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“And I want to see you, James,” she said, yanking at my tie. My stomach clenched, the beast flaring on my ribs.The beast. I’d gone fucking mad already, dancing with disaster in Lydia Marsh’s hotel room.
“There’s something you need to know,” I said. “Something you won’t expect...” But it was too late, she’d already picked at my shirt, pulling it open to my nipples. Her eyes widened to saucers, her hand at her mouth as she paled before my eyes. Motherfucking hell, was it that much of a shock? I looked down at the head of the beast, its inky black tendrils, seeing it through fresh eyes, just as she was. Of course it was a fucking shock.
Fuck no-one you know, and know no-one you fuck.
Mr Corporate had fallen apart right in front of her fucking eyes. My balls bellowed in frustration, stilted lust twisting a knife in my gut. I backed away with a growl of obscenities, buttoning up my shirt before she could blink.
“Shit, Lydia, this wasn’t supposed to happen.” She didn’t speak a word, just gawped like a slack-jawed idiot. I fought the urge to choke the breath from her, shake her into submission until she fell to her knees and worshipped my cock to teach her manners. I grabbed my tie from the floor, smoothed down my hair. “I hate fucking clichés, but can we forget this ever happened?”
I didn’t wait for an answer, pacing my way to the exit as fast as my legs would carry me. I’d almost made it when she called out, her voice all weak and pathetic.
“James... wait.”
“I’m sorry, Lydia, this was my mistake. I’m very sorry.”
“Wait... please. Just wait a minute.”
I rested my forehead against the door, ears ringing with regret and embarrassment and self-recriminations. Fuck this shit. I went for the handle, breaking for the corridor, one foot in no-man’s land before I heard her speak again.
“Masque! Please, for God’s sake, just wait a minute!”
Now it was my turn to gawp like a slack-jawed idiot.
***
Chapter Ten
Lydia
James stopped dead in his tracks, one foot still inside the door.
“What the hell do you know about Masque?”
“I saw him... you! I sawyou! At Explicit, last weekend, I was there with Rebecca and Cara, and I didn’t know it was you, I swear!”
He edged back inside. “Rebecca took you to Explicit? Why the fuck would she do that?”
“I wanted to go... I wanted to see.”
“Well, now you’ve fucking seen. I need to go. I shouldn’t be here.”
“No, no, no!” I hissed. “Please, Masque...James... don’t go.”
His eyes met mine, and this time they were the shadowy eyes of the man in the mask. I couldn’t help but smile.Seduce James Clarke and you’ll get your time with Masque. Cross my heart.It was so fucking obvious; his bulk, his manner, his perfectly chiselled jawline, his relationship with Rebecca. “I’m glad this is amusing you,” he said. “It’s not looking so funny from where I’m standing.”
“I’m not laughing, it’s just all falling into place.”
“You’ll have to enlighten me.”
I sat on the bed and put my head in my hands, deep breaths in and out. “I heard Rebecca and Cara, you know... in the kitchen. I didn’t expect to feel anything, but it turned me on, ok? And Rebecca knew, she heard me, and she took me to Explicit, just to see. I didn’t think it would even be my thing, but then there was this guy... this incredible guy... commanding this redhead on stage like she was the only woman in the entire universe, and this man, with the chimera tattoo from Rebecca’s wall, was so powerful, so compelling, I couldn’t take my eyes off him.”
“I’m glad you enjoyed yourself,” he said. “I need to leave now, Lydia, let’s call it a day.”
My heart pounded. “You don’t understand!”
“What’s there to understand? You saw a freak in a club, it was me. End of story.”
“I didn’t see a freak,” I wheezed. “I saw a God, James. I wanted to beher. I haven’t stopped thinking about that man, not for one single second. Ask Rebecca, I’ve been driving her mad.” I looked up at him, desperate for his reaction. “Please don’t leave. Not yet.”
