Girl in the Beaded Mask

by Amanda McCabe

  Both the tents were crowded with people, men in elegant black evening suits and black masks, women in butterfly-bright beaded and embroidered gowns. They twirled around the dance floor to the raucous strains of “Ain’t We Got Fun.” Shrieks of laughter filled the summer night air.

  “What do you think, darling?” Bertie asked.

  “It’s absolutely wizard,” Lulu answered, trying to look at everything at once. “It’s definitely no staid deb dance!”

  “Just a little soiree I throw together at the last minute,” Bertie said happily. He led her into the buffet tent, which was just as packed with people as the dance floor. The long, white-draped tables were covered with trays of smoked salmon, caviar on blinis, stuffed mushrooms, lobster patties and glistening French chocolates, all presided over by a huge ice sculpture of Poseidon.

  A bartender was busy mixing up sidecars and pink ladies, but Bertie snatched two glasses of champagne from a waiter’s tray and handed one to Lulu.

  She sipped at it, giggling as the bubbles tickled her throat. “Delicious,” she said.

  “Now, darling, there is someone I particularly want you to talk to,” Bertie said. “He desperately needs cheering up, and I think you are just the one to do it.”

  Lulu studied the crowd around her, but she didn’t see the man she had come to find. David had to be here somewhere, and she had to find him. “I don’t know, Bertie….”

  “Trust me. I have a sense of these things.” Bertie led her out of the tent and down a winding pathway toward the edge of the lake. A few couples strolled there, and some people were even in boats out on the water.

  There were fairy lights strung in the trees, twinkling through the thick leaves, but they cast only a little light and everything was in shadows. The moon shone on the lake.

  “Over there,” Bertie whispered. He gestured at a figure standing at the water’s edge, next to a pavilion-shaped swimming cabana.

  Lulu gasped. Even in the shifting moonlight, she knew it was David. No one else had such broad, strong shoulders, or stood so straight and still. The stars glistened on his glossy dark hair, and he looked so lost in solemn thought even in the midst of the wild party.

  He was there, right there in front of her. Lulu’s heart pounded in her ears, and she gulped down the rest of her champagne. It warmed her down to her toes and gave her courage.

  “I’m sure you remember David Carlisle?” Bertie said. “He was friends with poor Bill, too.”

  “I remember him,” she whispered.

  “He’s become a terrible recluse, I’m afraid. But I managed to lure him here. Hopefully we can make him have a little fun.”

  “I do hope so.”

  Bertie beamed at her. “I knew you would see it my way, darling! Now I must run and do my duty as host. You go and see what you can do with our friend there.” He took her empty glass from her hand and rushed away with a swirl of his cape.

  Lulu looked back to David. He hadn’t moved from his place by the water. He still stared out at she knew not what, shutting out the merriment of the party.

  She took a deep breath and walked toward him before she could change her mind. This was what she had come for, to find David.

  As she reached him, he finally looked over at her. He didn’t wear a mask—the scrap of black satin dangled from his hand. The silvery moonlight flowed over his face, etching the austere, elegant angles of his cheekbones and knife-straight nose. In the darkness she couldn’t see the scars on his left cheek.

  One dark brow arched, but Lulu wouldn’t be scared off by his quiet stillness. He surely couldn’t know it was her, not in the darkness and with her mask. She didn’t have to be herself, not yet. She could be a sophisticated temptress, like in a movie.

  She pitched her voice low and gravelly, like an actress she had once seen onstage in London. “It’s beautiful out here tonight, isn’t it?” she said. “Like a whole different, peaceful world.”

  He raised the glass in his other hand and took a long drink. Then he smiled at her, a crooked, wry smile that made her heart pound all over again. She had forgotten the power of his smile.

  “I think most people would rather be back at the party, dancing,” he said.

  No, Lulu thought. This was exactly where she wanted to be.

  “I like it here,” she said. “You can find dancing and jazz at any old party, but places like this are harder to come by.”

  “A different, peaceful world,” he said quietly, echoing her earlier words.

  “Yes.” Lulu edged closer to him, until she could feel the heat of his tall, lean body reach out to wrap around her. Everything else faded—the music, the laughter of the people out on the lake, even her own nervousness—and there was just him, there with her. David, the man for whom she had been waiting for so long.

  “I don’t think I’ve seen you at one of Bertie’s parties before,” she said.

  “I don’t venture out from my house very often these days,” he answered, giving her another smile.

  “Really? Why ever not?”

  David drained the last of the liquid from his glass and put it down on a stone railing that separated the bank from the lake. “I suppose I’m not the best company.”

  “I think you’re doing just fine.” Lulu carefully edged even closer until her bare arm brushed the soft sleeve of his evening jacket. “I like being here with you.”

  He looked down at her, and his face was blank and smooth in the moonlight, no expression at all. “Do you?”

  “You don’t chatter on and on, like all those London boys who only want to talk about cricket,” she said. “It’s quite exhausting.”

  Finally, that smile touched the edge of his lips again. It was slow and careful, as if he were out of practice when it came to smiling, but Lulu thought it was beautiful.

  “You’ve come to the right place, then,” he said. “I have no interest in cricket at all. I don’t think I’ve been near an organized sport since school.”

  “Oh, I know.”

  His brow arched. “How do you know?”

  “Oh,” Lulu stammered, quickly trying to cover her little slip. “You just don’t look the type. I like that.”

  She brushed her hand against his, and to her delighted astonishment he took her fingers in his cool clasp. “And you’re the first lady I’ve met who prefers quiet to dancing.”

  “Well, not always,” she admitted, hardly able to think with his touch on her skin. Vaguely, through the glittering haze he created around them, she heard music, loud and rhythmic. She grabbed on to it like a lifeline, a last chance to think clearly again. “In fact, why don’t we dance now?”

  She stepped closer to him and slid one hand to his shoulder, taking the other tightly against her palm. At first his movements were stiff and uncertain, as if he didn’t quite remember the steps. He laughed ruefully, and Lulu laughed, too, even though her heart was pounding so loudly she could hardly hear anything else. She was with David—he was right here, holding on to her. It was like a wonderful dream, and she didn’t intend to let it go.

  She carefully guided him in the slow dance steps until he found the rhythm again. The grace and agility she had once admired as he danced with other, luckier girls on the Hatton Hall terrace was still there, hidden, just waiting to come out.

  But she was the lucky girl now. As his arms closed around her, Lulu rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. The music swayed and turned slow and languid. She let that music slowly wind around her as his warmth seeped into her heart and she didn’t know anything but him. It was all she had longed for so long.

  She had never felt so safe in her life, and she never wanted the music to end.

  Their steps slid together perfectly, their bodies fitting as if they had always been just like that. This was the dance she had always been waiting for, and the one she would always want. With him.

  If only David could feel the same.

  But as the song wound to a close, his arms slipped away fro
m her and he took a step back. Lulu shook away the shimmering clouds of her dream and looked up to see a wry, humorless smile twisted his lips.

  “I think you’ve done your duty now, my dear,” he said.

  Lulu blinked at him. “My…duty?”

  “Didn’t our host urge you to take pity on the poor, lonely man hiding in the shadows?”

  “Certainly not!” she said indignantly. How could he think that of her, of himself? Didn’t he see, didn’t he know?

  But she knew that he didn’t know. He couldn’t. Whatever terrible things had happened to him, however dark his heart had become, he was still David. She didn’t know how to tell him that in a way he could believe.

  She had to show him.

  Lulu stepped closer to him, one inch at a time as if she feared he would run from her. He stood very still, as wary as a jungle tiger, as she wrapped her hands around the lapels of his jacket and went up on tiptoe. Gently, softly, she kissed the scars that marred his face below the edge of the mask. One, then the other, to show him how beautiful he was to her.

  She ended with a soft kiss at the corner of his mouth. “I’m here because I want to be,” she whispered. “This is the only place I want to be—with you.”

  He gave a deep growl, and suddenly his arms were around her, pulling her close and setting his lips against hers.

  Lulu’s mouth parted on a startled gasp, and she felt the touch of his tongue on hers, tasting, exploring. When other men had done that it seemed somehow vile, and she had pushed them away with impatience. But with David, it felt wonderfully delightful, creating a heavy, delicious heat deep inside of her. Was he convinced of her true feelings now?

  She twined her arms around his neck and went up on tiptoe, letting him deepen the kiss. It felt as if she had dived into a warm pool of water, deeper and deeper, until all there was in the world was him. His touch, his kiss, the way he made her feel.

  It was even better than she had ever dreamed it could be.

  She buried her fingers in the rough, waving silk of his hair and held him close to her. She felt him groan against her lips, a ragged sound of need that echoed her own. She pressed herself tight to his body, and there was the hard proof of his desire, she could feel its weight against her belly through the thin satin of her gown.

  He did want her! David Carlisle actually wanted her, as she wanted him.

  He spun her around in his arms without breaking their frantic kiss and she felt him lift her up onto the wide stone railing. She instinctively parted her legs and he stepped between them. One of his hard, strong hands swept under her thigh, on the bare skin above her sheer stocking, and raised her even higher against him. She wrapped her legs around his hips as their kiss slid deeper and deeper into burning, desperate need.

  Things were moving so fast, like a car roaring free through the night, but Lulu didn’t care. She wanted this, had wanted it for what seemed like forever. It felt exactly right.

  And he wanted it, too, she could taste it in his kiss, feel it in the tension of his body against hers. Once he knew it was really her he kissed…

  Knew it was her! Lulu suddenly drew back, shocked to remember she wore a mask and it was dark, that David didn’t know who he kissed. But he slid his kiss from her mouth to her cheek, to the soft, sensitive spot just below her ear. He bit lightly at her earlobe and then soothed the sting with his tongue, his breath warm in her ear, and she forgot her fears.

  “You’re so beautiful,” he said hoarsely as his lips traced the arch of her throat. “I don’t know what madness has come over me.”

  “Moon madness,” she whispered. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and let her head fall back to his kiss. “I feel it, too. It’s wonderful.”

  He raised his head to stare down into her eyes behind the beaded mask. His hair fell over his brow, and his eyes glittered in the dark night. “Who are you? Are you some kind of sorceress?”

  But Lulu wasn’t ready to let the spell break, as it surely would if he knew who she really was. In answer she covered his lips with hers again, and poured all her heart and all her hopes into the kiss.

  His arms tightened around her and he lifted her up, her legs still twisted around him. She felt him carrying her, but they didn’t break the kiss. The world whirled around her, and she landed on her back on something soft. Only then did David slip out of her arms.

  Dazed, Lulu opened her eyes. They were in the swimming cabana, moonlight filtering through the canvas walls to reveal the silhouettes of changing screens and chairs. She lay on a low chaise, the peaked roof high above her.

  She raised herself up on her elbows to watch David as he stripped out of his jacket and tugged his tie loose. She kicked off her shoes as he lowered himself against her again for another frantic kiss.

  She fell back, closing her eyes to absorb every sensation, every feeling of his body on hers. It was like a wild, wonderful dream, one she never wanted to wake from! He kissed her throat, the hollow at its base where her blood pounded with desire for him.

  She felt his open mouth on the swell of her breast just above her satin bodice, and she moaned at the electric rush of sensation.

  He reached for the strap of her dress and slowly eased it down, kissing each bare inch of skin he revealed. He slipped it down over her hips and completely off her body, letting it fall to the floor in a clatter of beads. She wore only her silk knickers and stockings.

  For an instant, she turned her head away in a fit of shyness and tried to cover her breasts with her hands. But he wouldn’t let her. He twined his fingers with hers and held her hands against the chaise.

  “So, so beautiful,” he said, and her shyness vanished. He lowered his head and took her aching nipple deep into his mouth.

  “Oh!” Lulu cried, her back arching. She had read about men doing such things, but she hadn’t imagined it felt like this! Like sparkling lights showering down all over her body.

  He let go of her hand to reach for her other breast. His long, hard fingers curled around its softness, caressing, molding. He plucked gently at the nipple, and she sobbed at the feeling. No wonder people didn’t want girls to read novels—it gave them such ideas. If she had known it felt like this, she never would have waited so long to try it.

  But she also knew that she had to wait. That this had to be with David and no one else.

  She reached out blindly for his shirt and crumpled the fine, starched fabric in her fists. She pulled him back up to kiss her lips and fumbled to unfasten the buttons.

  She managed to slip the buttons free and finally touched his bare skin. It was smooth and hot under her eager hands, like satin over the hard steel of his muscles. It felt slightly damp in the heated evening, and the sprinkling of crisp hair that arrowed down his torso tickled her skin.

  He felt so wonderful.

  Her fingertips skimmed his left side and barely touched the roughness of a network of scars when he pulled away. He shrugged out of his shirt and let it drop beside her gown. Then he slid down her body to slowly, provocatively, unroll her silk stocking from her leg.

  He kissed every inch of skin he bared, from just behind her knee to the arch of her ankle. As he tossed away the stocking, he bit lightly at her toe, making her laugh and moan all in the same breath.

  He did the same with her other leg, and when she thought she couldn’t bear it any longer he eased away her knickers and she was completely naked.

  And somehow…she didn’t even care. Not when he looked at her with that hungry, avid look in his eyes. She knew now that this was how she could help David, how she could bring him to life and the world again. With her body, her love.

  He lowered himself against her again and she wrapped her whole body around him, welcoming him.

  He kissed the curve of her shoulder and whispered, “I don’t even know your name, and yet I need you more than I’ve ever needed anyone. How is that possible?”

  “I feel it, too,” Lulu answered, her throat thick with unshed tears of joy and
emotion. “I want you.”

  His palm caressed her hip, the curve of her waist. She closed her eyes and felt his hand on her womanhood. Shocking and utterly delicious. One finger dipped inside of her, sending hot friction through the very core of her.

  “You’re so wet,” he whispered. “So…tight.”

  “Please,” Lulu begged. Surely she would explode if he didn’t do it now! She had waited so long already. “Please!”

  “I’m sorry, sorceress,” he said hoarsely. “I can’t wait.”

  She felt him unfasten his trousers and then he was sliding into her, his penis thick and hard, velvet-soft and rough. He thrust forward…and her haze of delight shattered in a momentary rush of pain.

  Lulu instinctively turned her head away, tears pricking at her eyes. David reared up above her, and she could feel his stare piercing down into her.

  “What…?” he growled.

  But the pain was fading now, and Lulu didn’t want him to leave her. Not now. She tightened her hold on him and wouldn’t let go when he tried to pull back.

  “Don’t go,” she whispered. “Finish, please.”

  She could tell from the taut tension of his shoulders and back that he wanted to pull out—and he wanted to stay.

  “It doesn’t hurt now,” she said.

  Finally he groaned a curse and thrust forward again. He braced his arms to either side of her body and moved slowly at first, carefully, letting her body adjust to his.

  The pain faded completely, and slowly, gradually, something else built up inside of her. Something warm and pleasurable, something that grew and grew as he moved faster and faster. She closed her eyes and gave herself over to it, letting it sweep her away. She felt as if she were floating up into the sky among the burning stars, higher and higher, the real, dull world left far behind.

  Then those stars exploded, and she held on to David to keep from burning up with them. She cried out wordlessly, and above her she felt his body arch. He threw his head back and cried out along with her.

  Then he collapsed beside her on the chaise, their arms and legs all twined together. She could feel herself floating back down, weightless and light as a scrap of chiffon. She smiled happily and snuggled close to him. That had been amazing, just like in the novels—no, better, because it was with David.