Rue Toulouse (6 page)

“
Mon Dieu
, Princess, you’re driving me crazy.” Swiftly he removed the slip of lace she wore beneath her gown. “Give me a minute.”

Through passion-glazed eyes, Caterine caught a glimpse of a silver packet before he positioned himself to enter her.

“Oh.” She tried to hold back her gasp of discomfort as her body tried to adjust to his hard thrust.

He froze. “Princess, I’m sorry, I . . .”

Before he could continue, she pulled his face to hers and softly whispered, “I’m all right. If you stop now, Pirate, I’ll see you hanged.”

“Princess, I’m incapable of stopping,” her pirate growled, claiming her mouth and her body, sending her into a realm of sexual fulfillment she’d never known.

His labored breathing was the first sound to penetrate Caterine’s satiated thoughts. Her body aglow, she marveled at the myriad of sensations this man had made her feel. She ran her fingers through her pirate’s thick hair.

“I take it, Princess, you’ve decided not to have me hanged?” He rose slightly and grinned.

“Oh no, Jean Lafitte, I would consider that to be a terrible waste of an incredibly virile man.”

He gave her a lazy chuckle. “Princess, consider me at your disposal any time you wish.” He bent his head, gently kissed her lips, and whispered, “Although I fear you can no longer be considered an ice princess.”

Caterine smiled. It was true. In his arms, all her fears and insecurities melted away. She never wanted this moment to end. The first time she’d looked into his eyes, she’d felt an instant attraction to him, but in her wildest dreams she had never imagined it would be a total stranger who would so easily cause her to abandon all her inhibitions.

Her pirate nibbled on her ear. “Come home with me, Princess. I want to make love to you until dawn.” He kissed his way across her cheek then ran his tongue gently across her bottom lip. “We’ll watch the sun come up, and I’ll make love to you again.”

Caterine’s body instantly reacted to his words and his caress. As the tantalizing thought of waking up in his bed played through her mind, she opened her mouth to tell him yes when the distant sound of muffled voices slammed her back from fantasy to reality. What if they were discovered?

The thought of her aunts’ gloating faces when they heard she’d been caught having sex in Elaine’s arbor made her ill. Not to mention her mortification when she had to face her grandmother. The entire scenario was too unbearable to contemplate. She winced as the full implications of her impulsive behavior flickered past her mind’s eye like a nightmare.
Good God, what have I done?

Caterine frantically pushed at his chest. “I hear someone. Please let me up. What if they’re coming this way?” Practically throwing him off, she jumped to her feet and straightened her gown.

“Wait a minute, Princess,” Remi called as she hurried from the arbor. “What’s your real name? Damn it, wait for me.” As he straightened his own clothes, he spotted something shiny lying on the ground. He picked up the object and headed after her.

Chapter Five

Caterine ran as quietly and quickly as she could along the winding paths leading through Elaine’s dimly lit garden. She darted through the back door that led to a mud room and the kitchen. As she swept by the startled caterers, she acted as if it were perfectly normal for a disheveled princess to be hurrying past.

“So far so good,” she murmured, dashing through the quiet lower rooms.
Thankfully the party is on the third floor. I have a better chance of escape. I’ll get my cape and bag and get out of here.
When she reached the cloakroom, she sighed with relief. Other than the hired attendants, there wasn’t anyone around. With cape and bag in hand, she slipped from the house and through the night to her car. Caterine had her cell phone out when she started the Mercedes. She said a prayer of thanks knowing that whenever Elaine left her boys with a sitter she kept her cell phone handy.

“Hello.”

“Elaine, it’s me.”

“What? I’m sorry, I can’t hear you.”

Caterine’s voice rose. “Elaine, it’s me, Caterine.”

“Hang on a minute. I need to go where it’s quieter. Okay, I’m out on the gallery. Caterine, is that you?”

“Yes, it’s me. Don’t say anything, just listen. If anyone asks you who the lady was wearing the princess gown, you have to say you don’t know. Understand?”

“What’s going on? Where are you?”

“I’m in my car heading home. Elaine, please, it’s important. Don’t tell anyone who I am.”

“Okay, I get it. But why are you going home? Are you all right?”

“Yes, I’m fine. You’re not going to believe what I’ve done.”

“What? Wait a minute. Here comes Paul, and there’s someone with him. I don’t want him to see I’m talking to you.”

Caterine had turned into Audubon Place, passing the guard at the gates, and headed for her driveway. When she heard Elaine’s next words, she almost hit the mailbox.

“Well, hi, Remi. I’m glad to finally meet you.” Elaine continued, “You’re looking for whom? I’m sorry. I’m not sure who that could be.”

Caterine then heard Paul’s voice but couldn’t understand what he was saying. Had Paul seen her in the dress? She didn’t think so, but she couldn’t be sure.

Elaine spoke again. “Cat? Well, yes, the girl you describe sounds like her but, Remi, I’m sorry, Cat wasn’t here tonight. She called and told me she couldn’t make it. It must have been someone else.”

Good girl, Elaine
.

Caterine put the car into park and leaned her head on the steering wheel.
This couldn’t be happening.

“If I discover who your mystery lady is, I’ll be sure to let Paul know,” Elaine concluded.

Seconds passed before Elaine’s voice came back on the phone. “Okay, they’re gone,” she whispered. “Caterine, are you still there?”

“Yes, I’m here. Thanks. You don’t know how much I appreciate what you just did.”

“You can show your appreciation by telling me what’s going on. I swear Remi looks like the guy who tried to help you earlier today.”

“He is.”

“He is what?”

“The same guy.”

“Oh . . . my . . . God, I don’t believe this. What’s the chance your hero is Paul’s friend and partner? This is perfect.”

“No, this is not perfect.”

“Why, what’s wrong? Why do you want to avoid Remi?”

“So that’s his real name.”

“What do you mean,
that’s his real name
? I thought you two had met. Didn’t he introduce himself?”

“Sort of.”

“Sort of? Cat, what are you talking about?”

“He said he was Jean Lafitte.”

“The pirate?”

“That’s him.”

“Okay, what happened between you and the pirate?”

“We . . . well-l-l.”

“Oh, my God, you didn’t.”

“I’m afraid I did.”

“Where?”

“In your arbor.”

“What did you say?”

“I said it happened in your arbor. Elaine, I’m home. I’m going to fix myself a cup of tea, then I’m going to try and forget what an ass I’ve made of myself.”

“Wait a minute, you can’t nonchalantly tell me you made love to a stranger in my arbor and hang up.”

“Honestly, I don’t know what happened to me. I went a little crazy. It was like I became another person. God, I was all over him like some Bourbon Street tramp.”

Elaine giggled. “Boy, when you said you were tired of the old Caterine, you weren’t kidding around.”

“I have to say my intentions weren’t to go quite that far, but there’s more. When I realized who he was, I thought you went back and found him and invited him. Then I sounded like an idiot when I asked him. And you can stop laughing. This isn’t at all funny.”

“I can’t help it. This is too much.”

“
Too much
is right.” Caterine slammed her car door then quickly glanced up at the second floor window, hoping she hadn’t awakened her grandmother. She hurried to her converted carriage house and opened the front door.

“Come on, Caterine, get past all your self-recriminations and get to the good stuff. Was it good?”

Caterine dropped down into an overstuffed leather sofa and sighed. “Okay, if you have to know, it was absolutely the most incredible experience of my entire life, but it’s over. I lost my head and let things go too far. For the time being he doesn’t know who I am, and we need to keep it that way.”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake, why?”

“For one thing, I’m extremely embarrassed. Elaine, I just had sex with a total stranger. I’ve never done anything like that before. I can imagine what he thinks of me.”

“Cat, he came looking for you. That tells me he’s interested. If he wasn’t, he would have just left.”

“I don’t know. I need time to absorb all this. What if it was nothing more than a one-night stand for him? I don’t want to make a fool out of myself.”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake, the man was trying to find you. Cat, I have to get back to the party. I’ll call you tomorrow. I’ll see what I can find out about Remi from Paul.” With that, Elaine hung up.

Damn.
Caterine knew her friend was now on a serious matchmaking quest and nothing was going to stop her. She placed her phone and small handbag on the granite kitchen counter and reached for the kettle. Teacup in hand, she walked through the open living/dining/kitchen area toward her large bedroom in the back. She stopped abruptly in front of a full-length mirror.

“Good God,” she cried in horror, almost dropping her tea when she saw her reflection. Her long hair, which had been secured with a clip at the nape of her neck, was now hanging loose down her back and over her shoulders in a mass of tangles. Her lips were red and swollen, and a trace of whisker burn marred her smooth cheeks. Her beautiful gown was crushed and wrinkled. Two of the satin buttons closing her bodice were missing, and one of the little cap sleeves was torn.

She groaned. What could the staff at Elaine’s have thought when she ran past?
And what if the police had stopped me on my way home? I look as if I’ve been on a drunken binge. Well, thankfully I made it home without anyone seeing me and, except for Elaine, no one knows what I was up to this Carnival night.

She kicked off her shoes, removed what was left of her gown, and dropped the full under-petticoat to the floor. A smile touched her lips as she remembered the feel of her pirate as he entered her. She closed her eyes and whispered, “
Bien fait, monsieur.
Well done.”

She picked up her cup and headed for the whirlpool tub, adding a splash of Ma Chérie’s Fleur-de-Lis bath oil to the water. As she gathered her hair to pin it on top of her head, she realized her diamond clip was missing. Even though she had copies, this one had belonged to her mother and was a cherished keepsake. She went back to where her clothes lay and quickly searched each garment. Finding nothing, she tamped down her panic. It had to be in Elaine’s arbor. She thought of her dash across the lawn. Or somewhere on the grounds.
I’ll call her tomorrow and tell her to look for it.

She sighed with pleasure as she sank gratefully into the steaming bath. Caterine lay back and closed her eyes. Visions of her magical night floated through her mind. With the bubbles surrounding her, she again saw the tender passion in her pirate’s eyes as he’d shown her the true meaning of pleasure. At that moment she hadn’t cared about her family, her reputation, or Ma Chérie. She could have lain in that arbor with him for the rest of her life. All she had cared about was him and how right she’d felt in his arms.

Then the real world had to rear its ugly head. She reached for her tea.
Reality check, Caterine. You were two strangers, instantly attracted to each other, who let your emotions run wild, and things went way too far. Don’t make more out of it than that. Remember Jonathan and take a step back. Don’t position yourself for another major fall. Remi’s an incredibly sexy man who probably has seduced more women than he can count. Just because he went looking for you doesn’t mean anything.

She wished the level-headed side of her brain would shut up. She wasn’t quite ready to let go of her fantasy. She sank lower in the bubbles, reliving how her body had reacted to his every touch.
At least I know I’m not frigid.
Caterine snorted.
What an understatement that is.