Page 102 of The Ringmaster’s Daughter

‘She would have to grow her beard back again,’ Frieda said, laughing.

Michel laughed with her, then kissed her. ‘We will have our friends and our family with us.’

‘A Cirque des Amis – a circus of friends,’ she whispered.

‘A Cirque des Amis,’ he agreed.

She sat up and lit a cigarette for them both. ‘I’m sure Odélie is not coming back from Paris tonight.’

‘Oh?’

‘Serge told me she wanted to leave. She has found her chance now.’

‘The triplets will miss her.’

‘They will. Will you?’

‘No.’

‘Are you sure?’

‘Why would I?’

‘I saw the way she was with you in the beginning. You were hers. She told me so.’

‘I was never hers,’ Michel said. ‘She may have thought that, but I wasn’t.’

‘You made love to her though.’

‘She practically ambushed me!’

‘But you didn’t say no.’

Michel shook his head. ‘No. I didn’t say no.’

Frieda licked her lips then took another drag of the cigarette.

‘It wasn’t making love. It was a mistake. I thought you were married. I thought I could never stand a chance with a woman like you.’

‘You don’t have to apologise, Michel. That was the past. I just wanted to make sure it wasn’t going to affect our future.’

Michel took the cigarette from her, then kissed her gently on the lips. ‘Nothing will affect our future. It is you and me.’

‘And our Cirque des Amis.’

As they kissed, her hands roamed his face, his neck and then down his chest towards his belt. She stopped when he gasped, pulled away from him and smiled. She unbuttoned her black shirt, her breasts falling free like ripened fruit. He ached to touch her, but she was not yet finished. She undid her trousers and let them fall to her ankles, revealing the long legs he had watched for months.

She unpinned her hair so it cascaded down her back. He moaned with pleasure – the sight of her was enough.

‘Do you really love me?’ she asked, her voice testing, joking.

‘I do love you.’

‘Do you want me?’

He had no words. His mouth was dry. He could only nod.

She looked at his trousers. ‘I can tell,’ she said and giggled.