Excerpt:

“Excuse me,” a deep, husky masculine voice interrupted her internal monologue, “but may I request this dance?”

Frowning, Christiana realized she didn’t immediately recognize whose voice it was. Turning around, she looked up—a rare enough occurrence being naturally five-foot- nine and tonight wearing three-inch stilettos—to be grinned boldly at by a masked pirate of all things!

A blue bandana held back what looked to be wild, black curls, a black silky looking mask obscured the rest of his face down to his chin. A few days’ worth of growth was stubbled around the chin, so she couldn’t get any indication of what his face looked like. His eyes were dark brown, a deep, rich, lovely color that drew on something inside her.

She shook her head and smiled, she was becoming fanciful!

“Do pirates request?” she teased, happy one of her friends had dressed up enough so that she couldn’t immediately identify him. Guessing who he was would be fun for the following dance.

She laughed outright as she felt herself swept up into large, strong arms and half-carried out to the dance floor where lots of people milled, about to start the next dance.

“Excellent point,” her pirate granted. “Pirates steal and pillage, pirates do not politely request dances from fair maidens.”

Gurgling her laughter, Christiana was happy when a waltz was struck up. Any excuse was welcome to be dragged against this large pirate’s chest. While she had never been the snuggling type, allowing herself to be brought against his muscled body and led around the crowded dance floor seemed to be the perfect start to the rest of the evening.

Christiana closed her eyes and committed the sounds and feelings to memory. This was what she yearned for, for an unknown pirate to sweep her off her feet and carry her off into the distance.

“Are you falling asleep on me?” the pirate laughed.

“No,” she replied seriously, “I’m committing this to memory.”

“Ah, I thought fair damsels screamed and fainted when taken away by pirates.”

Christiana snorted. “Maybe stupid maidens do. I think it’s fantastic and romantic. Why waste such a spectacular fantasy by fainting dead away when one can wallow in the romance?”

“Ahh, a bold young thing.”

Christiana frowned. She wasn’t particularly young. Most everyone present was her age or only a year or two younger, depending on how fast they had moved through their four years of college. What an odd thing for one of her classmates to say. She looked back up to her pirate and tried to figure out which friend he was.

He looked slightly familiar, but as she ran through the guys she sat next to during lectures and labs, no one sprang to mind. Frowning, she tried to figure out if he was the partner of one of her girlfriends.

“Such a sad frown marring your fair skin,” he murmured, stroking a finger down her forehead, trying to push away her frown. Christiana was surprised to feel fission of electricity at the touch. She started feeling worried and excited at the same time, a very rare occurrence for her.

“Who are you?” she finally caved in and asked. “You seem…familiar…but I can’t put my finger on where I’ve met you. You’re not Talia’s new partner are you? Because I’ve heard he’s a bit of a good-looking stud, but a total ladies man, and I don’t help partners of my friends cheat.”

Her pirate merely pulled her closer and swung her in the opposite direction as the key changed, indicating the end of the song was near.

“I know who you are, Sweet One, and that’s all that really matters.”

The endearment rang bells in the back of her head. Christiana was surprised to find her mouth going dry. What was it about this man?

He looked handsome from what little she could glean through his costume, but her body seemed to be reacting with a startling amount of desire, with very little provocation. The intensity of her sexual response to this masked man simultaneously confused and excited her.

Maybe she needed to get laid more than she realized. Smiling at herself, she made a mental note. Time for new batteries.