Tammy Falkner - [Faerie 02] by The Magic of "I Do"

murmured as she gathered the lot of it and drew it over her right shoulder.
    “Don’t be. I love it.” He tucked a stray lock behind her ear.
    “All these curls. I don’t quite know what to do with them.”
    “Well, I don’t love the color, but it always smells so good. Like sunshine. You’re certain it will wash out?” She nodded as he leaned his head into her neck and breathed deeply. The cool movement as he inhaled had the hair on the back of her neck standing up. This time, she did shiver. “Are you cold?” he asked.
    She shook her head. “Not a bit.” In fact, she was a bit overly warm.
    “I lose all my common sense when I look at you,” he said softly by her ear. She closed her eyes for a moment to keep from swooning.
    “Did you have any to begin with, my lord?” she teased.
    A grin quirked the corners of his lips as he placed a soft kiss on her cheek below her mask. She smiled. She couldn’t help it.
    The bustle of footmen below caught his attention. They hefted a big bed into the middle of the room and then placed a barrier around it.
    “That’s a bed. Why are they putting a bed in the middle of the room?”
    “Keep watching. You’ll see. You’re not offended by it, are you?” He suddenly looked concerned about the fact that he was allowing her to watch such a show. “Perhaps we should leave. Your father and my brother will murder me if they find out I brought you here.”
    Viewing the show would be the least of his concerns.
    “You know who they are?”
    “I believe so,” he replied. “But they’ll be masked.”
    “I see.” She didn’t know what more she could say. “Why?”
    “Some people like to be watched.” He shrugged his shoulders. He pointed out the seating area the footmen were setting up outside the roped enclosure around the bed. “And even more like to do the watching.”
    Both men and women were taking seats in the audience section. “The women, are they paid to attend?”
    He shook his head. “They come because they like it. Many of them come with men. To share the experience. Still others come alone and try to find an interested party.”
    “They’re about to begin,” she said, settling into his arms a little more deeply.
    ***
    Finn was about to insist that they leave and go home. But her curiosity won out over his need to get her out of there. And he wouldn’t give up an opportunity to have her in his arms. The lights dimmed as footmen doused the lamps around the edges of the room. Only a single bright light hung over the bed.
    Footmen milled about the room below stairs, ensuring everything was in place.
    He allowed his hand to stroke over her hip. She didn’t even flinch away from his touch.
    She looked out over the railing and said, “It’s not hard for them to bare all like that?”
    “Not for some.” Speaking of hard, he’d been as hard as stone ever since she’d sat down in his lap. But she hadn’t noticed. He adjusted her bottom for a better fit.
    “I should get my own chair,” she said as she started to rise. But he snaked an arm around her waist and drew her back down.
    “I like holding you,” he said. “Stay.”
    She settled back gingerly into his lap.
    Two performers approached the makeshift stage. “And so it begins,” she whispered. “Do you enjoy these shows?”
    “I don’t get overly amorous because of them, if that’s what you’re asking.”
    “Do they affect you at all?”
    He didn’t answer, and she let the subject drop as the man and woman on the stage began to perform. As they wove their exotic little dream before the spectators, Finn watched Claire.
    “Sit back,” he coaxed gently, bringing her body back to rest against him. Her head landed on his shoulder. She fit him. From top to bottom she fit him. Why had he not realized that before? It was almost like she was made to fit into his arms.
    He brought one hand around her body to lie on her stomach. She moved it quickly to her hip, her eyes fixed on the stage. The