The Vampire Dimitri by Colleen Gleason Read Free Book Online

been one before the court jester…or perhaps two? And then another—
    â€œI do hope you aren’t about to cast up your accounts on my waistcoat, your majesty,” he said, easing her away from him a bit, even as he steadied her step. Those high-soled shoes were rather an inconvenience.
    â€œI beg your pardon?” she demanded, suddenly indignant. “Of course I shouldn’t do such a thing.”
    No, indeed not. She simply would not allow it to happen, no matter how odd she felt. And she did feel a bit odd.
    She blinked hard, realizing that she, the very proper MissMaia Woodmore, was using the Knave of Diamonds to keep the floor from tilting and, quite possibly, her knees from buckling.
    Pulling away from the knave, she found that she was able to stand on her own, even on the platformlike shoes that put her face just…a bit…below…his.
    Maia looked up from the brocade waistcoat and the ruby-studded, bloodred neckcloth that was much too close to her face, willing herself to focus on the matter at hand—which was…well, she wasn’t certain. They hadn’t been conversing, exactly, had they?
    Her eyes traveled over a stiff black collar that brushed his jaw, hiding the full shape of his face, then beyond a square chin…and to that same mouth that had fascinated her as they spun gently, if not smoothly, around the dance floor.
    It was a mouth that, when relaxed, boasted a full lower lip and a slanted upper one—soft and smooth without being the least bit feminine when it wasn’t flattened grimly.
    â€œHatshepsut?” Those lips moved, firming in something like exasperation. “Do you need to lie down?”
    â€œOf course not,” she retorted, annoyed again. “I am perfectly capable of holding my cups. I merely got a bit dizzy from the dancing. It was so very close in there.”
    â€œVery well. As long as you don’t—”
    â€œYou might be much too tall, sir knave, and a bit overbearing—” she heard herself commenting, the words simply pouring from her “—but, despite what nonsense comes from it, you have been blessed with a well-formed mouth.”
    There was a pause for a moment, and then he replied, “Ah.” The syllable sounded a bit strangled.
    â€œI’m not an expert on mouths, you know,” she continued, vaguely wondering why she was so fascinated by his lips. “One doesn’t normally examine them quite as closely asone might think, unless the rest of the face is masked, and excepting if one is intending to kiss said mouth…and even then, one might not even have the chance to do so before the kiss commences.”
    â€œAh,” he said again after she paused.
    â€œOf course, I’ve only been kissed by a limited number of pairs of lips,” she said. Purely for clarification.
    â€œAnd how many pairs would that be?” His voice rumbled deeply. Those lips were rather flat again.
    She paused, pressing her own lips together in thought. Her mask shifted as she did so, and Maia was grateful for the reminder that she was still blissfully anonymous. “Perhaps three. No, four. Hmm. Perhaps…no, four.” She wouldn’t count Mr. Virgil. He didn’t deserve to be counted, and the very thought of him made her feel ill. She looked up at her companion. “Four, my lord knave.”
    Their eyes locked, his so dark and shadowed behind those small holes that she could hardly fathom that they could have such a hold on her. But they did. Her stomach felt as if the bottom dropped out, leaving her warm and nervous in a very pleasant way.
    Thanking God and all the angels in heaven for the fact that she was masked and completely anonymous, she whispered boldly, “But perhaps there might be a fifth.”
    And Maia held her breath.

3
I N W HICH THE K NAVE OF D IAMONDS H AS AN E XCEEDINGLY U NPLEASANT E XPERIENCE
    D imitri couldn’t breathe.
    The sudden surge of blood,