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Jeezum crow. I was about to crumble, and the man hadn’t even touched me. Embarrassingly, goose bumps rose all over.
“Are you cold, Genevieve?” I nodded, breath catching, refusing to admit it had anything to do with the temperature in the room. “I want nothing more than to warm you right now. But my hands on your body at the moment wouldn’t be prudent.”
Then I felt a soft, warm caress of lips on the slope from neck to shoulder—so sweet and too quickly gone. I whimpered.
“It will be worth the wait. Trust me, love.” He took a step back, removing his luxurious heat. A shimmer of amber in fiery eyes. “Oh. And the weapon wasn’t the gift.”
He nodded toward the bedside table, winked at me, then sifted out with a snapping whoosh.
A blue velvet box with silver-metallic ribbon sat on the table. I instantly tore off the ribbon and opened it, never having been prissy or patient with wrapping paper.
“Oh, my.”
On a delicate silver chain in a thin but decorative silver setting was a perfectly round, unbelievably beautiful opal. I pulled the necklace from the box, holding the weight of the jewel in my hand.
The iridescent stone was colored with blue and lavender waves. There was a small square of cardstock on the inside of the jewelry box. I snatched it up, thinking it was a note from Jude. But it was the stamp of the maker with small print reading “Crystal Opal from Lightning Ridge in New South Wales, Australia.”
“Wow,” I admired, gazing at the gem again. There was something so familiar about the transparent markings—crystal white opaqueness swimming with smudges of blue and purple. Then I realized what it resembled.
“The moon! How lovely.”
I went to put it on and saw something inscribed on the back. In delicate script were the Latin words:Mea luna in tenebris.
“Oh, Jude.” I clasped the necklace securely around my neck, butterflies flitting around as it settled beneath the hollow between my collarbones. “Mea luna in tenebris,” I whispered to my reflection.
My moon in the darkness.
And he was my guiding star. If he only knew.
26
“ARoman empress and an Egyptian queen. Girl, we are so going to be the hottest chicks there.”
Mindy never lacked for confidence, but I had to agree we looked pretty damn good. Mindy wore a silvery-white, flowing chiffon dress that draped perfectly on her petite body, scooping across her breasts and hugging slim but nicely curving hips. She did indeed look like a Roman patrician. Her strappy matching sandals were way better than the ginormous Jimmy Choos.
My golden gown—sweetheart cut and strapless with corseted boning—hugged my waist and hips, then dropped straight to the floor. The burnished fabric shimmered with lighter flecks like gold dust, giving a dramatic effect under the light. A gold cuff in the shape of a snake with a ruby-red eye coiled around my upper arm.
“And now for the final touches,” said Mindy, passing me my mask.
Her cat-eyed mask was satin white with silver swirls, embellished with wispy feathers. Mine covered more cheek and nose in the Venetian style—gold under black lace studded with small white rhinestones. This one touch of silver enhanced the crystal opal hanging below my throat.
“They’re here!” squealed Mindy, shoving her phone into her small white pouch-purse that hung from a silken rope around her wrist.
We stepped out into the driveway, where a black stretch-Mercedes limo awaited. The chauffeur already had the door open. Mindy laughed, bright blue eyes twinkling, as we scooted in.
“Good evening, ladies,” said a dapper gentleman stretched out with casual grace next to Mindy’s mom.
“Oh, girls, don’t you look gorgeous!”
“Thank you, Miss Donna,” I said, doing my best not to catch my heel on her burgundy dress.
“Hi, Bill. Thank you so much for the invitation,” said Mindy, bouncing closer to her mother.
“I’m delighted, Mindy. So, should I call your friend Cleopatra, or does she have another name?”
“Genevieve Drake.” I smiled.
This very cheesy introduction would ordinarily rub me wrong, but Bill seemed to be a genuinely nice guy. Attractive too. In a sharp, black tuxedo and with that indefinable blue-blood poise, he was a stunning older man. Miss Donna complemented him with her petite, fair features, slightly aged with laugh lines at the eyes.
