A couple of guests looked her way, but she continued to move through the crowd. I wasn’t too far behind when someone stopped her and asked for a dance. Tilting her head sideways as they spoke, I could only guess she was trying to detect if she recognized the voice or not.
Finally, she granted someone’s request for a dance, and they took to the floor.
There was no doubt in my mind that it was her. I moved to the side of the dance floor, patiently waiting for her to finish the waltz she performed to the accompaniment of the orchestra I’d hired for the night.
I waited through two more dances as she danced with a different guest to each song, moving to where the orchestra sat before the last song ended.
Giving a brief nod to the conductor, I signaled that I needed to speak with him.
“Randall, you guys can take a break now,” I said to the conductor after the third song ended.
“Thank you, Mr. Chambers,” he said with a smile.
With a wave of my hand, I signaled to the DJ to begin his set before I returned to the floor to find her gone. We were halfway through the first song before I spotted her again.
She had just finished the third dance and moved towards a corner when another man approached her wearing a confident smile. I eased up on her from behind, my voice quiet and confident.
“May I have this dance, Liltee?”
She spun around and tilted her head to the side.
I repeated myself, “May I have this dance, Liltee?”
With a warm smile, she nodded. Satisfaction flowed through me as I noticed the other man’s shoulders drop in disappointment. I took her hands in mine and led her onto the floor.
“I didn’t think you were going to make it tonight.”
“I wouldn’t miss this for all the money in the world. I ensured I added your name to the guest list. Why would I miss this?”
“I don’t know,” she said, a pleased smile on her lips before she glanced away.
“You look very lovely tonight,” I whispered in her ear.
“In these large skirts?” she asked as she turned back to me with a smile.
“Of course. I’d forgotten how stunning you are when you’re in formal dress, but I could never have imagined how exquisite you’d look in eighteenth-century French attire.”
Laughing, she shook her head and narrowed her eyes at me.
“Or were you imagining how I might look in eighteenth-century French lingerie?” she teased.
My gaze grew serious as it rested on her lips and then back to her eyes. “Or more like without it.”
Xiomara’s breathing grew intense as her body became a rigid line.
“Relax,” I encouraged, pulling her closer to me.
I smiled crookedly at her before she pushed back against me. Resisting her efforts, I pulled her back into my embrace again, her body pressed flush against mine as a light moan escaped her throat.
“Don’t run, Liltee,” I whispered in her ear. “This party is all for you. Isn’t this what you wanted?”
Those beautiful brown eyes found mine once again, holding a question in her gaze.
“What do you mean all for me?”
“Once a year, Prestige puts on this masquerade ball. It’s all about allowing those who wouldn’t otherwise indulge in their wildest fantasies to do just that. With no excuses to the outside world and nothing to escape beyond the safe barriers created here. Kind of like...Vegas. What happens here tonight stays here. The owners of the club host the ball, but since one of those owners is my best friend, he permitted me to host this year’s party. But with that decision came a pretty hefty price. I wanted complete control of the guest list. I want to remove the barriers between you and me, Z, in the outside world. For one night, I want you to forget about everything else and just give in to your fantasies. Trust me with every part of you tonight,” I said, trailing a finger over her bare shoulder before I ran it back up and lifted her chin.
Xiomara’s eyes fluttered closed, and her lips parted as a gasp escaped them.
I pressed a kiss to the base of her throat before I spoke again.
“There’s exclusivity and confidentiality. You can pretend to be whoever you’d like to be tonight.”
I watched as her eyes flew open again, and she stared at me in wonder.
“Do you want me to be someone else?”
“Liltee, I’ve only ever wanted you. Even when I didn’t understand what that meant, nor the sacrifices required to be with you. I wanted you. Even when it scared me to want you so bad. I only wanted you.”
“Then why did you push me away?”
“I never meant to. You were this special, amazing girl. Someone whom I respected and admired so much, and I never felt quite good enough for you.”
“Really?“
"I swear that’s the truth. You were everything good and pure. Everything that I wanted and nothing of what I was or where I came from. Your beauty, how you viewed the world, and stood for what you believed in. And then to learn that you were a virgin and had chosen me to give it to. I mean, we were friends and had shared a lot, but we never talked about that. I kind of wondered, but when you opened yourself to me, I thought maybe I was wrong. When I learned that I was right, I freaked out about what you were asking of me. I mishandled the opportunity. You shut me out, and then...you left.
“Lake, I don’t want to be back in this same space with you again that we were before. Me trusting you with my body and you...walking away as if none of it meant anything.”
“I’m not promising forever; I won’t lie. I don’t know what will happen, but I’m not trying to walk away
