through it?” I glance around the room at the more scantily clad women, most likely hired as entertainment for anyone who came alone. “There seems to be plenty of women your age here. Why trouble yourself, at all, with me?”
“I ask myself the same question. Somehow, the more I stay away, the more I can’t. That’s the tragedy in all of this. The ceaseless draw of the flame.”
“For a ruthless businessman, that’s awfully undisciplined of you.”
“Ruthless, indeed. And curious as hell.”
“What kind of curiosities plague the mind of a devil?”
The richness of his chuckle hits a nerve somewhere inside of me, the mask emphasizing an unearthly beautiful smile that sends goosebumps across my skin. Coming to a stand behind me, facing away from the crowd, he presses his steel chest into my back, once again reminding me of his size. Every cell in my body flares to life, when he slides his hand down my arm and threads his fingers in mine, the strength in them clasped around my more delicate bones. At the scratch of his mask against my neck, I tilt my head, allowing him full access. “What I wouldn’t give to peel this dress off of you. Slowly.”
“They’re watching us, aren’t they?”
“I approached you intentionally, Isa. I’d hate for anyone to make the mistake of thinking you’re fair game.”
“Including you.”
“Especially me.”
Desire simmers in my blood, when his lips press against the pulsing vein in my neck. “You’re the most confusing person I’ve ever met.”
“And you’re the most irresistible.” He kisses his way up my neck to my ear, where he nips my lobe, and I squeeze my fingers in his.
“I gave you the green light already. What more do you need?”
“That’s just it. What I want, and what I need, are two edges of the same blade.” With my head still tipped, he licks the shell of my ear. “I want you to tell me if any of these men proposition you tonight. Do you understand?”
“Why? What will it mean, if they do?”
“That’s my concern, not yours.”
“And if I welcome it?”
His fingers tighten around mine, and he exhales a sharp breath against my throat. “That will be my concern, as well.”
I hate that I’m putty in this man’s hands. That all it takes is a few poetic words and expert placement of his lips to leave me panting like an eager puppy.
“I meant to ask you. You could’ve had anyone play for you tonight. Why me?”
“Anyone else wouldn’t have been half as enthralling to watch as you.” With a tug, he leads me away from the cage, toward the piano.
The members of the orchestra set down their instruments, and the room falls quiet, as I take my seat on the bench.
Fingers to the keys, I exhale a shaky breath and close my eyes. The first notes of Nocturne Op. 9 No. 2 echo through the room. Some of the partygoers have gathered around the piano. Others resume their conversations, but I keep on playing.
Through the crowd, I find Lucian standing in a circle of men, staring at me over the rim of his drink. The most handsome and intimidating of all, even with the mask concealing half his face. He remains riveted, while the men lean in, obviously prattling on as he ignores them.
The intensity of his eyes is too much, and I have to look away, for fear of faltering in the song I’ve chosen to play. At another glance, I see he hasn’t conceded so easily. His gaze remains unmoved. One of the men beside him pats his chest, breaking into laughter. It’s painfully awkward to watch when Lucian sips his drink, not bothering to share in the man’s hilarity.
The way he watches, like we’re the only two in the room, makes me wonder what he’d do right now, if that were truly the case.
For the next hour, I run through the songs I know best, and when I reach the final note of the last, I glance around the room, noting Lucian has disappeared. Without much pause in between, I begin to play the song that he composed. The one I helped him capture in his notebook. Closing my eyes, I allow his notes to wind through my mind, while I imagine his roaming hands, and once I’ve finished, my audience claps, and I rise from the bench. Eyes scanning the crowd, I search for Lucian again, as the members of the orchestra return to their seats.