Solomon cut into her thoughts to ask, “So does this beautiful woman have a name?”
“Mayte,” she informed him.
“Good one,” he said. “Now that I’ve told you my agenda for this evening, why don’t you tell me about yourself?”
She drew in a deep breath and flashed him one of her best smiles. “All you need to know is that I’m here to have a good time. My past is of no importance and tomorrow will take care of itself.”
Their gazes met and Solomon joined her in a smile.
“A woman of mystery. My buddy should love that.”
“Enough about your friend. What about you? Why aren’t you looking for a wife yourself?”
Solomon appeared stunned to have the tables turned on him. “My search ended a long time ago,” he said honestly. “She’s a tall, bronzed beauty with eyes the color of honey.”
Diana blinked. The description conjured the image of the woman who’d come to see Marcel a few weeks ago. “So, you’re in love?”
“Have been for most of my life. One of these days, I’m going to dredge up the nerve to tell her.”
“You know, my grandmother told me something that I think you need to hear,” she said, giving him a kind smile.
“Oh?”
“She said that a life full of regrets is no life at all.”
Their dancing slowed as Solomon stared at her. “She sounds like a wise woman.”
“Yes. She is.”
A hand appeared suddenly and tapped Solomon’s shoulder. “Mind if I cut in?” a man with a mask that resembled a lion’s head asked.
In the next moment, Diana was whisked away. A few minutes later, another man stepped in and then another. So much attention was quickly going to her head and filling her with an awesome sense of power.
While she continued to dance with her many suitors, Marcel lingered in the background and watched her every move. When she found herself back in Solomon’s arms, Marcel’s patience finally ran out.
“You’ve had her long enough,” he said, tapping Solomon on the shoulder.
Solomon laughed as he released Diana to him. “I was wondering how long it would take for you to cut in.”
“Too long,” Marcel said, his eyes locked on her. “How about that tour now?”
“I’d be delighted.”
Marcel offered her his arm and together they deserted Solomon on the dance floor.
“So how do you know so much about this house?” Diana asked as they moved through the crowd.
“I’ve been here on a few occasions.”
“But not to share women?”
He tossed a smile over at her. “You sure seem interested in my love life.”
They started up the staircase, while Diana thought of her rebuttal. “It’s not a crime for a woman to be curious, is it?”
“No,” he said, reaching the top landing. “But I thought that the night was supposed to be one of great mystery.” He drew her to him. “That’s what you wanted, wasn’t it?”
He was staring at her again and she fought the urge to remove her mask. Playing games was never her forte; however, her fear returned and a long list of what-ifs scrambled her brain, the main one being: what if he rejected her? What would she do then?
“So what should we see first?” she asked, ignoring his question.
“Why don’t we just walk around and see where we end up?”
The sentence was innocent, but his eyes weren’t and Diana was suddenly aware that the game had just moved to the next level.
Chapter 23
Diana was more than impressed with the layout of William Bassett’s home. However, being accustomed to pinching pennies, she couldn’t understand why bachelors like Mr. Bassett and Marcel needed so much space.
“And this room,” Marcel said, clicking on a light switch, “is one of my all-time favorites.”
The lighting was, at best, a dim glow, but upon seeing a Jacuzzi in the middle of the room, she understood what he meant.
He leaned down and whispered in her ear. “How about we get a little wet?”
Diana’s body tingled at the thought. “We didn’t bring suits.”
“I won’t tell anyone if you won’t.” He grinned at her as his fingers boldly skimmed the exposed valley between her breasts. “I’m very good at keeping secrets.”
She sucked in her breath while his dark gaze trapped her own. “I—I don’t know.”
A corner of his lips sloped. “You don’t trust me?”
She swallowed, but the lump in her throat refused to budge. “I didn’t say that.”
“Your eyes did.” His fingers now lifted to run along the edge of her mask. “I’m not going to force you to do anything you don’t want. You can trust me on that, Mayte.
“I do.” He wasn’t the problem. The question was whether she trusted herself.
“Good.” He turned around and closed the bedroom door. The room immediately darkened.
Diana, however, cleared her head to assess exactly what she’d gotten herself into.
“The first thing we need is to do away with these.” Marcel removed his mask and then reached for hers.
She jumped back. “I’ll do it.” She reached up with shaky fingers and a pounding heart. She removed the mask and then watched a smile blossom across Marcel’s face.
“A mask beneath a mask,” he said. “Clever.”
Diana sighed with relief. Tim had come up with the great idea of creating a replica of her mask with makeup on her face. It was meant for the unlikely event her mask broke or fell off.
“Now, let’s see if I can get you out of these clothes.”
She took another step back. “You go first.”
His smile broadened. “If you insist.”
When he reached for the top button of his tux, Diana was mesmerized. His fingers moved in slow motion while the room’s temperature escalated.
A few minutes later, and at the first flash of skin, Diana was sweltering. A renegade thought that she was in over her head raced across her mind, but the rest of her refused to turn back now.
With his jacket and shirt gone, Marcel’s hand then went to his pants. “Any moment now, I expect you to start stuffing dollar bills into my briefs,” he joked.
She smiled, while her boldness grew by leaps and bounds. “That depends on if I like what I see.”
“I love a woman with a sense of humor,” he said.
Diana’s hackles stood at attention. Once again, she felt exposed, but she managed to convince herself she was overreacting.
Marcel’s pants hit the floor, and then his black briefs were next.
Despite the room’s dim lighting, Diana had no trouble making out Marcel’s size and length and the only word that came to mind was, “Beautiful.”
His smile grew wicked. “Thank you, but I believe it’s your turn now.”
Her gaze snapped back to his as her heart leaped into her throat. Fear tackled her at all angles. What had she done? She’d only been with one man in her entire life and performing a semistriptease was not included.
“Do you need help?”
She didn’t respond—she couldn’t.
“Have you changed your mind?”
He asked the question with such tenderness and concern it brought her complex emotions to the forefront. She’d come there tonight to grab his attention, flirt behind the safety of a mask and then disappear into the night. Now, she realized it was all a lie. She’d come there for this moment—to make love to a man that caused many sleepless nights.
Diana’s hands stopped trembling and she reached behind her to unsnap the lone button just above her butt and beneath the fan of lace. She tugged with more strength than was necessary and the button fell to the floor.
“Ohmigosh.” She stepped back and looked around.
Marcel took her hands in his and once again his gaze stole her attention. “Don’t worry about it. We’ll look for it later.” He pulled her close before his eyes deserted hers to fall to
her gown. His hands lifted the thin material across her shoulder and then skimmed down to the open V-cut.
“Before we go any further, I want to make sure this is something you want to do.”
It was hard enough for Diana to breathe, let alone try to speak, but when his eyes returned to hers again, she found her voice. “I’m positive.”
With those words, Marcel’s head descended and their lips met in another sweet kiss of surrender. The electricity pouring into her body was as if she’d been plugged into an electrical socket, glowing from the inside out. This was a whole new emotion for her. She couldn’t recall anything that even came close.
Marcel pushed the straps from her shoulders, and the gown fell effortlessly to the floor.
Fantasy became reality when Marcel’s strong but soft fingers caressed her shoulders, her back and the sensitive curves along her hips. She shivered against his feathery touch, but inched closer until her breasts pressed against his hard chest and her knees threatened to give way.
If Marcel had any doubts about seducing his secretary, they all melted away at the feel of her nipples against him. His hands flew to them as if by some magnetic pull and they were just as he remembered—one slightly bigger than the other.
He gave them a gentle squeeze and then swallowed her responsive sigh. He was definitely going through with this. His heart and soul demanded it.
Drunk with passion, he moved his lips from hers to explore other parts of her body. Their short journey down the column of her neck elicited more moans, but when they settled on an erect nipple, her ragged gasp was music to his ears.
Diana dragged her fingers through his hair and kneaded the muscles of his back while she continued to plunge further into a pool of euphoria. Tonight would hold no regrets, she vowed, and she would remember this night for as long as she lived.
Marcel continued his gentle sucking while his hands slid her lacy panties from her hips. When they fell to her feet, she kicked them and her shoes off. Now nothing stood between them.
“How about we get in that Jacuzzi now?” he asked, pulling away.
Diana blinked through the cloud of confusion before his question penetrated, but by that time he was already leading her toward the center of the room.
He pushed a button with his toe and the water whirled to life. “After you,” he said, gesturing her to take the first step.
Determined to live out the rest of this fantasy night, Diana stepped into the warm, soothing water and he followed in after her.
He sat in one of the corners and then beckoned her toward him. She came to him without hesitation. With some work, he instructed her on how to straddle him, but without consummating the union just yet.
Instead, while he had her beautiful twins before him, he resumed his previous suckling.
Diana rolled her head back in ecstasy and, once again, surrendered to Marcel completely. As she enjoyed his hot mouth, her eyes snapped open at the sudden feel of his hands rubbing along her inner thigh, her feminine lips and then the pulsing bud between her legs.
A low moan of pleasure escaped her as her body trembled restlessly for what was just beyond her reach.
Marcel drew his mouth away from her breasts just as her lips lowered to take possession of his. Their tongues entangled in a sweet duet of passion and need, while his hand never ceased its intimate caress.
She came undone as her hips rocked in sync with his hand’s rhythm and in no time her first orgasm spread through her body like a wildfire.
Marcel gasped as her nails dug deeper into his shoulders, but she couldn’t release her hold until the final shock wave left her body.
Watching Diana’s reaction only deepened Marcel’s love for his usually reclusive secretary. There was something remarkably exotic at seeing her put aside her inhibitions. Plus, it was sexy as hell to watch the unguarded emotions on her face.
The second mask of face paint or makeup truly did a lousy job at hiding her identity, but Marcel had no intentions of telling her as much. He was enjoying this fantasy she’d created and he was hellbent on making sure that she enjoyed it, too.
Just when Diana was beginning to control her breathing again, Marcel lifted her from the water and sat her on the edge of the Jacuzzi. He laid her down and while he continued to rain kisses along her neck and the valley between her breasts, he carefully positioned himself between her legs.
Diana became mindless to her surroundings, her circumstances and even her elaborate charade. Her thoughts were consumed with the extraordinary pleasure Marcel gave her body.
The moment his tongue entered her, Diana’s whimpers and moans filled the room like music. He controlled the tempo and the beat of the melodic sounds just by the rhythm he set with his oral worship.
It wasn’t long before she was climbing the walls with her next orgasm and Marcel just barely saved himself from being crushed between her thighs.
“Careful.” He chuckled.
Diana’s face burned with embarrassment. “Sorry.”
As much as he enjoyed watching and pleasuring Diana, it was becoming increasingly harder for Marcel to ignore his erection. It throbbed to the point of being painful and he could no longer deny how much he wanted her—how much he needed her.
He picked her up and managed to step out of the Jacuzzi with the ease of Mr. Olympia lifting a fifty-pound dumbbell. Their wet bodies were quickly sprawled across the bed’s silk sheets as their lips merged in an explosive kiss.
The heat of Marcel’s touch ruled every inch of Diana’s body. She clung to him, whimpering as his hands returned to the slick passage between her legs. His name fell from her lips like a religious chant as her body strained for an end to his erotic torture.
The pressure building inside Marcel was unbearable, while he extended the foreplay by touching and kissing to the point of madness—both hers and his. When he couldn’t wait any longer, he scrambled for his pants that were strewn beside the bed on the floor. He withdrew a few condoms from his wallet and then returned.
Diana helped sheath his impressive member, but then surprised him by climbing on top to take the dominant position. He held his breath as she slowly slid down his shaft until he filled her completely. For a few heart-pounding moments, she didn’t move.
He waited patiently, and when she started to rock, he rolled his head and eyes back at the exquisite feel of her. In no time, Marcel relinquished the role as seducer and Diana sent him on a roller coaster of emotions he’d never experienced.
Her liquid heat was more than he could handle and before he knew it, his gasps and groans drowned out her sighs and whimpers. It was an exquisite agony as her thighs tightened around him.
Marcel’s sole agenda was to fulfill and satisfy this magnificent woman, yet he was powerless to stop the all-consuming demands of his own body. His hands locked onto her hips to help accelerate the rhythm. When that wasn’t enough, he quickly flipped her onto her back and took over the dominant position and drove his point home.
His thrusts weren’t slow and measured, as he would’ve liked, but hard and urgent. She raised her knees to take him in deeper. Her inner walls held him, squeezed him until his breathing became short and choppy.
Their cries of release echoed throughout the room as both swore fireworks exploded behind their closed eyes.
Never in Diana’s wild imagination did she think that such bliss was possible. The gentle hum of her body made her feel as though she was in tune with the world around her. The sheer beauty of what she’d just experienced brought tears to her eyes.
Marcel pulled her close for a brief snuggle, but before long he began to pepper kisses along her neck, shoulder and then her collarbone. In the next moment they were ready for round two.
It was the best Diana had ever felt and more than she’d expected. There were times when he’d brought her to the verge of tears and at other times she giggled like a teenager. It was a wonderful night—a beautiful night.
Sometime after the third round, Diana wo
ke with a jolt in Marcel’s arms. What time is it? She glanced around the room in search of a clock. She had the sinking feeling that it was past midnight and Jimmy had probably left.
Beside her, Marcel slept snoring lightly. She gently pried herself away from him and slinked away from the bed. Again she wondered what time it was, but couldn’t find a clock in the room. She gathered her dress and panties from the floor and then rushed into the bathroom to put them on. She soon discovered that with the button missing, the back of her dress hung open like a hospital gown. She couldn’t walk out like that.
She rolled her eyes heavenward at her unbelievable luck and then glanced in the mirror. She nearly screamed out in fright at seeing that half of her makeup had smeared, exposing her identity.
Had Marcel noticed? No, she assured herself. He would have said something. Right?
She shook off the frightening thought and tried to figure out how she was going to get out of there.
“Okay, just go out and put on the other mask,” she whispered aloud, but she had no clue as to how she was going to fix her dress.
She peeked out of the bathroom door and was pleased to see that Marcel was still curled up fast asleep on the bed. Her gaze lowered to the floor to his tux and she had an idea.
A few minutes later, dressed in Marcel’s large tux and with her mask back on, Diana snuck outside through the room’s French doors with her clothes and shoes clutched in her arms. She was grateful that the entire second floor shared a wraparound balcony. When she reached the east wing, she found a great spot to climb down. Halfway down, however, she discovered it wasn’t so great and nearly broke her neck.
On the ground, she cowered in the shadows until she reached the area where the cars were parked. Only then did she get a good view of the party that was still in full swing. Now, if she could just find Jimmy.
She crept among the cars, ducking whenever she thought she was close to being exposed. At long last, she saw Jimmy pacing near one of the limousines in front of the line. She breathed a sigh of relief, and ran barefoot across the lush lawn.
Unforgettable (Arabesque) Page 16
