Excerpt:

Lily sipped her champagne while standing on the edges of the dancing floor and mentally breathed a huge sigh of relief. She had finally shaken off the jester who had been following her like an adoring puppy all night. She felt quite guilty palming him off to the young little gypsy girl who didn’t look a day over sixteen, but the sweet little thing had seemed so eager for the jester, Lily didn’t have the heart not to set them up.

Tapping her foot in time to the sounds of the swinging band, she took another sip of the champagne and looked around for a spot to leave the glass. She didn’t want to waste a moment of the rest of the night, and who cared if she entered the dance floor alone? She certainly wouldn’t be $leaving it alone, and the time left until midnight was too precious to waste.

Pouring the ruinously expensive champagne into a convenient potted plant and resting the glass on the edge of the huge pot, she shook out her dress and looked quickly around guiltily. It was a waste of champagne, but she wanted to dance far, far more, and if she simply left it sitting around it would almost certainly be thrown out anyway.

Taking eager strides towards the dance floor, dodging the people hanging around chatting, she felt a huge grin cross her face, reminding her of the extraordinarily comfortable mask covering her features.

$Free at last! She chanted to herself in glee. Less than four steps from the dance floor, she heard a husky, masculine sound voice her thought from a second ago.
“Free at last, I see. I sincerely hope you didn’t kill that poor jester trying to woo you. May I have this dance? As you do seem so eager to hit the floor.”

Confused for a moment, shocked that someone appeared to read her mind, she turned around. Unfortunately, she turned so quickly she almost lost her balance on the just-been-waxed floor boards, and she skidded slightly on her stilettos.

“Whoops! Had a drink or two, my dear?”

The man caught her arm easily, and steadied her. As she laughed and stood fully upright again, she had the grace to blush as she realized that, while she hadn’t made a fool of herself, if this man hadn’t steadied her, she might have.

As she ran her eyes down him critically, she realized he truly seemed a steady man. Large but by no means fat, he filled out his black pants and black shirt rather well. A knee-length cape covered much of his body from her view, but the smiling dark brown eyes and shoulder-length brown hair softened the full black of his costume. Nothing however could hide the impressive width and height. This was a man one could romp with and not be afraid of. It wasn’t until she saw the tricorn she felt a twinge of doubt.

Had she met him before? Did she know him? Did he recognize her?

“I know I’m a highwayman, but I promise not to ask you to stand and deliver your goods. I merely wanted to join you on the dance floor.”

Lily laughed. “I’m sorry, I was just…surprised. Do I know you?”

This time it was the highwayman who laughed. “Now, what fun would a masked ball be if one gave out one’s name?” Taking her hand he began to negotiate their way onto the huge dance area. Lily frowned, but had been much too eager to get onto the floor to be bothered complaining now.

“That doesn’t really answer my question.” She laughed, enjoying the quickness of his wit. Obviously the man wasn’t a doofus, or extremely young, like the jester.

“I wasn’t aware this was a game of twenty questions,” he reposted. Lily laughed as he swung them into a leisurely waltz. The music was slow, and so she couldn’t complain about the way he held her closely. $As soon as the music picks up I’ll free myself and begin to truly jive, she promised herself.

“So, fair maiden,” he continued, “what brings you here?”

Lily smiled, dazzled by his dancing skills. The man might be a highwayman and look similar to the man in her flash with the mask yesterday, but boy, could he lead a girl around the dance floor.

“I know Susy from way back. I contacted her when I decided I wanted a break from work and decided to take a holiday. I figured everyone should experience a real Mardi Gras down here in New Orleans, and here I am. Besides, it seemed like Fate taking a hand when I called some of the local hotels and there had been a shock cancellation the week before the Mardi Gras. “ Lily couldn’t help but smile at Fate and Luck taking a hand in her impromptu holiday. She couldn’t help her pride and satisfaction at how well and easily everything had turned out. “How about yourself?”

“I, also, decided I needed a break from work, but came here by pure luck. Thankfully, my luck seems to have held in finding you.”

Lily laughed. “Oh, I don’t know. There seems to be some sort of magic floating about during the Mardi Gras, don’t you think? Something sparkling in the air, or so I could easily believe.”

The man smiled down at her, and she noticed a slight dimple in his cheek. It managed to make him look mischievous and sexy at the same time. Lily swallowed. The man could be dynamite if he chose to be.

“Yes,” he huskily agreed with her. It took her a moment to remember what he agreed with. “I do think there might be some magic or witchery sparkling in the air. You seem to have cast a fair dose of it over me.”

Lily merely smiled and tried not to let it widen into a face-splitting grin. No sense in letting the man know she felt weak in the knees just yet.

Just then the slow music came to an end and the band struck up a faster number. Regretfully, Lily pulled herself from his tight embrace and let the rhythm and beat sink into her soul. Raising her arms, she swung her hips and enjoyed the fast beat pounding through her body. Her dance companion stayed close, but thankfully wasn’t macho enough to try and hold her again. He, too, swung his hips and began to dance to the energetic beat of the music.

In the bliss only releasing one’s tension and energy though music can bring, Lily closed her eyes, let her head fall back and truly enjoyed the music and dance floor.
After a number of more upbeat tunes, a slower song struck up, and Lily’s highwayman stepped closer and took her into his arms again.

“You sure know how to dance, sweetheart. Lucky for me I’m a guy with confidence, or you might have made me feel self-conscious.”

Lily looked up to his masked face, dark brown eyes gleaming with laughter, dimple showing underneath his simple black mask. When she felt her face blush slightly, she saw his grin widen, and she laughed.

“I don’t think anything could shake your confidence.” Grinning back at him, she knew her mischievous and naughty thoughts would be shining in her own light brown eyes.

Her highwayman grinned back at her and pulled her closer. She could feel a massive erection straining against his pants. Lily drew in a quick breath, feeling her blush come back again. It had been so long since she had let herself indulge in some nookie. Yet now that the chance was before her, she hesitated.

Thankfully, her highwayman was in no way concerned, nor did he seem uncommonly eager to push her. Or so she thought.

“Shall we take a stroll around Susy’s gardens? We can stay on the back patio if you like. Not even a desperate highwayman would ravish a young lady with a dozen or more people around him.”

Lily smiled. Never having had exhibitionist fantasies, she wasn’t keen to be seduced physically on the back patio, where much of the party had spilled out to, yet neither was she completely adverse to a bit of nookie with said highwayman.

“You said I had cast a spell over you, well you seem to have a good bit of that old magic yourself. Let’s go.”

Pulling herself from his embrace, even though he tried to tighten his arm around her, she took his hand and led him out toward the large French doors, open to the patio.
Passing one of the many waiters wandering around with trays of drinks, they both grabbed a flute of champagne each of their way out. Lily mentally commended her highway man on being able to negotiate the crowd with his arm still around her as well as holding his glass and not spilling a drop.

No two ways about it, the man had talent and style. Her very own James Bond, or a bad-boy James Bond turned highway man. Seated by the edge of the garden, looking in at the massive party in full swing, Lily breathed in deeply, enjoying the scents of freshly mown grass and flowers in full bloom.

Much like any garden, private or public, in New Orleans during the Mardi Gras, it was well maintained with lush green grass, flowers spread everywhere, and a number of trees. While it didn’t exactly look like the scene she had experienced in her “vision”, neither did it look dissimilar to it.

Lily smiled.

She would love to cast off her responsible side and run naked through the trees with her highwayman chasing her, only to let him catch and seduce her. But something inside her rebelled at acting purely out of a fantasy she had. Why not create her own memories, instead of enacting others?

“That’s a mighty big grin you have there my dear. Care to share the joke?”

Looking at him, $really looking at him, Lily pondered her two choices. To seduce or not to seduce. Lily took in his eyes, the set of his body, the casual, yet very slightly tense way he held himself. Lily easily came to her decision.

She didn’t know him exactly, but she could only see kindness in his eyes, could only see the tension in his body of a man waiting for a woman. The sort of tension that meant with the woman’s approval he would pounce. Nodding to herself, she smiled and leaned closer, so no one else on the patio could overhear her naughty comment.

“I was just deciding to take you back to the hotel with me. I’m not really one for a quickie out in the backyard, I think we’re both a little old for that. But I’m not adverse to a one-night stand, back at my hotel.”

The dimple came back as her highwayman smiled.

“A one-night stand? Who says I won’t rock your world and you’ll want to marry me and chain me to your bed.”

Laughing, Lily placed her flute of champagne on the thick concrete rail that surrounded the patio. Noticing her highway man also set aside his glass and turned to face her gave her courage.

$He is definitely interest in me too, she silently acknowledged to herself.

Glasses dispensed of, she moved even closer into him as he slid his arm around her shoulders, creating a strange intimacy between them. Even among fully a dozen couples on a cramped back patio there seemed to be only the two of them in their own little world.

“Well, having my own personal sex slave chained to my bed twenty-four seven $is quite a dream come true. But I think we both have our own lives, and I intend to go back to mine after my holiday here is over.”

“Mmm,” he muttered, leaning in so his lips rested just above hers.

She smiled as the thought, $here comes the pounce, rushed through her brain.
“Let’s discuss tomorrow when tomorrow comes, hmm? I’d much rather enjoy you and this night right now.”

He bent down and took her mouth in a fierce kiss. Barely giving her time to orientate herself, he opened her mouth and his tongue gave her his taste. She sucked on his tongue, enjoying the jerk of surprise she felt go through his system.

In the background, she could hear the ballroom go quiet, as she heard Susy ordering the waiters to give everyone a glass of champagne for the countdown to the official beginning of the Carnival.

Lily wanted to pull away, wanted to watch the clock tick over, but her highwayman was invading her senses. She felt as if she drowned in his scent, in his heat, in the fierce possessiveness she could feel in his kiss.

In the back of her mind, Lily heard the waiter chuckle and pass them by.

“Don’t look like you two need a glass of bubbly,” he commented and continued to pass around the glasses of celebratory champagne.

Her highwayman grunted and nipped at her lips, demanding her attention. Lily wrapped her arms around his neck and lost herself in his heat and passion.

All too soon streamers were released and whistles blew, Lily relaxed into the kiss as midnight clocked over. Recalled to their surroundings, Lily unwound her arms and rested her hands against her partner’s large chest. Leaning into him she began to nip at his lips, demanding to be released.

Finally, once he had taken his time, she felt his arms let go and he pulled back, sucking at the air.

“Now $that was a Mardi Gras start-up to remember.”

Grinning, Lily couldn’t help but agree. She took a step, and then two backwards, and held out her hand to her highwayman in invitation.

“Care to be taken home by a strange Regency England woman?”

He grinned, his dimple showing, “Damn straight, if you can cope with being $taken by a highwayman.”

She smiled, enjoying the easy camaraderie between them. “Oh, I think I can handle being taken by a highwayman. I always enjoy a good ride.”

Chuckling, she let herself be led away by her new partner.