Masquerade by Georgia le Carre Read Free Book Online

framed in heavy gilt. The ceilings are lofty and there are tall doors, all closed, leading away from the hallway. Then there are the marble stairs with their beautiful, beautiful banister that curves around. I lift my head and see the glass roof at the very top of the third floor. 
    ‘Wow!’
    I turn back to look at him. He is leaning against the door watching me. His eyes are utterly unreadable. I feel as if I could fall, am falling into those depths. ‘Whose house is this?’ I mouth silently.
    ‘Mine.’
    This multi-million pound mansion belongs to him! My brain does cartwheels. ‘Who the hell are you?’ I mouth.
    His eyes. His eyes. They are impossible to read. ‘No one. It’s all a game, Billie. Just a game. I’m no one. I just want you. Be mine tonight.’
    ‘And the apartment you took me to the first night?’
    He shrugs. ‘Mine too.’
    ‘That’s where you shag strangers?’
    ‘Something like that.’
    ‘And this place?’
    ‘This is where I shag people I like.’
    I lick my lips.
    He takes a little device from his pocket and presses it. The lights go down and music fills the place. The sound of the music is seductive. A man starts singing.
    I was dreaming of the past. And my heart was beating fast. I began to lose control…
    I bite my lip. ‘What’s the name of this song?’
    ‘ Jealous Guy .’
    I frown. ‘And the artiste?’
    ‘Bryan Ferry.’
    ‘I’ve never heard of him.’
    ‘That’s because it’s before your time.’
    ‘Jaron?’
    ‘Don’t, Billie.’
    ‘Tell me the truth. Why didn’t you call me?’
    He bends his head. ‘What does it matter? We’re just having…fun.’
    ‘We’re just ships passing in the night. So no taboos, right?’
    His eyes change, something flickers in them momentarily. His mood perfectly matches the music. ‘Because I knew this would happen.’
    I don’t have time to think or process his words, because he starts walking toward me. His eyes are unrecognizable. God! this guy really, really wants me.  I swear no one has ever looked at me or wanted me like this. The realization is heady. The blood pumps in my ears. I feel almost deaf.
    I didn’t mean to hurt you. I’m sorry that I made you cry. I didn’t mean to hurt you... I was trying to catch your eyes .
    I shrug out of my coat and let it slip down to the floor. Deliberately, I kick it away. I slip my fingers into my top and slowly, slowly pull it over my head. My big and beautiful fake boobs pop into view. I chuck the top away.
    I was feeling insecure. You might not love anymore. I was shivering inside. I’m just a jealous guy.  
    In my white hot pants and black boots I pose seductively for a moment.
    And then I do a little shimmy, which makes my breasts swing and jiggle flamboyantly. I get down on the floor and slowly unzipping my black boot slip it off. Then: the other. I lie back down, unzip my shorts and wriggle out of them, sexy as an eel on fire. Underneath, obviously, I am wearing no knickers. I sit up and in time to the music put my boots back on.
    I was shivering inside.
    I lie back down on the cold marble and rising to my elbows and keeping my knees straight scissor my legs. I probably look really silly with my sex all swollen and red, but I don’t care. I just like the way he is staring at me. As if there is only him and me and this stupendous hallway and the rest of the world has fallen off a cliff.
    I look up at him through my eyelashes, putting as much sauce as I can into it. ‘What are you waiting for, big boy?’
    He discards his beautifully cut single-breasted jacket as he walks toward me. His eyes hot, hungry, a stranger’s eyes. They never leave me. 
    He reaches me and stands over me as he unbuttons the cuffs of his shirt and pulls his shirt tails out of his trousers. His eyes are already eating me. Shrugging out of it he flings it to the ground. It falls on top of my coat. He uses the tip of one shoe on the heel of the other to unloosen it. The socks follow. Finally his