Page 277 of The Spider Queen
Don’t hold your breath, I wanted to say. No man had ever captivated me past the point of curiosity. Even when I was a girl, I hadn’t been plagued with schoolgirl crushes. Not that I’d felt that way about my own sex either. Though calling myself asexual wasn’t right.
Lost in my own thoughts, it took me a moment to realize Flynn had joined his wife and her friend. A burly man stood next to him, also dressed like a Highlander, but his kilt pattern was different.
“This is my husband, Duncan,” Ash introduced. “Duncan, this is Stella.”
“Pleasure, lass.”
My eyes darted between both Flynn and Duncan and then went to Barrett and Ash. The women wore knowing grins.
I shook my head.
“What’s your costume?” Barrett asked.
“And where did you get it? It’s stunning.” Ash’s hand reached out to run her fingers along one of the tulle layers of my skirt.
“From the American Ballet Company’s costume room.” I brought my finger to my lips like it was a secret. “I’m a hummingbird.”
Talk turned to discuss the party and the hors d’oeuvres, the children, Dornoch—where the four of them lived. I let my mind and gaze wander, tuning in just enough to give rudimentary answers to questions they asked.
As I was looking around the room, my gazed locked with a stranger.
He was tall. Broad. His dark hair gleamed from the chandelier light. He wore all black, but it didn’t appear to be any sort of costume. Half his face was covered in a black mask, a sinful smirk spread across his lips.
But it was his eyes that had me holding my breath.
They were bright, glinting.
Like two indigo gemstones.
He bowed ever so slightly, and then two people dressed in Elizabethan garb moved in front of him, shielding him from view. A moment later, they relocated. But the stranger in black was nowhere to be found.
“Stella?” Barrett asked. “Did you hear the question?”
“Will you excuse me?” Before waiting for her response, I turned and ran into the throng.
My heart pounded as I kept my elbows in and dodged bodies. Skin-tingling awareness shot through me as I looked around the lobby.
But the man whose eyes I fell into was nowhere to be found. My shoulders slumped in defeat. There had been something about him, something that made me want to come closer.
My breathing had sped up, and my whole body felt like it was on fire.
Lust.
I’d never felt it before. But that arrogant grin…those eyes. Somehow he’d awakened my entire body.
“Looking for me?”
His voice was rich, sinful. He was cocky, yet cool.
I turned toward him—slowly—so I could mentally prepare myself. He was leaning against the wall, half his body drenched in shadows, which was why I’d overlooked him when I’d exited the ballroom.
His black mask was still in place, but it didn’t conceal his sensual grin.
“I—” My words died on my tongue when he pushed away from the wall and strode toward me. There might have been other people in the lobby, but they faded away in the background. The noises, the conversations, the emotions of the people in the hotel were suddenly gone.
My eyes were locked on the stranger. When he came within a foot of me, he stopped. He was tall. Taller than most men. I was a little above average in height, but it wasn’t enough to stop me from craning my neck to meet his gaze.
The air between us crackled with energy.
