From behind his mask, his eyes drifted over the dress, and heat prickled across her skin.
Well…maybe he would have remembered if she’d been wearing the same flimsy crêpe dress currently draped over her rather than the costume in which she’d arrived. A clinging, sleeveless rose-colored gauze creation with matching mask, this dress had cost her a small fortune from months of saved-up pin money and her salary from the orphanage. It had also required several secret trips to Helmsworth to visit the dressmaker there, whom she’d hired so that no one in Islingham would suspect what she was up to. But all the subterfuge was worth it, because the whole effect turned her body into a long-stemmed rose. Instead of this, though, she’d been announced to the party at the beginning of the evening wearing the pumpkin costume that her auntie had made for her, complete with a stem sticking out of her hat, and Robert hadn’t given her a second glance all evening.
But he certainly noticed her now as she reclined across his bed, her back propped up by a pile of pillows and the hem of her skirt scandalously revealing her legs from the knees down. Bare legs, too, because she couldn’t afford to purchase the lace stockings that matched the dress.
“Perhaps you didn’t notice me because I was dancing with other men,” she offered coyly. Tonight, her mask made her bold and free to say flirtatious things she never would have had the courage to utter otherwise. “But I’d much rather have been dancing with you.”
She saw his hand freeze for just a heartbeat as he reached for his cravat. “Then the loss was definitely mine.” His eyes trailed from her low neckline down her body, across the curves of her hips, and over her legs. “And your name, my lady?”
Her heart jumped into her throat. Oh no, she couldn’t tell him that—not yet! She’d worn the mask and costume purposefully so that he would see this other side of her before he dismissed her outright. So that he would have an opportunity to see her through new eyes, to look upon her as a woman instead of the girl he’d always known. If she revealed her identity so soon, he’d never see her as anything more than a friend.
So she whispered, “Rose.”
He untied his black cravat and tossed it away. “Lady Rose,” he murmured. Knowing amusement touched his sensuous mouth at her completely fabricated answer. “Is that why you’re in my room, then?” His sapphire eyes stirred heat beneath her skin everywhere he looked. And dear heavens, he was looking everywhere! “Because you want to dance with me?”
Dance. The word shivered down her spine as she watched him slip free each button of his black waistcoat. They both knew he didn’t mean waltzing.
Electric tingles of excitement raced through her. This was it. The moment that would bring her the man she’d loved. The moment when her life would change forever…
She drew a shaky breath. “Yes.” The word came out as a husky rasp. “Very much.”
His full lips tugged into a seductive smile, and he slipped off his waistcoat, then dropped it to the floor. The muscles of his arms and shoulders rippled beneath his black shirt as he reached up to unfasten the half dozen buttons at his neck, the firelight playing across his golden blond hair and his handsome face still hidden behind the mask. Her heart thudded painfully against her ribs when he tugged his shirttail free from his black breeches to let it hang loose around his waist.
He was undressing. And not for sleep. For a moment, she forgot to breathe.
When she remembered again, her breath came in a soft sigh. Which caused his blue eyes to darken with quick arousal as he took the sound as an invitation to…to—
She swallowed again. Very hard.
Well, that was why she was lying on his bed, for goodness’ sake. To be ravished. But heavens, she was nervous! Trying to hide the trembling in her hands and be the seductress he would want, she ran her palms up and down her thighs, each stroke upward pulling the crêpe material with it until her legs were bare to her thighs. His eyes keenly followed every caress she gave herself. Because of the mask, she couldn’t see whatever other emotions might be flickering across his face, but she could see his eyes and mouth, and those both struck her as intense. Predatory. Aroused.
Goodness.
He reached up to remove his mask—
“No!” she gasped.
He froze at her outburst. Then curiously tilted his head as if he’d misconstrued her meaning.
But he’d understood perfectly. She couldn’t let him remove his mask. If he did, then he’d expect her to remove hers—oh, she wasn’t ready for that! Not until she was certain that she’d made him want her as much as she wanted him, and somehow not just for tonight but always.
“The masquerade was so much fun,” she explained quickly, silently praying that he’d believe her, “that I should hate for it to end so soon.”
“It won’t.” He stole a wandering glance down her body. A heated promise lingered in that sultry look.
“Please don’t remove your mask, not yet.” Then she added as enticingly as possible, “My Lord Panther.”
He inclined his head toward her in a gentlemanly nod.
A thrill raced through her. Robert had never shown her such deference before. Of course, though, he didn’t know that it was her in this costume, she thought with a twinge of chagrin. But he would soon, and then everything between them would change.
“As you wish, Lady Rose.” Another heated smile, this time as he stepped forward to lean his shoulder against the bedpost and stare unapologetically at her body. “Your costume is quite beautiful.”
“Do you like it?” She raised her hand to her neckline again, drawing his attention back to her breasts as she arched her back in an attempt to make them appear as full as possible.
“Very much,” he murmured appreciatively.
“Good.” Her trembling fingers trailed up to her shoulder and to the satin bow holding the bodice in place. “Because I wore it just for you.”
He parted his lips as if to say something, but she pulled loose the ribbon in a seductive move she’d practiced all afternoon. The shoulder of her dress fell down, nearly baring her right breast. He fixed a hungry stare on her, whatever he was about to say lost forever.
With a sound that was half groan, half growl, he grabbed his shirt and yanked it off over his head, then started forward, crawling up the bed toward her on hands and knees. Very much a panther stalking forward to claim its prey.
Her eyes widened, and she slowly sank down onto her back as he crawled up the length of her, trapping her between his hands and knees. She certainly hadn’t expected this! Or the way he lowered his head to lick his tongue across her bare shoulder, as if he were tasting her before deciding whether to toy with her a while longer or devour her whole.
“Mmm,” he purred against her flesh as his mouth moved to her neck, where she was certain he could feel her pulse pounding beneath his lips. “Perhaps it’s good that I didn’t notice you at the party after all.”
“Why is that?” She shivered as his teeth nipped at her throat, unprepared for the pulse of heat that shot straight down to her toes. This was nothing like the kiss he’d given her all those years ago.
“I would have embarrassed myself in the middle of the ballroom trying to get to you.” He traced his fingertip over her bare shoulder, drawing invisible patterns across her skin and down toward the swell of her breast. “We would have danced, I’d have made certain of it.”
His finger dipped under the edge of her dress and, finding no stays nor shift to impede him, grazed seductively over her nipple still hidden beneath. She gasped, and he smiled delightedly at her response. Apparently he had decided to toy with her after all.