Masque

by Lexi Post

  Striding from the chapel, he headed for the second-floor bedrooms. Tonight he would introduce Rena to the Exhibition Room. He had no choice. He had to move her through the rooms. If he didn’t, and something happened to her…

  * * * * *

  “Rena. Time to wake.”

  She tried to ignore the deep whisper, but the light breath across her ear sent shivers racing along her skin. Rolling away, she groaned. “Why?”

  “I have a surprise for you.”

  Couldn’t it wait until later? “Morning?”

  A warm hand slid up her thigh.

  “Hmmm, that’s better.”

  The hand passed her stomach to cup her breast. A finger flicked by her nipple and a slow burn ignited from that spark.

  His hand retreated. “Rena. Come.”

  There was no ignoring that insistent and commanding voice. Opening her eyes, she found Synn standing next to her bed. Except for the light from her lantern, the room was pitch black. “What time is it?”

  “Almost midnight. Come, we must hurry if you want to see the Purple Room change.”

  She sat up and rubbed her eyes. The Purple Room? Why would she… Oh, the Purple Room. “I’d like to see that.”

  “Here, put this on.” He held a beautiful silk robe that shimmered a peachy pink in the light.

  “This is gorgeous. Is this a dress-up affair?” She grinned at her joke.

  He remained serious. “Yes, it is.”

  She had one arm in the sleeve when his hand on her wrist halted her. “Nothing underneath.”

  Huh? He wanted her to be naked under the robe to go downstairs and watch a room change? “Fine. Turn around.”

  His smirk returned, but he gave her privacy. She whipped the t-shirt over her head and slid the robe on. The silkiness of the material sensitized her skin, making her feel sexy.

  “You will also need this.” He handed her a simple Mardi Gras mask that covered only the eyes, but instead of elastic, it had satin ribbons that tied behind the head.

  “I need to wear a mask to see a room change?”

  “Yes. Come here. I will tie it on you.”

  As she held the pink material against her face, he secured it. Then placing his hands on her shoulders, he turned her around. “Perfect.”

  She did feel perfect, pretty and sexy too. “What about yours?”

  From the pocket of his waistcoat, he produced a black mask and tied it to his face. “Is that satisfactory?”

  Oh boy, the man was handsome enough, but now he had the dashing aura of Zorro, and she couldn’t help her breathy response. “Very.”

  He nodded as if her reply had been expected, but before she could become irritated with his haughtiness, he extended his arm for her. Such an elegant gesture had her wanting to play the part. So she did.

  As they descended the grand staircase from her wing, she noticed the silence was charged with energy. The ghosts must be coming out. Her heart beat faster at meeting more of them, but when she remembered the ones she’d seen in the Blue Room, the silkiness of her new robe caused stirrings in the pit of her stomach as well as an all-over body flush.

  When they reached the entryway, Synn stopped and looked at her. “Are you ready?”

  His eyes held such sincerity and caring that she wondered for the first time what would be happening in the Purple Room. “I think so.”

  He let go of her arm and faced her, his hands cupping her face. “You must be sure.” Holding her head, he lowered his and kissed her. She opened her lips to his teasing tongue. He brushed it along her teeth, then sucked her lower lip into his mouth and stroked. He followed with a lick beneath her upper lip. Her bare toes curled against the stone floor as she leaned toward him, wanting more. He didn’t disappoint. His tongue plunged into her mouth. She grasped his arms in surrender. When he was done pillaging her mouth, he broke off the kiss and stared at her.

  His breathing was as fast as hers. At least he was as attracted to her as she to him. Thank God.

  “Are you ready now?”

  If the warm moisture gathering between her thighs was any indication, she would have to say yes. And her body was too sexually hungry to allow her any qualms. The question was, was she mentally ready? Not exactly. Sex wasn’t a priority, but right now it seemed the only priority. If Synn planned to take her, give her release, then there was only one answer she could give. She nodded.

  “Good. Shall we?”

  She linked her arm in his once again and they strolled into the Blue Room. A couple sat on one of the settees, the man’s hand under his companion’s skirt as he kissed her, but no bed stood in the middle of the room like the other night.

  They continued into the Purple Room where a few other ghost couples gathered. It was as if she had stepped back in time. The women were attired in full Victorian dress with hoop skirts and bustles, bolero jackets and vests, and many held artistically detailed masks on sticks. The gentlemen wore waistcoats, top hats and suits. Most sported mustaches or long sideburns. Many had tied-on masks, black like Synn’s, while others didn’t wear any mask at all.

  He patted her hand on his arm. “I can’t introduce you directly as you wear a mask. However, if someone is not wearing a mask, or moves it to the side, that means you may learn their name, but unless you remove yours, they will not expect yours in return. For tonight, I suggest you leave yours on. Understand?”

  She nodded. With five couples in the room, she doubted she’d remember everyone’s names, but she was excited to try.

  The pair from the Blue Room the night before approached. He wore no mask and his wife immediately put aside hers. Synn inclined his head to them. “This is Eve and Jonathan. They cannot vocalize yet, but in another day or so they will be happy to converse.”

  Jonathan nodded in her direction, but Eve reached out both her hands. Synn released her arm and nudged her toward the other woman. Solid cool hands met hers and she smiled in relief. The woman laughed, but Rena couldn’t hear it. Eve squeezed her hands before letting go and linked her arm with her husband. After a loving look at his wife, he gave them both a brief nod and escorted Eve into the next room.

  Rena wanted to pinch herself. If this is how the ghosts acted and felt, her bed-and-breakfast would be all over the web.

  Synn led her down the rows of chairs set before the stage. “If you listen carefully, you will hear a faint hum.” He stopped to allow her a moment.

  There was a very slight sound, like the murmur of a distant party, but she couldn’t distinguish any specific words. She beamed at him. “You’re right. I can hear them! Oh no, will it become quite loud in a few days? Will it wake my guests?”

  He faced her and lifted a brow. “Isn’t that what your guests would be paying for, to be awoken by ghosts?”

  She laughed. “Of course. This will be perfect.”

  Synn took her hand from his arm and kissed her knuckles. “Why do you want to make money on these ghosts?”

  His attention to her fingers distracted her. “I need to prove to myself that I can succeed. Without my parents’ or fiancé’s help, but my track record isn’t stellar. My savings will barely cover renovations. The Abbey hasn’t…”

  Synn’s kisses turned to licks before he sucked her index finger into his mouth. His tongue played with it as his mouth held it tight. Tingles of sensation skittered along her arm to her breasts, surprising her, and her nipples hardened beneath the robe. With Synn’s attention riveted to her digit, she glanced down to see her tight peaks pushing at the silky material covering them. The strange, erotic feel of the robe combined with Synn’s attentions to make her hot.

  When he released her finger, she had to squelch the need to ask him to continue. He had to be the most sensuous man she’d ever met. As she’d started to pull away, he tilted her chin to meet his lips. His mouth proceeded to do homage to her own, exploring, playing, and finally sucking on her tongue much like he had done her finger. He caused a multitude of yearnings to build between her legs. When he brok
e away, her heart beat faster than a percussion drum.

  Without warning, he grasped her nipple through the silk robe.

  The shock had moisture pooling in her folds. “Synn. What are you doing? Someone might see.”

  He kissed her neck before whispering in her ear. “But they are ghosts.”

  The fingers that held her nipple rolled the silky fabric around it while his mouth continued its pilgrimage down her neck. Need built within her core, adding to her already oversensitive body’s frustrations. She craved Synn’s body, craved release.

  He lifted his head away from her nape and took the other nipple in his other hand.

  Her pussy contracted as the sensation pulsed down to her clit. She glanced around the room without being obvious, but no one paid them any attention.

  “Do you want me?” His deep voice glided along her skin, awakening every nerve ending.

  Standing in front of her, rolling her nipples in the silky fabric, he had to ask? “Yes, you know I do.”

  “Are you ready for me?”

  “If you mean is my body ready for you, absolutely.”

  He stared into her eyes. “I need your mind to be ready for me as well. Will you throw your inhibitions aside and let me take you in this room? That’s what I want to do, Rena. I want to push my hard cock inside your deliciously curvy body and let these ghosts watch me do it. I want them to envy me my pleasure.”

  Stunned and excited at the same time, she tried to find her voice, but couldn’t. His fingers on her nipples continued their pleasuring, and she took another look around the room. One couple watched them now with obvious interest. Her instinct was to pull away and as she tugged, he held firm. Shocked by both the excitement that coursed to her pussy and at his hold, she snapped her gaze to his face.

  Desire, clear and heady, shone in his eyes. Suddenly, she wanted him to master her in front of these people. She wanted to be envied for the hunk she had. She wanted him inside her so badly, she’d do whatever he wished.

  “Rena? I ask you again. Are you ready for me?”

  “Yes.”

  He grinned and let go of one nipple to remove a pocket watch from his vest. “I must initiate the room change. Do not move. Watch the stage.”

  Would he disappear on her again? “You will come back, right?”

  He bent as if to kiss her and instead sucked one of her nipples into his mouth.

  The wetness through the silky robe sent lightning from her nipple to her clit in a split second. She gasped.

  He released her. “I will return. Watch the stage, for you and I will be the attraction tonight. Think about everyone watching as I spread your legs and pump inside you.”

  She caught her breath at his words, but couldn’t help ogling him as he strode through the door into the Green Room. After he disappeared, she noticed two gentlemen talking while their women chatted. Both men were staring at her chest. Looking down, she found her right nipple outlined by the wet silk of the robe. She spun around, but not before noting their interest. Synn wanted her to have sex in front of an audience of ghosts? How could she do that when she couldn’t even allow those men—no, not men, ghosts—to stare at her wet nipple? She needed courage. What she needed was Synn.

  Looking at her hardened peak, she made a decision. She swung around and the men’s gazes returned to her. Their steadfast interest made her powerful, like a sex goddess. They were ghosts, that’s all. With bravery she didn’t know she possessed, she tweaked her wet nipple. The surprised pleasure on their faces sent heat coursing through her limbs, but before she could analyze that new sensation, a low hum issued from the stage and she faced it to watch.

  The stage floor opened and a set fit for the theater production of Cats appeared. Flat landings rose above multiple bars until the final centerpiece locked into place. The large bed with mirrors angled in every direction took center stage.

  Her mouth went dry. Watch the stage, for you and I will be the attraction tonight.

  Chapter Six

  The bed with mirrors was meant for her and Synn? She tightened the belt on her robe. She wasn’t this depraved. She might be more adventurous than Bryce, but even she couldn’t do this. Was she that desperate for Synn?

  The object of her question strode through the door and caught her stare. His eyes were hypnotic as the blue flecks glittered with interest. He didn’t slow as he approached, but gathered her into his arms and kissed her. A tongue-diving, lip-sucking, passionate kiss that left her weak. Within seconds, he’d lifted her from her feet and carried her up the three steps to the stage.

  He laid her on the bed, and she noticed the sheets weren’t silk for a change, but cotton. She had little time to digest that fact before Synn’s disrobing caught her full attention.

  His coat and vest were already thrown on a front-row chair. As he unbuttoned his frilled white shirt, she noticed the women in the room taking notice. A small niggling possessiveness seeped into her brain, but as his shirt joined his other clothes, she puffed with pride. The man could spend all day naked from the waist up, and she would be happy as a Maryland crab in the off-season.

  Without hesitation, he unbuttoned his black pantaloons and released his long cock from inside.

  Rena licked her lips. He was all he promised to be—long, hard, smooth and ready. She missed his boots and pants coming off, too busy studying his balls. The thighs surrounding his package were thick with muscle, like a soccer player’s, and their definition changed beneath his skin as he took the two steps to the bed.

  “Come, Rena. Suck me.” Synn’s voice grew deeper, more commanding than usual and her body vibrated with yearning. She glanced at his face and read stark desire in his eyes.

  He didn’t have to ask her twice. She rose onto her hands and knees to face him and licked the underside of his cock. Its texture was smooth with barely any bumps and it moved against her tongue.

  “Look in the mirror, Rena.” His voice was strained.

  She did as he instructed, turning to her left to see her tongue against his massive cock. Fascinated, she took the head into her mouth, letting her lips rest on the ridge as she watched through the holes in her mask. He seemed so large, and her mouth so small. Sucking lightly, she grazed her teeth around him and his hand burrowed into her hair. His grip in her tresses made her reach for his balls beneath his dark pubic hair. She massaged them before she glided her mouth farther down his cock.

  His hand tightened and he held her head as he pulled his cock from her mouth. She pouted in frustration, but she caught the reflection of the audience in the mirror. Oh God. She counted in the reflection, too fearful to look at them directly. There were at least a half-dozen couples and a few single people watching her.

  Synn tilted her chin to face him and forced her up to kneel. He traced her lips with his thumb. “Do you know how desirous you are? Every man in this room wants to be me right now. They want to initiate you into your most hidden fantasies. Do you want to show these men what they are missing?”

  Her lips were oversensitized by his strokes. She licked his finger as his thumb passed by.

  Synn’s Adam’s apple jumped. “Tell me you want me to fuck you in front of these men because I want to. I need to show them you are my lover.”

  His words flowed along her veins like an aphrodisiac. Lover? He wanted her for a lover? Oh Lord, yes. Her core contracted with need. “Take me, Synn.”

  His hand on her jaw tightened and he pulled at her bottom lip to open her to his mouth. She closed her eyes as he teased her, nibbled at her lips and played with her tongue, melting away the fear and leaving behind an unbearable need and a very wet pussy. She opened her eyes from his drugging kiss to see his hands pull aside the edges of her robe to expose her breasts.

  “Beautiful.” His brief compliment had her glowing before his tongue circled her left nipple, the one the audience could see. Who was she kidding? They could see the other just as well in the mirrors. She’d never, ever done anything like this. She hadn’t even i
magined this as a possibility. She wanted to run and hide, but her gut said if she wanted Synn, this is how she would have to take him.

  His mouth on her breast distracted her as he nibbled on her nipple, much like he had done to her lips. She wanted him to suck it into his mouth and she arched her back, pushing her breast closer. Letting her head fall to the side, she found people watching her with rapt attention. Their eyes feasted on her breast where Synn stoked her heat, and her pussy swelled. She was exotic, mesmerizing them with her sex.

  Synn moved to her other breast and she pressed forward into his mouth. This time he did suck, tweaking the inner nerves of her nipple until the ache between her legs demanded more. She needed him buried inside her. “Synn. I want you, now. Please.”

  His mouth left her body and he untied her robe. Yes, she wanted to be naked with him, have his body against her. She glanced at the audience and gulped. While a couple dozen people watched?

  He must have sensed the beginnings of her panic because he pushed her onto the bed, covered her with his body and kissed her again. He lifted his head. “I’m stone hard for you.”

  His weight pressed her into the mattress and she reveled in his desire, his cock digging into her thigh. She moved her hips in invitation, anxious for him to penetrate her folds.

  He groaned and lifted away from her.

  She glanced at the mirror above them and couldn’t help admiring his tight ass nestled between her legs. He was undeniably hot. She turned to the side to see their bodies in profile. Wow. Maybe it was the masks, but they looked better than a porn movie. Shoring up her courage, she glanced at the mirror angled for her to see the entire audience. They were literally on the edge of their seats. One woman had her hand under her own skirts. She and Synn were a porn movie come alive but with no corny music or stilted dialogue. And the audience loved them.

  That knowledge had her pussy aching with the need for fulfillment. She returned her gaze to Synn’s. “Now.”