“Does that mean you want me?” The question sounded crazy, even absurd when said aloud.
“We should return to the box. My grandmother will wonder where we are,” she said.
“Your grandmother will be asleep.”
“Still—“
“Tell me. I’d like to know.”
“A man of integrity is a man worth having. I would think.”
He smiled then. “That’s not what I asked you.”
“This is inappropriate.”
“Shall I tell you what men want?” He asked her, even as she shook her head. “They want beauty, but of course everyone wants beauty. They also want someone with fire inside them. They want a woman who is intelligent and knows her mind.”
“Men don’t want that,” Caroline smiled in the dark. “I know. Gran has told me many times I’m those things and men don’t value those things.”
“I misspoke. Those are the things I want.” His fingers moved along her face and touched the curl that had escaped the pins, and he twirled it around his finger, as he had wanted to do before.
He didn’t know why he didn’t control himself more but suddenly the only thing that mattered was to feel her lips against his and her warm body in his arms. Nothing else mattered. He pressed her against the wall of the darkened hallway kissing the lips he had ached for. There wasn’t much of a chance for her to do anything but he felt her arms come around his back. He could feel the stays in her corset and his other hand moved up to touch her face. When he heard her lightly moan, he stopped.
“Caroline,” he uttered lowly. “I—” he didn’t even know what he wanted to say.
He could see she was flushed and unsure of the situation and he felt a wave of pleasure followed by supreme guilt.
“We should return,” she said avoiding his questioning eyes.
They walked back to their box and she managed to stay in front of him, glancing back at him only once to make su
re he stayed behind her. When they returned to their seats, Malvina was indeed drifting off to sleep once again. Val watched Caroline but she never said or did anything except to enjoy the concert. When it was over, he escorted Malvina and Caroline home and she did not say a word to him. He watched her enter the townhouse with her grandmother and he felt a sense of loss and sadness.
???
Caroline didn’t let herself think of what had happened at the concert until she was safely in her room. She had never experienced such pure desire and passion as she had that night, and the novels were all wrong. It wasn’t fireworks and dazzling light. It was a dark place of creamy chocolate and caramel. She closed her eyes. She had never experienced such a strong sense of losing herself, but at the same time she had wanted so desperately to press herself into him.
She had said nothing to him because she honestly didn’t know what to say. Nothing seemed adequate. And she hadn’t said thank you at the end of the concert because she didn’t want the gratitude to be misconstrued.
She pulled a sheet of paper and wrote a simple note to him to have it delivered tomorrow. She thanked him for the concert and nothing more. When she signed her name, she made sure to sign it C Derry so it did not seem overly friendly. She undressed and climbed into her bed.
Looking out the window into the darkened night, she thought of his hands on her, and his mouth kissing hers. She shivered. She could still see his eyes watching her and his lips so sensuous claiming her own. She closed her eyes.
???
Val closed his eyes. He had not planned to kiss Caroline Derry but reason and propriety had been overcome by his desire for her. It was as simple as that. When everything was factual, he couldn’t deny it. He had wanted to kiss her. He had wanted to feel her. And now he ran the risk of her hating him, and he felt supreme sadness at that. One kiss to risk everything. Even if there wasn’t anything there, it seemed a petty thing.
But then he remembered her lips, her soft body in his arms and the low moan in his ear and it didn’t seem so insignificant at all. He tossed and turned several times that night and for the first time in a long time he didn’t dream of a lost love. He dreamed of Caroline. She was alive and he could feel her heart beat against his as he held her tight and kissed her.
Chapter 10
He watched the gas lights framed against the dark night as he moved on toward the designated meeting place. He was anxious from their last meeting and the more he learned about the group the more he realized it was a bad idea. The men involved were powerful with money and they didn’t need to worry about the things that kept him up at night.
When he entered the den, it was dark with red lanterns hanging from the ceilings. A small Asian man greeted him and gestured for him to follow. What had he gotten himself into? This was nothing that would have normally intrigued him, but the prestige and power had enticed him like a dangerous and beautiful witch.
“Ah! Mr. Cypress,” two of the men greeted him and he in turn bid them a good evening.
The pungent odor of a distinctive smell he couldn’t place assaulted his nose.