by R. R. Banks
"Each of the four of us has a key to the wing," they said. "Tonight when you're ready to go to bed, just let one of us know and we'll let you in."
I stepped inside the room and felt briefly speechless as I looked around at the exquisite surroundings. The walls were draped in rich tapestries and a canopied four-poster bed stood on a raised platform to one side of the room. The rest of the furniture in the space was heavy, dark wood, creating an image that would have been perfectly at home in the illustrations of a gilded fairytale manuscript.
"Thank you," I said. "It's beautiful."
"Perfectly suited to you," Aiden said.
He gave me a flash of a mysterious smile before walking out of the room and closing the door behind him. I wished that I could have just stood there and admired the room, but time was quickly disappearing and even though Aiden had been casual to the point of dismissive about the intended starting point of the gala coming so quickly, I couldn't put myself in the same mindset. I wanted to make sure that everything was being set up properly and that I felt completely ready before anybody was allowed in the ballroom. The brothers had made it clear that my chocolates and desserts were the central focus of the gala, and I felt like my reputation and the future of my business hung in the balance. If this went well, I could find myself with more business than I could handle at the shop and a thriving catering business as well. If it went badly, I might find myself at a point where the closest thing I had to making chocolate was stirring syrup into a glass of milk.
I draped my garment bag over the gold and burgundy bedding and then brought my overnight bag over to the vanity table against the opposite wall. I opened the bag and placed my cosmetics case on the vanity. Feeling like I was finally fulfilling a fantasy of my eight-year-old self, I perched on the cushioned stool in front of the vanity table and began to do my makeup in the massive scrolled mirror in front of me. I forced myself to slow down and take my time putting my makeup on. I told myself that I wanted to look presentable and professional for the guests at the gala, but deep down I knew that I just wanted to look good for the brothers. I found myself wanting them to see me in a different light tonight, to think of me as more than just the girl in the candy stripes.
I had just slipped into my dress when I heard a light knock on the door to the bedroom. I tore the zipper up as quickly as I could and then glanced over my shoulder.
"Come on in," I called.
The door didn't open and I took a few steps toward it.
"It's unlocked," I called.
Again the door didn't open and I sighed, looking into the mirror to make sure that my hair was staying in place. I had forgotten to bring along my hairspray and I just had to hope that it would remain in the coiled style out of sheer will and Valentine's Day Magic. I walked over to the door and opened it, but didn't see anybody on the other side. I was about to close the door behind me when I noticed that there was a box sitting on the floor. The black container nearly blended with the dark navy blue of the carpet, but a shimmering gold ribbon around it made it easier to see. I leaned down and pick the box up, carrying it inside with me and placing it on the bed. I opened the box and drew in a breath when I saw the elaborate black lace mask sitting on a gold cushion inside the box. I suddenly remembered that the brothers had mentioned they wanted the gala to be a masquerade to emphasize the sexy, mysterious tone that they had wanted to create.
People are braver in masks, Aiden had said. They are more willing to explore.
I picked up the mask and carried it over to the vanity so that I could look in the mirror as I used the smooth black ribbons to tie it over my eyes. The lace covered from my hair down over the bridge of my nose and wrapped around the sides of my face. I thought that it would make it so that I wasn't able to see, but once it was in place I realized that it only slightly faded my vision, creating a veiled effect that still allowed me to see but created the sense that I was hiding, as though I wasn't as visible. It was the heightened, adult version of peekaboo and it instantly made me feel sexier, more adventurous.
I perched on the edge of the bed and wrapped the straps of my shoes around my ankles, buckling them into place. Finally ready, I headed out of the room and along the hallways that Aiden had led me down until I reached the ballroom again. The room looked completely transformed when I stepped back inside. Tables had been positioned throughout the room and draped with black and burgundy velvet. Matching ottomans and curved couches were scattered in the corners, backed by hidden lights that created isolated enclaves that would lure guests into them with a promise of anonymity and privacy.
I watched for a few moments as the staff put the final touches on arranging the truffles and desserts on displays throughout the room. Though I had originally envisioned that they would be on tables, the brothers had taken the displays to another level, integrating them into the decor of the rest of the room so that they fit seamlessly with the rest of the experience, almost seeming to be a natural-occurring part of the environment. It was as though the gleaming chocolates and tempting desserts had grown out of the intricate sculptures and display stands that had been installed amongst the tables and furniture like darkly whimsical trees.
The touch of a hand on my lower back startled me and I turned around to see Jackson standing behind me. He wasn't wearing a mask, but I could see one dangling from his fingertips beside him.
"Hi," he said.
"Hi," I said. "I'm sorry that I'm so late."
He shook his head just as Aiden had.
"It's fine," he said.
"No, no, it's not fine. I should have been here to help set everything up and make sure that it was in the right places and everything. It took me longer to get ready than I thought it would."
"Well," he said, looking around. "Is everything in the right places?"
"It looks like it is," I said.
He leaned forward and kissed my cheek just below the lace of my mask.
"You look gorgeous," he said. "So I think that it was time well spent."
I felt a shiver of pleasure roll through me and smiled. Before I could say anything, I heard music starting across the room. We glanced over and saw a string quartet adjusting their places on a small black platform nearly hidden in the shadows of the back of the room. Jackson smiled at me and lifted the mask to his face.
"I think that that's our cue," he said. "Let the debauchery begin."
He walked away and I looked up to see the doors to the ballroom open and guests start to stream in. I didn't know how they were going to react. From what I had heard from the brothers about past Valentine's Day galas at the Club, what we had created this year was nothing like what they would expect. I was hoping that they had at least tried to give them some sort of warning that they weren't going to come into a tastefully decorated room and enjoy a gourmet dinner by candlelight. As the guests walked past me I noticed that most of them were wearing masks, some more elaborate than others, and I started to feel more confident.
I roamed around the room, watching as the guests became accustomed to the environment and started to assimilate themselves. Some of the more adventurous ones immediately walked up to the different stations that had been created throughout the room. Interspersed with the dessert displays, these stations encouraged the guests to interact with other sensory experiences that complemented the theme of the gala. At one, guests were using tiny droppers to blend oils to create custom fragrances while at another partners used different objects to stroke along the inside of each other's arms to create different sensations. Some lingered around the desserts and gradually I noticed guests beginning to feed each other.
Jackson appeared beside me again wearing his mask and I saw his lips curve up.
"It's going well," he said.
I nodded.
"Everyone seems to be enjoying themselves."
"It doesn't look like anybody has discovered the body painting area yet, though," Jackson said.
I looked up a
t him and shrugged.
"I'm sure they'll find it," I said. "Maybe they just need to warm up to it a little bit."
"Maybe they don't know what they're supposed to do," Jackson said. "I think that they need a little demonstration."
He took my arm and started guiding me over to the curved counter where the paint brushes and chocolate paints had been set up. Then he took one of the packages of paint brushes from a black lacquer box positioned at the ends of the counter and opened it. Taking one of the paint brushes, he dipped the end into the pot of the darkest chocolate and reached for my arm. I gave it to him willingly and watched as he turned it over and painted a lazy swirl across my skin as I had when I first demonstrated the chocolate paints. He hadn't tried to get it as pretty I did, and I was too focused on the feeling of his hand supporting my arm and the warmth of his breath touching my skin as he leaned down to run his tongue along the painted swirl to care.
I felt somebody step up beside me and I looked over to see another of the brothers. He was wearing an identical mask to Jackson, making it difficult for me to tell which one he was. In the dim lighting of the room, I couldn't see his eyes well enough to tell the color. I thought that it might be Lucas, but I couldn't be sure. He reached over to the paint brushes and took one from Jackson. Dipping the end in the white chocolate, he drew a meandering line down my other arm and licked it away. Jackson responded by dipping another brush into a lighter chocolate and drawing a line along one of my collarbones. I gasped slightly when I felt his mouth closed over the chocolate and claim it away from my skin.
They continued this way for a few moments before I felt a hand come around my waist and flatten on my stomach. The pressure guided me to turn around and face a third of the brothers. Slightly larger than the other two. I felt that this one was Talon, though he wore the same mask as the other two brothers. Without saying a word, he guided me by both hands toward the dance floor. I went with him, feeling as drawn by the energy of him as I did by his pull on my fingertips. When we got on to the dance floor, he placed his hands on my back and drew me up against him. I could feel his chiseled body through his suit and the simultaneously darkly romantic and stiffly formal hip-length cape he, like the other three, wore, swept forward on either side of me as if to surround me even more in his presence. I was barely aware that we were dancing, but I could feel his body moving and mine began to respond in time. We were pressed closely together on the dance floor, our bodies swaying to the music that swelled around us, and suddenly I felt something warm and smooth on my back. I glanced over my shoulder and saw that one of the other brothers was standing close behind me, a paintbrush in his hand as he traced my spine with chocolate.
Just as that brother touched the tip of his tongue into my back and licked away the chocolate, another stepped up beside Talon and drew another pattern along the side of my neck. I tilted my head to the side to offer easier access and moaned softly as his lips nibbled at my skin. Suddenly I was in the arms of another of the brothers, our bodies tightly pressed together as the music around us grew in intensity. My eyes drifted closed as we danced and a moment later I felt him turn me so that I twirled across the floor and into the arms of another of the brothers. I opened my eyes and, in a momentary glow from candles as we danced past them, I saw Lucas's intriguing hazel gaze staring back at me. As the music carried on, smoothly transitioning between strains that brought with them different thoughts and emotions, I was handed between the brothers, spun breathlessly into their hands and held in their arms. Their hands ran along my bare back and their breath danced along the sides of my neck and between my breasts. Soon I realized that I had lost track of which of the men was holding me. I tried to look into their eyes, but the lights had been dimmed even further and the candles were starting to fade. I became lost in the experience, enraptured by the attention of the men. I wanted all of them even more than I had before and I felt my mouth watering with my desire to taste their kiss.
I felt one of their hard, muscled bodies mold to my back and lips brush along the side of my neck, coming to rest at the soft place beneath my ear.
"Go back to your room," he whispered. "The door to the wing is unlocked."
The whispered tone and the music made it impossible for me to decipher the voice, but I assumed that it was Jackson, ready for the meeting that we had planned. Now I was sure that it was more than business, more than him wanting to talk about another job. I nodded and stepped away from the brother I was dancing with. I glanced around the room, aware of the eyes that had fallen on us, and started toward the door. I felt my heart pounding in my chest and my body buzzing with excitement as I walked toward the door to the ballroom and glanced back toward Jackson. He smiled at me, his lips curving so that the mask lifted slightly on his face. I gave a subtle nod of my head and then left the room, hoping that he would follow me. As I made my way down the hallway, I felt nervousness coiling in my belly, wanting to make me turn and look over my shoulder to see where he was. All four men were still gathered where I had walked away from them, but Jackson met my gaze and took a step forward.
Feeling suddenly playful, I turned away and left the ballroom, starting to run lightly through the hallways, hoping that I would remember how to get back to the private wing. After a few seconds, I made it away from the open space in front of the lobby and into a hallway that was empty. I continued on, finally hearing Jackson's footsteps behind me. I giggled and ran a little faster. I could feel him getting closer to me and I had just gone through the large arched door into the private wing when I felt his hands grab my hips and turn me around to face him. The pressure and strength of his body pushed me back and I gasped when I hit the wall. He pressed against me, enveloping me in the feeling of him. He lifted one finger and traced the side of my face. The pad of his finger brushed across my lips and I parted them. The tip of his finger slipped between my lips and I cautiously touched it with my tongue. I was concentrating on his lips and soon they were drawing closer to me. I tilted my face up and accepted his kiss.
Jackson's mouth was warm and sweetly spicy against mine and I sighed into it, letting my eyes close. I had wanted this from the first moment that I saw him and I wasn't going to hold back. I felt a need for him, a craving deep inside me that only his eager mouth and strong hands could satisfy. I was rushing toward something that I didn't know, that I didn't understand, but I wasn't afraid. My body felt alive and aware, and my mind was spinning, open, eager, and willing for whatever I was going to discover next.
Our mouths parted and he wrapped his hand around my wrist, pulling me down the hall and toward the bedroom. When we got inside he brought me into the center of the room and wrapped his arms around me again, bringing his mouth back to mine in another deep kiss. When it ended, he stepped back and took my hands in his, lifting them to the back of his head where I felt the ribbons that tied his mask in place. I released the mask and let it tip forward away from his face. I stepped back to see him and gasped when I looked into his face for the first time.
"Lucas," I said, stepping back slightly.
"What's wrong?"
"I thought you were Jackson," I admitted.
"Is that a problem?" he asked, taking a step toward me to close the space between us.
I wasn't sure how to respond. I had thought that he was Jackson when he followed me out of the ballroom and kissed me, but in the back of my mind, I knew that even if I had been fully aware that it was Lucas who had followed me out of the ballroom, I wouldn't have hesitated to kiss him.
"I told him that I would get together with him after the gala."
"Oh, did you?" he asked. "Well, don't worry. My brothers and I are very good at sharing. I promise he won't mind."
"He's right."
I gasped at the sound of Jackson's voice and looked around Lucas to see him standing at the door. He pushed away from the doorframe where he had been leaning and came toward us. Lucas stepped aside and walked out of the room, pausing at the door just long enough to give me
a smile before closing it. Jackson looked at me.
"I thought that he was you," I said.
"That's alright," he said. "Like he said, we are very good at sharing. I don't mind sharing you with him as long as you don't mind."
I definitely didn't mind. In fact, their openness was only more enticing. He closed the space between us and caught my mouth with his. We kissed deeply for several long seconds before I took a step back from him. I felt suddenly nervous. Not at the thought of him touching me or even that something added to find me for so long it's about change, but rather at his reaction. He deserved to know, but in that moment I was worried about how he would feel.
"Is something wrong?" He asked.
"There's something that I need to tell you," I said.
His hands slid up my arms and along the sides of my neck until they reached the ribbons that kept the black lace mask tied over my face. He released them and pulled the fabric away from my eyes. I could see him more clearly now and my heart trembled slightly in my chest. As if he could see its rhythm there, Jackson leaned down and touched a kiss to the center of my chest, letting the tip of his tongue lightly glaze across my skin before he lifted his head again to look at me.
"You're a virgin," he said.
My mouth fell slightly open and my eyes widened.
"How did you know?"