Mardi Gras Masquerade (15 page)

“Do you really think I’m mercenary?”

“It wouldn’t seem to be so, but then again, one never knows.”

“I thought you had me all figured out.”

“As I said once before, you’re a complex person, Maria.
 
Just when I think I understand you, you do somethin’ that amazes me.”

“It’s part of a woman’s mystique.”

Maria caught Steve’s smile over the light of the candles.

“Have I said something to amuse you?” she asked.

“
You
amuse me, butterfly.
 
Your ever-
changin
’ patterns, your vivacity and rapture, humility and sincerity, pessimism and consternation, even your fears, all tend to make me want to know you better.
 
I wonder who the real woman is behind the mask.”

“I’m not as deep as you make me sound.”

“That’s exactly what I mean.
 
You make a statement like that when I know you’re full of undercurrents of passion.”

“No one has ever accused me of being passionate before.”

“Don’t say it like it’s a bad thing, but perhaps, you don’t really know.
 
Passion, my dear, is an emotion, a bridge of human communication that you will come to understand before long.”

“Do you plan to teach me about it?”

“Don’t be too bold, Maria.
 
Even a butterfly can singe its wings if it gets too close to a flame.”

Steve ran his fingers over the top of a candle as he said this to emphasize his meaning.
 
Maria looked up into his eyes, and they glowed like those of a jungle cat in the candlelight.
 
The fire in the sky was dying as the night whispered along the river.
 
She shivered uncontrollably.

“Ah, just in time,” said Steve, referring to the maid who had just arrived with Maria’s jacket.

She thanked the woman, and then slipped into the cozy garment.
 
The maid used a flashlight to softly illuminate the garden in order to see her way back to the house.

“It’s kind of lonely out here with only candles to hold back the darkness,” Maria commented.

“You shouldn’t feel lonely,” Steve replied with a meaningful smile.
 
“You have me.”

After he said this, he got up and moved his chair until it was directly next to Maria’s.
 
When he sat down, he slipped his arm around her shoulders.

“Is that better?” the man asked suggestively.

Maria looked up at him in speculation.

“If you’re asking me if I feel warmer,” she said, “I do.”

“That was exactly what I wanted to hear’.”

There was no missing the sensuality in Steve’s tone of voice.
 
It started a vibration deep within Maria that she felt compelled to control.

“Are you doing this to test me?” she asked.

“In what way?”

“To see if I’m willing to succumb to your charm.”

“Now, why would I want to do that?”

“I guess you want to find out if I’ll be true to your brother.”

“That would be his problem, not mine.”

“Aren’t you acting as your brother’s keeper, or maybe I should say, your brother’s fiancée’s keeper?”

“I’m not
actin
’ at all right now, but if I was, I would be doin’ it only for myself.”

Maria shivered again, and Steve held her closer to him.
 
The arms of the chairs were narrow and did not provide much of an impediment.

“These
Louisiana
nights can get cold,” he said.

“You should be in
Illinois
right now and feel the temperature there.”

“Are you
wishin
’ me away?” Steve asked with a hint of a grin.

“I should be.”

“That might be wise; then again, it might not.
 
For a woman who lives in the here and now, you’re strangely aloof.”

“Don’t misinterpret my words.
 
When I said that, I was referring to a particular place and time.
 
I have no intention of encouraging your advances, if that’s what they are.”

“Don’t you like it when I hold you in my arms?”

Maria frowned in chagrin as she resisted the urge to lay her head on Steve’s shoulder.

I’m not going to answer that,” she said.

“Why?
 
Are you afraid to admit the truth?”

“You’re talking nonsense.”

“Am I?
 
It’s time you let out the real woman inside of you.”

“Can’t you see that I’m not the little flirt you took me for?”

“I can only see that you’re a very desirable woman, with hair that picks up the light with strands of flame, and eyes that cannot disguise your emotions.”

“Why are you doing this to me?” Maria cried out in fear of her own reactions.

“Because I want to.
 
Because you want me to.”

“I don’t!”

Maria attempted to pull away, but the man’s arm was too strong for her.
 
To fully pacify her, he wrapped his other arm around her, too.

“Let me go!” Maria protested, while there was no truth in her words.

“Never,” breathed her captor.
 
“I’m goin’ to hold you like this until you admit that you want me.”

“If I do, will you let me go?”

“Try it and find out.”

Maria could not bring herself to make such a revealing confession.
 
She did want Steve, more than she had ever wanted any man before, but she believed he would only despise her and cast her aside if she let him know her feelings.
 
Worse yet, he might take advantage of her weakness with the same results.

Observing her consternation, Steve said, “I thought you wanted me to believe that you’re more darin’ than this.”

“Anything I said to give you that impression was a mistake.
 
You know this isn’t right.”

“It feels right to me.”

“You just don’t understand the situation, Steve.”

“I understand it better than you do.”

“Let me go!”

“All right, but you’ll have to pay for not
makin
’ good on your words.”

“What do you want me to say?” Maria asked in rising agitation.

“Not say; do.
 
I want you to kiss me.”

“That’s asking too much.”

“A kiss is a small thing to offer.”

“Not when I know that more will be expected.”

“I think you begin to understand me.”

“In that way, I believe I do.”

“Why do you have to fight yourself, Maria?”

“Maybe, to save my sanity.”

“Your sanity or your virtue?”

“Both.”

“I don’t think your
kissin
’ me would deprive you of either.”

“I don’t want to find out.”

“You’re a stubborn woman.
  
I should just kiss you now and teach you a lesson.”

“You wouldn’t dare.”

Steve smiled as he raised a hand to grip the back of Maria’s hair.
 
With a slow, but irresistible movement, he forced back her head and leaned over her.
 
Their faces were separated by inches.

“Do you think I would dare now?” he asked in a breathy voice.

Maria swallowed hard.
 
She felt very vulnerable with her face upturned to the man’s.
 
His grip on her hair did not hurt as long as she did not fight him.

“You’re a beast,” she whispered.

“And I’m goin’ to devour you.”

After saying this, Steve’s mouth plunged downward to savor the tenderness of Maria’s slightly parted lips.
 
As their breaths became one, Maria felt as though her heart would burst through her ribcage.

The man put more of his weight upon her as his other hand also slid through her hair.
 
His fingers released their punishing hold to caress the back of her neck.

Maria closed her eyes in ecstasy.
 
The rest of the world was gone.
 
All that mattered was Steve and the feel of his mouth against hers.

He forced her lips further apart to complete his devastation.
 
Maria could taste the heady flavor of champagne on his tongue.

Lost in a world of rapture, she responded ardently.
 
Her arms stole about the man to whom she would willingly give her love.
 
She held him tightly to her.
 
When his mouth moved away from hers to plant kisses all her face, she softly moaned.
 
She had never known passion like this before.
 
Maria held herself suspended with her head back to receive all that this man was willing to offer.

After a few minutes, Steve pulled breathlessly away.
 
He looked down into Maria’s upturned face.
 
Her eyes were still closed as the feeling of his lips lingered.

“You’re a fraud, Maria,” he whispered.

“I am,” she agreed as she finally looked up into his eyes.

“I never knew that a liar’s lips could taste so sweet.”

Maria’s eyelids were only half open in passion.
 
A disturbing thought played through her mind, but she fought it away.

“What do you want from me, Steve?” she asked.

“Everything.
 
Let’s go back to my room.”

This jarred Maria back to the light of reality with a heart-wrenching thud.
 
Her expression was sad as she released her hold on the man to gently push him away.

“I can’t do that,” she said in a soft voice.

“You mean you won’t.”

Maria sat up fully in her chair and the man’s arms fell away from her.

“I’ve paid your price,” she said without any doubt that she would continue to pay for her impetuous surrender.
 
“It’s time to go in.”

Steve smoothed down the front of his jacket as he replied, “I agree, but not the way you’re
suggestin
’.”

The woman stood up.
 
She could not bear this any longer.
 
Against her the powers of reason, she had placed herself in serious danger of falling completely in love with this formidable man.
 
She knew he would not hesitate to use her to satisfy his own ends.