Alyssa woke slowly, aware of her name being softly called. She stretched, her foot catching in the sheet covering her and inching it down as she arched her back. A hand brushed her cheek, a warm palm cupping it gently and she smiled, blinking sleepily.
Then opened her mouth to scream.
"No, Alyssa, it's me, Jamie," Jason said quickly, clamping his hand over her mouth before she could do much more than squeak. "Don't scream."
She pulled her head away from his hand, tossing her red hair over her shoulders and out of her face. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't?" she snarled, angry because of the fear he'd caused her.
"Because you've missed me," Jason said simply, smiling at her.
She narrowed her eyes, glaring at him before shaking her head in disbelief at his daring. "How did you get in here?"
"The same way you did that night. I climbed the balcony." Jason reached out, pulling a strand of hair from her forehead and tucking it behind her ear with a proprietary manner that wasn't lost on Alyssa.
"But my father has guards that are supposed to patrol the grounds. They didn't stop you?"
"I'm here, aren't I? I didn't see anyone when I rode through the gardens." His eyes, now much more used to the dark, roamed freely over her form, smiling when he recognized what she wore to bed. "Besides, I needed to come back for my shirt."
Alyssa blushed, pulling the garment up around her neck. "It is comfortable to sleep in," she said, flustered.
"I could believe the same could be said for you," he said with a tip of his head and a slight quirk to his lips.
"You shouldn't talk like that," she said, chuckling. "And I should be shocked and offended by the things you say."
"But you aren't," he said, a pleased conviction in his voice.
"No. Why is that, do you suppose?" Alyssa pulled the covers up a little further, sitting on the bed to face him.
"Because you are madly, insanely attracted to me and live for the least utterance that falls from my lips." Jason smiled, enjoying this play.
Alyssa burst out laughing, covering her mouth with her hands to muffle the sound. "You are mad," she said. "I don't even know what you look like, let alone who you are."
"Oh but the mystery just adds to the excitement, doesn't it? If you knew that I was just some lord something or other with a small estate on the edge of London who isn't invited to the huge balls and has barely two coins to rub together, could you be as excited to see me as you are?"
"Is that who you are?" she asked him curiously.
"No, but it sounded convincing, didn't it?"
Alyssa snorted, she actually snorted. Her hands clasped across her mouth again, this time in embarrassment.
Jason laughed, letting his brow rest against the top of her head, just enjoying being with her once more. This was the best he'd felt since leaving her the other night. "Now, we have a matter to discuss," he said, lifting her chin with one long fingered hand.
"What matter is that?"
He let his lips brush hers, retreat and then reclaim, slowly wooing her lips into opening under his until his tongue dipped inside, tasting her heat once more and feeling the hunger for her grow. It came from deep inside, this need to possess her; but more than her body. He wanted to possess all of her.
With his mouth on hers, his hands slipped down to the buttons on his shirt that she wore. "The matter of getting my shirt back," he whispered against her lips, his fingers slipping into the opening he created, sliding over her breast to tease her nipple, feeling it harden against his hand.
"Hmm," she moaned, "well, I'd hate to be thought of as some kind of thief." Her hands moved to his coat, unbuttoning the dark garment and pushing it off his shoulders, forcing him to take his hands off her so that she could push it fully off of him. And then she went to the buttons on his shirt, her hands trembling.
Their lips met, melded, rubbed. Their tongues twined and twisted with the strength of their desire. His shirt was discarded and she mewled her satisfaction into his mouth, her hands roaming over the angles and plains of his chest, kneading her fingers into the long muscles of his back.
"My boots, love," he breathed into her mouth. "Help me out of them?"
"And your mask," she added, her fingers going to the black scarf.
Jason grabbed her busy fingers before she could undo the knot that held it in place. "Not yet, love. I'm not ready for you to know the real me yet."
"When, then?" she asked, her tone demanding.
"Soon, love. When I am sure that you will be content with the person that I am, I shall reveal all to you."
"Are you married?" Alyssa asked, her eyes accusing.
"No, oh no, love. I don't have a family to claim nor any promises made to any young lady. That is not it at all. But I do not expect you to understand. Only to wait and discover the truth of my identity when I feel I can reveal it." He stood, reaching down to where she had tossed his shirt, sliding it on with a sigh. "But I see the mood has passed, mores the pity," he said with a sideways glance at her.
"Wait," she said quickly. Alyssa rose, all long silky limbs and fiery red hair, the shirt he'd unbuttoned slipping off of her shoulders to pool at her feet as she stood in a shaft of moonlight, proud and unashamed before him. The light caressed her skin, dappling it with shadows that intrigued the eye and made her a vision to encourage even the least inspired artist's desire and talent.