In the Venetian's Bed by Susan Stephens

Author:Susan Stephens [Stephens, Susan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Contemporary, Fiction, Romance, General
ISBN: 9781408931240
Publisher: Mills & Boon
Published: 2005-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 9

The costume shop belonging to one of Luca’s friends was located in one of the narrow alleyways behind the square. It was dark inside like a warm cave full of jewels, but the jewels were silk, and the silk was cut cunningly to make the most of the female form.

Nell gasped as she saw herself in the ruby-red gown Luca had picked out for her.

The bodice left nothing to the imagination, but she felt exposed in a very feminine way, a way that prompted her to ease her breasts a little further out from the cruelly laced bodice.

‘It has to be tight, signora,’ the shop owner explained to her in the dressing room, ‘to make the most of your bosom.’

Well, it certainly did that. Did all Venetians have such a knowing way with them, Nell wondered, or was that just another product of the magic that was carnival? There was a transparent lace fichu peeping out at the front of the bodice of the dress, and that was all that stood between her and total exposure.

Her nipples were on fire, the blood rushing to them thanks to the boned and laced top, and every time she eased her shoulders in a shrug they were straining to escape. So she wouldn’t be doing that, Nell determined.

Her waist looked minute, her bosom huge, her feet tiny in the high-heeled satin slippers. The dress rustled as she moved, causing the air around her to rise up bringing with it an age-old mix of perfumes. She felt as if she had been transported to another time, another world, where anything was possible…

‘You should use this mask now, and carry a fan,’ the owner advised. ‘And a beauty spot just here,’ she added, placing a small black patch on Nell’s cheekbone beneath the fabulous white silk mask studded with rhinestone and pearl she was wearing in place of the Columbine mask. The woman had dressed her hair in the style she had so admired. It was held up with diamanté combs at each side and fell in soft curls around her face.

The owner stood back to admire her protégé. ‘You look beautiful, signora…like a true lady of the court.’

‘That’s how I feel,’ Nell admitted, smiling as she examined her greatly changed reflection in the looking glass. ‘Like a lady of the court.’ A wicked lady, she added to herself silently, pursing her lips to add some rouge.

‘Would you like to show the gentleman who brought you here now?’ the woman invited. Nell knew that she had opened the shop especially for them at Luca’s request, but like Luca she was playing the game of anonymity to the hilt.

With a last glance over her shoulder at the fascinating stranger in the looking glass, Nell inclined her head.

He was stunned when she came through the door. It was fortunate that his role in this drama demanded that he dip her a low bow. His feelings were so close to the surface, so raw and unconfined, he was glad of his mask as well as the shadows in the intimate boutique.

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