Masquerade Dream

The chaos of laughter filled the night air mingling in with the intrigue and merriment that lay thick in the air. Any which way you turned there was an overwhelming abundance of color and gaiety. The ballroom was elaborately decorated with thousands of purple and gold crystals that sent explosions of rainbows in light across those gathered below. One could hardly move without brushing against another reveler, each more ostentatiously costumed. The intricacies of the delicate comedia style masks that adorned each guest face was breathtaking, each accentuating the gorgeous 18h century ball attire that each person had donned for the evening.
The excitement seemed to pique as the music that had drifted lazily under the voices that filled the room suddenly swelled as the witching hour drew closer. All eyes seemed to turn and look to the center of the room where a man in a brilliant blue coat and a skeletal mask stood above the crowd leading them in a countdown. Their voices rose in unison with the music and in the end was only overtaken by their own cheers and hundreds of small explosions as hundreds of metallic purple and gold butterflies suddenly filled the air as magical confetti.
Everywhere the revelers turned to one another exchanging traditional New Years kisses, relishing in the anonymity of the masks and taking full advantage of each stolen moment.
All but one.
She stood in the crowd staring up at the man in the brilliant blue jacket who had eyes only for her.
He leaped lightly from his perch and landed almost cat like on the ground just at her feet. As he slowly unfolded in front of her, his eyes capturing hers holding her transfixed. She tried to move away but found she simply pressed back into a wall of revelers and could go nowhere. She could feel her heart begin to beat faster, and could not speak or move.
His green eyes shone bright behind the bone white mask, and their heavy burning gaze held her captive, locked onto her soft green eyes that watched him transfixed. His hand slowly circled her waist like some great snake claiming it’s victim and he easily pulled her to him, pulling her body close to his, pressing her hard against his chest until she was sure she could feel his heart beat. She could not break his gaze, and continued to sink further into his hunger that was there, finding that instead of pulling away she was drawing closer to him. Something unknown to her stopped her advance leaving them so close that their lips almost brushed but a breath still separated the two.
The crowd moved and swayed as one fluid entity, and though they jostled and pressed against the two, they remained as they stood, pressed together a heartbeat away from surrendering to their will, and fighting with everything they had not to.
A momentary break in the crowd, a sudden stillness, seemed to break the spell though, and finally her eyes pulled away from his. She pressed her hands against his chest and pushed herself off of him, his arm reluctantly sliding away from her waist, as he could only watch her as she pressed desperately through the crowd and out of the ballroom into the cold dark night and away from temptation.

From the massive chaos of the ball to the sudden utter silence of the night was an almost eerie sensation. The cold of the night could not seem to cool the heat that ran under her skin, or keep the flush from her cheeks. It was a heat that no amount of soft falling snow could calm.
When her feet led her once again into the ballroom the guests had long since departed. The only noise now was the soft crunch of her shoes falling on the small metallic butterflies who’s enchantment had faded and now lay lifeless upon the floor. The lights had been dimmed so that no longer was the room filled with the tiny rainbows cast from the crystals adorning the ceiling. Instead the only light in the room came from a series of candelabras that were set on the floor near one of the long mirrored walls, and a single candle sitting on the only table in the room.
A small hand carved end table had been brought in and placed here with its single candle slowly burning down. The candles light cast a soft glow across an old chaise lounge that had also been placed in the room. The furniture was out of place in the large empty ballroom, but it was not the odd furnishings that had her attention.
He lay on the chaise, his head back and his face still covered with the white skeletal comedia mask. The bright blue coat and waistcoat had been discarded, and he now wore only the thin loose fitting white shirt un tucked and open at the neck, and his pants, his shoes and stockings having been discarded as well. He looked as though he was asleep, his hands folded across his stomach, one bare foot hanging over the side of the chaise, brushing across the confetti littered floor. She watched his slow steady breathing, and though she knew she should go she chanced one step closer, moving ever so carefully as not to make a sound, closing her eyes with each movement hoping that the soft brushing of her silk skirts was not enough to rouse him. One step led to another, and to another, each slow and perfectly placed, until she stood close enough to when she leaned forward she could look into his masked face.
His eyes were closed and his breathing remained slow and even and she allowed herself to simply watch him undisturbed. To be able to see him without the fear of other eyes watching her and judging her made the experience all the more pleasurable. She thought that she easily could spend all night just drinking in every detail of him from the clean clear line of his jaw, to way his lips curled ever so slightly even in his sleep, to the seeming softness of the skin that just peeked through at the opening of his shirt. She allowed herself to become lost in his image to the point that she did not see his eyes open and turn to her. The feel of his eyes on her though was one she could not escape, and she turned her eyes to his startled that he was now watching her watch him.
Her steps backward were as slow and deliberate as the ones that had drawn her to his side, and he matched her steps with equally deliberate movements as he first sat up and then rose from the chaise, keeping his eyes locked on hers. The unspoken desire pulsed between them and could almost be seen. There movements seemed to mirror each other in some strange slow motion dance, each of her slow retreating steps matched by his own slow and careful advance, his steps taking more space though, so despite being matched step for step the space between them closed quickly and soon he could have easily reached out and taken hold of her had he wished to.
She paused, halfway between steps and seemed to hesitate, deciding where her next step would take her as his next step would have him overtaking her completely.
She turned on her heel and attempted to run but he was moving as soon as she was and with seemingly no effort he was in front of her blocking her way to the door.
It was now his turn to initiate the movement, and the pace he set for his advance was much more hurried than her retreat had been. He stalked towards her, making her back away two steps to his one and she quickly found her self bumping up against the chaise that he had been asleep upon.
He came to a stop mere inches from her, and slowly started to lean into her, making her slowly lean back until she was forced to sit still to avoid letting him touch her. She braced herself on her arms and continued to lean away from him as he place a hand on either side of her for support and continued to move ever closer to her until she finally had no place left to go and could only turn her face away from him to keep his lips from pressing to hers. Her lips though were not his goal as he did not even make effort to follow, but continued on, his cheek brushing against hers and his lips coming to rest at her ear.
“Let me worship you” he whispered softly to her, his lips just grazing her ear as he spoke.
Her eyes fluttered closed beneath her own ornate mask and she let out a slow shuddering breath that she had not realized she was holding.
A smile pulled at the corner of his lips as he slowly withdrew from her and stood so that he loomed over her, taking in the object of his desire, and his smile widened.
She made no move whatsoever, but simply watched him as he studied her. His hand slowly extended and with the lightest of touches he traced his hand slowly across her jaw and down her throat, pausing a moment over the vein that jumped with her speeding heart, before continuing down the pale bare skin to the plunging neckline of her dress. His hand traced along the lace ruffle and then withdrew.
He kept his eyes locked on hers as he sank to his knees allowing his hands to slide over the heavy folds of silk that made up the skirt of her gown, working their way down to the hem line where they paused only a moment before slipping inside.
He took one of her feet in his hand and carefully removed her shoe and tossed it idly to the side, and then repeated his efforts with her other foot. He still did not take his eyes from hers as ever so slowly his fingers crawled their way up one stockinged leg, taking in each inch of long expanse as though they were being mapped for future use. She bit down on her lip as his fingers began to move past her knee and up her thigh, and she could feel a knot of heat growing in her stomach.
Rather suddenly his progressed ceased as his fingers came across the wide silk ribbon that held the stocking in place. He took the ends in his hand and gave it a slow tug feeling the bow give way and his hand emerged from beneath her skirts holding up the long silken strand like a prize which he allowed to drop away from his grasp. With his other hand he slowly raised her leg up so that her foot rested on top of his thigh and he reached up taking the edge of the stocking in his hand and with an almost painful slowness he rolled the stocking down her leg and pulled it off allowing to fall forgotten to the side.
As he began to repeat the process with her other stocking, removing it in an identically slow fashion she could feel the heat spreading out from her stomach, rushing up the back of her neck and consuming her face. She could feel her breathing growing shallower and her heart racing more, her fingers curled in gripping down on her skirts as she fought the urge to make a noise, and she just watched him.
When her stockings had finally been removed he carefully replaced her bare feet on the floor and stood moving slowly around behind her. She turned her head to follow him but he was soon out of sight just behind her and she had to turn back waiting for what he would do next.
She nearly jumped when his fingers lighted on her neck just behind her ear. They slowly slid down her neck to the ribbon that held her necklace on and with as much time and care as he had taken with her stockings he removed her necklace, laying it aside on the table. She could feel the heat from his body now, close to her back and it only caused the knot in her stomach to tighten as his fingers worked their way down her arm to remove her bracelet and rings. Each caressing touch was slow and searching as he went about his work.
When he had finally removed all of her jewelry he stepped back away from her, making her immediately regret the loss of his closeness, but as his hands brushed across the bare skin of her back she could not help but shiver slightly. He took the ribbon that laced the bodice of her gown and began to pull it free, loosening the garment ever so slowly. When he had freed the lacing he moved back around in front of her, taking her by the hands and pulling her gently to her feet. She stood simply watching him, waiting, nearly trembling as he reached up and hooked his fingers under the material at her shoulders and pulled down sliding the bodice off and letting it fall away to the side, forgotten with the rest of her things. He stepped in close to her again his hands slipping around and circling her waist. For a moment his fingers tabled in the strings of her corset but soon moved on to the closure of her skirts, making easy work of them, and soon the last heavy silken bits of dress slid down to the floor.
Slowly he stepped back admiring her as she stood in a simple nearly sheer white chemise that hung to the middle of her thighs, an elaborately embroidered corset, and a short set of lace covered bloomers.
He took her by the hands again and began leading her away from her discarded garments, across the floor toward the mirrored wall nearby.
He stopped her facing the mirror and slowly walked behind her, taking in every bit of the beauty he saw, resisting the urge to touch her as much as she resisted the urge to touch him.
He stood behind her watching her in the mirror, his pleasure and desire not hidden by the mask he wore, nor was hers disguised by her own mask.
His patience still remained though and with the same deliberation as before he loosened her corset strings, painfully slow until it finally was loosened enough to slowly slide down over her hips, allowing her step out of it.
Instinctually her arms came up crossing loosely over her chest, but as he rose, tossing the corset back behind him toward the pile of clothes that was there he shook his head slowly, taking her arms and gently pulling them away from her. 
The soft glow of candle light reflected up at her from the mirrors, giving everything a soft halo like glow, and made it only slightly difficult to see beyond the thin material that stood between her skin and his, revealing every soft curve.
She found she was holding her breath again as he stepped to her again, still not touching her as she so craved now, his hands hovering just over her, his face mere inches from her, his lips barely missing her skin as he moved over her, seeming to breath her in as he moved slowly around her, seeming to not touch every inch of her.
He finally came to an end just in front of her, his masked green eyes looking down into her own masked green gaze, a palatable amount of desire transmitting between them. His hands moved to her face, seeming for the first time to shake slightly as the gently pulled at the ties that held her mask in place, and with a great effort he removed the last barrier she had to him.
With the mask removed her brown locks fell down softly across her almost bare shoulders. She blinked several times as though the loss of the mask made it harder for her to see. Her anonymity being taken from her seemed to make her feel vulnerable where nothing else truly had.
She stood still though, and waited as he looked at her now, at all of her.
She could only see his eyes though, those bright green eyes, looking at her, looking into her…worshiping her.
He closed the distance between them before she even knew he was moving, everything had been so slow, so paced, to suddenly have him there, so close to her, she trembled in his arms which he had wrapped around her pulling her close to his chest, holding her there against him.
He stopped as they had started the evening, pressed togther their lips almost touching, and she so ached for that one breath to be taken and for the wait to end. She wanted to drown in his kiss the way she was drowning in his eyes…
His green eyes….


Heather’s eyes flew open and she stared blankly at the ceiling above her bed for several long moments trying to catch her breaths which were still coming as shallow and rushed as they had in her dream. She could still feel the heat crawling from her stomach and spreading across her body, she could still feel the aching desire, but mostly she could still see those eyes.