Not that every day was wine and roses for Kelsey. Theo was still a selfish and exacting Master in the bedroom, and a drill sergeant on the silks, especially the closer they got to opening night. He could be rude and crude and aggravating, but that was just Theo. He made up for it in a thousand ways. A thousand kisses, a thousand endearments whispered in her ears. A thousand looks from those mysterious dark eyes, and a myriad of smiles on his lips.
He smiled at her now from the door of his bedroom.
“You are a lazy, lazy girl.”
“Because someone woke me up in the middle of the night. Again.”
Kelsey stayed in Theo’s suite now. It was big enough for both of them and they wanted to be together. Wayne and Kelsey’s old rooms had been taken over by new performers, one of them a starry-eyed acrobat from New Jersey who reminded Kelsey very much of herself. Nervous, and so eager to please. Kelsey wanted to reassure her, but she knew the girl would have to find her own way. As Theo would say, that was circus life. You loved it or you left it.
And tonight would be Kelsey’s first circus opening night.
All of Marseille buzzed in anticipation of the Cirque du Minuit. There were news profiles and magazine articles, billboards and bus advertising. Kelsey and Theo posed for photos wrapped in the silks, flying high in the theater, and were featured on the cover of several French magazines. The show, of course, had long since sold out. If it was a success it could become a Marseille fixture, catering to tourists and residents for years to come. Theo and Kelsey could work every night from six to ten, and spend the rest of the time in each other’s arms...
“Lazy girl,” Theo said again from the doorway, rousing her from her daydreams. “We’re supposed to meet your parents for lunch at noon.”
“Oh, shit.” Kelsey tumbled out of bed to the shower, then grabbed a quick piece of toast with Theo’s special maple butter. He shook his head at her. Hey, if she had the metabolism, why not use it? She was excited to see her parents, but nervous to tell them about everything that had happened in the past few weeks. She was also extremely nervous for them to meet Theo.
“You’ll be good, won’t you?” she asked as they walked the short distance to her parents’ hotel.
“Good? What do you mean by that?” he blustered. “I’ll be myself.”
“Oh, God. That’s kind of what I’m afraid of.” Her nerves ratcheted up another notch, but as soon as she entered the lobby and saw her smiling mother and father, she forgot everything. She ran into their hug, squeaking and tearing up. It was so wonderful to see them again after so many months. She pulled back and gestured to the tall, dark man lingering a few yards behind her. She could hardly believe he was hers to introduce. “Mom, Dad, this is Theo.”
He smiled as her parents greeted him. Her mom even gave him a little hug. So far, so good.
“We planned to have lunch here,” her father said, with a glance at Theo. “There’s a nice restaurant right here in the hotel.”
“Oh, but I thought you’d like to take in some of the local color.” Kelsey pointed out the windows at the noonday sunshine. “A sidewalk café on the waterfront. You know.”
“If your parents want to eat here, we’ll eat here,” Theo countered, guiding her after her mom and dad into the hotel hallway. They passed the restaurant though, and ended up at the door to the ballroom. Theo pushed it open and ushered her inside.
Kelsey’s mouth fell open. The entire large room had been completely “Cirque’d.” The walls were covered in textures of paper and fabric in the show’s colors of red and black. The Cirque du Minuit logo, with its requisite black ladybug, emblazoned one large expanse of wall. The tables were decorated with huge bouquets of black and red roses and the chandeliers dripped with scarlet silk scarves. The room was a wonderland, and it was full of all the performers and staff she knew. Lemaitre was there, and Jason. Even Wayne.
She looked at her parents, smiling wide, then at Theo.
“This is for tonight,” he said. “For the party after the premiere. But Michel said we could come before. To meet and talk. To be together. And because…”
The room fell silent as Theo took her hand.
“I know this is a surprise to you. I like surprises,” he added with an intimate quirk of a smile. “But tonight, when we go to our silks to do the show, you know…” He looked up at the ceiling, searching for words. When he was nervous, his English always worsened. She squeezed his hand, loving him so much for this sweet little speech. “The silks now, they are not only mine, or yours. They are ours. For some time, I’ve known this. Now I wish everyone to know.”
No one moved in the silence of the room. Theo’s voice got softer and softer, but still she could hear. “I only hope you don’t mind spending your life with a strange man like me. I pray you’ll accept me. Dieu.” He dug in his pocket and brought out a little black box. Kelsey’s breath left her in a rush.
“On your knees, Zamora,” a voice rang out. Lemaitre. The silence came alive with laughter and Theo’s face lit up with a smile she could see even through a sudden flood of tears. He dropped to one knee before her.
“Ma coccinelle. My lovely bulldozer. Je t’adore. Be my wife, please.”
Kelsey thought she probably should have paused a moment, at least pretended to consider. But instead she thrust out her hand for his ring, sobbing and beaming at the same time. It was the best she could manage for an answer. She didn’t know what a public declaration like this must have cost a private, taciturn man like Theo. All she knew was that he must love her an awful lot. The ring was beautiful, a single ruby mounted on a light gold band. “Red for passion and love,” he whispered as he slipped it on her finger. “Is okay? You like it?”
You want? She pulled him up and clung to his embrace. “I love it, Theo. I love you. You really don’t do things halfway.”
He brushed her tears away. “No, not with you. Never with you.”
Around them, people were drifting away, calling out good wishes and promises to see them later that night. Kelsey waved to all the smiling faces she knew. Jason gave her a squeeze and whispered, “I knew you were perfect for each other all along.”
She laughed. “Liar.”
Jason sighed. “Yes, fine, I was wrong about him. He’s not what I thought.” He cupped her cheek and grinned. “You look so happy, you’re glowing. I believe he’ll make you happy. He loves you very much.”
“I love him too.”
Jason shook Theo’s hand and promised to chat with them after the show. Soon enough the room was empty of most of the cast, but magic still lingered in the air. Kelsey would never forget anything about this room or Theo’s heartfelt words. She stood close to him, gazing at the ring on her finger, still not quite able to believe.
“This is the circus way, I guess? The circus way to propose?” she asked, smiling.
Theo shrugged. “I told you before, there are no secrets in the circus. Might as well allow them to see, to share in the moment. They are my family, so they should be here.”
And he had made sure her family was there too. She took her mother and father’s hands and accepted their congratulations as Lemaitre stopped to have a few private words with Theo.
“Did you know?” she asked them.
“Theo called us last week,” said her father.
“It was so romantic,” her mom cut in. “He actually asked your father for your hand in marriage. Is he a very traditional man?”
Kelsey looked over at Theo and Lemaitre and stifled a snort. “Not really that traditional, no. But I guess when it comes to marriage proposals, people want to do things the old fashioned way.”
Her mother squeezed her hand. “Show me the ring. I haven’t seen it yet.”
Kelsey held up the ruby solitaire so her mother could ooh and ahh over it.
“What’s that?” her father asked, pointing to a shadow on the gold band near the setting. Kelsey and her mom looked closer. Nestled beside the ruby, almost too tiny to see, was a tiny engravin
g of a round, spotted ladybug.
“Ohhh,” her mother sighed, transported into romantic ecstasies. “It’s the ladybug from your show. So you’ll always remember how you met.”
Lemaitre made his way over to them at that moment. He greeted Kelsey with a hug and a great kiss on both cheeks and then introduced himself to her parents. He invited them to enjoy their stay in Marseille and double-checked that they had tickets on hand for that night’s show. He also did some completely exaggerated praising of Kelsey’s talents until her parents practically preened.
Kelsey half-listened, but her eyes were on Theo, standing over Michel’s shoulder. Despite her mother’s belief, Kelsey knew the ladybug wasn’t to remind her of the show, or the logo, or her black and red costume with the shimmery cellophane wings.
It was to remind her of that night in the overgrown garden, when they’d lain on his blanket under the stars and talked openly, for the first time, about personal things. Are we just a couple of black ladybugs, you and me?
She’d known the answer then, even though she’d doubted at times. She saw it now, in his burning dark gypsy gaze. She’d wear the answer on her finger, proudly, forever, for all the world to see. She would be his gypsy queen.
*** *** ***
A few hours later, the troupe gathered in the backstage area for one last pep talk from Guy, their intrepid director, and Michel Lemaitre, of course. You could have heard a pin drop when Lemaitre spoke. His vision had brought them all here today, and Kelsey thought she would never meet another man with such creativity, such drive. Well, except for...
She slid a look at Theo beside her, resplendent in his dashing blue and white costume, his face made up for effect. His dark eyes emphasized with liner, his lips enhanced with a little rouge. He wouldn’t call it lipstick.
Kelsey was in her ladybug costume, sleek and black, sparkling with red dots. Little rhinestones were pasted on either side of her eyes. Around them, performers talked and laughed and stretched in their own outlandish costumes. Kelsey and Theo's communally shared engagement had energized the troupe as a whole. Kelsey couldn’t help wondering what circus weddings were like.
“Ten minutes to animation!”
The mimes and clowns went out to work the crowd, with a hue and cry from those waiting backstage. It was starting. Cirque du Minuit. The Midnight Circus. It might be a bleak and dark art piece, but it had brought untold light to Kelsey’s life.
Theo held her hand as they watched the show unfold on the monitors. Her finger felt naked. She hated taking her engagement ring off so soon, but rings with settings might snag or weaken the silks, so her ring was secure on a chain around her neck, tucked safely away under her leotard until she could put it back on after the show. Since their number was last, they had time to relax and enjoy the rest of the acts. The troupe was in high spirits and the whole show rolled out without a hitch. Performers bounded into the backstage area after their acts, giddy from applause. The audience was laughing and crying, cheering wildly, buying into the pathos. Guy smoked cigarette after cigarette in the corner. Kelsey knew Lemaitre was watching from the chairs.
Finally it was their turn. “Silks act! Finale!” called the stage manager. Kelsey couldn’t help the huge smile that spread across her face. Her muscles were warmed up, tingling to perform. Her blood rushed in her veins, her adrenaline high as a kite. They paused just inside the wings, and Theo pressed a light kiss to her forehead. “Time to fly, ma chèrie.”
They swept onto the stage, gliding over the platforms in the choreography they’d practiced untold times. They grabbed their silks, the scarlet fabric shimmering under the powerful lights. Soaring music accompanied their movements, while the lights followed their tricks, drops, and flights. They launched into the section of the act she loved, when the silks rose in the air, towed by cable, and they flew around in a grand circle, Theo soaring after her in fascination and desire. In their act, she was supposed to be afraid--and she acted afraid--but she loved this part where he pursued her. She loved the moment when she was caught.
In their act, he destroyed her, but life didn’t always imitate art. When he cradled her lifeless form at the end, it was all she could do to lie still under his touch. She wanted to jump up, hug him and laugh in his arms for all the joy he gave her. Wild applause filled the theater as the lights went down. Theo leaned close to her in the blackness, his whisper drowning out the deafening noise. “I love you, Kels. Beautiful girl.”
He was her living dream. So dashing. So daring. Her gypsy king.
Epilogue
“Come. Come!”
Kelsey turned from the brook with her hands on her hips. “No, you wait.”
Theo gave her a look. Stubborn, silly girl. He spread a blanket under the tree where they’d been flying in his practice silks. They’d found an even nicer clearing than the one in Paris. This one had a small brook and colorful flowers beneath the grand, gnarled trees overhead.
They were enjoying the afternoon away, trying some new tricks. Cirque du Minuit had been in production for a year and a half and Lemaitre had given all the performers the okay to add new variety to their acts. Kelsey had come a long way, and was full of her own ideas now. She was a born aerialist and gripping performer.
Theo couldn’t take his eyes off her, onstage or off.
“Come,” he said again. Now he sounded like he was pleading. He hardened his voice. “Come now, or else. And take off those clothes.”
She went all dreamy and soft at the tone of his voice. In addition to aerialist and performer, she was a magnificent submissive. Born to it, just as she was born to make him smile. He watched her strip, shy and yet sultry, and pulled her down to the blanket beneath his own naked form. He traced her hips, the curve of her breasts, drawing one taut nipple between his teeth. He was rewarded by a moan, and her wet pussy pressing against his thigh.
“Little hoyden,” he whispered.
“Please, Theo… Please.”
He parted her legs and impaled her, sliding into her warm heat. He was quickly lost in her, as always, in her delicious sighs and whimpers. Then a fuzzy black shape drifted before his eyes. It took him a moment to focus on what it was he saw. The ladybug landed on her hair, a tiny black circle on a blonde background.
Theo pushed her down, holding her still, determined to catch it.
“Ah,” she whispered. “I love when you’re rough with me.”
Theo laughed and held her head. “Une coccinelle noire! Don’t move.”
He offered the bug his fingers, careful not to crush it. After an initial hesitation, the little ladybug crawled onto his hand. “Regarde,” he breathed. “Une coccinelle du minuit.” They looked at it together, the glossy black creature with a smattering of red dots. It seemed content to rove over his palm while they ooh’d and aah’d.
“She’s so pretty,” Kelsey said.
Theo moved inside her, a teasing slide. “What makes you so sure it’s female?”
The ladybug spread her wings and took flight then, and they pulled apart as both of them leapt up to give chase. They ran, laughing, all the way into the forest. They hopped naked over roots and broken branches, following the little black blur until the ladybug flew too high for them to see. Theo turned back to his love, his own ladybug. Kelsey. Kel-zee...
Not bad luck, just different. What would his life be like without her? He didn’t want to know. He didn’t have to know.
He took her in his arms, there in the forest, and kissed her with all the gratitude in his heart. He made love to her under the whispering branches, marvelously aware of just how lucky he was.
Acknowledgements
As always, I owe such a debt of thanks to my writing critique partners and beta readers: Heather, Fallon, Audrey, Karen, Kati, Janine, Elaine, Leslie, Cherry, Francesca, Ruth, Jessica, and Melisa.
Thanks to Adrienne Wilder for cover art and emotional venting purposes.
Thanks also to all creative performers everywhere. You amaze me.
About the Author
Annabel Joseph is a multi-published BDSM romance author. She writes mainly contemporary romance, although she has been known to dabble in the medieval and Regency eras. She is known for writing emotionally intense BDSM storylines, and strives to create characters that seem real--even flawed--so readers are better able to relate to them.
Some of Annabel's favorite authors are Laura Kinsale, Judith McNaught, Flannery O'Connor, and Anneke Jacob.
Annabel Joseph loves to hear from her readers at [email protected]. You can learn more about Annabel and her books at http://annabeljoseph.wordpress.com/
Other erotic romance by Annabel Joseph
Mercy
Cait and the Devil
Firebird
Deep in the Woods
Fortune
Owning Wednesday
Lily Mine
Comfort Object
Caressa’s Knees
Odalisque
Erotica by Annabel Joseph
Club Mephisto
Coming soon:
Molly’s Lips: Club Mephisto Retold
The Edge of the Earth
An excerpt from Molly’s Lips: Club Mephisto Retold
A free read from Annabel Joseph, coming in the summer of 2012.
In the beginning, when Mephisto first met Molly, he’d hoped she might be his. She’d flirted with him in a skittish kind of way, and he’d found her appealing. Pretty, dark haired, petite, and charmingly rough around the edges. Okay, she’d been a mess, but that had compelled him most of all.
Then Clayton Copeland showed up, and the whole matter had been lifted from his hands.
Mephisto didn’t begrudge them their happiness. Every time he saw the two of them together, he knew they were meant to be. Not in a romantic sense, because Mephisto wasn’t much into romance. No, in a realistic sense. They simply made a perfect pair.
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