Read Online Knightley's Tale by Destiny D'Otare - Free Book Online Page B

cheekbones he knew were flushed pink with mischief. The mask remade her. This woman was a complete stranger who made his pulse race the exact same way Emma did.
    The latter awareness came when she flipped the hood over her head and the whole cape flashed red. Bright blood-red. It was the color of the silk that lined the inside of her best wool cloak. As she tucked the loose hair into the depths of the hood, her transformation was complete.
    She was Red Riding Hood.
    He snorted in disbelief. Had everyone tonight adapted Grimm’s fairy tales?
    She apparently heard the sound because she hesitated until he stepped into the moonlight. Her whole demeanor changed instantly: she was thrilled to see him.
    “Knightley! But how did you know I would be here? I left you at your brother’s home, sitting in the library, drinking your brandy. And how did you arrive here so fast?”
    “Horse. Faster than a chaise and four.” He could barely form a complete sentence. Setting aside his own thrilling response to her, he summoned up a familiar stern directive.
    “Emma, you’re not going in.”
    Her chin lifted.
    Would she argue? Would she wheedle? Would she pout? He leaned forward to catch every nuance. She did not disappoint.
    She looked down, demurely, but Knightley knew she was composing her strategy. Her jaw locked and then softened. Her lips pursed.
    But when her gaze rose again, she bore an expression he had never seen on her before. Indeed, she had drawn a new weapon from her persuasion arsenal.
    Sexuality.
    Her lips parted slightly as she leaned toward him. One gleaming white fingertip tested the barrier between them, connecting with a black iron rung just in front of their faces. Deliberately, her finger ran down the length of the grate stopping just below his waist—pointing at the one part of his body that was capable of pointing back.
    And she was smiling—both innocent and seductive, in her Emma way, revealing everything and nothing. He was left brimming and unfulfilled.
    “I promise to behave,” she said quietly. The sweet dulcet tone curled through him. He could almost see its tentacles wrapping simultaneously around his heart and groin, tugging him down to the fires of Hades.
    His mouth opened and shut. Dry. Speechless. For the first time he could summon no arguments to dissuade her.
    “Very well,” he said finally, licking his lips. “Pull the bobbin and the latch will open.”
    She smiled triumphantly and pushed open the gate. Oblivious that she was entering the wolves’ den, she skipped up to him and threw her arms around his neck.
    “We’ll have a quick look around and then we’ll leave,” she said.
    Her eyes danced behind the mask as she reached to place a chaste kiss on his cheek. But her leg brushed his cock and he reacted instinctively. His head turned abruptly and his lips met hers. Unbidden, his hands reached out for her, itching to pull her tightly against him so he could press the whole of himself up against her. Would she pull away?
    They had never truly embraced. In fact, they had never before been in such close proximity, and he could tell she too felt the strangeness and wonder of it. Her eyes widened in huge circles behind the mask, but her lips were tight. A virgin’s kiss.
    When his cock expressed its delight, he set her firmly away from him.
    “You will not leave my side the entire time. Is that clear?” He growled as he grabbed her arm and dragged her along. He knew he sounded surly, but he blamed that on his cock, too.
    “Perfectly,” she replied in a sing-song.
    When they reached the entry to the building, Knightley hastily searched the corners and was satisfied to see the wolf pups had moved on. He had started pushing through to the anteroom when she tugged at his sleeve.
    “You have no mask.”
    Damn. He would not take the chance that someone would recognize them tonight.
    “I hadn’t planned on coming…or staying.” He muttered, looking around until he spied a basket near the