were in a furore over him.
Needs.
That was all.He’d made it clear.
Needs.
But for her?The brief rutting against the wall had thrown her far more off-kilter than the episode in the pit.
And after opening night, he would be leaving, and then there wouldn’t be a single man who could see to her needs because she desired only one.Her body had distilled the moment into an entire aria of longing, into an aching need for him and him alone.A need to expose her skin for his kisses, to widen for his thrusts, to tighten around him and hold back her climax so she could release it with his, to coax him into whispering small endearments in that glorious moment when his walls crumbled.A need for Cassius.
And there was only one way to rid herself of it.
‘Can you pin the hems a little higher?’she asked.‘An inch or even two?’
Between now and opening night, she would have him.Reset the balance.Satisfy herself properly so that she could banish him from her thoughts before he left and filled his days with the young and beautiful of Vienna.
Across the room, Freya and Sidonie were chatting while they tugged a length of fabric from one of the crates.Sidonie held the bolt against Freya’s cheek.Freya was wearing the same pink dress she’d worn to piano rehearsal, and on a handful of other days since.
‘What do you know of my understudy?’Odette asked.‘Little Freya?’
Nadine raised a brow.‘Not like you to be worried.’
‘I am not worried.Not in that way.’
‘Wouldn’t think badly of you if you were.’
Odette traded a meaningful look with Nadine.Stagehands knew everything about ropes and acoustics, but costumers were the best source for information about the choir, the dancers, and the cast.They spent hours with the performers when their guards were down, when emotions ran high, when dreams soared to their most ambitious heights.If the understudy was intent on making life difficult for Odette, Nadine would know.‘Go on.’
‘She’s beautiful,’ Nadine said, as she measured Odette’s hips.
‘Very.’
‘And she sings well.As good as you.’
‘I would want no less from my understudy,’ Odette replied.
‘Quite a bit younger.And naïve.’
‘Most of the choir are.’
‘Young or naïve?’
‘Both.’
‘Not often that a young singer isallthose things.’
‘I was,’ Odette said.
‘You were not naïve.’
An unspoken understanding passed between her and Nadine.They had both been in the theatre a long time, and for all of Odette’s dismissals, a soprano like Freya could easily be the type of woman to steal headlines from herself.It had happened before, but the momentum had always fizzled out when the singer could not cope with the pressure, or when Odette had reclaimed the public’s attention with another show or a more brazen part.But she was no longer twenty-two, not even thirty-two.The day would come when a singer would maintain a sure enough foothold to nudge Odette out of the way, just as she had done to others when she’d arrived in London.
But without protection, even in the form of her own confidence, a singer like Freya would also be vulnerable.Karl had no sordid interest in his performers, but not all managers were like him.Besides leering managers, there were the well-known baritones and tenors who knew how to single out the young and vulnerable and tempt them with empty promises of starring roles that were quickly forgotten.And all of that was before the singers stepped onto the stage.If Freya caught the light, even for a moment, a slew of admirers would swiftly profess their devotion to dazzle her, followed by the more suave and beguiling men with power who saw a young star as a conquest to use and discard.In her own early days, the memory of Babcia had kept Odette grounded, and her friendships with Jonah and Albert had provided her with the necessary gossip to tread a safer path until she learnt how to protect herself.
Did young Freya have anyone who could offer her such kindness?
Odette could, she knew it.But to do so?To take the girl under her wing?That was not a simple proposition.Once, Odette had sworn that she would never become like the more established women of the stage who had hidden her petticoats and shoes or tipped her rouge and powders into the privy.She’d promised herself that she would never maliciously smother anyone’s chance.She’d been determined to be friends with all the young singers.But friendships had become fraught with jealousy, failures had turned to accusations, and when an understudy she’d worked closely with to help improve her projection had tried to trip her with a broomstick as she was racing downstairs to change, Odette decided she could not protect anyone if she did not protect herself.
