Masquerade Ball Before they exited the limo, Valerie placed a simple masquerade mask over her face. She got out of the limousine when the driver opened the door for them. She waited for Kylantha to exit the vehicle, and then lead her arm-in-arm through the front door of what looked like a large old theater built in the early Edwardian era. Once they were i...
London, England 1581, Lady Roseline Plantagenet pressed herself against the cold stone wall outside her guardian's study, breathless with fear. Her maid had brought her the curt note an hour ago, from her guardian that demanding her presence. She had taken each step with trepidation. As she was about to knock on the oak door of the study, she had heard two...
December was sending out the year with a frosty disregard for scantily clad party goers. It was beyond cold. It was frigid. Ella had only left the cozy interior of the car seconds ago, and there was already frost forming on her eyelashes. Well, almost. She stood shivering on the sidewalk and watched her best friend primp in the car's window. Looking at her,...
I lay still and quiet, pensive, studying the way the morning light cast a golden glow upon Tiffany's wavy blonde locks. Her hair was down, free and natural, mussed from sleep and midnight passions. "Updo girl," I mused, remembering how I had first come to think of her. I smiled. Now she was just Tif, and we were lovers. I snuggled in more closely against h...
MID DAY It's an abnormally warm Halloween day. Keysha decides to take the day off because she wants to take her son trick and treating. She wants to go in the early afternoon, so she can drop him off at his father's house. He's going to a child's party that evening. While father and son spends quality time together, she'll be at a party herself. A masquerad...
Friday night we had our annual company masquerade. Lara Croft it was. Shorts folded up to the top of my thighs; short, tight top; back-pack; heavy boots; sunglasses; holsters and guns. Lots of attention to put it mildly. Ended up talking to P for quite some time during the evening. Others noticed, remarked that we looked as if we fit together (they're right...
It had taken you a while to remember which of your friends called themselves the porcelain doll. In fact, you hadn’t remembered at all until you pulled out your yearbook to check, and saw the familiar face peeking out from the back of your class photo, painted in white. Jiang Ning San, the youngest of three girls, had needed a way to distinguish herself. Her...
I pulled up to the entrance of the hotel and handed my keys to the valet, watching him climb inside and pull away, my car sputtering and nearly stalling as he drove toward the parking garage. Walking over to the curb, I joined my wife who said, "I don't know why we had to come in that car." "Look hon, we're completely surrounded by luxury and exotic cars an...
With a shiver I closed the book. Edgar Allan Poe's "Masque of the Red Death" always held a certain morbid fascination for me, no matter how often I read it. I finished the last drops of the red wine on my bedside table and turned off the light. Cuddling into my covers as if they were the arms of a fantasy lover I surrendered to the misty shrouds of dream lan...
This chapter begins immediately after Chapter 14. Thanks to my super special collaborator. You know who you are! And thanks for several amuse bouches that made this so much easier to write. To my readers, sorry for the delay. Real life sometimes happens when you are planning to write instead. *************** Bitsy looked at Stuart. "What is the forfeit?" s...