Unrequited (Chaos Factor Series, #1) by Elle Clouse

Author:Elle Clouse
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: airship pirate, damsel in distress, steampunk romance, unrequited love
Publisher: Elle Clouse
Published: 2016-05-06T22:00:00+00:00

The crowd before her broke into applause as she concluded the final note of the show. They sprang to their feet, shouting their approval and asking for more. From the stage, it all sounded like a roar. Kali sighed as the curtain fell. The cast scampered to their places for the final call, the curtain rose again, and she looked at the empty private box.

It had been months since she’d watched his airship fly into the clouds, leaving her on the roof of the opera house. She’d allowed everyone to think she’d gotten drunk and locked herself out, losing her corset along the way. It was a lot easier than explaining what had actually happened.

She curtsied and waved to the crowd as they cheered for the performance, her peers doing the same as they did every evening. Flowers littered the stage, but she no longer collected them. She let the chorus girls fight over them and the young gents who wanted attention offstage. There was only one man who occupied her mind.

The curtain fell for one last time, and she departed, ignoring the normal merriment that followed a successful sold-out show. She just wanted to get out of her costume and read a book. Every night, she checked the box, and, every night, it was empty. Her only solace was it had not been leased by someone else. Axel still kept it for his use only.

Kali went straight to her dressing room, inheriting it when the previous diva was let go for her shenanigans. It afforded Kali much more privacy than before when she slept in the dormitory. The rose and vine wallpaper and gold leaf decor was not to her taste but she couldn’t change them now. As soon as she paid back the expense of the lost corset, she’d make the space more to her liking.

Since her abduction, she always kept her room locked and checked the corridor for people before entering. She let herself inside and instantly locked the door. The scent of roses overtook her senses before she could turn on the newly installed electric lights. When the lights flickered to life, it revealed that her austere dressing room had been taken over by long stem red roses. Every shelf, tabletop, and inch for flooring was host to a vase of roses, leaving only enough space for her to walk to her dressing table where a small box and a note set.

She recognized the jewelry box. She crossed the room and picked it up, flung open the hinged top, and saw a butterfly decorated pendant with a certain black pirate’s likeness painted within. She opened the note; a simple slip of paper folded in half, and read: “Keep me close to your heart.”

Someone knocked on her door, the very same pattern that had ended their interlude. She couldn’t get the door unlocked fast enough.

Axel stood in the doorway, taking up all the space with his large frame.

“Miss James,” he greeted, bowing slightly. She curtsied out of habit, her manners taking over as her surprise robbed her of her wit.

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